1154: The year the era of conquest ended
A brief royal chronology
William I (The Conqueror)
William II (“Rufus”—because of his red hair): 2nd
Son of the conqueror: the first born > Robert, became duke of Normandy
R.1087-1100
Henry I (“The Just”): Youngest son of the conquer; also became duke of Normandy
C.1100-1135 married an English princess
Migration: c. 250,000 Normans & Franco-European moved into England btw. 1066-1100. They transformed English urban & economic life & started the process of changing the English Language (introducing words from French, such as “pork”, ”beef”, ”mutton” etc.)
From 1066 to early 1100’s (12th century) England experienced a great deal of warfare, but there’s no evidence of “anglo-saxon” resistance; much of the violence was btw rival Normans; Some of it pitched English, under Norman leaders, against the King –e.g. Eustance of Boulogne (in 1048 caused a riot in Dover) led Dover in revolt against The Conqueror!
The English Church: most (but not all) English Bishops & Abbots were replaced by Normans after 1066, but by the early –12th century Churchmen of English again were getting the “top jobs” Again The English Church welcomed the new “reforms” that made Latin the one & only language for rulers & for Church Business. The Church also promoted the view that Hastings & the Conquest happened b/c Harold interfered w/ God’s plan for England. The Church stressed the sin & the stain Harold was responsible for (&, by extension, the whole saxon royal line). [The English laity were very receptive to stories and folklore about Harold w/ eye smashed going on pilgrimages to Rome and Holyland as a Hermit forever to make up for being the worst sinner ever]
King Henry I had a son, William, & a daughter Maud/Matilda. The son, William, was killed in the wreck of the “White Ship” & this plunged the country into a succession crisis. No Precedent for a “Queen Regnant” (i.e., rules in her own right) Henry Persuades his barons and the Church to agree to Matilda’s succession just before his death in 1135.
Matilde acknowledged as “Empress” but only by a few barons. Most barons &the church changed their minds and acknowleged a grandson of the conqueror—Stephen of Blois. [--- decent man ---suck ass king] Matilde fled England; then sponsored rebellions against Stephen, & eventuallyinvaded.
The English called this “The Great Anarchy” – King Stephen won most of the battles and sieges but could not impose his authority. Thus a period of dozens of “micro-conflicts”
Negotiations btw. King Stephen and the “Empress” Matilda in 1152 –Matilda’s son to inherit the throne on Stephen’s death.
Who were the English getting? Probably the most famous and celebrated man in Europe: Young (early 20’s, 23 or so ), Handsome (6ft-ish tall and fair haired), Athletic a brave fighter, excellent leader of men & a genuine romantic! (probably the first in history) Married to Eleanor of Acquataine. The Romantic Figure of the age: Henry “Plantagenet”, son of Geoffrey of Anjou >> “Angevin” Father of Richard the Lionhearted and John Lackland . [ Plantagenets rule until 1485]
Angevin England
1154 This is the critical historical year which ends c.360 years of regular invasion, warfare & disorder in England—mainly caused by quarrels with the Anglo-Saxon “kingdoms” & by the Danes -in one shape or another: ie, as “Vikings”, then as Danes Proper & finally the Normans, who yes, were French-ified by 1066 but were originally “Northmen/Norsemen” From Denmark King Stephen last Norman King. The Norman period ended as it began: Violence disrupting English life
King Henry II’s reign starts a very different epoch in English (& wider British Isles) History
i. He was “French” in language, culture, & outlook but NOT politically
He was not from the English perspective, Norman –yes, by descent thru his mother, but his father was Normandy’s sworn enemy –in fact, he conquered Normandy & secured the title of Duke for Henry by force
ii. Henry became King of England by consent –he had the agreement of the barons & the church. Evidence exists that outside elite circles Henry was famous & his arrival…
was widely welcomed by crowds in the streets and
(b) caused a sensation.
Henry was the most “chivalrous” & romantic man in Christendom. Glamorous wife Eleanor of Acqutaine.
He came. He saw. He Charmed. with NO VIOLENCE
Culture: Henry brought the “classic” culture of Knighthood; Christian war-fighters who defended the weak against the arrogant
The Tournament: Real Warfare between rival groups of knights who fought over square miles of ground –sort of capture the flag with real Death. More tactical than horse charging.
Sneak uo and butcher opponent: usually for “sport” & “honor”; often “to settle scores” & disputes; occasionally “trials by combat”> Gods judgment decides victor. This created the “champion” –a class of experts in chivalric & knightly combat
Henry= “A ‘Champion’ of and for England”
Eleanor: Most Powerful Woman in Christendom: Beautiful, smart, tough –inherited rule of her father’s dukedom-Acqutaine (Which we mispronounce “Occitane” {Ossitane} is closer )- from “Language D’Oc” meaning the language of southern France (Which wasn’t real French but a mish-mash of Spanish, Latin, French, and Moorish dialects)
Culture of the south: of Moorish Spain & the Mediterranean. Song, Poetry, stories, troubadour/minstrels; cult of romantic love
Henry II did not rule England as an independent Kingdom, he included England in a very large grouping of lands he governed in France (more than 50% of France) called the Agevin Emipire.
He exploited England’s resources of money & manpower to fight his endless wars against the king of France.
Four Momentous Legacies of Henry II’s Reign
Henry II reigned 1154-1189. There are 4 long term factors in the long list of his achievements as King of England & “Near-Emperor” of his Agevin realms as a whole.
England was embedded in a Franco-European political, social & religious culture for more than 300 yrs after his death (The big change comes when the eighth King Henry takes England out of the Roman Catholic Church in 1530)
The start of the system called Common Law: It is still the basis of the legal systems of the U.S. (as well as England, Ireland, & a dozen or more former British Colonies, but NOT… Scotland!) In his time, Henry II created a systek of royal sherrifs (officers of law courts, not “policeman”) independent of local powerful barons, and appointed a new group of royal justices (also protected from local pressure) –These were professional lawyers. They made the law “common” to the whole of England.
Started to create “communes”--- a French word for a town or city that was NOT owned or governed by a feudal lord (a baron or the king or even the church) but was run by a Lord Mayor & Council elected by the “burgesses” (The wealthy residents) Henry II did this by issue of royal Charter –i.e., a “constitution” for a town. City of London
Ireland: 1169: “Strongbow” –Henry Clave, Earl of Pembroke approached by the exiled Irish King of Leinster (Eastern Ireland, Dublin Region) For military help to get his kingdom back. Henry II approved, but NOT involved. “Strongbow” took a few hundred supporters defeated the Irish & defeated the “Vikings” in Dublin, restored the Leinster King; married the Irishman’s daughter & proclaimed himself King of Leinster, when the old boy died in 1170. –Henry II NOT Keen! 1171: Henry II goes to Dublin (w/ 2,000 knights): He received the homage of the Earl of Pembroke, Pembroke’s men & the Irish Kings & chiefs from most parts of the country. Henry II appointed one of his own as “Governor” (not Pembroke) and left. Henry II became feudal holder of Ireland w/ papal support –“Lord of Ireland” (The 8th Henry was the first to call himself “King of Ireland” in 1540) Ireland –These events 1169-1171 The Most Important effect is me, Terry Flemming. Introduced an element into Irish history misleading & inaccurately called the “Anglo-Normans” Why? First, Nothing English about “Strongbow” and Co. Second, no “Normans” since 1154, had been based in S-W Wales, along with his supporters, for years. Fourth, most were NOT even “Norman” in origin---Flemish –i.e. from Flanders Flemming Fact-o-the day: My ancestors, Richard Le Flemming (Flemande in France) was awarded manors and estates in Co. Meath & built Slane Castle. The Family became barons, (i.e. Lord Slane) & held the title & land till 1700. Also ONLY family with Irish Gaelic motto on coat of arms. The “Anglo Normans” who bring planned villages, new towns, castles, law and a money-based economy. All “Anglo-Norman” Families inter married with Gaelic Irish noble families and spoke Gaelic
Richard “Coeur De Lion” (r.1189 - 1199)
John “Lackland / Softsword” (r.1199 - 1216)
1. King Henry II & Queen Eleanor built up a huge dynastic “empire”, consisting of England, half conquered Wales “feudally subordinated” Scotland and Ireland (but Not Rule in these countries) & more than ½ of the Kingdom of France. This is called the “Angevin Empire” by historians
They also had a large family. There were four sons. Henry II made the eldest also named Henry- King of England while he was still king himself.
This happened b/c the family split over property, wealth & power: Richard, 2nd son – was made Duke Acquitaine (his mother’s realm in South of France) & Geofrey – 3rd Son – was made Duke of Brittany (making him the master of North France)
John got Nothing – Hence the derisive nickname, “Lackland”. –(probably because he was young 15 or 16 at H2’s Death)
This was not enough: “Civil Wars” broke out btw. The father and the sons 3 or 4 times in the 1180’s
Eldest son Henry died in 1188
Eleanor & Henry II split – she takes Richard’s side.
1188-1189 Henry II broken by son Henry’s death & the treachery of John
Richard I reigned for about 10yrs, physically present for only 6 months
The English adored him - again, as their “chivalric champion” like his father- only more so, b/c Richard “took the cross” in 1189 & led the Third Crusade (to re-gain Jerusalem: in Crusades hands from 1099 but taken by the Muslims in 1187)
Political development in Richard’s reign long absences of the King allowed civil (& civilian) ideas / values of how to govern a country to grow. Built on Henry II’s city charters – more were issued (to raise money for Richard’s wars) BUT Prince John tried to set himself up as a “deputy king” –created the kind of stress, tension & “conflict” that stimulated politics! King Richard held for ransom by the Duke of Austria in modern terms England had to pay hundreds of billions of $ for the King’s release. This stimulated the English economy
Richard died of a cross-bow injury @ at siege in France (the cross bowman was found skinned/flayed alive from head to foot) John Becomes King – but should he have? strict rule of inheritance: first son(Henry “III” -died) 2nd son – Richard – no sons 3rd son. Geoffrey of Brittany – died in Tournament Geoffrey has 1 son, Arthur, duke of Brittany
John: question over his title triggered war in his French Lands By 1205, John had lost all his lands to the King of France – why not to Arthur? B/C John had the boy kidnapped, blinded & castrated – a crime that turned John’s French-Norman barons to the King of France (in disgust) John refused to fight to get his French lands back, hence “softsword” –results in Rebellion
King John: The End of “Pure” Royal Power and the start if England as a “Common wealth”
I. After John lost Normandy & most of the other provinces of his father and his mother’s “Angevin Empire” in 1205; he lost prestige as King in England. The story went around that he preferred making love to his second wife Alice rather than fighting (Which is what the English expected of a Plantagenet Warlord & “Champion” ) – hence the derisive/Offensive nickname “Softsword”
II. When John Resumed war against the French King he was “broke”. He used
lawyers to apply Feudal laws to squeeze out the most revenue possible – this
included unpopular “Forest Laws” and “aids” – Which were forced loans
extracted from the barons, gentry, wealthy merchants & the church.
John’s wars still failed & this generated a massive crisis after 1208
III. The Church challenged John. He won’t back down. Dispute goes to Rome. The
Pope (Innocent III) –the pope imposed a “Papal Interdiction” on England –the
churches were locked – no religious services Whatsoever!
By 1213, John had given in . In a deal with Rome England ceased to be an independent kingdom and became a “papal fiefdom” - this meant that “king” John had to acknowledge the pope as his lord, who had granted him England.
IV. The barons & other elites (esp. in the city of London) were outraged by the deal w/ the Pope. They were joined by the burgesses of dozens of new “communes” set up by John (as a way of increasing venues)
V. These groups actively defy the King and put pressure on him to change policies. This leads to civil war.
VI. In 1215 the king lost the struggle & was compelled to come to term w/ the “rebels” @ palace called Runymede (near windsor) & there he signed the “Grand Charter”(based on precedent of those royal charters that gave self-gov't to towns)
ie, MAGNA CARTA
VII. Conflict btw. 2 radically different ideas:
(i) Unfettered royal power, which among other things, sees the kingdom of England as the King's private property. (This is ideology!)
(ii) The “rebel” idea: England was a “commune” (ie, self-governing city) on a larger scale - a ”community or commonwealth of the realm”.
VIII. Commonwealth
“Common” -English for communitatis=community -held in
common “joint” – or “general”
wealth -weal – well-being, welfare,
“commonwealth”=commongood
So England not the property of any one individual but held in common by all
IX. The king reniged on his comitment to Magna Carta (The Pope denounced it) & war resumed. King John ended up “on the run” & died in the east of England.
John took a safe route around the marshy area of the Wash to avoid the rebel held area of East Anglia. His slow baggage train (including the Crown Jewels), however, took a direct route across it and were lost on it to the unexpected incoming tide. This dealt John a terrible blow, which affected his health and state of mind. Succumbing to dysentery and moving from place to place, he stayed one night at Sleaford Castle before dying on 18–19 October 1216, at Newark Castle (then in Lincolnshire, now on Nottinghamshire's border with that county). Numerous, if fictitious, accounts circulated soon after his death that he had been killed by poisoned ale, poisoned plums or a "surfeit of peaches".
He was succeeded by his infant son, Henry III. It was in the years of Heny III's “minority” that the Great Charter was applied.
Magna Carta AND Origins of Parliament 1215-1308
I. There are too many myths about Magna Carta (most of them spread by American Lawyers!) In the short term, Magna Carta made no difference to how England was governed: King John broke his agreement, & the Pope supported him. But the “minority” of the next king, John's son, Henry(I.E. H III) gave the supporters of the great charter their chance. Until the 1230's, the charter was regularly renewed & reissued, & England was governed by a partnership between King & his lords (or “barons” means the same thing)
But Henry III had had enough by 1250 & decided to reassent his full royal power
II. Supporters of the Charter, found a “champion” in Simon de Montfort, the Earl of Leicester( pronounced Lester) He was French; the son of another Simon de Montfort, who had led the Crusade against the Cathars in South France (The “Albigensian Crusade”)
by the late 1250's, Simon de Monfort had forced the King to come to terms with The Charter supporting barons. Under a document the “Processions of Oxford” royal power passed to a council of lords.(under de Montfort's control) De Montfort and his supporters organized elections to the first ever “Parliament” the barons to come “as of right” to form one “house”, plus “knight of the shires” to elect representative to another “house” -ie, House of Commons, so they called b/c in this text, “Congress” is a medieval English way of saying “commoner”
Parliament from the French “parlez”, meaning “speak”
ie “parliament” b/c
members were to speak on behalf of lords, the communes and Shires of England
3. For 2 years in early 1260's England was goverend (in the name of the crown) by this parliament. But in 1264, King Henry's Eldest Son, Known as the Lord Edward, organizd a Royalist army & defeated Simon de Montfort & his supporters @ the battle of Eveshawn
his penis and testicles were cut off put on a string and hung under his nose
Restoration of Royal power till Hen III's death in 1272
4. But the Habit of “Parliamentary politics”, including the habit of the king regularly consulting parliament was established and DID NOT go away.
Note: When Henry III died, Lord Edward was on Crusade, There was no violent power struggle for the crown. The “Parliament Type” of leader in England kept people till he returned in1273
As King Edward I (1272-1308) he “rewarded” the new fangled “parliament” by including it in his style of gov't (some books say King Ed “co-opted” parliament)
parliament meets regular during his reign & is never in opposition to royal power
in this period (1260's to early 1300's) England's example is followed all over Europe -parts of France, Spain, parts of Germany and in Ireland
5. Why was Edw I politically successful?
Edw I. Developed and put into action a very popular new policy w/ the English war & conquest against, first Wales-completely conquered by 1282, and then, against Scotland- never completely conquered, but occupied by the English from 1298 onwards
(like Iraq -TF)
The Other Realms
1. A single united National monachary was developed in Scotland Before England even tho' the Mercian King Offa in the 700's & Athelston in the 900's were called “Kings of the English” or “Kings of England” there was no true unified English Monarchy
8. Ireland: Politically, more like Wales than Scotland: ie, the country divided into several different chiefdoms and petty kingdoms. The Gaelic Irish were Christian (process of conversion from St. Patrick's time in the late 300' AD) but had never been under Roman imperial rule. They had a concept of “High King” (“Ard Ri” in Gaelic) but the High King was never more than a symbolic figure -only Brian Boru in the early 11th century came close to turning his into a national monarchy, but failed.
9. From the 800's, the Vikings- Norwegians were a new element. They founded Irelands first real towns (Dublin, Cak, Limerick) By the year 1000AD, they were just another group in Ireland's complicated politics.
The (mis-named) “Anglo-Normans” from 1169 added another complicating element. At first -from 1169 to c.1180 – they were knights who obtained landed estates & tittles- a feudal elite-only in and around Dublin.After 1180, they conquered most of Ireland & brought thousands of English peasants as colonizers'
Colonization fizzles out by c.1200. English peasants inter-marry & become indistinguishable from the natural Gaelic Irish; they give up & congregate in Dublin or go home. The Anglo-Norman Knights retreat from most of Ireland & develop the “Pale” a region around Dublin, which they hang on to while the Irish “Purge” the rest of the country.
There they become more “English” in their politics, but otherwise become more & more assimilated to the Irish (thro' intermarriage) By late 1200's, they copied English & started their own parliament
10. In the 1300's, the Scots under King Robert the Bruce's brother, Edward, invade & try to overthrow the Anglo-Normans. At first, the Scots are v. popular w/ the Irish, but not for long; the Scots act MORE arrogantly toward Gaelic culture than the Anglo-Normans
Two long lasting influences from this:
i. Irish continue to feel warm towards the Stuart royal family in
Scotland. (which becomes very significant in the 1600's) &
ii. The Scots leave a new type of warrior: The gallowglass -
“Kearn” in Irish.
11. After c. 1310, the Irish – Gaelic & Anglo-Norman – settle down; wars btw them cease. England itself rarely gets involved Ireland therefore btw c.1310 & 1487 is self-governing. The leading Gaelic noble families assimilate to the Anglo-Norman feudal pattern & acquire English style titles etc, etc.
In that period the “Anglo-Normans” start to call themselves “Old English”.
END OF IRELAND & SCOTLAND OTHER REALMS
England, 1307-1485
1. The 1300's & 1400's were an unlucky (!) time to be king of England.
i) Edward II, r. 1307-1327
Overthrown by a conspiracy of his wife, her lover (Mortimer) & disaffected barons; probably murdered @ Berkely Castle by a red-hot poker inserted into his rectum!!!
T.F. Quote of the day: So you like is up the ass? Try this... disgusting really.
Blamed for Scots throwing English out of Scotland.
Braveheart is B.S. Ed II NOT FAGGY, though spoiled
ii) Edward III, r. 1327-1377 (son of Ed II)
Very popular Plantagenet King. Starts 100 years war in 1338 w/ France. Black Death 1348-51: waves of epidemic plague that wiped out @ least 1/3 & perhaps 40% of the English population (then c. 4 million +) This also ended most forms of serfdom in England.
iii) Richard II, r. 1377-1399
Overthrown & murdered (starved to Death?) criminal, should NEVER have been king.
iv) Henry IV, r. 1399-1412 -- Plantagenet family, splits here into House of Lancaster & House of York
Fought to stay King most of his reign.
v) Henry V, r. 1412-1422
Hugely popular conqueror of France. Victory @ Agincourt in 1415
vi) Henry VI, r. 1422-1461 (then 1471 & murdered)
overthrown & murdered
Wars of the Roses: ie, btw “White Rose” of York & “Red Rose” of Lancaster
vii) Edward IV, r. 1461-1483 (except for 1471)
Yorkist. Brought peace
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