How a K Became the UK

How did a small kingdom become united and then come to control over a quarter of the world's population? Let's explore the story of the United Kingdom and the British Empire!
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Brief History of the Royal Family - CGP Grey - • Brief History of the R...
Photo Credits -
UK and World Maps made by Me
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Stick figures and Real Housewives Logo by Poethewondercat
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Video Credits -
Liam Dutton nails pronouncing Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch - Channel 4 News - • Liam Dutton nails pron...
Bop It Ad- Carnival (1998) - that90sguy - • Video
StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void Launch Trailer - Legacy - Starcraft - • StarCraft II: Legacy o...
THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" - tubmanss - • THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS "...
Sound Credits -
Eire pronunciation - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ei...
Music Credits -
"Furious Freak" and "Daily Beetle (Edited)" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
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Hashtags: #history #britain #uk #england #london #brexit #canada #australia #india #ireland #scotland #america #wales #empire #royal

[@SpecialEDy]

Easter Egg, the intro video had a UK electric outlet instead of a North American for the fork clip

[@KnowingBetter]

Glad someone noticed, that was really hard to pull off 😁

[@SpecialEDy]

Hopefully the Tea turned out okay though...

[@jayteegamble]

yeah, can you not microwave tea or something? I didn't get that. I'm American so i've only had tea like twice in my life.

[@SantomPh]

@@jayteegamble you can't microwave tea. It is barely thicker than water and will just evaporate

[@jayteegamble]

Can i not microwave water? I can microwave coffee no problem.

[@SawtoothWaves]

I love the British version of the intro video xD

[@CeriseAurium]

Did not expect you here

[@Hurricane3459]

@@CeriseAurium Nor did I.

[@JTL69]

3 years ago and 2 replies ay?

[@pickledegg1989]

Should have been a can of Irn-Bru in the fridge. Or Tizer. Or Vimto. Or Ribena... You get the idea.

[@jonathanwebster7091]

To be honest, as a Brit, I'd be more outraged if he'd put the milk in the Tea first.

[@MichaelSidneyTimpson]

William the Conquer was not the first person to unite England. It had already been united for some time under various Anglo-Saxon and Danish Kings. He was the first Norman king, even though he was related to both of the previous bloodlines.

[@WelshBathBoy]

You misspelled Llewelyn and when Wales was absorbed into the Kingdom of England following the Statute of Rhuddlan (1284), Wales continued to have it's own legal system. Following the Glyndwr Uprising in 1400, the Enlgish imposed the Penal Laws against Wales (1402), these made Welsh people second class citizens in their own country, these laws were not repealed until 1624. The Laws in Wales Acts (1535 and 1542) removed Welsh Law and effectively made Wales a part of the Kingdom of England. Even so, of all the Celtic Nations, Wales is the only one to have held on to its language, Ireland is trying to bring Irish back and is using how Wales kept Welsh alive as an example.

[@JohnMacbeth]

Vodka Lime Soda I’m Cornish, we’re trying to revive our language with the help of Welsh.

[@mox3909]

@@JohnMacbeth Two very similar languages, although both unique and distinct. Someone who knows one language can recognize a lot of words in the other.

[@amehak1922]

Some people had no idea that the Irish even had their own language.

[@egbront1506]

@@amehak1922 They had more than just Gaelic. A lot in the south of the Republic around Wexford spoke Yola, which is sort of analogous with Scots, arising from Middle English. It fizzled out in the 19th century.

[@amehak1922]

@@egbront1506 I've never heard of that one.

[@Exurb1a]

0:13 Disliked, unsubbed, prepare for imminent DDos attack.

[@viridian9673]

came here from ur tweet

[@josuanygren]

Holy shit you’re here

[@zararule427]

Holy shi you're here

[@SLACKLINEDUDE]

Are you not verified?

[@kfstreich4787]

Who's yer mama now?

[@Wildstag]

That was quite the simplification on the Hadrian's Wall, the tallest remaining section of the wall is, like, 17 feet tall, and the largest stretch is nearly 6 feet wide, 10 feet tall, and pretty dang long. It used to be an imposing wall, and in some parts where it is less run down, it still looks pretty dang impressive.

[@MattCookesurl]

GazB85 the antonine wall was much further north and made of wood and dirt so there is very little evidence of it anymore though

[@jackhenderson2562]

Yh but, as is common with every non British person, he glosses over it because he probably doesn’t like the English very much so wants to demean us in any way possible no matter how petty smh. Although I quite like this channel and his quite unbiased views on most subjects he’s still human and as an American it’s been hard wired into him

[@jackhenderson2562]

Dylan Mcgee Well at the time the Scottish warriors were more barbaric than not, not to say other countries weren’t but it’s a preconception that the Scottish were especially barbaric fighters

[@jackhenderson2562]

Dylan Mcgee you’re not hearing it? I mean maybe I’m reading into it too far but I also hear it when he’s talking about the location of Hadrian’s wall, he implying that we fucked it up but it was built at the intended border and not the modern day border. Maybe I’m being over sensitive but if you aren’t English it’s kinda hard to understand because most ethnicities don’t dislike you.

[@stevenpurves4066]

Hadrian's wall was built by the Romans so don't worry about it. Plus, borders are just lines in the sand that get redrawn all the time.

[@chairmanmeow2588]

You're normally spot on with the research. But this time was a complete mess with so many inaccuracies.

[@erikruder3360]

"Wales didn't really start their whole identity thing until the 1950s and 60s" A mess would be charitable.

[@Comred1]

I mean, at 5:09 he said that 'Before William the Conqueror came along, there were 7 kingdoms in England.' But England had already been united at that point....

[@rynslev]

@@Comred1 technically united but not really, each kingdom still existed as a system of council and one that would decide the next "Bretwalda" aka king of all anglo saxon kingdoms within England. it wasnt until William that England was officially united and declared a kingdom with all the laws it entails

[@maxdavis7722]

@@rynslev that’s not true at all lol, 927 England was united by the kingdom of Wessex when he drove out the danelaw.

[@rynslev]

@@maxdavis7722 technically true but England was ruled by elective monarchy one that tended to choose a king from the 7 kingdoms that founded it together while you could say it was officially the kingdom of England it operated more like the later holy roman empire with elector counts and minor shifts in laws when each new king was elected. It wasn't until William the conqueror that it was formed into what we know as a kingdom today

[@sionjones1675]

3:56 "Llywelyn. It's not that difficult to pronounce". You mispronounced it with an utterly straight face. right.

[@sionjones1675]

@Sanscript No, it abso-fucking-lutely does not.

[@OverRideGeneration]

The Celtic Britons inhabited the isles before the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, they didn't come from Brittany - in fact they migrated there.

[@KnowingBetter]

I'm actually pretty annoyed with myself that I got this wrong - one of those things that I wish I could fix but can't. It's in the pinned Correction comment. though.

[@fpsgod3028]

Knowing Better thank you, I was dying from cringe

[@daninthelionsden]

The Celtic culture and language while predating the Anglo-Saxons did originally come from the mainland; most likely from Benelux/Northern France though.

[@paulthomas8262]

there was no definitive Celtic culture there was Celtic languages

[@mikespearwood3914]

@@daninthelionsden Celts have been assumed to have originated somewhere in Austria, and spread out from there.

[@domtromans2783]

Considering your channel is called Knowing Better ... this video is a bit of a mess of poor research. (And I like some of your other videos.) 1. The Saxons came from Old Saxony. The modern German federal states bearing the name of Saxony (especially the one just called ‘Saxony’) aren’t geographically synonymous with this region. 2. The Britons weren’t from Brittany. They were always there. Heck, the original Roman province was called Britannia. 3. William the Conqueror did not create England. The concept of England had been around at least since Bede, and lasting unity was actually achieved by Æthelstan in 927. What William did was to contest the succession and effect a complete regime change and found a new constitutional order. 4. The French and Normans spoke the same language, but they’re not interchangeable terms. You make it sound like the French gave the English terms for food - the Normans did. 5. You’ve, like, done away with a ton of Welsh history here. Oh boy. Unlike England, Wales did not have one ruler in this period - indeed, it was a fragmented mess of petty kings who occasionally managed to establish overlordship over large parts of the country, but never the whole. When William I was around, the biggest boy on the block was not called the ‘Prince of Wales’ - he was the King of Gwynedd and Powys. There’s a lot more to unpack here - especially in later Medieval history - but the term ‘Prince of Wales’ has never been a de jure territorial title and in fact went in and out of favour for centuries. 6. Are we forgetting hundreds of years of resistance? Llewelyn the Great? Owain Glyndwr? Edward’s castles? Wales has had an ‘identity thing’ that hasn’t *ever* stopped. It didn’t start in the 20th century. It just got more political footing. 7. Wales is its own country. In a bigger country, anyway. The important thing is it’s definitely not England! (Which is also its own country. It’s complicated.) 8. The heptarchy stopped being a thing during the Viking Era. I’ve already mentioned English unification, but seriously - it’s like claiming Abraham Lincoln founded the USA. And Essex, Sussex and Kent hadn’t been effectively independent for even longer. 9. Hadrian’s Wall wasn’t the kind of anti-barbarian bulwark we think of it as. It was a means of control, not a last line of defence, so it’s not some titanic edifice for a reason. Roman power projected much, much further into Scotland. Indeed, at one point the Romans effectively controlled much of the south of Scotland and built the similar Antonine Wall much further north (which was nevertheless only really in use for about 8 years). 10. The flag design actually happened a lot earlier in 1606 during James’s reign, as although the two kingdoms were legally separate a joint flag was necessary for various things (like as a naval ensign). An unofficial different design was also popular in Scotland for a time, where the Scottish saltire took precedence. 11. Ireland is a bit more complicated - it wasn’t just divided, there was an actual war. 12. The way you say ‘fully independent’ doesn’t make it very clear how much Ireland, Canada and Australia were self-governing sovereign states. The last bits, for instance, were essentially removing the Privy Council of the UK as the court of last appeal. 13. Similarly, New Zealand is an independent country. The fact that the royal proclamation of 1907 has never been revoked is really just a historical curiosity as New Zealand has been de facto and de jure independent since 1947. 14. King/Queen ‘of England’ hasn’t been an actual official title since 1707. 15. The British government had already taken over government of India in 1858 - before the Civil War. Cotton was important, but it wasn’t the background behind the title ‘Empress of India’. 16. India is still part of the Commonwealth, so it’s a little different to the US in that it still claims membership of some weird community organisation thing. But yes, it’s independent. 17. You missed out Africa. 18. Wales is its own country. A sub-country, I guess. Now you know better?

[@MrAggerz]

Thank you! I was shouting at my screen at how poorly researched this video is. Shame.

[@matthewwaddington2777]

05:37 Hadrian's wall used to be taller there's this thing called 'erosion'. It has this tendency to break down stone structures over millennia, especially when maintenance of said structures is neglected.

[@Hexadactyl]

Since we're mentioning inaccuracies in this video, the They Might Be Giants version of Istanbul (Not Constantinople) was in Tiny Toons, not Animaniacs.

[@Daniel.Liddicoat]

If I was subbed to this channel I would've unsubbed by now.

[@AeromaticXD]

Daniel Liddicoat dude; this video is like a year old; he’s improved now

[@Andrew36597]

I’m gonna say, actually being from Britain (England to be exact) I can categorically tell you without a doubt in my mind that Wales is a different country (that is also a part of the larger country of the UK... but definitely not England). Having many friends who are Welsh people, I can tell you their culture is not just an extension of England’s but it’s own independent thing. They also have their own language which while isn’t spoken much in South Wales, is so prominent in Northern Wales that there are areas where many people can’t speak English, and is by far the second largest known language in Great Britain; as everyone I know at the very least knows the Welsh language exists, and it’s present on signs all across Wales. It should also be noted that Wales have independent powers outside the control of London, that English land does not have (same as Scotland and Northern Ireland), for example when it comes to tuition fees in University, they have become £9000 per year in England, whereas Wales independently decided to make theirs £4500 and I believe Scotland decided to have theirs tuition free (unless you’re English and then it’s £9000...) But my point is: there is no one from Britain (and particularly from the two countries in question, England or Wales) who claim that Wales is a part of England, that is just factually dishonest

[@Gerishnakov]

Oh they can speak English as well as Welsh, they just choose not to.

[@greenmachine5600]

​@@Gerishnakovgood

[@etherealhawk]

The only thing is they got annexed not joined by inheritance, and it was so long ago they were integrated into English law

[@jonomoth2581]

"I am American but I do know something about non America" All non Americans : "(Gasp in shock) really!" After watching the video : "(Sigh of relief) don't worry he doesn't know that much" *Order has been restored

[@v.k.8153]

But… but… When you asked what the chicken meat was called, I thought "poultry…"

[@macforme]

From poulet en français!

[@frankhooper7871]

All chicken is poultry, but not all poultry is chicken.

[@SantomPh]

Poultry is live chicken (like cows are referred to as cattle). So a shelf with poultry products includes fresh eggs, meat and other derivatives like skin, feet etc As beef was generally diversified much later we just call it beef products (although its root is French bouf). We're talking jerky, cut steaks, sausages, meatballs etc and not dairy. The meat itself is just called chicken.

[@mazzalnx]

What are live cows and chickens called in French...? I uh... Don't speak French. Le bouf commé le grassé...? Le poulet beccé le maissón? .-. Everything in French sounds similar, I'm now thinking of Le Bourget...

[@allanrichardson1468]

SantomPh And “poultry” includes other birds raised or hunted for meat: ducks, geese, turkeys, quail, etc. Wild turkey can be either poultry or an intoxicant.

[@BiscuitGeoff]

The sun never sets on the empire thing came about because the empire was so large that it had territory in every single time-zone, so the sun was always shining somewhere in the empire.

[@12...]

Wouldn't that mean the sun is *always* setting somewhere in the british empire?

[@Nagrom]

same difference

[@Lodatzor]

12Me21: But at no point was the sun set for all of it. So, within the empire as a whole, the sun never actually set, regardless of what is going on in individual parts.

[@2adamast]

Not the first empire to be called that way

[@markjarrett9400]

Was the first the Spanish?

[@wol9881]

Love the fact you said Llwellyn is easy to pronounce after pronouncing it wrong :) the Ll is it's own letter which has a pronunciation ( i cant explain it to you, just look it up you need to hear it) separate to a normal L

[@ynvassknrdar1233]

Incorrect. Before the Romans, Britain was inhabited by the Britons whose culture was Celtic. Also, England was already a kingdom before William invaded. In fact, the history of the Kingdom of England goes back to about 940 AD. William invaded in 1066.

[@pouritenne8996]

As far as I remember England was united by Wessex a hundred years before the Norman conquest

[@BrumBrum2222]

Yep

[@jackhenderson2562]

Yh but everyone wants us to get fucked cos every country wants to hate us

[@torinjones3221]

Couple hundred yes

[@markchambers1295]

Yes, Alfred the Great was the first man to unify the kingdom's of England. Although several had claimed the title before, he was the first King of all the English who held de facto power over the entire territory.

[@pry87]

Æthelstan was the first King of England and was when England was united into a single Kingdom. However before that several kings including Alfred The Great and his Grandfather (of Vikings TV show fame) Egbert held the Title Bretwalda (Wide Ruler or Britain Ruler). This is often referred to as "The King of The English" or "The King of the Anglo Saxons". There was no consistency in the title and was used when a King held dominance over the other Kings of the England/Britain (not necessarily all of them). Anglo Saxon history is fun and isn't confusing at all. Now lets all thank the Vikings for being an outside threat and forcing the unification of the Kingdoms and making everything more straight forward.

[@grandpursuit6853]

The native brits migrated from Britain to Brittany, not the reverse!

[@heidirichter]

Sorry, but this wasn't uip to your usual standard, some of it was poorly researched and just plain wrong. As an Australian, I can tell you we had federation in 1901, which is when Australia became our own country, even if still technically part of the Commonwealth. I don't know where you got 1986 from, but that's a long way from being correct my good man. I see other people have corrected you on some of the other things, but I hadn't seen anyone correct you on that, although I only skimmed comments and may have missed it.

[@ECloudDog]

This is over a year old. He's much better now

[@XYZUNKNOWN]

In 1986, the British Government officially had no power over Australia any more. Up to 1986 Australia had its own Government but the constitution meant that Britain could take over at any time. The constitution was changed in 1986. It was the same with Canada, they changed it in 1982.

[@defvii]

Australia didn't have a federal parliament until 1901. Or a Constitution for that matter. The state parliaments (still officially termed as colonies) were the ultimate legislative power.

[@MrHatoi]

Similar thing with Canada, they became a sovereign nation in 1932 but Britain still solely reserved the right to control their constitution until 1986.

[@maxmullen6337]

Troy Wilkins Re; 1986. I think he was referring to (though I doubt he realised it) to the appointment of a representative of the Queen to be the Australian head of state. I forget the details. It’s something like that. I’m sure it’s possible to google it.

[@JohnDRuddyMannyMan]

Although we do also use "poultry" as the umbrella term for the meats

[@JafacaksWasTaken]

poultry is just chicken

[@mmcgrath2510]

I thought it was just birds

[@BuriedDimension]

@@JafacaksWasTaken no

[@calum5975]

@@JafacaksWasTaken it's any domesticated fowl. Turkey, Chicken, Goose, Duck

[@mpad4497]

@@calum5975 pheasant

[@gregboi183]

4:00 "Llwellyn, it's not that difficult to pronounce" Mispronounces it

[@WelshBathBoy]

And spells it incorrectly!

[@davdlen]

Ll makes a "kl" sound, right?

[@benjones5407]

+M3M3R Not really, there's no velar stop element (/k/) to . But points for trying! Shakespeare also got it a little off, thinking that he heard when observing Welsh speakers of English (his character Fluellen is meant to be Llewelyn). The easiest advise I give people trying to pronounce the double L (in phonetics, a voiceless alveolar lateral "fricative") is to place your tongue at the roof of your mouth where you'd pronounce 'light' and then produce a stream of air (a fricative sound). In other words, keep the L sound going as long as you can (like an F sound). That's essentially it.

[@jayteegamble]

That's how they say it in No Country For Old Men! Which was the first time i ever heard that name. I agree that it's a kick ass name tho.

[@benjones5407]

+jayteegamble The name can be shortened to Llew, which coincidentally in Welsh is the word for Lion, so even more kickass, right?

[@gottjager760]

The sun never sets on the British empire because of the Pitcairn Islands witch are located in the south pacific.

[@arx3516]

GottJäger the sun never sets on the empite because God doens't trust englishmen in the dark!

[@rhodriowen4184]

Never forget the falklands!

[@polarbarr21]

Las Islas Malvinas

[@alexpennington8325]

The Sun never set on british overseas terratories

[@reb0118]

Is that a Madonna song?....

[@kerrytate7664]

The kingdom of England existed when William invaded.

[@siddakid4777]

I just subscribed, been watching for days now. Great work!

[@somewony]

The Britons didn't arrive from Brittany around the time of the Saxon invasions. They left for Brittany around that time. The Britons were just the indigenous celtic population of Britain.

[@KnowingBetter]

You are right, not sure how I made that mistake on this one.

[@Ftanftangfnarrr]

Some of the Britons did emigrate to Brittany however.

[@tellthemborissentyou]

New Zealand was discovered by the Maori, the Dutch arrived but never landed. The Dutch left after a battle at a place they named Murderers Bay (now Golden Bay). The British didn't take New Zealand off the Dutch, they agreed a treaty with the Maori people in 1840. New Zealand is an independent country. We became a Dominion in 1907, then ratified the Statute of Westminster in 1947, then repealed it with the Constitution Act 1986. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is the Queen of New Zealand in the same way James was king of both England and Scotland. Membership of the Commonwealth is open to any country once part of the Empire so the USA could join if it wanted to. You do not have to have the Queen as head of state to be a member. But please don't join as we would not win as many medals at the Commonwealth Games if you lot joined.

[@organicwater2177]

good on yey mate you said it well!

[@tombkings6279]

Jamie Middleton and canada

[@Cadmann778]

The confusion comes from the fact there are basically two groups referred to as the commonwealth, the Commonwealth of Nations which is the what you described, but also the Commonwealth Realms which are the 16 nations that retain the monarchy as their head of state

[@Roofhack]

Bit inconsequential to say Maori "discovered" New Zealand, "well of course they did." But the Maori had nothing to do with "world knowledge" that is the core Eurasian civilisation. If Chinese got there first, and Europeans heard about it through them, then the Chinese would have discovered it. But Maori had no connection to the larger knowledge base. This is the same reason why the Viking's 'discovery' of North America isn't compared to Columbus. Having the Dutch discover it, it was now known to the wider world (well eventually anyway). No, the British didn't take it off the Dutch, because the Dutch never did anything (they were interested more in money then anything else). But the British did effectively take it, the treaty was a minor appeasement (to their credit, Maori put up a good fight for a people disconnected from the rest of the world for so long). Everything about NZ's law, governance and society is British, not Maori. Heh, at least they still have some cute dancing and hakas.

[@tellthemborissentyou]

Roofhack perhaps you should ask Knowing Better to do a video on ethnocentrism.

[@KnightThomash]

I've been binge watching your channel for the past while now assuming that your content was well researched. As I know quite a bit about this topic I noticed that there are so many giant glaring mistakes in this video that I don't know if I can trust your other content anymore.

[@hastiebar]

Agreed always a lefty tint to all his output and never any counter balance.

[@Gerishnakov]

@@hastiebar That has nothing to do with the errors in this video.

[@AWWx2]

You are STILL WAY UNDERSUBSCRIBED, man! I love your videos, have loved them for over a year, and have been subscribed at least that long. But alas, I had NOT hit that bell to get notifications, so today, I'm going back over the last year of your videos to see which ones I missed out on, just because I didn't hit that bell.

[@thepickoftheday8414]

What? William the conqueror created the kingdom of England? Where are you getting your information? Apparently you don’t know as much about British history as you claim. England was united by Athelstan at brunanburh in 937. And also, the heptarchy had ceased existing since the early Nordic conquests and the great heathen army. How could you make such monumentous mistakes?

[@torinjones3221]

ThePickOfTheDay throws hands in the air in disbelief

[@marsnz1002]

He points out at the start he will only begin at 1066 because the history of Britain is so long. How did you miss such an obvious point?

[@thepickoftheday8414]

marsnz, He claimed that he would only “skim over” most of British history before 1066, not completely omit everything before then. Even if he did, that’s no excuse for falsely recalling the events that took place in 1066.

[@enderman_666]

And William wasn’t a French vassal as King of England, only as Duke of Normandy. His French possessions were under de jure French suzerainity, but not his English ones. He was both a sovereign in England and a vassal in Normandy at the same time.

[@King_George_VI]

Depending on which historian you read/listen to, the ‘modern’ state of England was founded in 1066. Not saying that it’s true! I’m merely saying that depending on what you consider ‘England’, and not a Saxon Kingdom in the British Isles, a Roman Britain independent of Rome, etc. It kind of depends on what your definition of ‘England’ is and when it was ‘truly’ England.

[@KnowingBetter]

Do you think we'll ever see the likes of the British Empire again? What country's history should I cover next? CORRECTIONS: The Britons were a group of Celts who lived on the western side of Britannia AND THEN in Brittany, France. The Istanbul (Not Constantinople) cartoon (performed by They Might Be Giants) was from Tiny Toons, not Animaniacs, I'm actually quite ashamed that my nostalgic memory failed me on that one.

[@grenndurango5588]

Iroquois and\or Sioux Nations would be neat if explained in similar format

[@irrelevant_noob]

i didn't get what's wrong with the saying "the sun never sets over the British Empire"... or is it just the fact that there's no such empire currently around?

[@DarkKing009]

Cymru am byth

[@Jack908r]

The sun still shines somewhere on a British territory, so it technically still never sets on the British empire. What's left of it anyway

[@hpsauce1078]

I would like to add that William of Normandy did not found England, Alfred the Great and Edward I set up the stage for a future England by expanding the kingdom of Wessex, King Canute inherited Wessex along with the danish lands, forming the North Sea Empire, he then died and his kingdom split into Denmark, Norway and England. England, finally an independent state was then ruled by St Edward the Confessor until his death in 1066 and the war between Harold Hadrada, Harold Godwinson and William.... Phew...

[@JoshKemp]

Love your videos here and on Nebula mate, thank you for your due diligence!

[@hansgruber788]

This really, really wasn't an accurate history of Britain.

[@davidosilverman900]

Agreed, he's neatly airbrushed out the first 8,500 years of it for a start.

[@insoft_uk]

They is allways the library for a complete history

[@batshineman174]

Dude it's a 13 minute video he said literally said that he wouldn't be able to talk about everything and would have to skip over stuff.

[@andrewhall7930]

I'm pedantic, and I like people to specify, so I'm not above or beneath typing a complaint in a comment section, but I always always make a suggestion for how it could be better. If you are going to complain about what was wrong with this video why not 1. (Do as I'm doing with your comment) Make a suggestion for how it could be improved. 2. Make your own video on the history of Britain? Don't just complain. Offer a solution.

[@brendanjrice7307]

Everyone: “saxons refers to old saxony, the idea of England was developed before William the conquered, the Welsh unification was much more complex” Me: “did he actually just call tiny toon adventures Animaniacs?”

[@eradius]

double L in welsh is not pronounced like that btw. the Britons (celts) inhabited the island since before the roman invasions long before the angles and saxons came. also hadrian's wall was originally 16-20 ft tall when it was in use.

[@hebekiah3623]

So how is it pronounced? or is it unspellable? Try going to Mazatlan in Mexico; you could spend all day trying to pronounce the final syllable and fail.

[@eradius]

@Hebekiah i cant really spell it but it kind of sounds somewhere between the noise a cat or a snake makes when it hisses. you sort of flatten your tongue out and blow.

[@eradius]

interestingly though LL and DD are their own letters in the welsh alphabet not two Ls or two Ds put together as you would imagine. mainly because its pretty ubiquitous in usage

[@eradius]

aye i did. was taught first language welsh

[@idot3331]

Hadrian's wall looks really short today, but it was actually about 10m tall when it was originally built. Which is still pretty small compared to other famous walls, but a lot taller than its ruins are today.

[@alanfike]

Great videos, dude!

[@ParkerDaiGames]

"Llwellyn. It's not that difficult to pronounce" *Spits out my laverbread*

[@marka2520]

One of my favourite quotes is based on the saying, "The sun never sets on the British Empire". Inviting the response from an Indian national, "Even God doesn't trust an Englishman in the dark". I'm Welsh by the way.

[@jeffreygao3956]

But didn't the Spanish get there first?

[@tutucaman8496]

love your videos man, keep it up

[@AJZulu]

Though... A lot of the material covered in this video isn't done correctly. As many Brits and Welsh people will attest.

[@JamieStLouis-tu9ml]

Yes. The Welsh Assembly was formed n 1997 not 1998. Also do not tell a Welsh man that wales is not it's own country. You will get an ear full. I can't say shot as the British do not have guns they way Americans do.

[@zakrowe1301]

@@JamieStLouis-tu9ml Wales isn't it's own country, neither are any of the constituencies of the UK.

[@luke-alex]

@@zakrowe1301 Actually Wales *is* a country, it's not a sovereign state but that's not what country means in the UK context

[@PaulLemars01]

Good grief, why did you bother with this? There are so many facts wrong in this that I don't know where to begin. Look, it's a complex subject with a lot of information and you're an American. Stick with small chunks of American history, you're quite good at that.

[@markburns84]

You keep calling the UK, England in the second half of the video, like they are interchangeable. They absolutely are not.

[@marka2520]

Welsh or Scottish? 😊

[@markburns84]

@@marka2520 haha, Scottish. I am not even some big patriot, it's just a minor (very) annoyance.

[@SpecialEDy]

@@MindSurf248 Y'all call us Americans, America is two whole continents not a country....

[@GhastlyG]

@@SpecialEDy wtf are you supposed to call us then?

[@SpecialEDy]

@@GhastlyG US citizens?

[@andyhan5008]

Omg the starship troopers reference of “WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE?” Is freaking awesome n hilarious on so many levels. I just started watching ur videos n keep me up bro these are some of the most objective n unbiased views of history ever

[@amehak1922]

your little freak out about that welsh city always brings a smile lol

[@konstantinosnikolakakis8125]

By the way, there's a word for when two or more nations that are separate but share a monarch, that's called a personal union.

[@papapossum9909]

I seriously love you videos. You should make one about Ferrets and how they came to be pets.

[@KnowingBetter]

+Hazel Primrose I did make one about that, it's one of my most popular videos. "The Forgotten History of Ferrets"

[@papapossum9909]

KnowingBetter NO WAY! I must search for it now!

[@s.leeyork3848]

I love you're videos!

[@jeffreygomzalez3825]

I love your videos !!!!

[@benkysan3246]

Wow everything he said about NZ was wrong. Dutch never controlled NZ so English couldn't have taken it from Dutch. NZ ceased being a dominion since 1947. It is just as fully independent as Canada etc.

[@morganseppy5180]

Good to know

[@duke9534]

NZ was discovered by the Maori. Europeans knew of NZ because of the Dutch, and thus the rest of the world.

[@he1ar1]

Alfred the Great united the English Kingdoms, known as Wessex; he was called King of the English. The north was ruled by the Danes. The Danes were paid money by English kings called danegeld to prevent them being raided by vikings. The Danes came the first ruler of a united England, Sweyn Forkbeard. While a saxon, somewhere, still called imself king of english. Cnut, his son, was Kingdom of all England, Denmark, Norway and some of Sweden and put an end to the vikings, mainly because he was the one who commanded them.

[@thirsklast438]

The Danish are Vikings.

[@kamil.g.m]

Thirsk Last Vikings are only the raiders, not the people

[@TheLofren]

This is an old video I know, but FYI, hadrian's wall was around 15 feet tall when it was built, it's only short because it's been plundered for building material during the 1900 years of disuse

[@EhrykMenze]

"Colonize that Subscribe Button" made me laugh so hard I went to click it and saw I was already subscribed. Good one!

[@baileyjorgensen2983]

Wales IS its own country in the country of the United Kingdom. England and Scotland are also their own countries, while Northern Ireland is a territory (if I remember correctly).

[@egbront1506]

It sort of goes, England and Scotland are kingdoms, Wales a principality and NI a province. In practical terms, they are all countries. Wales and England share a legislature, Scotland and NI have their own distinct ones and can legally print their own banknotes, as many of their banks do.

[@ellislloydjones7373]

3:59 all the welsh people die from it not being pronoubced 'Llewellyn' 😂😂

[@matthewdentistry2814]

i love your content my friend

[@timsullivan4566]

Loved the fork in the British outlet - nice touch.

[@DSMWannabeLinguist]

I found this video via Reddit, thanks for making our history so concise and easy to understand! There's a heck of a lot, so it's very easy to forget stuff. Great video!

[@markkram849]

Just a shame it's full of historical error from beginning to end.

[@Mr._Lechkar]

9:05 LOL that's actually Tiny Toons

[@CSCStudios2]

Sick video

[@barclaybower512]

For a channel for knowing better the amount of things you got wrong/oversimplified about the history of England is tremendous!

[@fredericsiekmann9242]

0:45 I wouldnt say that the saxons came from saxony, because that term is kind of vague and imprecise. I would say that the saxons that migrated to britain came from "lower saxony" and "holstein", because if you just say saxony germans think of the federal state of saxony which is in the east of germany. I know that you´re technically not wrong, but the word saxony is no longer being used in that way here in germany.

[@Elitist20]

I would argue Australia's real independence came in 1942 when it ratified the Statute of Westminster. Unlike Canada pre-1982, we've been able to amend our Constitution since the beginning (1901). We also had separate membership of the League of Nations and United Nations. The main effect of the Australia Act (1986) was to end appeals from Australian state Supreme Courts to the Privy Council in London, bypassing the High Court of Australia - the High Court is now the highest court of appeal.

[@leeandrew5567]

New sub from England mate 👍in Lancashire

[@frien_d]

I eventually googled the panhandle thing. Well played.

[@josephsheldon8582]

"Hi, I'm an American, but I do know some things about.. not America" Goes on to make highly inaccurate and uniformed video about not America. gj

[@Egonsraad]

"uniformed" lmao

[@countbinfaceglobalpresiden7926]

@@Egonsraad *GRAMMAR NAZI DETECTED*

[@SimonBromley]

Strangely technical the Sun has not yet set on the British Empire because we hold some island in the Pacific.

[@randemize9595]

and also the british oversea territories in oceania, south america and North america we own more than 4 islands

[@tash4943]

Ah yes the Islas Malvinas.

[@johanna-hypatiacybeleia2465]

What they neglect to mention is the flipside: that the Sun is constantly setting on the British Empire!

[@TheWanderingLPer]

It might be setting, but it never sets completely. And that is what matters.

[@salsaandbrwx1449]

also the falklands, sorry argentinia

[@mrkatse]

That Protoss clip... Nice!

[@Jessicahasopinions]

I'm a new subscriber, I was a fan after one video! You should do a series on the history of each state. If you do, do Maryland first since it's obviously the best out of all of them.

[@welshpete12]

Boy oh boy , have you got that wrong ! DO YOUR RESEARCH Before going public , I counted at least 6 things that are incorrect.

[@somewony]

Hadn't the seven countries already united when William conquered England?

[@kieranblane4299]

no they were nont

[@luke-alex]

yes

[@robmiranda7120]

I like you videos I visit the UK often And I’m taking the kids and wife this summer , I’d like to have better knowledge of the place Thanks !

[@StewartEvans52]

Hi knowing better,very interesting piece,would you or rather could you do a piece on the industrial revolution?

[@ClwydEnComu]

Ok. You got almost everything wrong about Wales. 1) "Wales was brought into the picture pretty quickly" - the Welsh are the remnants of the people who arrived before the Romans, the Britons. The Welsh (then living in all of Wales and modern-England) were conquered/integrated with the Romans who arrived with Julius Caesar, and as a result the Welsh language is the offspring of Celtic Brythonic and Roman Latin. When the Saxons invaded, they pushed these Brythonic people to the fringes of the island - which is why the hilliest parts of Great Britain are occupied by Celtic nations. Until the Kingdom of Great Britain came about, the words Welsh and Britons were used interchangeably to refer to the Welsh. Before William the Conqueror arrived in 1066, Wales had a King and was a separate entity to England. Harold Godwinson, the last Saxon king of England, earned his stripes by fighting the Welsh. Wales was never conquered by the Saxons, and Wales before and after King Gruffydd (1055-1063) was a collection of principalities. It took the Normans ~280 years to conquer Wales, and as a result, Edward I and Edward II's kingdom was pretty peniless. This is partly the reason Edward I was never able to conquer Scotland - Wales had cost him too much. 2) "It was given everything equal to England" - this was a considerable problem with annexation. Wales was given parliamentary representation - the condition, however, was that any holder of public office from tax collector to member of parliament was banned from speaking Welsh. Practically nobody in Wales at that time spoke English. You don't need to be an imperial historian to figure out why that's bad. Wales was not given everything equal to England, Wales was forcibly annexed by England. Historians (namely Johnes, G.A.Williams, etc.) have agreed that the violent policy of displacement of Welsh communities with the import of English settlers, the outlawing of the language of the Welsh, etc would have today been recognised as apartheid. Big difference to being "given everything equal to England". BTW, probably a good place to mention that you've missed out a civil war that lasted 15 years in which an alliance between the Welsh rebel Owain Glyndwr and the French King saw the English defeated in battle on English soil by French soldiers for the first and last time in a thousand years. Also probably a relevant place to include that Henry VIII's father, Henry VII, was Welsh and defeated King Richard III with a Welsh army that held the banner of Caradoc - the Red Dragon flag today is a combination of the dragon of Caradoc's banner, an ancient symbol of the Britons, and the green and white of the Tudor family to which Henry Tudur belonged. For a significant period, the English king was a Welshman. 3) "Which is why England and Wales are like THIS, son" - No, Wales and England are not like this, son. Wales is by far a more left-wing, communitarian nation than England. The red flag of socialism was associated with socialism first in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. The great social advances of the UK have been led by Welshmen, the pension and unemployment benefit by David Lloyd George from Caernarfon, and the National Health Service by Aneurin Bevan from Tredegar, Wales (which extended the Tredegar health insurance system to the whole island). Chartists who fought for the right of the working class to vote had their most violent uprisings in Wales, and Wales has voted for the socialist party since 1918. Culturally, very different places. You'd be best looking to core-periphery development theory for a better understanding of why this divide has happened. 4) "Wales didn't start their whole 'identity thing' until the 1950s and 60s" - Jesus, wrong. The Welsh have been Welsh since before the English were English. It's a testament to the Welsh people who came before that the culture, language, and identity has survived, and now support for independence stands at around 32%. True, the political campaign for independence kicked off properly in the 1950s and 1960s, but the 'identity' thing predates anything you've mentioned in the video. 5) "There's four Ls in a row, you can't do that" - In the Welsh language, LL is a single letter and pronounced differently to a single L. There are two LLs in a row. Just as Nottingham has two Ts next to each other, and Hull has two Ls. In this case, the two LLs form the end of one word and the beginning of the next in that place name, as the village is named descriptively. 6) "Wales didn't get it's own parliament until 1998" - Wales voted for an Assembly with administrative powers in 1997, which opened in 1999. In 2006, through a complicated legislative procedure, the Welsh Assembly was granted by the UK Parliament powers to create laws in a very roundabout way. In 2011, the Welsh voted again to give the Welsh Assembly full law-making powers, in 2017 the Welsh Assembly received tax-making powers (though any tax has to be approved by the UK government, which - as hinted at above - is difficult, because Wales always votes for the left-wing party and England (80%+ of the UK's MPs) mostly votes for the right-wing party). In 2020, the Welsh Assembly was renamed Senedd Cymru (or Parliament of Wales/Welsh Parliament). 7) "So while people always say that Wales is its own country - come on" - Wales is defined as a country by the UN, and matches all criteria for distinct geography, distinct culture, and now political jurisdiction. 8) "[The Prince of Wales has] almost no power there and it's almost entirely symbolic" - The Prince of Wales has no power in Wales. The principality of Wales since conquest only ever encompassed the north of the country, and the principality was abolished with the Acts of Union. Wales hasn't had principalities or been a principality since 1536. One for the beauty of the gesture, while I'm here. BONUS) "Guess how many kingdoms there were before William the Conqueror came along?... Seven" - Alfred the Great would contest this. He unified most of England in the 9th century, and Aethelstan in the 10th century was the first King of all modern England. You have nearly 200 years to account for. Eurgrhrhrghrhrgrhhhh. Why make a big video about something full of misinformation.

[@greenwaterdragon888]

The UK has been invaded by many countries but there is an indigenous people, and they are strong in spirit and it goes throughout the whole UK if they are British Scottish and Welsh and Northern Ireland.

[@felisunlighter]

and cornwall!

[@torinjones3221]

Nope. British is a collective of Scottish Welsh and English. This is one of the main causes of Brexit. The English are routinely ignored by the UK parliament and consistently called British which they actually don't like considering they're English with there own history and culture and traditions. It's also why they had to change the census to include English as an option because so many English were picking other instead of British.

[@quillo2747]

@@torinjones3221 The welsh are welsh, the scottish are scottish, but the english are forced to be british

[@1oriss]

The English are British, the Scots are British, the Welsh are British. The term British covers everyone from Briton not just the English. I'm English myself and would prefer you not to refer to me as British or even worse a Brit. Thank you very much.

[@calverinone]

I'm glad you weren't my history teacher or my A level results would have been very low indeed.

[@captainhoratiobungleiii7147]

Thanks for trying, but that was probably about as accurate as my attempt to explain US history would be. I would recommend a gander at Simon Schama's A History of Britain. It's several volumes, but really well written and enjoyable. It's also available on Audible or as a TV series.

[@0IDaveCouch]

Australia became an independent country when the seperate colonies came together in federation in 1901.

[@rathersane]

It's more complicated than that. The federation was formed in 1901 as a dominion of the British Empire. The federation as a whole then became independent with the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act of 1942. However, the individual states ceased to be British colonies with the passage of the Australia Act of 1986 which repealed the Colonial Laws Validity Act of 1865. Pretty weird, huh?

[@EdricoftheWeald]

11:47 Since it was the British alone who founded the abolition movement and enforced it across the world with the Royal Navy, this remark seems more than a little bit baseless. The Victorians gave their blood, toil, tears and treasure to eradicate slavery wherever they found it, against their own vested interests. You should do a video on the West Africa Squadron, the Blockade of Africa (yes, the whole continent) and the Abolition movement under Wilberforce.

[@derekhenschel3191]

The British and us both tried to stop the export of slaves from Africa after new slaves were outlawed in the us, it barely worked and was a waste of both nations time

[@maxdavis7722]

@@derekhenschel3191 what? The west Africa squadron freed a lot of slaves. It’s not secret that the British played a huge role in the global norm of slavery. Dunno about the US.

[@roberthall7830]

@@maxdavis7722 slavery was the world wide norm long before the European Africa trade started the word slave comes from slav because so many slavs were enslaved

[@maxdavis7722]

@@roberthall7830 I know, when I said global norm I meant as in ‘how it’s normal now that slaves aren’t accepted by countries’.

[@OgDeadbolt]

cool i was wondering this

[@thomaseason3154]

I didn't know "Mercantilism", so I hit the like button......like all the other channels have me do. Good stuff!

[@James-fw5ew]

11:03 says Australia became independent in 1986 but it was 1901

[@gamercai]

Wales is a country. The Welsh certainly weren't treated equally under the English legal code from when you said. Just have a look Owain Glyndwr and what started that! Yes Wales voted to leave the EU that doesn't make them besties with England in the same way that London isn't besties with Scotland because they voted to remain. Ll is it's own letter in Welsh and isn't pronounced as an l sound. I'm shocked to see the ignorance being spread by this video and I'd suggest you read more around these topics (or better yet visit Wales) before you publish them as it's upsetting to people who regularly have to deal with this misinformation.

[@markkram849]

Yes, Wales is a country. The 1536 and 1542 Acts of Union recognise it as such and define its territory, aside from having your own language and culture. The Brexit vote is entirely irrelevant to Welsh nationality. It just so happened that the majority of Welshmen voted to leave. The video is stuffed full of historical errors from beginning to end.

[@markkram849]

It comes across as either an F or Th sound to me as a non-Welsh speaker. Weirdly I find the pronunciation easier with some places than others. I've no problem with Llanelli but always seem to pronounce Llandudno as an L.

[@c.james1]

Me and most other Welsh people I know hate the English, just as much as the Scottish do. In a banter kind of way. Always cheering on the sides the England football/rugby team are playing against etc. Just see the video of the Welsh team after learning that England lost to Iceland in Euro 2016, haha.

[@Foxychik40]

Quote @CaiMartlew "The Welsh certainly weren't treated equally..." We're still not, sadly. I think until we can wean ourselves from Westminsters breast and stand up on our own two feet economically enough to be able to break away from the Union, we'll still be Englands bitch. I mean, any laws England want to make for themselves, they always 'test' on the Welsh first. 5p plastic bags, smoking in public places, the list goes on.

[@gamercai]

Foxychik40 Agreed. And that's probably not going to happen with ignorant people saying that Wales isn't even a country 😉

[@thefullshilling742]

"Welsh" or similar is believed to derive from Old German for "Stranger" (or similar) another entertaining video btw. Thanks mutchly!

[@kitsunekierein7253]

You should make the like/dislike a poll of two choices. If the ratio is periodically screwed anyway, you might as well make it a troupe of the channel. Lol. Keep it up, my dude

[@reecefinnigan4523]

England was a united nation before William the Conquerer rolled up. Im an Englishman but proud to be British too and I'm not sure our Welsh siblings will like the fact you referred to them as a principality and not a country lol. They're very much a country. One things for sure though, the wankers in Westminster don't speak for any of us ordinary people anymore whether they be English, Welsh, Scottish or northern Irish.

[@ameliagil4600]

"My King! We have ran out of land to colonise!" "What!? Did everyone claim everything already!?" "Yes my king." "What about the dutch?" "Well, they do have a few small colo--" "TAKE THEM! TAKE THEM ALL!"

[@ericmalanowski5547]

My brain died when he skipped over the Danelaw and how much impact it has had on the English language

[@wyattlong8321]

4:22 Just a correction here. Prince of Dorne is the title held by the Lord Paramount of the Dornish peninsula, a seat held by House Martell. They were allowed to keep their titles as princes and princesses because they successfully resisted Aegon the Conqueror and other Targaryen attempts to annex the region into the Seven Kingdoms. The Prince of Dorne IS NOT a title bestowed unto the heir apparent. The title you're looking for in that instance is Prince of Dragonstone. Sorry for the long correction, but you know so much that when I found something you were mistaken on I HAD to jump at the opportunity.

[@samuelcerullo9913]

I see we have another nerd in the midst

[@fredrickfraser1659]

Actually New France was made up of Quebec, Acadia, Most of Ontario, the Louisiana purchase, and the territory between the Mississippi and Appalachian mountains excluding Spanish Florida

[@markkram849]

Numerous historical errors here. The Celts were not the original inhabitants of the British Isles - before the Celts invaded, the islands were made up of numerous different Iron Age tribes and they did not conquer the whole - or even most - of the islands. Many of these non-Celtic tribes became client kingdoms of Rome and are recorded by Ptolemy. England was first unified in the late 9th Century by Alfred the Great. William the Bastard's claim to the English throne was that he had been named heir by Edward the Confessor. I think Knowing Better's confusion may in part lie with the absence of regnal numbers for the Anglo Saxon kings of England (for example, Edward I was actually the fourth English king called Edward - the Anglo Saxons used sobriquets instead of numbers to distinguish their kings). Prince of Wales was the title Prince of Wales was a title occasionally assumed by the Welsh (non-English) rulers of Welsh territories from the 12th Century onwards. Wales was a patchwork of independent kingdoms and lordships but occasionally a dominant leader would emerge, some of whom chose this as their title, most notablly Owain Gwyndyr. It became an honorific title of the heir apparent of the English throne in 1301 and has been in use (although sometimes vacant) since that time. The Acts of Union (1536 and 1542) legally unified the territories and as of 1542 Wales has been a disctinct country in its own right, ruled by the English monarch. To suggest Wales is not a country is an insult to our sheep shagging friends. The English monarch assumed the title Lord of Ireland between 1177 and 1542, claiming authority over the entire island, although the amount of island the English crown actually control ebbed and flowed. The Crown of Ireland was created in 1542 (not 1536) by the Irish Parliament's Crown of Ireland Act. De facto control of the whole island was not achieved until around 1607 when the Gaelic chieftains of Ulster abandoned their territories (the Flight of the Earls). After this large numbers of English and Scottish settlers migrated to Ulster (Plantation of Ulster) resulting in a majority protestant population in the north east of Ireland which produced a distinct national identity in that part of the island, which ultimately resulted in the formation of Northern Ireland. One of the principal problems with the latter part of the video is that it assigns far too much importance to the loss of the American colonies for the formation of the British Empire. The empire was formed from the 17th Century onward. The importance of the Caribbean to the empire is undervalued - they were key territories, not afterthoughts. Control over the Indian subcontinent was gradually established from 1757 onward through the East India Company. Whilst the loss of the valuable American colonies was a major setback, gaining control over India and Singapore were adequate compensations. Britain was the world's leading manufacturer of cotton from the late 18th century - this was because of the industrial revolution and technological innovation, not because of the American civil war! British influence in Egypt did not begin until Disraeli's purchase of the Suez canal in 1875 (10 years after the Civil War ended) and Britain did not take control of Egypt itself until 1882. Anyway, I hope this is of use. I've watched a few of Knowing Betters videos and I've found them pretty good and I really like his style of presentation. This one though, well, I feel it needed a bit more research.

[@bobbyscott2123]

Mark Kram there has always been Celtic tribes in Britain buddy the welsh are (Brythonic celts-Bretons )also the Cornish are Bretons Also even before the Irish tribes showed up in Scotland there was existing tribes on what is modern day 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿(Pictish, da ,raldian kingdom ,Caledonians (north Scotland I think ) And last but not least in what is now England there was the icinea tribes and many others The Celtic land once stretched from Ireland to Spain and all the way over to modern turkey and Russia Hope it helps cheers

[@markkram849]

Bobby Scott I'll freely admit my knowledge of ancient Britain is scanty (being generous!). Historians can't reach consensus on when the Celts arrived but they were not the original inhabitants. DNA evidence appears to suggest that the genetic influence of the celts was negligible whilst their linguistic and cultural influence in parts of Britain appears to have been substantial (in other parts it appears to have been non-existent). That suggests the possibility the celts were a ruling warrior class who achieved cultural dominance over pre-existing populations whom they subjugated but didn't replace. Celtic imperialism, perhaps? There is no evidence that the celts gained control of all of Britain (some historians believe they did but were beaten back by competing tribes to territories we think of as celtic Britain today - but there is no archaeological evidence for this). I think saying there were 'always' celtic tribes is also a bit of a stretch - the Brythonic celts don't appear to have arrived in Wales and Cornwall until the mid 1st millennium BC whilst the Goidelic celts appear to have arrived in Scotland and Ireland at some point during the 2nd millennium BC. This isn't really my period, not even close! It's a very interesting subject though and one I'd like to know more about. It's a bit of a minefield though, with controversy among historians, competing theories, fairly scant evidence and at the moment nothing approaching consensus. Added into that, it plays into several competing racial/national debates which are more political than historical. Bit of a tinder box, should be fun!

[@2adamast]

There was a great Gallic federation that included the southern part of Britain until it collapsed when the Romans took everything over.

[@markkram849]

Adamast - You've made some sweeping statements there for which you provide no evidence whatever. Is it accurate to call Brythonic Celts Gallic? Did the Celts in southern Britain form a 'federation'? (A fairly modern political concept, do we have any evidence - archeological or written - that this happened in pre-Roman Britain?) What was the extent of the Celtic territory? Did the Romans '[take] everything over' or did they oversee a system of client kingdoms and vassal states? No-one has suggested there wasn't a pre-Roman Celtic presence in southern Britain, the question we've been discussing is to what extent the Celts can be considered the indigenous peoples of these islands and what historical evidence we are basing our conclusions on. That being the case, I'm left wondering what the purpose of your comment was.

[@2adamast]

You're right I have nothing. But I nevertheless think that for example the Wales - Brittany link pre-dates the Romans. ... And apparently there is something about a federation "He claims that the English language split from the other Germanic languages before the Roman period, and became the English that was spoken by the Belgae tribes of what is now southern and eastern England, northeastern France, and Belgium prior to their conquest by the Romans, and long before the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons." (Oppenheimer) so my federation are the Belgea, but is of no help for Wales and Armorica appart from older genetics.

[@Len124]

Brittany means "Little Britain". The Britons was a general term for the Celts that inhabited Britannia, the Roman name for the island and Province, and were supplanted by the Anglo-Saxons when they arrived in late Antiquity. The Welsh is an example of Britons. They didn't settle from Brittany.

[@derrick73]

1:31 england had already been united by the time willy came around

[@johnnicholas3012]

Wales though - just as much as a country as Scotland

[@x_8643]

John Nicholas so not at all then

[@johnnicholas3012]

@@x_8643 we have separate parliaments than England

[@x_8643]

John Nicholas incorrect. The UK has a national government, and (apart from England) the other regions have a "devolved" regional government. This isn't unique to the UK. Canada has provincial governments as well as a national government. As with the US and its states. That doesn't make Ontario or Wyoming or Florida countries. So invalid point

[@radianzero]

Nope.

[@Morgalucci]

You may be surprised at the level of autonomy Wales has. Things are quite different between it and England, a lot like US states, except filled with sheep. Lots and lots of sheep.

[@Proteus_Ridley]

I went to Wales once on holiday and seeing signs in both English and this weird hard to pronounce language called Welsh, really confused me. Wales does not have as much autonomy as England. Take law for example, England and Wales, Scotland and NI (3 jurisdictions).

[@Morgalucci]

That doesn't mean laws are immediately passed in both Wales and England, though. Wales still has its own parliament with its own elected AMs. This has passed many laws enacting a charge on carrier bags and many other laws that England didn't.

[@MissionHomeowner]

@@Morgalucci If Wales were abolished and used as a landfill then England could be restored.

[@ChiefOfAss]

How about one on the Boer Woers [Pronounced WOE-er's]? More British stuff please. Loving this channel.

[@eddw7650]

Just a correction for the intro section: Before the Anglo-Saxons arrived Britain had always been known as Brittania, and its people the Britons. The people of Brittany are actually descended from Britons who fled the Anglo-Saxon advance, rather than the other way around. And the Modern English are a mix of the Britons and those Germanic settlers/Invaders. Always like your videos!

[@karsentube13yt]

Great video but a few things: 1: The Kingdom of England was already a thing when William the Conquerer invaded 2: The Britons arrived way before the Anglo-Saxons in fact the Anglo Saxons arrived about 800 years after the Britons when Rome abandoned the island 3: Britannia isn’t just England Britannia is Great Britain 4: That wall picture of “Hadrian’s Wall” is actually The Antonine Wall 5: Saxony is not in northern Germany 6: The Angles and the Saxons came from Schleswig-Holstein (northern Germany and southern Denmark)

[@DarkKing009]

Cymru am byth

[@heronimousbrapson863]

I believe the English did have the letter y, as did the French and the Germans. There was in fact a word "ye"; it was the plural of "thou". Also there was a word ye (with two dots over the e), pronounced "ee-uh" which was the plural of "eye" in middle english.

[@heins6157]

Excellent