Great Britain

Great Britain The name adopted when England, already incorporating Wales within its realm, was united with Scotland on 1 May 1707. This united Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) followed the personal union of the English and Scottish crowns, which had already taken place in 1603 when James VI, King of Scots, became additionally James I^† of England. He assumed the title of King of Great Britain in 1604, although no such kingdom existed. Both countries retained their own parliaments until the full union in 1707. The term ‘Great Britain’ was used earlier, informally, to distinguish the larger Britain from the smaller Brittany, now in France, to which refugee Britons fled to escape Anglo‐Saxon invaders. It was also used in the title ‘Commonwealth of Great Britain and Ireland’ in 1654–60, following the creation of the Commonwealth and Free State of England, Wales, and Ireland in 1649 after the execution of King Charles I^† and the abolition of the monarchy. The term ‘Great Britain’, which encompasses England, Scotland, Wales, and most of the small offshore islands but not the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands, is often used, incorrectly, as a synonym for the United Kingdom.