Group

England, Commonwealth of

State Defunct 1649 CE – 1659 CE Capital London Middlesex United Kingdom

The Kingdom of England is a sovereign state in northwest Europe from the 10th century to 1707.

Occupying the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain, the kingdom includes modern-day England, Wales and for a brief period in the 15th century, the Southern Uplands.

The kingdom shares a border with Scotland to the north, but otherwise is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean.

At the start of the period its capital and chief royal residence is Winchester, but Westminster and Gloucester are accorded almost equal status, with Westminster gradually gaining preference and becoming the de facto administrative capital by the beginning of the 12th century.The kingdom broadly traces its origins to the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain and the Heptarchy of petty states that follows.

The territory of what becomes England is unified into a single kingdom during the early 10th century.The Norman invasion of Wales from 1067 and the completion of its conquest by Edward I (formalized with the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284) puts Wales under England's control.

Wales comes under English law with the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542.

Member Cities

Moran, J. (n.d.). England, Commonwealth of. History Atlas. Retrieved 7 November 2026, from https://www.historyatlas.com/groups/england-commonwealth-of/

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