Invasoins

[hazzer8]

Who invaded England and why they invaded?

[vehelpfulguy]

Homework question eh!

[Andyvon]

There were many invasions over many centuries Hazzer.

Julius Caesar came here in 55 and 54BC but those were just reconnaissance forays. The first important invasion of note was that of Claudius in 43AD which annexed Britain as a province of Rome.

The Angles, Jutes, Saxons etc arrived to settle after the Romans left and various Vikings armies invaded between 793 and 1066 for loot and settlement. The last Viking invasion was that of Harald Hardrada in October 1066 when he sailed up the Hmber from Norway. That invasion was defeated by Harold II at Stamford Bridge but then William of Normandy (The Conqueror) landed near Hastings a few days later. That resulted in Harold II rushing south to be defeated at the famous battle. That invasion followed Edward the Confessor's death in January 1066 and William and Harold's disputed claim to the throne. William's success resulted in the overthrow of the Anglo-Saxon House of Wessex and the establishment of French Norman rule in England.

The Duke of Monmouth invaded from France in 1685 I think. He was the son of Charles II and he led an army to support an uprising against James II. He was defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor.

There were many other landings by the French, Dutch, Spanish etc. over the centuries in support of various causes but none really succeeded. The last successful invasion of any note was that of William the Conqueror in 1066.

[heathfield]

Don't forget the gallant Scots, who never tired of crossing the border into England.
Bonnie Prince Charlie was the last to do so,.

[Andyvon]

Of course not heathfield. We got so used to it that I took that for granted!

[david_harry]

A good point not answered though is the 'why' and not just who invaded. I think you could answer it generally by saying that England was a prize worth the effort. It had resources worth fighting for. If we didn't then The vikings, normans et al wouldn't have bothered!

[morbidstorm]

i would have thought that William III invasion was the last successful invasion of England????

[henneth]

If it was an invasion. One by invitation, and not one that followed with a mass re-settling of Dutch immigrants. William was married to an heir to the English throne. Perhaps a military coup would better describe it.

[jno]

fair enough henneth - but the description you give would also apply fairly comfortably to the US action in Iraq, which I'm pretty sure is an invasion. (Of course, Bush isn't married to the Saddam family, as far as I know.)

[henneth]

jno,
That's what I like about some of these questions. it can open up a good debate. For me, Romans and Normans invaded, the rest was a mixture of partial invasions (Danes), migrations (Saxons, Jutes), invitations (the French in 1216, Dutch in 1688) and failures (quite a few others).

[Senga 2]

Lots of good debate around this one. Sometimes it's good to see a vague question. What about Henry Tudor who later became Henry VII?