184-535: The Northern Department was a department of the government of the Kingdom of England from 1660 to 1707 and later the Kingdom of Great Britain from 1707 until 1782 when its functions were reorganised into the new Home Office and Foreign Office . The Northern Department was, together with the Southern Department , responsible for both foreign and domestic affairs. Foreign affairs were split between
368-632: A Council of the North was set up for the northern counties of England. After falling into disuse, it was re-established in 1537 and abolished in 1641. A very short-lived Council of the West also existed for the West Country between 1537 and 1540. In the Anglo-Saxon period, the geld or property tax was first levied in response to Danish invasions but later became a regular tax. The majority of
552-506: A peerage on such basis, meaning a right to sit in the House of Lords , were not to be revived, nor any right of succession based on them. The Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284 followed the conquest of Wales by Edward I of England . It assumed the lands held by the Princes of Gwynedd under the title " Prince of Wales " as legally part of the lands of England, and established shire counties on
736-456: A better standard of living than ever before, but the amount of work being done by women may have increased. Many other women travelled to the towns and cities, to the point where they outnumbered men in some settlements. There they worked with their husbands, or in a limited number of occupations, including spinning , making clothes, victualling and as servants. Some women became full-time ale brewers, until they were pushed out of business by
920-527: A clear identity within English society, and professional groups with a distinct identity, such as lawyers, engaged in open fighting with others in cities such as London. English began to be used as a second language of the court during the reign of Edward I. Edward III encouraged the re-adoption of English as the official language of courts and parliament, with the Statute of Pleading establishing English as
1104-533: A coalition of continental supporters, promising payment of over £200,000. Edward borrowed heavily from the banking houses of the Bardi and Peruzzi , merchants in the Low Countries, and William de la Pole , a wealthy merchant who came to the king's rescue by advancing him £110,000. Edward also asked Parliament for a grant of £300,000 in return for further concessions. The delay caused by fundraising allowed
1288-569: A defence, making them much more attractive targets. In a second great chevauchée the Prince burned the suburbs of Bourges without capturing the city, before marching west along the Loire River to Poitiers, where the Battle of Poitiers resulted in a decisive English victory and the capture of John II of France . The Second Treaty of London was signed, which promised a four million écus ransom. It
1472-439: A further strategic blow, English dominance at sea was reversed by the disastrous defeat at the Battle of La Rochelle , undermining English seaborne trade and allowing Gascony to be threatened. The 10-year-old Richard II succeeded on the deaths of his father and grandfather, with government in the hands of a regency council until he came of age. The poor state of the economy caused significant civil unrest as his government levied
1656-543: A local noble or bishop. The last such, the County Palatine of Durham , did not lose this special status until the 19th century. Although all of England was divided into shires by the time of the Norman Conquest, some counties were formed considerably later, up to the 16th century. Because of their differing origins the counties varied considerably in size . The county boundaries were fairly static between
1840-449: A major European war. A Treaty of Union was agreed on 22 July 1706, and following the Acts of Union of 1707 , which created the Kingdom of Great Britain , the independence of the kingdoms of England and Scotland came to an end on 1 May 1707. The Acts of Union created a customs union and monetary union and provided that any "laws and statutes" that were "contrary to or inconsistent with
2024-804: A male heir that resolved the succession question. When Henry's sanity returned, the court party reasserted its authority. Richard of York and the Nevilles, who were related by marriage and had been alienated by Henry's support of the Percys, defeated them at a skirmish called the First Battle of St Albans . Possibly as few as 50 men were killed, but among them were Somerset and the two Percy lords, Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland , and Thomas Clifford, 8th Baron de Clifford , creating feuds that would prove impossible to reconcile; reputedly Clifford's son would later murder Richard's son Edmund. The ruling class
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#17327651858722208-504: A mere duke, William owed allegiance to Philip I of France , whereas in the independent Kingdom of England he could rule without interference. He was crowned on 25 December 1066 in Westminster Abbey , London. In 1092, William II led an invasion of Strathclyde , a Celtic kingdom in what is now southwest Scotland and Cumbria. In doing so, he annexed what is now the county of Cumbria to England. In 1124, Henry I ceded what
2392-547: A mystery. Richard's son predeceased him. In 1485 there was an invasion of foreign mercenaries led by Henry Tudor , who claimed the throne through his mother Margaret Beaufort . After Richard was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field , Tudor assumed the throne as Henry VII, founding the Tudor dynasty and bringing the Plantagenet line of kings to an end. On becoming king in 1272, Edward I reestablished royal power, overhauling
2576-510: A number of poll taxes to finance military campaigns. The tax of one shilling for everyone over the age of 15 proved particularly unpopular. This, combined with enforcement of the Statute of Labourers , which curbed employment standards and wages, triggered an uprising with a refusal to pay the tax in 1381. Kent rebels, led by Wat Tyler , marched on London. Initially, there were only attacks on certain properties, many of them associated with John of Gaunt. The rebels are reputed to have been met by
2760-655: A red-hot poker thrust into his bowels. In 1330 a coup by Edward III ended four years of control by Isabella and Mortimer. Mortimer was executed, but although removed from power, Isabella was treated well, living in luxury for the next 27 years. After the defeat of the English under the Mortimer regime by the Scots at Battle of Stanhope Park , the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton was signed in Edward III's name in 1328. Edward
2944-401: A reformer but was possibly plotting against his enemy Somerset. Armed conflict was avoided, because Richard lacked aristocratic support and was forced to swear allegiance to Henry. However, when Henry had a mental breakdown, Richard was named regent. Henry himself was trusting and not a man of war, but Margaret was more assertive, showing open enmity toward Richard, particularly after the birth of
3128-461: A series of civil wars over possession of the throne between the House of Lancaster (whose heraldic symbol was the red rose) and the House of York (whose symbol was the white rose), each led by different branches of the descendants of Edward III. The end of these wars found the throne held by the descendant of an initially illegitimate member of the House of Lancaster, married to the eldest daughter of
3312-573: A short conflict between Edward and the Kingdom of France , led indirectly to Edward's overthrow. The French monarchy used the jurisdiction of the Parlement of Paris to overrule decisions of the nobility's courts. As a French vassal, Edward felt this encroachment in Gascony with the French kings adjudicating disputes between him and his French subjects. Without confrontation he could do little but watch
3496-676: A unitary legislative chamber with a new body, the Council of State becoming the executive. However the Army remained the dominant institution in the new republic and the most prominent general was Oliver Cromwell . The Commonwealth fought wars in Ireland and Scotland which were subdued and placed under Commonwealth military occupation. Meanwhile, relations with the Dutch Republic had deteriorated. Despite initial English support during
3680-513: A war to restore Plantagenet holdings on the continent. In order to motivate his barons, Henry III reissued Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest in return for a tax that raised the huge sum of £45,000. This was enacted in an assembly of the barons, bishops and magnates that created a compact in which the feudal prerogatives of the king were debated and discussed in the political community. Henry
3864-642: A wave of violence targeting Jewish communities in order to destroy evidence of the Baron's debts, a particular grievance of the rebels. 500 Jews died in London, and communities were decimated in Worcester , Canterbury and elsewhere. At the Battle of Lewes in 1264, Henry and Edward were defeated and taken prisoner. Montfort summoned the Great Parliament , regarded as the first English Parliament worthy of
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#17327651858724048-534: A weak king and was eventually deposed in the Wars of the Roses , with Edward IV taking the throne as the first ruling member of the House of York . After his death and the taking of the throne by his brother as Richard III , an invasion led by Henry Tudor and his victory in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth Field marked the end of the Plantagenet dynasty. English government went through periods of reform and decay, with
4232-580: A year, and imposed licence fees on gifts of land to the Church. Feudal jurisdiction was regulated by the Statute of Gloucester and Quo Warranto . The Statute of Winchester enforced Plantagenet policing authority. The Statute of Westminster 1285 kept estates within families: tenants only held property for life and were unable to sell the property. Quia Emptores stopped sub-infeudation where tenants subcontracted their properties and related feudal services. The oppression of Jews following their exclusion from
4416-540: Is now southeast Scotland (called Lothian ) to the Kingdom of Scotland , in return for the King of Scotland's loyalty. This final cession established what would become the traditional borders of England which have remained largely unchanged since then (except for occasional and temporary changes). This area of land had previously been a part of the Anglian Kingdom of Northumbria . Lothian contained what later became
4600-671: The 1801 union between the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The counties of England were established for administration by the Normans , in most cases based on earlier shires established by
4784-486: The Anglo-Saxons . They ceased to be used for administration only with the creation of the administrative counties in 1889. Unlike the partly self-governing boroughs that covered urban areas, the counties of medieval England existed primarily as a means of enforcing central government power, enabling monarchs to exercise control over local areas through their chosen representatives – originally sheriffs and later
4968-505: The Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 confirmed Bruce's position as an independent king of Scots. In England it returned the initiative to Lancaster and Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick , who had not taken part in the campaign, claiming that it was in defiance of the Ordinances. Edward finally repealed the Ordinances after defeating Lancaster at the Battle of Boroughbridge and then executing him in 1322. The War of Saint-Sardos ,
5152-463: The Battle of Formigny in 1450 and, with victory at the Battle of Castillon in 1453, brought an end to the war, leaving the English with only Calais and its surrounding Pale in continental France. Henry VI was a weak king, and has been seen vulnerable to the over-mighty subjects created by the decline into bastard feudalism , who took advantage of the feudal levy being replaced by taxation to develop private armies of liveried retainers. The result
5336-534: The Battle of Verneuil , in 1424, but it was impossible to maintain campaigning at this level. Joan of Arc 's involvement helped force the lifting of the siege of Orleans. French victory at the Battle of Patay enabled the Dauphin to be crowned at Reims and continue the successful Fabian tactics , avoiding full frontal assaults and exploiting logistical advantage. Joan was captured by the Burgundians, sold to
5520-590: The Bretwalda . Soon after the Norman Conquest of England , however, some Norman lords began to attack Wales. They conquered and ruled parts of it, acknowledging the overlordship of the Norman kings of England but with considerable local independence. Over many years these " Marcher Lords " conquered more and more of Wales, against considerable resistance led by various Welsh princes, who also often acknowledged
5704-637: The Empress Matilda and the wars they led, resulted in his family's control of Normandy and England by 1154, while the marriage of Geoffrey's son Henry Curtmantle , to Eleanor of Aquitaine expanded the family's holdings into what was later termed the Angevin Empire . As Henry II, he consolidated his holdings and acquired nominal control in Wales and the Lordship of Ireland . His son Richard I
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5888-658: The English Civil War (1641–45), in which the king was defeated, and to the abolition of the monarchy under Oliver Cromwell during the Interregnum of 1649–1660. After the trial and execution of Charles I in January 1649, the Rump Parliament passed an act declaring England to be a Commonwealth on 19 May 1649. The monarchy and the House of Lords were abolished, and so the House of Commons became
6072-548: The English Renaissance and early modern Britain . At the accession of Henry III only a remnant of English holdings remained in Gascony , for which English kings had to pay homage to the French, and the barons were in revolt. Royal authority was restored by his son who inherited the throne in 1272 as Edward I . He reorganized his possessions, and gained control of Wales and most of Scotland. His son Edward II
6256-729: The English Renaissance and again extended English monarchical power beyond England proper, achieving the full union of England and the Principality of Wales under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 . Henry VIII oversaw the English Reformation , and his daughter Elizabeth I (reigned 1558–1603) the Elizabethan Religious Settlement , meanwhile establishing England as a great power and laying
6440-602: The Great Famine and the Black Death , catastrophic events that killed around half of England's population, throwing the economy into chaos and undermining the old political order. With a shortage of farm labour, much of England's arable land was converted to pasture, mainly for sheep. Social unrest followed in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. Richard was deposed by Henry of Bolingbroke in 1399, who as Henry IV founded
6624-476: The Great Slump . Most seriously, in 1450 Jack Cade raised a rebellion in an attempt to force the king to address economic problems or abdicate his throne. The uprising was suppressed, but the situation remained unsettled, with more radical demands coming from John and William Merfold . Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York 's attitude to the marriage contract of Henry and Margaret of Anjou , which included
6808-400: The House of Lancaster and reopened the war with France. His son Henry V won a decisive victory at Agincourt in 1415, reconquered Normandy and ensured that his infant son Henry VI would inherit both English and French crowns after his unexpected death in 1421. However, the French enjoyed another resurgence and by 1453 the English had lost almost all their French holdings. Henry VI proved
6992-507: The House of Stuart claimed descent from Henry VII via Margaret Tudor . The completion of the conquest of Wales by Edward I in 1284 put Wales under the control of the English crown. Edward III (reigned 1327–1377) transformed the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe; his reign also saw vital developments in legislation and government—in particular
7176-562: The Interregnum of 1649–1660). All English monarchs after 1066 ultimately descend from the Normans , and the distinction of the Plantagenets is conventional—beginning with Henry II (reigned 1154–1189) as from that time, the Angevin kings became "more English in nature"; the houses of Lancaster and York are both Plantagenet cadet branches, the Tudor dynasty claimed descent from Edward III via John Beaufort and James VI and I of
7360-575: The Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 ). Wales was incorporated into the Kingdom of England, and henceforth was represented in the Parliament of England . During the 1530s, Henry VIII overthrew the power of the Catholic Church within the kingdom, replacing the pope as head of his own English Church and seizing the Catholic Church's lands, thereby facilitating the creation of a variation of Catholicism that became more Protestant over time. This had
7544-548: The Lords Appellant when they sought to impeach five of the king's favourites and restrain what was increasingly seen as tyrannical and capricious rule. Later they were joined by Henry Bolingbroke , the son and heir of John of Gaunt, and Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk . Initially, they were successful in establishing a commission to govern England for one year, but they were forced to rebel against Richard, defeating an army under Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford , at
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7728-487: The Norman period Rex Anglorum remained standard, with occasional use of Rex Anglie ("King of England"). From John's reign onwards all other titles were eschewed in favour of Rex or Regina Anglie . In 1604 James I , who had inherited the English throne the previous year, adopted the title (now usually rendered in English rather than Latin) King of Great Britain . The Kingdom of England emerged from
7912-471: The Parliament of England emerging as an important part of the administration. Women had an important economic role, and noblewomen exercised power on their estates in their husbands' absence. The English began to see themselves as superior to their neighbours in the British Isles and regional identities continued to be significant. New reformed monastic orders and preaching orders reached England from
8096-413: The Parliament of Ireland , with the aim of restoring such central authority as had been lost throughout the country during the previous two centuries. Calais , the last remaining continental possession of the Kingdom, was lost in 1558, during the reign of Philip and Mary I . Their successor, Elizabeth I , consolidated the new and increasingly Protestant Church of England . She also began to build up
8280-536: The Siege of Tournai (1340) , but with both sides running out of money, the fighting ended with the Truce of Espléchin . Edward III had achieved nothing of military value and English political opinion was against him. Bankrupt, he cut his losses, ruining many whom he could not, or chose not, to repay. Both countries suffered from war exhaustion. The tax burden had been heavy and the wool trade had been disrupted. Edward spent
8464-487: The Storming of Caen and the Battle of Blanchetaque . He then found himself outmanoeuvred and outnumbered by Philip and was forced to fight at Crécy . The battle was a crushing defeat for the French, leaving Edward free to capture the important port of Calais . A subsequent victory against Scotland at the Battle of Neville's Cross resulted in the capture of David II and reduced the threat from Scotland. According to
8648-683: The United Kingdom . The Kingdom of England was among the most powerful states in Europe during the medieval and early modern periods. Beginning in the year 886 Alfred the Great reoccupied London from the Danish Vikings and after this event he declared himself King of the Anglo-Saxons , until his death in 899. During the course of the early tenth century, the various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were united by Alfred's descendants Edward
8832-587: The common bench and the royal household . This government was better organised and on a larger scale than ever before, and by the fourteenth century the king's formerly peripatetic chancery had to take up permanent residence in Westminster . Edward used Parliament even more than his predecessors to handle general administration, to legislate and to raise the necessary taxes to pay for the wars in France. The royal lands—and incomes from them—had diminished over
9016-529: The duchy of Gascony in 1294, more money was needed to wage war in France. To gain financial support for the war effort, Edward summoned a precedent-setting assembly known as the Model Parliament, which included barons, clergy, knights and townspeople. Edward imposed his authority on the Church with the Statutes of Mortmain that prohibited the donation of land to the Church, asserted the rights of
9200-402: The lord-lieutenants – and their subordinate justices of the peace . Counties were used initially for the administration of justice , collection of taxes and organisation of the military, and later for local government and electing parliamentary representation. Some outlying counties were from time to time accorded palatine status with some military and central government functions vested in
9384-479: The 16th century Laws in Wales acts and the Local Government Act 1888 . Each shire was responsible for gathering taxes for the central government; for local defence; and for justice, through assize courts . The power of the feudal barons to control their landholding was considerably weakened in 1290 by the statute of Quia Emptores . Feudal baronies became perhaps obsolete (but not extinct) on
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#17327651858729568-622: The Angles (called Angulus by Bede ). The name Engla land became England by haplology during the Middle English period ( Engle-land , Engelond ). The Latin name was Anglia or Anglorum terra , the Old French and Anglo-Norman one Engleterre . The standard title for monarchs from Æthelstan until John was Rex Anglorum ("King of the English"). Cnut , a Dane, was the first to call himself "King of England". During
9752-399: The Bruce , but he rebelled and was crowned king of Scotland. Despite failing health, Edward was carried north to pursue another campaign, but he died en route at Burgh by Sands . Even though Edward had requested that his bones should be carried on Scottish campaigns and that his heart be taken to the Holy Land, he was buried at Westminster Abbey in a plain black marble tomb that in later years
9936-425: The Castilian Pero Niño . Though the English won numerous victories, they were unable to overcome the numerical superiority of the French and their strategic use of gunpowder weapons. England was defeated at the Battle of Formigny in 1450 and finally at the Battle of Castillon in 1453, retaining only a single town in France, Calais . During the Hundred Years' War an English identity began to develop in place of
10120-477: The Crown at the expense of traditional feudal privileges, promoted the uniform administration of justice, raised income and codified the legal system. He also emphasised the role of Parliament and the common law through significant legislation, a survey of local government and the codification of laws originating from Magna Carta with the Statute of Westminster 1275 . Edward also enacted economic reforms on wool exports to take customs, which amounted to nearly £10,000
10304-402: The Crown of Castile in the name of his wife. He arrived with an army, asking John I to give up the throne in favour of Constance. John declined; instead his son married John of Gaunt's daughter, Catherine of Lancaster , creating the title Prince of Asturias for the couple. Charles V of France resumed hostilities when Prince Edward refused a summons as Duke of Aquitaine and his reign saw
10488-459: The Dutch Republic in its wars against Louis XIV of France. In the Scottish case, the attractions were partly financial and partly to do with removing English trade sanctions put in place through the Alien Act 1705 . The English were more anxious about the royal succession. The death of William III in 1702 had led to the accession of his sister-in-law Anne to the thrones of England and Scotland, but her only surviving child had died in 1700, and
10672-414: The Dutch War of Independence against the Spanish, tensions arose as the Dutch Republic emerged as England's principal commercial and naval rival. By the mid-17th century, it had become the foremost trading nation. In response the English, alarmed by their waning competitiveness, implemented stricter trading policies to curb Dutch dominance. The First Anglo-Dutch War which followed, however, failed to resolve
10856-410: The Elder (reigned 899–924) and Æthelstan (reigned 924–939) to form the Kingdom of the English. In 927, Æthelstan conquered the last remaining Viking kingdom, York , making him the first Anglo-Saxon ruler of the whole of England. In 1016, the kingdom became part of the North Sea Empire of Cnut the Great , a personal union between England, Denmark and Norway . The Norman Conquest in 1066 led to
11040-454: The English Act of Settlement 1701 had given the succession to the English crown to the Protestant House of Hanover . Securing the same succession in Scotland became the primary object of English strategic thinking towards Scotland. By 1704, the Union of the Crowns was in crisis, with the Scottish Act of Security allowing for the Scottish Parliament to choose a different monarch, which could in turn lead to an independent foreign policy during
11224-451: The English heir in her power, Isabella refused to return to England unless Edward II dismissed his favourites and also formed a relationship with Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March . The couple invaded England and, joined by Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster , captured the king. Edward II abdicated on the condition that his son would inherit the throne rather than Mortimer. He is generally believed to have been murdered at Berkeley Castle by having
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#173276518587211408-418: The English king under the Treaty of Woodstock, but had taken advantage of the English civil wars to consolidate his position as Prince of Wales and maintained that his principality was 'entirely separate from the rights' of England. Edward considered Llywelyn 'a rebel and disturber of the peace'. Edward's determination, military experience and skillful use of ships ended Welsh independence by driving Llywelyn into
11592-404: The English model over those areas. The Marcher Lords were progressively tied to the English kings by the grants of lands and lordships in England. The Council of Wales and the Marches , administered from Ludlow Castle , was initially established by Edward IV of England to govern the lands held under the Principality of Wales in 1472. At the same time the Council of Wales was created in 1472,
11776-417: The English, tried as a witch and burned at the stake. During the minority of Henry VI the war caused political division amongst the legitimate and illegitimate Plantagenets. Bedford wanted to defend Normandy, Humphrey of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Gloucester , just Calais, but Cardinal Beaufort wanted peace. This division led to Humphrey's wife being accused of using witchcraft with the aim of putting him on
11960-426: The French to invade Gascony, and threaten the English ports while the English conducted widespread piracy in the Channel . Edward proclaimed himself king of France to encourage the Flemish to rise in open rebellion against the French king and won a significant naval victory at the Battle of Sluys , where the French fleet was almost completely destroyed. Inconclusive fighting continued at the Battle of Saint-Omer and
12144-454: The Grandees in the Army, through the Council of State imposed a new constitutional arrangement under a written constitution called the Instrument of Government . Under the Instrument of Government executive power lay with a Lord Protector (an office to be held for the life of the incumbent) and there were to be triennial Parliaments, with each sitting for at least five months. Article 23 of the Instrument of Government stated that Oliver Cromwell
12328-445: The Greek and Islamic thinking that reached England from the twelfth century. In warfare, mercenaries were increasingly employed and adequate supplies of ready cash became essential for the success of campaigns. By the time of Edward III, armies were smaller, but the troops were better equipped and uniformed. Medieval England produced art in the form of paintings, carvings, books, fabrics and many functional but beautiful objects. Literature
12512-442: The Heptarchy, the most powerful king among the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms might become acknowledged as Bretwalda , a high king over the other kings. The decline of Mercia allowed Wessex to become more powerful, absorbing the kingdoms of Kent and Sussex in 825. The kings of Wessex increasingly dominated the other kingdoms of England during the 9th century. In 827, Northumbria submitted to Egbert of Wessex at Dore , briefly making Egbert
12696-406: The House of York: Henry VII and Elizabeth of York . Wales retained a separate legal and administrative system, which had been established by Edward I in the late 13th century. The country was divided between the Marcher Lords , who gave feudal allegiance to the crown, and the Principality of Wales . Under the Tudor monarchy, Henry VIII replaced the laws of Wales with those of England (under
12880-627: The Irish, with the distinctions clarified and reinforced in fourteenth-century English legislation. The English also felt strongly about the foreign traders who lived in the special enclaves in London in the late Middle Ages; there was considerable hostility to Jews, resulting in their expulsion, but Italian and Baltic traders were also regarded as aliens and were frequently the targets of violence during economic downturns. Even within England, different identities abounded, each with their own sense of status and importance. Regional identities could be significant – men and women from Yorkshire , for example, had
13064-405: The Kingdom by the name of Great Britain', forming the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Parliament of Great Britain . The Anglo-Saxons referred to themselves as the Engle or the Angelcynn , originally names of the Angles . They called their land Engla land , meaning "land of the English", by Æthelweard Latinized Anglia , from an original Anglia vetus , the purported homeland of
13248-503: The Kingdom of Scotland. Despite the Union of the Crowns , the kingdoms remained separate and independent states: a state of affairs which lasted for more than a century. The Stuart kings overestimated the power of the English monarchy, and were cast down by Parliament in 1645 and 1688. In the first instance, Charles I 's introduction of new forms of taxation in defiance of Parliament led to
13432-475: The Normans continued collecting the geld regularly. They also introduced new sources of revenue based on concepts of feudalism . The king was entitled to collect a feudal aid when his eldest son was knighted, his eldest daughter married, or if the king needed to pay his own ransom. The heir to a fief was also required to pay the king a feudal relief before he could take possession of his inheritance. The king
13616-416: The Plantagenet claims, captured Harfleur , made a chevauchée to Calais and won a near total victory over the French at the Battle of Agincourt on 25 October 1415, despite being outnumbered, outmanoeuvred and low on supplies. In subsequent years Henry recaptured much of Normandy and successfully secured marriage to Catherine of Valois . The resulting Treaty of Troyes stated that Henry's heirs would inherit
13800-454: The Plantagenets steadily pushed back in France. Prince Edward went on to demonstrate the brutal character that some think is the cause of his name of the "Black Prince" at the Siege of Limoges . After the town had opened its gates to John, Duke of Berry , he directed the massacre of 3,000 inhabitants, men, women and children. Following this the prince was too ill to contribute to the war or government and returned to England, where he soon died:
13984-564: The Scottish capital, Edinburgh . This arrangement was later finalized in 1237 by the Treaty of York . The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the late 12th century, when Anglo-Normans gradually conquered and acquired large swathes of land from the Irish, over which the Kingdom of England then claimed sovereignty, all allegedly sanctioned by the Papal bull Laudabiliter . At
14168-415: The United Kingdom or its constituent countries is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from the early tenth century, when it was unified from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms , until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain , which would later become
14352-699: The abolition of feudal tenure during the Civil War , as confirmed by the Tenures Abolition Act 1660 passed under the Restoration which took away knight-service and other legal rights. Tenure by knight-service was abolished and discharged and the lands covered by such tenures, including once-feudal baronies, were henceforth held by socage ( i.e. , in exchange for monetary rents). The English Fitzwalter Case in 1670 ruled that barony by tenure had been discontinued for many years and any claims to
14536-404: The autumn of 1348, before most of the surrounding countryside. This had certainly happened by November, though according to some accounts as early as 29 September. The full effect of the plague was felt in the capital early the next year. Conditions in London were ideal for the plague: the streets were narrow and flowing with sewage, and houses were overcrowded and poorly ventilated. By March 1349
14720-528: The barons and the crown failed to abide by the terms of Magna Carta, leading to the First Barons' War in which the rebel barons invited an invasion by Prince Louis . John's death and William Marshall 's appointment as the protector of the nine-year-old Henry III are considered by some historians to mark the end of the Angevin period and the beginning of the Plantagenet dynasty. When Henry III came to
14904-480: The barons swore allegiance to Edward even though he did not return for two years. From the beginning of his reign Edward I sought to organise his inherited territories. As a devotee of the cult of King Arthur he also attempted to enforce claims to primacy within the British Isles. Wales consisted of a number of princedoms , often in conflict with each other. Llywelyn ap Gruffudd held north Wales in fee to
15088-521: The battle with the Norwegians. The armies of Harold and William faced each other at the Battle of Hastings (14 October 1066), in which the English army, or Fyrd , was defeated, Harold and his two brothers were slain, and William emerged as victor. William was then able to conquer England with little further opposition. He was not, however, planning to absorb the Kingdom into the Duchy of Normandy . As
15272-511: The chronicle of the grey friars at King's Lynn , the plague arrived by ship from Gascony to Melcombe in Dorset ;– today normally referred to as Weymouth – shortly before "the Feast of St. John The Baptist " on 24 June 1348. From Weymouth the disease spread rapidly across the south-west. The first major city to be struck was Bristol . London was reached in
15456-521: The commercial issues. In April 1653 Cromwell and the other Grandees of the New Model Army , frustrated with the members of the Rump Parliament who would not pass legislation to dissolve the Rump and to allow a new more representative parliament to be elected, stopped the Rump's session and declared the Rump dissolved. After an experiment with a Nominated Assembly ( Barebone's Parliament ),
15640-533: The community in their own right. During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the English began to consider themselves superior to the Welsh, Scots and Bretons . They perceived themselves as civilised, economically prosperous and properly Christian, while the Celtic fringe was considered lazy, barbarous and backward. Following the invasion of Ireland in the late twelfth century, similar feelings were expressed about
15824-561: The conflict continued. York was killed at the Battle of Wakefield and his head set on display at Micklegate Bar , along with those of his son Edmund, Earl of Rutland , and Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, who had both been captured and beheaded. The Scottish queen Mary of Guelders provided Margaret with support and a Scottish army pillaged into southern England. London resisted in the fear of being plundered, then enthusiastically welcomed York's son Edward, Earl of March , with Parliament confirming that Edward should be made king. Edward
16008-672: The continental possessions of the Duchy to Philip II of France in 1204 and decisively after the Battle of Bouvines in 1214. A few remnants of Normandy , including the Channel Islands , remained in John's possession, together with most of the Duchy of Aquitaine. Up until the Norman Conquest of England, Wales had remained for the most part independent of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms , although some Welsh kings did sometimes acknowledge
16192-483: The costs, with the Archbishop of Canterbury threatening excommunication; Parliament was reluctant to contribute to Edward's expensive and unsuccessful military policies. Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford and Roger Bigod, 5th Earl of Norfolk , refused to serve in Gascony, and the barons presented a formal statement of their grievances. Edward was forced to reconfirm the charters (including Magna Carta) to obtain
16376-527: The country they lived. Significant gender inequities persisted throughout the period, as women typically had more limited life-choices, access to employment and trade, and legal rights than men. The growth of governmental institutions under a succession of bishops reduced the role of queens and their households in formal government. Married or widowed noblewomen remained significant cultural and religious patrons and played an important part in political and military events, even if chroniclers were uncertain if this
16560-476: The country. In 1338, Edward was forced to agree to a truce with the Scots. In 1328 Charles IV of France died without a male heir. His cousin Phillip of Valois and Queen Isabella , on behalf of her son Edward, were the major claimants to the throne. Philip, as senior grandson of Philip III of France in the male line, became king over Edward's claim as a matrilineal grandson of Philip IV of France, following
16744-420: The crisis of 1450 and a popular revolt under the leadership of Jack Cade. Law and order deteriorated, and the crown was unable to intervene in the factional fighting between different nobles and their followers. The resulting Wars of the Roses saw a savage escalation of violence between the noble leaderships of both sides: captured enemies were executed and family lands attainted . By the time that Henry VII took
16928-704: The death of Harthacnut in June 1042. He was the son of Canute and Emma of Normandy (the widow of Æthelred the Unready) and had no heirs of his own; he was succeeded by his half-brother, Æþelræd's son, Edward the Confessor . The peace lasted until the death of the childless Edward in January 1066. His brother-in-law was crowned King Harold , but his cousin William the Conqueror , Duke of Normandy, immediately claimed
17112-678: The disastrous Raid on the Medway and forced the humiliated Charles in to an unfavourable peace treaty . The treaty eliminated a number of long-standing issues, and in the long-term made it possible for the two countries to unite against the expansionist policies pursued by Louis XIV of France . In the short-term however, Charles' desire to avenge this setback led to the Third Anglo-Dutch War in 1672. Despite attaining French support this time, Dutch naval successes made Parliament unwilling to support Charles' war effort any further, and he
17296-535: The disease approximately 500 days to traverse the entire country. The Black Death brought a halt to Edward's campaigns by killing between a third to more than half of his subjects. The king passed the Ordinance of Labourers and the Statute of Labourers in response to the shortage of labour and social unrest that followed the plague. The labour laws were ineffectively enforced and the repressive measures caused resentment. In 1356 Edward, Prince of Wales , resumed
17480-544: The disease was spreading in a haphazard way across all of southern England. During the first half of 1349 the Black Death spread northwards. A second front opened up when the plague arrived by ship at the Humber , from where it spread both south and north. In May it reached York , and during the summer months of June, July and August, it ravaged the north. Certain northern counties, like Durham and Cumberland , had been
17664-497: The duchy shrink. Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent , decided to resist one such judgement in Saint-Sardos with the result that Charles IV declared the duchy forfeit. Charles's sister, Queen Isabella , was sent to negotiate and agreed to a treaty that required Edward to pay homage in France to Charles. Edward resigned Aquitaine and Ponthieu to his son, Prince Edward , who travelled to France to give homage in his stead. With
17848-479: The dynastic conflict in Castile between Peter of Castile and Henry II of Castile . Edward, Prince of Wales, allied himself with Peter, defeating Henry at the Battle of Nájera before falling out with Peter, who had no means to reimburse him, leaving Edward bankrupt. The Plantagenets continued to interfere and John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster , the prince's brother, married Peter's daughter Constance , claiming
18032-499: The effect of aligning England with Scotland, which also gradually adopted a Protestant religion, whereas the most important continental powers, France and Spain, remained Roman Catholic. The "Tudor conquest" (or reconquest ) of Ireland' took place under the Tudor dynasty. Following a failed rebellion against the crown by Silken Thomas , the Earl of Kildare , in the 1530s, Henry VIII was declared King of Ireland in 1542 by statute of
18216-653: The evolution of the English Parliament . From the 1340s, English claims to the French throne were held in pretense, but after the Hundred Years' War and the outbreak of the Wars of the Roses in 1455, the English were no longer in any position to pursue their French claims and lost all their land on the continent, except for Calais . After the turmoils of the Wars of the Roses, the Tudor dynasty ruled during
18400-462: The financing of wars; his household spending and the role of his favourite Piers Gaveston . When Parliament decided that Gaveston should be exiled the king had no choice but to comply. The king engineered Gaveston's return, but was forced to agree to the appointment of Ordainers , led by his cousin Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster , to reform the royal household with Piers Gaveston exiled again. In
18584-546: The first king to reign over a united England. In 886, Alfred the Great retook London, which he apparently regarded as a turning point in his reign. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says that "all of the English people ( all Angelcyn ) not subject to the Danes submitted themselves to King Alfred." Asser added that "Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, restored the city of London splendidly ... and made it habitable once more." Alfred's restoration entailed reoccupying and refurbishing
18768-490: The following years paying off his immense debt, while the Gascons merged the war with banditry. In 1346 Edward invaded from the Low Countries using the strategy of chevauchée , a large extended raid for plunder and destruction that would be deployed by the English throughout the war. The chevauchée discredited Philip VI of France's government and threatened to detach his vassals from loyalty. Edward fought two successful actions,
18952-455: The food supply returned to relatively normal conditions and the population began to increase again. The Ordinances were published widely to obtain maximum popular support but there was a struggle over their repeal or continuation for a decade. When Gaveston returned again to England, he was abducted and executed after a mock trial. This brutal act drove Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster , and his adherents from power. Edward's humiliating defeat at
19136-595: The foundations of later military victories in France. Edward spent around £173,000 on his two Welsh campaigns, largely on a network of castles to secure his control. Because of his legal reforms Edward is sometimes called The English Justinian , although whether he was a reformer or an autocrat responding to events is debated. His campaigns left him in debt. This necessitated that he gain wider national support for his policies among lesser landowners, merchants and traders so that he could raise taxes through frequently summoned Parliaments. When Philip IV of France confiscated
19320-701: The foundations of the British Empire via colonization of the Americas . The accession of James VI and I in 1603 resulted in the Union of the Crowns , with the Stuart dynasty ruling the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland . Under the Stuarts, England plunged into civil war , which culminated in the execution of Charles I in 1649. The monarchy returned in 1660, but the Civil War had established
19504-483: The gradual unification of the early medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdoms known as the Heptarchy : East Anglia , Mercia , Northumbria , Kent , Essex , Sussex , and Wessex . The Viking invasions of the 9th century upset the balance of power between the English kingdoms, and native Anglo-Saxon life in general. The English lands were unified in the 10th century in a reconquest completed by King Æthelstan in 927. During
19688-426: The grandson of Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence . As a child he was not considered a serious contender. He never showed interest in the throne as an adult, instead serving the House of Lancaster loyally. When Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge , later plotted to use him to displace Henry's newly crowned son, and their mutual cousin, Edmund informed the new king and the plotters were executed. However,
19872-493: The guarantees of Magna Carta peaked with Edward expelling them from England. Christians were forbidden by canon law from providing loans with interest , so the Jews played a key economic role in the country by providing this service. In turn the Plantagenets took advantage of the Jews' status as direct subjects, heavily taxing them at will without the necessity to summon Parliament. Edward's first major step towards Jewish expulsion
20056-497: The initiative shouting "You shall have no captain but me", a statement left deliberately ambiguous to defuse the situation. He had promised clemency, but on re-establishing control he pursued, captured and executed the other leaders of the rebellion and all concessions were revoked. A group of magnates consisting of the king's uncle Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester , Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel , and Thomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick , became known as
20240-471: The king of England should hold", he would retain "as peer of France and Duke of Aquitaine". In exchange Louis withdrew his support for English rebels, ceded three bishoprics and cities, and was to pay an annual rent for possession of Agenais . Disagreements about the meaning of the treaty began as soon as it was signed. The agreement resulted in English kings having to pay homage to the French monarch, thus remaining French vassals, but only on French soil. This
20424-474: The king's income derived from the royal demesne and the annual " farm " from each shire (the fixed sum paid by sheriffs for the privilege of administering and profiting from royal lands). Kings also made income from judicial fines and regulation of trade. People owed the king service in the form of the trinoda necessitas — fyrd service, burh building, and bridge building. After the Conquest of 1066,
20608-559: The kingdom's naval strength, on the foundations Henry VIII had laid down. By 1588, her new navy was strong enough to defeat the Spanish Armada , which had sought to invade England to halt English support for the Dutch rebels and to put a Catholic monarch on the throne in her place. The House of Tudor ended with the death of Elizabeth I on 24 March 1603. James I ascended the throne of England and brought it into personal union with
20792-477: The language of royal and seignorial courts and it was officially adopted for diplomatic language in place of French in the reign of Henry IV. The Hundred Years War has been seen by a number of scholars as important in creating an English national identity, evidenced in its use of propaganda, the growth of cultural slurs and national stereotypes, intense intellectual debate between scholars of different kingdoms, cartographic evidence that indicated national boundaries,
20976-646: The late Middle Ages The history of England during the Late Middle Ages covers from the thirteenth century, the end of the Angevins , and the accession of Henry II – considered by many to mark the start of the Plantagenet dynasty – until the accession to the throne of the Tudor dynasty in 1485, which is often taken as the most convenient marker for the end of the Middle Ages and the start of
21160-447: The later marriage of his granddaughter to Richard's son consolidated his descendants' claim to the throne with that of the more junior House of York . Henry resumed war with France, but was plagued with financial problems, declining health and frequent rebellions. A Scottish invasion was defeated at the Battle of Homildon Hill , but it resulted in a long war with Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland , for northern England, which
21344-427: The male-dominated beer industry in the fifteenth century. Higher status jobs and apprenticeships, however, remained closed to women. As in earlier times, noblewomen exercised power on their estates in their husbands' absence and again, if necessary, defended them in sieges and skirmishes. Wealthy widows who could successfully claim their rightful share of their late husband's property could live as powerful members of
21528-518: The money he required. A truce and peace treaty with the French king restored the duchy of Gascony to Edward. Meanwhile, William Wallace had risen in Balliol's name and recovered most of Scotland, before being defeated at the Battle of Falkirk . Edward summoned a full Parliament, including elected Scottish representatives for the settlement of Scotland. The new government in Scotland featured Robert
21712-411: The mountains. Llywelyn later died in battle. The Statute of Rhuddlan extended the shire system, bringing Wales into the English legal framework. When Edward's son was born he was proclaimed as the first English Prince of Wales . Edward's Welsh campaign produced one of the largest armies ever assembled by an English king in a formidable combination of heavy Anglo-Norman cavalry and Welsh archers that laid
21896-574: The name because it was the first time cities and burghs sent representatives. Edward escaped and raised an army. He defeated and killed Montfort at the Battle of Evesham in 1265. Savage retribution was exacted on the rebels and authority was restored to Henry. Edward, having pacified the realm, left England to join Louis IX on the Ninth Crusade , funded by an unprecedented levy of one-twentieth of every citizen's movable goods and possessions. He
22080-541: The nearly deserted Roman walled city, building quays along the Thames , and laying a new city street plan. During the following years Northumbria repeatedly changed hands between the English kings and the Norwegian invaders, but was definitively brought under English control by Eadred in 954, completing the unification of England. At about this time, Lothian , a portion of the northern half of Northumbria ( Bernicia ),
22264-660: The next year Clarence switched sides at the Battle of Barnet , leading to the death of the Neville brothers. The subsequent Battle of Tewkesbury brought the demise of the last of the male line of the Beauforts. The battlefield execution of Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales , and later murder of Henry VI extinguished the House of Lancaster. By the mid-1470s, the victorious House of York looked safely established, with seven living male princes, but it quickly brought about its own demise. Clarence plotted against his brother and
22448-406: The next year, probably murdered, bringing an end to the main Plantagenet line. Henry's claim to the throne was that his mother had legitimate rights through descent from Edmund Crouchback , who he claimed was the elder son of Henry III of England, set aside due to deformity, but these claims were not widely believed. Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March , was the heir presumptive to Richard II by being
22632-437: The number of hides they owned. After the Norman Conquest, the king's household troops remained central to any royal army. The Anglo-Saxon fyrd also remained in use. But the Normans also introduced a new feudal element to the English military. The king's tenants-in-chief (his feudal barons ) were obligated to provide mounted knights for service in the royal army or to garrison royal castles . The total number of knights owed
22816-404: The overlordship of the Norman kings of England. Edward I defeated Llywelyn ap Gruffudd , and so effectively conquered Wales, in 1282. He created the title Prince of Wales for his heir, the future Edward II , in 1301. Edward I's conquest was brutal and the subsequent repression considerable, as the magnificent Welsh castles such as Conwy , Harlech , and Caernarfon attest. Edward III
23000-411: The overwhelming majority of the population and who had no reserve food supplies. The height of the famine was reached in 1317 as the wet weather continued. Finally, in the summer the weather returned to its normal patterns. By now, however, people were so weakened by diseases such as pneumonia , bronchitis , and tuberculosis , and so much of the seed stock had been eaten, that it was not until 1325 that
23184-627: The popular rebellion of the Jacquerie , hoping to seize the throne. Although no French army stood against him, he was unable to take Paris or Rheims . In the subsequent Treaty of Brétigny he renounced his claim to the French crown, but greatly expanded his territory in Aquitaine and confirmed his conquest of Calais. Fighting in the Hundred Years' War often spilled from the French and Plantagenet lands into surrounding realms. This included
23368-589: The precedent that an English monarch cannot govern without the consent of Parliament. This concept became legally established as part of the Glorious Revolution of 1688. From this time the kingdom of England, as well as its successor state the United Kingdom, functioned in effect as a constitutional monarchy . On 1 May 1707, under the terms of the Acts of Union 1707 , the parliaments, and therefore Kingdoms, of both England and Scotland were mutually abolished. Their assets and estates united 'for ever, into
23552-464: The precedents of Philip V's succession over his niece Joan II of Navarre and Charles IV's succession over his nieces. Not yet in power, Edward III paid homage to Phillip as Duke of Aquitaine and the French king continued to assert feudal pressure on Gascony. Philip demanded that Edward extradite an exiled French adviser, Robert III of Artois , and, when he refused, declared Edward's lands in Gascony and Ponthieu forfeit. In response Edward put together
23736-410: The previous division between the Norman lords and their Anglo-Saxon subjects. This was a consequence of sustained hostility to the increasingly nationalist French, whose kings and other leaders (notably the charismatic Joan of Arc ) used a developing sense of French identity to help draw people to their cause. The kingdom had little time to recover before entering the Wars of the Roses (1455–1487),
23920-732: The reign of Æthelred the Unready (978–1016), a new wave of Danish invasions was orchestrated by Sweyn I of Denmark , culminating after a quarter-century of warfare in the Danish conquest of England in 1013. But Sweyn died on 2 February 1014, and Æþelræd was restored to the throne. In 1015, Sweyn's son Cnut (commonly known as Canute) launched a new invasion. The ensuing war ended with an agreement in 1016 between Canute and Æþelræd's successor, Edmund Ironside , to divide England between them, but Edmund's death on 30 November of that year left England united under Danish rule. This continued for 26 years until
24104-438: The remnants of Henry's continental holdings, further eroding the Plantagenet grip on the continent. Henry saw such similarities between himself and England's then patron saint Edward the Confessor in his struggle with his nobles that he gave his first son the Anglo-Saxon name Edward and built the saint a magnificent, still-extant shrine at Westminster . The barons were resistant to the cost in men and money required to support
24288-465: The role of the patron Saint George and of the Church in delivering a central message. It saw a change in the composition of armies, with the lower ranks identifying with a national cause and responding to a call to arms and the development of near permanent taxation that made the general population investors in a national enterprise. There was also the growth of chivalric orders like that of the Garter and
24472-404: The royal finances and appealing to the broader English elite by using Parliament to authorise the raising of new taxes and to hear petitions concerning abuses of local governance. This political balance collapsed under Edward II and savage civil wars broke out during the 1320s. Edward III restored order once more with the help of a majority of the nobility, exercising power through the exchequer ,
24656-500: The skirmish of Radcot Bridge . Richard was reduced to a figurehead with little power. As a result of the Merciless Parliament , de Vere and Michael de la Pole, 1st Earl of Suffolk , who had fled abroad, were sentenced to death in their absence. Alexander Neville, Archbishop of York , had all of his worldly goods confiscated. A number of Richard's council were executed. Following John of Gaunt's return from Spain, Richard
24840-488: The son of a king and the father of a king, but never a king himself. Prince Edward's brother John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster assumed leadership of the English in France. Despite further chevauchées, destroying the countryside and the productivity of the land, his efforts were strategically ineffective. The French commander, Bertrand Du Guesclin adopted Fabian tactics in avoiding major English field forces while capturing towns, including Poitiers and Bergerac . In
25024-482: The spring of 1315 unusually heavy rain began in much of Europe. Throughout the spring and summer, it continued to rain and the temperature remained cool. These conditions caused widespread crop failures. The straw and hay for the animals could not be cured and there was no fodder for livestock. The price of food began to rise, doubling in England between spring and midsummer. Salt, the only way to cure and preserve meat,
25208-554: The surrender of Maine and extended the truce with France, contributed to his appointment as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland . This conveniently removed him from English and French politics on which he had influence as a descendant of both Lionel, Duke of Clarence, and Edmund, Duke of York . Conscious of the fate of Duke Humphrey at the hands of the Beauforts, and suspicious that Henry intended to nominate Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset , as heir presumptive in his stead, he recruited militarily on his return to England. Richard claimed to be
25392-543: The terms" of the Acts would "cease and become void". The English and Scottish Parliaments were merged into the Parliament of Great Britain , located in Westminster , London. At this point England ceased to exist as a separate political entity, and since then has had no national government . The laws of England were unaffected, with the legal jurisdiction continuing to be that of England and Wales , while Scotland continued to have its own laws and law courts. This continued after
25576-586: The throne for himself. William launched an invasion of England and landed in Sussex on 28 September 1066. Harold and his army were in York following their victory against the Norwegians at the Battle of Stamford Bridge (25 September 1066) when the news reached him. He decided to set out without delay and confront the Norman army in Sussex so marched southwards at once, despite the army not being properly rested following
25760-537: The throne in 1216, much of his holdings on the continent were occupied by the French and many of the barons were in rebellion as part of the First Barons' War . In addition, local violence was such a large problem during his reign overall that justiciars , " sheriffs , burgesses [,]...and knights of the shire " alike, and individuals from other occupations and social classes, often dealt with it in their careers at different periods in Henry III's kingship. Marshall won
25944-476: The throne in 1485, England's governmental and social structures had been substantially weakened, with whole noble lines extinguished. Medieval England was a patriarchal society and the lives of women were heavily influenced by contemporary beliefs about gender and authority. However, the position of women varied considerably according to various factors, including their social class ; whether they were unmarried, married, widowed or remarried; and in which part of
26128-524: The throne of France. However, conflict continued with the Dauphin , and Henry's brother Thomas, Duke of Clarence , was killed in the defeat at the Battle of Baugé in 1421. When Henry died in 1422, possibly with dysentery, he was succeeded by his nine-month-old son as Henry VI of England . The elderly Charles VI of France died two months later. Led by Henry's brother John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford , there were several more English victories, such as
26312-449: The throne. Humphrey was later arrested and died in prison. The refusal to renounce the Plantagenet claim to the French crown at the congress of Arras enabled the former Plantagenet ally Philip III, Duke of Burgundy , to reconcile with Charles, while giving Charles time to reorganise his feudal levies into a modern professional army that would put its superior numbers to good use. The French retook Rouen and Bordeaux, regained Normandy, won
26496-411: The time that Richard II was deposed in 1399, the power of the major noble magnates had grown considerably; powerful rulers such as Henry IV would contain them, but during the minority of Henry VI they controlled the country. The magnates depended upon their income from rent and trade to allow them to maintain groups of paid, armed retainers, often sporting controversial liveries, and to buy support amongst
26680-458: The time, Gaelic Ireland was made up of several kingdoms, with a High King claiming lordship over most of the other kings. The Duchy of Aquitaine came into personal union with the Kingdom of England upon the accession of Henry II , who had married Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine . The Kingdom of England and the Duchy of Normandy remained in personal union until John Lackland , Henry II's son and fourth-generation descendant of William I, lost
26864-539: The transfer of the English capital city and chief royal residence from the Anglo-Saxon one at Winchester to Westminster , and the City of London quickly established itself as England's largest and principal commercial centre. Histories of the Kingdom of England from the Norman Conquest of 1066 conventionally distinguish periods named after successive ruling dynasties: Norman/Angevin 1066–1216, Plantagenet 1216–1485, Tudor 1485–1603 and Stuart 1603–1707 (interrupted by
27048-405: The twelfth century, pilgrimage became highly popular and Lollardy emerged as a major heresy from the later fourteenth century. The Little Ice Age had a significant impact on agriculture and living conditions. Economic growth began to falter at the end of the thirteenth century, owing to a combination of overpopulation, land shortages and depleted soils. Technology and science was driven in part by
27232-665: The two departments on a geographical basis, with the Northern Department taking responsibility for Russia , Sweden , Denmark-Norway , Poland , the Netherlands , and the German Holy Roman Empire . Responsibility for domestic affairs was shared between the two departments. After England united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain , the two departments also split responsibility for Scottish affairs, except during those times when there
27416-401: The victim of violent incursions from the Scots, and were therefore left particularly vulnerable to the devastations of the plague. Pestilence is less virulent during the winter months, and spreads less rapidly. The Black Death in England had survived the winter of 1348–49, but during the following winter it ended, and by December 1349 conditions were returning to relative normalcy. It had taken
27600-412: The war with one of the most destructive chevauchées of the conflict. Starting from Bordeaux he laid waste to the lands of Armagnac before turning eastward into Languedoc. Toulouse prepared for a siege, but the Prince's army was not equipped for one, so he bypassed the city and continued south, pillaging and burning. Unlike large cities such as Toulouse, the rural French villages were not organised to provide
27784-540: The war with victories at the battles of Lincoln and Dover in 1217, leading to the Treaty of Lambeth by which Louis renounced his claims. In victory, the Marshal Protectorate reissued Magna Carta as a basis for future government. Despite the treaty hostilities continued and Henry was forced to make significant constitutional concessions to the newly crowned Louis VIII of France and Henry's stepfather Hugh X of Lusignan . Between them, they overran much of
27968-420: The wider gentry; this system has been dubbed bastard feudalism . Their influence was exerted both through the House of Lords at Parliament and through the king's council. The gentry and wealthier townsmen exercised increasing influence through the House of Commons , opposing raising taxes to pay for the French wars. In the 1430s and 1440s the English government was in major financial difficulties, leading to
28152-467: The years, and increasingly frequent taxation was required to support royal initiatives. Edward held elaborate chivalric events in an effort to unite his supporters around the symbols of knighthood. The ideal of chivalry continued to develop throughout the fourteenth century, reflected in the growth of knightly orders (including the Order of the Garter ), grand tournaments and round table events. By
28336-527: The young king himself and presented him with a series of demands, including the dismissal of some of his ministers and the abolition of serfdom . Rebels stormed the Tower of London and executed those hiding there. At Smithfield further negotiations were arranged, but Tyler behaved belligerently and in the ensuing dispute William Walworth , the Lord Mayor of London, attacked and killed Tyler. Richard seized
28520-429: Was a largely absentee English king, concerned more with the crusades and his holdings in France. His brother John 's defeats in France weakened his position in England. The rebellion of his English vassals resulted in the treaty called Magna Carta , which limited royal power and established common law . This would form the basis of every constitutional battle through the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. However, both
28704-490: Was able to rebuild his power, having Gloucester murdered in captivity in Calais. Warwick was stripped of his title. Bolingbroke and Mowbray were exiled. When John of Gaunt died in 1399, Richard disinherited Henry of Bolingbroke, who invaded England in response with a small force that quickly grew in numbers. Meeting little resistance, Henry deposed Richard to have himself crowned Henry IV of England. Richard died in captivity early
28888-585: Was again forced to make peace. Following the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, an attempt by James II to reintroduce Roman Catholicism—a century after its suppression by the Tudors—led to the Glorious Revolution of 1688, in which he was exiled by the Dutch prince William of Orange . William and his wife Mary were subsequently crowned by Parliament. William reoriented England's foreign policy to support
29072-402: Was also entitled to his vassals military service, but vassals could pay scutage instead. In the Anglo-Saxon period, England had no standing army. The king and magnates retained professional household troops ( see housecarl ), and all free men were obligated to perform military service in the fyrd . In addition, holders of bookland were obligated to provide a certain number of men based on
29256-726: Was an appointed Secretary of State for Scotland . Responsibility for overseas military strategy was also shared between the two departments. It was administered by the Secretary of State for the Northern Department . In 1782, the Northern and Southern Departments were reorganized, with the Foreign Office taking over their foreign responsibilities and the Home Office taking over their domestic responsibilities (including colonies). This article related to government in
29440-450: Was appropriate behaviour. As in earlier centuries, most women worked in agriculture, but here roles became more clearly gendered, with ploughing and managing the fields defined as men's work, for example, and dairy production becoming dominated by women. The years after the Black Death left many women widows; in the wider economy labour was in short supply and land was suddenly readily available. In rural areas peasant women could enjoy
29624-414: Was called the servitium debitum (Latin: "service owed"), and historian Richard Huscroft estimates this number was around 5,000. In reality, the servitium debitum was greater than any king would actually need in wartime. Its main purpose was for assessing how much scutage the king was owed. Scutage was used to pay for mercenaries , which were an important part of any Norman army. England in
29808-543: Was ceded to the Kingdom of Scotland . On 12 July 927 the monarchs of Britain gathered at Eamont in Cumbria to recognise Æthelstan as king of the English. The title "King of the English" or Rex Anglorum in Latin, was first used to describe Æthelstan in one of his charters in 928. The standard title for monarchs from Æthelstan until John was "King of the English". England has remained in political unity ever since. During
29992-438: Was crowned as Edward IV after consolidating his position with victory at the Battle of Towton . Edward's preferment of the former Lancastrian-supporting Woodville family, following his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville , led to Warwick and Edward's brother George Duke of Clarence helping Margaret depose Edward and return Henry to the throne in 1470. Edward and his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester , fled, but on their return
30176-586: Was deeply shocked and reconciliation was attempted. Threatened with treason charges and lacking support, York, Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury , and Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, fled abroad. The Nevilles returned to win the Battle of Northampton , where they captured Henry. When Richard joined them, he surprised Parliament by claiming the throne, then forcing through the Act of Accord , which stated that Henry would remain as monarch for his lifetime, but would be succeeded by York. Margaret found this disregarding of her son's claims unacceptable and so
30360-460: Was defeated at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 and lost control of Scotland. He was eventually deposed in a coup and from 1330 his son Edward III took control of the kingdom. Disputes over the status of Gascony led Edward III to lay claim to the French throne , resulting in the Hundred Years' War , in which the English enjoyed success, before a French resurgence during the reign of Edward III's grandson Richard II . The fourteenth century saw
30544-409: Was difficult to obtain because it could not be extracted through evaporation in the wet weather; it peaked in price in the period 1310–20, reaching double the price from the decade before. In the spring of 1316 it continued to rain on a European population deprived of energy and reserves to sustain itself. All segments of society from nobles to peasants were affected, but especially the peasants who were
30728-410: Was executed. Following Edward's premature death in 1483, his son Edward Prince of Wales became king, but Parliament declared him and his brother Richard, Duke of York illegitimate on the grounds of an alleged prior marriage to Lady Eleanor Talbot , leaving Edward's marriage invalid. Richard ascended the throne as Richard III and the fate of Edward's sons, the so called Princes in the Tower , remains
30912-416: Was forced to agree to the Provisions of Oxford by barons led by his brother-in-law, Simon de Montfort , under which his debts were paid in exchange for substantial reforms. He was also forced to agree to the Treaty of Paris with Louis IX of France , acknowledging the loss of the Dukedom of Normandy , Maine, Anjou and Poitou, but retaining the Channel Islands . The treaty held that "islands (if any) which
31096-455: Was guaranteed by the Valois family hostages being held in London, while John returned to France to raise his ransom. Edward gained possession of Normandy, Brittany, Anjou, Maine and the coastline from Flanders to Spain, restoring the lands of the former Angevin Empire. The hostages quickly escaped back to France. John, horrified that his word had been broken, returned to England and died there. Edward invaded France in an attempt to take advantage of
31280-414: Was no obvious heir to the Scottish throne. Edward was invited by the Scottish magnates to resolve the dispute. Edward obtained recognition from the competitors for the Scottish throne that he had the 'sovereign lordship of Scotland and the right to determine our several pretensions'. He decided the case in favour of John Balliol , who duly swore loyalty to him and became king. Edward insisted that Scotland
31464-437: Was not content with the peace agreement, but the renewal of the war with Scotland originated in private, rather than royal initiative. A group of English magnates known as The Disinherited, who had lost land in Scotland by the peace accord, staged an invasion of Scotland and won a victory at the Battle of Dupplin Moor in 1332. They attempted to install Edward Balliol as king of Scotland in David II 's place, but Balliol
31648-597: Was not independent and that as sovereign lord he had the right to hear in England appeals against Balliol's judgements, undermining Balliol's authority. At the urging of his chief councillors, John entered into an alliance with France in 1295. In 1296 Edward invaded Scotland, deposing and exiling Balliol. Edward was less successful in Gascony, which was overrun by the French. His commitments were beginning to outweigh his resources. Chronic debts had been incurred by wars against Flanders and Gascony in France, and Wales and Scotland in Britain. The clergy refused to pay their share of
31832-565: Was one of the indirect causes of the Hundred Years War . Friction intensified between the barons and the king. Henry repudiated the Provisions of Oxford and obtained a papal bull in 1261 exempting him from his oath. Both sides began to raise armies. Prince Edward , Henry's eldest son, was tempted to side with his godfather Simon de Montfort, and supported holding a Parliament in his father's absence, before he decided to support his father. The barons, under Montfort, captured most of south-eastern England. The war, its prelude and aftermath, included
32016-464: Was one of the last crusaders in the tradition aiming to recover the Holy Lands. Louis died before Edward's arrival and the result was anticlimactic; Edward's small force limited him to the relief of Acre and a handful of raids. Surviving a murder attempt by an assassin , Edward left for Sicily later in the year, never to return on crusade. The stability of England's political structure was demonstrated when Henry III died and his son succeeded as Edward I;
32200-404: Was painted with the words Scottorum malleus (Hammer of the Scots) and Pactum serva (Honour the vow). He was succeeded by his son as Edward II. Edward II's coronation oath on his succession in 1307 was the first to reflect the king's responsibility to maintain the laws that the community "shall have chosen" (" aura eslu "). The king was initially popular but faced three challenges: discontent over
32384-431: Was passed and the Edict of Expulsion was issued. This proved widely popular and was quickly carried out. Edward asserted that the king of Scotland owed him feudal allegiance, which embittered Anglo-Scottish relations for the rest of his reign. Edward intended to create a dual monarchy by marrying his son Edward to Margaret, Maid of Norway , who was the sole heir of Alexander III of Scotland . When Margaret died there
32568-457: Was produced in Latin and French. From the reign of Richard II there was an upsurge in the use of Middle English in poetry. Music and singing were important and were used in religious ceremonies, court occasions and to accompany theatrical works. During the twelfth century the style of Norman architecture became more ornate, with pointed arches derived from France, termed Early English Gothic . Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou 's marriage to
32752-399: Was recalled and there was a second period where the executive power lay with the Council of state. But this restoration of Commonwealth rule, similar to that before the Protectorate, proved to be unstable, and the exiled claimant, Charles II , was restored to the throne in 1660. In 1665 the unresolved commercial issues with the Dutch led to the Second Anglo-Dutch War , which culminated in
32936-496: Was resolved only with the near complete destruction of the Percy family at the Battle of Bramham Moor . In Wales Owain Glyndŵr 's widespread rebellion was only put down in 1408. Many saw it as a punishment from God when Henry was later struck down with leprosy and epilepsy . Henry IV died in 1413. His son and successor, Henry V was a successful and ruthless martial leader. Aware that Charles VI of France 's mental illness had caused instability in France, he invaded to assert
33120-493: Was rivalries that often spilled over from the courtroom into armed confrontations such as Percy–Neville feud . The common interest given by the war in France had ended, so Richard, Duke of York, and Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick , used their networks to defy the crown while the gentry attached themselves to different factions depending on their private feuds. Henry became the focus of discontent, as population, agricultural production, prices, wool trade and credit declined in
33304-441: Was soon expelled and was forced to seek the help of Edward III. The English king responded by laying siege to the important border town of Berwick and defeated a large relieving army at the Battle of Halidon Hill . Edward reinstated Balliol on the throne and received a substantial amount of land in southern Scotland. These victories proved hard to sustain, however, as forces loyal to David II gradually regained control of
33488-499: Was the Statute of the Jewry , which outlawed all usury and gave Jews fifteen years to buy agricultural land. However, popular prejudice made Jewish movement into mercantile or agricultural pursuits impossible. Edward attempted to clear his debts with the expulsion of Jews from Gascony, seizing their property and transferred all outstanding debts payable to himself. He made his continued tax demands more palatable to his subjects by offering to expel all Jews in exchange. The heavy tax
33672-407: Was the first English king to have a claim to the throne of France . His pursuit of the claim resulted in the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453), which pitted five kings of England of the House of Plantagenet against five kings of France of the Capetian House of Valois . Extensive naval raiding was carried out by all sides during the war, often involving privateers such as John Hawley of Dartmouth or
33856-450: Was to be the first Lord Protector. The Instrument of Government was replaced by a second constitution (the Humble Petition and Advice ) under which the Lord Protector could nominate his successor. Cromwell nominated his son Richard who became Lord Protector on the death of Oliver on 3 September 1658. Richard proved to be ineffectual and was unable to maintain his rule. He resigned his title and retired into obscurity. The Rump Parliament
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