Notes of A History of England for the History of England course PDF

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These are notes of one of the books required to pass the exam (A History of England)...

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1. Anglo Saxon England (450-1066) Anglo-Saxon Britain, 450-870 -

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Saxons of northern Germany: closely related in language, customs, culture, and reputation as fierce fighters the territories have never been part of the Roman Empire (untouched by Roman civilization and Christianity) Loyalty to the tribe is paramount, military skills are highly praised – but! illiterate, sparse documentation under the leadership of Arthur they stopped the Germans at Mount Baldon by 600, nearly a dozen independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom (names of the settlers become the names of the kingdoms, Essex, Wessex, Sussex); Bernicia, Deria -> Northumbria (north of the river Humber) Romano-Britons: fled northwards and westwards into the mountainous areas to avoid pagan invaders 7th century: native British have been forced intro 3 geographically separate kingdoms: Cornwall (later to be conquered by Anglo-Saxons), Wales (flourish until well into the Middle Ages), Celtic (Scots and Picts -> Scotland, 850)

Conversion of the Anglo-Saxons -

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2 missionary efforts to bring Christianity back to Britain (Celts, north and west; Rome); Augustine was to lead a band of missionaries to Britain, the first to be won was Ethelbert of Kent (wife was Christian), he settled in Canterbury St. Patrick established the church in Ireland by erecting dioceses coterminous with the tribes o after he died, the tribal chiefs established monasteries unlimited by geographic borders o Oswald, King of Northumbria, 633; opened his realm to the Celtic monks responsible for the earlier conversion

The legacy of the Law -

“gift” of the invading Germanic tribes: unwritten but binding customary law tribal law became the law of the territory they occupied (similar, but with differences) alternative to the endless feuds and bloodshed between families seeking revenge for what outsiders had done to their kin

Bretwaldas -

political unity: 10th century; diff. Ang-S kingdoms struggled for political dominance; victorious kings who dominated others were the Bretwaldas quality of the overloardship: recognition as the first among many independent kings, vagy pedig mindenki behódol nekik Kent: first of the dominant kingdoms but ended with the death of Ethelbert; then Northumbria (military oriented, because the frontiers were exposed to the hostile Celts, Welsh, Picts and Scots) King Edwin, Oswald, then a third, then gone

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Mercia (8th century); because of the ability of two kings who ruled for 80 ys: Ethelbald (716-57), military power + ruthless personality; Offa (757-96), greatest esteem of any A-S king up to that time, wisdom was profound, King of the Franks considered marrying one of his sons to Offa’s daughter 9th century and later: Wessex; Mercia attempted to divert the crown from Egbert, and placed one of its own claimants on the throne; E. fled to Charlemagne’s court where he absorbed a thorough schooling while awaiting the time to return from exile o he came back in 825, won over Mercia, and became overlord of all southern Britain

The Vikings -

from north (not just Britain but Europe too); very well-schooled on the seas, they were forced to be good on the seas, they even reached North America 8th century, Danes concentrated their attacks against Britain and the Norse against Ireland o from 865 onward, Danes abandoned the tactic of strike and withdrawal and began to make permanent settlements in Britain

Alfred the Great + the creation of England -

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the only English king to be called Great; Wessex throne, wanted to overcome the Vikings (871-99), alliance with Mercia stopped the Danes’ second campaign in 875 and 878; third attempt -> agreement, left eastern Britain governed by Danish custom (Danelaw), west to the Saxons after A’s death, 5 major and some smaller kingdoms in Britain o Wessex, Mercia: southwest, united by marriage o Danelaw: east + some lesser kingdoms in the northeast o Wales, Scotland: Celtic kingdoms o most important step towards political unification: successive military victories of Edward and Athelstan -> conquest of the Danelaw and minor Danish kingdoms, and stopping Celtic movements southward by the middle of the 10th century, an agreement had been made w Scotland: the entire area south of the river Tweet to be the one unified kingdom of England coronation oath of Edgar, 973 once England was unified, kingship had to be expanded to include non-military tasks as well; the king’s prestige grew accordingly o importance in the law in three ways: murdering the king is treason, king makes decisions about the unclear or undeveloped areas, the king began to develop a system of separate royal law administered exclusively by royal agents o Peace is not to be broken! Witan: the king’s closest advisors, had the right to designate the successor to the throne (usually the king’s son) Chamberlain: keeper of the king’s bedding and personal effects system of shires (share, part of the whole): smaller kingdoms were pronounced shires, larger kingdoms were divided into several shires (>30)

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king’s representative: first an ealdorman, then sheriff (collected revenues of the king, transmitted royal writs, oversaw the militia, and tried keeping peace) society o agricultural o slaves, ceorls, nobility next, King Ethelred the Unready: weakness, selfishness, he wanted to stop the Vikings by giving them money King Canute (Scandinavian) England’s next super king: Saxon origin and culture, OR absorbed into Scandinavian Empire, OR fall within the influence of its powerful neighbour across the Channel, Normandy????

SOMETHING HAPPENS -

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Edward the Confessor, last king of the house of Wessex o son of Ethelred o succeeded Canute’s son, restored the Wessex dynasty Edward promised the crown to his cousin, William of Normandy (he withdrew from public life to devote more time to religion and the building of his beloved Westminster Abbey) -> practical direction of English affairs were given to Harold and William when Edward died, King Harold (lasted only 9 months) o September, 1066, Hastings: Harold Hardrada (king of Norway) assisted by Harold’s brother -> re-assert the Scandinavian claim to the crown, but H. killed his own brother and the other king o STILL on sept 27, William of Normandy set sail to make good on the promise Ed made -> King Harold had to leave…

2. The Norman Conquest and the early feudal system 10661199 -

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Vikings attacked and permanently conquered Normandy in the 9th and 10th centuries, still in the early 11th century Normandy was still weak BUT William changed that (statesman, soldier, courageous, determined, often brutal fighter) W’s success depended on capturing London -> he let the tales of his brutality toward townspeople who resisted him reach the ears of the Londoners (he burned the city until the people surrendered) o he was crowned king of England on Christmas day in Westminster Abbey he gained control over northern England, hatalommal bíró helyekbe helyezte the noble men if they obeyed, he also confirmed English titles and privileges -> rebellion of most of the remaining Eng. nobles in 1075 brought this to an end; even though he rewarded the Norman lords with the rebels’ lands, only a few nobles remained

The Feudal system

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acted as a lord in granting to vassals land called fiefs for which they did homage by kneeling before him to sweat their fealty, an oath of honour, loyalty and service the more lands were forfeited to him as the native Eng. lords rebelled, the more lands he could re-grant according to the new system o forfeit: bánatpénz; when someone denies the contract they’ve signed, this has to be paid primogeniture: the eldest son alone inherited his father’s land by granting nobles many scattered fiefs, he avoided making them all-powerful in their locality and denied them the means of mounting a concentrated opposition to royal policies a lord kept part of his lands for his own use and granted the remainder to a vassal in return for specified services -> servita debita (most common was knight service -> a vassal had to furnish a certain number of men armed and ready for military duty for a set time) o attending the lord’s court, offering counsel, paying aids (when the lord’s eldest son was knighted, when the eldest daughter was married, and ransom if the lord was captured) o relief: money payment from a vassal’s heir so that the lord would re-grant the fief to him o wardship: managing the fief until the heirs came of age o subinfeudation: egy vazallus a saját földjéből saját vazallust fogad, így hűbérúrrá válik

The church -

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Normans gradually began to appreciate the fervour of the Eng. monks, the abbeys fused the best of the old and the new -> new monks came to Eng. (Cistercians) greatest ecclesiastical effect of the conquest was the Norman elaboration of the territorial structure of the church -> Normans rearranged the dioceses for greater efficiency o smaller churches to serve people in geographical areas known as parishes o imperative to develop further the administrative machinery of the dioceses o archdeacon (főesperes) appointed in every diocese (egyházmegye) to handle administration and legal matters such as marriages and morals o a diocese included several shires, an archdeacon was usually appointed for each special organization for the cathedral church: chapter, which was made up of canons (elected one of them to head the chapter: dean); maintaining the cathedral, the dean and the chapter elected a new bishop (püspök)

SOMETHING SOMETHING -

William divided England and Normandy as follows: Robert got Normandy (eldest son), William got England (second son) William2 (1087-1100), called “Rufus” (ruddy colouring, Vörös Vilmos), unappealing ruler, valued England as a source of revenue for battle

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his nobles supported rebellions to supplant him with Robert and reunite England and Normandy –> long story short, he blinded, castrated and hang the rebels when Robert was abroad, W2 gained control of Normandy and advanced its frontiers militarily on his deathbed, he decided to make his peace, and named Anselm as Archbishop of Canterbury but he recovered and regretted the choice hehehe; he died and Anselm was in exile -> only a new king could R U L E

HENRY1. (1100-35) -

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W1’s 3rd son (large treasure but no kingdom until NOW), he played both sides in the struggle between his older brothers capable statesman, bid for the support of important leaders to gain their acquiescence in his usurpation Charter of Liberties: repudiate W2’s abuses in the church and gov. o forerunner of MCL “lion of justice” majdnem olyan jó, mint az apja he also defeated his brother in battle and reunited Normandy and England yas Norman contribution to government: feudalism (bound the aristocracy to serve the monarchy) Justiciar: directs the country when the king is away o equivalent to a modern PM society: nobles cared more about their land than military skills the beginning of the Crusades to recover the Holy Land from non-Christians provided an idealistic motive for fighting -> church promoted elaborate rules of chivalry in the 12th century to migrate the worst features of battle new style of architecture: stone castles Domesday Book o W1 sent commissioners thru Eng. to survey landholding and wealth (1086) o “one could sooner escape the day of doom and judgment than the questions of the King’s men” -> the name stuck to the results of the inquiry o provided a record of landholding new parishes (plébánia) -> the church was able to serve people’s spiritual needs better

ANJOU -

the greatest threat to the English king’s Norman possessions: came from France and Anjou Louis6 began attempts to expand his territories: Angol Normandy as the principal obstacle to his plans Matilda, a woman ruler: engaged to the Count of Anjou thus they are potential for dominating Eng. -> never became queen because H1’s nephew, Stephen (1135-54) seized the throne when he died

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Matilda got Normandy, Stephen could keep England as long as M’s son will be his successor

HENRY2 -

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son of Matilda bundle of energy, always on the move Anjou, France, England, Normandy married Eleanor of Aquitaine  ANGEVIN EMPIRE royal law o exchequer (kincstárnok) o itinerant: vándorló; royal justices divided Eng. into circuits composed of several countries in which they travelled several times a year; judicial sittings on disputes over property: assizes, criminal matter: gaol, property matters heard before a jury o Grand Assize: question of the right to property o Petty Assizes: rightful possession church o relationship between the Papacy and England o Degree of control which the kings could exert over the church in Eng. o a spiritual person should be tried in a spiritual court monarchs: the church’s courts did not inflict the death penalty, but only penance and other spiritual punishments, the culprits escaped serious retribution o Lord Chancellor Thomas á Becket: dedicated ascetic changed by a religious conversion and devoted to defending every privilege of the church

MEDIEVAL -

Richard, the lion hearted o H2’s son, eldest, best fighter, sought the assistance of the French King, Philip Augustus o most formidable fighter o He spent nearly all of his time on the continent in battle and only 6 months of the ten-year reign in Eng. o demanded more feudal service from his tenants-in-chief o a less firm ruler would reap bitter fruit from his legacy

3. Magna Carta and the early parliaments 1208-1295 KING JOHN -

R’s brother (1199-1216)

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hardly ever achieved anything because he could not sustain a course of action

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secretiveness, moodiness - > distrust

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played right into Philip Augustus’ hands

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PA elkobozta az összes angol francia birtokot mert John elvett egy nőt, akit nem kellett volna

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winning back the territories was a big F A I L

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Innocent3 (harmadik INCE) excommunicated John (denied the King any ministration of the church and forbade all from having any contact with him)

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JUNE 15, 1215: MANGA CARTA LIBERTATUM o a king should be forced to accept in writing a statement of the proper norms for government, articles which should spell out the proper relationship between the King and his feudal nobility o 63 clauses o terms of wardship, amount of reliefs, occasions when feudal aids were to be paid o abuses in royal courts, promise from the King to respect the church’s independence o THE KING WAS NOT ABOVE THE LAW BUT RATHER A SUBJECT TO IT o  acceptance that he and all Englishmen belonged to a community of law, and the law governed the ruler as well as the ruled o J repudiated MC within a year -> his assent was coerced and thus his oath was not binding o he died in 1216, in the middle of a civil war as a result of his action o every succeeding monarch reissued MC and its role as a precedent was assured o tradition and custom are really highly esteemed in England: nothing made an argument more effective than to cite historical precedents to support a claim

HENRY3 -

J’s son

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first minor ruler (only 9 yrs old, 1216-72)

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the Regent appointed to look after him reissued MC in the young King’s name -> peace returned

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the barons banded together to preserve the crown and kingdom for H3 but when he began to rule on his own, they increasingly felt that their trust had been betrayed

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H3 relied on foreign favorites, refashioned his counsil without the help of the barons who had a feudal right to give him counsel, and appointed instead the non-noble favorites bound by a special oath of loyalty

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shifted many important financial and administrative tasks away from the kincstárnok úr and the chancery into household departments of his royal court

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1258: H3 sought to provide for his 2 nd son by accepting an offer of the Pope to make him King of Sicily -> H3 had to conquer it himself and pay all the debts of the Pope -> barons had had enough o PROVISIONS OF OXFORD: forced H3 to agree to them 

first written constitution

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new form of government

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24 members, 12 selected by the barons, 12 by the king

o bound H3 to embark upon a plan of reform and gave supervisory control of the royal government to a council of barons -

Simon de Montfort: leadership of the baronial party, civil war, 1265: capture of H3

PARLIAMENT -

SDM -> governmental reform is only possible if there’s a demand for it broad-based

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1265: Parliament composed of the feudal nobility, representatives of England’s shires and principal towns

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it fused into one truly national body with general purpose potentialities

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2 representatives from each county: knights of the shire

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2 from each of the major boroughs: burgesses

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unicameral assembly

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H3’s son, Edward led the royalists against the barons at Evesham, smashed their armies, killed SDM -> the notion of a truly national Parliament was not lost o not legislative in character o the King after consultation could pronounce a law or statue in Parliament on his own initiative

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common law and juries o writ (idézés) o applied to criminal cases

ECONOMIC GROWTH -

importance of towns: London, Bristol, York -> 10 000 ppl, average size was 2 000 o commanded the harbour of the confluence of two rivers or some other prominent geographical features o centers of adminstration (shire, seat of a diocese with its cathedral) o townspeople often helped with the harvest or farmed land within or near the town o heart of a town’s prosperity is T R A D E and when town became B O R O U G H the seeds of its trading growth were sown

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a borough was C H A R T E D (degree of political independence from the shire’s officers, conferred economic privileges e.g. markets and fairs, and enabled the burgesses to enjoy legal rights which reflected their different style of life) o some before 1066, but granting written charters -> great financial needs of R1 and J1 o a borough paid the king

EDWARD I -

1272-1307 one of the strongest medieval kings, well-schooled by the difficulties of his father’s reign (H3) he saw how useful a national Parliament could be - > two parliaments a year o his growing need for revenue to finance his wars suggested having present regularly the representatives of his subjects who would pay the parliamentary taxes (shires, boroughs) o 1295: Model Parliament  not because its organization became a precedent to be followed invariably thereafter but because all the categories of membership were present which would be included when the exact composition of Parliament would be fixed the following century  20 bishops, 70 abbots, 50 earls and barons, lower clergy from each diocese, representatives from the shires and 110 towns  after the opening prayers, the King addressed the community of the real and presented his needs -> burgesses withdrew across the way to

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Westminster Abbey to deliberate, the King and his inner council moved to a nearby chapel, others remained in the Great Hall of Westminster Palace  over 10 days, received petitions which protested grievances, considered the grant of taxes, heard judicially cases of great importance, counsel...