An Illustrated History of Britain PDF

A N I LLU STRATED - HISTORY OF - BRITAIN David McDowall Pearson Education Limited, Edinburgh Gate, Harlow, Essex CM20 2/E, England and Associated Companies throughout the world. urunalongman.com © Longm an Group UK Limited 1989 All rights reserved; no part of Otis publication may be rep...

A N I LLU STRATED - HISTORY OF - BRITAIN David McDowall Pearson Education Limited, Edinburgh Gate, Harlow, Essex CM20 2/E, England and Associated Companies throughout the world. urunalongman.com © Longm an Group UK Limited 1989 All rights reserved; no part of Otis publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in allY form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otuenoise, without the prior written permission of the Publishers. First publi shed 1989 Tw enty-first impression 2006 British Libra ry Catalogui ng in Pu blication Dat a McD owall , David An illu strated hist ory of Britain. 1. Great Britain-Hi stor y 1.Title 941 DA3 0 ISBN-H 978-0-5B2-74914-6 ISBN-1O, 0-5B2-74914-X Set in 11/ 13 pt Goudy O ld Style Printed in China GCC / 21 Acknowledgements W e are grate ful to Penguin Books Ltd for permission to reprod uce an extract from TheCanterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, translated by Nevd l Coghtll [Pen guin C1a5sics, 1951, 1958, 1960) , copy right (c) Nevill Co ghill, 195 1, 1958, 1960. W e are gratefu l to the following for permission to reproduce co pyright 115 ( left), 127 (top), 136 and 140: The Marque ss of Bath, Lo ngleat pho to graphs: House , W arm inster , Wiltshi re for page 83; The Marqucss of Sa lisbury Aerofilm s for page 6 (left ) and 24 (to p left ). Bama by's Picture Library for page 82; The Marquess of T avurock and the T rustees of the for page 170 an d 176 (bo tto m); BBC Hulton Pict ure Library (o r pages Bedford Estates, W oburn A bbey for page 74; Ma rvlebon e Cnckcr Club 141, 144, 151, 154, 163 and 165; Bibliotheq uc Royale A lben lcr, for page 153; Kcnnerh McNally for page 19: Museu m of London for Brussels (Ms 13076177 fo 24v) for page 47 ; Bodle ian Library, O xford page 142. Directo r of th e Nat ional Ar my Museum, Chelsea, London (M s Bodley 764 f 41v) for page 38 (right ); [an er and Colin Bord for for page 147; Natio nal Ga llery of Canada, O ttawa for page 124. page 4; The Bridgem an A rt Lihr:o Irlt'd 10 pre ten r tiny William organ ised his English kin gdom according mcrecse in Church power, and tried to ,If>poinl bishops u·ho U'OlI/J hi: m OTe ln~'al lfl lhe kinR rhan 10 [he Ch l~rch. Becket died because he [rit.'J w pr ew nr to the feudal system which had already begun to [he kinR from gaininRmore control 0/ C hllKh affairs. de velop in England before his arrival. The word 23 An Illustrated Hisrorv of Britain Casrle Rising in Norfolk, a fine exo.mple of !he s!One,built keeps the No-mens built in rhe ear(~ The greas hall in Casrle Headingham, built in 1140. gil'f!S an tU'ft/fth cenrury. These replaced !he earlier Ncmnan "mcne and bailey" cudes. u:hich were earrh idea of !he inside ofa Norman casde. The floor was covered mounds SUTTOtmded by a wooden fena or paIfuade. A s!One·lrnilr keep of !he IU'U' kind Wd5 wirh rushes or reeds, cur from a nearby marsh or u.!edand extremel)' difficult to capture, except by surprise. Keeps of this kindhad a weU, p-ro~.'iJ ing fTe5h area. The walls were decorated with U!OlIt't1 woollen water far a long siege. embroidered hangi"Ks. for which England ucs famou.s. !he fumilUre is of a much larer dare. 1n Norman times there U'a5 probably a large btd simple table and chair ffTf rhe lord of rhe "feudalism" co mes from th e Frenc h word [eu, which castle. Others Sflf on benches, or mighr haw stood for meals. th e Normans used to refer to lan d held in return fo r duty or service to a lord. The basis of feuda l soc iety was the holding of lan d , and its ma in purpose was eco no mic. T he cen tral idea was that all lan d was owned by the king but it was held by others. ca lled "vassa ls", in retu rn for services and goods. T he king gave large estates to h is main nobles in return for a promise to serve him in war for up to forty days. T he nobles also had to give hi m part of the prod uce of th e land. T he grea ter nob les gave part of the ir lan ds to lesser nob les, kn ight s. and o the r "freemen". So me freemen paid for the land by doin g milirary service. wh ile othe rs paid rent. The nob le kept "serfs" to work on his own land. T hese were not free to leave the estate, and were often little better tha n slaves. T he re were two basic princip les to feuda lism: eve ry man had a lord. and every lord had land, T he king was connected through thi s "chain" of people to the lowest man in th e co untry. At each level a man A thirreenth~cenlu ry knighr pays homllge. The no bilil) of Britain srill pay homlIge UJ lhe had to promise loyalty and service to his lord. Th is sOl'tTeign during lhe coronation ceremony, ElItT promise was usually made with the lord sitting on since rheMiddle Ages, wesr European Chrisrians halOf' wed !hefeudal homage pcsmon u,hen his chair and h is vassal kneel ing before him, h is praying. a reminder of their relatiaruhip UJ God, han ds placed between those of his lord. This was rheir lord and prceectc-. 24  4 Conquest and feudal rule called " homage" , and h as rem ained parr of the Kingship: a famil y business coron ation ce re mo ny of British kings and queen s T o under stand the idea of kin gship a nd lordsh ip in until now. O n the othe r h an d , ea ch lord had the early Midd le A ges it is important to rea lise th at respo nsibilities to h is vassals. He had to give them at th is time ther e was little or no idea of land and protec tion. nation alism. W illiam controlled two large areas: W he n a nobl e d ied his son usua lly roo k o ver h is N or ma ndy, whi ch he h ad been give n by hi s fa th er , estate. But first he had to receiv e permission from and Englan d, wh ich h e h ad won in war. Bot h were the king and make a spec ial pay me nt. If h e was still personal possession s, and it did not matter to the a ch ild the king wou ld often ta ke the pro duce of rul ers th at the ordinary peop le of o ne p lace were th e esta te un ti l th e boy was o ld eno ugh to look Eng lish wh ile those of anot her were French. To afte r the estate himself. In th is way the kin g could W illiam the im port an t diffe rence betwee n bene fi t from the death of a noble. If a ll the nob le's N or ma ndy and Eng lan d was tha t as duke of family died th e land went back to the king, wh o Norma ndy h e h ad to recogn ise the k ing of Fran ce would be expected to give it to ano the r deservin g as hi s lord, wh er eas in England he was kin g wit h no noble. But the ki ng often kep t th e land for so me lord abo ve him. years. usin g its wea lth. befo re giv ing it to anot he r When Wi lliam d ied , in 1087, he left the Duchy of noble. No rma ndy to h is cid er son , Ro be rt. He gave If the king di ll n ot give the no bles land th ey would England to hi s second son , W illiam, known as not fig h t for him. Be tween 1066 and the mid - "Rufus" (Lat in for red) because of hi s red hai r and fourteenth ce ntury there were on ly thirty years of red face. W hen Roberr went to fight th e Muslims in complete peace. So feuda l duties were extreme ly th e Hol y Lan d, he left W illiam 11 (Ru fus) in c harge important. T he king had to make sure he had of Norma ndy. Afte r a ll, th e manage me n t of enough satisfied nobl es who would be will ing to N ormandy and England was a family busine ss. tigh r for h im. Wi ll iam Ru fus d ied in a hunting acc ide n t in 1100 , W illiam gave o ur land a ll over Englan d to his shot dead hI' an arrow. He had not marri ed , and nob les, By 1086 h e wanted to kn ow exac tly who the refore had no son to take the crown. At the owned whic h piece of land. and how much it was t ime of William 's death , Roberr was on hi s way worth. He needed th is information so rhar he could hom e to Normandy fro m the Hol y Lan d. The ir plan h is eco no my. find our how muc h was produced younge r brothe r. Henry. kne w that if he wanted and how much he co uld ask in tax. He therefore the Eng lish c rown h e wou ld h ave to act very sent a team of peop le all through England to make quick ly. He had been wi th W illiam at the time of a co mplete econo mic survey. His men asked all the acc ident. He rod e to Winchester and took kinds of question s at eac h set tlemen t: How much c harge of the king's treasury. He the n rode to land was there ? \'(fho own ed it ? How much was it We stminster. where he was crow ned king three worth ? How many famil ies, ploughs and she ep we re da ys later. Roberr was very an gry and prepa red to the re? A nd so on. T his survey was the on ly on e of invade. Blit it rook him a year to organ ise an army. its kind in Europe. N ot surprising ly, it was most The Norma n nohles in England had to c ho ose unp opu lar wit h the people, because th ey fe lt th ey between Hen ry and Roh er r. T h is was not easy could not escape from its findings. It so re minded beca use most of the m held land in Normandy too. them of the paint ings of the Day of Judgement, or In the end they c hose Hen ry beca use he was in "doo m". o n the walls of thei r churches that they Lon don, with the c rown already o n his head. ca lled it the "Domesday" Book. T he na me stuc k. Robcrr's invasion was a failure and he acce pted The Do mesday Book still ex ists, and gives us an payment to return to Normandy. But Henry wante d exrraordina rv amoun t of info rrna rio n about England more. He knew tha t many of h is nobles would at this rime. willingly follow h im to Normandy so that they 25 A n Illustrated Histo ry of Britain A t th e t ime both the possible heirs to Henry were on their own esta tes. Maril da was with her hu sban d in A njo u and Hen ry's neph ew. Srephen of Blois, was in Boulogne , only a day's jou rney by sea from England. As Henry had done before him , Ste phe n raced to England to cl aim the c rown. Al so as before, the nobles in England had to choose between Stcphe n, who was in England, and Mari lda. who had quarrelled with her fathe r and who was st ill in France. Most chose Srephc n, who inherited rrom his D tands father, Geotlrey Plantagenet. count seems to ha ve been good at fighti ng but littl e else. ot AnJOu lands inherited from jus He was described at the time as "of outstanding mother, Queen Matllda 01England skill in arms, but in othe r things almost an idiot, except that he was more incl ined towards evil. " O landsgaIned by his marriage to Eleanor 01AqUlta,ne O n ly a few nob les supported Mat ilda 's claim. gained by hIS son O lands Geollrey's marriage to constarce 01 Bnttany Mar ilda invaded England four years later. Her fight with Ste phe n led to a te rrible civil war in wh ich O lands belongIngto, and dlrecltyruled by, the French king vill ages were destroyed and many peop le we re O lands which recognised the French kIng as overlord killed. N eit he r side co uld win, and finally in 11 53 Marilda and Sre phc n agreed tha t St ephen could - bound ary or Henry u's French lands keep the throne but o nly if Marilda's son , Henry, could succee d him. Fortunatel v for Englan d, Hemy 1/ '$ clllpire. Srephen died the following year, and th e family possessions of England and the lands in France were united und er a king acce pted by eve ryone. It took could win back thei r Nor man land s. In 11 06 Henry years for Englan d to recover from th e civil war. As inv aded Norma ndy and captured Rober r. someo ne wrote at the time, "For nin eteen long Nor mandy and England were reunited und er one wint ers, God and his ang els slept. " This kind of ruler. disorder and destruction was co mmon in Europe, Henry l's most important aim was to pass on bo th but it was shocking in England beca use people were Nor mandy and England to his successor. He spent used to the rule of law and order. th e rest of his life fight ing tn keep Normandy from Henry 1I was the fi rst unquestion ed ruler of th e o ther Fren ch nobles who tr ied to take it. But in English throne for a hu ndred years. He destro yed 1120 Henry 's on ly son was drowned at sea. the castles wh ich many nob les had built withou t During the next fifteen years Henry hoped for royal permission durin g Srephen's reign , and made ano the r son but fi nally accep ted tha t his daughter, sure that they lived in manor houses that were Marilda, would follow him. Henry had married und efend ed. The manor again became th e centre of Marilda to anot her great noble in France, Geoffrey loca l life and admin istra t ion. Plan tagen et , Ge offrey was heir to A njou, a large Henr y 1I was ruler of far more land than any and important area southwest of N ormandy. Hen ry previous king. As lord of A njou he adde d h is hoped tha t the family lands wou ld be made larger fat he r's land s to th e fami ly empire. Afte r his by th is marr iage. He made all the nobles promise to marriage to Elean or of Aqu itaine he also ruled the acce pt Matilda when he died. But th en Henry lands south of A njo u. Henry ll 's empi re stretched him self qua rrelled publicly with Mari lda's hu sband , from th e Scott ish border to th e Pyren ees. and died soon after. This left th e succession in question. 26  4 Conquest and feudal rule Four kJnRs of the early Middle Ages: (top row) Henry fI, Richard 1, (bonorn TOW) John mul Henry 111. Richard's shieldcarries the beulge of the English kings. The fhree gold lilms (called "leupards" in heraldic language) on a red field stillform fWO of fhe four "qlUlrrers" of the Royal Standard or shield wJay. England prov ided most of Henry' s wealth , but th e popular kings, altho ugh he spent hardly any t ime in heart of his emp ire lay in Anjou. And altho ugh England. He was brave, and a good soldier, but his Henry recognised the king of Franc e as the overlord nickn ame Coeur de Lion, " lionheart ", sho ws tha t of all his Fren ch lands, he actually con trolled a his culture, like th at of the kin gs before him , was greater area tha n th e kin g of France. Man y of Fren ch. Rich ard was ever yone's idea of th e perfect Henry's nob les held land on both sides of th e feuda l king. He went to th e Holy Land to make war English cha nnel. on the Muslims and he fought with skill, courage and honour. However, Henr y quarrelled with his beautifu l and powerful wife, and h is sons, Richa rd and John , took On his way back from the Ho ly Land Rich ard was Eleanor's side. It may seem surprising that Richard captured by th e duke of Au str ia, with whom he had and Joh n fought against their own father. But in quarrelled in Jerusalem. The duke dem anded money fact th ey were doi ng th eir dut y to th e kin g of before he would let him go, and it took two years France, their feudal ove rlord, in payment for th e for England to pay. Shortly afte r, in 1199, Rich ard lands they held from him. In 11 89 Henry died a was killed in Fran ce. He had spent no more tha n broken man, disappointed and defeated by his sons four or five years in th e co unt ry of which he was and by th e Fren ch kin g. king. W hen he died th e Fren ch kin g too k over parts of Rich ard's Fren ch lands to rule him self. Hen ry was followed by his rebell ious son, Rich ard. Rich ard I has always been one of England's most 27 An Illustrated History of Britain Rich ard had no son, and he was followed by his Magna Carta and the decline of brother, John. John had already made him self unpopu lar with the three most important groups of feudalism peop le , the nobles, the mercha nt s and the C hurch. This new agreemen t was known as "Magna Carta" , the G reat C harte r, and was an important symbol of John was unpopular mainl y beca use he was greed y. poli tical freedom. The king promi sed all "freemen" The feudal lords in England had always run rheir protect ion from his officers, and the right to a fair own law courts and profited from th e fines paid by and legal trial. At the time perhaps less th an one th ose brought to court. But John too k many cases quarter of the English were "free rne n". Most were out of thei r courts and tried the m in th e king's not free, and were serfs or littl e better. Hundreds of co urts , taking th e mone y for him self. years lat er, Magna C arta was used by Parl iament to It was nor mal for a feuda l lord to make a payment protect itself from a powerful kin g. In fact Magna to the king whe n his daughter was marri ed , but Ca rta gave no real freedo m to the majori ty of John asked for more than was the custom. In the people in England. The nobles who wrote it and same way, whe n a noble died , h is son had to pay forced King John to sign it had no such th ing in money before he co uld in he rit h is fathe r's land. In mind. They had one main aim: to make sure John order to en large his own income, John inc reased did not go beyond h is rights as feuda l lord. the amount they had to pay. In othe r cases when a Magna Carta marks a clear stage in the co llapse of nob le died with ou t a son, it was norm al for the land English feudalism. Feudal soc iety was based on links to be passed on ro.ano rher nob le fam ily. Joh n kept bet ween lord and vassal. A t Runn vmede the nobles the land for a long time , to benefit from its wealth. we re not acting as vassals but as a class. T hey He did the same with the bishoprics. As for th e established a committee of twenty-four lords to merch ants and towns, he taxed them at a higher make sure John kept his promises. T hat was not a level tha n ever before. "feuda l" th ing to do. In addit ion , th e nob les were In 1204 King Joh n beca me even more unp opular acting in co-operation with the merch ant cl ass of with his nob les. T he French king invaded towns. Normandy and th e English nobles lost their land s T he nobles did not allow John's successors to forget there. John had failed to ca rry out his duty to the m th is c harter and its promises. Every king recognised as duke of Norma ndy. He had taken their money Magna Carta, until the Middle Ages ended in but he had not protect ed the ir land. disorder and a ne w kind of mon arch y came into In 1209 John quarrelled with th e pope ove r who being in the sixtee nth century. sho uld be Arc hbisho p of Can terbury. John was in a There were othe r small signs th at feudalism was weak posit ion in England and the pope kn ew it. chang ing. W hen the kin g went to war he had th e T he pope ca lled on the king of Fran ce to invade righ t to forty days' fighting service from each of his England , and closed every church in th e co untry. lords. But forty days were not lon g eno ugh for A t a time when most people believed th at without fighting a war in Fran ce. T he nob les refused to fight the C hurch th ey would go to hell , thi s was a very for lon ger , so th e kin g was forced to pay soldiers to serious matt er. In 1214 John gave in , and accepted fight for him. (T he y were called "paid fighters" , the pope's choice of archbisho p. snUdari"s, a Latin word from which the word In 1215 John hoped to recapture Normandy. He "soldier" co mes. ) A t th e same time many lords ca lled o n his lords to fi ght for him, but they no preferred the ir vassals to pay th em in money rather lon ger truste d hi m. They march ed to London , than in services. Vassals we re gradually beg inn ing where they were joined by angry merch ant s. to change into tenants. Feudalism. the use of land Outside Londo n at Runn ymede, a few miles up the in return for service. was beginn ing to weaken. But river. John was forced to sign a new agree me n t. it too k anot he r three hundred years before it disappeared comp letely. 28 5 The power of the kings of England C hurch and state' The beginnings of Parliament· Dealing with the C elts Church and state wishes of the king in th e appointmen t of bishops remained important. But afte r A nselrn's deat h John 's reign also marked th e end of the long Henr y man aged to delay the appoint ment of a new struggle between C hurch and sta te in Englan d. archbishop for fi ve years whi le he benefited from This had begun in 1066 when th e pope claimed the wealth of Canterbury. T he struggle betwe en that Wi lliam had promised to acce pt him as his C hurch and state continued. feudal lord. William refused to accept th is cla im. He had created Norman bishops and given them The crisis came when Henry Il's friend Thomas land on condition th at they paid hom age to him. Becket was appointed A rchbishop of Canterbury in As a result it was not clea r whethe r the bishops 1162. Henr y hoped th at T homas would hel p him should obe y the C hurch or th e king. T hose kings bring the C hurch more und er h is control. At fi rst and popes who wished to avo id conflict left the Becket refused , and then he gave in. Later he matter alone. But some kin gs and popes wanted to changed his mind again and ran away to Fran ce , increase the ir autho rity. In such ci rcumstances and it seemed as if Henry had won. But in 1170 trouble could not be avo ided. Becker returned to Eng land determined to resist the king. Hen ry was very angry, and four knights who The struggle was for bot h powe r and mon ey. During heard hi m spea k out went to C anterbury to murder the eleventh and twe lfth centuries th e Church Becker. They killed him in the holiest place in the wanted the kings of Europe to accept its aut hority cat hedra l, on the altar steps. over both spiritual and earthly affairs, and argued that even kings were answerab le to God. Kings, on A ll C hrist ian Europe was shocked , and T homas the othe r han d , chose as bisho ps men who wou ld Becket became a saint of the C hurch. For hundreds be loyal to them. of years afterwards people not only from England but also from Europe travelled to C anterbury to Th e first serious quarrel was between W illiam Rufus pray at Becket 's grave. Henr y was forced to ask the and An selm, the man he had made A rchb ishop of pope 's forgiveness. He also allowed himself to be Cante rbury. A nselm, with seve ral o ther bishops , whip ped by monks. T he pope used th e event to fearin g the kin g, had escaped from Eng land. After take back some of the C hurch's privileges. But William 's death Anselm refused to do homage to Hen ry \I could have lost much more tha n he did. William's successor , Henry I. Henry, meanwhile, Luckil y for Henry, the nobles were also invol ved in had created several new bishops but they had no the argument , and Henr y had the nobles on his spiritual authority witho ut the blessing of the side. Usually the C hurch preferred to suppor t the archb ishop. This left the kin g in a difficul t position. king against th e nobles, but expec ted to be It took seven years to settle the disagreement. rewarded for its support. King John's mistake forty Finally the king agreed tha t only the C hurch co uld years later was to upset bo th C h urch and nob les at create bishops. But in retu rn the C hurch agreed the same time. that bishops would pay ho mage to the king for the lands owned by their bishoprics. In pract ice the 29 An Illustrated History of Britain The beginnings of Parliament He nry's heavy spending and his fore ign adv isers upset the nob les, O nce again they acted as a class, King John had signed Magna Ca rta unw illing ly, unde r the leadership of Simon de Monr forr , earl of and it quickl y became cleat th at he was not going Leicester. In 1258 th ey too k o ver th e govern ment to keep to the agree ment. The nob les rebelled and and electe d a cou nc il of nobles. De Montfort ca lled soon pushed John out of th e southeast. But civ il it a parliament, or parlement, a Frenc h wo rd mea ning war was avoided because John died sudde nly in a "discussion meet ing". This "parliament" too k 12 16. control of the treasury and forced Henry to get rid Joh n's son , Henry Ill , was on ly nine years old. of his foreign adv isers. The nohles were supported Durin g th e first sixteen years as king he was und er by the town s, wh ich wished to be free of Henry's the con trol of powerful nob les, and tied by Magna heavy taxes. Ca rta. But some of the nobles did no t support the Henry was finally ab le to rule for him self at th e revolution ary new counc il, and rem ain ed loyal to age of twenty-five. It was und erstandable that he Henry. With th eir hel p Henry was finally ab le to wanted to be comp letely independen t of th e peop le defeat and kill Simon de Monrfort in 1265. O nce who had controlled h is life for so lon g. He spen t his again he had full royal aut hor ity, altho ugh he was time with foreign friends, and became involved in careful to acce pt th e balan ce wh ich de Mon tfort expe nsive wars supporting th e pope in Sicily and had created between kin g and nobles, W he n Henry also in France. died in 1272 his son Edward I too k the thro ne witho ut quest ion. Edward I's parliament Edward sits in front of his nobles, bishops and shire knights. On his right sits Alexander, kingof Scots , and on his left is Uewelyn, Prince of Wales. It is unlikely eiM e\'t'T sat in Edward's parliament, bur he liked to think of them as under his authority. Be,ond Alexander and Uewelyn sit [he archbishops of CanleTbury and York, and [heTe are more bishops on the left of the picture, a reminder of the political andeconomic strength of the Church os rhis time. In the centre are wool5acks, symbolic of England's wealth. 30  5 Th e power of the kings of England Edward I brou ght togethe r the fi rst real pa rliament. Simon de Monrforr's co unc il had been called a parl iament, but it included on ly nob les, It hall been able to make statutes, or written laws, and it had been able to make poli tical decision s. However , th e lords were less able to provide the king with money, except what th ey had agreed to pay hi m for the lands th ey held under feuda l arra ngeme nt. In the days of Henry I ( 1100- 35),85 per cent of the king's inco me had co me from the land. By 127Z inco me from th e land was less than 40 per cent of the royal incom e. The king co uld on ly raise the rest by taxation. Since the rules of feudalism did not include taxati on, taxes could on ly be raised with the agreement of tho se wealthy enough to be taxed. Several kings had made arrangemen ts for taxation before, but Edward I was the first to create a Hc1Tlech UlSlle. one of several castles bui/l fry Eduoard 1 in order W con rro! "representative institution" wh ich co uld provide the north and uesr of Wales. The mountainous COUnfry of Snoudonia in the the mon ey he needed. This institution becam e the background U'(IS a place of safety for the Welsh rebels. While it ucs exrremely chfficuI! for Edward re reach the rebels in these mountains. it was House of Commons. U n like th e House of Lords it alsoimpossible forsuch rebels ever to capture castles as strong as Harlech. conta ined a mixture of "gentry" (kn ights and o ther These hugely expensivecastles were so strong that tht'y persuaded the Welsh rhat anorht'T rising against English rule was unlikely 10 succeed. wealthy freemen from the sh ires) and merch ants from the town s. T hese were the two broad classes of people who produ ced and controlled England 's wealth. In 1275 Edward I commanded eac h sh ire and each became nece ssary for th e making of all sta tutes, and town (or borough) to send two representatives to all special taxat ion additiona l to regular taxes. his parliame nt. These "com moners" would have stayed away if th ey could, to avo id giving Edward mon ey. But few da red risk Edward's anger. T hey became unwi lling repre sentatives of the ir local Dealing with the Celts commun ity. This, rather th an Magna C art a, was Edward I was less interested in winning back part s the beginning of th e idea that th ere sho uld be "no of France than in bringing the rest of Britain under taxation with out representation". later claimed by his contro l. the American co lon ists of the eightee nth cen tury. W illiam I had allowed h is lords to win land by In o ther parts of Europe , similar "pa rliame nt s" kept conq uest in W ales. These Nonnans slowly all the gentry separate from the commo ners. extended the ir control up th e Wel sh river valleys England was special because th e House of and by the beginn ing of th e twelfth century much Co mmons co ntained a mixture of gentry belo nging of W ales was held by them. T he y built castles as to the feudal ruling class and merch ants and they went forward, and mixed with and married the freemen who did not. The co -operation of these Wel sh d uring the eleventh , twelfth and thi rtee nt h groups, through the House of C ommons, became ce nturies. A new class grew up, a mixture of the importa nt to Brita in's later political and social Nor man and W elsh rulers, who spoke No rman develop ment. During the 150 years following Fren ch and Welsh, but not English. They all Edward's death the agreement of th e C ommons became vassals of the English king. 31 An Illustrated H istory of Britain The on ly Wel sh who were at all free from English The Irish ch iefs continued to live as th ey always rule lived aro und Snowdon, th e wild mounta ino us had don e, moving from place to place , and eat ing area of north Wa les. They were led by Llewelyn ap out of doors, a habit they on ly gave up in the G ruffvdd, pr ince of G wynedd, who tr ied to beco me sixtee nt h century. T he A nglo-lrish lords, on th e indepen dent of the English. Edward was determined other han d, built strong stone castles, as the y had m defeat him an d brin g Wa les completely und er his don e in Wa les. But th ey also became almost co ntrol. In 1282 Llewelyn was captured and killed. complete ly independ ent from the English Crown, Edward the n began a programme of castle building and some became "more Irish tha n the Irish". whi ch was extreme ly expensive and took man y In Sco tland thi ngs were very different. A lthough years to complete. Scott ish kings had so met imes accepted the English In 1284 Edwnrd uni ted west W ales with England, kin g as the ir "ov erlo rd", th ey were much stro nger brin ging th e English co unty system to the newly than th e man y We lsh kin gs had been. By th e conquered lands. But he did not interfere with the eleventh century there was o nly one king of Scots , areas th e Nor mans had conquered ea rlier on th e and he ruled over all the south and east of Scot - English-Welsh border, because th is wou ld have led land. O nly a few areas of the western coas t were to trou ble with his nobles. st ill co mpletely independ en t and these all came und er th e kin g's control during the twelfth and The English conside red that Wales had become thi rteenth centuries. In Ireland and W ales Nor man part of England for all pract ical purposes. If th e kn ights were strong en ough to fight local ch iefs on Welsh wanted a prince , th ey cou ld have one. At a th eir own. But only th e English king with a large public ceremony at Caernarfon Edward I made his army cou ld hope to defeat the Scots. Most English own baby son (later Edward 11 ) Prince of Wales. kin gs did not not eve n try, but Edward I was different. Fro m that ti me the eldest so n of th e ruling kin g o r queen has usually been made Prin ce of Wales. The Sco tt ish kin gs were closely connected with Englan d. Since Saxo n times, marriages had Ireland had been conquered by Norman lords in frequently ta ken place betwee n th e Sco tt ish and 11 69. They had littl e difficulty in defeating the English royal families. At th e same t ime, in order Irish kings and tribes. Henry 11 , afraid that his lords m establ ish strong govern ment, the Sco tt ish kin gs mi gh t becom e too independen t, we nt to Ireland offered land to Norman kni ghts from England in him self. He forced th e Irish ch iefs and Nor man return for th eir loyalty. Scotland followed England lords m accept his lordship. He did so with th e in creat ing a feudal sta te. On the whole C eltic authority of the pope, who hoped m bring th e Irish society acce pted thi s, probab ly beca use the Celt ic C hurch unde r his own co ntrol. Nor mans married into local Celtic noble families. Henry 11 made Dublin , the old Viking town , the The feudal syste m, however, did not develop in the capita l of h is new co lony. Much of western Ireland Highlands, where the tribal "cla n " system remained in the hands of Irish ch iefs, whi le co nt inued. Some Sco ttis h kings held land in Norman lords governed most of the east. Edward I England, just as English kin gs held lands in Fran ce. took as much money and as man y men as he could A nd in exactly the same way they did homage, for his wars against th e We lsh and Sco ts. As a promising loyalty m th e English king for that lan d. result Ireland was dra ined of its wealth. By 1318 it In 1290 a crisis took place over th e succession m was able to provide the English king with on ly the Scott ish thro ne. T he re were thirteen possible one- th ird of rh e amou nt it had bee n able m give in heir s. A mong these th e most likely m succeed were 1272. T he Nor man nobles and Irish ch iefs quietly avo ided English aut hor ity as much as possible. As a John de Ball iol and Robert Bruce, both Nor man- result, the English C rown on ly co ntrolled Dublin Sco tt ish knigh ts. In orde r to avoid civil war th e Sco tt ish nobles invited Edward I m settle th e and a small area around it, kn own as "the Pale". matt er. 32  5 Th e power of the kings of England Edward had already shown interest in joining ano the r great army and march ed against Robert Scotland to h is kin gdom. In 1286 he had arranged Bruce , bur he died on the way north in 1307. O n for his own son to marry Marga ret, the heir to the Edward' s grave were written the words "Edward, the Scottish throne, but she had died in a sh ipwreck. Ham mer of the Sco ts". He had intend ed to Now he had anot he r cha nce. He to ld bot h men hamm er th em in to th e ground and dest roy them , that th ey must do homage to him , and so acce pt his but in fact he had hamm ered the m into a nation. overlordsh ip, before he wou ld help settle the After his death his son , Edward 11 , turned back to question. He then inv aded Sco tland and put one of England. Bruce had time to defeat his Scottish them, John de Ball iol , on th e Sco ttis h throne. enemies, and make him self accepted as king of the De Balliol's four years as kin g were not happ y. First, Scots. He the n began to win back th e castles st ill Edward made him provide mon ey and troops for held by th e Eng lish. W he n Edward 11 in vaded the English army and the Scottish nob les rebelled. Sco tla nd in 1314 in an effort to help the last Then Edward inv aded Scotland again, and captured English-held castles, Bruce destroyed h is army at all the main Scottish castles. During the invasion Bannockburn, near St irling. Six years later, in Edward sto le th e sacred Sto ne of Dest in y from 1320, the Sco ts cle rgy meeti ng at A rbroarh wrote Scone Ab bey on which , so th e legend said, all to th e pope in Rome to te ll h im th at they would Scott ish kin gs must sit. Edward believed th at never accept English authority: "for as long as even without th e Stone , any Sco tt ish coro nation would one hundred of us remain alive, we will neve r be mean ingless, and tha t his own possession of th e consent to subject ourselves to the domi nion of the Stone would persuade th e Sco ts to acce pt hi m as English." king. However, ne ither he no r his successors Edward "s cororuttion dUlir. The Scouish Stone of Destiny which Edward became kings of Sco ts, and the Sco tt ish kings cookfrum Scone Abbey is under the seat. a s)'mbo/ of Engkmd's desire 10 managed perfectly well without it. rule Sc()/kma. On eilher.~ iJe of thethrone sl£lnd the symbolic sfate sword and shield of Eaward Ill. Edward' s treatm ent of th e Scots create d a popular resistanc e movement. At fi rst it was led by W illiam Wallace, a N orman-Scott ish kni ght. But afte r one victory against an Eng lish army, Wallace's "people's army" was itself destroyed by Edward in 1297. The Scots had formed rings of spearmen whic h stood firm against the English cavalry attacks, but Edward's Wel sh longbowmen broke the Scotti sh formation s, and the cavalry the n charged down on them. It seemed as if Edward had won afte r all. He captured Wallace and executed hi m, putt ing his head on a pole on Lon don Bridge. Edward tried to make Sco tla nd a part of England , as he had don e with Wales. Some Sco tt ish nob les accepted h im, but th e people refused to be ru led by the English king. Sco ttish nationalism was born on the day Wallace died. A new leade r took up th e struggle. T h is was Robert Bruce, who had compe ted with John de Balliol for the th ron e. He was ab le to raise an army and defeat the English army in Sco tland. Edward I gathe red 33 6 Government and society Th e growth of government · Law and justice' Religious beliefs' Ordinary people in country and town ' T he growth of towns as centres of wealth· Language, literature and culture The growth of government T he king kept all his records in We stm inster, including the Domesday Book. The king's W illiam th e Conqueror had govern ed England and administrat ion kept a careful watch on noble Normandy by travelling from o ne place to another families. It made sllte the king claimed mon ey to make sure that his author ity was acce pted. He, every ti me a young noble too k o ver the lan ds of his and th e kin gs afte r him , raised some of th e money fathe r, or whe n a noble's daughter married. In the y needed by trying cases and finin g people in th e every possible way th e kin g always "had his hand in royal courts. The king's "househ old" was th e his subject's pocket". The ad ministrat ion also governme nt, and it was always o n the mo ve. T he re checked the towns and the potts to make sure that was no teal capita l of th e kin gdom as there is toda y. taxes were paid , and kept a reco rd of the fines made Kings were cro wne d in Wes tm inste r, but the ir by th e king's court. treasury stayed in the old We ssex cap ital, Winchester. When Will iam and the kings afte r him Most important of all, the officials in Westminster mov ed around the co un try staying in towns and had to watch the econo my of the country carefully. castles, they were acco mpan ied by a large number Was the kin g gett ing th e mon ey he needed in the of followers. Wherever they went th e local people most effecti ve way ? Suc h quest ions led to important had to give them food and somewhe re to stay. It cha nges in taxation between 1066 and 1300. In co uld have a terrib le effect. Food ran out, and 1130 well over half of Henry I's mon ey came from prices rose. his own land, one-th ird from his feudal vassals in rights and fi nes, and only one-seventh fro m taxes. T h is form of gove rn ment could on ly work well for a O ne hund red and fifty years later, over half of small kingdom. By the time the English kings were Edward Its money came from [ax es, bu t o n ly one- ruling half of Fran ce as well the y cou ld no longer third came from his land and only one-tenth from travel everywhe re themselves. Instead , they sent his feudal vassals. It is no wond er th at Edward nobles and kni gh ts from th e royal househ old to act ca lled to his parliament representati ves of th e as she riffs. But eve n th is syste m needed people who peop le whom he cou ld tax most effectively. could administe r ta xation, justice , and cartI' out th e king's instructi ons. It was obviously not practi cal It is not surprising, either, th at the admin istrat ion for all th ese people to follow the king ever ywhere. began to grow very quick ly. When W illiam I At first th is "administration" was based in inva ded Britain he needed on ly a few clerks to Wi nc hester, but by the time of Edward I, in 1290, manage h is pape rwork. Most business, including it had moved to Westminste r. It is st ill the re today. feudal homage, was done by t he spoken , not However, e ven thoug h the adm in istratio n was in written, word. But the need for paperwo rk grew Westminster th e real capi ta l of England was st ill "in rapidl y. In 1050 only th e king (Edward th e th e kin g's saddle". Confessor ) had a seal with which to "sign" official papers. By th e time of Edward I, just ove r two 34  6 Government and society hundred years later, even the poo rest man was depended on th e cho ice of th e king. Henry 11 , the expec ted to have a seal in order to sign official most powerful English king of th e twelfth century, papers, even if he co uld not read. From 11 99 th e was known in Europe for th e high standa rds of his administration in West minster kept co pies of all the law co urts. "T he co nvi nci ng proof of our king's letters and docum en ts that were sent out. strength, " wrote one man. "is that whoever has a just cause wants to have it tried before him , Th e amount of wax used for seals on official pape rs whoever has a weak one does not come unless he is gives an idea of th e rapid growth of the royal ad- dragged." ministration. In 1220, at the beginning of Henry Ill's reign , 1.5 kg were used each week. Forty years By the end of th e twelfth century the judges were later, in 1260, thi s had risen to 14 kg weekly. A nd men with real knowledge and expe rience of the government administration has been growing ever law. Na turally these judges, travelling from place to since. place, administered the same law wherever they went. This might seem obvious now, but since Law and justice Saxon times local customs and laws had varied from one place to ano the r. The law admin istered by The king, of course , was respon sible for law and th ese travelling judges beca me kn own as "common justice. But kings usually had to leave the law", because it was used everywhe re. administration of this important matter to someo ne who lived close to the place where a crim e was England was unlike the rest of Europe because it committ ed. In Saxon tim es every distr ict had had used co mmon law. Centurie s later. England's its own laws and customs, and justice had often common law system was used in the United States been a family matter. A fte r th e Nor man Co nquest (the North A mer ican co loni es) and in many ot her nobles were allowed to administer justice among British co lon ial possessions, and acce pted whe n the villages and peop le on th eir lands. Usually they these becam e nat ion s in their own right. In ot her mixed Norm an laws with th e old Saxon laws. T hey parts of Europe legal practice was based on the C ivil had freedom to act more or less as th ey liked. More Law of the Roman Empire, and th e Cano n Law of serious offences , however, were tried in the king's the C hurch. But although English lawyers referred courts. to th ese as examples of legal method and science , th ey created an entirely differen t system of law Henry I int roduced th e idea th at all crimes, eve n based on custom. co mparisons. previous cases and those inside the family, were no longer only a previous decisions. In thi s way tradit iona l local laws family matter but a breaking of th e "king's peace". were replaced by common law all ove r th e land. It was th erefore th e kin g's duty to try people and This mixture of experience and custom is the basis punish the m. At fi rst th e nobles acted for th e king of law in England eve n today. Modern judges st ill on th eir own lands, but Henry wanted th e same base their deci sions on the way in which similar kind of justice to be used everywhere. So he cases have been dec ided. appointed a number of judges who trave lled from place to place ad ministe ring justice. (T hese T he new class of judges was also interested in how travelling , or "circuit" , judges st ill exist today. ) the law was carried out , and what kinds of They dealt both with crimes and disagreements pun ishme nt were used. From Anglo-Saxon ti mes over property. In thi s way the king slowly too k over the re had bee n two ways of decidin g difficul t cases the admin istratio n from the no bles, when it was not clear if a man was innocen t or guilty. The accused man could be tested in battle At fi rst the king's judges had no special kn owledge against a skilled fighter, or tested by "ordeal". A or traini ng. T hey were simply tru sted to use typical "ordeal" was to put a ho t iron on the man's common sense. Many of them were nob les o r tongu e. If the burn mark was st ill there three days bisho ps who followed dir ectl y the orders of th e later he was th ough t to be guilty. It was argued that king. It is no t surprising that th e quality of judges 35 A n Illustrated History of Britain God would leave the bum mark on a guilty man 's unu sual. But it was still common to find a priest tongue. Such a system worked on ly as lon g as who "k ept a girl in h is house who lit his fi re but put peop le believed in it. By the end of the twelfth o ur his virtue." century th ere were serious doubts and in 1215 the T here were, however. many who promised no t to pope forbade the C hurch to have anyt h ing to do marry and kept that prom ise. T h is was parti cu larly with trial by orde al. true of those men and wome n who wanted to be In England tr ial by ordeal was replaced wit h trial by monks or nuns and entered the local monastery or jury. The jury idea dat ed back to th e Danes of nunn ery. O ne reason for en tering a re ligious house Dan elaw, but had o nly been used in disputes over was the increasing difficulty during this period of lan d. Henry 11 had alread y int roduced the use of living on the land. As the population grew, more juries for some cases in the second half of the and more people found they could not feed the ir twelfth century. But it was not the kind of jury we who le family easily. If the y co uld enter a son or know today. In 1179 he allowed an accused man in daughter into the local religious house there would certain cases to claim "trial by jury". Th e man be fewer mo uths to feed. Indeed, it may have been could cho ose twelve neighbo urs, "twelve good men the econo mic difficultie s of raising a family which and true". who would hel p him prove that he was persuaded priests to follow the C hurch ruli ng. Life not guilty. Slowly, during th e later Middle A ges, was be tte r as a monk within the safe walls of a the work of these juries gradually changed from monastery than as a poor farmer outs ide. A monk giving evidence ro judging the ev idence of o thers. co uld learn to read and write, and be sure of food Juries had no tra ining in the law. They were and shelter. The mon asteries were centres of wealth ordinary people using o rdinary co mmon sense. It and learn ing. was soon obv ious that th ey needed guidance. As a In 1066 there were fifty religious houses in England, result law schools grew up during th e thirteenth home for perhaps 1,000 mon ks and nuns. By the cent ury, produ cing lawyers who could advise juries beginn ing of th e fourteenth cent ury there were about th e point s of law. probab ly about 900 religious houses, with 17, 500 members. Even though the populat ion in the Religious beliefs fourteenth ce ntury was three times larger than it T he C hurch at local village level was sign ificantly had been in 1066, the growth of the mon asteri es is different from the politically powerful organ isation impressive. th e kin g had to deal with. At th e time of W illiam I T he thirteenth century brought a new movement , th e ord inary village priest could hardl y read at all, the "brotherh oods" of friars. These friars were and he was usually one of the peasant co mmun ity. wandering preach ers. Th ey were interested not in His church belonged to the local lord , and was C hurch power and splendo ur, but in the souls of often built next to th e lord's house. A lmost all ordina ry men and women. They lived with the poor priests were married , and many inherited the ir and tried to bring th e co mfort of C hristian ity to position from thei r fathe r. them. They lived in contrast with the wealth and However, even at village level the C hurch wished power of the monaste ries and cathedra ls, the local to replace the lord's author ity with its own, but it centres of the C hurch. was on ly pa rtly successful. In man y places the lord co ntinued to choose the local priest. and to have more influenc e ove r him than the more distant Ordinary people in country and C hurch authorities were able to have. town T he C hurch also tried to prevent priests from There were proba bly between I. 5 and 2 million marrying, In th is it was more successful, and by th e people living in England in 1066. T he Domesday end of the th irtee nt h century married priests were Book tells us that nine-tenths of them lived in the 36  6 G ove rnment and soc iety countryside. It also tells us th at 80 per cent of th e th e way the system worked between one estate and land used for farming at the beginn ing of the anot he r, one region and ano ther, and between one twent ieth century was already being ploughed in period and ano ther. Local customs and bo th local 1086. In fact it was not unt il the n ineteenth and nation al economic pressures affected the way centu ry th at the cult ivated area becam e greater things worked. than the level recorded in the Domesday Book. The manorial system is often thought to be Life in th e cou ntrys ide was hard. Most of the Norman , but in fact it had bee n growing slowly populat ion still lived in villages in southern and throughout the A nglo-Saxon period. T he Normans eastern parts of England. In the north and west inh erited the system and deve loped it to its fullest there were fewer people, and th ey often lived apart ext ent. But the Normans were blamed for the bad from eac h ot he r, on sepa rate farms. Most people aspects of th e manorial system because they were lived in th e simp lest houses. The walls were made foreign masters. of wooden bea ms and st icks, fi lled with mud. The In the early days of the Conquest Saxons and roofs were made of thatch , with reeds or corn stalks Normans feared and hated each ot he r. For laid th ick ly and skilfully so th at the rain ran off example, if a dead body was found , th e Saxons had easily. People ate cerea ls and vegetables most of the to prove that it was not the bod y of a murdered time, with pork mea t for special occasions. T hey N orman. If they could not prove it, th e Nor mans worked from dawn to dusk every day of th e year, would burn the nearest village. The Norman ruling every year, unt il th ey were unable to work any class on ly really began to mix with and marry th e longer. Until a man had land of his own he would Saxons, and consider th em selves "English" rathe r usually not marry. Howe ver, men and women often than Fren ch , afte r King John lost No rmandy in slept toge ther before marriage , and once a woman 1204. Even th en , dislike remain ed between the was expe cti ng a ch ild, the co uple had no cho ice but rulers and the ruled. to marry. Every schoo lch ild kn ows the story of Rob in Hood, The poor were d ivided from their maste rs by th e which grew out of Saxon hatred for Norma n rule. feudal class syste m. T he basis of th is "manor ial Accord ing to the legend Robin Hood lived in system" was the exc ha nge of land for labour. The She rwood Forest near Nottingham as a criminal or landlord expected th e villagers to work a fi xed "ou tlaw", outside feuda l society and the protect ion number of days o n h is own land , th e "home farm". of the law. He sto le from the rich and gave to the Th e rest of the ti me they worked on their sma ll poor , and he stood up for the weak against th e strips of land, part of the village's "common lan d" powerful. His weapo n was not the sword of nobles on wh ich they grew food for themselves and th eir and knights, but the longbow, the weapon of the family. The Domesday Book tells us that ove r co mmo n man. three-quarte rs of the co unt ry people were serfs. They were not free to leave th eir lord's service or In fact, most of the story is legen d. The on ly th ing his lan d wit hout permission. Even if they wanted ro we know is that a man called Roberr or "Robin" run away, the re was nowhere to run to. Anyway, a Hood was a wanted crimina l in Yorkshire in 1230. serf's life, under his lord's protec t ion, was be tt er The legend was, however, very popular with th e tha n th e life of an unp rot ect ed wanderer. O rder com mon peop le all through the fourteent h , and protec tion, no matter how hard life might be, fifteenth and sixteent h cen turies, altho ugh th e was always better than diso rder, when peop le would ruling class greatly disliked it. Late r the sto ry was starve. cha nged. Robin Hood was described as a man of nob le birth , whose land s had been ta ken by King The manorial syste m was not the same all over the John. A lmost certa in ly this was an effort by the coun try, and it did not stay the same th roughout author ities to make Rob in Hood "respec tab le". the Middle Ages. T he re were always differences in 37 A n Illustrated Hisro rv of Britain Left: Two Oil! of [welve p cnees iUumaling che occupations of each month. abo uI /280. Above left Febnwry: a man sifj cooking and warming his hours /ry the fire. Abutlt' him hang, smoked meat and sausages. probably his only meat for the u..in ter. In lhe aU[umn mos t animals u't'Te killed. andsmoked or salted re keep them from going bad. There ucs only enough food fa keep breeding, animals aIil/e through the "inter. Below left NO\'efnber: perhaps it is fhe sal~ manknocking acorns or nurs fruma tree forhis pigs fa eat. The complere set of pictures SN)U,'S mixed fanning, u·hich produced cereals. grapes for u.'ine and pigs. Above: A UIOfl1an milks a COUI, tt.'hik lhecoo.' tenderly licks us cul/. Almost all the populatilm liwJ in the cmlncry. bUl COU'S uere kepcby rl)u''flspeopk too. This Jmnesric scene furs a tow:hinggemlm ess about il. Most landlords obtained the ir income directly from T he peasants tried to farm more land. T hey drain ed th e home farm, and also from letting out some of marsh land , and tried to grow food on high ground their land in return for ren t in crops or mon ey. Th e and on o the r poor land. But much of this newly size of the home farm depend ed on how much land cleared land quickl y became exha usted, because the th e lan dlord cho se to let out. In th e twelfth soil was too poo r, being e ithe r too heavy or too cent ury, for example, man y landlords found it more light and sandy. As a result , the effort to farm more profitab le to let out almost all the home farm lan ds, land co uld not match th e inc rease in popu lat ion , and thu s be paid in money or cro ps rathe r th an in and this led to a decline in individu al family land labour. In fact it is from thi s period that the word holdin gs. It also led to an increase in th e number of "farm" co mes. Each arrangement the lan dlord made landless labourers, to greate r povert y and hunger. to let land to a villager was a "firrna": a fixed or A s lan d became overused, so bad harvests became settled agreeme nt. more frequent. A nd in the years of bad harvest people starved to de ath. It is a pattern cr uelly By 1300 the popu lation was probably just ove r four familiar to many poor countries today. Am on g million (up to the nineteenth century figures can rich er peop le, the pressure on land led to an on ly be guessed at) , about three times what it had increase in its value , and to an increase in buying been in 1066. This increase , of co urse, had an and selling. Landowning widows found th emselves effect on life in th e count ry. It made it harder to co urted by land-hungry single men. grow enough food for everyone. T he situat ion was made worse by th e No rmans' love of hunti ng. T hey Unfortunately, agricultural skills improved littl e drov e the English peasants out of the forests, and during this period. Ne ither peasants nor landlords puni shed the m severely if they killed any forest had th e necessary knowledge or und erstanding to an imals. "The forest has its own laws. " wrote one develop the m. In addition, man ori al lan dlords, man bitterly, "based not on th e common law of the equally int erested in good harvests, insisted th at the kin gdom, but on the personal wishes of the king." an ima ls of th e peasan try grazed on the ir own land to enric h it d uring its year of rest. Ma ny villagers 38  6 Government and society tried to increase their income by ot he r act iv ities was no longer so, the king used popular fee ling and became blacksmiths, carpenters, tilers or against them as an excuse to expe l the m. In 1290 shephe rds, and it is from the thi rtee nth centu ry the Jewish com munity was forced to leave the that ma ny villagers beca me kn own by th eir trade cou ntry. name. Feudalism was slowly dying out, but the cha nges Shortage of food led to a sha rp rise in prices at the often made landlords richer and peasants poore r. end of the twelfth century. T he price of wheat, for Larger landlords had to pay fewer feuda l taxes, example, doubled between 1190 and 1200. A sheep wh ile new taxes were demanded from eve ryone in that cost four pence in 11 99 fetch ed te n pence in possession of goods and incomes. A s a result many 1210. Prices wou ld be h igh in a bad season, but co uld not afford to pay rent and so they lost th eir could sudde nly drop whe n th e har vest was spec ially lan d. So me of these lan dless people went to the good. T his inflat ion weakened feudal t ies, wh ich town s, wh ich offered a bett er hope for the fut ure. depended to a great extent o n a steady econ om ic situation ro be workab le. T he sma ller land ed The growth of towns as centres knights found it inc reasing ly difficult to pay for of wealth the ir military duties. By the end of th e thirteenth England was to a very large degree an agricultura l century a kn igh t's equipment, which had cost soc iety. Even in towns and ci ties, many of those fiftee n sh illings in the ea rly twelfth century, now invol ved in trade or industry also farmed sma ll cost more than three times th is amo unt. A ltho ugh holdings of land on the edge of town. In th is sense nobles and kn ights co uld get more money from Englan d was self-sufficien t. However, througho ut their land by paying farm labourers and receiving th e Middle Ages Eng land needed things from money ren ts than by giving land rent free in return abro ad, such as salt and spices. Inside England for labour , many kn ights with smaller estates th ere was a good deal of trade between different became increasingly indebted. region s. Wool-growing areas, for exa mple, imported We know about th ese debts fro m the records of th e food from food-producing areas. However, it is "Exchequer of the Jews". The sma ll Jewish harder to know th e exte nt of this intern al trade community in England ea rned its living by lending because it was less forma l than intern ational trade, money, and lived un der royal protect ion. By th e and th erefore less reco rded. late thirteenth century these records sho w a large We kn ow more about internat iona l trade, wh ich numbe r of kn ights in debt to Jewish money lenders. was recorded beca use the king ob ta ined a Whe n a knight was un ab le ro repay the mon ey he conside rable income from custo ms dues. During the had borrowed, the Jewish mone y len der sold the A ng lo-Saxo n per iod most European trade had been knight's land to the greate r landholdin g nobility. with th e Frisians in the Low Count ries, aro und the This did not please Edward I, who feared th e mouth of th e River Rh ine. Followin g the Viking growth in power of the greater nob ility as th ey invasions most trade from the ninth ce n tury profited from the disappeara nce of smaller land- onw ards had taken place with Scand inavia. By th e holders. He had want ed the support of th e knightly eleven th ce ntury, for examp le, English grain was class against the greater lords, and it was pa rtly for highly valued in N orway. In return England this reason tha t he had called on the m to be imported Sca ndinav ian fish and ta ll timber. represented in Parli ament. No w he saw the danger However, by th e end of th e twelfth century this that as a class they might become seriously A nglo-Scandinavian trade link had weakened. weakened. T he Jews were midd lemen in an econo mic process whic h was the result of socia l This was the result of the Norman Conquest, afte r forces at work in th e co un tryside. W hi le th e which England looked away from the northeast, econo mic function of the Jews in prov iding capi ta l Sca ndinav ia and Ge rmany, and towards the south, had been useful the y had been safe, but once thi s France, the Low Coun tries, and beyond. The royal 39 An Illustrated H isto ry of Britain family had link s with Ga scon y in southwest France, th eir produ ce and to kin gs who wished to benefit and this led to an important trade exc hang e of wine from th e inc rease in nat iona l wealth. As a result, for clot h and cerea l. However, easily the most th e townspeople quickly managed to free important link was once again with the Low th emselves from feuda l t ies and interference. At th e C ountries, and the basis of th is trade was wool. end of the Anglo-Saxon period th ere were on ly a few town s, but by 1250 most of England's towns England had always been famous for its wool , and were already establi shed. in Anglo-Saxon times much of it had been exported to the Low Coun tries. In order to improve Many town s stood on land belonging to feudal the manufacture of woollen cloth, Willi am the lords. But by the twelfth century kings were C onqueror encouraged Flemish weavers and other discouraging loca l lo rds from taking the wealth from skilled workers from Normandy to settle in nea rby towns. T hey rea lised that towns cou ld England. They he lped to estab lish new towns: beco me effect ive cent res of royal autho rity, to Newcas tle, Hull, Boston, Lynn and ot he rs. These balance th e power of th e local nobil ity. T he kin gs se ttlers had good connections with Europe and were therefore gave "charters of freedom" to many able to begin a lively trade. Howe ver, raw wool towns, freeing th e inh abitants from feudal dut ies to rather than finished cloth remained the main the loc al lord. T hese chatt ers, however, had to be expo rt. As the European demand for wool stayed paid for , and kin gs sold th em for a high price. But high, and since no other country co uld mat ch the it was worth the money. Town s co uld now raise high qua lity of English wool, English exporters their own local taxe s on goo ds co ming in. They could charge a price high above the produ cti on cou ld also have their own co urts, co nt rolled by the cos t, and about twice as much as the price in the town merchants, on cond ition that they paid an home market. T he kin g taxed the export of raw annua l tax to the king. Inside th e tow n walls, woo l heavil y as a mean s of increasing his own people were able to develop social an d economic inco me. It was easily England 's most profitab le organi sati on s free from feuda l ru le. It was th e busine ss. When Richard I was freed from his beginnings of a middl e class and a capitalist capt ivity, over half the price was paid in wool. As a econ om y. symbol of England's source of wealth , a wool sack Within th e towns and cities, society and th e has remained in the House of Lords ever since thi s eco nomy were mainl y controlled by "guilds". These time. Much of th e wool industry was built up by th e were brotherhoods of different kind s of mercha nt s, mona steries, which kept large flocks of sheep on or of skilled workers. The word "gui ld" came from their great estate s. the Saxo n word "gildan", to pay, because members T he wool trade illustrat es the way in wh ich the paid towards th e cost of the brothe rhood. T he town s related to the co untryside. "Chapmen" or merchant guilds grew in the thirteenth century and "h ucksters" , travelling trad ers, would buy wool at included all the traders in any parti cular tow n. parti cular vilIage ma rkers. Then rhe y took rhe woo l Under th ese guilds trade was more tightly to town, where ir would be graded and bundled up co ntrolled th an at an y later period. At least o ne for export or for local spinn ing. Larger fairs, both in hundred guilds existed in th e rhirr eenrh century, town and co un try, were important places where similar in some ways to our modern trade unions. trade rs and producers met, and deal s co uld be T he right to form a guild was some t imes included made. These were not purely English affairs. For- in a tow n's charter of freedom. It was from among eign mercha nts seeking high quality wool frequently th e members of the guild that th e town' s leaders attended the larger fairs. were probably chosen. In the course of time entry into these guilds became inc reasingly difficu lt as Such trade activ ities could nor possibly have taken guilds tried to control a particu lar trade. In some place under th e restriction s of feudalism. But towns cases ent ry was only open to the sons of guild were valuable centres to nobles who wanted to sell members. In othe r cases ent ry co uld be obta ined by 40  6 Go vernment and society paying a fee to cove r th e cost of th e train ing , or In England two schoo ls of higher learning were apprenticesh ip, necessary to maintain the high estab lished , th e first at O xford and the second at standard of the trade. Ca mbridge, at th e end of the twelfth century. By the 1220s these two un iversit ies were th e During the fourtee nt h century, as larger towns in tellectual leaders of the country. continued to grow. "c raft" guilds came into being. All members of each of these guilds belo nged to the Few co uld go to the uni versities. Most English same trade or craft. The ea rliest craft guilds were people spoke neither Latin, the lan guage of th e those of the weave rs in London and Oxford. Each C hu rch and of educat ion, nor Fren ch , the language guild tried to protect its own trade interests. of law and of th e Norman rulers. It was a lon g time Members of these guilds had the righ t to prod uce, before English beca me the language of the rulin g buy or sell the ir particular trade without havin g to class. Some Fren ch words became part of the pay specia l tow n taxes. But members also had to English language, an d often kept a more polite make sure that goods were of a certai n quality, and meani ng tha n the old Anglo-Saxon words. For had to keep to agreed prices so as not to und ercu t exa mp le, the word "c ha ir" , which came from the other guild membe rs. Fren ch , describes a better piece of furnitu re th an th e An glo-Saxon word "stool". In the same way, In Lon don the development of craft guilds wen t th e Anglo-Saxon word "be lly" was replaced in furthe r tha n elsewhe re, with a rich upper level of polite soc iety by the word "stomac h". Othe r the craft co mmun ity, the so-called livery An glo-Saxon words ceased to be used altoge ther. companies, controlling most of th e affairs of th e city. O ver the centuries the twelve main livery Mob Quad in Mer rcn College is the oldest of Oxford's famous companies have developed into large finan cia l "quadrangles", or w ur/yards. It was built in the fiTSl halfof thefourteenth institution s. Today th ey play an important part in cenrury. Almost all /he Oxford colleges were built round qumwrangles, with a library on one side (in Mob Quad on the fiTSl floor on Ihe left), and living th e gove rn ment of th e C ity of Lond on , and th e areas for bvth masters and students on /he other sides. Me-ton College yearly cho ice of its Lord Mayor. chapel, in thebackground, is the finest late four/eenth-cenlury example in Oxf