British History in Credo: General Information

Country occupying all of the Earth's smallest continent, situated south of Indonesia, between the Pacific and Indian oceans. Australia is an independent sovereign nation within the Commonwealth.

Voluntary association of Great Britain and its dependencies, certain former British dependencies that are now sovereign states and their dependencies, and the associated states (states with full internal government but whose external relations are governed by Britain).

Empire covering, at its height in the 1920s, about a sixth of the landmass of the Earth, all of its lands recognizing the United Kingdom (UK) as their leader.

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
1600–1874, company chartered by Queen Elizabeth I for trade with Asia. The original object of the group of merchants involved was to break the Dutch monopoly of the spice trade with the East Indies.

Independent nation, 3,851,787 sq mi (9,976,128 sq km), N North America. Canada occupies all of North America N of the United States (and E of Alaska) except for Greenland and the French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon.

British crown colony in the South Atlantic, 480 km/300 mi east of the Straits of Magellan; area 12,173 sq km/4,700 sq mi, made up of two main islands: East Falkland (6,760 sq km/2,610 sq mi) and West Falkland (5,413 sq km/2,090 sq mi); population (2001 est) 2,400.

Country in southern Asia, bounded to the north by China, Nepal, and Bhutan; east by Myanmar and Bangladesh; northwest by Pakistan and Afghanistan; and southeast, south, and southwest by the Indian Ocean.

Original North American colonies that signed the Declaration of Independence from Britain in 1776.

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
Island in the Irish Sea, a dependency of the British crown, but not part of the UK; area 570 sq km/220 sq mi; population (2001) 76,300, almost 50% of which lives in the capital Douglas and nearby Onchan.

From Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
The Court of Tynwald constitutes the governing body of the isle of man. It claims to be the oldest parliament in the world in continuous existence and has two branches: the Legislative Council and the House of Keys.

Power-sharing assembly based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Assembly came into being as a result of the 10 April 1998 Good Friday peace agreement between the contending Unionist and Irish Nationalist communities in Northern Ireland.

Form of government in which the executive (administration) is drawn from and is constitutionally responsible to the legislature (law-making body). This is known as the ‘fusion of powers’ as distinct from the ‘separation of powers’, in which the three branches of government the executive, legislature, and judiciary (courts system) are separated in terms of personnel and constitutional powers.

Head of a parliamentary government, usually the leader of the largest party. In countries with an executive president, the prime minister is of lesser standing, whereas in those with dual executives, such as France, power is shared with the president.

Devolved legislative (law-making) body of Scotland. It comprises 129 members and was created by the November 1998 Scotland Act, which was passed following the Scottish electorate's overwhelming approval of government proposals in a referendum on devolution held on 11 September 1997.

From Philip's Encyclopedia
Lower House of the British Parliament. The Upper House is the unelected House of Lords. The House of Commons dates from the 13th century. It is the major forum for discussion and voting on intended legislation and questioning of ministers. Constituents elect its 659 members in a secret ballot, usually in general elections that must be held at least every five years.

The non-elected upper assembly in parliament, made up of peers and bishops, and also constituting the highest court in the UK.

Country in northwest Europe off the coast of France, consisting of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

The largest and most populous portion of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Most of the region is subject to much wet weather, and some of it experiences severe cold, but in general the climate is favorable to a wide variety of agricultural and industrial pursuits.

Political division of Great Britain, 30,414 sq mi (78,772 sq km), comprising the northern portion of the island of Great.

Welsh Cymru, western peninsula and political division (principality) of Great Britain (1991 pop. 2,798,200), 8,016 sq mi (20,761 sq km).

That part of the United Kingdom occupying the NE part of Ireland: separated from the rest of Ireland, which became independent in law in 1920. Constituent part of the United Kingdom, in the northeast of the island of Ireland; area 13,460 sq km/5,196 sq mi.

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Royal house of England (1154–1485) that provided 14 kings, including six from the cadet houses of Lancaster and York. The line descended from Geoffrey, count of Anjou (died 1151), and the empress Matilda, daughter of the English king Henry I. Some historians apply the name House of Anjou, or Angevin dynasty, to only Henry II, Richard I, and John, and label their successors, including Edward I, Edward II, and Edward III, as Plantagenets. The name may have originated as a nickname (Plante-geneste) for Count Geoffrey, who planted broom shrubs (Latin Genista) to improve his hunting covers. The Wars of the Roses saw the defeat of the last Plantagenet king, Richard III, in 1485. The legitimate line ended with Edward of Warwick (died 1499).

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Cadet branch of the house of Plantagenet that provided three kings of England in the 15th century (Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI). The family name first appeared in 1267, when the title of earl of Lancaster was granted to Henry III’s son Edmund (1245–96). Edmund’s grandson Henry (d. 1361) became the 1st duke of Lancaster, and the inheritance fell to his youngest daughter, Blanche, and to her husband, John of Gaunt. His son, Henry of Lancaster, became King Henry IV, and the duchy of Lancaster was merged in the crown. The Lancaster dynasty ended after the defeat of Henry VI by Edward IV of the house of York (in Wars of the Roses), and the Lancaster claims were passed on to the house of Tudor.

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Royal house of England, deriving its name from the creation of Edmund of Langley, fifth son of Edward III, as duke of York in 1385. The claims to the throne of Edmund's grandson, Richard, duke of York, in opposition to Henry VI of the house of Lancaster resulted in the Wars of the Roses.

English dynasty 1485-1603, founded by Henry VII, who became king by overthrowing Richard III (the last of the York dynasty).

From Philip's Encyclopedia
Scottish royal House, which inherited the Scottish throne in 1371 and the English throne in 1603.

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Ruling dynasty of Hanover (see Hanover, province), which was descended from the Guelphs and which in 1714 acceded to the British throne in the person of George I.

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Family name of the royal house of Great Britain. The name Wettin, family name of Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, consort of Queen Victoria, was changed to Windsor by George V in 1917.