Which Groups Conquered Parts of What Is Now the United Kingdom?

Successive waves of conquest shaped the British Isles:

1. Romans (43–410 CE) – Conquered England, Wales; pushed into Scotland (Antonine Wall). Latin, roads, cities, law.
2. Anglo-Saxons (5th–7th c.) – Angles, Saxons, Jutes from Denmark/N. Germany settled England; created Heptarchy (7 kingdoms).
3. Vikings (8th–11th c.) – Norse raiders/settlers; Danelaw (NE England), Dublin, York, Orkney/Shettland, Hebrides. Cnut's North Sea Empire.
4. Normans (1066) – William the Conqueror; feudalism, Domesday, French language, castles, new aristocracy.
5. English/Welsh conquest (1282) – Edward I subdues Wales; Statute of Rhuddlan annexes it.
6. Scotland: Never fully conquered. Wars of Independence (1296–1357); Union of Crowns 1603; Acts of Union 1707 (voluntary, contested).
7. Ireland: Norman invasion 1169; Tudor conquest 1536–1603; Plantations; Act of Union 1801; Partition 1921.

Each wave layered language, law, landholding, genetics—creating the UK's complex identity.