122-426: Sir Thomas North (28 May 1535 – c. 1604) was an English translator, military officer, lawyer, and justice of the peace. His translation into English of Plutarch 's Parallel Lives is notable for being the main source text used by William Shakespeare for his Roman plays. Thomas North was born between 9 and 10 o'clock at night on Friday, 28 May 1535, in the parish of St Alban, Wood Street , in
244-468: A Volscian army is in the field. The commander of the Volscian army, Tullus Aufidius , has fought Marcius on several occasions and considers him a blood enemy. The Roman army is commanded by Cominius, with Marcius as his deputy. While Cominius takes his soldiers to meet Aufidius's army, Marcius rallies Roman troops in front of the Volscian city of Corioli . The siege of Corioli is initially unsuccessful, but
366-510: A Websterian bloodbath in the fifth act. A later adaptation, John Dennis 's The Invader of His Country, or The Fatal Resentment , was booed off the stage after three performances in 1719. The title and date indicate Dennis's intent, a vitriolic attack on the Jacobite 'Fifteen . (Similar intentions motivated James Thomson 's 1745 version, though this bears only a very slight resemblance to Shakespeare's play. Its principal connection to Shakespeare
488-465: A brilliant Roman general whom they blame for the loss of their grain. The rioters encounter a patrician named Menenius Agrippa , as well as Caius Marcius himself. Menenius tries to calm the rioters, while Marcius is openly contemptuous, and says that the plebeians are not worthy of the grain because of their lack of military service. Two of the tribunes of Rome, Brutus and Sicinius, privately denounce Marcius. Marcius leaves Rome after news arrives that
610-511: A ceremonial county, or be a district tier within a shire county , be a royal or metropolitan borough , have borough or city status , or be a unitary authority . At the community level, much of England is divided into civil parishes with their own councils ; in Greater London only one such parish, Queen's Park , exists as of 2014 after they were abolished in 1965 until legislation allowed their recreation in 2007. From 1994 until
732-479: A compendium of moral counsels chiefly compiled from the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius , under the title of Diall of Princes . The English of this work is one of the earliest specimens of the ornate, copious and pointed style for which educated young Englishmen had acquired a taste in their Continental travels and studies. North translated from a French copy of Guevara, but seems to have been well acquainted with
854-437: A composite of Shakespeare's Coriolanus with Bertolt Brecht 's Coriolan , entitled Coriolan/us, in a disused hangar at MOD St Athan . Directed by Mike Brookes and Mike Pearson, the production used silent disco headsets to permit the text to be heard while the dramatic action moved throughout the large space. The production was well received by critics. In December 2013, Donmar Warehouse opened their new production. It
976-560: A digest of Livy by Lucius Annaeus Florus ; both of these were commonly used texts in Elizabethan schools. Machiavelli 's Discourses on Livy were available in manuscript translations, and could also have been used by Shakespeare. He might also have made use of Plutarch's original source, the Roman Antiquities of Dionysius of Halicarnassus , as well as on his own knowledge of Roman custom and law. Most scholars date Coriolanus to
1098-501: A geographical frame of reference. Of these, 38 developed gradually since the Middle Ages ; these were reformed to 51 in 1974 and to their current number in 1996. Each has a Lord Lieutenant and High Sheriff ; these posts are used to represent the British monarch locally. Some counties, such as Herefordshire , are only divided further into civil parishes. The royal county of Berkshire and
1220-523: A joke dependent upon this pronunciation, and the parody The Complete Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged) refers to it as "the anus play". Shakespeare pronunciation guides list both pronunciations as acceptable. Cole Porter 's song "Brush Up Your Shakespeare" from the musical Kiss Me, Kate includes the lines: "If she says your behaviour is heinous,/Kick her right in the Coriolanus". Based on Coriolanus , and written in blank verse, "Complots of Mischief"
1342-552: A modern production. The play is basically about the birth of democracy." In 2011, Ralph Fiennes directed and starred as Coriolanus with Gerard Butler as Aufidius and Vanessa Redgrave as Volumnia in a modern-day film adaptation Coriolanus . It was released on DVD and Blu-ray in May, 2012. It has a 93% rating on the film review site Rottentomatoes.com. Slavoj Žižek argued that unlike preceding adaptations, Fiennes' film portrayed Coriolanus without trying to rationalise his behaviour, as
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#17328700931041464-641: A passage from his own The Waste Land when he wrote, "Revive for a moment a broken Coriolanus." Coriolanus has the distinction of being among the few Shakespeare plays banned in a democracy in modern times. It was briefly suppressed in France in the late 1930s because of its use by the fascist element, and Slavoj Žižek noted its prohibition in Post-War Germany due to its intense militarism. Like some of Shakespeare's other plays ( All's Well That Ends Well ; Antony and Cleopatra ; Timon of Athens ), there
1586-594: A profound and permanent effect on the English language. Subsequently, the House of Plantagenet from Anjou inherited the English throne under Henry II , adding England to the budding Angevin Empire of fiefs the family had inherited in France including Aquitaine . They reigned for three centuries, some noted monarchs being Richard I , Edward I , Edward III and Henry V . The period saw changes in trade and legislation, including
1708-496: A raw figure for the "radical left " whom he compares to Che Guevara, whom Žižek characterises as making clear that "a revolutionary also has to be a 'killing machine'". In 2019, the Tanghalang Pilipino staged a Filipino translation of the tragedy. It was translated by Guelan Varela-Luarca and was directed by Carlos Siguion-Reyna. The play was led by TP Actors Company's senior member Marco Viaña as Coriolanus, opposite to him
1830-446: A struggle for hegemony between Northumbria and Mercia, which in the 8th century gave way to Mercian preeminence. In the early 9th century Mercia was displaced as the foremost kingdom by Wessex. Later in that century escalating attacks by the Danes culminated in the conquest of the north and east of England, overthrowing the kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia and East Anglia. Wessex under Alfred
1952-645: A ticket to one of these plays, let it be Coriolanus ." The play was broadcast in cinemas in the UK and internationally on 30 January 2014 as part of the National Theatre Live programme. Bertolt Brecht adapted Shakespeare's play in 1952–55, as Coriolan for the Berliner Ensemble . He intended to make it a tragedy of the workers, not the individual, and introduce the alienation effect ; his journal notes showing that he found many of his own effects already in
2074-579: Is Brian Sy as Tullus Aufidius, Frances Makil-Ignacio and Sherry Lara alternating the role of Volumnia. Along with them are Jonathan Tadioan as Menenius, JV Ibesate as Velutus, Doray Dayao as Brutus, and the Tanghalang Pilipino Actors Company. While the title character's name's pronunciation in classical Latin has the a pronounced "[aː]" in the IPA , in English the a is usually pronounced "[eɪ]." Ken Ludwig 's Moon Over Buffalo contains
2196-533: Is a tragedy by William Shakespeare , believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus . Shakespeare worked on it during the same years he wrote Antony and Cleopatra , making them his last two tragedies. Coriolanus is the name given to a Roman general after his military feats against the Volscians at Corioli . Following his success he seeks to be consul , but his disdain for
2318-615: Is a non-departmental public body, established in 1995 and sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with responsibilities relating to the protection and enhancement of the environment in England. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is the minister responsible for environmental protection, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in England. Coriolanus Coriolanus ( / k ɒ r i ə ˈ l eɪ n ə s / or /- ˈ l ɑː -/ )
2440-412: Is also applied to England in a more poetic capacity, though its original meaning is the island of Britain as a whole. The earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor , dating to about 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago. Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during
2562-534: Is damp relatively frequently and is changeable. The coldest months are January and February, the latter particularly on the English coast , while July is normally the warmest month. Months with mild to warm weather are May, June, September and October. Rainfall is spread fairly evenly throughout the year. Important influences on the climate of England are its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean , its northern latitude and
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#17328700931042684-622: Is governed directly by the Parliament of the United Kingdom , although other countries of the United Kingdom have devolved governments. There has been debate about how to counterbalance this in England. Originally it was planned that various regions of England would be devolved, but following the proposal's rejection by the North East in a 2004 referendum , this has not been carried out. In 2024, an England-only intergovernmental body, known as
2806-515: Is hesitant to do this, but he bows to his mother's wishes. He effortlessly wins the support of the Roman Senate , and seems at first to have won over the plebeians as well. However, Brutus and Sicinius scheme to defeat Coriolanus and instigate another plebeian riot in opposition to his becoming consul. Faced with this opposition, Coriolanus flies into a rage and rails against the concept of popular rule . He compares allowing plebeians to have power over
2928-640: Is high moorland in upland areas, indented by fertile valleys of the region's rivers. They contain two national parks , the Yorkshire Dales and the Peak District . In the West Country , Dartmoor and Exmoor of the Southwest Peninsula include upland moorland supported by granite. The English Lowlands are in the central and southern regions of the country, consisting of green rolling hills, including
3050-459: Is his own self-image, whereas acceptance of praise might imply that his value is affected by others' opinion of him. The play is less frequently produced than the other tragedies of the later period, and is not so universally regarded as great. (Bradley, for instance, declined to number it among his famous four in the landmark critical work Shakespearean Tragedy. ) In his book Shakespeare's Language , Frank Kermode described Coriolanus as "probably
3172-595: Is in the last-named play that he follows the Lives most closely, whole speeches being taken directly from North. New-found documents, manuscripts, and marginal notes written by Thomas North and other North-family members also indicate that North wrote plays for the Earl of Leicester's Men and that Shakespeare adapted some of North's plays for the public theatre. England – in Europe (green & dark grey) – in
3294-515: Is indirect; Thomas Sheridan 's 1752 production at Smock Alley used some passages of Thomson's. David Garrick returned to Shakespeare's text in a 1754 Drury Lane production. Laurence Olivier first played the part at The Old Vic in 1937 and again at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in 1959. In that production, he performed Coriolanus's death scene by dropping backwards from a high platform and being suspended upside-down without
3416-704: Is known as the lost colony after it was found abandoned on the return of the late-arriving supply ship. With the East India Company , England also competed with the Dutch and French in the East. During the Elizabethan period, England was at war with Spain. An armada sailed from Spain in 1588 as part of a wider plan to invade England and re-establish a Catholic monarchy. The plan was thwarted by bad coordination, stormy weather and successful harrying attacks by an English fleet under Lord Howard of Effingham . This failure did not end
3538-603: Is mostly found in the north and west, including Dartmoor , the Lake District , the Pennines , and the Shropshire Hills . The country's capital is London , the metropolitan area of which has a population of 14.2 million as of 2021, representing the United Kingdom's largest metropolitan area. England's population of 56.3 million comprises 84% of the population of the United Kingdom, largely concentrated around London,
3660-465: Is no recorded performance of Coriolanus prior to the Restoration . After 1660, however, its themes made it a natural choice for times of political turmoil. The first known performance was Nahum Tate 's bloody 1682 adaptation at Drury Lane . Seemingly undeterred by the earlier suppression of his Richard II , Tate offered a Coriolanus that was faithful to Shakespeare through four acts before becoming
3782-549: Is part of the United Kingdom, a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system . There has not been a government of England since 1707, when the Acts of Union 1707 , putting into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union , joined England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain . Before the union England was ruled by its monarch and the Parliament of England . Today England
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3904-465: Is similar to that of other areas in the British Isles with a wide range of vertebrate and invertebrate life in a diverse range of habitats. National nature reserves in England are designated by Natural England as key places for wildlife and natural features in England. They were established to protect the most significant areas of habitat and of geological formations. NNRs are managed on behalf of
4026-623: Is that the surviving text of the play is divided into acts; this suggests that it could have been written for the indoor Blackfriars Theatre , at which Shakespeare's company began to perform in 1608, although the act-breaks could instead have been introduced later. The play's themes of popular discontent with government have been connected by scholars with the Midland Revolt , a series of peasant riots in 1607 that would have affected Shakespeare as an owner of land in Stratford-upon-Avon ; and
4148-685: The BBC Television Shakespeare series produced a version of the play. It starred Alan Howard and was directed by Elijah Moshinsky . In 2003, the Royal Shakespeare Company performed a new staging of Coriolanus (along with two other plays) starring Greg Hicks at the University of Michigan . The director, David Farr, saw the play as depicting the modernisation of an ancient ritualised culture, and drew on samurai influences to illustrate that view. He described it as "in essence,
4270-509: The 1535–1542 acts . There were internal religious conflicts during the reigns of Henry's daughters, Mary I and Elizabeth I . The former took the country back to Catholicism while the latter broke from it again, forcefully asserting the supremacy of Anglicanism . The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor age of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I ("the Virgin Queen"). Historians often depict it as
4392-624: The Age of Discovery . Henry VIII broke from communion with the Catholic Church, over issues relating to his divorce, under the Acts of Supremacy in 1534 which proclaimed the monarch head of the Church of England . In contrast with much of European Protestantism , the roots of the split were more political than theological. He also legally incorporated his ancestral land Wales into the Kingdom of England with
4514-568: The Angeln region of what is now the German state of Schleswig-Holstein . The earliest recorded use of the term, as " Engla londe ", is in the late-ninth-century translation into Old English of Bede 's Ecclesiastical History of the English People . The term was then used to mean "the land inhabited by the English", and it included English people in what is now south-east Scotland but was then part of
4636-574: The Battle of Trafalgar confirmed the naval supremacy Britain had established during the course of the eighteenth century. The Napoleonic Wars fostered a concept of Britishness and a united national British people , shared with the English, Scots and Welsh. London became the largest and most populous metropolitan area in the world during the Victorian era , and trade within the British Empire – as well as
4758-532: The Battle of Watling Street . The author of one study of Roman Britain suggested that from 43 AD to 84 AD, the Roman invaders killed somewhere between 100,000 and 250,000 people from a population of perhaps 2,000,000. This era saw a Greco-Roman culture prevail with the introduction of Roman law , Roman architecture , aqueducts , sewers , many agricultural items and silk. In the 3rd century, Emperor Septimius Severus died at Eboracum (now York ), where Constantine
4880-648: The British Isles , but also from the Commonwealth , particularly the Indian subcontinent . Since the 1970s there has been a large move away from manufacturing and an increasing emphasis on the service industry . As part of the United Kingdom, the area joined a common market initiative called the European Economic Community which became the European Union . Since the late 20th century the administration of
5002-599: The City of London . He was the second son of the Edward North, 1st Baron North . He is supposed to have been a student of Peterhouse, Cambridge , and was entered at Lincoln's Inn in 1557. In 1555, during the reign of the Catholic Queen Mary, he travelled in an embassy to Rome with Thomas Thirlby, Bishop of Ely ( c. 1506-1570); Anthony Browne, Viscount Montague (1552-1592); and Sir Edward Carne ( c. 1500-1561). Their mission
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5124-596: The Cotswold Hills , Chiltern Hills , North and South Downs ; where they meet the sea they form white rock exposures such as the cliffs of Dover . This also includes relatively flat plains such as the Salisbury Plain , Somerset Levels , South Coast Plain and The Fens . England has a temperate maritime climate : it is mild with temperatures not much lower than 0 °C (32 °F) in winter and not much higher than 32 °C (90 °F) in summer. The weather
5246-712: The Court of Appeal , the High Court of Justice for civil cases, and the Crown Court for criminal cases. The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is the highest court for criminal and civil cases in England and Wales . It was created in 2009 after constitutional changes, taking over the judicial functions of the House of Lords . A decision of the Supreme Court is binding on every other court in
5368-567: The Courts of England and Wales continued, under the Treaty of Union , as a separate legal system from the one used in Scotland . The general essence of English law is that it is made by judges sitting in courts, applying their common sense and knowledge of legal precedent – stare decisis – to the facts before them. The court system is headed by the Senior Courts of England and Wales, consisting of
5490-493: The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition , "[i]t is almost impossible to overestimate the influence of North's vigorous English on contemporary writers, and some critics have called him the first master of English prose". The Lives translation formed the source from which Shakespeare drew the materials for his Julius Caesar , Coriolanus , Timon of Athens , and Antony and Cleopatra . It
5612-705: The French Revolution , under George III and William Pitt the Younger . The regency of George IV is noted for its elegance and achievements in the fine arts and architecture. During the Napoleonic Wars , Napoleon planned to invade from the south-east ; however, this failed to manifest and the Napoleonic forces were defeated by the British: at sea by Horatio Nelson , and on land by Arthur Wellesley . The major victory at
5734-482: The Kingdom of Great Britain . England is the origin of the English language , the English legal system (which served as the basis for the common law systems of many other countries), association football , and the Anglican branch of Christianity; its parliamentary system of government has been widely adopted by other nations. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into
5856-700: The Labour Party , 116 from the Conservative Party , 65 from the Liberal Democrats , five for Reform UK and four for the Green Party of England and Wales . The English law legal system, developed over the centuries, is the basis of common law legal systems used in most Commonwealth countries and the United States (except Louisiana ). Despite now being part of the United Kingdom, the legal system of
5978-550: The Latin word Anglii is used. The etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars; it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. How and why a term derived from the name of this tribe, rather than others such as the Saxons , came to be used for the entire country is not known, but it seems this is related to the custom of calling
6100-447: The Marlovian conqueror Tamburlaine , whose militaristic pride finds its parallel in Coriolanus. Readers and playgoers have often found him an unsympathetic character, as his caustic pride is strangely, almost delicately balanced at times by a reluctance to be praised by his compatriots and an unwillingness to exploit and slander for political gain. His dislike of being praised might be seen as an expression of his pride; all he cares about
6222-424: The Mayoral Council for England , was established to bring together ministers from the UK Government , the Mayor of London and the leaders of combined authorities . In the House of Commons which is the lower house of the British Parliament based at the Palace of Westminster , there are 543 members of parliament (MPs) for constituencies in England, out of the 650 total. England is represented by 347 MPs from
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#17328700931046344-438: The Ministry of Justice , manages most prisons, housing 81,309 prisoners in England and Wales as of September 2022 . The subdivisions of England consist of up to four levels of subnational division , controlled through a variety of types of administrative entities created for the purposes of local government . Outside the London region, England's highest tier is the 48 ceremonial counties . These are used primarily as
6466-518: The Severn is the longest river flowing through England. It empties into the Bristol Channel and is notable for its Severn Bore (a tidal bore ), which can reach 2 metres (6.6 ft) in height. However, the longest river entirely in England is the Thames, which is 215 miles (346 km) in length. There are many lakes in England ; the largest is Windermere , within the aptly named Lake District . Most of England's landscape consists of low hills and plains, with upland and mountainous terrain in
6588-416: The South East , and conurbations in the Midlands , the North West , the North East , and Yorkshire , which each developed as major industrial regions during the 19th century. The name "England" is derived from the Old English name Englaland , which means "land of the Angles ". The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages . They came from
6710-479: The State Opening of Parliament by the British monarch when the doors of the House of Commons are slammed in the face of the monarch's messenger, symbolising the rights of Parliament and its independence from the monarch. With the founding of the Royal Society in 1660, science was greatly encouraged. In 1666 the Great Fire of London gutted the city of London, but it was rebuilt shortly afterward with many significant buildings designed by Sir Christopher Wren . By
6832-451: The Stuart dynasty England expanded in trade, finance and prosperity. The Royal Navy developed Europe's largest merchant fleet. After the parliaments of England and Scotland agreed, the two countries joined in political union , to create the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. To accommodate the union, institutions such as the law and national churches of each remained separate. Under the newly formed Kingdom of Great Britain, output from
6954-433: The Trinovantes . The Romans invaded Britain in 43 AD during the reign of Emperor Claudius , subsequently conquering much of Britain , and the area was incorporated into the Roman Empire as Britannia province . The best-known of the native tribes who attempted to resist were the Catuvellauni led by Caratacus . Later, an uprising led by Boudica , Queen of the Iceni , ended with Boudica's suicide following her defeat at
7076-412: The United Kingdom (green) England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom . It is located on the island of Great Britain , of which it covers about 62%, and more than 100 smaller adjacent islands . It has land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, and is otherwise surrounded by the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south, the Celtic Sea to
7198-419: The Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years. After the last ice age only large mammals such as mammoths , bison and woolly rhinoceros remained. Roughly 11,000 years ago, when the ice sheets began to recede, humans repopulated the area; genetic research suggests they came from the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula . The sea level
7320-606: The body politic is derived from William Camden 's Remaines of a Greater Worke Concerning Britaine (1605), where Pope Adrian IV compares a well-run government to a body in which "all parts performed their functions, only the stomach lay idle and consumed all"; the fable is also alluded to in John of Salisbury 's Policraticus (Camden's source) and William Averell 's A Marvailous Combat of Contrarieties (1588). Other sources have been suggested, but are less certain. Shakespeare might also have drawn on Livy 's Ab Urbe condita , as translated by Philemon Holland , and possibly
7442-470: The canal age in Britain . In 1825 the world's first permanent steam locomotive-hauled passenger railway – the Stockton and Darlington Railway – opened to the public. During the Industrial Revolution , many workers moved from England's countryside to new and expanding urban industrial areas to work in factories, for instance at Birmingham and Manchester , with the latter the world's first industrial city. England maintained relative stability throughout
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#17328700931047564-435: The decline of the Roman Empire , Britain was left exposed by the end of Roman rule in Britain and the withdrawal of Roman army units, to defend the frontiers in continental Europe and partake in civil wars. Celtic Christian monastic and missionary movements flourished. This period of Christianity was influenced by ancient Celtic culture in its sensibilities, polity, practices and theology. Local "congregations" were centred in
7686-434: The golden age in English history that represented the apogee of the English Renaissance and saw the flowering of great art, drama, poetry, music and literature. England during this period had a centralised, well-organised, and effective government. Competing with Spain , the first English colony in the Americas was founded in 1585 by explorer Walter Raleigh in Virginia and named Roanoke . The Roanoke colony failed and
7808-473: The jet engine led to wider air travel . Residential patterns were altered in England by private motoring, and by the creation of the National Health Service in 1948, providing publicly funded health care to all permanent residents free at the point of need. Combined, these prompted the reform of local government in England in the mid-20th century. Since the 20th century, there has been significant population movement to England, mostly from other parts of
7930-489: The plebeians and mutual hostility with the tribunes lead to his banishment from Rome. In exile, he presents himself to the Volscians, then leads them against Rome. After he relents and agrees to a peace with Rome, he is killed by his previous Volscian allies. The play opens in Rome shortly after the expulsion of the Tarquin kings. There are riots in progress after stores of grain have been withheld from ordinary citizens. The rioters are particularly angry at Caius Marcius ,
8052-459: The "humorous patrician". In Variety , David Benedict wrote that Deborah Findlay in her commanding maternal pride, held beautifully in opposition by Birgitte Hjort Sørensen as Coriolanus's wife Virgilia. Helen Lewis, in her review of Coriolanus , along with two other concurrently running sold-out Shakespeare productions with celebrity leads— David Tennant 's Richard II and Jude Law 's Henry V —concludes "if you can beg, borrow or plunder
8174-426: The 32 London Boroughs and the 25 Wards of the City of London . Geographically, England includes the central and southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain, plus such offshore islands as the Isle of Wight and the Isles of Scilly . It is bordered by two other countries of the United Kingdom: to the north by Scotland and to the west by Wales. England is closer than any other part of mainland Britain to
8296-435: The 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in the 10th century and has had extensive cultural and legal impact on the wider world since the Age of Discovery , which began during the 15th century. The Kingdom of England , which included Wales after 1535, ceased to be a separate sovereign state on 1 May 1707, when the Acts of Union brought into effect a political union with the Kingdom of Scotland that created
8418-516: The 6th century. Contemporary texts describing this period are extremely scarce, giving rise to its description as a Dark Age . Details of the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain are consequently subject to considerable disagreement; the emerging consensus is that it occurred on a large scale in the south and east but was less substantial to the north and west, where Celtic languages continued to be spoken even in areas under Anglo-Saxon control. Roman-dominated Christianity had, in general, been replaced in
8540-488: The Earl of Essex, just before the Siege of Rouen. He returned again to help quell Tyrone's Rebellion in Ireland in 1596. His name is on the roll of justices of the peace for Cambridge in 1592 and again in 1597. He was presented with a reward of £25 for his part in putting down Essex's Rebellion in 1601, and received a small pension (£40 a year) from Queen Elizabeth that same year. He translated, in 1557, Guevara 's Reloj de Principes (commonly known as Libro áureo ),
8662-448: The English kingdom of Northumbria . The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded that the Domesday Book of 1086 covered the whole of England, meaning the English kingdom, but a few years later the Chronicle stated that King Malcolm III went "out of Scotlande into Lothian in Englaland", thus using it in the more ancient sense. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus , Germania , in which
8784-574: The European continent. It is separated from France ( Hauts-de-France ) by a 21-mile (34 km) sea gap, though the two countries are connected by the Channel Tunnel near Folkestone . England also has shores on the Irish Sea , North Sea and Atlantic Ocean. The ports of London, Liverpool , and Newcastle lie on the tidal rivers Thames , Mersey and Tyne respectively. At 220 miles (350 km),
8906-546: The French version by Jacques Amyot . The first edition was dedicated to Queen Elizabeth , and was followed by another edition in 1595, containing fresh Lives . A third edition of his Plutarch was published, in 1603, with more translated Parallel Lives, and a supplement of other translated biographies . North's Plutarch was reprinted for the Tudor Translations (1895), with an introduction by George Wyndham . According to
9028-825: The Germanic people in Britain Angli Saxones or English Saxons to distinguish them from continental Saxons (Eald-Seaxe) of Old Saxony in Germany. In Scottish Gaelic , the Saxon tribe gave their name to the word for England ( Sasunn ); similarly, the Welsh name for the English language is Saesneg . A romantic name for England is Loegria , related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr , and made popular by its use in Arthurian legend . Albion
9150-500: The Great was left as the only surviving English kingdom, and under his successors, it steadily expanded at the expense of the kingdoms of the Danelaw . This brought about the political unification of England, first accomplished under Æthelstan in 927 and definitively established after further conflicts by Eadred in 953. A fresh wave of Scandinavian attacks from the late 10th century ended with
9272-588: The North, and the successful Norman Conquest in October 1066, accomplished by an army led by Duke William of Normandy invading at Hastings late September 1066. The Normans themselves originated from Scandinavia and had settled in Normandy in the late 9th and early 10th centuries. This conquest led to the almost total dispossession of the English elite and its replacement by a new French-speaking aristocracy, whose speech had
9394-658: The Pope. During the 14th century, the Plantagenets and the House of Valois claimed to be legitimate claimants to the House of Capet and of France; the two powers clashed in the Hundred Years' War . The Black Death epidemic hit England ; starting in 1348, it eventually killed up to half of England's inhabitants . Between 1453 and 1487, a civil war known as the War of the Roses waged between
9516-650: The Romans conquer it when Marcius is able to force open the gates of the city. Even though he is exhausted from the fighting, Marcius marches quickly to join Cominius and fight the other Volscian forces. Marcius and Aufidius meet in single combat, fighting until Aufidius's own soldiers drag him away from the battle. In recognition of his great courage, Cominius gives Caius Marcius the agnomen , or "official nickname ", of Coriolanus . When they return to Rome, Coriolanus's mother Volumnia encourages her son to run for consul . Coriolanus
9638-976: The Royal Society and other English initiatives combined with the Scottish Enlightenment to create innovations in science and engineering, while the enormous growth in British overseas trade protected by the Royal Navy paved the way for the establishment of the British Empire . Domestically it drove the Industrial Revolution , a period of profound change in the socioeconomic and cultural conditions of England, resulting in industrialised agriculture, manufacture, engineering and mining, as well as new and pioneering road, rail and water networks to facilitate their expansion and development. The opening of Northwest England's Bridgewater Canal in 1761 ushered in
9760-728: The Spanish version. Marcus Aurelius had already been translated by John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners , but without reproducing the rhetorical artifices of the original. North's version, with its mannerisms and its constant use of antithesis , set the fashion which was to culminate in John Lyly 's Euphues . His next work was The Morall Philosophie of Doni (1570), a translation of an Italian language version of originally Indian fables, popularly known as The Fables of Bidpai which had come to Europe primarily through Arabic translations. North published his translation of Plutarch in 1580, basing it on
9882-681: The Tamer Tamed . Some scholars note evidence that may narrow down the dating to the period 1607–09. One line may be inspired by George Chapman 's translation of the Iliad (late 1608). References to "the coal of fire upon the ice" (I.i) and to squabbles over ownership of channels of water (III.i) could be inspired by Thomas Dekker 's description of the freezing of the Thames in 1607–08 and Hugh Myddleton 's project to bring water to London by channels in 1608–09 respectively. Another possible connection with 1608
10004-432: The United Kingdom has moved towards devolved governance in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. England and Wales continues to exist as a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. Devolution has stimulated a greater emphasis on a more English-specific identity and patriotism. There is no devolved English government, but an attempt to create a similar system on a sub-regional basis was rejected by referendum . England
10126-593: The United Kingdom as part of the Allies . Two decades later, in World War II , the United Kingdom was again one of the Allies . Developments in warfare technology saw many cities damaged by air-raids during the Blitz . Following the war, the British Empire experienced rapid decolonisation , and there was a speeding-up of technological innovations; automobiles became the primary means of transport and Frank Whittle 's development of
10248-632: The Volscians with the Romans and creating peace. Coriolanus concludes a peace treaty between the Volscians and the Romans. When he returns to the Volscian capital, conspirators, organised by Aufidius, kill him for his betrayal. Romans Volscians Other Coriolanus is largely based on the "Life of Coriolanus" in Thomas North 's translation of Plutarch 's The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans (1579). The wording of Menenius 's speech about
10370-644: The aid of wires. In 1971, the play returned to the Old Vic in a National Theatre production directed by Manfred Wekwerth and Joachim Tenschert with stage design by Karl von Appen . Anthony Hopkins played Coriolanus, with Constance Cummings as Volumnia and Anna Carteret as Virgilia. Other performances of Coriolanus include Alan Howard , Paul Scofield , Ian McKellen , Ian Richardson , Tommy Lee Jones , Toby Stephens , Robert Ryan , Christopher Walken , Morgan Freeman , Colm Feore , Ralph Fiennes and Tom Hiddleston . In 2012, National Theatre Wales produced
10492-563: The area, the Beaker culture people made bronze , and later iron from iron ores. The development of iron smelting allowed the construction of better ploughs , advancing agriculture (for instance, with Celtic fields ), as well as the production of more effective weapons. During the Iron Age , Celtic culture , deriving from the Hallstatt and La Tène cultures , arrived from Central Europe. Brythonic
10614-737: The auspices of James VI and I the Authorised King James Version of the Holy Bible was published in 1611. It was the standard version of the Bible read by most Protestant Christians for four hundred years until modern revisions were produced in the 20th century. Based on conflicting political, religious and social positions, the English Civil War was fought between the supporters of Parliament and those of King Charles I , known colloquially as Roundheads and Cavaliers respectively. This
10736-576: The conquered territories by Anglo-Saxon paganism , but was reintroduced by missionaries from Rome led by Augustine from 597. Disputes between the Roman- and Celtic-dominated forms of Christianity ended in victory for the Roman tradition at the Council of Whitby (664), which was ostensibly about tonsures (clerical haircuts) and the date of Easter, but more significantly, about the differences in Roman and Celtic forms of authority, theology, and practice. During
10858-531: The conquest of this united kingdom by Sweyn Forkbeard in 1013 and again by his son Cnut in 1016, turning it into the centre of a short-lived North Sea Empire that also included Denmark and Norway . However, the native royal dynasty was restored with the accession of Edward the Confessor in 1042. A dispute over the succession to Edward led to an unsuccessful Norwegian Invasion in September 1066 close to York in
10980-449: The course of the fifth and sixth centuries, initially in the eastern part of the country. Their advance was contained for some decades after the Britons' victory at the Battle of Mount Badon , but subsequently resumed, overrunning the fertile lowlands of Britain and reducing the area under Brittonic control to a series of separate enclaves in the more rugged country to the west by the end of
11102-547: The debates over the charter for the City of London , which Shakespeare would have been aware of, as it affected the legal status of the area surrounding the Blackfriars Theatre. The riots in the Midlands were caused by hunger because of the enclosure of common land. For these reasons, R.B. Parker suggests "late 1608 ... to early 1609" as the likeliest date of composition, while Lee Bliss suggests composition by late 1608, and
11224-573: The early 2010s England was divided for a few purposes into regions; a 1998 referendum for the London Region created the London Assembly two years later. A failed 2004 North East England devolution referendum cancelled further regional assembly devolution with the regional structure outside London abolished. Ceremonially and administratively, the region is divided between the City of London and Greater London ; these are further divided into
11346-484: The first public performances in "late December 1609 or February 1610". Parker acknowledges that the evidence is "scanty ... and mostly inferential". The play was first published in the First Folio of 1623. Elements of the text, such as the uncommonly detailed stage directions, lead some Shakespeare scholars to believe the text was prepared from a theatrical prompt book . A. C. Bradley described this play as "built on
11468-601: The grand scale," like King Lear and Macbeth, but it differs from those two masterpieces in an important way. The warrior Coriolanus is perhaps the most opaque of Shakespeare's tragic heroes, rarely pausing to soliloquise or reveal the motives behind his proud isolation from Roman society. In this way, he is less like the effervescent and reflective Shakespearean heroes/heroines such as Macbeth , Hamlet , Lear and Cleopatra , and more like figures from ancient classical literature such as Achilles , Odysseus , and Aeneas —or, to turn to literary creations from Shakespeare's time,
11590-492: The great general, Aufidius and his superiors embrace Coriolanus, allowing him to lead a new assault on Rome. Rome, in its panic, tries desperately to persuade Coriolanus to halt his crusade for vengeance, but both Cominius and Menenius fail. Finally, Volumnia is sent to meet her son, along with Coriolanus's wife Virgilia and their child, and the chaste gentlewoman Valeria. Volumnia succeeds in dissuading her son from destroying Rome, urging him instead to clear his name by reconciling
11712-531: The hierarchy, which must follow its directions. The Secretary of State for Justice is the minister responsible to Parliament for the judiciary , the court system and prisons and probation in England. Crime increased between 1981 and 1995 but fell by 42% in the period 1995–2006. The prison population doubled over the same period, giving it one of the highest incarceration rates in Western Europe at 147 per 100,000. His Majesty's Prison Service , reporting to
11834-453: The metropolitan counties have different types of status to other ceremonial counties. The second tier is made up of combined authorities and the 27 county-tier shire counties . In 1974, all ceremonial counties were two-tier; and with the metropolitan county tier phased out, the 1996 reform separated the ceremonial county and the administrative county tier. England is also divided into local government districts. The district can align to
11956-680: The mid-to-late 17th century, two political factions had emerged – the Tories and Whigs . Though the Tories initially supported Catholic king James II , some of them, along with the Whigs, during the Revolution of 1688 invited the Dutch Prince William of Orange to defeat James and become the king. Some English people, especially in the north, were Jacobites and continued to support James and his sons. Under
12078-558: The monastic community and monastic leaders were more like chieftains, as peers, rather than in the more hierarchical system of the Roman-dominated church. Roman military withdrawals left Britain open to invasion by pagan, seafaring warriors from north-western continental Europe, chiefly the Saxons, Angles , Jutes and Frisians who had long raided the coasts of the Roman province. These groups then began to settle in increasing numbers over
12200-521: The most fiercely and ingeniously planned and expressed of all the tragedies". T. S. Eliot famously proclaimed Coriolanus superior to Hamlet in The Sacred Wood , in which he calls the former play, along with Antony and Cleopatra , the Bard's greatest tragic achievement. Eliot wrote a two-part poem about Coriolanus, "Coriolan" (an alternative spelling of Coriolanus); he also alluded to Coriolanus in
12322-591: The nation, many by Natural England themselves, but also by non-governmental organisations, including the members of The Wildlife Trusts partnership, the National Trust , and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds . There are 221 NNRs in England covering 110,000 hectares (1,100 square kilometres). Often they contain rare species or nationally important populations of plants and animals. . The Environment Agency
12444-594: The north and west of the country. The northern uplands include the Pennines , a chain of uplands dividing east and west, the Lake District mountains in Cumbria, and the Cheviot Hills , straddling the border between England and Scotland. The highest point in England, at 978 metres (3,209 ft), is Scafell Pike in the Lake District. The Shropshire Hills are near Wales while Dartmoor and Exmoor are two upland areas in
12566-431: The patricians to allowing "crows to peck the eagles". The two tribunes condemn Coriolanus as a traitor for his words and order him to be banished. Coriolanus retorts that it is he who banishes Rome from his presence. After his exile from Rome, Coriolanus makes his way to the Volscian capital of Antium , and asks Aufidius's help to wreak revenge upon Rome for banishing him. Moved by his plight and honoured to fight alongside
12688-516: The period 1605–10, with 1608–09 being considered the most likely, although the available evidence does not permit great certainty. The earliest date for the play rests on the fact that Menenius's fable of the belly is derived from William Camden 's Remaines , published in 1605. The later date derives from the fact that several other texts from 1610 or thereabouts seem to allude to Coriolanus , including Ben Jonson 's Epicoene , Robert Armin 's Phantasma and John Fletcher 's The Woman's Prize, or
12810-450: The settlement period the lands ruled by the incomers seem to have been fragmented into numerous tribal territories, but by the 7th century, when substantial evidence of the situation again becomes available, these had coalesced into roughly a dozen kingdoms including Northumbria , Mercia , Wessex , East Anglia , Essex , Kent and Sussex . Over the following centuries, this process of political consolidation continued. The 7th century saw
12932-472: The signing of Magna Carta , an English legal charter used to limit the sovereign's powers by law and protect the privileges of freemen. Catholic monasticism flourished, providing philosophers, and the universities of Oxford and Cambridge were founded with royal patronage. The Principality of Wales became a Plantagenet fief during the 13th century and the Lordship of Ireland was given to the English monarchy by
13054-629: The south-west of the country. The approximate dividing line between terrain types is often indicated by the Tees–Exe line . The Pennines, known as the "backbone of England", are the oldest range of mountains in the country, originating from the end of the Paleozoic Era around 300 million years ago. Their geological composition includes, among others, sandstone and limestone , and also coal. There are karst landscapes in calcite areas such as parts of Yorkshire and Derbyshire . The Pennine landscape
13176-510: The south-west, and the Irish Sea to the west. Continental Europe lies to the south-east, and Ireland to the west. At the 2021 census , the population was 56,490,048. London is both the largest city and the capital . The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Paleolithic . It takes its name from the Angles , a Germanic tribe who settled during
13298-537: The standing of the British military and navy – was prestigious. Technologically, this era saw many innovations that proved key to the United Kingdom's power and prosperity. Political agitation at home from radicals such as the Chartists and the suffragettes enabled legislative reform and universal suffrage . Power shifts in east-central Europe led to World War I; hundreds of thousands of English soldiers died fighting for
13420-644: The text, he considered staging the play with only minimal changes. The adaptation was unfinished at Brecht's death in 1956; it was completed by Manfred Wekwerth and Joachim Tenschert and staged in Frankfurt in 1962. In 1963, the BBC included Coriolanus in The Spread of the Eagle . Slovak composer Ján Cikker adapted the play into an opera which premiered in 1974 in Prague . In 1983,
13542-487: The threat: Spain launched two further armadas, in 1596 and 1597 , but both were driven back by storms. The political structure of the island changed in 1603, when the King of Scots , James VI , a kingdom which had been a long-time rival to English interests, inherited the throne of England as James I, thereby creating a personal union . He styled himself King of Great Britain , although this had no basis in English law. Under
13664-774: The two branches of the royal family, the Yorkists and Lancastrians . Eventually it led to the Yorkists losing the throne entirely to a Welsh noble family the Tudors , a branch of the Lancastrians headed by Henry Tudor who invaded with Welsh and Breton mercenaries, gaining victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field where the Yorkist king Richard III was killed. During the Tudor period , England began to develop naval skills , and exploration intensified in
13786-530: The warming of the sea by the Gulf Stream . Rainfall is higher in the west, and parts of the Lake District receive more rain than anywhere else in the country. Since weather records began, the highest temperature recorded was 40.3 °C (104.5 °F) on 19 July 2022 at Coningsby , Lincolnshire , while the lowest was −26.1 °C (−15.0 °F) on 10 January 1982 in Edgmond , Shropshire. The fauna of England
13908-484: The world's first industrialised nation. England is home to the two oldest universities in the English-speaking world: the University of Oxford , founded in 1096, and the University of Cambridge , founded in 1209. Both universities are ranked among the most prestigious in the world. England's terrain chiefly consists of low hills and plains , especially in the centre and south . Upland and mountainous terrain
14030-563: Was an interwoven part of the wider multifaceted Wars of the Three Kingdoms , involving Scotland and Ireland . The Parliamentarians were victorious, Charles I was executed and the kingdom replaced by the Commonwealth . Leader of the Parliament forces, Oliver Cromwell declared himself Lord Protector in 1653; a period of personal rule followed. After Cromwell's death and the resignation of his son Richard as Lord Protector, Charles II
14152-469: Was directed by Josie Rourke , starring Tom Hiddleston in the title role, along with Mark Gatiss , Deborah Findlay , Hadley Fraser , and Birgitte Hjort Sørensen . The production received very strong reviews. Michael Billington with The Guardian wrote "A fast, witty, intelligent production that, in Tom Hiddleston, boasts a fine Coriolanus." He also credited Mark Gatiss as excellent as Menenius,
14274-494: Was established with the Bill of Rights in 1689. Among the statutes set down were that the law could only be made by Parliament and could not be suspended by the King, also that the King could not impose taxes or raise an army without the prior approval of Parliament. Also since that time, no British monarch has entered the House of Commons when it is sitting, which is annually commemorated at
14396-399: Was invited to return as monarch in 1660, in a move called the Restoration . With the reopening of theatres, fine arts, literature and performing arts flourished throughout the Restoration of the "Merry Monarch" Charles II. After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, it was constitutionally established that King and Parliament should rule together, though Parliament would have the real power. This
14518-572: Was lower than the present day and Britain was connected by land bridge to Ireland and Eurasia . As the seas rose, it was separated from Ireland 10,000 years ago and from Eurasia two millennia later. The Beaker culture arrived around 2,500 BC, introducing drinking and food vessels constructed from clay, as well as vessels used as reduction pots to smelt copper ores. It was during this time that major Neolithic monuments such as Stonehenge (phase III) and Avebury were constructed. By heating together tin and copper, which were in abundance in
14640-568: Was subsequently proclaimed emperor a century later. There is debate about when Christianity was first introduced; it was no later than the 4th century, probably much earlier. According to Bede , missionaries were sent from Rome by Eleutherius at the request of the chieftain Lucius of Britain in 180 AD, to settle differences as to Eastern and Western ceremonials, which were disturbing the church. There are traditions linked to Glastonbury claiming an introduction through Joseph of Arimathea , while others claim through Lucius of Britain. By 410, during
14762-401: Was the spoken language during this time. Society was tribal; according to Ptolemy 's Geographia there were around 20 tribes in the area. Like other regions on the edge of the Empire, Britain had long enjoyed trading links with the Romans. Julius Caesar of the Roman Republic attempted to invade twice in 55 BC; although largely unsuccessful, he managed to set up a client king from
14884-444: Was to reconcile England with the Pope, and North kept a journal of his travels. In 1574 he accompanied his brother, Roger, 2nd Lord North , on a diplomatic mission to the French court in Lyon. He served as captain of a band of footmen in Ireland in 1580, fought with the Earl of Leicester in the Low Countries in 1587, was appointed to defend the Isle of Ely in the year of the Armada , and was knighted in France in October of 1591 by
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