English was a relatively unimportant language (or, more precisely, a set of dialects) around 450 AD, when a set of Germanic tribes (mostly the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes) moved from their homelands in what is now northern Germany and Denmark to what is now England. Old English was widely spoken on the island in the centuries that followed, lost status when the French-speaking Normans conquered England, and slowly regained status in the late Middle English period. At this point, still, English was just one of many languages. It was generally less respected than Latin among scientists and theologians, for example.
It was not until the period of Early Modern English, a period also known as the Age of Discovery (c. 1500-1800 AD) that English really began to gain status. England began to establish colonies around the world and exported its language and governing systems so that it could import what it wanted, e.g. spices and rare woods and, for a while, slaves. The Early Modern