The Norman Invasion

Edward the Confessor became king of England in 1042. His mother was from Normandy, he had spent a lot of time there, and spoke French. William the Duke of Normandy was his cousin and a close friend. In 1066 Edward died leaving no a heir to the throne. The Witan elected Harold Godwin the next king of England. But his rights were challenged by William who claimed that Edward promised England to him.

On 14 October 1066 an invading army from Normandy defeated the English at the battle of Hastings. The battle was extremely bloody. At the end of it, most of the best warriors in England were dead, including King Harold. William marched to London which quickly gave in when he began to burn villages outside the city.

On Christmas day that year William was crowned king of England in Westminster Abbey. He became known as "William the Conqueror".

MEDIEVAL ENGLAND

After defeating king Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William of Normandy introduced the Norman feudal system, rewarding his French-speaking followers with land in return for their continued support, and French remained the language of the upper classes and administration until the 14th century.

By 1086 William wanted to know exactly who owed which piece of land, and how much it was worth. He therefore sent a team of people all through England to make a complete economic survey. The survey proved to be highly unpopular with the people, because they felt they could not escape it. It reminded them the Day of Judgment, or "doom". The name stuck. The Domesday Book (the results of that survey) still exists and give us detailed information about mediaeval England.

The power of these Norman Barons gradually increased and during the reign of the Plantagenets began, together with the Church, to challenge the King's absolute power, which resulted in King John being forced to sign the Magna Carta at Runnymede in 1215. This document contained a long list of limitations to the King's power and these rights obtained by the Barons were eventually extended to the entire population. Perhaps the most important of the clauses of the Magna Carta is the one which states that:

"no freeman shall be arrested or imprisoned or disseised [dispossessed] or outlawed or exiled or in any way victimized . . . except by the lawful judgment of his peers or the law of the land".

The origins of Parliament are to be found in the reign of John's successor, Henry III. It was a meeting of the King and his Barons and servants at which various administrative and financial problems were discussed. Edward I continued this experiment and in 1295called a parliament that became known as the Model Parliament, at which barons, earls and the high clergy (bishops and abbots) were present, together with the knights and burgesses[1] representing the shires and boroughs. The "House of Commons" as a separate Chamber resulted from the unofficial meetings of these knights and burgesses. The person chosen to "speak" for these people in Parliament became known as the Speaker.

The Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) fought between France and England had a devastating effect on the English economy. The high taxation necessary to finance the war and the Black Death (a plague in 1348 that killed a third of the population of England) led to such extreme hardship for the peasant class that there was a revolt in 1381, led by Wat Tyler. Although the Peasants' Revolt was soon put down, it led to greatly improved conditions for the peasant class and was the first step towards the ending of the feudal system in England.

TUDOR ENGLAND

No sooner was the Hundred Years' War over than a long power struggle (1455-85)began for the English Crown between two families: the House of Lancaster and the House of York. (so called because both families used a rose as their symbol) ended when Henry VII (Henry of Tudor) united the two rival houses, giving origin to the Tudor dynasty.

During Henry's reign the medieval period came to a close. Men were no longer tied to manors and estates in the country; the power of the towns, with their educated and industrious middle classes, began to make itself felt; and there was a revival, or Renaissance, of learning, partly as a result of the printing press, which ended the Church's monopoly of learning.

Henry's son and heir, Henry VIII (1509-1547), was a typical Renaissance prince: handsome, learned, ambitious and unscrupulous. He also had an instinctive understanding of his times. It was his creation of the Royal Navy that enabled England to realize her imperialistic ambitions under Elizabeth and defy the Pope and the Catholic powers of Europe.

Henry used Parliament to establish himself as the head of the Protestant Church of England with the Act of Supremacy in 1534. There was general support on the part of the English people, who were resentful of papal interference in national affairs. His Reformation led to the creation of the religiously distinct Anglican Church. The dissolution of the monasteries (and the confiscation of their large estates) served to destroy papal authority in England and at the same time provide Henry with much needed wealth. .In 1538 an English language version of the Bible replaced Latin bibles throughout the country. The direct cause of the rise of Protestantism in England was political and personal. Henry VIII wanted a divorce which the Pope would not give him.

Elizabeth I (1558-1603) was an outstanding ruler. She restored national unity, opposing extremist doctrines and supporting a moderate form of Protestantism similar to that of her father's. Her reign is considered by many as the Golden Age of English history, producing not only poets of the stature of Shakespeare and Spenser, but also prosperity for the entire nation. The discovery of America placed Britain at the center of the world's trading routes and brilliant naval commanders (especially Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh) enabled England to dominate these trade routes. During this period great trading companies, like the East India Company, were also established. Parliament was regularly called and consulted. The Tudor dynasty also established a system of government departments stuffed by professionals and the feudal barons were no longer needed for policymaking.

[1] Обитатель небольшого города, имеющего самоуправление, член парламента от такого города

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 1914