HST 164 Overview of Medieval
English
Political and Military History
I. Roman Britain
A. Caesar's Invasion (55-54 BCE) Roman Britain, SE England
B. Claudius' Conquest (43 CE)
C. Boudicca's Revolt (61 CE)
1. ruler of the Iceni tribe in eastern England
2. very successful in leading the Iceni army against the Romans
D. Hadrian's Wall (122-8 CE)
1. the Romans controlled Wales by 78
2. they controlled much of northern England and Scotland by 84
3. Scotland was difficult to control; the Picts continually launched raids
4. the emperor Hadrian decided to build a wall that would aid
the Romans in defending the border region [MAP]
5. Images: the wall, diagram of the wall, reconstructed gatehouse
6. Vindolanda
E. The Decline of Roman Britain
1. the Romans had firm control south of Hadrian's Wall
- Map of towns and roads in Roman Britain
2. external threat: the Saxons
3. Saxon shore forts [Map]
4. Decline of the Roman Empire [Map of Germanic Invasions]
5. Roman army leaves to fight on the continent in 406-7 and doesn't return
6. in 410 the emperor Honorius informs the Britons that they will have to
defend themselves against the Saxons
II. Anglo-Saxon England
Anglo-Saxon Kings
Alfred (871-99)
Edward the Elder (899-924)
Aethelstan (924-39)
Edmund I (939-46)
Eadred (946-55)
Eadwig (955-59)
Edgar the Peaceful (959-75)
Edward the Martyr (975-78)
Aethelred the Unready (978-1013)
Sweyn Forkbeard (1013-14)
Aethelred the Unready (1014-16)
Edmund Ironside (1016)
Cnut (1016-35)
Harold Harefoot (1035-40)
Harthacnut (1040-42)
Edward the Confessor (1042-66)
Harold Godwinson (1066)
A. Angles, Saxons, Jutes [MAP]
B. The conquest
1. Raids
2. Mercenaries/Conquest
3. Colonization
C. The Vikings [MAP]
1. the Danes attacked France, Germany and England
2. the Norwegians attacked Scotland, Ireland and other
North Atlantic islands
3. the Swedes attacked Russia and the Byzantine Empire
4. two main reasons that the Vikings left their homelands
a. overpopulation; not enough land
b. ship improvements; very fast ships that could
carry large numbers of warriors [longship, reconstruction]
5. eventually they settled down and their attack routes became trade routes
D. Alfred and the Formation of England
1. King of Wessex (871-899) [MAP]
2. Danegeld
a. Viking attacks begin in late 8th c.
b. the Vikings attack Wessex in 870
c. Alfred buys them off by agreeing to pay an annual tribute
called the Danegeld (he taxes his subjects to pay it)
3. Burhs [MAP]
- large forts protected by large mounds of dirt
and wooden stockades
4. Battle of Edington (878) and the creation of the Danelaw [MAP]
5. the Formation of England
a. Alfred controlled most of southern England by his death (899)
b. his son Edward conquered East Anglia (918)
c. Edward's son Aethelstan conquered northern England in 927
E. The Vikings - part 2
1. New Viking Attacks
- attempts by the kings of Norway and Denmark to conquer England
2. Ethelred the Unready (978-1016)
a. managed to fend off the Vikings for a while
b. but many English simply defected to the Danish side
it appeared that the Danish king would win in 1013
c. Ethelred then fled to Normandy
d. the English accept the Danish King Swein as their king
e. Swein dies in 1014 and leaves England to his son Cnut
f. Ethelred returned to fight the Danes, but died in 1016
g. the English accept Cnut as their king
(Ethelred's oldest son died; the other was too young)
h. the Witan: Anglo-Saxon council
3. Cnut and his Sons (1016-1042)
a. Cnut (1016-1035) [family tree]
1. inherits Danish and Norwegian thrones
2. England part of a Scandinavian empire [MAP]
b. Harold Harefoot (1035-1040)
c. Harthacanute (1040-1042)
4. Edward the Confessor (1042-1066)
a. was actually more French than English
b. he gave important government position to Normans
c. this alienated the English lords
d. thus, they did what they wanted and he was a figurehead
III. Norman England
Norman Kings [Royal Genealogy]
William I the Conqueror (1066-1087)
William II Rufus (1087-1100)
Henry I (1100-1135)
Stephen (1135-1154)
A. William the Conqueror (1066-1087)
1. William, Duke of Normandy: cousin of Edward the Confessor
a. had a blood relationship with the king (first cousin once removed)
b. claimed Edward had chosen him as his successor
c. he was not chosen mainly because he was not English
d. they chose the powerful earl of Wessex instead (Harold Godwinson)
d. thus, William prepared an invasion force
2. Battle of Hastings
3. Castle Building
4. Social Change
a. William divided up most of England among his Norman followers
b. they became the new aristocracy
c. French now became the language of the English king and his lords
B. William Rufus (1087-1100)
1. fairly smooth reign
2. "accidentally" killed while hunting
C. Henry I (1100-1135)
1. Henry immediately seized the royal treasury and was proclaimed king
2. Henry also conquered Normandy from his oldest brother
3. built up a strong government bureaucracy during his reign
D. Stephen (1135-1154)
1. Henry I's daughter Matilda began to stir up trouble
2. she and her husband, Geoffrey of Anjou, conquered Normandy
and then came to England and forced Stephen to agree
to allow their son Henry to become king on Stephen's death
IV. Plantagenet England
Plantagenet Kings [Royal Genealogy]
Henry II (1154-1189)
Richard I (1189-1199)
John (1199-1216)
Henry III (1216-1272)
Edward I (1272-1307)
Edward II (1307-1327)
Edward III (1327-1377)
Richard II (1377-1399)
A. Henry II (1154-1189)
1. ruled the Angevin Empire
a. Anjou from his father
b. Normandy from his mother
c. Aquitaine from his wife Eleanor
2. conflict with Thomas Becket
- we will visit the site of Becket's martyrdom at Canterbury Cathedral
B. Richard I (1189-1199)
1. absentee king
2. in France or on Crusade
C. John (1199-1216)
1. lost Angevin Empire
2. over-taxation
3. Magna Carta (1215)
a. no taxation without permission
b. king is not above the law
c. only 4 original copies from 1215 remain
d. you will see the best preserved one at Salisbury Cathedral
4. John promptly ignores Magna Carta, leading to further rebellion
D. Henry III (1216-1272)
1. alienates the barons
2. Provisions of Oxford (1258)
a. reiterated items in Magna Carta
b. formalized the institution of parliament
3. Henry ignores the Provisions, leading to further rebellion
E. Edward I (1272-1307)
a. one of the strongest kings in English history
b. we'll look at him and some of his successors later this week
