Timeline of Bretonia history

This is a timeline of Bretonia history. To read about the background to these events, see History of Bretonia. To read a more general timeline of all important Sirius events, see Timeline of Sirius history.

1st century

Year (A.S.)	Event
19	The Bretonia lands on Planet New London. The Bretonia's starboard engine array was destroyed during the Exodus. Therefore, it had to travel slower than the other ships and arrived later than them.
20	Prince Harry IX, great-great grandson and last surviving descendant of Queen Elizabeth III, last Queen of Britain back on Earth, takes control of the formative Bretonian Government in a coup, making himself head of the Principality of Bretonia.
31	Royal Bretonian Manufacturing is formed under Prince Harry X to lead the establishment of the colonial heavy industry.
66	A small commercial group called Bretonia Exploration & Trading Co. forms to scout mineral fields in the New London system and ship resources back to the planet.
78	Southampton Shipyard is constructed by RBM and begins mass production of the Bee-One explorer, used for exploration of neighbouring systems by BE&T.
84	Leeds system is surveyed.
86	Manchester system is surveyed.
90	A new company, Bretonia Mining Corporation, is founded by pioneers starting to mine the resource rich fields of Leeds and Manchester.
95	Royal Bretonian Manufacturing is given free license to develop the Leeds system into an industrial power base. Forced relocation of colonists from New London to Planet Leeds commences by order of Prince Harry XII, nicknamed Harry the Cruel.

2nd century

Year (A.S.)	Event
106	The LCC Edison arrives in Bretonia; shortly thereafter, Valhalla's improved engine systems are exchanged for Bretonian advances in materials technology.
112	Cambridge system is surveyed.
120	Planetary docking ring technology licensed to Bretonia.
129	Food shortages in Leeds and New London lead to colonisation of Cambridge as a primary food producing planet.
169	RBM constructs the first gunboat class vessel in Sirius at Southampton - HMS Glorious
192	Stokes Smelter constructed in Leeds.

3rd century

Year (A.S.)	Event
206	New London resource fields exhausted. Bretonia Mining Corporation nears bankruptcy.
207	Prince Harry XVIII takes the Bretonia Mining Corporation into state ownership and begins heavy subsidies to encourage the development of resources in Leeds and Manchester.
211	First Bretonian jump gate opened between New London and Leeds.
245	Dublin system discovered, but initial surveys fail to uncover the substantial gold reserves, leading politicians to consider the system of no value.
263	Omega-3 system discovered, opening the first route between Bretonia and Rheinland.
282	Second Bretonian food crisis - a team of top New London scientists led by a group dubbed The Cambridge Twenty are dispatched to Cambridge by Princess Harriet III to help increase crop yields.
283-295	Green revolution on Cambridge - food output increases eight-fold over twelve years.
299	The Cambridge Twenty found the Cambridge Research Institute to pioneer research into theoretical science and advanced technology.

4th century

Year (A.S.)	Event
300	Bretonia Mining Corporation buys up Royal Bretonian Manufacturing, forming a single company - Bretonia Mining and Manufacturing - entirely under state ownership.
310	BE&T acquires the assets of several smaller shipping concerns, and renames to Border World Exports. It receives its first Royal Charter from Prince Harry XXI, and begins to dominate trade between Bretonia and Rheinland.
312	Construction of a New London to Manhattan trade lane route begins as a joint BMM - Interspace Commerce project.
317	Rioting amongst unemployed workers on Planet Leeds sparks a rebellion against the oppression of Prince Harry XXI in the Leeds system. Several power hungry aristocrats from New London side with the rebels. The Bretonian Civil War begins.
319	Bretonian Royal Fleet defeated by rebel forces. Prince Harry XXI is executed for treason and a Commonwealth of Bretonia is declared under Lord Protector Alfred Nelson.
334	Following the death of Nelson, the Royal family is returned to power and a Kingdom of Bretonia is established under Harry XXI's nephew, who is declared King George I, with a Parliament including a House of Commons allowing for popular representation.
351	Tau-31 system is surveyed.
377	LD-14 begins MOX production in Leeds, providing the fuel to power the capital fleet of the new Bretonian Armed Forces.
380-400	Pollution levels in Leeds rise to critical levels.

5th century

Year (A.S.)	Event
411	Planetform Incorporated is founded with the intention of developing new worlds to compensate for Bretonia's comparative lack of habitable planets.
437	Disgruntled ex-BMM employees split to join the Independent Miners Guild, winning a landmark legal case in the Royal Court that grants them ownership of the ex-BMM facility of Cardiff.
442	In a cunning move Queen Anne I refuses to renew the Royal Charter for Border World Exports, driving down the share price to an extent that the Crown is able to acquire control over the company, thus putting both the largest companies in Bretonia under state ownership. The ensuing controversy forces Queen Anne to cede the power of issuing Royal Charters to the Parliament.
450	After extensive surveys PFI initiates terraforming of Planet Harris. The project encounters problems almost immediately and will be delayed time and again for the next 350 years.
453	A group of space pirates known as the Bretonian Buccaneers begins to cause considerable concern.
465	Cortez system charted by Bretonian explorers, opening an alternative route between Bretonia and Liberty.
494	King John I signs the Omega Trade Pact with Rheinland, to protect trade against growing numbers of pirates in the border worlds.

6th century

Year (A.S.)	Event
547	In a parliamentary crisis part of the governing Leeds Party splits away to form the Populist Party under Prime Minister Jonathan Blake, with the remainder joining with the Court Party of New London to form the Crown Royalists.
565	The Bretonian Buccaneers board and plunder the Royal Liner of King William I, killing the King and sparking political chaos.
566	William's daughter, Queen Eleanor I, launches a huge military campaign to crush the Bretonian Buccaneers.
573	The Bretonian Buccaneers destroy 2 Nessie Class Battleships in a battle near Southampton, but are forced to abandon their base in the debris field.
588	IMG explorers stumble across a route to the Newcastle system, long observed by astronomers due to strange light patterns, several months before Bowex scouts achieve the same.
589	The last of the Bretonian Buccaneers bases, Sherwood Station in Leeds, is annihilated by a BAF Fleet led by Admiral Sir Thomas Scott. The majority of criminal elements in Bretonia are arrested and executed, leading to over 100 years of relative lack of organised crime.

7th century

Year (A.S.)	Event
616	Scarborough Station completed in Newcastle by Border Worlds Exports and leads to a large rise in ship building that will see the corporation rise to the pinnacle of inter-House trade
643	King William III The Great ascends to the Throne of Bretonia, and will preside over the greatest period of economic expansion in the House's history
648	William the Great institutes a reform of the Bretonian Armed Forces, establishing the Admiralty Board and selecting the strategic Salisbury system in which to train and base his Royal Fleet.
652	Surveys of the Tau-23 system reveal substantial mineral deposits. The IMG begin to expand out of Bretonia into the Tau border worlds, shortly followed by BMM. Rivalry is renewed between the two groups.
656	With Kusari's attention distracted by the climax of the Eighty Years War in the Sigma border worlds, William the Great crowns himself Emperor of Tau claiming Tau-31, Tau-23 and Tau-29 for his greater empire with hopes of gaining Harris and the rich resources of Tau-23 for Bretonia. In return for William dropping the claims on Tau-29, Kusari tacitly accepts a degree of Bretonian control in Tau-31, but tensions remain that will resurface in later conflicts.
664	William the Great orders the construction of the Cambridge Line to defend Bretonia against increasing Corsair attacks.
674	With Rheinland crippled after the Eighty Years War, William the Great increases Bretonian power in Omega-3 with a view to annexation. He dies later the same year, before his plans can be completed.
685	Edinburgh system is discovered - Planet Gaia is surveyed for the first time.
687	A team from the Cambridge Research Institute is dispatched to Gaia to study the planet's Earth-like ecosystem.
690	The first Orbital Spa and Cruise liner, the OSC Barbados, arrives in orbit of Gaia with tourists from Liberty. The Green Front party is founded and campaigns for Edinburgh to be declared a protected system.

8th century

Year (A.S.)	Event
701	First sightings of Outcasts in Bretonia.
705	A BMM vessel surveying a remote area of Newcastle gets lost in an ancient minefield and stumbles across a huge city of alien ruins. The CRI establishes Sunderland Research Station under BAF protection to study the site.
740	BMM petitions the Government to open Gaia to development. The measure fails, but it is enough to provoke the environmentalist fringe of the Green Party into founding the Gaian extremist movement.
742	With recruits from the lower classes of Leeds and Cambridge, the Gaians begin a campaign of terror aimed at dissuading tourism in Edinburgh.
743	Michael Grantham leads a survey team that finally uncovers the gold reserves in Dublin. BMM begins a great rush to exploit the system.
745	The Lewis and Orkney systems are chartered by the great Bretonian explorer Michael Grantham and claimed for the Crown of Bretonia by Queen Mary II, but the passage is soon lost as the remote region is overrun with Gaians.
747	Gaians destroy the Luxury Liner Barbados in a stunning attack. A new BAF fleet under the Battleship Derby is deployed to Edinburgh to defend against further attacks. The Barbados is eventually replaced with the OSC Liner Shetland.
752	Planetform, Inc. constructs Perth Station and begins the first stage of Planet Ayr terraforming, funded by the Bretonian government. In Dublin, Founders Day Revolt - BMM workers rise up and murder Sir Edward Graves and senior BMM executives on Graves Station.
754	The HMS Hood is crippled as the 12th Fleet of the BAF fails in its attempt to subdue the Dublin system. Admiral Sir James Howe commits suicide following his defeat. Molly separatists publish their declaration of independence for Dublin.
760	With crime rising sharply across Bretonia after almost 200 years of tranquillity, Prime Minister Lord Walter Brinkley orders the construction of Newgate Prison, and invites the Bounty Hunters Guild to take over Sheffield Station from the Bretonia Police Authority.
786	Queen Carina I ascends to the Throne of Bretonia following the death of her father, George V.
791	A new shipping company, Gateway Shipping, is founded by rich New London invsestors.
795-797	The Populist Party gains control over both Houses of Parliament, and Trevor Gladstone becomes Prime Minister, instituting a two year program of radical social reform designed to raise living standards on Leeds and end BMM's abuse of its workforce. Both measures are only partially successful.

9th century

Year (A.S.)	Event
800	The Nomad War begins. Rheinland fleets attack Bretonia, but are successfully repelled by Bretonian defences in New London.
801	The Nomad War ends. Alone of the 4 Houses not to have suffered significant nomad infestation, BAF fleets briefly occupy some Rheinland space following the defeat of the main Rheinland Fleets, whilst a peaceful Rheinland government is restored and the nomad purge conducted.
802	Corsairs launch a thermonuclear attack that devastates Planet Cork.
809	BMM begins a second period of expansion into the Tau border worlds, launching the construction of a Jump Gate to Tau-23.
810	BMM expansion leads to disputes over mining rights in Tau-23 with the IMG. Disputes escalate into military skirmishes whilst the IMG leadership begins a long legal case against the Bretonian government.
812	The Kusari government begins to take an interest in the IMG-BMM dispute, taking up the IMG cause, seeing an opportunity to finally end the centuries old claims of the Bretonian Monarchy over the Tau border worlds and reverse their humiliation of 656 A.S.
813	Kusari fleets deployed into Tau-29. Queen Carina orders the occupation of Tau-31 to enforce her claims. KNF and BAF begin full mobilisation for war.
814	The war between Bretonia and Kusari begins with a full Kusari assault on Tau-31. Phantoms MOX bomb Planet Cambridge, killing millions and causing the loss of billions of credits of crops.
816	The Kusari Tau-31 offensive is mired at Harris, but fighting continues.
817	A path in the Orkney minefield is cleared by The Council allowing ships of any size to pass in and out of Gallia for the first time in centuries. Bretonian Government renews their old claims on Orkney, leading to a diplomatic crisis. The Kusari Naval Forces break through into Leeds by a surprise attack, capturing Glasgow Station, and Stokes Mining Station. The Battleship Derby retreats to Planet Leeds orbit. A second KNF assault on LD-14 fails, and the BAF push into Dundee in preparation for a flanking strike. Prime Minister Worthington is overthrown and replaced by the dynamic leadership of Lord George Mountbatten and his progressive Royalist government. A resurgent group of Bretonian Buccaneers begins pirating Bretonian shipping, especially in Leeds. Queen Carina signs the Treaty of Curacao with Liberty President Powell.