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Physical features
The British Isles: ● Two large islands: Great Britain and The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland ● 4 Island groups: Shetland Islands, Orkney Islands, Outer Hebrides and Inner Hebrides. ● The Isle of Wight in the south, Isle of Skye in the north, the Isle of Man in the Irish sea between Great Britain and Ireland and the Channel Islands (la Manche) between the UK and France (great political autonomy) England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland – London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast – eglantine (wild red rose), leek or daffodil, thistle, shamrock – St George 23th April, St David 1st March, St Andrew 30th November, St Patric 17th March Population 58m Rivers: ● Shannon, Ireland ● Severn, UK Mountains: ● Ben Nevis, south-west of Scotland ● Scafell Pike, England
Early settlers
Iberians: They came from the Iberian peninsula in Spain and the mouth of the Rhine crossing the channel repeatedly in their small boats from 3000 BC onwards. STONE AGE New invaders: the Beaker Folk – bronze working skills BRONZE AND IRON AGES New wave of invaders: the Celts – Brythons, the Gauls and Belgae Brythons gave the island its name. The Gauls imposed their dialects upon the indigenous people (Gaelic is spoken in northern Scotland, Erase in western Ireland and Welsh as a separate dialect of Gaelic in Wales). Belgae were the last to come and they gave Belgium its name.
Pagan religions on the British isles
Myths are an indication of how these people experienced the world, they accompanied rituals. They were the first histories before there were any books. They were generated and shared by all members of the community, it was a cohesive force which bound people
together. The first way of bridging this gap between the mind and the surrounding is imagination in the form of myth. Iberians: Natural religion or nature worship. Stone age people created the Great goddess, the mother of living, the symbol of fertility. Immortal, changeless and omnipotent. The concept of fatherhood had not been introduced into religion thought. She took lovers for pleasure not to provide her children with a father. Man feared, adored and obeyed the matriarch. Goddesses celestial symbols: moon and sun. Goddess was widely known as the White goddess, a life giver, and that’s why her symbol became the moon. The first lover of the goddess of all things was a great serpent. Goddess Danu (Anu) who gives birth and takes life. Composed to opposite aspects, the good and the bad. Albion, the earliest name of Britain was derived from Albina the White goddess which was one of the names of this first matriarchal divinity. She is a triple goddess, maiden nymph and crone. The Iberians experienced the world as one, however divorced in its manifestations. Stone age people - Mother Earth, perceiving cycles of changes (afterlife) Neolithic culture – form of barrows or collective burial grounds 3000 BC monuments, great circles made of wood or stone. The circle symbolized the totality of life. The best known circles are Avebury and Stonehenge. Stonehenge has been used as a religious center long after the disappearance of the people who made it. The bronze age patriarchy with the arrival of the Beaker people. They brought their famous pottery Beakers and bronze working skills, and individual burial. Celtic tribes – patriarchal social system and religion got stronger, metalworking skills, male Gods, they mingled their warrior Gods with the Goddesses found on the British isles. The most important goddesses still manifested themselves in triple aspects: Brigitte, Morrigan. Male Celtic deities god Lugos (music and master of crafts), lord of the animals. Druids – knowing the oak tree, relating a man to nature, performing mysterious rituals by rivers, on hills. They were famous for their ability to memorise long verses, tribal histories and accumulated knowledge of the people. Celtic people were building hill-forts, large complex fortifications. Attacking and invading was their way of life, and therefore protection was an integral part of it.
The Roman and Anglo-Saxons
· The Roman Invasion : - When the Celts settled down believing they had found safety, Julius Caesar realized that it would not be a bad idea to push the boundaries of his enormous empire. Copper, potassium, cereals and cattle were attractive to make Romans take the hazardous step of crossing the Channel in order to exploit this rich country.
- Warriors depended on each other and relied on their lord for help and protection. Their mutual support was the basis of the new social system – feudalism. The king was a relative guarantee of peace and stability.
- Man needed protection for his field and cattle, so he relied on the local landowner.
- Death was accepted as inevitable and final
- What was really important was life and a proper conduct in this world which could secure a lasting memory of the deceased.
- Community was now reduced to the members of the commitus.
- Mead-hall, place where the comitatus daily gathered and spent most of the time.
- It was expected of the hero to boast of his warrior skills, strength and great courage, and then to prove all that in battle.
- The point is that only through heroic deeds and victories could an individual win fame.
Christianity in early Britain
· The Myth od dissociation: Nature once deified is now demonized. The earliest
matriarchal tribes believed in the continuity of life as embodied in the Great Goddess. With the development of human rational capacities, man became dissatisfied with his role as a slave to nature. Nature once deified is now demonized. Man’s dependence on the matriarch, and woman, implas the embodiment of the Goddess within the community, was replaced by his dependence on the patriarch, as the father of the family, leader of the tribe, and the king of the nation. Myth of dissociation deals with all sorts of monsters clearly standing for demonised natural forces. ( Marduk kills Tiamat. Theseus kills Minotaur. Beowulf kills Grendel ) the Anglo-Saxon man appreciated individual excellence above everything else. Man was left with finality of death, which he accepted with stoical endurance. He had to rely on himself.
· Christianity – The Celtic pantheon assimilated the deities of the previous inhabitants,
but the Anglo-Saxons’ entirely patriarchal culture, their heroic world-view, was accompanied by a different mythology. · The First Wave of Christianity: The Celts and Romans simultaneously
- First advocates Paul and Peter, Christ’s disciples, executed by the Romans in 67 AD.
- Original doctrine: Love transcends death ( by that time death was a finality )
- Parallels to matriarchal paganism. · Welsh Christianity : Celtic folklore, tribal culture and early teaching of Christ. Monasteries as cultural and religious centres.
- Glorification of God instead of local heroes, increased vitality of the religious feeling which helped the Celts preserve their national identity in times of adversity. Christianity flourished in isolation. The gap between man and nature gets even wider with time.
- The Pelagius – St. Augustine Controversy. 5th^ century AD
- Moral sense, free will and the doctrine of Original sin
- The perfectibility of the human soul. · Irish Christianity : - Christianity official religion in 325 AD under Emperor Constantine.
- 432 AD in Ireland – St. Patrick played the most important role in establishing Christianity in Ireland through miracles which he worked all his life.
- Irish Christianity was close to the religion based on nature that came before. Patriarchal Christianity principle fused with the pagan worship of nature 8 the color green )
- The centre is no longer Rome
- Irish monks – spreading not only the word of Christ but also knowledge and arts.
- Irish Christianity – based in Iona, a tiny island off the west coast of Scotland. ( a monastery Founded by St. Columba in 63 AD and this island became a true centre of spirituality )
- Scottish Christianity – based in a monastery on the island of Lindisfarne, the mission of Aidan in 634 AD
- A fusion of the Great Goddess cults and the early Christian teaching
- Pope Gregory sends missionaries to establish a centre for the spread of Roman Catholicism. He sent a monk, Augustine, to the heathen north. Augustine's mission was to re- establish Christianity there, the Roman version of it. Kent was the first Anglo-Saxon kingdom, headed by its king which underwent a mass conversion. · Ultimately, two sources of Christianity for the Anglo-Saxon England : Rome ( Canterbury ) and Ireland ( Iona )
- The Pelagius – St. Augustine Controversy. Pelagius – relied on man’s moral sense, on his free will and ability to choose good. God is righteous and holy and man innocent and
- The first works of the written language of the ordinary people were recorded in monasteries marking the birth of English culture. The monastery of Lingisfarne is well known for the poems of the Caedmons.
- The supremacy of Northumbria was constantly challenged by Mercia. King Edwin was killed by King Penda of Mercia in 632. who also killed Oswald (Edwin’s sucesor), who was also himself killed by the next Northumbrian King Oswy (the claim of the Northumbria and rise of Mecia).
- Celts became foreigners in their own country driven into even remoter wildernesses or even into slavery. Offa built a dyke between Mercia and Wales to keep them out.
- The 8th century belonged to Mercia and the 9th belonged to Wessex. Mercia declined with the death of king Offa. The authority of a king depended on the personal power and charm which secured him the loyalty of his thegns. He could also rely on Witan, his concule. He could not trust anyone else.
- Even though Offa was a great warrior he wasn't a very good ruler.
- Mercia lost its prestige so it was easy for Egbert (king of Wessex) to defeat the Mercia army (9th century) and establish a new order of hierarchy among Anglo- Saxon kingdoms; what was Offa's ambition became king Egbert reality, at least in name he was the first king of England. Offa made a link between a church and state by crowning his son at a Christian ceremony. This led to the growth of mutual dependence of church and state.
- In 871 Alfred became king of Wessex and as soon as he became king he had to defend it from the Vikings. The Vikings began raids during king Offa's lifetime and a full-scale invasion in the 9th century. Coming from Norway and Denmark the Vikings first attacked Northern and Eastern parts of the country. They resembled modern Russians. Since they didn't care about the sacred places of christianity their targets became defenceless monasteries and churches (Lincfarne, Jarnoy and Iona), their role is remembered as Danelaw and the taxes for the native people Danegeld.
- King Alfred had managed to stop the Vikings twice and halted the Vikings for a while by agreeing on the boundaries of the Danelaw with king Guthrum. Churches and monasteries were rebuilt, Latin manuscripts translated into English (Anglo-Saxon chronicle), schools were founded by wealthy boys and even king Alfred himself learned how to read and write, earning his nickname Alfred the Great.
- There were 50 more years of peace after king Alfred's death, where the Vikings accepted Cristianity, bringing sea travel and living in towns. This Alfredian period ended with the death of king Edgar of Wessex in 975 and after him came Edward who was killed at Corfu in 978.
- Edgar’s successor to the throne was Ethelred the Unready who kept the Vikings away by paying them tribute. After him the throne was succeeded but Canute, who was Viking himself (Ethelred’s son), who died 5 years later and all of his heirs were dead. Witan had no choice but to elect the other son of Ethelred, Edward the Confessor. He was too occupied with religious business to rule the country. When Edward the confessor died there were two pretenders to the throne: Duke William of Normandy and the other Harold, Earl of Wessex (he was a ruler in practice). The Witan choose Herold, but William, later named the conqueror, would not give up on his claim to the throne. Harold's army was no match to Norman cavalry. In the battle William won. England was united only in name and it was easy for William the Great to conquer almost all of it. His coronation happened on Christmas day 1066. This was the end of the Anglo-Saxon period.
The Normans
- William I was an illegitimate son of the Duke of Normandy ( bastard ) and he was born under a lucky star because he had such a powerful father who acknowledged him and because he survived after his fathers death. His conquest of England proved to have been much easier than expected. He was a successful ruler in provinces which cannot be said of his sons.
- William’s expeditionary force was delayed by the wind which actually in his circumstances was a great achievement and solved some of his greatest problems for him. Two days later after the battle at Stamford Bridge, the wind in the CHanel changed direction and made an unopposed landing at Pevensey. If he had sailed when he wanted to, he would have found Harold and sn English fleet waiting to receive him. He would have had to face another contender for the throne - Harold Hadrada, the King of Norway and a famous Viking warrior. In September, Harold Hadrada with one of his wives and several children defeated northern levies in a pitched battle near York. Harold Godwinsson attacked Harold Hadrada and his alliea at Stamford Bridge in 1066, where he defeated him. In October Godwinsson’s army met with William’s army at Hastings. Harold allowed William to challenge him to the batlle. Harold was confident of his military prowess and he wished to see the matter settled once and for all.
- In following years the destruction of England was continued and William who was a skillful ruler quickly replaced the old nobility with his Norman supporters. He ordered the making of the so-called Doomsday Book, the only economic survey in Europe. The king was the owner of all the land which he distributed in a manner he saw fit. This laid the foundation of the feudal system in Britain. The new social organisation formed a national cohesion within all levels of society. The consul was the body which helped the king govern the country. These landlords also functioned as judges for their own tenants, so that the hierarchy, based on land ownership, was further reinforced through the legal system.
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- Other than the Doomsday Book another great contribution was the separation of the secular court from church. It implied a great independence of the Church.
- The tower of London was once the residence of kings and queens but today is a museum.
- After William I’s death in 1087, out of his 4 sons the eldest, Robert, got what was thought of as the most valuable part: Normandy. The second son, William, got England and in this way England got its new king, William II. William I’s second son was actually Richard who died while hunting (this was also a faith of William II). Rufus was the name of William II because of his red hair. He proved a very effective monarch, defending and strengthening his royal position by force. He even outwitted his older brother and chief heir, Robert, into pawning Normandy to him for 10,000 marks.
- Rufus was greatly displeased with growing independence and power of the church.
- King Robert of Normandy had only one son which was unusual for the 11th century. King William II had no children, nor was he married, and for that reason he was thought to have been homosexual.
- 4th son, the youngest, Henry had a number of children but he did not live up to the high standards of his father because only one of his sons was legitimate. Henry I
#1 Harold Godwinson , the Earl of Wessex - representative of Anglo-Saxon aristocracy, chosen by the Witan as the heir to the throne #2 Harold Hardrada , a Viking contender #3 William of Normandy , the illegitimate son of the Duke of Normandy; certain historical gossip talks about William and Edward communicating on Edward making him an heir. For reasons inspired by ambition and military prowess, William desired to conquer all of the British Isles. Battle at Stamford Bridge - 25th September 1066 : between Harold Godwinson and Hardrada Battle of Hastings - 14th October 1066 : between Harold Godwinson and William of Normandy William the Conqueror (1066-1087) :
- Married to Matilda, provides his kingdom four heirs : Robert of Normandy (killed by brother Henry I, had one son) Richard (killed in a hunting accident) William II (1087-1100, also killed in a hunting accident, no heirs) Henry I (survived and ruled well, but was not outlived by male heir; daughter Matilda contesting William I's grandson Stephen) Doomsday Book, Royal Succession, effective ruling, strong aristocracy (but Norman), cultural changes on the Isles / also, William basically destroyed Anglo-Saxon aristocracy and practices upon taking power, decimated the population and appropriated everything (distributed to Norman aristocracy – the animosity between the English and the French in a millennia old it appears) Also: separation of secular courts from the Church! Negative impact on the status or rulers. William II, Rufus (made Robert pawn Normandy to him by manipulating him, was very shrewd and cunning, a good ruler) Henry I, Beauclerc (survived and ruled well, but was not outlived by male heir; daughter Matilda contesting William I's grandson Stephen) - good ruler, reunited England and Normandy (at the cost of his brother's life), left the country disciplined and ordered - a civil war ensued Admitted the secular nature of the Court (undermining his own royal-divine aura)
The house of Anjou
- Matilda did not manage to seize the crown but she succeeded in rearing a son who proved to be one of the best English kings. He attempted to wage war against King Stephen. Due to inexperienced and youthful thoughtlessness, he squandered all of his money. Because of that he turned to King Stephen and he helped him financially get back home to France.
- After the death of King Stephen in 1154, Henry II took over the English throne. He was the first undisputed king England had seen in the preceding one hundred years, despite the fact that he was not English but French, and he cared more for his French than English dominions. He set the restoring order in England after the feudal misrule of King Stephen.
- Barons and other nobles in an attempt to assert their independence from the king had built their castles without his permission thus undermining the authority and military power of the king. Henry II had their castles pulled down and then made them live in manor houses, not in the manner of knights, but more in the manner of landowners. In four years a thousand castles were destroyed. The effect of this was the pacification of the nobility and gradual stabilisation of English society as a whole. There were no more private wars between noblemen and they were seldom asked to wage wars as their duty to the king, they paid ‘shield-money’ for mercenary armies.The English were slowly growing into todays: conscientious and obedient subjects, respectful of government and fearful of anarchy. A strong monarchy became an ideal greatly cherished, and the position of the country gentleman is desired by many even today.
- Henry II ruled an empire. His Angevin dominions stretched to the south as far as Toulouse and his British ones to the north as far as Dublin. He wanted to enlarge his kingdom. He married Eleanor of Aquitaine before he was coronated. She brought him an enormous dowry in lands and blessed him with eight children, but eventually brought him to destruction. She was previously married to the King of France for fourteen years. At the end Henry II fell out with her and put her in prison most of the time. She managed to turn two sons against him, Richard and John. Their sons were constantly in conflict over possessions, never feeling satisfied with what they got. They even took the side of the King of France, thus finally betraying their father. Henry II was an excellent ruler but he failed as a husband and father. His greatest mistake was his solution to the Becket controversy. He made Thomas a Becket as archbishop but soon regretted it because that only brought him problems. Becket and Henry were in a tug-of-war for years until in exasperation the king once allegedly said: “Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?”. He was understood literally and Becket was soon killed in his Canterbury cathedral. Thus Becket achieved sainthood and Henry II made his contribution to the long history of Church-State tension.
- Henry II was known to have been in all places at once due to his riding speed and boundless energy. His son Richard inherited this vigour of body and mind and proved a tireless adventurer. He was to inherit the crown, although his brothers had struggled for it. After the death of two sons, John, the youngest, was left as his only contender. Both of them sided with Philip II of France and brought about the ruin of their father. Richard was quick to take the throne and he did not enjoy ruling the country. He could be rightly called an absent king, even more than his father.
The result of this was the appearance of large estates which were the germ of capital accumulation, while on the other hand a whole new class of entrepreneurs was born, consisting of young men left without property.
- Magna Carta also gave impetus to the lowest social classes whose knowledge of the world extended only to the circumference of their masters’ estates (84 uvuceni deo procitati i deo ispod). The idea of basic human freedoms began to emerge and play a part in the legal system of the country. Despotism and the arbitrariness of those in power were contributed at least relatively speaking, while even the king was subject to the law. The concept that nobody is above the law slowly led to the idea of representation and creation of the English Parliament, and to the Common Law and Constitution. Magna Carta marked the decline of feudalism by initiating social changes with far reaching consequences.
- Related to this period are two more events: the first one is the so-called coming of the frias. Before they arrived from France, Spain and Italy during the reign of Henry III, of the whole church establishment the common English people knew only of monks and village priests. The earliest Franciscan friars converted from the class of gentry to the Puritan, Methodist, and Salvation Army. In the spirit of their founder, St Francis of Assisi, they sought out the poorest, most neglected, the diseased. The other influence was preaching, in words which the common people would and undestand
- The itinerant friars, who took all the world for their parish, not only made the sacraments more available, but erected preaching and religious instruction into a popular system. By enchanting the importance of the pulpit the friars prepared the way for those who were to supersede and destroy them, for they brought religion on the common people, endeavouring to make it intelligible to their mings and influence over their lives.
- St Francis of Assisi lived at the turn of the 13th century in Italy and was admired for his humbleness and love of nature. He formed the Franciscan Order of monks who led a holy life according to their own set of religious rules, but among ordinary, poor and sick people. The Franciscans took vows of poverty and had no personal possessions. They were recruited from lower classes and strove to remain close to them.They were despised for their perversion of Christian ideals, they later proved to be as corruptible as anybody else. They contributed to another significant social event: the rise of the universities.
- Oxford and Cambridge became the first English university towns during the reign of King John. They were established as towns in 1250 (87 uvuceni deo procitati).
- In the first university towns there were no colleges and friars stepped in and began opening boarding houses. Since friars were already present , many of them became students and inevitably the popularity of theology and philosophy rose at the expense of law. Joining an order was the easiest way to enrol at a university, this was the case of Rober Bacon and Thomas Aquinas (Bacon was the best scientist of the Middle Ages). Bacon’s observation and experimentation laid the foundation of modern science. Thomas Aquinas also tried to reconcile religion with reason (thus influenced the Catholic Church).
- Lying behind the idea of Holy Wars to liberate Christ’s tomb from infidels was the intention of the Roman Catholic Church to gain supremacy over the Christian Orthodox Church.
- In 1054 two Churches parted ways, with Rome and Constantinople as religious centres of Europe and Byzantium respectively.
- Pope Urban II saw the opportunity to secure the dominance of the Roman Catholic Church when Byzantium was attacked by the Turks and other Moslem enemies. The
people followed his call and joined the Holy War wearing a red cross sew onto their garments.
- The Crusades were born after 1000-year gestation in the womb of Christianity, they now obedient to their religious duty of persecuting heathens and heretics. The Crusades, falling into eight Holy Wars, began in 1095 and ended in 1365, thus marking the first three centuries of the second millennium. Of the Anjou, Richard the Lionheart took the Cross and achieved most memorable results in 1190. Of the Plantagenets, Henry III tried his luck in the Holy Land in 1250 but returned home financially embarrassed. Twenty years later, Edward I spent four years crusading and earned the reputation of “the greatest lance in the world”.
- The Crusades failed at extending the English domain eastwards. These first essays of colonisation were redirected soon afterwards, when the American continent was discovered. THE ANJOU RULING HOUSE (1154-1216) To digress to the official founder of the bloodline in England: Battle of Hastings - 14th October 1066 : William of Normandy, the Conqueror (crowned on Christmas 1066 – the first bloodshed ordered by him as king) William the Conqueror (1066-1087) : * Married to Matilda, provides his kingdom four heirs: Robert of Normandy (warred with his own father (William I), killed by brother Henry I, had one son) Richard (killed in a hunting accident, never managed to get into conflict with his brothers for the throne) William II (1087-1100, also killed in a hunting accident, no heirs, but Rufus did somewhat help Henry I establish his position and utilize the finances left to him by his father, William II ultimately prepared the grounds for Henry I’s destroying Robert) Henry I (survived and ruled well, but was not outlived by male heir; daughter Matilda contesting William I's grandson Stephen) The Problem of Heredity (If you’re not a man, that is...) As Henry I was not outlived by male heirs, his daughter Matilda felt entitled to the crown. Some 400 years later that would not have been outrageous, but at the time, she had very little legal grounds to take over after her father’s death in 1135. After 35 years of peace, the kingdom found itself in a state of chaos, and not for the first or the last time... King Stephen, Stephen of Blois (1135-1154) – son of Adela, daughter of William the Conqueror, and Count of Blois Like his grandfather, William I, he organized his coronation on Christmas day and was generally accepted by the Norman aristocracy as the more suitable heir to the throne.
mainland, he never really got to experience England that has been inspired by the legends of Lionheart king. He was, though, an exceptional knight and lancer. John, Softsword and Lackland (1199-1216) – in order to secure the throne, it is believed he even killed a child who had claims to the throne; John abused the tax-practice, and lost all of his mother’s dowry lands pettily. Moreover, due to his ineptness, he was forced to give up some of his kingly authority over the nobility: the signing of the Magna Carta Libertatum or the Great Charter. Even though this king had little idea what he was signing, as he was incidentally illiterate, the document would present the basis for the creation of constitutions and human rights and freedoms in the centuries to come. John, a man who lived to see Oxford and Cambridge founded – university towns by 1250, the beginning of the disintegration of feudalism. Charters of Freedom – documents purchased by settlements in order to become towns and cities and therefore have autonomy for self-management. The house of Plantagenet
- The five kings who marked this period were faced with some social, political and cultural events of great significance for the whole English nation.
- Henry III was followed by successors according to the new generally and indisputably applied custom of hereditary monarchy. His eldest son, Edward I, his eldest grandson Edrward II, his great grandson, Edwars III and finally by Richard II who stepped in his father’s stead because Edward III outlived his son and heir Edward the Black Prince. Henry II was only nine-years old when he was crowned, Edward III was fourteen and Richard I only ten at the moment of coronation.
- Edward II - hot poker
- Richard II - stangled
- The Plantagenets inherited the kingdom from the Anjou which meant that the country was burdened with misrule and lawlessness. Henry III, greatly contributed the disorganised state of kingdom through his own personal incompetence bad temper and an inadequate intellectual ability. Only at the end of the 13th century did the English finally feel the advantages of firm and just government under Edward I. He devised a programme for legal and administrative reform welcomed by everybody. New problems were lurking on the horizon which were to last for hundreds of years.
- The Celts whose destiny was to be marginalised by aggressive Teutonic invaders have never completely succumbed to their role of English, later British subjects. They have generally preserved their national identity and always fought for more freedom and independence. For this reason, British monarchs have taken it as their duty ever since the Norman conquest to unite Wales, Scotland and Ireland under the English crown either through military or political attempts and that was achieved in the 19th century when the United Kingdom was finally created.
- Henry II - conquered Ireland in the 12th century with the help of the Roman Catholic Church which hoped to subordinate the Irish Celtic Church to its control. That was the beginning of the colonisation which resulted in the inclusion of Ireland in the UK, but
also began mutual hatred. Ireland had been exploited and drained of its wealth very quickly by successive English rulers, but on the other hand the Irish soon founded settlements in London and other ports in England thus linking their people to other European nations - the division of Ireland into the independent Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (remained predominantly Catholic and preserved in treasuring its language and culture).
- Edward I - had to tackle the problem of Welsh rebelliousness. Wales was successfully conquered by Norman lords during the eleventh and twelfth centuries but never fully integrated into England. He decided to put an end to these bloody conflicts by executing the unfortunate prince and subjugating Wales to England. Wales definitely lost its independence in the 13th century though it was only in the 16th that all of its territory was united with England.
- The story of the Scottish Celts - they remained independent until the 18th century when Great Britain was created comprising England, Wales and Scotland. Up till then the English kept trying to conquer Scotland by military force. Edward I was most successful in these attempts. During the crisis over the succession to the Scottish throne, he helped John de Balliol take the crown but later invaded Scotland and stole the secret Stone of Destiny from Scone Abbey. This caused the strengthening of the national identity of the Scottish people and they continued to fight for their independence with the new leader William Willace. Edward I beheaded him and exhibited on London Bridge but now they took another leader, Robert Bridge who was more successful. He defeated the army of Edward II and secured political freedom for his country until the beginning of the 18th century, then the colonial attitude of England kept the national spirit alive and invigorated the political struggle of Scotland.
- Plantagenets also had to deal with France. In the line of the Crusades, English experienced the first inkling of expansionist militarism which lasted for four generations. The Hundred Years War began in the 14th century by Edward III and ended in failure under Henry VI in the 15th century. England lost all the territories it had snatched from France except Calais. The final touch to the French victory was given by a mystic, Joan of Arc. The losses and military embarrassments in France created a sort of animosity between these two nations which can be discerned even today. This whole episode was the rise of patriotic feelings on both sides and also a growing language awareness. Henry III (1216-1272) – illness (not violence), heart taken out to join family in France Edward I (1272-1307 ) – dysentery Edward II (1307-1327) – a hot-iron poker and lavish funeral, with Isabella of France Edward III (1327-1377) – abscesses and stokes Richard II (1377-1399) – probably starved to death in captivity, potentially strangled (rumors) Henry III (1216-1272) – continued the legacy of Edward the Confessor (even celebrated him as a patron saint, and calling his son Edward was probably no coincidence), built Westminster Abbey, expressed sentiments towards religion and even sided, at one point, with a religious zealot Simon de Montfort. However, it appears that Henry III’s religious feeling was not as strong in practice as it was in appearances. Mark that Henry II, upon facing great
after he was killed, but his head severed and displayed as a trophy, but not before he was fed his own testicles. Edward I – Longshanks (1272-1307) , already proving to be a man of great military prowess and diplomacy, focuses on stabilizing the country and devising a program for legal and administrative reform welcomed by the people. What his father and grandfather failed to do, yet gave impetus for, Edward I took with great gravity and responsibility, so that Parliament, in session for the first time officially during the Barons’ War was now an established institution, and the office of the King, the royal authority, established after the misrule of his predecessors. Moreover, Edward I’s concern, even before ascending to the throne, was to secure finances for his country. It may well be said that he was thoroughly and responsibly prepared not only for the death of his father, but for any potential issues in his own reign. Therefore, alongside with the French royalty, he participated in the Crusades after the Second Barons’ War. Coincidentally, upon his coming back from his military campaign, his father died in 1272, and Edward Longshanks unhurriedly embarked home from Sicily where he was currently stationed. It is ironic that the news found him there... Sicily, after all, was one of the causes for the escalation of the rebellion. Edward II (1307-1327) - When Edward II inherits the throne, the country is fairly stable, with the exception of the rebellious Scottish who do not seem to like the taste of the English boot (or rather, the French one – remember, at that point in history, the nobility and the Court speaks French predominantly, and it is only the peasants who speak what we would refer to as the English language. It would take two more Plantagenet rulers for the common English folk to awaken and start considering that they might, in fact, have a culture of their own outside those courts occupied by foreigners). The news of the death of king Edward I creates the momentum for young Edward II to start exerting his own power. Instead of immediately taking care of his country’s business, he reverts his father’s banishment of Piers Gaveston, and invites his friend back from France. The historic gossip labels their relationship homosexual, however, the king’s sexual preferences were not considered particularly problematic (go figure!). What was challenging, for a lack of a better euphemism, was the fact that Gaveston appears to have been arrogant and disrespectful towards barons, and that Edward I considered him a negative influence on his son. Soon after ascending to the throne, Edward II marries Isabella, the future She-Wolf of France, who is then only a young girl. During the wedding ceremony, instead of dedicating his attention to his wife and guests, he communicates only with the purple-clad Gaveston, behind them banners celebrating their friendship instead of those of his queen. In the years to follow, Gaveston will be the fracture that not only turns some of the most influential barons against him, but also the reason for a horrible defeat against the Scottish forces. In an act of unlawful and political murder, Edward II’s cousin, Thomas Lancaster executes Gaveston. In the future, he will also betray Edward in the battlefield and conspire heavily against him. The king, on the other hand, somewhat distraught and irrational in his loss, will make a series of disputable decisions, such as enlisting the services of the so-called Dispensers, an army of mercenaries who were known to have caused the pogrom of the Jewish population, but who, under Edward II received a carte-blanche to pillage and raid territories they saw fit. In one of such instances, they transgressed a high-ranking baron, Roger Mortimer. This particular momentum for another civil war was diffused by the intelligent, or instructed, Isabella, who provided her husband, yet again, a way out of the mess he had made. Peace was ensured on the basis of a promise that the Dispenser army would be discharged from the service of the king. Edward did not keep that promise for long.
In fact, his alliance with Hugh Jr. of the Dispensers was so strong that the two ruled together for a significant period, and the country was devastated and left in a state of unlawfulness. The Lancaster cousin being killed and now revered by people (reported miracles at his grave and such), and Isabella herself being forced to both flee from the Scottish forces on a number of occasions, among other things, left Edward II truly friendless. Edward II met his end, so to speak, in such a manner that would bring into question the divine authority of the king and lead to the awakening of the people to the idea that royal heads are also liable to rolling... The gruesome details of his death include imprisonment, starvation, torture, probably disease as this was a process rather than an event, and eventually sodomization with a hot-poker, which supposedly did the trick. This particular information came in timely to amortize the transition to the new king, so many historians consider it a mere speculation. The exact date of his death, much like the details, may well be unknowable, but Edward II did receive an extravagant and king-worthy procession and funeral. Edward III (1327-1377), or Edward of Windsor, ruled England successfully for fifty years ensuring peace and stability, restoring the authority of the Court, but also consolidating the power of Parliament, which is a commendable achievement against the background of the Medieval period overall. He outlived his son, Edward the Black Prince, and was thus succeeded by his grandson, the unfortunate Richard II, also known in history as the child- king who terrorized his people. One could also think of him in terms of forcing his people to become inspired by the idea of freedom and national identity in a very successful manner. A great difference between Edward III and his father, as well as some of his other Plantagenet predecessors, was that instead of alienating the nobility (barons), he heavily relied on them. On the one hand, the barons provided military support and assistance, and on the other, they were allowed more power in the decision-making processes, in Parliament. During his reign, the romantic ideas related by the oral folk Arthurian legends were implemented as the modus operandi of his Court. Whether only in image or potentially in practice as well, but Edward III kept his court as a fellowship similar to that of king Arthur’s round table, and it is during this period that the proliferation of romances sharing the theme of Arthur’s knights’ exploits took place. On the other hand, this was also the period of the Black Death, the bubonic plague that decimated the English population, regardless of class.
The houses of Lancaster and York
- During most of the 14th century, England was ruled by two rival houses, Lancaster and York.
- Lancaster took the throne from the Plantagenets after having had Richard II killed. The divine royal aura was first tainted by Norman king Henry I who acknowledged the secular nature of his office. The monarchy lost almost all of its magic after the cruel murder of Plantagenet king Edward II which proved that kings were not
