England in Middle Ages

England in Middle Ages William organized the English kingdom according to the feudal system. The central idea was that all land was owned by the king but it was held by others, called “vassals”, in return for services and goods. 1 William controlled two areas: Normandy • had been given by his father; • had to recognize the king of France as a lord; England • had won in the war; • was king with no lord above him; This control of land in England and France existed until the 16th century. It created many problems, wars between England and France were common. 2 William I died in 1087 and left three sons to dispute his inheritance. William I Robert William II (1087-1100) Henry I (1100-1135) Adela William II (Rufus) became unpopular with Church because of his treatment of it, though he had high reputation in knightly circles. He was killed by an arrow while hunting. Henry I was a powerful ruler. He enforced the law with the help of a team of judges, holding court in the main towns. England had the most centrally organized government in Europe. 3 Henry I had one son William who died in 1120. The succession to the crown was in dispute. Henry had a daughter, she was hard and capable but as a woman was unacceptable to the barons as a ruler. When Henry I died, Matilda was pushed aside by Stephen, son of Adela, daughter of William the Conqueror. Stephen was a king from 1135 to 1154 but was opposed by Matilda who wanted the throne for herself and her son Henry. There was Civil War until 1153 when by treaty it was agreed that Stephen should rule until his death, then Henry should become the king. 4 The royal House of Normandy William I Robert William II (1087-1100) Henry I (1100-1135) William (died in 1120) Matilda Adela Stephen (1135-1154) Henry II (1154-1189) 5 Henry II became the master of England in 1154. His emblem was a plant called Planta genesta; so his dynasty was called the Plantagenet dynasty. Henry II : • re-established the authority of the centre after the weak government of Stephen; • created the Common law system, according to which every free man had a right to plead in royal court, even against his feudal lord; • remodeled the Exchequer, which was responsible for the collection of taxes and was the centre of royal government. 6 Henry II Was succeeded in 1189 by his son Richard (Richard the Lion Hearted), who was the military and spent short period of time in England. He was killed in 1199. In 1199 was succeeded by his brother John who was faced with three main problems: • the power of nobility was increasing; • the possessions in France were difficult to defend; • the Church was eager to have as much power as possible. 7 John tried to maintain his position over the Church and the nobility. The war with the papacy and the French war had meant that John increased taxation and had used all means of collecting money. Thus, in 1215 the aristocracy, the Church and the merchants formed a coalition against the king. His opponents obliged John to agree to the terms of Magna Carta or the Great Charter. 8 This charter of liberties (Great Charter): defined and limited royal rights;  protected baronial liberties;  provided freemen with some guaranties against royal actions (e.g. right to a fair and legal trial).  9 In 1216 king John died and his son Henry became the king of England - Henry III. Henry II (1154 – 1189) Richard the Lion Hearted (1189 – 1199) John (1199 – 1216) Henry III (1216 – 1272) Edward I (1272 – 1307) 10 In the years of Henry III’s rule barons tried to strengthen their position on the basis of Magna Carta. In 1258 a council of 15 persons was appointed to direct the government of the country. It included only nobles. It had been able to make written laws, to make political decisions, but lords were less able to provide the king with money. 11 Edward I brought together the first real parliament, he was the first to create a “representative institution” which could provide the money he needed. This institution became the House of Commons. It contains knights, other wealthy freemen from shires, merchants from towns. In 1275 Edward I asked each shire and each town to send two representatives to his parliament. 12 In 1284 Edward I united west Wales with England. At a public ceremony Edward I made his own baby son (later Edward II) Prince of Wales. From that time the eldest son of the ruling king or queen has usually been made Prince of Wales. 13 Edward I tried to make Scotland a part of England, as he had done with Wales. Some Scottish nobles accepted him, but the people refused to be ruled by the English king. Neither he nor his successors became kings of Scots. 14 The kings succession: Edward I (1272 – 1307) Edward II (1307 – 1327) Edward III (1327 – 1377) 15 General information about England in the 13-14th centuries        there was no real capital of the kingdom; kings were crowned in Westminster; treasury stayed in the old Wessex capital, Winchester; king was responsible for law and justice; England unlike the rest of Europe used common law (English lawyers created their own system of law based on customs, comparisons, previous cases and previous decisions); trial by ordeal was replaced by trial by jury; there were about 900 religious houses with 17500 monks and nuns; 16 General information about England in the 13-14th centuries       the monasteries were centres of wealth and learning; by 1300 the population was over four million people, about three times more it was in 1086; was difficult to grow enough food for everyone; schools of learning were established in many towns; two schools of higher education were established at the end of the 12th century in Oxford and in Cambridge; in the 14th c. were many wars and plagues; 17 In the 14th c. were many wars and plagues. The king of France began to interfere with England’s trade. The war Edward III began with France in 1337 did not finally end until 1453 and was called the Hundred Years War. England lost all its possessions in France except a northern French port. In 1348 was a terrible plague, known as the Black Death. More than 1/3 of the population of England died. During the century there were other plagues which killed mostly the young and healthy. 18 Changes in the country: Edward III (1327 – 1377) Edward - The Black Prince, died in 1376 Richard II (1377 – 1399) Richard II became the king when he was only 11 years old, so others governed for him. His advisers introduced the tax payment for everyone over the age of fifteen. In two years it was enforced again. In 1381 it increased to three times. There was the Peasants’ revolt which lasted for four weeks and was the sign of growing discontent in the country. 19 Discontent with the Church also grew.    There were few attacks on Church property in towns. Church had a feudal power and often treated peasants and townspeople cruelly. At the end of the 14th c. new religious ideas appeared – they were dangerous to Church authority and were condemned as heresy. It was known as “Lollardy”. Henry IV was deeply loyal to the Church and introduced the idea of executing the Lollards by burning. The beginning of the bloody period in the English history. 20 Kings of Houses of Lancaster and York Richard II Henry IV (1399 - 1413) (1377 – 1399) Henry V (1413 – 1422) Edward IV Henry VI (1422 - 1461) Edward V Henry Tudor VII (1461-1483) Richard III (1483-1485) (1483) 21 The battles between the Houses of Lancaster and York which lasted from 1455 till 1485 are known on the history as the Wars of the Roses. (The emblem of the House of Lancaster was a red rose and that of the House of York was a white rose.) 22 Society in England was based upon rank. at the top were dukes, earls and other lords;  below these lords were knights;  next were ordinary freemen of towns;  middle class in towns (well-educated merchants);  the lawyers;  poor peasants.  23 Major technical development in this period: first English printing press was set up in 1476. 24