social and cultural british history - curs
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UNI
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FAC
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CA
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S
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ST
OR
Y
LECTURE NOTES
2009
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COURSE UNIT DESCRIPTION
COURSE TITLE: Social and Cultural British
History
SEMESTER: I, 1
st
year English Major and Minor,Applied Modern Languages
COURSE TYPE: Survey course
HOURS/WEEK: One-hour course, one-hour seminar
STATUS OF THE COURSE IN THE STUDY
PROGRAME: Fundamental
COURSE DESCRIPTION / OBJECTIVES:
The course is meant to suit the needs of students in
Applied Modern Languages. The target group is formed
by the first-year English major and minor students.
The course aims at offering students an overview
of the essential aspects pertaining to British culture and
civilization. The main focus is on the history of England
from the earliest times to the present, with emphasis on
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the early political and cultural evolution of the English
people, the relationship between people and monarchy,as well as on the establishment of parliamentary
government. The course also approaches social and
political problems, community and industrial
developments, the expansion of the Empire, domestic
affairs of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
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CONTENTS
The History of the British Isles (politics, social
history, economy, religion, colonial history)
1. The British Isles from pre-Roman Britain to theMiddle Ages. The Roman Conquest. Celts,
Saxons and Vikings. The Rise of Large
Kingdoms.
2. The Middle Ages: The House of Normandy.
Magna Carta.
The 14th Century: Crises in England. The 15th
Century: The War of the Roses.
3. The 16th century: Reformation. The Elizabethan
Age.
4. The 17th Century: James I. Civil War in England.
The Restoration of the Stuarts. The Glorious
Revolution.
5. The 18th Century: The Growth of British Empire.
The Loss of America.
6. The Industrial Revolution. The First Reform Act.
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The Victorian Age.
7. The U.K. in the 20
th
Century. Irish Independence.The two World Wars. The Loss of the Empire.
Integrated topics:
The development of the English language. Old
English to Middle English. From (Early) ModernEnglish to English as a world Language.
Institutions: The Monarchy and the Church
(development, interdependence, their roles in
contemporary British society)
The judiciary system. Characteristics of English law.The Parliamentary system: The development of
Anglo-Saxon democracy. The State from pre-Roman
Britain to the U.K. today.
The class-system. Mentalities, morals, the individual
and society.
Topics suggested for individual study:
Education: types of schools.
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Cultural institutions.
Art, architecture, urbanism.Painting, sculpture, music, crafts.
Media and the press.
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PREREQUISITES: -
REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTS:
The students are required to answer the questions at the
end of every lecture and are also advised to consult the
reading list for further information. The evaluationconsists of 30% home activity (one report to be
submitted by the end of the semester) and 70% final
exam paper.
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THE HISTORY OF THE BRITISH ISLES
1. The British Isles from pre-Roman Britain to
the Middle Ages. The Roman Conquest. Celts, Saxons
and Vikings. The Rise of Large Kingdoms.
1.1. Pre-Roman and Roman Britain
Before the Roman Conquest of the British Isles, the
present territory of Britain was known as Albion, a name
that had been used by Greeks as early as 6000 BC. Later,
in the 4th century BC, Britain and Ireland were known as
the Pretanic Islands the Romans used the term
generically to denote people belonging to a Celtic-
speaking tribe.
In ancient times the territory was inhabited by
Iberians, of whom very little is actually known. Before
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the formation of the English state, the territory was
invaded, in turn, by Celts, Romans and Anglo-Saxons.In the 7th-3rd centuries BC, the Celtic tribes,
originally occupying the northern and western parts of
Germany and the Netherlands, were moving across
Europe in successive waves. Some of them settled in
France, others in Italy. The Celtic invaders of Britaincame in successive tribal waves and imposed themselves
as an aristocracy on the conquered tribes throughout
Britain and Ireland.
The Roman occupation occurred between the
coming of the Celts and the coming of the Saxons. In 55
and 54 BC (after having conquered Gaul in France),
Julius Caesar launched expeditions against Southern
England, but met strong resistance from the Celtic tribes.
It was only in 43 AD that Emperor Claudius, encouraged
by internal discord among the British tribes, invaded
Britain, which was incorporated into the Roman Empire.
The Britons, led by the legendary Queen Boadicea,
fought the Romans, but were defeated. Legend has it that
the queen chose to drink poison rather than be taken
prisoner. By 78 AD England and Wales were under
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Roman control, a situation that was to last until links
with Rome collapsed in 409 (possibly 449).The British Isles were, however, not conquered
entirely (Highland Scotland was never conquered, while
Ireland was never attacked). A frontier zone (Hadrians
Wall) was consolidated by the Romans to protect
England from invasion from the North. The Romanstried for over a century to conquer Caledonia, as they
called Scotland, but were unsuccessful. Once the border
with Scotland was consolidated, the Romans made it the
farthest outpost of their Empire. They never succeeded
in conquering the Scots, whom they identified with the
Barbarians from the farther northern regions.
Moreover, Hadrians Wall was frequently destroyed by
the repeated invasions of the Picts from Scotland, and it
was ultimately abandoned.
In the South, the Roman society encouraged a
process of Romanization, granting rights to the native
population. The Romans imposed their superior
civilization on the inhabitants of the conquered territory.
They left behind Welsh Christianity, the roads and the
city sites, which gained in importance. Many of the
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towns were originally army camps and the Latin name
for camp, castra, has remained in many modern townnames ending in caster, chester or cester, such as
Manchester, Doncaster or Leicester.
Nevertheless, the Romans were not successful in
imposing Latin, which influenced the English language
only later, namely after the Norman Conquest of 1066,when it was imposed as the official language in religion,
written documents and education.
The end of Roman Britain was brought by
increasing attacks from Barbarian peoples: Picts
Celtic-speaking tribes from Scotland, Angles, Jutes and
Saxons from north Germany, Jutland and Frisia, and
Saxony, respectively. These attacks caused the decline of
trade and the stagnation of activity in urban centers. The
Romans gradually withdrew from Britain. Having had
the support of the extremely well organized Roman
army, the natives had not consolidated any form of
defense and were now powerless and unable to resist the
attackers.
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In 409 AD the Roman-Britons expelled the
officials of Emperor Constantine III and were left toresist the attacks by themselves. According to most
historians, it was the lack of an efficient army and of
consolidated sites that made Britain so vulnerable to
invasions from that moment onwards.
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1.2. Angles, Saxons and Jutes
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The Anglo-Saxon settlement, which began in the
5
th
century AD, was, most likely, not the arrival of aunified army, but rather that of successive groups of
warriors, who saw the possibility for expansion and
began to settle on the island.
The Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes came from
the regions of continental Europe that correspond to themodern territories of Holland, Southern Denmark and
Western Germany. It has yet not been established to
what an extent there were large-scale movements of
peoples, or bands of warriors who settled in different
parts of the country. There was a long-lasting struggle
with the Roman-Briton population and domination was
not established until late in the 6th century, apparently,
the age of the legendary King Arthur.
These tribes gradually took over the area that is
now known as England (the land of the Angles), while
the Celts retreated north and west to Scotland and Wales.
The Saxons attacked England, the Jutes established
themselves in Kent and the Isle of Wight, and the Angles
went farther North. By 700, these peoples had occupied
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most of the land, with the exception of Cornwall and part
of southern Scotland.
In the conquered areas the Roman-Britons
survived as slaves and peasants. The Old English wordwealh, initially meaning foreigner, came to mean,
after the Anglo-Saxon settlement, both Celt,
Welshman, and servant, slave, which is indicative
of the survival of the Britons, but also of their low status
in the new society.
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As trade declined, England relapsed to a more
violent stage and Christianity faded away, as theinvaders were all pagans. The Anglo-Saxons brought
with them an extensive body of tribal culture. Some of
them used a runic alphabet, but the runes were only used
for short inscriptions. Writing was not used extensively
until the conversion to Christianity, when manuscripttechnology was introduced from Rome; even then, a
Celtic version of the Roman alphabet was used, but runic
signs were also introduced in it.
The Anglo-Saxons lived in small villages; they
used mud, wood and straw to build their houses, which
were grouped around the house of the lord. The lord, or
thane, was the most important man in the village, as he
kept order and made people obey the laws. There was no
body of laws in Anglo-Saxon society, but there were
compensations one had to pay for a crime. Offenders or
criminals were, depending on the severity of their deed,
either hanged or compelled to pay a sum of money called
wergild. On the whole, the Anglo-Saxons formed a
peaceful society. Once they settled the English territory,
they ceased carrying on wars and their biggest enemies
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became disease and starvation, as life expectancy was
very short.
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1.2.1. The Language
The Anglo-Saxon invasion meant the settlement
of a whole people, which means that their language
became the dominant one and only a few traces of the
Celtic language remained. The English language retained
the names of some towns (London, Leeds), regions(Kent, Devon, Cornwall the land of the Welsh), and
of rivers (Avon water, the Thames dark river).
The fact that the Celtic language (namely two of
its branches, Gaelic and Britannic Cornish and Welsh)
did not influence Old English to any great extent, does
not mean that the Britons were all killed or driven out,
but that their language simply did not have any impact
on the conquerors.
The English language proper derives from the
early Germanic, which, like the Celtic, is a branch of the
Indo-European family of languages. The Germanic
languages derived from the Proto-Germanic dialect of
the Indo-European family of languages. The Proto-
Germanic dialect was first mentioned by Tacitus in
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Germania, written in 98 AD. As a result of the
expansion of thee Germanic-speaking peoples,differences in the dialects within the Proto-Germanic
became more marked, until three distinct branches
(North, East and West Germanic) emerged.
The West-Germanic branch is subdivided into
two dialects: High German, which evolved into Germanand Yiddish, and the Low German dialects of North
Germany (called Old Saxon in their earliest form). They
include Dutch, Afrikaans, Flemish, Frisian and English.
Frisian is the language most closely related to English. It
was once spoken along the coast of the North Sea, from
Northern Holland to Central Denmark. Historians
speculate the possibility that the Anglo-Saxons might
have been near-neighbors with the Frisians before the
former migrated to England.
After the Anglo-Saxons conquered England, the
result in terms of language was a variety of dialects
(especially due to the fact that they had come and settled
in successive waves). In The Ecclesiastical History of
the English People (731), the Venerable Bede mentioned
these three powerful Germanic tribes. They were
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referred to as groups related in language and culture, and
they regarded themselves as people belonging to oneculture. In this respect, the Old English words Engle
(the Angles) and Englisc (English) were used to denote
all these peoples and the language they spoke.
Old English, the earliest phase in thedevelopment of the English language, lasted until
approximately the year 1100. Old English simplified the
Proto-Germanic language system - it had four cases for
the nouns, reduced the number of declensions to three or
four, it had fewer distinctive case endings, which were
further reduced in time. Old English relied for its case
distinctions on the adjectives, which had preserved more
distinctive endings than the nouns, and on the definite
article se. In its verb system, it preserved a Proto-
Germanic two-tense system, but it also saw the
beginning of a new tense system using auxiliaries and it
developed forms for the present/past perfect and for the
passive voice.
In terms of syntax, Old English had greater
variety of word order than today, because of its
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inflectional system. Negation was achieved by means of
the particle ne, which was used so frequently that itoften mixed with certain words, producing forms like
nis (is not) or nolde (would not). It retained the
use of prefixes and suffixes from the Proto-Germanic (in
words such as blodig, thancful, freondleas). Adverbs
were commonly formed from adjectives by means ofsuffixes (faest firm, faeste firmly). Prefixes
were added to verbs in order to intensify their force or to
denote destruction (baernan to burn, forbaernan
to destroy by burning. The prefix ge, for instance,
indicated the completion of an action: ridan to ride,
geridan to conquer, to occupy; siglde to sail,
gesiglde to get somewhere by sailing.
Compounding was also frequent: OE boccraeft (book-
skill) for literature, OE rimscraeft (number-skill)
for arithmetic. Some of the compound words have
survived in Modern English: OE sunnebeam >
sunbeam, OE wifmann > woman.
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1.3. The Heptarchy
The Anglo-Saxons established several kingdoms
before they united slowly. The Angles established
themselves in East Anglia and Middle Anglia, the
Saxons settled mainly in the south and west (Wessex,Essex, Middlesex, Sussex), and the Jutes settled in Kent,
the Isle of Wight and parts of Hampshire. In Scotland,
Picts and Scots formed the kingdom of Alba. Ireland had
a rather obscure position, as there was no post-Roman
continuity here. Christianity spread in Ireland in the 5th
century, not as a consequence of Roman Christianity, but
as a result of the missionary activity of St. Patrick, a
monk who came from England.
There is little information about Wales as well.
Once it was no longer part of the Roman Empire, it split
into a number of political unions, governed by powerful
warlords. Latin was used for religious purposes, but the
Celtic language survived as an active vernacular and
developed into Welsh.
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In England, gradual political union reduced the
kingdoms to seven (the Heptarchy): Northumbria(southern Scotland and England north of the river
Humber), Mercia (the West Midlands), East Anglia,
Essex, Wessex, Sussex and Kent. In the 7th century,
Northumbria was the strongest center of power, while in
the 9
th
century it was Wessex, whose kings finally unitedEngland.
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However, there was no consciousness of England
or of Wales as such until the 6
th
century, even if Waleswas dissimilar. As the Welsh had carried on a long
struggle with the invaders, Wales was culturally and
politically individualized. Literature was written in
Welsh and Wales became culturally a survivor from an
older civilization. There was a long struggle with theinvaders: in the 8th century, for instance, marked the
definition of a border between Wales and England. After
the Anglo-Saxon settlements, the identity of the Welsh
was defined in terms of otherness, but Wales
nevertheless became the most important area of
surviving Roman-Briton civilization.
In England, the West-Saxon dialect became the
literary standard. Even if there are surviving texts from
the Old English period written in four major dialects
(West Saxon, Kentish, Mercian and Northumbrian),
there was a tendency for the manuscripts to be copied by
West Saxon scribes and put into West Saxon form (e.g.
Beowulf). However, the West Saxon dialect is not the
direct ancestor of the English language.
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1.4. The Spread of Christianity
The English were converted to Christianity in
about the year 600 and it took them a century to
complete the process. It was carried out from twodirections, the Celtic church penetrating from the north-
west and the Roman church from the south-east.
In 597 a mission from Pope Gregory thee Great
came to Canterbury in Kent and it was successful in
southern England. Augustine, the monk sent by the
Pope, became the first Archbishop of Canterbury.
However, it was the Irish Church that was the base of
conversion for most of England. Christian missionaries
also arrived in Scotland from Ireland, where the Church
of Iona had been founded by Columba, an Irish monk, in
563. The Irish had a major influence in England as far as
religion was concerned. The first Saint Pauls Church
was built in London in 607.
As a result of the Synod at Whitby (664), the
Roman custom prevailed in the English Church, which
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1.5. The Development of the English State
In the 6th and 7th centuries, the relationship between the
kingdoms of the Heptarchy was subject to change. Some
of them flourished, while others lost their independence,
until three major kingdoms remained on the map of
Britain (Northumbria, comprising southern Scotland andEngland north of the river Humber,, Mercia, namely the
present-day West Midlands and Wessex).
It was difficult, for any of the rulers of these kingdoms,
to maintain lasting and effective control over the others,
as each of the kingdoms was defeated, in turn. For
instance, Aethelbert of Kent acted as an overking in 590;
Mercia dominated East Anglia from 654. Northumbria
was defeated by Mercia from 670 to 685. Ireland was
divided into about 100 small kingdoms, among which it
was hard to establish any hegemony. After it ceased to
be part of the Roman Empire, Wales was also divided
into a group of political unions, governed by powerful
local warlords.
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There were faint indications of a sense of national
identity. The Synod at Hertford (672) issued canons forthe English people, while Bede also wrote about the
English people in his Ecclesiastical History (731), but
neither had political echoes.
Despite the lack of a sense of national unity and identity,
some of the rulers of the dominant kingdoms were oftencalled King or Overlord of the English. Most probably,
the sintagm was first used with reference to Offa, the
ruler of Mercia, who managed to control formerly
independent kingdoms (Essex, East Anglia, Sussex and
Kent). Durable and effective control of much of Britain
was beyond the capability of any one of the rulers of
these kingdoms. However, the institution of monarchy
originated in the struggle for supremacy among the
kingdoms of the Heptarchy, and it was consolidated by
the Viking invasions.
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1.6. The Viking Invasions
From about 750 to 1035, another group of
peoples invaded the British territories. They were
generically known as Vikings, a term that used to mean
creek-dweller, or pirate, and which comprises theSwedes, the Norwegians and the Danes. The invasion of
the Scandinavian Vikings was the last phase of the
expansion of the early Germanic peoples. In the 8th
century, Charlemagne destroyed the power of the
Frisians, who had been the greatest maritime power, and
thus he left open the sea-route for the Vikings, who, in
turn, had become the strongest boat-building people and
were at the same time attacking, pirating, and trading in
new territories. They are said to have reached the shore
of America long before it was actually discovered, in
about the year 1.000.
The Vikings who conquered England were called
Dene. The first Danish raid took place in 787, and the
subsequent ones greatly contributed to the emergence of
the idea of English national unity. In 829, Egbert, king of
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Wessex, was recognized as overlord of England. In 835
he defeated the Danes, but in 870 they conquered EastAnglia. Aethelred died fighting them at Merton (871).
He was succeeded by Alfred the Great, who became king
of Wessex in 871. Alfred prevented the Danes from
conquering the whole of England, but there were
massive Scandinavian settlements in the north and east(the Norwegians settled in Lancashire and Cumbria, the
Danes in Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire,
Norfolk). Many present-day place-names ending in
thorpe are of Scandinavian origin.
1.6.1. Old English and Old Norse
The language of the Scandinavian invaders, Old
Norse, had a tremendous impact on Old English. Some
words are identical or very similar in the two languages,
and they had the same result in Middle English (OE na
and ON nei produced nay, later no in Middle
English). Often a word is not recorded in Old English,
but it is in Old Norse. For instance, the verb to take has
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its origin in the on word taka, while its OE
correspondent was niman. Both words existed inMiddle English, but then to nim meant to steal. The
word gate comes from the OE gatu, but in the
northern dialects it also meant way, street, from the
ON gata (in Leeds and York there still are streets called
Kirkgate, the corresponding version of Churchstreet.Most Scandinavian loan-words first appeared in
writing in the Middle English period, but their form
shows that they had been taken over in the late Old
English period, for they underwent the transition from
Old English to Middle English. Many of the words that
were taken over are ordinary ones, relating to everyday
life and denoting the similarities between the two
cultures (sister, bag, cake, fog, knife, skin,
skill, window, flat, loose, odd, ugly, they,
them, their). However, their number is rather small
compared to the number of words that were later
borrowed from French and Latin.
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1.6.2. Anglo-Saxons and Vikings
In 878, the Danelaw was established. When
Alfred defeated the Danes he allowed them to inhabit
part of England east and north of a line from Chester to
London. Initially, the Danelaw designated the parts of
north, central and eastern England where Danish, ratherthan Saxon, customs and laws, prevailed. Later, King
Edgar (959-75) would grant autonomy to the inhabitants
of the Danelaw.
At the same time, Ireland was attacked by the
Norwegians. Consequently, the conflict with the Vikings
played a crucial role in the development of the English
state, just as the Viking invasions of Scotland
contributed to the increase of the power of the kingdom
of the Scots.
Alfred the Great (871-99) was regarded as
English, rather than West-Saxon king. The West-Saxon
rulers claimed ownership of the overlordship of all
Britain, and in 920, the rulers of Scotland, York and
Northumbria accepted Edwards lordship. The West-
Saxon dynasty was dominant in the incipient English
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monarchy. Athelstan (924-39) and Eadred (946-55) were
regarded as the first kings of the English. In 973, Edgarstaged an elaborate coronation at Bath, in which he was
the first ruler to be crowned king of the English, even if
the title itself had been used before (by Offa and
Athelstan).
Monarchy in Anglo-Saxon times had noextensive rights. Its duties were to defend the people, to
uphold the law, to administer justice. The laws that were
promulgated were declaratory, rather than legislative.
However, most laws were given with the help of the
Witan, the council of Anglo-Saxon kings.
The Witan had developed from earlier Germanic
assemblies, and it had become, under the Anglo-Saxon
rulers, a formal gathering of the main noblemen and
bishops. They were summoned by the king in order to
give him advice and to witness acts of royal
administration, new laws, to make decisions on taxation,
foreign policy and defense. The Witan played a
fundamental role in checking royal power and in
preventing autocracy it was an incipient element in the
development of English democracy.
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Ireland, Scotland and Wales were at most times
independent of England. Ireland generally resisted to theViking attacks due to a succession of kings who
weakened the attackers power. In Scotland, Kenneth
McAlpin conquered the Scots and united them with the
Scots. There was no ethnic union between England and
Scotland. What eventually became Scotland wasethnically, geographically and culturally diverse and
included Scots, Picts, Britons and some Angles. For
instance, until mid-12th century it was unclear whether
much of what is now Northern Ireland, and especially
Cumbria and Northumbria, would be part of England or
of Scotland.
In Wales there were few attacks from the
Vikings, but there was pressure from England. The
division of property among sons had eventually made it
difficult for Wales to achieve unity. Thus, even if they
were individualized (they even had their own coins), the
Welsh in the south made some kind of submission to
Alfred, who offered them help against the Vikings, and
they later became subordinates of Athelstan.
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In the 11th century, the English kingdom created
by the rulers of Wessex was overthrown by foreigninvasion. The Danish raids culminated with the taking
over of the country by King Canute (1017-35). Canute
also inherited Denmark and he made England part of it.
As king of a number of kingdoms, Canute complied with
the English governmental system, he treated Englishmenand Danes as equals and faced no rebellion. His empire
fell apart after his death.
Under Edward the Confessor (1044-66) the royal
titles of King of the English and King of the British
were used indifferently even if Ireland was completely
independent, Wales and Scotland were dependent on
England and offered her military help.
In actual fact, from the 10th century onwards,
when Edgar ruled England, as well as Wales and
Scotland, England was perceived as a single territory,
whether it was rule by Danish kings (Canute), half-
English (Edward the Confessor) or Norman French ones,
like William the Conqueror and his immediate
successors; all of them were perceived as rulers of a
single country.
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By the time of Canutes reign, the country hadalready been divided into shires (later counties), which
were unequal in size and wealth (some of them were
former kingdoms). Each shire had a court which met
twice a year and was presided over by the kings
representative (sheriff). Shires were divided intohundreds, each with its court (of rural population). By
the 11th century the existing laws reveal a carefully
defined hierarchy: ones position in society was
established not only by laws, but also by titles. At the
base were the slaves, some of them descendants of pre-
Saxon peoples, above them were the cottagers, who were
tied in their work and obligations to their lords will, and
at the top were the magnates and the warriors. The bond
between man and lord was essential and lordship gained
in importance.
This was the social background against which,
with the battle of Hastings in 1066, the Normans
conquered England.
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CONCEPTS AND KEYWORDS
1. Celts, Angles, Saxons, Jutes
2. Old English
3. Kingdoms the Heptarchy
4. Viking invasions Old Norse
5. The Witan
QUESTIONS
1. How did the Roman occupation influence the
development of the Celtic people?
2. What is the origin of the English language?
3. What was the significance of the Heptarchy in the
development of the English state?
4. How did Christian religion spread on the English
territory?
5. What was the influence of Old Norse on Old
English?
6. What was the impact of the Witan on the
development of English democracy?
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2. England in the Middle Ages. House ofNormandy.
2.1. House of Normandy William the Conqueror
(1066-87) signified the advent of a new era in English
history, the beginning of the Middle Ages. England wasnow centered on the ruler, on his views and entourage.
The very character of his reign depended entirely on the
personality of the monarch.
With the coming of the Normans, there was a social
revolution at the level of the Anglo-Saxon elite, while
the new rule of foreigners affected the ordinary people to
a lesser degree.
The Normans introduced the social system of
feudalism in England, a system that was to change the
social structure of the country dramatically. Under the
Normans, the main economic unit was the manor the
home farm and the surrounding estate. The lord was
entitled to day labor and rent. Even if rents and labors
had existed under Anglo-Saxon rule in order to offer
people protections against invaders, the system was
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refined and consolidated. Under the feudal system
instituted in England by the Normans, manors weregiven to the kings vassals in return for military service.
The social system of the country was characterized by
personal relationship. The king granted lands to his
subjects in return for military service and this exchange
was consolidated by the act of homage paid by the vassalto the lord.
The Normans built castles that were symbolic of
their power and which became centers for governmental,
political and religious activity. Peasants were more
closely controlled and the status of free men became
lower.
In contrast to Canutes reign, Williams rule
caused strong opposition. Even if those noblemen who
willingly submitted to William the Conqueror were
allowed to keep their lands, there was strong resistance
to the spread of Norman rule. Many noblemen revolted
and in 1069 the revolt spread throughout the north of
country. The stifling of the revolt, the harrying of the
North, resulted in the Normanization of both Church
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and land. The English were denied clerical appointments
and landlords were dispossessed of their properties.Latin was introduced as official language, as the
Norman invasion had enjoyed the support of the Pope.
These changes intensified resistance, and more uprisings
in the North and in the West Midlands took place
parallel to Danish and Scottish invasions in support ofthe English. As there was lack of coordination among the
rebellions, they were unsuccessful. Malcolm III of
Scotland was forced to submit and in 1086 most of the
important landlords paid homage to William.
In order to get an estimate of the land and to gain
as much as possible by land tax, William conceived the
Domesday Survey Book, a record of property that
functioned as the final authority in any disputes over
property, and from which there was no appeal. Royal
commissioners visited each shire and village, made
reports on the identity of the landowners, the size and
use of land, the number and status of its cultivators.
Juries that consisted of both Englishmen and Normans
attested the truth of the answers, and the information was
tabulated on an abacus.
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Despite the fact that Williams rule was regarded
as an excessively oppressive one, the process ofcentralization of the state powers had begun its course,
and future monarchs of the House of Normandy
contributed to this ongoing process.
During the reign of Henry I (1100-1135), whowas mainly concerned with consolidating his political
and military position in the newly conquered Northern
France, means had to be found to rule England in the
absence of the king. Consequently, his reign witnessed
the growth and rationalization of the royal administrative
and judicial systems. From about 1130, itinerant justices
(justices in eyre) toured the country and later royal
judicial activity expanded as the Crown appointed local
justices, in order to keep England stable.
The Exchequer, the financial and accounting
office of medieval England, dating from King Williams
time, was also consolidated (in 1172 it settled at
Westminster). Records were made by means of counters
on a chequered table, based on the abacus. [At present,
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the Finance Minister of the U.K. is called Chancellor of
the Exchequer.]
2.2. Changes in Language
The year 1100 is regarded as the approximatedate when Old English was replaced by Middle English,
a further phase in the development of English language,
which was to last, conventionally, until 1500. Old
English did not, of course, die out suddenly, but for
some centuries English ceased to be the language of the
upper classes and it was replaced by French.
Even if English was still spoken by the ordinary
people, there was no longer any standard literary
language. The Anglo-Saxons had a tradition of
scholarship that went back to the 7th century (when
Charlemagne had wanted to reform his educational
system, he had called an Englishman to do it). This
tradition had been disrupted by the Viking invasions, but
it was revived in the 10th century under West-Saxon
leadership.
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Once French was decreed the official language,
the West-Saxon dialect lost its place as standard literarylanguage. For about three centuries, there was no single
form of English recognized as a norm, and people spoke
in the language/dialect of their own region. The prestige
languages were Latin and French the former was the
language of the Church, of scholarship, of internationalcommerce, while the latter was used mainly in
administration. But French was never the mother tongue
of the population and, as the French never outnumbered
the English in the way in which Anglo-Saxons had
outnumbered the Britons, French gradually died out in
the 14th century.
Generally, Norman England was characterized by
conflict under various forms. There was rivalry within
the Norman elite (competition between noblemen,
disputes between noblemen and monarchs, most of
which were linked to the dominant principle of the
undivided inheritance, which went to the eldest male
child, a principle which also established succession to
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the throne). Moreover, the military campaigns against
Wales and Scotland, paralleled by hostilities with therulers of France and the civil war within the Norman
elite following Williams death, contributed to the
weakening of Englands military values and potential.
The House of Normandy was replaced for a short
while by the House of Blois (Stephen 1135-54), buteven the future kings were descendants of King William
I.
2.3. House of Plantagenet. Law and
administration. Magna Carta.
King Henry II (1154-89) was granted
overlordship of Ireland by Pope Adrian. Thus, an Anglo-
Irish struggle was started, that was to last ever since.
Henry II obtained the submission of many of the Irish
kings and of the Irish Church. Much of Ireland was
captured, but Henry was just overlord, never king, of
Ireland. He also obtained the homage of the King of
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Scotland, who restored him some territories, and he
subdued the Welsh.In order to put an end to the anarchy in England,
Henry II instituted a number of legal reforms. The most
notable example was the Assize of Claredon (1166),
where the jury system was established, and which was
fundamental in the development of the English judicialsystem.
He became famous for the conflict with his
Chancellor, Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury,
who defended the rights of clerics to be tried in Church
courts (the freedom of appeal to Rome). As a result of
the disputes over the rights of Church and State, Becket
was exiled and murdered at Canterbury. He was
canonized and his shrine became a place of pilgrimage.
The expansion of governmental activity required
an increasing number of professional people. These were
called curiales a word originating in curia regis, the
royal court of Norman kings, which had fulfilled the
functions of royal government. The curiales enforced
justice and collected royal revenues. They contributed to
the increase of the coercive power of government.
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The administration became even more
independent during the reign of Richard I Coeur de Lion(1189-99), whose participation in the Crusades and
frequent absences from the country placed heavy
burdens on Englands finances.
Until 1189, English monarchs had enjoyed great
power, but they had accepted advice and certainlimitations on their authority. King John (1199-1216),
however, ignored these restrictions. He made England a
fief of the Papacy and this, along with the previous
growth in the role and liberty of the State, caused the
opposition of the noblemen, who united against his
dictatorial rule.
In 1215, King John was forced to accept the
terms ofMagna Carta, a document that was originally
intended to protect the aristocracy, not the ordinary
people, but which, in time, became a landmark in British
constitutional history.
Magna Carta was a charter of liberties that
condemned King Johns use of feudal and judicial
powers. It defined and limited royal power and royal
rights and it forced the king to accept advice and
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promoted an aristocratic influence in national affairs. It
guaranteed every mans security from illegal interferencein his person and property, it provided freemen with
some rights and liberties against royal action. It
guaranteed justice to everyone, stipulating that no person
could be punished or kept in prison without a fair,
however speedy, trial.According to the terms of Magna Carta, the
Crown was no longer able to determine its rights alone.
Magna Carta constrained monarchs to accept limitations
in their power, and it was to be enforced by a Council of
barons, who could declare war on the king if he failed to
respect his promises.
Magna Carta was frequently reissued by Great
Councils and, even if later monarchs often tried to ignore
it, and its importance was not perceived as such at the
time, it remained the oldest written constitutional paper
in England.
The 13th century was marked by further decisive
political events. Crises in Anglo-Welsh relationships
culminated in 1277, when Edward I (1272-1307)
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invaded Wales and established a new military order and
political settlement. The Statute of Wales wasestablished in 1284, and it defined the legal and
administrative changes and arrangements made by
Edward for the conquered territories. New government
centers were established, new boroughs and counties
were formed, more castles were built. English criminallaw was made compulsory, while Welsh civil law was
allowed to continue. Edward initiated the English custom
of entitling the kings eldest son Prince of Wales.
The wars with Scotland were not as successful
Scotland was not defeated because, at the same time, a
conflict with France emerged, which was to degenerate
into the Hundred Years War.
2.4. The emergence of Parliament
In 1295 Edward I summoned the Model
Parliament. Basic parliamentary structures had existed
before in 1265 Simon de Montfort had called
Englands first Parliament, composed of nobles and
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minor aristocrats. Parliament emerged out of the need for
an important political body to complement monarchy. In1295, representatives of the clergy, of counties and
boroughs were called to give advice to the King and to
consent on behalf of the communities they represented;
the nobles appeared on their own behalf. The Model
Parliament was to serve as an example for similar futurestructures. Its two sections consisted of the Lords and
Bishops, who were chosen by the King, and the
Commoners, who were elected.
In the 14th century, the practices of Parliament
were established. Tax money from the nobles was no
longer enough to finance the upkeep of administration
and pay for the wars against France, so that the middle
classes were asked to contribute as well. In 1349, during
the reign of Edward III (1327-77) the representatives of
the counties and boroughs (knights, yeomen and
merchants) complied, and began to meet as a separate
assembly, the Council of the Commoners. In return, they
demanded to be consulted by the king when important
decisions mad to be taken (this was the beginning of the
House of Commons).
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Parliament became important because of the
constant need to raise taxes in order to pay for warfare(military troops). At the end of the 14th century, taxation
was established by the House of Commons, with the
consent of the Lords. [However, for most of the Middle
Ages, the Commons were an adjunct to Parliament,
rather than a part of it they met separately and wererepresented in the Parliament Chamber by their speaker,
who was, until the end of the 17 th century, a servant of
the Crown.]
While Parliament did serve as a means to support
royal policies financially, it also constrained monarchial
freedom of political manoeuvre. England was on the
road of becoming the first and only parliamentary
monarchy in Europe. From a situation in which the
monarch had enjoyed almost absolute power, by the end
of the Middle Ages, two councils, one made up of
aristocrats and one of commoners, had a say in the
running of the country. England was the first country in
the world where the principle that the representatives of
the people had a right to participate in government was
accepted.
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2.5. England in the 14
th
Century
In the 14th century, social and economic crises
increased. Most of them were triggered by the conflicts
between the nobility and the newly emerged middle
classes.During the reign of Edward II (1307-27) the
Great Famine (1315-17) occurred, as a result of
extensive harvest failure. During the reign of Edward III
(1327-77), the Hundred Years War with France began
(1337-1453), and the most decisive episode was the
Bubonic plague (Black Death), which killed, from 1348
to 1351, one third of the population and disrupted the
economy of the country. Both the war and the plague
hastened the breakdown of the feudal system in England.
In 1377 Edward III was succeeded by Richard II
Plantagenet (1377-99). In 1381 the King was faced with
the Peasant Revolt a revolt against feudal power and at
the poor living conditions against the background of the
Hundred Years War with France. In order to support
war expenses, a poll tax was introduced for all people
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over the age of 14. This tax pressed hard on the rural
population, leading to riots in 1381. The peasants, led byWatt Tyler, occupied London, seized the Tower of
London and murdered the Chancellor and the
Archbishop of Canterbury.
King Richard II granted charters of freedom to
the rebels, but as soon as they had returned to theirhomes, he revoked the charters and punished the leaders
of the rebels.
In 1399 he conducted a successful expedition to
Ireland, where the Irish lords paid him homage. Three
years later, he banished Henry Bolingbroke (Lancaster)
and seized his inheritance, but in 1399 he was deposed.
Henry IV (House of Lancaster) became king until 1413.
The succession of the House of Lancaster to the
throne of England caused the War(s) of the Roses (1455-
86). Both families involved (Lancaster and York)
claimed royal right by descent from Edward III. Internal
political conflict between the House of Lancaster and the
House of York began in 1454, when King Henry VI
(Lancaster) was declared temporarily insane and was
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replaced by Richard, Duke of York, who became
Protector of England.In 1461 Edward, Duke of York, defeated the
Lancastrians and proclaimed himself Edward IV. Henry
VI fled to Scotland. He returned in 1464, but he was
captured and imprisoned. In 1470 he was restored and
Edward fled to Flanders. Henry ruled again for only oneyear, when Edward of York returned and claimed the
Crown. Henry VI was imprisoned again and murdered
(1471). Edward IV became king once again (1471-83).
He was succeeded to the throne by his son, Edward V,
who was king for only one year. In 1483, his uncle,
Richard of Gloucester, imprisoned him in the Tower,
where he was probably murdered.
King Richard III House of York (1483-85) was
not trusted by the noblemen. In 1485, Henry Tudor
(House of Lancaster) invaded the country with the help
of French troops. Richard, supported only by a few
noblemen, was defeated and killed at Bosworth. Henry
became King of England as Henry VII (1485-1509).
When he married Elizabeth of York (1486), the War of
the Roses was ended.
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2.6. The Language. Middle English.
Since the Norman Conquest, three languages had
been used in parallel in England: Norman French was
spoken in Court and by the nobility, Latin was the
language of the Church and of official documents, whileEnglish was the language of the ordinary people. But, at
the beginning of the 13th century, King John lost
Normandy to the French Crown. The ties with
Normandy were gradually severed and the Norman
nobility gradually became English. Gradually, there was
a switch from French to English as the official language.
The first state document to be issued in English
was the Proclamation of Henry III (1216-72) a
constitutional document that reformed Parliament in
1269. In 1362 Edward IIIs Parliament enacted a statute
whereby the use of French in the court laws was
terminated (even if records were still kept in Latin) and
in the same year the king made the first royal speech to
Parliament in English. By the end of Richard IIs reign
(1399), English had become the everyday language of
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the Court. In the 14th century there was a switch from
French to English as the medium of grammar schooleducation.
When, in 1399, Henry Lancaster seized the
throne of England, he would be the first king whose
native language was English, and in the 15th century
there were members of the nobility who spoke no Frenchat all.
As English became the language of
administration and culture, there came a re-establishment
of an English literary language a standard form of the
language, which could be regarded as a norm (there
were, in fact, two standard forms of the language, that of
England and that of Scotland). In England, the new
standard language was no longer based on the West-
Saxon literary language, but on the East Midland dialect,
as the East Midlands had a superior cultural, economic
and administrative life. The North remained a rather
backward region, but in the south, the London speech
imposed itself and its prestige grew gradually.
Nevertheless, the 13th and 14th centuries
represented a code-switching, transitional period, as both
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languages were used simultaneously. More French
words were adopted in English now than they had beenwhen French had been the official language, because
back then it had not been spoken by the ordinary people.
An illustrative example is that of the 2nd person
pronouns. Originally, the English words had been thou
(singular) and ye (plural), and thee (singular) andyou (plural) after a preposition or as an object,
respectively. Due to the ambiguity of the French vous,
the English word you took over the functions of the
plural ye, and then you took over the functions of the
singular thou, so that the distinction between singular
and plural was lost.
With the emergence of a new class the
merchants who took control of an international trade,
with London guilds beginning to use English for their
records, specialized terms, in which English was
deficient, were taken over from French. By mid-15th
century, the tradesmen had become an almost separate
literate group, apart from the clergy and the nobility.
Sometimes, English, French and Latin occurred together
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in their documents (the symbol & was first used in
their documents).
2.6.1. French Loan Words
Most French words were not borrowed in English
while French was the language of the upper classes (theordinary people in England did not speak French), but in
the 13th and 14th centuries, when there were bilingual
speakers changing over to English for purposes such as
commerce, administration and literature. They were not
homely words such as the Scandinavian ones. The
influence of French was a vertical one, reflective of
cultural and political dominance, and they are more
common in the fields of administration (chancellor,
council, government), the law (to accuse, attorney,
crime, to punish), heraldry, arts (costume, apparel,
dress), military and ecclesiastical life (castle, tower,
abbey, clergy, prayer). Most words denoting titles
of rank in English are also of French origin (baron,
count, duke, peer, prince), while the language
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retained the English words king, queen, lord, lady,
earl, knight.When they were first borrowed, French words
were given a French pronunciation, but they were soon
adapted to the English phonological system and they
were pronounced in the English manner. This process of
assimilation made it easier for later Romance and Latinwords to be adopted by the English language (French
stems with English prefixes and suffixes, such as
beautiful, faithless, preaching, ungracious).
The dominance of French for so many centuries
had a huge impact on writing as well: English writers
began writing verse chronicles in the French manner.
However, in certain places, some English literary
traditions were preserved until the 2nd half of the 14th
century, there was a line of poets using the alliterative
line descending from Old English poetry. With Geoffrey
Chaucer, whose versification was deeply influenced by
Italian and French models, Old English versification
became obsolete.
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2.6.2. Characteristics of Middle English
Linguists conventionally date Middle English
from 1100 and 1500. Old English did not disappear
suddenly in the years following the Norman Conquest.
The West-Saxon literary tradition was continued for a
while in some monasteries, but the changes that hadbegun to occur in the language before the conquest now
developed at a much higher speed. Significant changes
took place in spelling: the Norman scribes disregarded
Old English spelling altogether they spelled words as
they heard them and often resorted to the conventions of
Norman French.
A sound change that took place in late Old
English but did not become apparent until the Middle
English period, was the lengthening of short vowels
before certain consonant groups, under the influence of
French pronunciation. For instance, the OE word bakan
(to bake) became baken in Middle English, but it was
still pronounced with a long a. With the French
influence, it then became to bake, and its pronunciation
was the one used nowadays. The Middle English
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lengthening of vowels in open syllables of disyllabic
words also affected the spelling conventions of theEnglish language. In early Middle English, words like
bake had two syllables. After the first vowel was
lengthened, the final e was lost and such words became
monosyllabic.
In the field of morphology, there was a greatreduction in the inflectional system inherited from Old
English (the period of reduced inflections). The loss
and weakening of unstressed syllables at the end of the
words destroyed many of the distinctive inflections of
Old English. The Old English word-finals a, -u, -e
became en in Middle English, to be finally reduced to
e. The endings as and es for the Nominative plural and
Genitive singular became es. Even the final e
ultimately disappeared in the Nominative during the
Middle English period and many endings became
identical. By the 15th century the es plural became
universal.
A similar process of loss of case distinctions took
place in adjectives and demonstratives. In the case of
adjectives, the language used two forms: the base form
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(e.g. fair) and a form with the ending e used for the
plural (faire). Towards the end of the Middle English period, the e was lost and the adjective became
indeclinable. In Old English, the definite article showed
three genders, but by the end of the Middle English
period the became the only form of the definite article.
In Old English, the definite article and theadjective played a major role in marking the distinctions
of case and number. When they lost this function by the
end of the Middle English period, the language changed
a lot. Grammatical gender disappeared in favor of the
natural gender (in Old English, for instance, the word
wifmann woman was masculine, while wif
wife was neuter).
Word order became very important, because
inflections were no longer capable of showing which
noun was the subject of the sentence. In the verb system,
there was also a tendency for inflections to be replaced
by more analytical devices. If, in Old English, there were
many inflections, but only two tenses (present and past),
in Middle English the system of inflections was reduced,
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but a new system of tenses was built up by means of the
primary auxiliaries and of the modal auxiliaries.
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2.7. Literacy and Education in the MiddleAges
In the Anglo-Saxon period, the control of
education in England became the responsibility of the
Christian church (the first schools were founded in the6th century). In the Middle Ages, the monastic and
cathedral schools, which had originally been established
for the clergy and for those intending to enter the
monasteries, gradually admitted lay pupils and
broadened the curriculum to include the study of the
classics, grammar, logic, rhetoric, geometry and
arithmetic. The Church continued to dominate education
until the end of the Middle Ages.
In Norman and early medieval times only a few
people were educated especially churchmen. Before
the Norman Conquest, Alfred the Great had attempted to
bring the benefits of literacy to a wider section of the
community (he founded a court school and translated
some works from Latin into Anglo-Saxon himself).
However, Alfred was something of a unique figure in
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this respect. With the Normans, education was regarded
as something incompatible with fighting men (Williamthe Conqueror could not even sign his name and he
signed charters with a cross).
However, there were schools attached to
monasteries in the Middle Ages. It was to the greatest
extent the Church that enjoyed the prerogatives ofeducation, but the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge
developed around centers of learning established by the
clergy in the 12th and 13th centuries. During the Middle
Ages, the number of cathedral grammar schools rose to
approximately 400. By the 14th century, grammar
schools existed for the education of boys who were not
destined for the Church.
With the Black Death, many of these schools had
closed by the 15th century. They were restored
afterwards, this time by certain citizens and companies
who founded new schools by donation. These were the
Livery Companies the London trade and crafts
associations such as those of the weavers, merchants
and vintners, who were the successors of the guilds and
dominated Londons political and economic life in the
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Middle Ages. They began to control trades in the mid-
13
th
century and exercised power over all aspects ofcommercial organization. As they were immensely
wealthy, they also engaged in charitable and educational
activities, so that they founded boys schools, took over
responsibility for running them and provided
scholarships at schools and universities. At the sametime, a basic education was also provided in some areas
for the children of the poor, usually by the local parish
priest.
CONCEPTS AND KEYWORDS
1. Feudalism
2. Domesday Survey Book, Exchequer
3. Transition from Old English to Middle English
4. Magna Carta
5. Model Parliament
6. Middle English
7. The Great Famine, the Plague, the Peasant Revolt
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QUESTIONS
1. How did the Norman Conquest influence the early
English democracy?
2. What was the feudal system characterized by?
3. How did judicial activity expand in the Middle Ages
(House of Plantagenet)?4. How did early Parliament structures emerge in the
13th century?
5. Discuss the main social crises in the 14th century.
6. How did the War(s) of the Roses influence monarchy
in the 15th century?
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3. The 16
th
Century: Reformation. TheElizabethan Age.
England in the 16th century was characterized by
significant changes. On the whole, there was moreemphasis on religious division, there were problems at
home and abroad, and transoceanic developments. The
population of the country had nearly doubled by mid-16th
century, which brought about a growth in economic
demand.
Inflation also grew, rents and food prices grew faster
than wages. This brought about a growth of the number
of beggars. The 1495 Parliament Act concerning
vagabonds and beggars was followed by a number of
laws regarding the poor: paupers who were not able to
find work became the responsibility of parishes in
England, whereas in Scotland paupers had to earn the
right to beg and beggars were required to wear a
distinctive blue badge.
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The discrepancy between the rich and the poor
created a rift in the social order. The rich displayed theirgrowing wealth, which was visible in clothes, furniture,
music instruments. Homes were no longer built like
fortresses they had large windows and were
surrounded by ever more elaborate gardens.
The gentry tried to adopt a code of aristocraticconduct and developed an interest in education, which
distinguished them from the rest of the community.
Caxton had introduced printing in England in 1474.
Books thus ensured the possibility of a more private and
individual culture. Theaters appeared towards the end of
the 16th century (The Globe was opened in 1599) under
the patronage of aristocrats.
The coal industry developed in the north mainly
to supply London. The role of the market economy
became more consistent and affected areas that had been
poor before (Edinburgh in Scotland). Welsh cattle and
sheep were brought to England and Welsh coal was
mined and exported.
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3.1. House of Tudor
Under the Tudors, England flourished and was
introduced to Renaissance learning. It also became an
important power in European diplomacy. Henry VII
(1485-1509) was the first Welshman to become King of
England. The process of administrative assimilation ofWales was begun during his reign and it was completed
during the reign of Henry VIII, from 1536 to 1547.
Henry VIII had an active role in reasserting the
monarchs control over the nobility. The nobility had
been weakened by wars and by internal conflicts so from
1485, in Tudor England there was a return to royal
dominance. The noblemen were often excluded from
policy-making. Consequently, Tudor monarchs
controlled Parliament and summoned it only when they
wanted to raise money.
The reign of Henry VIII (1509-47) King of
Ireland from 1540 was significant for the Reformation
of the Church. The Reformation was a religious and
political movement in 16th century Europe, inspired by a
wish to reform the Roman Catholic Church and resulting
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in the establishment of Protestant Churches in several
countries.The first part of Henry VIIIs reign was
dominated by his desire for a glorious foreign policy. He
was determined to make England an influential country
in Europe and in this sense he sustained military
campaigns that brought the country close to bankruptcy.Apart from these concerns, Henry VIII also had
dynastic concerns. His first wife, Catherine of Aragon,
had given him one daughter, Mary. Henry tried to end
his marriage when he fell in love with Anne Boleyn. As
divorce was almost impossible, Henry needed a Papal
dispensation. He asked Pope Clement VIII for an
annulment of his marriage, which he was not granted.
One of the reasons for the Popes refusal was the fact
that, at the time, Catherines nephew was Emperor
Charles V, the most powerful ruler in Italy, and he did
not want to upset him.
In a dramatic gesture, Henry rejected Papal
jurisdiction over the English Church. Until 1533, the
English Church was subject to the papacy. The clergy
owed loyalty to the King and to the Pope in Rome. They
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also had the right to be tried in Church courts (the right
of Appeals to Rome). A series of statues (the Restraint ofAppeals to Rome) ended the papal jurisdiction over the
English Church and also brought papal authority to an
end in England. This Act permitted Henry to divorce
Catherine and marry Anne Boleyn.
In 1533 Henry VIII proclaimed England anEmpire, governed by one supreme head and king. By
being declared an Empire, England was proclaimed self-
sufficient from a jurisdictional point of view. Henry
established the sovereignty of Law made in Parliament.
In 1534, the term majesty was used for the first
time in proclamations and documents (it replaced your
grace as a form of address to the king). Henry devised
the doctrine of royal supremacy, and developed the
theory that the monarch was not responsible to the
people, but to God alone (the mystique of kingship).
In the same year (1534), the Act of Supremacy
established that Henry would be the Supreme Head of
the Church. A dramatic turn took place in religion, a
shift that was to change the political future of the country
as well.
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There had been no indications that England
would become, from a Catholic country, a Protestantone. In 1517, in Germany, Luther had challenged the
Papacy. Not only had Henry (a devout Catholic) not
responded, but he had written a book against Luther. The
Pope had rewarded him with the title Fidei Defensor
(Defender of Faith). But later, his break with Romeencouraged Protestants in England.
Henry VIII moved in the direction of
Lutheranism. He changed those aspects of the Church
that he viewed hostile. In 1536 the dissolution of the
(extremely wealthy) Catholic monasteries was set in
motion. The properties of the monasteries were
transferred to the Crown. Beckets shrine at Canterbury
was destroyed and pilgrimages were forbidden.
As a result of the royal supremacy, all religious
questions became political questions and any form of
dissent became a direct challenge to the Crown. Those
who did not accept thee Reformation were persecuted.
The Treason Act of 1534 extended the notion of treason
to words, not just deeds. Religious dissent was identified
with the denial of royal supremacy. Thomas More, who
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had persecuted Protestants before, resigned as Lord
Chancellor in protest at Henrys divorce and wasexecuted for treason.
In 1534 an Act was passed in Parliament,
establishing that Henrys marriage to Anne Boleyn was
undoubted, true, sincere and perfect, and that their
children would succeed to the throne of England. Mary,Catherines daughter, was declared illegitimate. After
Elizabeth was born, Anne Boleyn was beheaded in 1536.
Henry married Jane Seymour, who bore him a son,
Edward. In 1536 an Act replaced that of 1534, and
provided for the succession of Henrys children with
Jane Seymour. In 1544, a final Act settled the order of
succession to the throne of England: Edward I, Mary I,
Elizabeth I.
In England, the general reluctance to accept
Protestant religion was counterbalanced by the
unwillingness of most people to overthrow the King, but
this political move had weakened the authority of the
Crown. Scotland was determined not to follow the
English lead, and, even if Henry VIII attacked it in 1542,
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the negotiations failed and Scotland would accept the
Reformation much later.Wales accepted the Reformation easily, as it was
threatened by Spain, the most powerful Catholic country,
and it needed English help. From 1536 to 1543, the
Union of Wales with England was consolidated. Wales
was assimilated into the English governmental systemand the Welsh people became English subjects, with
representatives in Parliament. In 1543, the introduction
of English law and administration contributed to the
prosperity of the country, but the replacement of Welsh
with English as the official language had a devastating
effect on Welsh culture.
Ireland rejected the Reformation and the
Protestant colonists whom the King sent there. This
resulted in a war that lasted for nine years, but in 1540
the Irish Parliament accepted Henry VIII as King of
Ireland.
During the reign of Edward VI (1547-53),
Protestantism was consolidated, despite the general
hostility to religious change. Two Acts of Uniformity
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that were passed during Edwards reign established that
the moderately Protestant Book of Common Prayershould be used in Anglican service, and that fines should
be paid for non-attendance at church.
When Mary I (1553-58) succeeded her brother to
the throne of England, there was a dramatic return to
Catholicism. Mary was a fervent Catholic; she alsomarried Philip of Spain (an unpopular marriage that
caused revolts in the country). England was absolved
from Schism, and a synod restored Catholicism. Massive
persecution of Protestants (Bishops and about 270
Protestants were burnt at the stake) earned her the name
Bloody Mary.
In 1558 Elizabeth I became Queen of England
and Ireland. Having been declared illegitimate after her
mothers death, she had been imprisoned in the Tower of
London by her half-sister Mary, who had seen in her an
exponent of Protestantism.
Even if she opposed religious extremism, she
inherited a country (nation) that was deeply divided by
religious strife. She restored her fathers moderate
Anglicanism - in 1559 she reintroduced Anglican service
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and in 1563 the 39 Articles formulating the established
doctrine of the Church were issued. She maintainedcontrol over the Church and over the bishops, and the
Act of Supremacy that was passed during her reign (the
Elizabethan Settlement) defined once again the
sovereign as the Supreme Head of the Church.
Moreover, she made use of her prerogative (the
powers and privileges that the law recognizes as
belonging to the sovereign) and claimed that Parliament
had no right to initiate discussion of the religious
settlement, her marriage, and the succession to the
throne.
She accepted only those aspects of the Protestant
doctrine and practice that were consistent with order, and
she made it clear that there would be no further
Reformation of the Church. This brought about the
conflict with the Puritans (the radical exponents of
Protestantism). She only offered moderate and cautious
help to the Dutch Protestants and the French Hughenots.
Her moderate Protestantism had political reasons,
as England was threatened by two great Catholic powers,
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France and Spain. Philip of Spain attacked the heretical
Queen, but the powerful Spanish Armada was defeatedby the English in 1588.
Elizabeth I showed great interest in the welfare of
her subjects, who called her Gloriana. She was prudent
in her economic decisions she often financed
Government from her own revenues and rarely raisedtaxes. She helped create a national self-confidence that
was reflected in the works of Marlowe, Spenser and
Shakespeare.
The basis of Britains trading Empire was set in
1600, when the East India Company was founded to
trade there. At the same time, the first English colony in
America (Virginia) was established and some
unsuccessful attempts were made to break into
Portugals trade with West Africa.
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3.2 Linguistic Changes in the 15
th
and 16
th
Centuries
The English language in the 16th century
underwent dramatic changes, which represented a new
stage in its development (early) Modern English(1500-1700). As early as the 15th century, the emerging
literary standard made it possible for the English
language to create some kind of recognizable order out
of the chaos of co-existing regional, social and stylistic
variations.
The disproportionate growth of London and the
growing mobility of the population in general combined
to spread London prestige linguistic forms in waves out
to the regional dialects, after the language of the written
documents was affected first. The social varieties also
affected one another increasingly, in the sense that the
speech of the educated determined the norms of the
middle class.
It is generally accepted that the beginning of the
Early Modern English can be dated back to 1500.
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Several social factors were brought in support of this
theory. One of them was the expansion of a writtenstandard form and its increasing homogeneity (book
printing had begun in England in 1476). Another factor
was the beginning of humanism in England (the Oxford
reformers 1485-1510). Another major contribution was
the translation of the Bible into English, as aconsequence of the breakaway of the English Church
from Rome in 1533-34.
Both linguistically and culturally, the 15th century
had been a transitional period, and many 16th century
language features had their beginnings in the preceding
century the reduction of inflections, the rise of
Chancery English as the standard after 1430, the increase
in middle-class readership.
Another factor in favor of English was the
increase in national feeling, particularly during the
Renaissance and the reign of Elizabeth I. The rise of the
modern nation-state in the 15th and 16th centuries brought
greater interest and pride in the national language. The
rise of social groups, educated and eager to read and
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learn, increased translations and book printing in
English.In terms of grammar, the speakers of early
Modern English often had a choice of terms and
constructions that are not possible nowadays in verb
inflections, personal pronouns, relative pronouns,
negative and interogative sentences (e.g. has/hath,you/thou goest/goes).
3.2.1. The Great Vowel Shift was a change in
the quality of all the long vowels, which became shorter
in quality. It began in the 15th century and was completed
in the 17th century. In relation to this, many linguists
believe that the causes of early Modern English variation
among long vowels and of the rift between spelling and
pronunciation go back to Middle English times. The
social reasons for these innovations are unexplained.
According to a hypothesis advanced by some linguists,
the upper classes, highly competent in French in the 15th
century, may have substituted a more refined
pronunciation of English. Moreover, the medieval
concept of spelling presupposed a kind of phonetic
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spelling (scribes in Norman times spelled words as they
heard them). Therefore, in the 16
th
century, spelling hadremained extremely archaic. While pronunciation had
changed a lot, spelling had lagged behind. It is generally
believed that, in many ways, modern spelling in English
still represents medieval pronunciation.
Latin was also influential during the Renaissanceperiod, a period that was remarkable for the rediscovery
of the classics. To some extent, Latin remained the
linguistic ideal it was still the international language of
scholarship, the lingua franca that would safeguard a
writers international fame. Thomas More, William
Camden, Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes
still wrote in Latin, so that, if works in Latin were
ignored, the cultural history of England would be
incomplete. In grammar schools, Latin was still used
because of the medieval belief in its superiority. The
educational system would adopt the English medium
education only in the 17th century, when the influence of
Puritans, who equated Latin with Roman Catholicism,
increased; it was only the upheaval of Civil War that
disrupted the old traditions of the schools.
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If, at the beginning of the 16th century, English
had still been considered a rather rude, barbarianlanguage, by the end of the 16th century, after the Golden
Age of the English language, there was an unparalleled
sense of pride in the national language.
3.3. Education
In the 15th and 16th centuries, English humanists,
such as John Colet (who founded St. Pauls School) and
Sir Thomas More helped to establish a revival of
classical learning and liberal studies. During the 16th and
17th centuries, the spread of Calvinist reforms by the
Puritans in England and by the Presbyterians in Scotland
led to an emphasis on the study of English, the sciences,
modern languages and sport. Many Kings schools
(public schools) appeared in most cathedral cities.
However, for a long time, the state played no role
in the school system. There were exceptions some
monarchs opened schools (Henry VI opened Eton one
of the most exclusive colleges nowadays, and Edward VI
founded some dozen schools still known as King Edward
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VI Grammar Schools), but, apart from that, the state was
reluctant to intervene in the educational sphere.
CONCEPTS AND KEYWORDS
1. Henry VIII and the Reformation: Restraint ofAppeals to Rome
2. Sovereignty of Law made in Parliament
3. Act of Supremacy
4. Lutheranism and Protestantism; the
Elizabethan Church Settlement
5. Union of Wales with England
6. Early Modern English the Great Vowel
Shift
QUESTIONS
1. Define Lutheranism and Protestantism.
2. Discuss the impact of the Reformation on Wales and
Ireland, respectively.
3. Mary I and the Counterreformation.
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4. The 17
th
Century: James I. Civil War inEngland. The Restoration of the Stuarts. The
Glorious Revolution.
4.1. The 17
th
Century: House of Stuart
The reign of Tudor monarchs ended with Queen
Elizabeths death and with the accession of James I
(1603-25) to the throne of England and Ireland. The son
of Mary, Queen of Scots, he was an infant when he
succeeded to the Scottish throne as James VI, following
his mothers enforced abdication in 1567. Mary, Queen
of Scots, who was related to Elizabeth, had been
executed for treason, as Queen Elizabeth feared that she
might be the focus of Catholic conspiracies against the
authority of the English Crown.
In 1586 he was awarded an English pension, and