Political Developments in Medieval England:

1. Establishment of Normans
Soon after the death of Hardicanute in 1042, the Witan chose the youngest son of
Ethelred the Unready who became in history Edward the Confessor. He was the
last Anglo-Saxon king and man responsible for the advent of the Normans to
England. He showed favouritism to the Normans and the top offices were filled in
by them. He was always guided by the Norman friends. Naturally, the England
people got disgusted with their King’s partiality for foreigners and formed a
national party under the leadership of Godwine’, KING’S own father-in-law. This
party stood for the cause of England. AS against this party, the Normans who were
in favour of the king formed a Norman Party.
Godwine was banished at this by the king as he disobeyed the
king to take action on a brand of people who fought with a friend of the king. He
had come to visit the king. The Norman hostility was behind this attack. Also at
this time William, the Duke of Normandy the king’s cousin visited England and he
became a constant visitor of the country. The childless king promised William the
English throne after his death. There was a great reaction against this, Godwine
returned from exile; but he died soon, leaving the leadership to Harold. When
Edward the Confessor died in 1066, Harold was enthroned as the King of England.
William came back to England according to a promise to sit on the throne. But now
there had to be a fight between Harold and William. In the battle of Hastings in
1066, William defeated Harold and he was declared by Witan the lawful king of
England.
The importance of the Norman rule and its consequences.
The Norman conquest was a turning point in the history of England. Marked
changes occurred in the social, political, and literary life of the English. The
outstanding abilities of the Normans were political ability, organising capacity, and
refinement of culture. The Norman conquest brought England into the orbit of the
continental culture and civilization of Europe.
RELIGION: It was Christianity that illuminated the dark Middle Ages and it was
this Christian culture that spread to England as a result of the Norman conquest.
The Normans were a superior race because of their rule, their language, their
system of government, and laws of justice. They were better rulers, soldiers, and
better churchmen than English men. It was a fortunate thing, therefore, the
Normans conquered England. The feudal frame of society, a strong centralized
government, and a catholic mind were the Norman gifts to England.
The English church was reformed and it came into close contact with the church
of Rome. Before the Normans came, the English church was in a very deplorable
condition. The priests were immoral; many married and had children. They
committed the sin of simony( buying or selling of a church office , sale of
benefices for money) and Plurality( holding more than one office at the same time).
The priests were illiterate and the criminous clergy were tried in shire court as
there was no separate court for them.
After the Norman conquest, the conditions were changed. William the conqueror
held two church councils every year where important matters were discussed. The
village priests were kept under control. English bishops were replaced by Norman
bishops; strict discipline was enforced upon the clergy. They were not allowed to
marry. William gave a separate court to the church where disputes regarding
religious affairs were discussed and decided. They also constructed a large number
of monasteries and fine cathedrals. The result was that the church began to play an
important role in the lives of the people.
Architecture: The Normans introduced a new style of architecture and
constructed many churches, monasteries, and cathedrals in the style of Norman
architecture. It is characterized by heavy, load-bearing masonry construction,
comparatively modest window apertures, deeply recessed doorways, massive
columns or piers, and the use of the round arch and its derivatives Eg: Cathedral of
Gloucester.
Trade: During this period there was growth in trade and commerce and
emergence of towns that enjoyed all the privileges. Almost every town had self
government. The city of London had many privileges, she had the right to levy
taxes from the citizens of the metropolis and the taxes thus collected were used for
its own purpose after giving a specified amount to the crown.
Judiciary : The Normans were lovers of justice; they made justice the supreme
reality of the realm. All the lower courts were made to function properly by such
courts as the Great Council, King’s court, itinerant judges, and so on. Through
these ,bodies the king’s justice felt even in the remotest parts of England. The
highest judicial body of Normans was the Great Council( Curia Regis). To
execute justice equally and fairly, Normans formed a smaller body out of the great
council called the Curia Regis. It functioned on two levels. It was the highest court
of appeal and it had financial power. Its duty was to collect the feudal dues and
supervise the state revenue.
Language: Culturally speaking the Normans conquest surely influenced the
English language. By far the most important and drastic influence on English
language was exercised by the Norman French. The culture and language of the
Normans were definitely superior to that of the English so that the words
representing a higher standard of life and civilisation are presented by them to the
English language. Almost every word relating to government and to the highest
administration are of French origin. In the Norman period it was the language of
the court and the upper class people; whereas English was the language of the
peasants and the illiterate. England was distinctly bilingual during the Norman
period.Many of the current English words are of French origin.eg.crown , state .
parliament, war , peace, jury , uncle, aunt and so on.
Political/ Norman Feudalism: The political consequences of the Norman
conquest was the introduction and systematisation of feudalism in England. The
development of feudalism in England is generally associated with the Norman
conquest; but it was not altogether new to England. It was only defined and
systematised during the Norman rule of England. The feudalism of some sort
existed in England many years before the Norman conquest. It was there during the
Roman invasion of England. The Romans considered the beaten people as slaves
who rendered services to the master for protection and security from external
dangers. During the Anglo-Saxon period war was a constant phenomenon and
hence the need and status of the thegns considerably arose because they were the
warlords and their services were greatly required to protect life and property from
the attack of the enemies. They were in great demand when the Danes began to
attack England. For their services, they were greatly rewarded and they became
great feudal lords. Soon there developed an intimacy between the lord and the
peasants, the former protecting the vassal and the latter rendering service. This
inseparable relationship between the lord and the peasant is the essence of
feudalism.
Feudalism achieved a definite shape and assumed its full development only
during the Norman rule. The Norman rulers wanted to enforce a feudalistic pattern
of society. William the Conqueror, the first Norman King was responsible for the
incentive given to the spread of feudalism. He himself was a feudal duke in France
before he became the king of England. As a part of his administrative reforms in
England William confiscated the lands from thegns and Ango-Saxons nobles and
re-distributed it among the Norman barons( land lords) and favorites in return for
military service.
English feudalism underwent certain changes during the reign of William the
conqueror. These changes were effected by the Oath of Salisbury and Doomsday
Book. William was a shrewd king and took several steps to check the power of the
barons and to bring them under control. He changed the pattern of relationship
between the vassal and the king. He demanded that all land holders should meet
him at a place called Salisbury to swear an oath of fealty to him that they would be
faithful to him against all others. This is called the Oath of Salisbury in 1086. The
significance of the oath is that it established a direct tie between the king and all his
tenants. It claimed that the tenants of lower rank had the duty of obeying the king
first and the feudal lords after.
One of the important steps taken by William to check the baronial power was to
make a detailed record of the land belonging to each tenant of the king and feudal
dues he had to pay. The complete record has come to be known as Doomsday Book
which means the book by which all would be meadows. It presents the details of
every holding, every manor, how it is called , the lord’s name, how many fish
ponds , how many Villeins, how much wood and meadows, the value of estates,
the domestic animals, and so on.
The baronial courts were kept strictly under the control of the king by means of
shire court and the Great Council. Besides, William, in order to weaken the power
of the baron, did not give land to the baron at one place and the result was that no
baron was able to collect his forces at one place and defy the authority of the king.
Another feature of Norman feudalism was the appointment of
officers in Manors( feudal estate). Feudalism is a concept but it was implemented
in the practical life through the manorial system. The manor was the property of a
single lord. A manor included one or more villages. The Manor was divided into
two parts, the lord’s domain, and the peasants' holdings. The lord's domain was
divided into three parts, arable, meadow, and wasteland. The meadow and the
waste were common to all those who lived in the lord’s domain. The arable land
was cultivated on three field systems, it was divided into three; one part was
cultivated with wheat, one was barley and the third was fallow which was plowed
but did not cultivate anything so as to give the land rest after two years of crop
production.
 The lord's domain was worked by the villeins. Compulsory labour on the
lord’s domain was a distinguishing mark of villeinage under feudalism. They did
not receive any wage for all sorts of mean services he rendered to the lord.
Each manor had its court presided over by the lord. All the disputes among
the villeins were decided there. The punishments were in terms of fine; hence
profitable to the lord. A manor was managed by a small number of officials.
Steward was the supervisor. Each manor would have a bailiff who attended to the
details of administration. The Reeve was elected by the tenants to keep account of
the performance of each man. He was an intermediary between the lord and the
tenants; he also brought to the notice of the lord the grievances of the tenant.
The mill was an important building in each manor. It was owned by the lord of
the manor and worked by the miller. Everybody was required to take his corn to the
mill for grinding and nobody was allowed to grind his own corn.
The tenants in a manor were of different classes and different social statuses.
After the lord, the rector of the parish came in social importance. He had a
comfortable living. He was entitled to get 1/10 of the produce. Apart from this he
also got fees for marriage and burial. Next to the rector were the freemen. The
freemen were not required to perform forced service but only military service.
Below them came the villeins who were bound to soil and render compulsory
labour and military service. There were another class of men below the villeins.
They were Borderers and cottars. They lived in hills and mountains

2. Crusades:
The Crusades were a holy war fought by the Christians of Europe against
the Muslims of Turkey who held Palestine and other holy places of the
Christians like Jerusalem in the 11th and 12th centuries. It got its name from
the fact that the Christians took the cross as their emblem in these holy wars.
There were many crusades.
The Turkish Muslims began to persecute the Christians if they entered
the holy places and the stories of Turkish brutality spread like wildfire in
Europe and the whole of Christendom resented it. The Christian countries of
Europe, in spite of their diversity in language and culture, had a unity in
faith. They had all recognised the supremacy of the Pope. So all the
monarchs and Christian population felt it as a common issue touching their
faith itself and they were only glad to die to protect their faith. The medieval
knights and feudal barons also took part in the crusades . The Knights were
eagerly looking forward to exhibiting the chivalry which was a characteristic
of the age. Similarly, the feudal barons hoped to enrich themselves on the
spoils in the crusades. The Papal invocation for the crusades, therefore, got a
thunderous welcome from all over Europe to march against the infidels
ruling over the holy places.
Of all the crusades the first one (1097-1099) was the most successful one
because they took back Jerusalem from the hands of the Turks in 1099.
Many were mercilessly massacred. The second Crusade was fought in 1147
when the Muslims captured one of the Chritian kingdoms in Palestine. The
lead was taken up by Louis VII of France; but nothing was achieved.
The third Crusade(“King’s Crusade) was fought in 1189 when
the Holy City was captured by Seljuk Turks under their leader Saladin in
1187.The Third Crusade is perhaps the most memorable Crusade, even more
so than the First Crusade, because it included the three great kings of
Europe—the kings of England, France, and Germany—as actual
participants.
England took the leadership at this time under Richard I. But as Saladin
was a better general the crusaders could not take back Jerusalem; but he was
kind enough to make a treaty with Richard I(Ruler of England), accordingly
the christians were given free access to the Holy places. The bravery of
Richard won for him the title of Richard , the Lion hearted. The third
crusade failed mainly due to the lack of unity among the leaders of the
crusade. Philip II ofFrance and the Duke of Austria too had joined the
Crusade. Richard quarrelled with Philip on the way to the Holy land over the
issue as to who should rule Jerusalem even before it was captured.
The fourth crusade (1202) was not a crusade in the real sense of the world.
It was a war between Venice and Constantinople for commercial supremacy.
The Crusades were failures as the Holy land was never freed from the
Muslims. It was mainly due to the lack of a common leader for the
Christians of Europe. Besides, the crusaders were not properly motivated by
the zeal to fight for the religion. They were ambitious for money and power.
Results.
The crusades had a drastic effect on English society. Money was required to
recover the Holy Land from the Muslims From time to time new taxes were
 levied for the purpose of the Crusades. A tax called Saladin Tithe was
imposed on the people to raise money to help the crusaders which put the
people under unbearable financial strain.
Crusades strengthened the hands of the monarch and weakened the
nobility. Many feudal barons were away in the Holy City during the years of
the Crusade. This enabled the kings to strengthen the position. Many of them
died on the battlefield and even those who returned were too weak to rise
against the King.Some of them had to sell their land to meet the expenses of
the war and they became landless. The crusades, therefore, hastened the
destruction of feudalism.
There was also a rapid growth of towns in Europe as a result of the
Crusades . The trading centres were able to buy several privileges in the
form of charters from the king or the lord who needed money for the
crusade. These charters granted the town people to form their own local
self governments. They could collect the taxes without the interference of
the lord’s bailiff. The English towns after obtaining freedom developed their
organisations and activities on independent lines.(for model exam)
3. Magna Carta :
The most important event of the reign of king John (brother of Richard 1-
they were Plantagenet rulers. After the death of William the Conqueror,
his son William Rufus ascended the throne as William II and was
followed by his brother, Henry I. When Henry I died, his grandson (his
daughter Matilda’s son) Henry IIwas only two years old. Therefore
Stephen, the nephew of Henry I, became the next king. Following his
death, Henry II, son of Matilda and Geoffrey, Count of Anjou ( a
province in France )became the new ruler and the first king of the
Plantagenet family. The name plantagenet was given to the family as
Geoffrey used to wear a sprig of the broom (genet) plant in his cap. This
family is also known by the name of Angevins, which means from
Anjou) was the signing of the Magna Carta or great Charter at Runnymede
on 15 June, 1215. Three causes produced the combination against John
which culminated in the granting of this charter.
He divorced his first wife and carried off one lady called Isabella
in spite of the threats of the Church. It offended France because Isabella was
betrothed to a French count. The king of FRance Philip, took up the cause of
the French noble and declared war on John, and attacked John’s possessions
in France. Consequently, his provinces were lost. The loss of French
possession was greatly resented by all the people.
John committed another mistake in coming into contact with the Church.
In 1205 the Archbishop of Canterbury died and the monks of Canterbury
chose their superior as the Archbishop and sent his name to Rome to get
approved by the Pope. King John had his own candidate John De Grey and
sent his name to Rome to get the Papal sanction. The Pope, however, set
aside both the elections and named Stephen Langton , an upright
Englishman who was a cardinal at that time. John refused to accept the
decision of the Pope.His contention was that the Pope had no right to
interfere in this matter . But the people supported the decision of the Pope
Innocent III;but unfortunately John did not accept the decision of the Pope
and ordered Stephen Langton not to enter England. The Pope
excommunicated John and placed England under an interdict for five years.
As John did not yield even by this, the Pope called upon the French king to
declare war on England . When he was faced with a rebellion at home and a
French invasion from without, he submitted unconditionally to the Pope and
accepted Stephen Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury.
There was a general opposition to the King. The barons were discontented
on account of the loss of their power through the growth of absolute
monarchy. They had suffered on account of cruel punishments by the king,
heavy exactions, harsh exercise of feudal rights and also from his immoral
conduct. Now it was time for the discontented clergy and barons to assemble
together under the leadership of the Archbishop and enumerate their
demands in the form of a charter. They met at a place called Runnymede on
15th June 1215 and the Archbishop presented the document . This document
is called the Great Charter(Magna Carta).
Magna Carta is an important landmark in the history of England . It is the
starting point of the English man’s democratic freedom; it is the voice of a
nation against autocracy and oppression and is often described as the
keystone of English liberties or the Bible of the English Constitution.
The Magna Carta contains 63 clauses. It was a practical document dealing
with the immediate grievances of the people and also their practical
remedies. Arbitrary taxation was made illegal. Article 61 provides religious
 freedom. It said that the Church was to be free and was to enjoy all rights
and privileges including freedom of election to bishoprics. Article 39 and 40
are considered to be essential clauses. These clauses emphasize the
supremacy of law over all subjects and the need of meting out justice to all
without any discrimination. Nobody shall be imprisoned or punished except
by the law of the land and justice should not be denied to any citizen.
4. The Hundred Years war(1338-1453)
The Hundred years war broke out in 1338 and lasted with occasional breaks
till 1453. It is true that it was not a continuous war. Sometimes there was war
and sometimes there was peace and during this period years passed without
any battle. Truces were made and broken. The causes for the beginning of
the war and renewal of the war were different. The consequences of the war
on different occasions were also different. Sometimes one party had the
upper hand and sometimes the other. However, the relations between France
and England were unfriendly for about 100 years.
The main cause of these intermittent wars was the desire of the French
kings to drive English out of their realm and the attempt of the English
monarchs to retain their vast possessions in France. This long period covers
the reign of five English kings,viz.Edward III, Richard II, Henry IV, Henry
V and Henry VI. The Normans and Angevins kings of England had inherited
extensive portions of France like Normandy , Maine, Calais, Gascony and
Flanders. Since John’s day almost all of them were lost except Gascony,
Flanders and Calais. Edward wanted to regain the lost possessions . The
French king on the other hand wanted to deprive England of Gascony and
Flanders, the two important trading centres for British goods like wine and
wool.
The Hundred Years War can be divided up into three stages.The first phase
would cover the period of 1337 to 1360 when the war first broke out. This
phase concluded with England gaining control of more than half of France's
territory and vassal states.The second phase began in 1369 and lasted until
1389. It was during this phase that the newly crowned King of France
Charles V managed to push back the tide of England's territorial conquests
as the war widened to include Spain and Portugal as well. This phase
concluded with England having to sue for peace as internal issues took focus
away from the wider war. The third phase began in 1415 with the
 resumption of the war by Henry V. Henry managed to muster the English
forces and defeat the French at Agincourt, winning the throne of France for
his heir. Soon after his death in 1429 the French refused to recognise
England’s claim to their throne. The war began once again and english
forces were winning several victories by 1428. Suddenly , in a dramatic turn
of events, the French forces, led by a peasant girl named Joan helped
inspire the defeated French to counter-attack and by 1449 the French had
retaken all of their territory with the exception of Normandy.
The consequences and effects of the Hundred Years' War

● The loss of all English-held territory in France except Calais.

● Though Britain lost French territories but it was a blessing for them. Instead
of wasting time, energy and money in a foreign country, they turned their
attention to improve their country through trade and commerce.
● A high number of casualties amongst the nobility, particularly in France.
● A great wave of taxes to pay for the war which contributed to social unrest
in both countries.
● The development of a stronger Parliament in England. Parliament gained
strength during the hundred year’s war. The war was an expensive one and
the kings of England did not possess a lot of money. The result was that they
had to depend more and more on parliament for the grant of funds. It granted
funds to the kings on certain conditions.Thus it obtained many concessions
from the king.
● The almost total bankruptcy of the English treasury at the war's end.
● The disagreement over the conduct of the war and its failure fuelled the
dynastic conflict in England known as the Wars of the Roses (1455-1487
CE).The war caused political chaos in both countries. In Britain Barons
fought each other at home and this ultimately led to the War of the Roses.
● The devastation of French towns and villages by mercenary soldiers between
battles.
● Developments in weapons technology such as cannons.
● The consolidation of the French monarch's control over all of France.
● A greater use of international diplomacy and specialised diplomats.
● A greater feeling of nationalism amongst the populations of both countries.
It engendered national spirit and patriotism in England, for England fought
 as one nation against France. The English people became a nation under the
stress of circumstances. The feeling against the French helped to put an end
to that subordination of English to French culture which the Norman
conquest had established. The upper classes spoke French language and
followed French manners. The English language was thrown to the
background. After the war, however, French was regarded as an enemy
language and it was considered to be unpatriotic to use the same.
● The creation of national heroes, notably Henry V in England and Joan of
Arc in France

5. Black Death:

A new and deadly form of plague reached England in 1348. It originally

came from China. In England it carried off at least one third of the
population; the rich and the poor, town and country fell before the terrible
pestilence. Outbreak of pestilences was very common in those days the
people had little knowledge of hygiene and sanitation. Some of the villages
were completely emptied; many monasteries and parishes became desolate.
Few parts of the country escaped altogether but the violence of the first
plague was spent by the end of 1349. A second and less severe visitation
followed in 1361 and a third in 1369.

Apart from the terrible loss of life , the plague had far-reaching effects
which affected the social and economic life of the people. There was acute
shortage of labour and therefore sheep farming that required few labourers
was adopted by landlords. They, therefore, converted many acres of arable
land into pasture land and England began to export wool abroad chiefly to
Flanders in France, which made the nation rich.

After the Black death there was a shortage of labour and consequently many
landlords began to hire extra labourers. Now they were badly in need of
money to pay the labourers. This necessitated them to commute the
compulsory labour of the villeins accepting money from them to pay the
hired labourers. The villeins were only glad to pay a fixed sum of money
 instead of the compulsory labour which gave them freedom of movement.
Villeingae disappeared slowly as a result of Black DEath.

The hired labourers demanded higher wages but the landlords resisted.
Statutes of Labourers were passed in 1349 and 1351 to meet the situation.
These statutes compelled the landlords to pay and the labourers to accept the
rates of wages current before the Black Death. But it was not easy to enforce
these statutes due to the pressure of the workers. Due to the extreme
shortage of workers the landlords themselves willingly broke the law and
paid more.

As a large number of clergy men died , many new clergymen had to be

ordained. To meet the demand for additional clergymen new religious
houses were founded and many colleges were set up at Oxford and
Cambridhge to train secular priests.

6. The Peasants’ Revolt 1381

The peasant revolt happened during the ruling time of Richard II. There
were many causes for it. There was a lot of discontentment in the country on
account of the efforts of the landlords to enforce the Statute of Labourers
which were very harsh and completely ignored the situation created in the
country as a result of the Black Death. The workers did not get a fair wage.
Besides, the prices had risen and it was impossible for the labourers to
accept the low wages which were wholly insufficient for their mere
existence.

The government imposed new taxes on the people to meet the expenses of
the HundredYears War and the people were not willing to pay them as the
government was not pursuing the war with success. A new poll tax was
levied in 1380. This act pressed heavily on the poorest classes who were
previously exempted from taxation. The poll tax was the immediate cause of
the revolt of 1381.

The revolt of 1381 was not directly encouraged by Wycliffe.

However, he introduced it indirectly by preaching the doctrine of equality of
men before God and his attack on the wealth of the clergy. The preachings of
John Ball, the mad priest of Kent gave an incentive to the revolt. He
persuaded the people to fight for liberty and equality. Under these
circumstances, the people’s anger burst into flames. Rising took place in
different parts of the country especially London. Most vigorous rising took
place in Kent under their leader Wat Tyler. John Ball and Wat Tyler led the
rebels to London burning down manor houses. The ArchBishop of
Canterbury was murdered. Richard , a boy of 16, came to the forefront and
tried to make a treaty promising the peasants the freedom they wanted. The
rebellion partially ended. John Ball and Wat Tyler did not relent ; they began
a dispute with the king and in the dispute Wat Tyler was killed by one of the
King’s attendants. The mob became more ferocious, but Richard pacified
them saying he would be their leader. He said ,”sirs, will you shoot your
king? I'm your captain , follow me.” The poor mob believed the king's
words. But Richard broke his promise and hanged leaders of the rebellion.
The timely prudence and bravery of the king is to be appreciated.

Results:

As regards the results of the Peasants Revolts Of 1381, it seemed to be an

utter failure. But in the long run it was responsible for the complete
disappearance of villeinage from the country. The Revolt taught the landlord
a lesson that the labourers were a formidable force with the result they did
not insist on enforcing the Statute of Labourers or fear of another similar
revolution. They started paying higher wages to the hired labourers. Those
who were not willing to pay higher wages took to sheep-farming and
converted their arable land into pastures for sheep. In a way the revolt of
1381 changed the rural face of England and prepared the way for modern
conditions under which land is let out at a money rent.
.