Medieval England and Ireland: Key Events

The Plantagenets Part 1

• William the Conqueror (1066-87) reigned.
• William Rufus (1087-1100) succeeded him.
• Henry I (1100-1135) came next; William died.
• Disputed succession between Matilda and Stephen, leading to anarchy.
• Stephen de Blois reigned (1135-1154).
• Henry Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, was crowned as Henry II (reign: 1154-1189).

The Early Plantagenets (House of Anjou): Henry II

• Henry II: French, from Anjou (central France).
• Married Eleanor of Aquitane.
• Gained vast territories through marriage.
• Ruled both England and Western France, up to the Pyrenees.
• England was his largest province.

Changes during Henry II's Reign

• Knights were no longer called out to feudal military service (limited to 40 days).
• "Shield-money" introduced as a replacement.
• Some knights became mercenaries.
• Other knights turned to agriculture.

Further Changes during Henry II's Reign

• Primogeniture was adopted for land, meaning all land went to the eldest son, sending younger sons to seek fortunes elsewhere.
• Wealth of feudal lords led to the rise of towns and a middle class of merchants and traders.

Henry II's Conflict with Thomas Beckett

• The Constitutions of Clarendon (1164) aimed to subject churchmen to royal courts, forbid church excommunication without royal permission, and forbid appeals to Rome.
• Henry appointed Thomas Beckett Archbishop of Canterbury to control the Church.
• Beckett refused to accept the Constitutions and excommunicated the king's supporters resulting in unrest.

Murder of Thomas à Beckett

• Thomas à Beckett was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral on December 29, 1170.
• His death became a major event in popular consciousness, leading to pilgrimages and literary works.

The Crusades

• Religious wars fought by Christians to free the Holy Land from Muslims (11th-13th centuries).
• Pope Urban II proclaimed the First Crusade in 1095, inspiring thousands to join to recover Jerusalem.

The First Crusade

• (1095-1099) English involvement was minimal.

The Second Crusade

• (1147-1149) Crusades were fought to recover areas lost to the Muslims

### The Third Crusade

• (1189-1192) Richard Coeur de Lion (the Lionheart).
• Reigned 1189-1199, was a model for chivalry.

The Crusades (Richard Coeur de Lion)

• Not a successful king: negligent, absent; imposed heavy taxation.
• Fought in the Holy Land (1190-92).
• Imprisoned in Vienna (high ransom paid).
• Left England and died wounded several years later.

John, King of England (1199-1216)

• Brother of Richard Coeur de Lion, successor.
• Unsuccessful king; constitutional resistance emerged.
• Conflict with barons, leading to the demands of the Magna Carta.

John Lackland

• War with Philip II led to the loss of Normandy (by 1206).
• Channel Islands were the only inheritance.
• Needed money to defend French lands, and raised taxes.

King John: Magna Carta

• 1215: The barons, bishops, and thanes forced John to sign the Magna Carta.
• The first document of the Constitution: gave the church freedom of electing bishops and granted barons and towns participation in fixing tax amounts.
• No freeman could be imprisoned or persecuted unless tried by peers and found guilty.
• A council of 25 barons to ensure the charter's clauses were obeyed.

Henry III: Provisions of Oxford

• King John was succeeded by Henry III.
• Associated with “The struggle for the Charter” – a period of civil war and constitution-making.
• 1258: Barons led by Simon de Montfort forced Henry to accept this new form of government.
• Power was placed in the hands of a council of 15 members to oversee appointments, local administration, and royal castles.
• Parliament, held three times a year, to monitor the performance of the council.

Provisions of Oxford

• Written in French, Latin, and English.
• Henry III broke the agreement in 1261, leading to civil war.
• Simon de Montfort's army defeated the royal forces at the Battle of Lewes (1264).
• De Montfort became the leader of the Parliament, summoning representatives of social classes (beginning of the idea of the Commons).
• Killed at the Battle of Evesham (1265), Parliament dissolved soon after.

Edward I (1272-1307), Edward II, Edward III

• Four new institutions during their reign; Parliament, Universities, Orders of friars, Lawyers in Inns of Court.

Parliament

• Gradual development during the reigns of the three Edwards who followed Henry III.
• Edward I treated frequent national gatherings as the essence of government.
• Wanted to keep in touch with the lives of the governed.
• Representative knights, shire, and burgesses needed to give consent to taxation.
• Model Parliament (1295), barons, bishops, knights, citizens, etc. accepted; no taxation without representation.

Universities

• Church's importance in education during the early Middle Ages.
• Later, universities developed.
• Examples: Bologna (1088), Paris (1150), Padua (1222), Cracow (1364).
• Spread in Europe during the 12th and 13th centuries.

Universities (continued)

• Trouble between Henry II and the king of France forced English students to study elsewhere.
• Oxford University founded (date unknown).
• Disbanded after 1209 rape incident. Returned to Oxford in 1214.
• Scottish students studied elsewhere until St. Andrews was founded in 1410, followed by Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh.

Universities (continued)

• Medieval Oxford and Cambridge were not for the upper classes.
• Barons and knights considered themselves above this education.
• Typical students: middle-class yeomen, craftsmen, tradesmen, studied ages 14-21.

Friars

• Came from the continent in the 13th century.
• Two orders: Dominicans & Franciscans.
• Great religious revival among the poor.

Attitudes Towards Jews

• Jews came to England after William the Conqueror.
• Barons and kings needed them to lend money.
• Usury practice disallowed by the Church.
• Edward I forbade Jews from usury (1275).
• Expulsion of Jews (1290).
• Money lending business shifted to Flemish and Italian hands.

Legal Reform

• Edward I, the English Justinian
• Civil legislation amended common law (basic statute law remained for centuries).
• Passed many statutes through Parliament.
• Defined law courts.
• Law began to be a profession; courts of Common Law manned by secular educated people at universities.

Legal Reform (continued)

• Universities developed colleges; lawyers built their Inns of Court.
• Halls, libraries, and dwelling places grouped, halfway between the commercial and political centers of London.

Ireland, Wales, and Scotland

Ireland

• Beginnings of Christianity: St. Patrick's mission (mid-5th century).
• Monasticism: St. Columba active in Scotland and Anglo-Saxon England.
• Book of Kells.
• Viking invasions (790s): conquered land, founded ports (Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Wexford).
• Interrupted the golden age of Christian Irish culture and marked the beginning of two hundred years of intermittent warfare.

Ireland (continued)

• Christian propaganda in England depicted the Irish as savages (1155).
• Adrian IV (English Pope) gave Henry II the right to conquer Ireland.
• Norman invasion (1169) - private adventurers (Strongbow).
• Henry II landed and controlled the areas to the south and east.
• The Conquest continued slowly but effectively during the reign of Henry II.
• Building of stone castles.

Ireland (continued)

• 13th Century: the natives were weak tribes.
• English kings' policy aimed to weaken the power of Norman Lords.
• 1348: the Black Death.
• English and Norman inhabitants suffered more than the Irish.
• English-controlled territories shrank considerably.

Ireland (continued)

• 15th Century: unsuccessful attempts to create an independent government.
• England was too weak to conquer and govern Ireland but managed to prevent self-governance.

Wales

• Not conquered by the Anglo-Saxons.
• "Marcher Lords" (Norman English barons) held lands on Welsh borders and in Wales, forming a barrier.
• Had their own private armies.

Wales (continued)

• Anglo-Norman Marcher Lords' territories are marked in red on the map, indicating progress towards permanent settlements, market towns, etc.
• Remaining Welsh people were tribal and pastoral.
• Had their own distinct languages, customs, and laws.

Wales (continued)

• Early 13th century: Welsh national revival occurred; territories were reconquered from the Marcher Lords.
• Edward I defeated the Welsh (1284 peace treaty).
• 1301: Edward I gave his son the title of Prince of Wales.
• Wales established as a Principality, part of England but with some Welsh customs.
• Rest of the Welsh territories held by Anglo-Norman Marcher Lords.
• 14th and 15th centuries: tribal feuds and re-conquest occurred.
• English legal system and administration; English as the official language were introduced during Henry VIII's Acts of Union in 1536-43.

Scotland

• Before 10th century: Celtic Kingdom, bordering with Anglo-Saxon England.
• One state formed from the Picts and the Scots under Kenneth MacAlpin (844).

Scotland (continued)

• Lothian (northern part of Saxon Northumbria, south of Edinburgh).
• Part of Scotland after Northumbria's dissolution (1018).
• Rich agricultural land (helped develop feudal system of Anglo-Norman monarchy).
• English language adopted.

Scotland (continued)

• Malcolm III and Margaret (1058-93): period of English influence, especially after the Battle of Hastings.
• David I (Norman feudal monarchy, disputed territories on the border with England), 12th and 13th centuries.
• Development of the Church, flourishing of architecture, and old Celtic tribal organization shrank, concentrating in the northern highlands.

Scotland (continued)

• Late 13th century: death of Alexander III, dispute over Scottish throne.
• Edward I proclaimed himself King of Scotland (1296).
• Stone of Scone removed to Westminster Abbey.
• Uprising with William Wallace as a leader.
• Scottish aristocracy supported the English king, while peasants and small gentry supported Wallace.
• Guerrilla war.

Scotland (continued)

• Mel Gibson's Braveheart (1995) depicts William Wallace's struggle against Edward I of England, capture, trial, and execution.

Scotland (continued)

• Robert the Bruce, King of Scots (1306-1329)
• Victory of Bannockburn (1314): independence gained.
• Poor country, feudal anarchy, private wars, corrupt Church, no flourishing cities, weak institutions.

The Hundred Years' War

• After Norman conquest, England rose as a strong power.
• French possessions: Plantagenets (Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitane) had large territories.
• John Lackland lost almost all French possessions excluding Channel Islands by 1206.
• Edward III declared war on France (1337) to regain territories lost.
• Started the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453).

The Hundred Years' War (Reasons)

• Genealogical reasons (France supporting Scotland versus England).
• Economic reasons (English merchants favoring rich France over poor Scotland).
• National, supported by Parliament; France was a loose alliance of lords, not a monolithic nation-state.

The Hundred Years' War (England’s Advantage)

• Better social organization and exploitation of the French peasant serfs. English had a larger proportion of freemen to organize a trained army.
• The age of the longbow (14th century)

The Hundred Years' War (French Defeats)

• Defeat at Crécy (1346).
• 12,000 English versus 30-40,000 French.
• Defeated at Poitiers (1356).
• English were led by Edward, the Black Prince.

Black Death (1347-51)

• In England (1348-16 months).
• Population fell from 4 million to 2.5 million.
• War in France continued.

Black Death (Economic Consequences)

• Rise in the value of labor force.
• Free laborers demanded more for their work (villeins/peasants requested full freedom).
• No people to work farmlands.
• Parliament passed the Statute of Labourers (1351); maximum wages set at pre-Black Death levels.

Richard II (1377-99)

• Born 1367, succeeded the throne at age 10.
• Government was controlled by a series of councils (especially his uncle John of Gaunt's influence).

The Peasants' Revolt (1381)

• Result of social tension from post-epidemic adjustments.
• First significant popular rebellion in English History.
• Direct cause: imposed poll tax for the war in France.
• Free laborers went on strike, villeins left their lands.
• John Ball (priest) and Wat Tyler as revolt leaders.

The Peasants' Revolt (continued):

• Peasants organized into an army and marched on London.
• King Richard II and the Mayor of London promised them things.
• Wat Tyler treacherously killed.
• Promises not kept; participants persecuted after the rebellion dispersed (ended violently).

Wat Tyler's Death

• Part of the Peasants' Revolt (1381).

Emancipation of the Villeins

• Very important for later emancipation (mostly bought their freedom).
• Took place in the 15th century, finished under the Tudors.
• Emancipated villeins changed into small farmers (yeomen).
• Emergence of a social stratum of land-owning commoners.
• Basis for modern economy: growth of trade, manufacture, and colonization.

Situation in the Church

• 14th and 15th centuries: loss of moral and intellectual leadership.
• Unfair distribution of wealth among priests.
• Choosing the Pope's favorites (often foreign).
• Sale of pardons and relics.

John Wycliffe

• Dissatisfaction with the Church.
• Basis for the Lollardy movement.
• Challenged Papal authority, argued that Pope's power was derived from Roman Caesars, not Christ.
• Equated the Pope with the Antichrist.
• Involved in politics regarding the contest between the state and the Church.

Lollardy

• Wycliffe was charged with heresy.
• Considered to be the precursor of the Protestant Reformation.
• First Statute for burning of heretics passed in 1401.
• Lollard revival occurred around 1500, facilitated spread of Protestantism.

The Hundred Years' War (continued)

• Wars of the Roses.

Richard II → Henry IV

• Richard II was succeeded by Henry IV (1399): John of Gaunt's son, Henry Bolingbroke.
• Richard II died in captivity in 1400.
• This leads to the period of the Lancasters and the Yorks (descendants of John of Gaunt and the Duke of York).

Henry V → Henry VI

• Henry V (1413-22) revived England's claims to the French crown, winning the Battle of Agincourt (1415, 5900 English vs 35,000 French).
• In 1420, Henry V was acknowledged heir to the French Crown (Treaty of Troyes).
• Henry V died, leaving his inheritance to the son Henry VI (1422–61, 1470-71).

The Hundred Years' War (Jeanne d'Arc)

• Jeanne d'Arc (1412-1431) was a 17-year-old shepherdess who claimed to hear the voice of God.
• French victory at Orléans (1429) - significant turning point.
• Captured by Burgundians (turned over to English), found innocent of witchcraft but guilty of schism (and executed).
• Later French victories following Jeanne d'Arc's efforts, took more than 20 years to drive out the English.

The Hundred Years' War (Results)

• Gaining Calais for 100 years.
• Growing national self-consciousness in England.
• Growing Patriotic sense amongst English as racial hatred against the French grew.
• 1362 statute (six years after Poitiers) in English and Latin.
• Precursor to English literature (Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton).

Parliamentary Development

• Hundred Years' War resulted in increase of Parliament's powers (agreement needed for taxation).
• Medieval England's Parliament: taxes, laws, judiciary function as the High Court.
• The king subject to law, not absolute monarch.
• 1399 overthrow of Richard II (Henry of Bolingbroke becomes Henry IV) increased Parliament’s authority.
• Lancaster Kings' rule based on Parliamentary title/powers of the Houses respected.

Parliamentary Development (continued)

• 1422 premature death of Henry V.
• Son, Henry VI became king in infancy — council fell into hands of nobles.

Henry VI (1422-61, 1470-71)

• Unable to rule until 1437.
• Married to Margaret of Anjou, suffered two bouts of mental illness (1450-1461).
• Richard, Duke of York, ruled as protector.

Henry VI (continued):

• Founded Eton College and King's College, Cambridge; and All Souls College, Oxford.
• Powerful wife Margaret of Anjou, led to the division of nobles into Lancaster and York groups.

Wars of the Roses

• Civil war between Lancaster and York (branches of the Plantagenet house)- power struggles (wealth and crown).
• Red Rose of Lancaster and White Rose of York chosen as badges.
• Fighting nobles highly savage in their treatment of one another.
• Some parts of the population remained neutral.

Wars of the Roses (continued):

• Henry VI deposed in 1461 after the Battle of Towton (Edward IV's victory, English soil).
• Imprisoned.
• Brief restoration in 1470, re-deposed in 1471 (Battle of Tewkesbury).
• Edward IV died suddenly in 1483 (succession crises).
• His son, a 12-year-old Edward V, was next in line; kept in the Tower of London.
• Richard III, uncle of Edward V, was crowned king, despite his brothers' disappearance and suspected murder in the Tower of London (the “Princes in the Tower”).
• Lancastrian Henry Tudor defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. Henry VII became King of England.

The Tudors: Henry VII and Henry VIII

Wars of the Roses (Conclusions)

• Chroniclers hired to portrait Henry VII's reign to portray it as the start of a new age
• Henry VII married Elizabeth of York, best surviving Yorkist.

The Tudors (Henry VII)

• Made the nation wealthy.
• Kept out of wars.
• Kept no standing army.
• Preserved old medieval institutions (King’s Council, Parliament, Common law, Justices of the Peace, jury).

The Tudors (continued: Henry VII)

• Made institutions instruments of royal power.
• Privy Council - center of new constitutional power.
• Replaced middle-class clergy with lawyers in Privy Council.
• Lawyers, loyal and efficient, university legal education and experience in foreign travel.
• Council had legislative power (suggesting statutes/bills).
• Star Chamber (highest court in the state) -controlling riots and similar activities.
• Local courts regained independence.

The Tudors (continued: Overall Political Changes)

• Limited role of aristocracy after Wars of the Roses- some wealth confiscated.
• More in tune with new class of merchants/gentlemen farmers than with old ideas of kingship.
• Future lay in trade, agriculture, manufacture (best during peace).

The Tudors (Henry VIII)

• Revival of Lollardy
• Pre-Protestant religious movement
• Started by John Wycliffe.

The Tudors: Henry VIII (continued)

• Renaissance in England: interest in Greek and Roman literature, culture; changing medieval attitude to learning; English renaissance - more closely connected with religion compared with Italian and French.

The Tudors: Henry VIII (continued)

• Renaissance roots in 14th and 15th centuries: dissolving medieval society, emancipation of villeins, growth of London, educated classes, cloth manufacture, rise & strengthening of Parliament, adoption of English within educated classes.

The Tudors: Henry VIII (continued): Printing Press

• Johannes Gutenberg's printing press - shattered churchmen's monopoly of learning.
• William Caxton developed first printing press in England (1476). First printed book: Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

The Tudors: Henry VIII (continued): Age of Sea Voyage

• Age of sea voyages: Columbus, Magellan, Amerigo Vespucci.
• Henry VII's reign: Cabots (John Cabot and son Sebastian) voyages to Labrador, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia.

The Tudors: Henry VIII (continued)

• Henry VIII: founded a Royal Navy; effective fleet of royal fighting ships; Trinity House.

Henry VIII (Personal Life)

• Became king in 1509 at age 18.
• Previous brother, Arthur, had died.
• Married Catherine of Aragon (brother’s widow).

Henry VIII (Break With Rome)

• Saw the Church as corrupt and worldly; paid taxes and allegiance to Rome, not to the king.
• The Protestant Reformation (Martin Luther, John Calvin).
• England's Lollard tradition.

Henry VIII (continued)

• Wanted Church in England to follow him and not the Pope.
• 1521: wrote The Defence of the Seven Sacraments arguing in favor of Papal authority, marriage supremacy, criticizing Martin Luther.
• Awarded title of "Fidei Defensor" (Defender of the Faith) by Pope Leo X, later revoked by Pope Paul III after excommunication.

Henry VIII (Personal Reasons For Break)

• Catherine of Aragon (1509 marriage).
• Only one surviving child (Mary).
• Wanted male heir to avoid conflicts.
• Determined to marry Anne Boleyn.
• Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine seen by Henry as not legitimate (founded on Pope's dispensation to marry brother's widow).
• Henry argued the Pope’s decision was illegitimate.

Henry VIII (Catherine of Aragon)

• Daughter of powerful Isabella, Queen of Castile, and Ferdinand II of Aragon
• Aunt of Charles V, King of Spain.

Reformation (Cardinal Wolsey)

• Cardinal Wolsey, Lord Chancellor, chief minister to Henry VIII, gave Hampton Court to Henry VIII.
• Arrested and died before execution.

Reformation (Reforms)

• Clergy accepted being subjected to the King, retained privileges.
• Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy (1534).
• Obeyed the Pope = treason, punishable by death.
• Reformation not a cause of religious war.

Reformation (continued)

• Catholicism still popular amongst the general populace.
• Henry VIII remained in his old faith.
• Beginnings of English Reformation under Henry VIII.
• Protestantism differed from Northern/Continental Europe.

The Dissolution of the Monasteries

• In 1534, Henry VIII authorized Thomas Cromwell to visit the monasteries.
• Purpose was to assess their wealth and record the "sinful" and "hypocritical" natures of the monks, leading scandalous lives.
• Dissolution (1536-40).
• Henry VIII badly needed money.
• Religious valuables, including books in monastic libraries, were confiscated or destroyed.

Henry VIII (Religious Reforms)

• Monarch as the head of the Church of England.
• Relic worship and pilgrimages discouraged (suppression of the shrine and cult of Thomas Becket).
• Stopped many forms of superstitious practices.
• English Bibles, and Ten Commandments, circulated.

Henry VIII and his wives

• (1) Catherine of Aragon: divorced, Mary (Queen Mary I). Marriage annulled.
• (2) Anne Boleyn: accused of adultery, beheaded, Elizabeth (Queen Elizabeth I).
• (3) Jane Seymour: died after childbirth, Edward VI (future King Edward VI).
• (4) Anne of Cleaves: found unattractive, marriage annulled
• (5) Catherine Howard: accused of adultery, beheaded.
• (6) Catherine Parr: survived, helped reconcile Henry with his daughters.

Henry VIII (continued)

• Died in 1547 (age 55).
• First English king with a modern humanist education.
• Read English, French & Latin, and had a considerable library.
• An accomplished/musical composer.

Henry VIII (Legitimate Children)

• Mary (Queen Mary I), daughter of Catherine of Aragon.
• Elizabeth (Queen Elizabeth I), daughter of Anne Boleyn.
• Edward (King Edward VI), son of Jane Seymour.

Edward VI (1547-1553)

• Became King at age 9
• Uncle Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, appointed as Lord Protector.
• Protestant Council made up mainly of new nobility created by Henry VIII.
• Archbishop Cranmer prepared the Book of Common Prayer (1549/52).
• Emphasis placed on the English king as head of the English Church.
• The Protector (Seymour) did allow religious dissent—discussion encouraged.

Edward VI (continued)

• John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland replaced Seymour and gave more impetus to Reformation, returning to some of Henry VIII's strict laws against Catholics.
• Unpopular as a ruler.
• Planned to exclude Henry's daughters, put his daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey on the throne.
• Edward VI died in 1553, age 15.

Lady Jane Grey

• Dudley’s daughter-in-law.
• Put on the throne by Dudley.
• Ruled for nine days before Mary I.
• Also known as the Nine Days Queen.

Mary I (1553-58)

• Daughter of Catherine of Aragon
• Brought up as a Catholic.
• Became queen in 1553 at 37.
• Supported by many common English people who disliked the richness of Protestant nobles.

Mary I (continued)

• Protestantism associated with violence.
• Robbers and destroyers of monasteries.
• Asked Parliament to approve marriage with Philip II of Spain.
• Parliament agreed only if Philip would be king for Mary's lifetime.
• Thomas Wyatt's rebellion over the arranged marriage with Philip.
• Philip persuaded Mary to join Spain in war against France.
• Calais fell to the French in 1558; this lowered popularity.

Mary I (continued)

• Bloody Mary—religious zeal led to revival of Pope's English jurisdiction.
• Burned almost 300 Protestants during her reign.
• Catholic religion appeared to the English nation as cruel, unpatriotic, and foreign.
• Prepared people for a more Protestant England (protestant was beginning to mean to be a true Englishman).

Mary I (continued)

• Martyr's Memorial in Oxford (1843) commemorates Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, and Thomas Cranmer.
• Died in 1558, age 42, leaving a dysfunctional, ill-governed state without arms, leaders, unity and spirit, and a vassal of the Spanish Empire.

Elizabeth I (1558-1603)

• Daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.
• Brought up as a Protestant but considered illegitimate.
• Third in line to the throne (after Edward and Mary).
• Tudor reign and England famously a time of intrigues and murders.

Elizabeth I (continued)

• Philip of Spain protected Elisabeth despite her not being Catholic, since the next heir, Mary Queen of Scots was Catholic, married to the Dauphin of France.
• Elizabeth's reign secured England's independence through rivalry between France and Spain.