Kings vs. Nobles: English Feudalism (11th-15th Centuries), Study Guides, Projects, Research of United Kingdom History

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THE CONFLICT BETWEEN KINGS AND NOBLEMEN

Mr Hannachi

OUTLINE

1 From the Norman Conquest to the Hundred Years War: the

feudal state (11th –13th cc.)

 Magna Carta

 Wars: civil wars in England

2- From the outbreak of the Hundred Years War to the end of the

Wars of the Roses: the decay of feudalism (14th + 15th cc.)

 The Hundred Years War (1337-1453)

 The Black Death (1348-51) and the Peasants’

Revolt (1381)

 The Wars of the Roses (1455-85)

Norman Kings After The Conquest

• At the death of William the Conqueror in 1087, his lands were

divided into two parts.

• His Norman lands went to his eldest son, Robert

Curthose,

• His English lands to his second son, William Rufus

(William II),

• His Norman lands went to his eldest son, Robert Curthose,

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

William II Rufus

• (^) A dilemma for those nobles who held land on both sides of the English Channel, who decided to unite England and Normandy once more under one ruler.
• (^) The pursuit of this aim led them to revolt against William in favor of Robert in the Rebellion of 1088.
• As Robert failed to appear in England to rally his supporters, William won the support of the English lords with silver and promises of better government, and defeated the rebellion.
• (^) William died while hunting in 1100. Robert William II, Henry I and Stephen

• Henry I exacted a promise from the barons to recognize his daughter Matilda as their ruler,
• When he died, some of the barons broke their promise and instead chose Stephen, a grandson of William the Conqueror, Queen Matilda Henry I William II, Henry I and Stephen

William II, Henry I and Stephen

• Stephen was a gallant knight but a weak king,
• Throughout his reign lawless barons fought private wars, each seeking to increse his power,
• Twice he was challenged by Matilda and her supporters, who nearly defeated him in 1141 , Stephen
• When Stephen died in 1154 , the people were ready to welcome a strong ruler who would restore order, Queen Matilda

• HOUSE OF

PLANTAGENETS:

Geoffrey of Anjou, Matilda daughter of Henry I,

1- From the Norman Conquest to the Hundred Years War:

the feudal state (11th –13th cc.)

1 Henry II Restores the royal Power,

2 King John and Magna Carta,

3 The Rise of Parliament: Civil Wars

in England ,

• He restored the royal rights, tightened the control over sheriffs and tried to get all courts under the royal control,  (^) Henry II sent out trained judges on circuit to different towns in England to sit in the county courts,  (^) Common Law :

law , comprising legal principles

developed and applied by the courts, and encompassing the prerogative powers of the crown

• He failed with ecclesiastical courts – cf. his conflict with Thomas Becket.  (^) Henry carried on a long and bitter struggle with Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, who asserted the independence of the church courts against the kings authority,  (^) The church triumphed when Becket was murdered,  (^) After making peace with the pope, Henry did penance at Bechet’s tomb,  (^) Becket bacame a sainted martyr, and for centuries people made pilgrimages to his shire at Canterbury,

Richard I (Lion Heart) King John (Lackland)

• John (Lackland, 1199-1216) because his misrule alienated his barons,
• in 1215, they forced John to grant them the Magna Carta (Great Charter of Liberties), which limited the royal power and laid the foundations for the later Parliamentary monarchy.
• Henry’s sons were weak kings: Richard I (Lion Heart, 1189-99) because he spent most of his reign fighting in Palestine (in the Third Crusade) and in France;

2- King John and Magna Carta

2- King John and Magna Carta,

• In English history, the charter granted by King John (I)

Lackland in 1215, traditionally seen as guaranteeing human

rights against the excessive use of royal power.

• As a reply to the king's demands for feudal dues and attacks on

the privileges of the medieval church, Archbishop Stephen

Langton proposed to the barons the drawing-up of a binding

document in 1213.

• John was forced to accept this at Runnymede (now in Surrey) on 15

June 1215.