I.

Renaissance

Definition
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th
century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of
Europe.
As a cultural movement, it is focused on a resurgence of learning based on classical
sources, the development of linear perspective in painting, and gradual but widespread
educational reform. Traditionally, this intellectual transformation has resulted in the
Renaissance being viewed as a bridge between the Middle Ages and the Modern era.
Renaissance was the next evolutionary step in thought, bringing forth the end of the
middle ages. In literature the humanists studied the ancient texts of philosophers in their
original form, debated amongst them and so forth. In art, painters adopted a more realistically
style, with a linear perspective. Also, they applied such technics as light and darkness, to
attract the viewers attention to certain parts of the painting.
For more information on the subject of Renaissance, please visit this place
All this new way of thinking, more freely than what was accepted during the Middle
Ages, led to some interesting developments in a totally different field: religion. There were
ideas of emancipation from the old church, the catholic which was predominant in western
Europe in those days. Why did some men decide that an institution highly regarded as the
church was rotten at its core and it needed reformation? Because during the Middle Ages, the
church had a lot of power over everything, and some members of it started abusing their
attributes. The Mass was in Latin, taxes went to churches, Bishops lived in opulence.
Martin Luther (founder of the Lutheran church) from Germany, with his thesis
attracted the attention of the church and of the people, Jean Calvin, from Switzerland, was
another important figure in the Protestant movement.

The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in England dating
from the early 16th century to the early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European
Renaissance. This era in English cultural history is sometimes referred to as "the age of
Shakespeare" or "the Elizabethan era", the first period in English and British history to be
named after a reigning monarch.
Poets such as Edmund Spenser and John Milton produced works that demonstrated an
increased interest in understanding English Christian beliefs, such as the retelling of
mankinds fall from paradise in Paradise Lost; playwrights, such as Christopher Marlowe and
William Shakespeare, composed theatrical representations of the English take on life, death,
and history. Nearing the end of the Tudor Dynasty, philosophers like Sir Thomas More and
Sir Francis Bacon published their own ideas about humanity and the aspects of a perfect
society, pushing the limits of metacognition at that time. England came closer to reaching
modern science with the Baconian Method, a forerunner of the Scientific Method.
Sir Thomas was a lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman and noted
Renaissance humanist. He was an important counselor to Henry VIII of England and for three
years toward the end of his life he was Lord Chancellor. He was an opponent of the Protestant
Reformation and in particular of Martin Luther, and William Tyndale.
More coined the word "utopia" - a name he gave to the ideal, imaginary island nation
whose political system he described in Utopia, published in 1516. Utopia contrasts the
contentious social life of European states with the perfectly orderly, reasonable social
arrangements of Utopia and its environs (Tallstoria, Nolandia, and Aircastle). In Utopia, with
communal ownership of land, private property does not exist, men and women are educated
alike, and there is almost complete religious toleration. Some take the novel's principal
message to be the social need for order and discipline rather than liberty. The country of
Utopia tolerates different religious practices but does not tolerate atheists. He opposed the
king's separation from the Catholic Church and refused to accept the king as Supreme Head of
the Church of England, a status the king had been given by a compliant parliament through
the Act of Supremacy of 1534. He was tried for treason and beheaded.
Francis Bacon was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author
and pioneer of the scientific method. He remained extremely influential through his works,
especially as philosophical advocate and practitioner of the scientific method during the
scientific revolution. Bacon has been called the father of empiricism. His works established
and popularized the, or simply the scientific method, through experiments to reach to the
truth.
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the
greatest writer in the English language. He is often called England's national poet. Plays in
many languages, great influence, Renaissance spirit.
II. The Monarchy of the Tudors
Henry VII was the first Tudor on the throne of England, following the end of the War
of the Roses. He married Elizabeth of York. Following the end of the feudal system, Henry
VII acted in a different manner than his predecessors. He was no longer the first among the
equals, but he was the monarch. Since money was becoming the means of power in Britain,
Henry gathered a vast amount of riches to his court. As king, he needed an army and the
support of parliament, but he had none (only a small personal guard). His authority was not
contested and he was revered with great admiration. This situation arose from a few
consequences: the war of the roses shattered the nobility and made the English weary of
medieval anarchy, not wanting to return to the old feudal system of the Anglo-Norman rule.
There was the Parliament, but during troublesome times, it failed to prove itself trustworthy.
There was the house of Commons, but they were constantly siding with whoever was in
power, in order to make their presence felt. There was a need for somebody to fill the
transition from a feudal rule to a parliamentary one and that was the King. Being a visionary,
he understood that in order for England to become great and to be able to stand off any of the
Continental Powers (France and Spain especially), it was needed to expand its territories, and
where else than in the New World? He encouraged shipbuilding and sailing. One successful
voyage led to the discovery of Newfoundland, by Cabots expedition. Henry forbade the
import of wine in other ships than English, by a Navigation Act 148), thus encouraging local
merchants. The merchants and the middle class expanded during Henrys reign, his purpose
being that of weakening the old barons. He made reforms in the law too, dealing with grave
charges in his own Star Chamber (star chamber because it was decorated with stars), where
he was aided by his Council. He rarely gave a death sentence, but preferred to fine those
found guilty.
His council was now made up of merchants, burgesses and men trained in the
universities: a new type of men. The Council, in close connection with the local
administrations, could rule the country fairly and with no problems. Henry 7s legacy consist
mostly of bringing back peace in England, after the war of the roses, transforming the position
of king into a respected institution, preserving the Parilament and its authority and giving way
to money as a means of controlling his servants.
Henry VIII was a great historical figure in English history: at the same time, a
Medieval King but a Renaissance Prince too. Medieval kings courteous, chevalrious,
devout. Renaissance prince cruel, cultured, libertine. Henry VIII legally cruel, conjugally
libertine and splendid. ( in other words, a true badass of his days, or a pimp if you prefer. ) He
became king in 1509, at the age of 18, historians remembering him as a fine athlete, a proud
person, avid hunter and horserider. He was well educated and manifested an interest in
literature. He married Catherine of Aragon, his first wife ( daughter of Ferdinand of Spain ).
But Henry was a ladys menso here the fun follows: Catherine was the widow of his
brother, so that makes Cahty his sister-in-law. See the problem? There were rules that
forbade this kind of marriages between sister-in-law and brother-in-law. But presumably, the
marriage of Henrys brother was not consumed (Back then virginity was sacred) so he could
marry her, because Spain in those days was the greatest power in Europe. It helped knowing
that your father-in-law has the best army there is, when in a war
But Henry managed to prove that the marriage was not right under Gods eyes, so he
managed to divorce ( but broke contact with Rome and well.. Spain wasnt so friendly after
this episode. ) Henry+Catherine= Mary Tudor. But Henry needed a MALE heir. He fell in
love with Anne Boelyn and married her in secret, before the divorce was pronounced (
ouch!... ) . Furthermore, he began reforming the church of England to suit his needs, which
was a direct influence of the Protestant movement, but you know what? This matter shall be
dealt with in the following chapters! ( you shant escape it. )
Back to H8 reign he reorganized the fleet, such as H7 did before him, managed to
annexe Whales and to pacify Ireland. Through his reform ( church reform, that is ), he
destroyed a great number of monasteries, confiscated their wealth for his own purposes, and
managed to put England in a position that the rest of the countries of Europe would not
achieve for more than 200 years later the separation of Church and State. In short, the
churches of England fought among themselves so no anti-clerical movement was formed. But
the separation was bloody
Position of monarchs ( the new position, that is!)
The Tudor dynasty brought forth a new way of leading a country. A Renaissance way,
in which no longer the old aristocratic classes were in charge. The way was open to the
middle classes, the bourgeoisie, to prove their worth. The monarchs started distancing from
all the troubles of the realm, now being aided by the Council or Parliament in finding the best
solution for all. The remains of the former Anglo-Saxon and Normandys rule was that the
small communities were well organized and did not require the constant intervention of the
king in their issues. These kings brought an era of peace and non-aggression with other
countries, their care was to keep the country in peace and prosperity. Because of them ( the
Tudors ), old feudal institution managed to fade into memory, being replaced by more-
effective local institutions.
III.Local institutions during the Tudor monarchy
- New classes
- New institutions
Yeomen and Gentry.
During the reign of the Tudors, there appeared certain new social classes. One of these
was the gentry. The gentry was made up of all the country gentlemen ( a nu se confunda cu
termenul gentleman din francezul gentilhomme ). The gentry appeared from the old knight
class, merchants, former important people in the community ( mayor, lawyer ). He ( the
gentleman ) need not own lands, nor have a noble rank ( power to the people baby!!! ). The
same amount of annual revenue was fixed for becoming a gentleman, that is 20 pounds (
sterling. Cam 80 si ceva de lei de azi ), the same amount that was fixed for the knight aswell.
What did this mean for society? That wealth started to substitute birth as the basis of the small
aristocracy. The gentleman could become part of the justice of peace.
The yeomen were a new class that appeared during this period too! ( yes, there was
more than one new thing in that age! Amazing!) they were said to be above the peasantry, but
below the gentry. To be considered a yeoman, one had to gain a total revenue of 20 shillings (
cam 2 pachete de guma orbitcred). Again, it was not necessary for the yeoman to own land.
He could be a farmer or a scribe, as long as he had those 20 shillings revenue/year, it was all
o.k. During the seventeenth century, the yeomen numbered over 160.000, they were the
backbone of England. ( why? Think of the TAXES! ). The yeomen were what had remained of
the old archers from the Hundred Year War ( if you remember, those archers were baddass.
They helped England win the war and helped France become poor, because of looting. ).
This social class made up a solid economical, political and social body. By now, the English
feared the effects of social disorder and civil war so of course the yeomen sided with the king,
whose authority they respected.
Local Institutions
As a difference between English officials and French ones, one can notice that in France there
was a well-developed hierarchy that depended on and was paid by the central government, as
opposed to the English system, where the custom was to take up official functions voluntarily.
This derived from the old Anglo-Saxon custom of the moot. The Tudors liked to use what was
at hand, so this way of organizing things prevailed. After a few centuries, what was left from
this moot were the parish meetings, in which people discussed and agreed/disagreed upon
what was there to be done to the church. At first, there were expenditures for the books that
were needed, for wax or minor repairs. Then, a man was hired for keeping all the records, one
for digging the graves .The parish obtained its revenue from the land: from its herds mostly
and from the church rate ( asta a ramas si la noi ), that was settled depending on each ones
revenue. So we can openly say that the Parish was a local institution in Tudor times. But
what else did it provide? During those days not all was cotton candy dandy lions everywhere,
there were a lot of poor that depended on others for support: the poor relief. The Tudors
adopted the parish as a mean of controlling this problem, each parish being responsible for the
poor people in its area. The parish appointed representatives to gather the poor relief from
others, each contributing with what he could. The ones who refused to pay were sometimes
sent to prison, after being summoned to see the bishop. As the poors situation generally
never improves nowhere, the poor relief became obligatory in time. A law was passed that
ordered the building of hospitals and houses for the infirm, aged, crazed these houses were
provided with raw material, so that they could provide work for the workless ( mind you,
NOT the aged, crazed or infirm! ) and were poor children could learn a skill, by becoming an
apprentice. Furthermore, each cottage built required that it had at least 4 acres of land, so that
the owners could produce their foodstuff. If a parish could not support all its poor, another
richer parish was to help it. All this help worked on a local level, without the need of the
government to take part.
As there was no police force back then, each parish had one man appointed a
constable. He had to maintain order, stop illegal gambling and other police-like duties. He
was elected for a period of a year. But it was not an easy task: this one man, was responsible
for the peace in the whole parish. If someone else arrested a vagabond, the constable had to
pay a fine, for not doing his job correctly. If he arrested someone, he had to keep him in his
own house until the trial, for there were no prisons. But as every cloud has a silver lining..
when a new constable was elected, the old ones were ready to give him advice and provide
assistance. The constable the police of the Tudor times.
The Justice of Peace. He was the link between the parish and county, being elected
by the king, from the squires ( the guys with the $$$, only in sterling pounds ). Usually they
were rich landowners, respected members of the community. Each county had a fixed number
of representatives to the justice of peace, but in time, this number could vary. (at first there
were 9, but there are cases when a county had 39 ) The Justice of Peace had a great role in
keeping order in the county. If the central seat of power failed, the law had to be kept alive
locally, by aid of these capable men. So, what they did more exactly? Simple answer: dealt
with crimes and various cases that required a higher authority to deal with. Ahaa! So a kind of
judge, righ? Yep. If the constable wasnt always happy of his duty, not the same can be said
of the Justice of Peace, because it was regarded as a honorable position and the sign of
importance to the local community.
These are the important institutions that appeared during the Tudors time in England.
The yeomen and the gentry provided their services for the aid of their local community,
while the central power neednt worry about the enforcing of the law in the land. This all
because of the English customs ( of which we have discussed during the first term )
IV. Henry VIII and the Reform!
What did Henry do and why
As you may recall from somewhere above, H8 was married to Catherine, his sister-in-law. She
failed to provide him with a male heir, so he tried to find other methods of procuring a male
heir but first!
Remember that in Europe Renaissance thought meant freedom from the indoctrinating
views of the church? There was one Martin Luther, from Germany. He was the most fervent
protestant preacher against the Church (roman catholic). He accused them (the Church) of
being corrupt, of not preaching the true word of God, of being too complex and useless in its
rites and especially of the fact that ( in Germany, but elsewhere also ) the mass was in Latin,
and the common man could not understand the word of God. To these accusations, the church
decided to take action, at first, by excommunicating Luther. But he couldnt be stopped. He
started gathering attention and the public sided with him.
Meanwhile, in (our beloved) England, Henry had not yet conceived the idea of
divorcing. England was still catholic. He denounced Luther and accused him of heresy in an
open letter. For his actions, the pope called him a guardian of faith . Nevertheless, Henry
wanted something more: he was deranged by the fact that even though the people respected
HIS authority, the church of England respected ROMEs authority Things started looking
bad for Catherine after she failed to give birth (ow yea, like it was HER fault that she gave
birth to a girl!) to a male heir, because Henry was not a patient kind of man. He had set his
eyes upon Anne Boleyn (to which he had secretly married, and well she was pregnant). He
had to divorce Catherine of Aragon, but as a marriage was blessed by God, it could not be
declared null unless the marriage was not ethic (or normal?).
Enter Thomas Wolsey, the man Henry entrusted with most of the ruling busyness of
the country. He is important for what was to follow, so I am to speak of him a little bit in
detail. Wolsey was appointed cardinal, then Papal Legate in England. This new authority,
combined with that of actually ruling the country, gave him grand ideas (as well as the people
of England a prime example of a man wielding both ecclesiastical and civil power . He
wanted to become Pope and threatened with separation of the church if this was not granted.
But what else did he do? He led a lavish and rich life, which he could afford only by robbing
monasteries of their wealth. He was involved in foreign affairs as well, trying to find the best
side for England, in allying with France or Spain, but he chose badly (not Spain). In the
meantime, Henry decided that a male heir was obligatory, to spare England of further civil
wars, so he tried his hand for obtaining permission to divorce his wife. By now, Wolsey
became a problem: he was in the position to aid Catherine (as a Papal Legate), but also, he
was a servant of his king thus he was accused of treason, his wealth confiscated and nearly
killed, if it werent for his weak health ( but he still died ) Thomas More took the position
formerly held by Wolsey that of lord chancellor. He managed to pull a plan to give Henry
the right to divorce (into it, will ya ? are de-a face cu o curte eclesiastica adunata special
pentru asta si ceva tertipuri de-a lui More). Henry was pronounced divorced only in England
by a court that was favourable to his cause. He shortly married (this time legally) Anne
Boleyn. The consequence was inevitable: the breach with Rome had cometh and Henry was
excommunicated. now there should be a part in which I speak about the other wives he had,
but that is not the most important matter here. If you want to say more about them, do it, but I
am focusing on something else here).
Enter Thomas Cromwell his role was that he inspired Henrys future actions against
the church, telling him of the German princes that had broken contact with Rome
If Rome refused to acknowledge the separation of Catherine and H8, then why should
H8 and the whole English nation respect the authority of the pope? Using the same means he
used against Wolsey, Henry accused the entire clergy of conspiring against him (treason!
Treason!! ). As a compensation, H demanded 2 million pounds and the title of Protector and
Supreme Head of the Church, and that the taxes that were once destined for Rome, to be
destined now for the King. He issued two acts: the Act of Supremacy making him the
spiritual and lay ruler of the church, the Act of Succession, in which he stated that his first
marriage was null and that the throne would go to the children born within the wedlock with
Anne. More was executed, on the fact that he did not accept the fact that he had to
acknowledge the fact that the Bishop of Rome was usurping the title of Pope. ( More Thomas
became a saint ). Cromwell took his place. The monks who did not agree with this new order
of things, were deprived of their belongings. Almost all the monasteries had their proprieties
confiscated in the name of the King. Thus, during a 5-year period, the monasteries were
literally pillaged, priests ran to Scotland or Ireland, the king got very rich and his close ones (
friends, aides, etc ) became loyal to this new church. Although he had broken apart from the
Roman church, he wanted a national catholic church for England. After persecuting the old
believers, he turned his eyes to the protestants, which did not have part of a gentler
treatment Henry continued his reform with the Six Articles, in which he enounced the
general principles of the new church ( celibacy of the priests, needlessness of communion, etc
etc )
Soap opera: Anne Boleyn cheated Henry, but she gave birth to Elizabeth. Anne lost her
head. ( literally ). Jane Seymor died while giving birth to the ONLY male heir
Edward VI ( non important, died young ). Anne of Cleeves suggested by Cromwell,
she was ugleh in the eyes of the king. Anne got back home in Germany, Cromwells head
met his feet Catherine Howard chip chop on the block cheated him, she lost her
head too. Catherine Parr she survived, Henry died




V. Elizabeth Queen of the Renaissance
This Queen was the first monarch of England to have a period named after her, so she
mustve done something good, right?
She was the daughter of Henry 8, born from Anne Boleyn. Although by the act of
succession, she shouldve followed on the throne of England, being a girl, she didnt have this
occasion. ( remember? H8 wanted a male heir! ). After her brother, Edward VI passed away
and after her sister, Mary Tudor done some nasty things for love and religion she killed
many protestants, in a time in which Anglicanism was taking shape. Elizabeth was a
protestant so she was more than welcome on the throne. She conquered the hearts of her
subjects (just like lady Di, in a more latter time) because she knew how to use her intelligence
and could see further than her own interests. For the good of the country, yes?
She was remembered also as the virgin queen. She never married (maybe she fancied
some guys, but nevah had sexy-timeso they say), and she couldnt become a mother ( this
would to become a somewhat problematic thing after her death ). She did not engage in wars
on the continent, for she had no standing army ( just like the Tudors before ), she did not levy
new taxes and asked not much for herself. This was the key to her success. In matters of
religion, she supported Anglicanism, but tried to bring peace and understanding between
Catholics and protestants. The book of common prayer was made compulsory for every
subject ( in it there were prayers in english ) aaand the pope was still neglected. The 39
Articles, were adopted in 1536, which were to become the basis of the Anglican church. This
meant that most of the catholic rites were kept, the language was now english during sermon
and the Pope got nothing from the English subjects ( protestant religion, yes? ). The pope
reacted by excommunicating the Queen, thus relieving the need for loyalty to her, by her
catholic subject. She was made responsible for the loss of so many souls ( excommunicating,
etc etc) that some voices murmured that her death would not be a crime in the face of God (
yeah, like weknow what GOD thinks ) Puritans started to appear in England ( Calvinists,
or simply put hard-headed religious zealots that wanted something totally not accepted by
the Queen ). They opposed the Queen, but did not manage to destabilize her position in the
hearts of the people.
VI. Elizabeths conflicts
- Conflict at sea the Great Armada
- Differences between Spain and England
- Spanish colonial expansion
Spain was catholic. Very devout. Very nasty against protestants. ( does the Inquisition
ring a bell?). And they were suparati on the English. Why? Remember good ol Henry 8 first
divorce? No? GO READ!... SO, as I was saying, Spain was a great power in Europe, thanks
to its colonial empire in the Americas, from which its riches came (lots of riches ). Spain
controlled Itally, the Mediterranean, the trading routes of Flanders They controlled the seas
( the Portuguese did too, but on a smaller scale). So England was left to find a way of
breaking their domination. Captains tried to find a N-E or even a N-W passage to the Indies,
because the Spanish had the S-W, Portugal the S-E.
English merchants traded with the Spanish ports in the Americas and many times even
attacked Spanish ships. Letters of marque were given to those captains who were robbed by
foreign ships. These letters actually gave the captains a legal mean of piracy John Hawkins
started harassing the Spanish, was captured and his ships confiscated. The queen found him
on the guilty side, but nevertheless, made him Treasurer of the Navy, so that she can benefit
from his knowledge.
Spain held large parts of N and S America. England wanted a share of the benefits!
Francis Drake started harassing Spanish ports and even robbing them. He managed, on his
round the world voyage, to get his hands on the gold from Eldorado, that was of course
destined for Spain ( every year ) and of course the Queen got a share of the gold, on his
return Spain grew impatient of these acts. They now treaded with english pirates as if they
were heretics ( nasty treatment ). In the meantime, Hawkins was preparing the fleet for war.
Elizabeth made Francis a Sir and put him in charge of a royal fleet, a position from which he
continued to harass the Spanish ports war was inevitable. In 1588, Philip II of Spain readied
his Armada for war. 30,000 men were bound for England and another 30000 from the
Netherlands. The english fleet was led by Lord Howard, who had Drake and Hawkins under
his command and a total of about 34 warships and 150 merchant ships, provided by ports. The
Spanish fleet was led by the Duke of Medina-Sidonia and his experience at sea was
wasnt He arranged his ships in a classic formation as preparing for a land battle, in
expecting the English. When they arrived, the English vessels formed an indian line, to the
surprise of the Spanish, and opened fire! ( the battle took place near Plymouth ). When the
English opened fire, their cannons out-ranged the Spanish ones, so them beated guys hurried
back to to the low countryes but they were beaten badly. Victory well, if the English had
had more ammo, surely the outcome wouldve been BAAAAAD for Spain. The Duke of
Parma, leader of the Spanish fleet, was not ready to aid the Duke of Medina-Sidonia, and
asked for more time to prepare in the mean time, English came and blasted some more
ships The Spanish fleet tried escaping to the North Sea, but there the cannons of the
enghlish gave them a run. The Duke tried to debark in Ireland, still a catholic country, and
gather support for attacking England. But he chose to get there round Scotland, a difficult
passage for his ill-prepared ships. He never got to Ireland, but retuned to Spain with 100 of
150 ships, many losses and with his Armada shattered Spain no longer had the supremacy
of the seas. But was still master on land. England tried making a colonial empire.. the
beginning! There was the land in Newfoundland and sir Walter Raleighs Virginia ( guess in
whose honor? ). But what developed was the trading at seas. Great companies were founded,
with the sole purpose of trading with the colonies or distant lands. They established
monopolies on their trade routes and brought forth a new era of expansion, and, of course, $$$
to the crown

VII. Elizabethan England
- culture
- drama, poets
During these times of prosperity, people started fancying the arts and luxury. Everyone
wanted to look pretty, to be smart, to read poetry Puritanism was starting to make its
presence felt too.
The people were delighted with the plays and sonnets of Shakespeare, the verses of
Spencer, Marlowe There was a lot of translating done from the Italian writers, such as
Boccacio or the French Montaigne essayist. From these foreign sources, Spencer or
Shakespeare borrowed the themes and adapted them to the English specific, the gentle
gravity, the rustic poetry, homely philosophy of their race
Theatre, although not liked by puritans, developed outside the reaches of their law.
The most famous playhouse was Shakespeares Globe. The spectators were avid consumers of
plays, from dramas, to poetic works of Marlowe and Shakespeare or Ben Jonson.
New schools were founded, for the benefit of more eager students to learn : Eton,
Winchester, Harrow. Culture was spreading to all people, through the printing press had
decreased the price of books, the Inns and Courts offered a place that was for the benefit of
the poets of the day.. (in carte nu scrie asa mult despre astea, mai va documentati voi din surse
secundare )
VIII. The early Stewarts
- who where they, how did they come in power
- James I, Charles I conflicts, origins, flaws
After the death of Queen Elizabeth, the next on the throne was James VI of Scotland,
a son of Mary Stewart, who would reign as James I of England, uniting the two crowns.
Being from Scotland, he had different ideas of how to rule a state, he believed that
Kings were to rule the states because God intended it to and subjects must give obedience
so he was above the Law, only in some exceptions when he wanted to submit an example, he
was subdued by the law ( only by his bidding ). In Scotland, this worked, but in England,
where a Parliament had a long tradition, this would cause problems.
He had no troubles with the Anglican church, but with the catholics. They hoped for
reconciliation with Rome, but the king thought that the person they should offer their highest
respect was HIM not the POPE. This was against the beliefs of the catholics and some of
them, disappointed by this new lost hope, plotted against him. The most dangerous of these
plots, was that of the Gunpowder Plot. The catholics wanted to blow up the house of Lords,
when it was assembled. Word was put out that on the 5 of November, there would be sparks
all over, but word got to the king, and the plod was stopped before it was too late. Guy
Fawkes, the brain behind the scheme lost his head. The catholics were deprived of their
rights and were discriminated. This king seemed to be doing good, until he turned against
parliament. He could not conceive a state where a king could not do what he pleased. He
wanted to impose a hereditary right of kings, which was a new idea to parliament. He thought
that he was only responsible to God, not to his servants, but things were long since gone for
those times in England. The conflict between absolutism and parliament began with the
Stewarts.
The king needed money, so he tried to force the hand of parliament to grant him more
$$$. He had the tonnage and duties on wool and leather, that gave him about 150000
pounds/year. Because the parliament refused to give him the sums he asked for, he decided
not to summon it no more ( 1611 1621, no parly. ) He waged no wars, because he could not
afford none He tried to make an alliance with Spain, through a marriage, but failed to do so.
Buckingham, his closest friend/advisor, was left to deal with the country, while James idled
doing nothing he died in 1625.
Charles I followed on the throne, being the son of James and Maria Henrietta,
daughter of Henry IV of France. He resembled his father and thus, he decided to rule without
a parliament ( until 1640 there was no parliament in England. ) He was not too good in ruling
a country The Scots attacked and occupied the north of England. Charles summoned a
parliament to give him an army, but the parliament refused to do so, because they had
unsolved grievances too.He then moved to Oxford and gathered an army. Civil war followed
shortly
IX. Cromwell and the new model army
- New model army?
- Protectorate
- Civil war
The country was divided between royalists and parliament. Oliver Cromwell was on
the parliaments side. King Charles having been defeated, surrendered himself to the scots, in
1645
Oliver Cromwell, was a simple squire, but proved to be very important for the
parliament. He was a puritan by education. He managed to form a new model army, that was
well disciplined, well trained and very effective. He was very devout and religious, but
despite being puritan, he treaded fairly with the others of different confessions his army
was made up of different people and faiths, but all respected Cromwell. He decided that the
need for a professional army led by solders not politicians was needed. The parliament voted
in his favor, so the New Model Army was created, led by Sir Thomas Fairfax and Cromwell.
They defeated the royalists in 45 and Parliament was victorious buuut nobody felt good
after this. Parliament was victorious, but the people needed a monarchy. They did not like the
harsh religion of Cromwells men. The conditions were difficult to understand, because now
the army demanded freedom of confession and said that an absolutist monarchy was no
different that a despotic parliament.
The Long Parliament was so called because it was sitted from 1640 untill 1648. It was later
dissolved by Cromwell. The rump parliament appeared after it was purged of those deemed
undesirable by the army. -after 1649.
King Charles was now a problem, because he sided with anyone that he thought
could help him get his throne back. He was captured by parliament, tried and sentenced to
death in 1649. Oliver Cromwell took the title of Lord Protector and led England until his
death. The scots made an agreement with Charles II, but they were defeated by the Parliament
army. Cromwell turned his eye towards pacifying Scotland and Ireland. In Ireland, the
catholics were the problem, because the english protestants were in danger ( they were
murdered! Ok?!) Cromwell led a New Model army there and repaid massacre by more
massacre. Ireland was pacified.
Scotland on the other hand, was furious, because Charles was a scot, and they reeealy
did not like the idea of regicide. They sided with Charles II and wanted to attack England but
Cromwell defeated them too and the young Charles II had to flee across the channel.
Cromwell reigned supreme. But this doesnt mean he was loved. The army was costing too
much to keep, the country was in chaos because of the former civil war He called the end
of the Rump Parliament in 1653 and formed a new one, the Barebone Parliament, made up of
clergymen from all the churches and confession of England.
Cromwell died in 1658, leaving the country in still a state of uncertainty, because the
parliament army and people still couldnt find a way to figure their problems in 1660, the
restoration took place, and all that Cromwell tried to do, fell into ruin.
X. The Restoration
- Context
- Charles II
- Political parties
After Cromwells death, Charles II returned to England as king. He did not want to be
put again in the position to flee his own country, so he wanted to rule lawfully, but secretly
wanted to do the emancipation of catholics. He summoned a parliament that had remained in
power for 18 years. They granted him no standing army and not enough money so that he
could not do as he pleased. The king, remembering what happened to his father, accepted
these conditions.
During this period, political parties started to take shape: the Whigs( liberals )
aristocrats, merchants, and the Tories, the Kings men, or the ones who sided with the king (
conservatives ). Their representatives fought for control of the parliament, in elections and
speeches directed against the others. Usually, the Whigs controlled the parliament, but the
Tories had their fair chances too.
By the end of Charles reign, the Tories held power. Charles died and was followed on
the throne by his brother, James II, a catholic. Because of this, he did not stay much on the
throne, being replaced by a revolution in 1688 by William of Orange. A constitutional
Monarchy then followed ( until this day )
XI. The Enlightenment!
- Features
- Age of reason
- Political philosophy
Enlightenment came after the end of Renaissance in Europe. It brought forth a more
avid discussion on human rights, liberties and how a state should be ruled. This was not a
school of thought, but rather a set of values, that questioned the traditional institutions,
customs and morals and held in high regard science and rationality. Thats why its called the
Age of Reason, because people THOUGHT of WHY things happened as they did!
Thomas Hobbes tried to answer to the question of how a state should be led, in his
book Leviathan.
Hobbes and Locke ( John Locke ) tried to figure out the human condition, what was a
human being and what was its purpose. During Cromwells reign, the country was left in a
state of religious control, of the puritan kind. No comedies, no theater, strict morals and
such after 1660, these restrictions were declared null, so culture once again flourished! New
playwrights began publishing, such as Etherege, Whycherby.
John Milton, a devout puritan, wrote Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, two epic
poems dealing with mankind and its flaws. John Dryden was the one to bring classic poetry
into England.
The age of Reason, in literature, was known as the Classicism. People of this period
started looking back to the perfection beauty of the ancients ( much as the Renaissance man
before him ) but with a sense of respect and desire for order. Even though comedies were
written and played, theatre embraced this new way of thinking and the plays became more
rigorous. Poetry was sober, with a perfect geometry. From these thoughts the Parnassian
movement would later appear.
Other smart people of the time: J. Swift satirist. Daniel Defoe important for his
work Robinson Crusoe (the embodiment of the enlightenment man).
The men of those days tried to find a fundamental truth in order to organize the world around
it.
In politics, king James II succession was debated, because he was a catholic, and
well the country was REAAAALY protestant. William III was followed on the throne by
Anne, the daughter of James II. During this time, there was a war for the Spanish Succession.
England had a great general in the person of John Churchill, who defeated the French at
Blenheim, afterwards the peace of Utrecht was signed.
In 1701 the act of settlement, that dealt with English Succession was signed. It said
that the king or queen of England had to be Protestant and from the house of Hanover. After
queen annes death, George I came on the throne, because of this act of settlement. Thus the
Georgian age began.
Robert Wallpole the first prime minister, the first man to hold this function the
link between parliament and king. The government responded directly to parliament.
Ow yeah the novel as a genre appeared during this period. ( duuh! Robinson Crusoe? )
XII.Loss of the American Colonies
- Why did Britain lose them
- Why did they rebel?
- 7 years war
- Boston Tea Party!!!
- War of Independence + French Resistance
- Consequences
Britain decided that if it were to become a great power ( a playa playa ) on the scene
of Europe, it had to use what it knew best: its fleet. Since the Elizabethan age, the
English/British navy ( because back then Elizabeth hath not had a Britain, ye?) was feared,
for it was well-equipped and a strong foe to fight against. Because Britain was an island state,
it did not rely on a regular army when times came to defend its territories, they would rather
send their fleet with some men and wreak havoc on the enemys side. Spain was leading
the Colonial race back then ( not a real race, just for the fun of it I said It was a race), having
acquired territories mostly in Southern America, from where they brought back great amounts
of gold ( Senor Don Rodrigo de Bogatano, yes?). France was expanding in North America:
Quebec, Pennsylvania, Quiberion England had only some small colonies there they were
gealous!
The 7 years war started just of this ambition of Britain to have its own Colonial
Empire ( it would help trade, increase revenue, increase power, etc etc, become big boo-ha of
Europe ). The war was fought on a large scale, because it not only composed the American
Continent, but also India, where France and Britain had commercial interests ( spices mostly).
William Pitt ( the elder ) was the head of the Parliament at that time, he being the
promoter of war agains France. He had public support on his side, but that didnt mean it
would be an easy war. He moved the interest of continental intervention to the one of colonial
intervention, to the disapproval of king George II.
War started in 1756, but Britain lost the start, the French occupying Minorca ( island
in Mediterranean ). The Austrians decided to break the alliance with Britain and side with
France, so Britain had to find a new ally Prussia.
Prussia was attacked on all sides by France, Austria and Russia, thus leaving Britain
to fend of the French attacks in the Electorate of Hanover ( from where George I, II, III were
). Then war broke out in the colonies too. In America, there were about 1,200,000 English as
opposed to about 60,000 Frenchmen from 1759 and almost to the end of the war, Pitt had
victory by his side. Quebec was capturet and many French colonies too ( fort Duquesne
Pittsburgh, in his honor ). In India, with the aid of the great merchant companies, British rule
was enforced, the French being driven out ( India was to become to Britain the pearl in its
crown, the same as South America was to Spain -$$$!)
After the death of George II, his son, king George III followed on the throne. He was
only family related to the house of Hanover, he was more English than anything else. But he
had interesting plans he wanted to become THE KING, meaning to restore power into his
hands, but in a time where Parliament ruled, his ideas were provoking. He made William Pitt
resign ( if it werent for Pitt, probably America wouldve had French origins. ) and replaced
him with someone more close to his ideas Bute, but this guy was not fancied by public
opinion
So, back to Amerika , in order to prevent the rebellion of the French population in the newly
acquired colonies, there needed to be an armed force to control a possible rebellion. But why
should Britain pay for these solders? It was so decided that the colonists should pay for them.
( from here, bad things happen to merican colonists ). From this came the motto: no
taxation without representation because the colonists had no representative in Parliament
at that time still, the law passed and the tax was settled. Furthermore, the British colonies
were not permitted to trade with anyone else than British ships they had to buy everything
from them ( monopoly thus ensued )
The colonists were not allowed to produce the things that Britain exported ( wool
mostly ), and they could trade only with English ports even more, the colonists could trade
only what they produced over there which was not usually found over here, such as tobacco.
This prevented the colonies to feel free but in returned, it filled the coffers of Britain and
the great companies ( the guys who went round the world and got rich because of monopoly ).
The Stamp Act ( tax on almost anything. Had to be agreed by the empire, had to be paid for )
was another tax, that helped pay for the British troops stationed there, but this was an abusive
tax. ( they had to pay in gold ). Finally, because of the more and more rebellious colonists, the
Stamp Act was suppressed by k.George3 but there was kept a small duty on secondary
articles, such as tea and glass. NOW the problem was that the great trading companies wanted
to sell their tea directly to the consumer, not with the aid of the local merchants, who got left
behind. This tax angered the tea drinkers everywhere, a tax on my tea? This is madness!
Guess what happened next!
In Boston, a group of men, disguised as Indians, boarded the ships carrying tea and
threw their cargo in the sea. This act was not tolerated by Britain and soon enough, the
conflict was open. The 13 colonies sided with one and other in this fight. Parliament thought
that it would be an easy fight, seeing that the colonists had no standing army, no fleet, no
fortified towns war broke out in 1776, when the colonists rejected the rule of George3 in
favor of their own rule. This was not an easy war, for neither sides. France, that was the great
looser of the 7 years war, saw this occasion as a revenge! ( eh, eeet this, filthy englishes!). The
French gave the Americans a fleet, money, weapons and aid in fighting the British.
Outcome of the war: England lost the 13 colonies. America was born. France was
broke. England was supreme master of the seas. India was good for their trade. England
reigned supreme. ( even though it had LOST a big part of its empire in America ) King
George 3 was ill ( ill is a beautiful word for his CRAZYNESS. He talked to trees, ok? ).
William Pitt helped propel Britain as an imperial power, the trading companies grew rich, the
country was rather stable politically and economically, new things to follow
XIII. Agricultural and Industrial revolutions
- What, who and why ? ( mostly )
If the Black Death killed like ONE THIRD of England helped the emancipation of the
serf ( peasant for the pretentious), the 1700s brought a new dimension of agriculture and
industry. Population started to grow because of many reasons: discoveries in medicine helped
diminish the death rate, parish aid supported large families, the migration villagetown
forced people to move in more crowded housing ( where morals did go to the drain and the
poor multiplied ). Industrialization was taking over the country ( note: Britain had
sparked the industrial revolution. This is important ), and so, manufactures appeared,
where young children were employed ( again, population boom was benefic for these people
). But a greater populace needs more food. The old ways of agriculture were not enough to
support all these hungry mouths.
A change was needed. The great landowners wanted more, so gradually the enclosure
came to being. What was an enclosure? To explain it simply great amounts of land, under
one mans control. Big farms on short, or even better the beginning of the modern farm. The
old habit of letting the earth rest for a year, after 3 years exploitation (medieval practice).
Soon, new methods of cultivating were developed ( such as instead of letting the ground rest
for a year, something like clover was grown this provided food for the animals for example
). Fertilizers appeared, so now it was easier to grow grains and other things were previously it
was not possible. But because of the enclosures, nevertheless, transforming England into a
grain-exporting nation, left the peasants without their free land ( the commons, where
everybody was master and no one was master the same time ). The lords took the commons to
add them to the enclosures, the peasant was left with no means of working so he went to the
town( imediat zic de ce e important)
The law that said that cottage needed 4 acres of land to be built, was abrogated. New
houses could be built more closely ( ca blocurile astea socialiste ), but the downside of this
new situation was that in the towns, the slums developed ( mahala ), where living conditions
were bleh Keep in mind that we are talking of the period between 1700 and somewhat
1800, so the Independence of the Americas was not heard of yet. More people decided to
move to the colonies, in hope of finding better conditions, seeming as a refuge to the landless
farmers those who decided to stay, entered the lords service. The yeoman started to fade
away, as the independent and tenant-farmers were now known only as farmers, that depended
on the gentry ( personal, mi se pare ca-I un regress fata de ce era inainte- conditia lor, nu
faptul ca s-a trecut pe moduri mai eficiente de exploatare a pamantului ). Society was in for a
change, in this period.
Besides a development in agriculture, the industry boomed too. Inventions were put to
use for the benefit of man ( and for the benefit of the industrialists ). Capitalism was taking
shape. Wool, previously being made at home, could now be made in factories, where the work
of 100 men was replaced by a single machine. Steam engines are defining for this age. Coal
was now the main resource of an industrialized country ( steam engines replaced the manual
labor, more efficient ). Roads developed too. John McAdam ( no ia ghici ce-a inventat asta !?
) developed a method of laying a water-resistant surface on the road, thus the speed of
coaches increased to about 10 miles per hour. Furthermore, after 1830 railroads developed
that further led to an increase of travel speed and of shortening distances and transporting
more material from point A to point B.
Capitalism brought forth a new method of seeing what country was best: by its positive
balance of trade with other countries thus leading the way to the modern era
XIV. Political reforms in Victorian England.
- Secret ballot
- The bills
- Romanticism
The bills! Queen Victoria the Victorian age- 19
th
century.
Victorian England was made up of many middle-class men, that lived in the city.
Times had changed for them, following the industrial and agricultural revolutions. Cheap
newspapers appeared and fed the need for information of the masses. Telegraph technology
shortened even more the distances between people and events were now learnt of much faster.
In 1832 a reform act was passed by the liberals, because it was needed. The situation
of the peasants was dear and the workers demanded a minimum wage to be settled upon. The
talks for a reform started in parliament in the 1830. The tory have been leading the country for
about 50 years. The wigs were in the opposition and sided with the population that demanded
the reform. After it was passed, in 1832, it allowed more representatives from the country to
take part in the parliament, and created an electorate of middle class townsmen and farmers (
which previously had no right to vote ). The rotten boroughs brought the downfall of the
tories ( rotten, because of the fact that it had few voters but could be manipulated by someone
easily ) mai pe romaneste, erau comunitati mici, care aveau multe voturi la dispozitie in
parlament, fapt cam aiurea, avand in vedere ca Manchester si Liverpool erau comunitati de
vreo 800000 suflete fiecare, iar Old Sarum, de exemplu, avea dreptul la 7 voturi, pe cand
astealalte la mult mai putine.
THATS why the first bill was passed.
In 1867 a second bill was passed, by the conservatives, led by Disraeli. This reform
again dealt with voters and said that ownership of a house was required in order to be able to
vote, or to receive a sum, the limits of which were lower in the poorer boroughs. Thus more
than a million voters appeared, that were influencable.
The third bill, was passed by Gladstone and the liberals. This gave the right to vote
to the agricultural workers ( previous bills focused more on the townsfolk, because the great
amount of population was centered there ). In total, there were now five million voters that
took part in the political process of the country. Furthermore, the secret ballot was
introduced, that stifled electoral corruption.
More on the social changes during victorian England: slavery abolished in 1807. The
reform of the education system in 1891 made elementary education compulsory. More
schools and hospitals were built.
The Crimean war broke out in 1855, in which England and France fought against
the Tzarist empire. ( In Tzarist Russia, Europe fights you! ) here be told about the Oriental
Problem, care ati dat din istorie in a 12a stiti despre ce-I vorba, care nu, va prezint pe scurt
The Ottoman Empire was in decline ( Der Untergang des Ottomanreich ) aaand he
was called the sick man of Europe, because they still controlled a great deal of land there ( the
Balkans, Greece, Bosfor strait). While Enlightenment and Modernism swept through EU, in
the Ottoman Empire, all was chillax But Russia had imperial ambitions and on the pretext
of defending the Christians in Europe, wager war against the ottomans. England and France
intervened on the ottoman side because of a simple reason: if Russia controlled the Bosfor
strait, it had access to the Mediterranean sea and from there, the world. Russia was a baad
boy, because it had resources. So yeah, Russia was beaten, peace at San Stefano then at
Berlin. Peace all over Europe.
But wait, heres more!

Romanticism!
A cultural movement opposed to the classic school of thought. They prized the emotions, the
soul and the heart of man. As inspiration, they turned to the Medieval Times, national history
and places. It was a nationalistic movement ( helping the revolutionaries of 1848 ). Main
theme love
Other traits: nostalgia of times passed, admiring the nature, the fate of the human soul
Authors: Shelley, Byron, Wordsworth.
Novel: Frankenstein. (representative.)
I - the Celts in Britain

Main questions to answer
Who are they? Where did they come from?
Periods and waves of migration
Life and civilisation

The Celts came to the British Isles in a few waves, starting with the 6th century B.C.
They werent the first to settle in Brittain: here lived a population known as the Iberians that
were gradually pushed inland as waves of migrators came from the mainland.
The Celtic people came from the East, being an indo-european population. Most of them were
shepherds, so one reason of their migration could probably be the need for fresh pastures.
Other reasons could be the pressure of a stronger tribe, the wish for enrichment of the local
leaders, the need for food... They were depicted as being tall, strong, fair-haired. They had a
taste for fights, amongst themselves or with neighbours.

The first wave of Celts came between the 6th and the 4th century B.C. and were known as
the Gaels. They gave their language to Ierland and Scotland. The second wave came during
the 3rd and 2nd in England. These were the Bretons. The last wave of migrators consisted of
the Belgae, settleing in the S-E of England.

Celtic languages:
Gaelic Scots + Irish
Britonic Welsh

Celtic way of life :
They lived in villages, had a king - but with little influence in land; they extracted tin
and traded it with Gaul; they knew agriculture, drank beer and had gold coins, used in trading.
From Caesar we find out that they had very strong family bonds. This fact is still true to this
day, in the form of the Scottish Clans and the Irish Families. The family is the main unit of the
social life .
The belief system of the Celts was based on the Druids: similar to the Brahmans of India.
Their knowledge was transmitted oraly.
Caesar notes that the celts across the channel were in close contact with the mainland gauls.
When he fought the Gauls, in their aid came warrior celts.

II - The Celtic heritage in Britain

Same as above, only note the fact that roughly 20% of Welsh people are bilingual (
speaking English and Welsh ) but in Scotland and Ireland the percentage is decreasing. UK is
made up of 4 distinct nations : the Irish, Scots, English and Welsh, each with their own
cultural and historic heritage. Their common point today is the language they speak.
Scotland has its Parliament and England does too.

III Roman conquest in Britain

Caesar
Hadrians Wall
Claudius emperor
Agricola
Legacy

Britain was first atacked by the armies of the Roman Empire in the year 55 B.C,
led by Julius Caesar.
His initial gathering of informaton assured him that this was going to be an easy victory. His
conquest was finacially motivaded, needing money to pay his armies and victories to impress
the people of Rome.
He first atacked with 2 legions, but met heavy resisstance onshore, by the Celts, who
were aware that roman armies will attack. The romans were superior technologically to the
celts. Their complex strategies allowed them to conquer nation after nation on the mainland.
The romans managed to build a fort to withstand and repell attacks, but Caesar knew that he
couldnt hold out much longer. He made some promisses with the locals and returned to
Rome, where everybody greeted him as victorious.
The follwing year, he returned with 5 legions. He learned the British tactics and was
ready to deploy cavalry against them. The celts were now united under chief Cassivelaunus.
Caesar marched in his direction. He used the animosities between the celtic tribes to his
advantage, turning some of Cassivelanuss allies away from him. He eventually defetead them
all, made them pay tribute to Rome and returned victorious.

In the haze of the civil wars in Rome, the British tribute was forgotten, and so seemd
to be the fate of the whole island. During Claudius reign, his generals urged him for a full
conquest of Britain ( Scotland and Ireland were never conquered ). Tradeds said that the
routes werent secured, generals wanted fame, the druids were percieved as a threat to
security... Claudius sent an expedition of 4 legions of about 50.000 men. The conquest wasnt
easy: they encountered serios resistance in the mountainous regions of Scotland and Wales.
In the south east they had to confront the queen Boadiceea, who led the Britons into battle.
This revolt was quickly dealt with, ending in the defeat of the Britons.
Here you can speak about how the romans transformed this guys: the roman way of life! They
built roads, thermaes, aqueducts, schools, new settlements...
Town names which have chester or ester all date back from roman times, from their forts (
Castrum )
As everywhere else, the romans offered a better way of life to the conquered, not
forcing them to turn to the ways of the victorious, but rather let them discover the beneficies
of a superior civilisation.
This method of conquest : by offering a better way of life can be seen during
Agricolas reign too; While he tried to conquer the whole island, he brought change on the
administrative side aswell.
He continued the process of civilising the barbarians by the use of baths, thermes,
culture and he took great interest in settleing down all the problems that arose due to unfair
consuls and pro-consuls, by appointing serious men that he could trust. During this period,
many of the Celts became bilingual. Now latin was starting to be used more widespread.
Mixed marriages between celtic women and roman solders were now common.
Religion could not evade romanisation, so they set to eliminate the druidical beliefs. Slowly,
old gods of the celts were identified with the roman ones. Temples dedicated to the emperors
and other deities were built, so that in time, the druids were all forgotten.

Altough Agricola believed he had brought peace and conquered the whole of Britain,
in the North still lived a few tribes of savage warriors known as the Picts and the Brigantes,
who were not willing to be subdued. They constantly attacked the roman towns, attracted by
their wealth and managed to avoid the roman generals. During Hadrianss reign of the Roman
empire, the situation worsened so much that an entire legion ( the IX ) was destroyed. This is
mainly because the communication lines of the empire were overstreched. Claudius
personally led a legion in the year 120 to Britain, but with no succes of subduing the Picts and
other tribes. So he decided to have a wall built to defend the rest of the land. This was knonw
as Hadrians Wall, stretching from Tyne to Solway Firth. It was composed of a stone wall
conecting 14 forts. The ideea of the full conquest of Britain was abandoned.

The roman legacy : quite none, exept from a few names
During the third century, the Empire was threatened by barbarian raids. Its
communication lines were strechted to the limit and the need for fresh toops to fight back the
barbarians was neverending. The legions of Britain were called back, leaving the country
relatively undefended from the attacks of the Picts. The romanised celts had forgotten the
ways of the fights, being transformed into farmers.
There were more problems to come: adding to the picts attacks, now came other
invaders from the mainland. A roman general by the name of Maximus tried to sieze power of
the empire, fought Gratian, but was defeated by Theodosius, the emperor from the East. The
legions of Maximus never returned home. Britain was left in the hands of the invaders now...


IV Anglo Saxon Invaders

Begin saying that the Roman Empire was crumbling and that left the country
undefended against the invasions.
To help them protect against the Picts, the romanised population hired the tribes of the Anglo-
Saxons as mercenaries. Unfortunately for them, the anglo-saxons turned against and slowly
started conquering the country. The romano-celtic population gradually dissapeared, being
buthcered or assimilated or even enslaved. We know of these facts from the chronicles left
behind by some monks.

Gildes wrote a chronicle in the 6th century, giving many details about the local
history
Bede wrote about the hardship the celts had to endure before they were eventually
occupied.
Neminus wrote in the 9th century about the legend of King Arthur, but before this,
there is no mention of it. He originated in the 6th century, being said he won fights against the
Angles and the Saxons.

The main invaders were : The Jutes, the Angles and the Saxons. They came from
Demark ( the jutes ) and from what was to become nowadays Germany ( saxons, angles ).
The jutes held their kingdom of Kent, the Angles had Northumbria, Mercia and East Anglia
and the Saxons had Essex, Wessesx and Sussex.

V Anglo-Saxon society and life

They were a violent people, always ready for war, drinking all day long... this can be
used to generally describe the angles and the saxons, which were regarded as being vicious
barbarians.
But with all of these, their women were chaste, they prised de family and obeyed their
chief. After their attacks, they started stettleing, in the same manner they did back home: built
huts and cabins from trees. The chieftain had a cabin built out of logs, that was the centre of
the settlement. The fields surrounding the settlement were divided equally among the
villagers. As oposed to the celtic way of farming farm here, exaust the land, move
somewhere else the saxons used a different method: some fields were cultivated, other used
as pastures and some left barren and they rotated their use, so that the land didnt become
exausted.
The Anglo-Saxon villages were administered by the moot a gathering of the
members of the community. Usually a village had between 10 and 30 families. The moot
decides how the lands should be divided and used. The ruling class was called thane usually
made up of the warrior-chieftain. After this come the freemen, which had to fight for the
chieftain if asked for. Then came the churls the rest of the villagers. If the village was in
danger, the chieftain could call the fyrd that is the peasant army. Later in the history of
England, the fyrd will be employed by many kings to their advantages. Furthermore, every
king had his Witan, the council of elders. In time, it became an organ of leadership, not
powerful as the future Parliament, but they could decide on certain things. In times of war, for
example, the Witan could dispose of a bad king to entrust the leading possition to somebody
else.
Gradually, they formed kingdoms ( the seven from above ). By the 8th century only
Wessex, Mercia and Northumbria were left and by the ninth century there was only Wessex.
The kingdom was divided into shires, to be easier to rule. They had a court where
different cases were disscused, the king being represented by a Sherrif. They based their way
of dealing with a crime by oaths. The oath of a thane was worth more than that of a simple
peasant or sclave. There also was the wergild the value of a man if he was to be killed, and
that sum had to be payed to the familly. A noble had a wergild 6 times bigger that that of a
peasant and his oath weighted 6 times as more that the peasants.
They built their houses out of clay and hay ( = daub - chirpici ) and were weakly
illuminated, because they wanted to preserve heat inside. They were mostly farmers, except in
times of war, when they were ready to pick up arms. Drank a lot of beer, because in those
times beer was healthyer than water found in the vicinity of the village. As a legacy, from the
anglo-saxons remained the comitees, the councils of men from a village gahtering to solve
their problems without the intervention of a central power or an institution. This can be seen
in the British life aswell, in contrast to the mainland europeans, suchs as the french, who value
their institutions more and turn to them whenever they feel like needing, instead of trying to
solve the problems with their own hands.
Their religion was a crude one, still believeing in a pantheon of gods, but their gods
were mortals. They feared the nature, coming from hars lands in the north. Not much can be
said about their beliefs because most of it was lost in time... The best way for a warrior to die
was in battle. There was no higher honour for him than this. ( you can talk a bit about Odin,
Thor, etc etc...). Soon, with the coming of the missionaries, they renounced their old pagan
faith and turned to christianity.

VI Christianisation of England

Background old beliefs vs. New
Church of Rome
Celtic Church of England

Talk about Thor and them Norse gods again!
During the first half of the fifth century, St. Patrick christianised Ireland. He built
monasteries and churches, which would later become the oasis of culture for Europe, during
the barbarian raids and the attacks of the saracens. From Ireland St. Columbus set sail to
scotland, he being the one who christianised those people. This church tried to be as original
to the faith and preachings of the Bible as possible. They had no altars, the monks lived
secluded mostly, only for the need of security did they organise in monasteries; everything
they got they passed it on to the needy, the priests weren celibate, some of them marying and
the main religious celebrations, such as Easter, took place at a different date than in the
Roman Catholic Church of the continent. From this arose a problem, because the celtic
christian church was in a way independent from mainland, but Rome wanted unity in faith an
religious practices.
In Rome, pope Gregory made some changes in the organisation of church: developed
great ceremonies that impressed the barbarians, the Gregorian chant was developed....
He entrusted many mission to the Benedictine Order, an order of monks deeply conected with
spiritual life ( they introduced the noviciate, the perpetual vows ) one of which was to convert
England to the true faith. Prior of Augustine the name of the monk that had to evangelise
England.
For this to be effective, the Pope relied on monks but on women too. The king of Kent
( capital of Kent Canterbury) was married to the daughter of the King of Paris and he used
this to his advantage. His methods were not opressive, but rather through gradual infiltration
in the system he eventually won. The old temples werent destroyed, only the false idols.
Canterbury was chosen to be the provisional seat of the Archbishop, but as it turned out,
canterbury has remained the centre of religious life in England. Aim for the head seemed
to be the policy of Rome, by which they seeked to convert the Kings of the pagans to the good
faith. Having the king converted, his followers were soon to pass to the new beliefs.
The clash between the two churches was inevitable. The priests of the celtic church were
asked to adhere to the roman customs and to babtise the still-savage Anglo-Saxon pagans,
which they refused to do. Eventually, to try and gain an upper hand from the Roman church,
the celts DID start converting the pagans, but only managed to do so with the humbler classes,
whereas the roman church was succesful im im converting the ruling classes.
King Oswy of Northumbria held a sinod at Witby to settle the differences. The roman
church overcame, thanks to Wilfrid, who told them that the Catholic church was based on the
teachings of St. Peter, in comparrison to Colomba or other saints of the celts. ( Peter is better,
nuff said )
In conclusion the church of England began the route to unification and they
obeyed the Pope of Rome.

VII the Viking Invasions
Who, what, when, where, why ? <- Vikings
Viking Settlements in England
Consequences
The vikings came from the north northmen or Norsemen, from nowadays Sweeden,
Norway and Denmark. The chronicles first report their arrival on the english shore around the
year 787, with only a few ships. Gradually they came in larger numbers and the chronicle
mentions their visits : pillaging and looting, attacking monasteries and laying waste to the
lands.
The Danes got to Ireland and Scotland, England
The Norwegians got to france, conquered some land which in time was to become
Normandy. By 1066 the traces of their viking heritage are almowst lost in time, they are now
french speaking and a force to be reckon with.
The Swedes went inland, down the riverst, got to found Russia ( Rusland )and to the
Caspic sea and to Constantinopole. When they couldnt sail, they dragged their boats across
land.
Back to England now...
Gradually increasing in strenght, the vikings started to be the main concern of the
english kings. At times, it is reported that the army came, about 10.000 invaders at a time.
How did they get there? By using their longboats, swift vessels for short distances ( but take
note that the norwegians got as far as Greenland and America ), which in time got to be very
efficient at sea travel.
They were not warriors just for the sake of violente and bloody battles! When they
faced a stronger adversary, they ready to barter and trade their produces ( whale oil, fish ) for
gold or slaves.

Why did the vikings came? The answer can be traced back to their traditions: every
man, reaching an age, had to undertake a rite of passage, to prove he is a man, so they
undergone on many voiages. Another reason was the contact with christianity. Sensing a
danger coming from the christian kingdoms, they attacked as a way of defending their faith
and culture. Another theory says that during the Dark Ages and into the Medieval Age, from
750 to about 1200, the Earths temperature rised. This led in greater harvests, Greenland was
green ( it had forrests! ) and because of the extra food, the population started growing...
Being masters of the sea, they could choose the point of attack, if they faced a strong
resitance, they would re-embark and attack somewhere else. News travelled hard in those
days so it was difficult for the defenders to grab hold of an army and repell the vikings in
time, before they layed waste to the land. The kings defences was calling the fyrd the
peasant army. But it wasnt reliable, they werent proffesional solders and they had to go
work the lands, so their service was limited. The kings guard was made of proffesionals, but
their number was low. Steadily, the country fell in Dane arms: Ireland fell firts, followed by
Eastanglia, Northumbria and Mercia, as well as a part of Wessex.
Because of the difficulties of defending themselves, the classes of England started
shifting. Most of them were freemen, not fighters. To help them fight, the kings hired
mercenaries which they payed by gibing them land, this method will be developend and will
lead to feudalism all across Europe. The ceorl started seeking protection from somebody: a
man who had weapons and armor to fight, so he started paying him for his protection, in
exchange of working his lands. The warrior class, distinct of the fyrd or ceorl, appeared of
necessity.
One benefit of these attacks was the fact that the English started uniting under one
ruler, in this case it will be in the figure of Alfred the Great.


VIII Alfred the Great
The educated king of the dark Ages

Alfred was the king of Wessex. He was very curious and interested in everything that
had to do with culture. He was the youngest of his brothers, the sons of a king named
Aethelwulf. His brothers were slain in the wars agains the Danes and he was chosen as king
by the Witan. He dedicated a lot of his time to study, because in those days scholars were hard
to find in Wessex.
During his first year of reign, he purchased peace from the danes by paying them, but
this was not a very effective method, the Danes continuously attacking and asking for more
gold. In the face of attack, he hid with his companions deep in a marsh for a whole winter.
The Danes thought they were the rulers of the land untill around Easter, when Alfred returned
from his hiding place. He summoned the fyrd to his aid and drove back the Danes to their
strongholds, where Alfred surrounded them and let them starve in their own strongholds. The
Danes surrendered and Alfred agreed the peace conditions with them: to retreat the army from
wessex and their leaders to be baptised. Soon enough, he was able to reign peacefully over his
land in the south, undistrupted by the north, the Danelaw ( danelaw English territories
under viking rule ).
Alfred made a number of imoprtant decissions: he increased the ranks of the thane, by
accepting all those who had more than five hides of land (1 hide = enough land to sustain a
familly ). He also created classes that could fight in turns, because the fighting system meant
that for only 40 days was the fyrd available for fighting. He also ordered the rebuilding of the
old roman fortifications and towns and fortified other towns ( burgh fortified town ). He
also was the first do lay the grounds for an English fleet. He translated many books, such as
Bedes Eclesiastical History, and in general was a great supporter of culture.
His succesors recovered Mercia and Northumbria from the Danes, which setteled in
East Anglia and mixed with the local populase, learning their language too...
The viking invasions did not cease. They employed the same tactics as before,
continuously coming in greater numbers. During Ethelreds reign, a weak king, peace was
bought from the Danes with a heavy tribute; Ethelred issied a tax called the Danegeld to raise
enough money for paying off the invaders. After his death, fearing that they couldnt
confrount the vikings in battle, the Witan decided to give the English crown to Canute ( Knut
), brother of the king of Denmark. This turned out to be a good decision, Canute being a
fiersome foe, but an inteligent man. He made no distinctions between the Danes and English.
He disbanded his army and kept a personal guard for himself, the housecarls which were
payed in gold for their services, not with land, as opposed to the feudal method. To pay them,
Canute kept the Danegeld tax active.
As a king of a christian kindom, he became a christian too. After his brothers death,
he became King of Denmark too. By 1030 he conquered Norway... but this empire couldnt
last because of the many differences between its people. With the death of Canute, the
empire fell. The Witan returned the throne to the saxons, by appointig Edward as king, a son
of Ethelred. Canutes sons were not worthy

IX the Norman Conquest

Williams claim to the throne
Hastings 1066!
Consequences

Of all lands in France, the Dutchy of Normandy was the strongest. None dared defy
the Dukes. They were well organised as a state. The Exchequer represented their financial
administration, keeping track of taxes and so on...
Feudalism and chivalry reached Normans much sooner that in England. The
expansion of feudalism rose out of necesity, through the need of protection. In Normandy, the
social hierarchy was well defined: under the Duke stood the Barons, who had powers over
knights, knights being landowners who had to provide military service.
Edward the Confessor seemed to be a rather mellow man, not a fighter, resembling
more to the pious monks that the wild and savage viking warriors. He swore to remain cast
but nonetheless married the daughter of Godwin, a very important man of the Danes. Godwin
so hoped to have more power in his son-in-laws house, but his plans never came to fullfill.
Edward promissed his crown to a number of people, including his cousin, William the Bastard
and to Harold, son of Godwin and Edwards brother-in-law. This was a delicate situation
because in England at that time, hierarchy was hereditary, only the Witan having the abillity
to name a succesor.
William the Bastard was the son of the Duke of Normandy, but ( cum in romana e
prunc din flori ) he was a bastard, an illegitimate son. He had a strong will and was cunning
in state affairs.
He managed to get the support of the Pope, to which he promissed to build churches. (
Abbaye-auxHommes and Abbaye-aux-Dames )
The other candidate to the throne was Harold, son of Godwin. In 1040 it is said that he
shipwrecked on the french coast and was captured and held prisoner by the Normans. William
intervened and, for his liberty, made him swore to be his vassal.
After Edward the Confessors death, the witan chose Harold as succesor, but from the
other side of the channel William oposed this decision. His plan was to turn the tides in his
favour, accusing Harold of being an usurper. He mentioned that Harold was his vassal and he
didnt respect his promisses. In an Europe dominatet by Feudalism, this was a serious breach
of the knights code.
In consequence, William had the right to go after his crown. For this, he gathered knights
from all over Europe, even from Spain, Anjou and all over France. Harold knew that the 40
days of fighting werent enough for him to conquer the saxons, so, in order to keep his men,
he promised them lands and fortunes in England. He managed to gather an army of 15.000
men, for which he needed about 600 ships to sail across the channel. In september, all was set
for the attack, but the wind didnt blow, so he couldnt leave.
In the mean time, Harold had other problems at hand: he got news that the vikings
were attacking in the north of the country, so he gathered the fyrd and his housecarls and at
once left to fight them. The battle took place at Stanford Bridge and Harold was victorious.
Then he was informed that William had landed in the South. After two weeks, the winds have
changed!
Harolds forces were tired and bruised, but they had to march across the whole
country. In their trip, some of the men returned home, because the lands needed working. The
housecarls were badly beaten... whereas Williams forces were fresh and ready to battle.
The fight took place at Hastings. Harolds men put up a great deal of resistence, Williams
armyes nearly being beaten. This was the clash of two opposing ideeas: the anglo-saxons,
with their fyrd and mostly foot-solders armyes and on the other side William, with mounted
knights. Through superior tactics, the Normans won and Harold was killed in battle.
William the Conqueror was triumphant.
The following french kings did not change the law of the land, but only improved that what
they already found there. Life was about to change for the anglo-saxons, but their system of
judging by commitee had not changed.

X Feudalism

Feudalism was the invention of the Medieval Age. It consisted of a system of
landowners and their vassals that had to provide military service for them.
The king had all the wright of the land in one country. In order to maintain his nobles and
barons, he payed them by giving land, in return the knights had to provide military service in
time of need. During these times the saying no land without a lord appeared. It refers tot the
fac that every piece of land had to have one owner, in the form of a lord. Freemen have been
dissapearing, but not entirely. Serfdom developed, forbiding the peasants to move from
village to village or from place to place.
The lords in turn gave part of their land to smaller knights which, again- had to
provide military service for the lord.

Social classes were few in those days : the ruling class was consisted of nobles and the
king. They were the warrior class too. Then followed the church with the clergy they had a
lot of land too, esepcially for their monasteries, so the church was an element of leadership,
because in those days he who had land had the power, and the church had both the land and
the souls of the men in their hands. Finnaly came the villein the mass of peasants that had to
work the land of the lord and in return they could grow what they needed on a small lot
allocated to them.
Urban life enjoyed a differend form of rulership. In those times cityes were few and
scattered. The townfolk worked on the fields surrounding them and they appointed a mayor to
rule and represent them. In time towns began acting as a single entity in parliament or when
trouble arose. One could find in the town the burghes the middle class. They payed their
taxes to the local lord or baron, but as they grew richer, they bought privileges from them.
Gradually towns became tennants-in-chief, meaning they had the same ( the town as an entity
not the townfolk ) rights as a lord. The house of Commons apeared, as a meeting of the
communities, the universities and counties. This was to be in the future developement of
parilament.
In towns trade guilds could be found; they usually specialised in one domain: bakery,
shoemakers, weavers... guilds had their laws of operating: if a foreigner wanted to start his
own bakery in a town, he couldnt. A fix set of prices was settled on what was thought to be
the value of certain products, such as bread. But those laws were hard to respect and soon the
merchants started growing rich.






XI Magna Charta and the Parliament

The medieval people trusted their kings a lot. They prefered a despotic king to a
slight chance of anarchy. But this was not the case of King John. He managed to turn all the
nobles and people against him. He was percieved as a good diplomat, but avid of women and
hunting. He was not a worthy follower of the Concqueres sons and those who came after. He
was accused of killing his nephfew in order to eliminate a theat to his throne. The king of
france, Philip Augustine seized the chance and tried to regain his lost lands and managed to
reduce the english domination in France almowst to nothing. King John got the nickname
Landless for this.
He got into quarrel with the church too, on the topic of choosing the kings Primate.
This was a long lasting dispute between the archbishop of Canterbury, the king and the
bishops of the land. When they asked rome for a settlement, the pope sent one of his men
Stephen Langton to the court. The king did not accept him, confiscating the proprieties of
the archbishop. The pope in turn excomunicated him.
The lords of the land started ralleying against him, so he wasnt able to wage war in
france. In 1215 they all met with the king and gave him the Magna Charta, an act in which
was stipulated that not even the king was above the law. Rather than a new thing, the Charta
assured the barons and lords that their rights were to be respected, as in the old days of Henry
II and Richard. The Charta also said that no man could be judged without a fair trial. Also it
reglemented the way the king could gather taxes from the people. Any tax had to pass
acceptance in the Great Council, meaning to be accepted by the barons.
The parliament consisted of two houses : the house of commons and great landowners,
king and clergy. The house of commons was made up of lesser knighst, burghes and
merchants. The house of commons disscused laws and gave their vote whereas the others
passed laws.


XII Medieval culture

Culture in the medieval period varied a lot from what we nowadays regard as being
something cultural. Because of the dark ages, the fall of Rome and the barbarian raids, much
of the antique knowledge was lost.
Untill the printig press, books were written by hand, and it was an almowst exclusive
privilege of the Church to do so. Furthermore, culture was influenced by the church, they
being the ones who decided what is right and what was wrong to study.
Basic education was missing and the nobles were more interested in fighting than
reading.
Higher education existet tough, in the form of Univesities. Here students could learn
about logic, rhetoric and grammar( latin grammar ) in the Trivium and they could further
study in the Quotrivium- geometry, astronomy, music and arithmetic.
Students could pursue even more studyes and become Doctors of Medicine or Theology.
During the time, the scholastic thought was the main doctrine employed by Church, in
trying to explain the whats and whys of the world. ( dont say this... use other words!
Though this paved the way for future studies during the Reinassance period. Robert
Bacon developed what was called empiric thought by examples and logical deductions to
get to a conclusion.

Oakams Razor the easy explanation is the right explanation.

Perception of the Earth was different too. Man evolved from saying that the earth was
flat so saying that the earth was in fact was round, but still placed it in the centre of the
universe.
Other sciences of the medieval period dealt with transmutating metals ( into gold ) and
finding the elixir of life - alchemy. Nonetheless, this paved the way for future chemistry and
phisics ( fizica! ) Medicine was still crude based on the 4 humors dicovered by the ancient
greeks, which if in a state of equilibrium granted the good health of the person.
European culture ows a lot to the arabs. After the fall of Toledo in the hands of the
Christians, the library was slowly translated into Latin and thus they came in contact with the
lost culture of Greece and Rome.
Literature in those times was still dominated by chivalryous tales of knights ( and the
myth of Robin Hood arose! ) but a more down-to-earh literature arose in the form of Geoffrey
Chaucers Canterbury Tales, in which we can see the differences of many socal categories
during those times.
Another important writer of those days was Dante Aligheri ( Divine Comedy )

XIII the black death ( ghh.... )

Durint the thirteenth century, a great pestilence swept throughtout Europe, coming
from Asia. It was known as the Black Death, because the body of the infected startet turning
black of the infections. It is believed that the rats were responsible for the widespread of this
disease. Anyhow, living conditions were poor, hygene was deplorable and medicine fairly
unknown... the effects of the Black Death were great: one in three men died. From 1348 untill
the end of the century it killed about half of Europes population. Of course the changes were
of the same scale. England was already engaged in the Hundred years war with France. At
home, peasanst started dieing so there were fewer workers at hand. Soon, lord started paying
them better and even leasing them lands. New social classes emerged during this time: the
farmers, who paied a fix sum, a firm sum ( firma ) to the lord for the leased land and the
agricultural laborer, who had bought his freedom from the lord, or seeked refugee for a year
and a day in a town protected by a royal charter. The Parliament tried to tie down the laborer
to the soil but it failed, it was no longer the time of the serfs. Suddently, less peasants meant
more land for the ones who survived. This in turn led to them having more money at hand.
The lords and barons were willing to do a lot for the peasents, in order to keep them on his
land and work for him: gave the land to the peasants or gave it as a lease to the farmers.
Parliament istituted the Statute Book, in which it was specified the sum that a
peasant could be payed by the lord, which was equal to the sum recieved in 1347, before the
Black Plague. This, of course, was good only for the landowners and the ruling class. The
Statute Book wasnt supervised to see if it was respected, so every lord did as he knew best to
keep his peasants.
Still, there were situations in which the lord refused to pay more for the work, so the
peasant fled to another county, were there was a shortage of work and nobody asked curious
questions of him. Others let peasants graze their sheep for free on the land and so on...
because of the constant competitions, the wages were continuously rising. In time, this
affected the lords who now recieved a far lesser capital from the exploatation of his lands.
This proved beneficial to the peasants who now were richer ( not much, mind you! ) The
feudal nobility started to loose power, in the detriment of the peasant, who now had more. The
middle class started taking shape and power during the Middle Ages.
Still, there was a small number of lords who managed to survive this crisis and even
prosper! They usually married from neighbouring conties so they gained more land and
workers...and power. Some of these greater lords were: The Black Prince ( son of Edward III
), the Earl of Northumbria, the Earl of March... all these men had fortified castles under their
hand ( castles... as many as ten! ) their armies were made up of mercenaries, as opposed to the
vassal knights of times soon to be gone.


XIV 100years WAR + the war of the roses

100 years war! 1346 - 1458

It may seem that this war started out as any other war: one king wants the crown of
another, in this case the french king wanted the crown of Edward III. To do so, he requested
that Edward pay him homage, but relationships were tense, Edward showing against customs,
with his crown, in the face of the king. Acutally, the cause of war sparked from a different
point.
Flanders was a land that thrived on producing cloth and their main import region was
England, whose main export product was... wool. The french king wanted to convert and
control the Flanders to his benefit, which would have disrupted the wool trade. This problem
was dealt by the english Parilament by appointing the king his armies, because the House of
Commons was made up of merchants too and the trade of wool was a serious business for
England.
Edward III swore to occupy France.

As opposed to the Crusades, these knighst held in low esteem the codes of chivalry,
in contrast to their king... so when they started storming France, all around them they layed
waste, pillaging, lootin, killing, raping... All the riches they sent back to England, through the
port of Callais, which was held by the english. Edward seeked to form a coalition with the
Continental League, but failed; furthermore he was threatened by a Scottish attack back at
home.
He first attacked Normandy, which lay undefended; he had 4000 knights and 10000
bowmen at his disposal. His plan was to do as much damage as he could in norhen France,
before the king managed to gather his army. His plan almowst worked, but he couldnt cross
the Seine, because of the destroyed bridges. Some great English victories were at Crecy and
Poitiers, this giving them a great amount of confidence. They capured Calais too, which they
held for about 200 years.
The superiority of the English came from their tactics and armament. Throughout the
medieval period, the most fearsome attack was that of the mounted knights, but those days
were numbered. Edward employed so many bowmen because of their ease to fire a projectile
a long distance with enough force to stop a cavalry charge. This was discovered by Edward I
in his wels campaigns, where he had to face the longbow. During his reign, he made the use
of the bow compulsory to everibody, outlawing other sports suchs as tennis, in favour of
arhcery.
This led in time to the developement of an archer army capable of many deeds. Plus,
they were cheap. It cannot be said that the king of france was behind his times, because he
employed his cavalry more than the footmen.But there was anohter difference between the
english and frengh: in England, for a long time existed a form of taxation that was agreed
upon, voted in a Parliament, opposite to the General States of the french. The english still held
their hatred for the french, but the french had nothing on the English... the effect of this was
the failure of the french army to bring a victory in the battles at Poitiers ( where the knights
dismounted from their horses and tried an attack on foot but were mercilessly massacred ),
their king John the Good being captured by the Black Prince.
But time was the greatest enemy of all: the long campaign had weaken the english, the french
army stayed behind walls, secured for the lack of english siege equipement and the peasants
were starting to fight back.
Peace was settled in 1361. But it wasnt good, because it didnt settle the sovereign over the
french lands and the french nobles still opposed the english domination.

The second part of the war started for different reasons: during that time the king of
England was Richard II, he waged a somewhat despotic policy which was not to the likings of
the Parliament. He named men that were close to him in various possitions in Parliament,
which made him unpopular. Lancaster, the son of the Duke of Lancaster, rose to provoke him.
When he reached England ( from Paris, where he prepaired a coup detait ) Richard found
himself surrounded only by enemies. The parliament, church and nobility are to be thanked
for the election of Lancaster as king, under the name of Richard IV. This Lancastrian dynasty
would reign for about 60 years.
The country was still in turmoil, the House of Commons lost some of its power, the
country dreamed of the time when archers were returning from Crety or Poitiers filled with
plunder. Henry IV reopened the war with France in order to silence the troubles he had at
home. He pursued the same line as the one before him did, Edward III, and asked for the
french crown.
The second half of the war resembles the first, the english winning victories due to
their archers. He tried not to anger the local populace and forbade pillaging. A great battle
took place at Agincourt, where the superior numbers of the English archers defeated 10000
french nobles. ( in 1415! )
In 1425 Joan of Arc rose to saving the French and she retook Paris. Because of this,
the french were motivated, settled on appointing Charles as king, so Henry couldnt be
crowned king of France.
The war ended for the english in a defeat. ( 1453 ), leaving the french controll of
most of their country, with exception Callais.

War of the Roses

After the end of the 100years war, that ended in a defeat for the english, there were
many solders aroung the country and many more enriched folks from the pillaging and
looting. The taste for a fight hadnt gone away, the mercenaries being emplyed to pillage and
sack by other lords or barons. In the ruling class, there was a sentiment of distrust towards the
king, each familly wanting power to themselves. Henry V, from the house of Lancaster, told
his son, Henry VI, on his deathbed: this crown is not yours and it was never mine...
Henry VI was a king suited to have been born at least a 100 years prior, because he
was very merciful, saint and gentle. He tried to settle down the disputes of those around him,
but managed not. He founded Eton college and had the Kings College chapel in Cambridge
built. At a time which nobles and merchants grew richer, the King was left poor, left like a
fish in the claws of the unscrupulous knights.
The struggles for power came from two dominant houses: The Lancastrians ( red
rose), current crown holders and the house of York ( white rose ), whose members were true
descendands of Edward III. The other noble families gathered round these two, in search for
fame and glory. This civil war was carried out only between nobles and their mercenary
armies. Nobody wanted the peasants to be their enemies, because in the aftermath of the war,
many had the war in their blood and were dangerous. None could they fight in the vicinity of
towns, because towns were usually neutral and that neutrality had to be respected, so it was a
tricky situation. Henry was stricken by madness and locked in the Tower of London. Edward
IV followed to the throne, who through different fights and means, managed to remain on the
throne untill 1483. He was from the house of york. The parliament had to suffer from this,
because the Lancastrians requested their investiture at the hands of the parliament, as opposed
to the York familly, which claimed to rule by inheritance. Parliament starting loosing power,
especially the House of Commons, which was made up of mostly middle class men,
merchants and small knights.
Following the death of Edward IV, Richard III came to the throne, a cruel and brave
king ( hunchback ). In order to gan acces to the throne, he had his nephews murdered in the
Tower of England.
The public was already sicken by all these fighst for power and they wanted a
settlement. From the house of Lancaster remained Henry Tudor, which, if it was to marry
Elizabeth of York, would bring an end to the war. Henry returned from Brittany with an army
and Wales sided with him, because Lord Stanley had been his mothers second husband.
The armies of Richard III and Henry Tudor fought on Bosworth Field, Henry being
victrorious.
He married Elizabeht of York and thus, the War of the Roses ended. 27 of the 61
families of nobles have gone by the end of the war.