ENGLISH LESSON JORGE BASADRE GROHMANN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

A BRIEF SURVEY OF CHIEF EVENTS AND DEVELOPMENTS IN THE BRITISH HISTORY

FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE END OF THE 15TH CENTURY

This first part describes the oldest inhabitants of Britain, the settlers
and invaders who kept coming there until 1066, and the feudal period in
Britain.

A.1.1 The mingling of the races (cca.250,000 B.C. – 11th century)

1.1.1 The Iberians and the Celts (cca.250,000-55 B.C.)

The oldest human inhabitants probably came to Britain about 250,000

years ago over the land bridge that connected today’s British Isles and
the Continent of Europe at that time.

The so-called Iberians reached Britain between 3,500 and 3,000 B.C.,
probably coming from the Iberian Peninsula. Both the Iberians and the
so-called Beaker people (c.2,000 B.C.; named after the beaker-shaped
pots they made) settled in the south of England.

The Iberians used stone and bone tools and their settlements were based
on “henges”, great circles of earth banks and huge standing stones
(e.g. Stonehenge). The Beaker people brought the knowledge of bronze to
Britain.

Soon after 700 B.C., Celtic tribes began to invade Britain. Between
cca.700 and 100 B.C., they settled the whole of Britain. They formed
tribal kingdoms that were frequently at war with each other.

1.1.2 Roman Britain (55 B.C. – 5th century A.D.)

Britain became a sphere of Roman interest in the 1st century B.C.

Julius Ceasar attempted to conquer Britain twice, in 55 and 54 B.C.,
his main aim being to prevent the Britons from providing their kinsmen
in today’s France with military aid. But the actual Roman conquest of
Britain by Emperor Claudius took place in 43 A.D.

By 80 A.D., the Romans had conquered today’s England, Wales and

southern Scotland, but problems in other parts of their empire made
them withdraw behind the so-called Hadrian’s Wall in the first half of
the 2nd century.

After crushing the Britons’ resistance, the Romans Romanised the

southern areas (i.e. they imposed their civilisation and way of life on
native people); northern Britain and Wales were placed under military
control and the natives were allowed to carry on with their own way of
life. A system of roads was constructed throughout Britain.

Roman rule in Britain declined towards the end of the 4th century as
the whole Roman Empire was falling apart. The last Roman legions were
withdrawn from Britain in the 5th century.

1.1.3 The Anglo-Saxon period (5th -11th cc.)

Anglo-Saxons (Angles, Saxons and Jutes) were Germanic tribes living in

today’s northern Germany and Denmark. They had already started
attacking the south coast of Britain in the 3rd century, but in the 5th
century they conquered and settled. the whole of today’s England. They
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ENGLISH LESSON JORGE BASADRE GROHMANN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

destroyed the Romano-British civilization and established their own,

agricultural one.

In the course of the 6th century, a number of rather unstable kingdoms

arose in England. Four of them successively held supremacy over the
others: Kent, Northumbria, Mercia and finally Wessex.

Christianity reached England from Ireland and from Rome at the end of
the 6th century. It played a highly important role in establishing
medieval society and in developing the statehood in England: the Church
served as the model for feudal kingdoms and gave kingship a sacred
character.

England was finally united under the kings of Wessex in the 10th
century. Danish Vikings had conquered a large part of north-eastern
England and created a confederation of Scandinavian communities called
Danelaw (878-975) there.

Alfred the Great of Wessex (871-c.900) defeated the Danes and his
successors reconquered the Danelaw in the 10th century. However, a new
Danish invasion shattered England in 978: in 1016, Canute (1016-35),
the King of Denmark and Norway, became the first king of a fully united
England. His Scandinavian Empire, however, broke up under his
incompetent successors and the Saxon heir, Edward the Confessor (1042-
66), was restored to the throne of England.

Edward unwittingly prepared the way for the Norman Conquest: he

introduced Norman nobles into high state offices and left behind a
disputed succession. After his death, Harold, son of the mightiest
English nobleman, was chosen to become king. But the Duke of Normandy
and the King of Norway claimed the English throne too, and both of them
attacked England almost simultaneously in 1066. Harold defeated the
Norsemen, but he was himself defeated and killed in the battle of
Hastings in October 1066 by William of Normandy, who succeeded him on
the English throne.

The Norman Conquest had been completed by 1069, and it had far-reaching
consequences for the development of England:

• England’s relations with Scandinavia were cut off and the country
came under French cultural influence; three languages were used in
England: Norman-French, the language of the ruling aristocracy and law
courts; Latin, the language of educated people; and English, spoken by
common Englishmen.

• England was given a new, Norman-French king and ruling class;

• the country was reorganised into a strong feudal state protected by

the English Channel; as a result, no further conquests have since
occurred.

A.1.2 From the Norman Conquest to the Hundred Years War: the feudal state
(11th – 13th cc.)

This period was marked by:

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ENGLISH LESSON JORGE BASADRE GROHMANN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

• a struggle between the centralising power of the king and the growing
challenge from the leading barons;

• a considerable development of trade and towns, which helped to

disintegrate the feudal system.

The gradual character of the Conquest and the support of the Church
enabled William the Conqueror (1066-87) to establish a strong
centralised state which was in sharp contrast to the anarchy of
political feudalism prevailing on the Continent. The Anglo-Saxon system
of shires was revived, and a royal officer was placed at the head of
each; besides, William prevented the creation of great baronies
independent of the royal power. He also established the fiscal basis of
the state by ordering a detailed survey of property value in every
shire to be made (the Domesday Book, 1086-87).

The process of strengthening the power of the state was continued by

William’s son Henry I (1100-35) and especially by Henry II (1154-89),
who ascended the throne after thirty years of anarchy (the War of
Succession, 1135-54). He ruled over a vast empire comprising England,
Normandy and a larger part of France than that controlled by the king
of France. (cf.Fig.5.) He restored the royal rights, tightened the
control over sheriffs and tried to get all courts under the royal
control (he failed with ecclesiastical courts – cf. his conflict with
Thomas Becket). Henry also started the English conquest of Ireland,
which was never fully completed. Henry’s sons were weak kings: Richard
I (Lion Heart, 1189-99) because he spent most of his reign fighting in
Palestine (in the Third Crusade) and in France; and John (Lackland,
1199-1216) because his misrule alienated his barons: in 1215, they
forced John to grant them the Magna Carta (Great Charter of Liberties),
which limited the royal power and laid the foundations for the later
Parliamentary monarchy.

Edward I (1272-1307), as able a monarch as Henry II, ascended the

throne after another civil war (1264-66). He will always be remembered
for summoning the Model Parliament (1295), called so because it
contained representatives of the three estates of Barons, Clergy and
Commons (i.e. all the elements of a future parliament). Edward
conquered north Wales (1285), but failed to conquer Scotland: the
Scottish kingdom kept its independence from England until 1714.

A.1.3 From the outbreak of the Hundred Years War to the end of the Wars of
the Roses: the decay of feudalism (14th + 15th cc.)

These two centuries form the period of transition from feudalism to

pre-industrial era. The long war with France helped to form a sense of
national identity: a native English culture was born and English became
the official language of the country.

1.3.1 The Hundred Years War (1337-1453)

This long war broke out after Edward III (1327-77) claimed the throne
of France, but its real objective was to bring Flanders (the main
English wool trade market) and Gascony (the chief supplier of wine and
salt) under English control. The long war is traditionally divided into
three stages, with periods of uneasy truce between them:
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ENGLISH LESSON JORGE BASADRE GROHMANN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

• The first stage (1337-60) was successful for England, because the
English army consisted of well-organised professional soldiers, while
the French army was an undisciplined feudal host. The French suffered
two crushing defeats at Crécy (1346) and Poitiers (1356), and gained
large territories in France.

• The second stage (1369-75) was successful for France: the French
adopted the strategy of guerrilla war, and gradually reconquered the
lost territory except for two ports.

• The third stage (1415-53): The war was resumed by Henry V (1413-22),
the second Lancastrian king: he dealt the French another crushing
defeat at Agincourt (1415) and gradually extended his territory. In
1420, he was acknowledged heir to the French throne. Though he died in
1422, the war continued and, in 1428, the French were defending their
last stronghold at Orleans. The appearance of Joan of Arc in 1429,
however, led to a French revival. The war dragged on for more than
twenty years, until the battle of Chatillon finally ended it in 1453.

The war exhausted England and led to political disruption, which

enabled the outbreak of the Wars of the Roses.

1.3.2 The Black Death (1348-51) and the Peasants’ Revolt (1381)

In the mid-14th century, an epidemic of bubonic plague called “Black

Death” swept across Europe. It reduced the English population by nearly
a half, which caused a severe shortage of labour. As a result, free
workers were able to obtain higher wages and serfs demanded
compensation for labour services.

By the end of the 1370s, however, the population had increased and the
peasants could no longer demand either higher wages or release from
serfdom. High taxes were demanded in order to pay for the war in
France: in 1379, the so-called Poll Tax was imposed on every male over
sixteen. This situation resulted in the outbreak of a revolt in 1381:
the rebels marched on London and held the government at their mercy.
King Richard II (1377-99), who was a boy of fourteen at that time,
promised to meet all their demands, but as soon as they dispersed, the
revolt was brutally crushed.

Yet, there was no return to the previous system, and serfdom had
disappeared by the end of the 15th century.

1.3.3 The Wars of the Roses (1455-85)

This series of wars was a dynastic struggle between two powerful

families, the Lancastrians and the Yorkists, both descendants of Edward
III: they fought for the crown. The Wars were marked by indecisive
victories and defeats on both sides. During the thirty years of
intermittent fighting, the feudal nobility was impoverished and almost
exterminated, while the Crown became wealthy, as a result of
confiscations of their estates for the benefit of the Crown after each
battle. This paved the way for the establishing of Tudor absolutism.

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ENGLISH LESSON JORGE BASADRE GROHMANN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

PRODUCTIVE ASSIGNMENT

FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE END OF THE 15TH CENTURY

1. Complete the following table:

2. Why can it be said that Edward the Confessor “unwittingly prepared

the way for the Norman Conquest”?

3. What helped William the Conqueror establish a strong centralised

state and what limited the power of English sovereigns later?

4. What led to the outbreak of the Hundred Years War? Which of its
three stages were successful for England and why?

5. What caused the Wars of the Roses?

6. Arrange these events in chronological order:

( ) The Black Death ravages England.

( ) Emperor Claudius conquers Britain.

( ) Duke William defeats King Harold at Hastings.

( ) The Hundred Years War ends.

( ) Christianity reaches England.

( ) King John grants his barons the Great Charter of Liberties.

( ) The Wars of the Roses end.

( ) Alfred the Great defeats the Danish Vikings.

( ) The Peasants’ Revolt breaks out.

7. Design a timeline of the first parto f the British history.