COURS MAGISTRAL N°1 Introduction to British law - Union with Wales (1536): “although the English conquest of Wales took place under the 1284 Statute of Rhuddlan, a formal Union did not occur until 1536, shortly after which Welsh law, which continued to be used in Wales after the conquest, was fully replaced by English law under the Laws in Wales Acts 15351542. + NEW FLAG - Oliver Cromwell (1649): seized the power in England and Wales, and established the Commonwealth, after a long period of tension between the king and Parliament. He used his army to expel his opponents from Parliament. He died in 1658, and a new king was restored. - Glorious Revolution (1688): James II had been crowned in 1685, but because he was a Catholic, prominent peers invited William of Orange to come to England and Wales to reign. He invaded the country and entered London, which caused James II to flee. The House of Commons stated that the king had abdicated, so that the throne was declared vacant, and offered to King James's daughter Mary, William's wife ; they finally decided to reign together. It is a precedent that allows the people to elect the king and to depose him if he is doesn't govern properly. - Union with Scotland (1707): after the Glorious Revolution, Scotland briefly threatened to select a different Protestant monarch from England. On 22 July 1706, the Treaty of Union was agreed between representatives of the Scots Parliament and the Parliament of England and the following year twin Acts of Union were passed by both Parliaments to create the united Kingdom of Great Britain with effect from May 1707. - Union with Ireland (1801): the British and Irish Parliament passed the Act of Union which merged the Kingdom of Ireland and the Kingdom of Great Britain, to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Thus Ireland became part of an extended United Kingdom, ruled directly by the UK Parliament in London. - Queen Victoria's death (1901): she really left her mark on the