British History: From Roman Empire to the Stuart Dynasty
Language and Culture
Fall of the Roman Empire
In the late 4th century, under Constantine, the Western Roman Empire fell apart after nearly a 500-year run as the world’s greatest superpower. Many factors contributed to this decline, but most historians agree that a combination of factors such as Christianity, decadence, lead, monetary trouble, and military problems caused the fall of Rome.
The fate of Western Rome was partially sealed in the late third century when the Emperor divided the Empire into two halves: Constantinople and Milan. The division made the empire more easily governable in the short term, but over time the two halves drifted apart. East and West failed to adequately work together to combat outside threats, and the two often squabbled over resources and military aid.
The most straightforward theory for Western Rome’s collapse pins the fall on a string of military losses sustained against outside forces. Rome had tangled with Germanic tribes for centuries, but by the 300s, “barbarian” groups like the Goths had encroached beyond the Empire’s borders.
Even as Rome was under attack from outside forces, it was also crumbling from within thanks to a severe financial crisis.
The decline of Rome dovetailed with the spread of Christianity, and some have argued that the rise of a new faith helped contribute to the empire’s fall.
The Barbarian attacks on Rome partially stemmed from a mass migration caused by the Huns’ invasion of Europe in the late fourth century. When these Eurasian warriors rampaged through northern Europe, they drove many Germanic tribes to the borders of the Roman Empire.
The Roman Empire was not only expanded but was also modified by the conquered people. The structure of Roman government changed to deal with new situations. Emperors moved the capital away from the city of Rome.
Anglo-Saxons
In the late 4th century, Romans governed the greater part of the island. In the 5th century, when the Roman government had neither the will nor the resources to maintain its authority in Britain, power passed into the hands of native chieftains and aristocrats.
The German immigrants came from many parts of the North Sea Coastal plain beyond the Roman frontier. The Romans naturally called both Saxons and Angles as Saxons.
In the 7th century, conversion to Christianity occurred (The Venerable Bede).
By the 8th century, the names Angles and Saxons were used by the Germanic inhabitants of Britain to describe themselves, but there was already a tendency to prefer the former. This preference led in time to their language being called Englisc and by the 11th century, it was called Englandland (the land of the English).
The term Anglo-Saxon was coined on the continent to distinguish the Saxons of Britain from the Old Saxons who had remained in their continental homeland.
At the end of the 8th century, Anglo-Saxons were regarded as the ancestral English (Viking invasions). By the end of the 9th century, England and Scotland emerged as two separate kingdoms. Constantine I was one of the greatest Kings of Scotland.
Vikings conquered the kingdom of Mercia and they occupied the Royal monastery of Repton, which was destroyed, and records of the raids were destroyed too.
Anglo-Saxon society was patriarchal, but women were in some ways better off than they would be in later times. A woman could own property in her own right.
The strongest social bonds were the claims of kinship and the claims of lordship. Loyalty to a lord might sometimes conflict with loyalty to kin. But on both counts, Anglo-Saxon society always set great store by faithfulness and the keeping of oaths.
Anglo-Saxon gods are: Tiw (Tuesday), Woden (Wednesday), Thor (Thursday), Frey (Friday).
In the 10th century, monasticism was re-established (reformation).
In 1016, Cnut became king of England.
Anglo-Saxon rule came to an end in 1066, soon after the death of Edward the Confessor. Harold was defeated by the Normans at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and thus a new era was ushered in.
Invasion of Normandy
In January 1066, Edward the Confessor died, leaving no direct heir to the throne. There were three contenders for the throne: William, Duke of Normandy; Harold Godwinson, the powerful Earl of Wessex; and Harold Hardrada, not related to Edward the Confessor.
The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between William, Duke of Normandy, and Harold Godwinson. It took place approximately 7 miles northwest of Hastings. It was a decisive Norman victory; the exact numbers present at the battle are unknown. Harold appears to have tried to surprise William, but scouts found his army and reported its arrival to William, who marched from Hastings to the battlefield to confront Harold. Harold’s death led to the retreat and defeat of most of his army.
Hastings marked the culmination of William’s conquest of England. William I initially kept English earls and leading churchmen in power, by the time the ‘Domesday Book’ was completed.
Causes of the Norman Conquest:
- Aristocratic families dividing their lands between different branches, with separate English and continental branches developing.
- Inhabitants of England distinguished themselves from those in less economically developed parts of the British Isles, who were condemned as ecclesiastically, socially, and culturally backward.
Consequences of the Norman Conquest:
- Feudalism: describes a set of reciprocal legal and military obligations among the warrior nobility, evolving around the three key concepts of lords, vassals, and fiefs. Feudalism usually emerged as a result of the decentralization of an empire.
By the 12th century, English writers disparaged other people, notably the Welsh and Irish, by depicting their economies as primitive, as lacking markets, exchange, and towns.
Nobles had received their lands by royal grant, and in turn, gave some of their lands to their own followers. This form is often regarded as a key element of a ‘feudal’ system.
- Domesday Book: it is a manuscript record of the ‘Great Survey’ of much of England and parts of Wales. It was written in Medieval Latin.
William I ordered that the book should contain information on who owned what throughout the country and nobody could dispute it. This is why the book brought doom and gloom to the people of England, rather like Judgement Day when a soul was judged for Heaven or Hell.
Black Death (1349)
The Black Death was one of the most devastating bubonic plague pandemics, completed in 1349.
It was a bacterium that is carried by fleas and can be transferred to humans through contact with rats.
English society and economy were already in the throes of major change, called a ‘crisis’ and there is an equivalent consensus that the Black Death did relatively little to speed the process thereafter.
The demographic crisis resulted in a temporary rise in women’s status, and women’s position relative to men remained fairly consistent across the 14th and 15th centuries.
The consequences of the Black Death included a series of religious, social, and economic upheavals. The Peasant Revolt (1381) is another consequence. From the perspective of the survivors, the impact was much more benign, for their labor was in higher demand. For English peasants, the 15th century was a golden age of prosperity and new opportunities.
Peasants’ Revolt (1381)
The Peasants’ Revolt started in Essex in 1381. The Peasants were not just protesting against the government. Since the Black Death, poor people had become increasingly angry that they were still serfs.
Before the rebel army could retaliate, Richard II stepped forward and promised to abolish serfdom.
Although the Revolt was defeated, its demands all became part of democracy in the long term. The Peasants’ Revolt was a popular uprising.
Magna Carta
Magna Carta is one of the most famous documents in the world, originally created because of disagreements between King John and his English barons about the rights of the king. It represents the first time that limitations to royal rights were established in written law. It was not only the birth certificate of freedom; it was also the death certificate of despotism.
Rights established by the Magna Carta have subsequently become fundamental principles of international human rights, and it can be argued that democratic societies developed as a long-term consequence of this charter.
The Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453)
The most significant consequence of the Black Death was the Hundred Years’ War, from 1337 to 1453. It was fought between England and France (House of Plantagenet vs. House of Valois).
The war marked both the height of chivalry and its subsequent decline, and the development of strong national identities in both countries.
Two factors lay at the origin of the conflict: first, the status of the duchy of Guyenne through it belonged to the kings of England, it remained afield of the French crown, and the kings of England wanted independent possession; second, as the closest relatives of the last direct Capetian King, the kings of England from 1337 claimed the crown of France.
The French Kings had the financial and military resources of the most populous and powerful state in Western Europe. However, the expeditionary English army proved repeatedly victorious over much larger French forces. King John of France was forced to accept the Treaty of Calais, which granted complete independence to the Duchy of Guyenne.
Henry V of England renewed the war and proved victorious, conquered Normandy, and then attempted to have himself crowned as the future King of France by the Treaty of Troyes.
The end of the conflict was never marked by a peace treaty but died out because the English recognized that the French troops were too strong to be directly confronted.
War of the Roses (1455-1485)
The Wars of the Roses were a series of wars for the control of the throne of England fought between the two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet:
- The House of Lancaster (associated with a red rose)
- The House of York (associated with a white rose)
The conflict lasted through many sporadic episodes between 1455 and 1485.
The power struggle ignited around social and financial troubles following the Hundred Years’ War, combined with the mental infirmity and weak rule of Henry VI, which revived interest in Richard, Duke of York’s claim to the throne.
With the Duke of York’s passing, the claim transferred to his heir as Edward IV. Soon after Edward IV’s death, the throne passed to Edward V, and then to Richard III who became King and the ‘Prince in the Tower’.
The final victory went to a claimant of the Lancastrian party, Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, who defeated the last Yorkist king, Richard III, at the Battle of Bosworth Field.
After assuming his throne as Henry VII, he married Elizabeth of York. The House of Tudor ruled the Kingdom of England until 1603, with the death of their granddaughter, Elizabeth I (1558-1603).
Paston Letters (1422-1529)
The Paston Letters are a collection of letters and papers consisting of the correspondence of members of the Paston family. The letters cover the years from 1422 to 1529. It was a first-hand testimony of the social benefits the plague brought to the peasantry, the chaotic effects of the War of the Roses on the general populace, and the individual impact that the Black Death could have on a family.
The Tudor Age (1485-1603)
The Tudor period is the period between 1485 and ends with the completion of the reign of Elizabeth I in 1603.
England was economically healthier, more expansive, and more optimistic under the Tudors. High agricultural prices gave farms strong incentives to produce crops for sale in the dearest markets.
While the population of 16th-century England was steadily increasing, prices were rising as well, and the real wages of the greater part of the population were falling.
It was a period of Reformation, the consequence of a grand theological debate and father criticism to the church (Henry VIII), but Mary I attempted to restore Catholicism.
Queen Mary I died and the only heir was Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.
Elizabeth I (1558-1603)
Elizabeth I was queen of England and Ireland from 1558 until her death (1603). She was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.
At the start of Elizabeth’s reign, England had no overseas possessions. In contrast, Spain was acquiring great wealth from vast territories it conquered. England wanted a share of the action.
Sir Francis Drake became the first sea captain to sail, plundering Spanish treasure ships. When Spain’s ‘Invincible Armada’ was defeated, England grew in maritime confidence and Elizabeth supported new trading enterprises on the other side of the world in Southeast Asia.
England during this period had a centralized, well-organized, and effective government. Economically, the country began to benefit greatly.
It was a brief period of largely internal peace between the English Reformation and the battles between Catholics and Protestants.
The Elizabethan era was a period of English drama, led by playwrights such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe.
The 16th century was also a time when the poor became poorer, books and opinions were censored, and plots to overthrow the queen were rife.
Elizabeth I, the last of the Tudor monarchs, died in 1603 and the thrones of England, Wales, and Scotland passed to her cousin James Stuart, also known as James I.
- Martin Luther: he was a German friar, priest, and professor of theology who was a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation. The Reformation was the consequence of a grand theological debate. He promoted criticism of the Church although he was a friar (Catholic priest)
The Stuarts (1603-1688)
The Stuarts were the first kings of the United Kingdom. King James IV of Scotland became also King James I of England.