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HOUSE OF PLANTAGENET

(1154 – 1399)

Henry II(1133-89) king of Eng­land (1154-89). He was the grandson of Henry I, suc­ceeded King Stephen and was the first Plantagenet king. He reduced the power of the barons and in­creased the power of the state. He wanted to reduce the power of the Church and this led to his dispute with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, which ended in Becket's murder. During his rule England established control over Ireland. Henry also introduced various systems of justice which can be seen as the beginning of common law.

Common law (also case law) n [U] (in England)

Law which has developed from old customs and from past decisions made by judges, i.e. not created by Parliament. A common law wife/husband is a per­son with whom a man or woman has lived for some time and who is recognized as a wife or husband under common law, although the couple are not le­gally married.

 

St Thomas Becket/'bekit/ (also called Thomas a Becket)(c. 1118-70)

An English saint. He was a close friend of King Henry II, who made him chan­cellor (= senior law official) and later Archbishop of Canterbury, hoping by doing this to be able to con­trol the English Church. When Thomas resisted they quarrelled. According to tradition, Henry said, 'Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?' As a result four knights murdered Becket in Canterbury Cath­edral, which became a place of pilgrimage where people travelled to show respect for the saint. His story was made into a play, Murder in the Cathedral (1935) by Ò.S. Eliot.

Richard I(1157-99) the king of England (1189-1199), fol­lowing his father King Henry II. He is often called Richard the Lionheart or Richard, Coeur de Lion because of his courage in battle. He spent the first part of his rule abroad fighting in the Third Crusade, at the end of which he reached a peace agreement with Saladin in 1191. On his journey home he was captured and held as a prisoner by the Austrian emperor Henry VI, until a large amount of money was paid for releasing him. He spent his later years fighting against the French, and after his death in battle in 1199 he was replaced as king by his brother John.

 

John(1167-1216) the king of England (1199-1216). He was the youngest son of Henry II and be­came king after the death of his brother Richard I, having previously tried to take power from him. He was not a popular or successful king. He lost most of the English land in France, quarrelled with the Church, and was forced by his barons in 1215 to sign the Magna Carta, which limited his royal powers. He is the subject of King John, an early play by Shakespeare.

 

Magna Carta (also the Ìàgïà Carta)

A document that King John was forced to sign by the English barons at Runnymede in 1215. It restricted the king's power and gave new rights to the barons and the people. Some of these rights are basic to modern British law, e.g. the right to have a trial before being put in prison. Four of the original copies of the Magna Carta still exist, two in the British Library and one each in the cathedrals of Salisbury and Lincoln.



 

Henry III(1207-72) king of England (1216-72) and the son of King John. He was not popular with the barons, who disliked his use of foreign people to advise him and criticized him for having poor judgement in financial matters. In 1264, Simon de Montfort led a rebellion of the barons and Henry was defeated and put in prison. He took back power in 1265 after a battle in which the rebels were defeated by an army led by Henry's son (later Edward I).

 

Edward I(1239-1307) the king of England (1272-1307), the oldest son of Henry III. He spent a lot of time trying to control Wales and Scotland, fighting, among others, William Wallace and Robert the Bruce. As a result he was called the 'Hammer of the Scots'. In 1296 he brought the Stone of Scone to England.

 

The Stone of Scone /'sku:n/

A large stone that was the traditional seat on which the ancient kings of Scotland were crowned. It was used until 1296, when Edward I had it brought to London and made into part of the Coronation Chair. For many Scot­tish people it is an important national symbol, and they asked repeatedly for it to be returned. It was re­moved from Westminster Abbey several times by Scottish people who thought that it should be kept in Scotland. In 1996 the government finally agreed to return it to Scotland.

 

The Coronation Chair

A special chair in Westminster Abbey where the king or queen sits during the Coronation ceremony. It was made for King Edward I and used to have the Stone of Scone under it.

 

William Wallace(ñ. 1270-1305)

A Scottish soldier. He led an army against the English forces of King Edward I, who had occupied Scotland, and defeated them at Stirling Bridge in 1297. The following year Wallace was defeated by Ed­ward at Falkirk, and was later captured and hanged. The film Braveheart (1995) was made about his life.

Robert the Bruce (also Robert Bruce, Robert I) (1274-1329)

The king of Scotland from 1306 until his death. He joined William Wallace in trying to take power from the English in Scotland, but was defeated several times by the army of King Edward I. He finally defeated the English at Bannockburn in 1314, and England recognized Scotland as an inde­pendent country in 1328. After his death Robert's son, David II, ruled Scotland from 1329 to 1371. There is a popular story about how Robert the Bruce, when he was hiding in a cave from the English, watched a spider repeatedly trying to attach its web to a rock until it finally succeeded. This made him deter­mined to keep trying to defeat the English.

 

Edward II(1284-1327) the king of England (1307-1327), the son of Edward I and the first Prince of Wales. He took his armies to Scotland, but was defeated at the Battle of Bannockburn (1314) by Robert the Bruce. He was a weak king who upset the English barons, and in 1327 his son Edward III replaced him. Later that year he was murdered.

Edward III(1312-77) the king of England (1327-1377), the son of Edward II. He had continuing problems with the Scots, but had some success in his attempts to be­come the king of France, for example at the battles of Crecy (1346) and Poitiers (1355). After his death his grandson became King of England as Richard II, be­cause his son Edward, the Black Prince, had died the year before.

 

The Hundred Years War

A war between France and England that lasted, with long periods between battles, from the 1340s to the 1450s, The English were trying to get control of France, and won some major battles, including Crecy (1346) and Agincourt (1415), but by the end of the war they had only gained the area around Calais, which they kept until 1558.

 

Richard II(1367-1400) the king of England (1377-1399), fol­lowing his grandfather King Edward III. He became king at the age of 10, relying on his uncle John of Gaunt to help rule the country, and was successful in defeating the 'Peasants' Revolt of 1381. The rest of his rule was spent trying to control the other power­ful men of the country, particularly Henry of Bolingbroke, John of Gaunt's son. In 1398 Richard sent Henry abroad, but he returned the following year and seized power, ruling as King Henry IV Richard was put in prison, where he died, possibly mur­dered.

 


Date: 2015-12-11; view: 947


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