Chapter 4 - A long and illustrious history Flashcards
Early Britain - Stone Age
The first people in England were hunter-gatherers.
Britain was connected to the mainland by a land bridge, giving people freedom of movement to hunt deer and horses.
Britain became separated from the continent by the Channel about 10,000 years ago
Early Britain - Stone Age
First Farmers
The first farmers arrived in Britain 6,000 years ago, and they probably came originally from south-east Europe.
The built houses, tombs and monuments.
Stonehenge
Monument built by Stone Age farmers. It is in Wiltshire and it is probably a special gathering place for seasonal ceremonies.
Other Stone Age sites that survived
Skara Brae
Skara Brae on Orkney (north coast of Scotland), is the best preserved pre-historic village in northern Europe, and lead archaeologists to understand better how people in the Stone Age lived.
Bronze Age
About 4,000 years ago, people learned how to make bronze.
they lived in roundhouses and buried their dead in round barrows.
People in this age were accomplished metal workers, and made beautiful objects in gold and bronze (tools, ornaments, weapons)
Iron Age
People learned how to make weapons and tools out of iron.
People still lived in Roundhouses, but grouped together in larger settlements, and defended sites called hill forts.
People were farmers, craft workers or warriors.
Spoke a language that was part of Celtic. Some parts of Wales, Scotland and Ireland still speak it.
First time coin was minted in Britain, inscribed with the names of Iron Age Kings.
Maiden Castle
A hill fort in Dorset, can still be seen today.
The Romans
Julius Caesar led a Roman invasion of Britain in 55 BC, but it was unsuccessful and Britain remained free from the Roman Empire for nearly 100 years after that.
43 AD Emperor Claudius led a new invasion, and they were successful and occupied almost all of Britain.
Boudicca
Queen of the Iceni (eastern England) was one of the tribal leaders who fought against the Romans.
She is still remembered today, and there is a statue of her in Westminster Bridge in London, near the Houses of Parliament.
The Romans - Scotland
Scotland was never conquered by the Romans.
Emperor Hadrian built a wall to keep the Picts (ancestors of the Scottish people away.
There were some forts along the wall: Housesteads and Vindolanda (can still be seen).
It is a popular area for walkers and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation)
Roman influence
The Romans remained in Britain for 400 years.
They built roads and public buildings, created a structure of law, new plants and animals.
New Christian communities arrived in Britain during the 3rd and 4th centuries.
The Anglo-Saxons
The Romans left Britain in AD 410 to defend other part of the Empire.
So Britain was then invaded by: he Jutes, the Angles and the Saxons.
The languages they spoke were the base of modern-day English.
AD 600 Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were established in Britain, mainly in England.
Parts of the West of Britain, Wales and Scotland remained free from Anglo-Saxon rule
Sutton Hoo
In modern day Suffolk, is a burial place of one of the Anglo-Saxon kings.
The king was buried with treasure and armour, placed in a ship and covered by a mound of earth.
Anglo-Saxon Christians and Missionaries
Missionaries came to Britain to preach Christianity.
Missionaries from Ireland spread he religion in the north, most famously St Patrick, who became a patron saint of Ireland.
Columba founded a monastery in the island of Iona, off the coast of Scotland.
St Augustine led missionaries from Rome and spread Christianity in the south. He became the first Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Vikings
Came from Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
They raided Britain in AD 789, took goods and slaves.
Anglo-Saxon kings united under King Alfred the Great and defeated the Vikings.
Vikings - Danelaw
Some Vikings stayed in Britain and formed their own communities, specially in the east and north of England, in an area called the Danelaw.
Places such as Grimsby and Scunthorpe come from the Viking language.
Viking settlers mixed with local communities and some converted to Christianity.
Cnut/Canute
Danish King who ruled in England in a short period where it was ruled by Danish kings.
Kenneth MacAlpin
Anglo-Saxon king who united people in the north to fight against the Vikings.
The term Scotland started to be used to describe that country.
The Norman Conquest
The Battle of Hastings
In 1066, William, the Duke of Normandy defeated Harold, an Anglo-Saxon king in the Battle of Hastings.
William became the king of England, William the Conqueror.
Bayeux Tapestry
Piece of embroidery that commemorates the Battle of Hastings. It can still be seen in France today.
The Norman Conquest
The last successful foreign invasion
It led to many changes in the government and social structures of England.
Norman French became the new language.
The Normans also conquered Wales, but the Welsh gradually conquered territory back.
The Scots and the Normans
They fought on the border of England and Scotland. The Normans took some of the border, but never invaded Scoland.
William the Conqueror
Domesday Book
William sent people all over England to draw up lists of all the towns and villages, the people who lived there and what they owned.
This was called the Domesday Book. It still exists today and gives a picture of society in England after the Norman Conquest.
The Middle Ages
War at home and abroad
Medieval period, goes from the end of he Roman Empire (AD 476) up until 1485.
The Middle Ages
War at home and abroad - Period after the Normal Conquest
The period right after the Norman Conquest was of almost constant war.
The English kings fought with the Welsh, Scottish and Irish noblemen for control of their lands.
The Middle Ages
War at home and abroad - Statute of Rhuddlan
In 1284, King Edward I of England introduced this Statute, which annexed Wales to the Crown of England.
Castles were built to maintain this power: Conwy and Caernarvon.
Mid 15th century, the last Welsh rebellions were defeated.
English law and language were introduced.
The Middle Ages
War at home and abroad - Scotland, the Battle of Bannockburn
English kings were less successful in Scotland.
In 1314, Robert the Bruce defeated the English at the Battle of Bannockburn, and Scotland remained unconquered by the English.
The Middle Ages
War at home and abroad - Ireland, The Pale
At the beginning of the Middle Ages, Ireland was independent.
English troops went to Ireland to help the Irish Kind and remained there in their own settlements.
The area called the Pale, around Dublin, was ruled by the English. Some parts of Ireland accepted the rule of the king of England.
The Middle Ages
War at home and abroad - wars abroad
The Crusades: European Christians fought for control of the Holy Land.
Hundred Years War: war with France, which lasted 116 years. Battle of Agincourt was the most famous battle in 1415, where the outnumbered army of Henry V defeated the French.
The English left France in 1450.
Feudalism
Feudalism
King would give land to lords so that they would help with war.
Landowners would send their men to serve in the army, they were peasants, but mostly serfs.
They had a small are of their lord’s land where they could grow food. They would work for the lord and could not move away
The Black Death
1348, a disease/plague.
One third of the population in England died, and a similar proportion in Scotland and Wales.
There were less people, therefore less crops, but also less need for crops.
There were labour shortages, so peasants started demanding higher wages.
In Ireland, many people living in the Pale died, so the area controlled by the English became smaller.
Gentry
New social class that appeared. They were owners of large areas of land.
People left the countryside to live in towns, where a strong middle class was developed, due to growing wealth.
Legal and Political Changes
Parliament began to develop in what it is today in the Middle Ages.
It started as the king’s council of advisers (noblemen and important men of the church)
Magna Carta
Limits to the king’s power until 1215
In 1215, King John had to agree to a number of demands.
then the Magna Carta established that the king was subject to law too. It protected the rights of the nobility and restricted the king’s power when it came to collect taxes or change laws.
Noblemen had to be involved in decisions.
Magna Carta
Parliaments
in England, there were parliaments for the king to consult his nobles when there was a need to raise money.
2 Houses in the Parliaments:
House
2 Houses in the Parliaments:
House of Lords: nobility, great land owners, bishops.
House of Commons: smaller landowners, wealthy people from towns and cities.
Only a small part of the population could elect the members of the Commons.
3 Houses in the Parliaments of Scotland:
The Lords
The Commons
The Clergy
Magna Carta
The development of the legal system
This was also the time that saw the development in the legal system.
Judges were independent and ‘common law’ was established, which follows a process of precedence and tradition.
In Scotland it developed slightly differently, and laws were codified, that is, written down.
A distinct identity
Language
After the Normal Conquest, there was development of national culture and identity.
The king and his noblemen spoke Norman French and the peasants continued speaking Anglo-Saxon. Both combined became the English language.
Words such as ‘park’ and ‘beauty’ came from the Norman language.
Words such as ‘cow’, ‘apple’ and ‘summer’ came from Anglo-Saxon.
Sometimes there are 2 words, one from each origin:
‘demand’ Norman French; ‘ask’
English quickly became the preferred language and started being used in Parliament.
The Canterbury Tales
Chaucer wrote a few poems in English about a group of people going to Canterbury on a pilgrimage.
People would tell one another stories on the journey.
The poems describe the travellers and the stories they told.
It was one of the first books to be printed by William Caxton, the first person printing books using the printing press.
Some of these stories have been made into plays and tv programmes.
Scotland - language and culture
Many people in Scotland continued speaking Gaelic and the Scots language developed.
John Barbour wrote “The Bruce” about the Battle of Bannockburn in the Scots language.
Types of buildings in the Middle Ages
Many castles were built in Britain and Ireland, partly for defence.
A lot are now ruins, but some, like the Windsor Castle and the Edinburgh, are still in use
Cathedrals were also built: Lincoln Cathedral (many still used for worship).
Several of these cathedrals had windows of stained glass, telling Bible stories, Christian Saints’.
The most famous is the York Minster stained glass windows.
England as a trading nation
England exported wool.
People came to England from abroad to trade and to work.
A lot of them had special skills: weavers from France, engineers from Germany, glass manufacturers from Italy and canal builders from Holland.
The War of the Roses
In 1455, there was civil war to decide who would be the next king of England, between the Houses of York and Lancaster.
This was called the War of the Roses, because the symbol of the House of Lancaster was a red rose, and the symbol of the House of York was a white rose
The end of the War of the Roses - the Battle of Bosworth Field
In1485, King Richard III, of the House of York, was killed in this battle by the House Tudor, the leader of the House of Lancaster.
He became King Henry VII.
He then married Richard’s niece, Elisabeth of York, which united the 2 families.
Henry VII was the first king of the House of Tudor. And its symbol was a read rose with a white rose inside it, to show both Houses were now allies.
The Tudors and Stuarts
Religious conflicts
Henry VII wanted to ensure there was peace in England, and that his position as king was secure.
He strengthened the central administration and reduced the power of the nobles.
He also increased the monarchy’s financial reserves.
The Tudors and Stuarts
Religious conflicts - Henry VIII
He broke away from the Church of England and married 6 times.
The 6 wives of Henry VIII
Catherine of Aragon: Spanish princess, he divorced her, because he wanted a male heir, and she only gave him Mary, and she was too old to have more children.
Anne Boleyn - English, have birth to Elisabeth. She was accused of taking lovers, so she was executed at the Tower of London.
Jane Seymour - English, gave birth to Edward, but she died shortly after birth.
Anne of Cleves - German princess. He married her for political reasons, but divorced her soon after.
Catherine of Howard - Anne Boleyn’s cousin. Also accused of taking lovers and was executed.
Catherine Parr - was a widow and married Henry late in his live. She outlived him, remarried, but died soon after.
How the Church of England was established
In order to divorce is first wife, Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII needed the Pope’s approval, which he didn’t get, so he broke with the Catholic Church and established the Church of England.
In the Church of England, it was the King and not the Pope who appointed bishops and how people should worship.
Reformation and the authority of the Pope
Rise of Protestantism
Reformation in Europe was also a movement against the authority of the Pope and the ideas and practices of the Roman Catholic Church.
Protestants formed their own churches, and read the Bible in their own languages and not in Latin.
There was no praying to saints or at shrines. Person’s relationship with God should be submitted to the authority of the Church.
Protestant ideas gained strength in England, Wales and Scotland during the 16th Century.
Protestantism in Ireland
Attempts of the English to impose Protestantism led to rebellion from the Irish, and much fighting followed.
Wales during the reign of Henry VIII
Wales became formally united with England during Henry VIII reign by the Act of the Government of Wales.
The Welsh sent representatives to the House of Commons and there was a Welsh legal system.
Edward VI - successor of Henry VIII
The Book of Common Prayer
Edward VI was strongly Protestant.
The Book of Common Prayer was written during his reign, and it was to be used in the Church of England.
It is still in some churches today.
He died when he was 15, after having ruled for 6 years.
He was followed by his half-sister Mary.
‘Bloody Mary’
Mary was devout Catholic and persecuted Protestants.
She also died after a short reign, and her half-sister, Elisabeth, followed.
Queen Elisabeth I
She was Protestant, re-established the Church of England.
Everyone at to attend their local church, and there were laws about the allowed types of religious services and prayers.
She managed to find a balance between the views of Catholics and the more extreme Protestants. So there was no religious conflict in England
The Defeat of the Spanish Armada
In 1588, the English defeated the Spanish Armada, that had been sent to conquer England and restore Catholicism.
This happened under Elisabeth I, making her one of the most popular monarchs.
The Reformation in Scotland - Protestant influence
Scotland was also influenced by Protestant ideas.
In 1560, the Scottish Parliament was predominantly Protestant and abolished the authority of the Pope in Scotland.
There was a Protestant Church of Scotland, but it wasn’t the state Church.
Mary Stuart (Mary, Queen of Scots)
She was Catholic, and she was only 1 week old when her father died and she became Queen.
She was raised in France.
When her husband was murdered, she was suspected to be involved, so she fled to England.
The throne was given to her Protestant son, James VI of Scotland.
Mary was hoping her cousin, Elisabeth I, would help her.
There were then suspicions that she wanted to take the English throne, so Elisabeth kept her prisoner for 20 years, and then got her executed, after she was accused of plotting against Elisabeth.
Exploration, Sir Francis Drake
The Elisabethan period was of growing patriotism.
Explorers sought new routes to expand British trade (into the Spanish Colonies and the Americas).
Francis Drake was one of the commanders in the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and was one of the founders of England’s naval tradition.
The Golden Hind was his ship, and it was the first to circumnavigate the world.
At this time English settlers colonised America, particularly those who disagreed with religious views of the next 2 kings.
Poetry and Drama
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
The Elisabethan period was also known for the richness of its poetry and drama.
Shakespeare is the best known example.
He was born is Stratford-upon-Avon.
Was a playwright, actor, who wrote many plays and poems.
Famous plays: MacBeth, A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet.
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Quotes
Shakespeare influenced the English language a lot.
Some lines of his plays and poems are still quoted:
- Once more unto the breach (Henry V)
- To be or not to be (Hamlet)
- A rose by any other name (Romeo and Juliet)
- All the world’s a stage (As you like it)
- The darling buds of May (Sonnet 18 - Shall I compare Thee to a Summer’s Day)
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
The Globe Theatre in London
It’s a modern copy of the theatres in which Shakespeare’s plays were performed.
James VI and I
Elisabeth had no children, so James VI of Scotland took the throne of England as James I
King James Bible
King James I got the Bible to be newly translated into English, this was know as the ‘King James Version’ or the ‘Authorised Version’.
IT is still used in many Portestant churches today.
Ireland
James I period
Over this period Ireland was mostly all Catholic.
Henry VII and Henry VIII extended English control outside the Pale, so English authority was established over the whole country.
Henry VIII had assumed the title of King of Ireland.
During Elisabethan and James I period, many opposed the Protestant government of England, and there were rebellions.
The English government encouraged English and Scottish Protestants to settle in Ireland, and they took over the land of Catholic landowners.
These settlements were called plantations.
The Rise of Parliament
James I and his son Charles I were less skilled than Elizabeth managing Parliament, because they both believed in the ‘Divine Right of Kings’, as in the king was directly appointed by God to rule.
they didn’t think they needed the Parliaments approval.
The Rise of Parliament
Charles I
When he inherited the thrones of England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland he tried to rule without the Parliament, when they didn’t agree with his political and religious policies.
He managed to rule 11 years like this, but then there was trouble with Scotland, and he had to recall the Parliament for help.
The Beginning of the English Civil War
Charles I introduced the Prayer Book, as he wanted there to be more ceremony in the Church of England.
He tried to introduce it to the Presbyterian Church in Scotland, which caused a lot of unrest.
Charles I couldn’t raise money for an army to defend him from the Scottish army. He tried, but then in 1640, he had to recall the Parliament to ask for funds.
The Parliament refused to help and allowed the Scottish army to invade England.
The Beginning of the English Civil War
cont
In Ireland, the Roman Catholics were afraid of the growing power of the Puritans.
In the meantime, the Parliament took control of the English army.
Charles I entered the House of Commons and tried to arrest5 parliamentary leaders, but they had been warned and were no there. No monarch had ever been to the House of Commons before.
Begin of Civil War in 1642
Parliament and king began Civil War.
The Cavaliers supported the king.
The Roundheads supported the Parliament.
Oliver Cromwell and the English Republic
The king’s army was defeated in the Battles of Marston Moor and Naseby.
The Parliament had won the war by 1646, and Charles was held prisoner. And in 1649 he was executed, as he didn’t reach agreement with Parliament.
Oliver Cromwell and the English Republic
After Charles I was executed, England declared itself a Republic, called the Commonwealth.
One of the army generals, Oliver Cromwell, was sent to Ireland, as there was a revolt in 1641, as there was a Royalist Army still there. He successfully imposed the Parliament authority, but with such violence, he is still controversial there today.
Charles II
The Scots had no agreed to the execution of Charles I and declared his son Charles II to be king, and he was crowned king of Scotland.
He led a Scottish army to England, but Cromwell defeated him at the Battles of Dunbar and Worcester.
Charles II escaped Worcester hiding in an oak tree, and then fled to Europe.
So the English Parliament controlled England, Wales and Scotland.
Oliver Cromwell - Lord Protector
Oliver Cromwell was declared Lord Protector and ruled until he died in 1658.
His son Richard then became Lord Protector, but he wasn’t able to control the army or the government.
People wanted stability, and began to talk about the need for a king.
The Restoration - Charles II
In May 1660, Parliament invited Charles II to come back from the Netherlands, and he was crowned Charles II of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
He understood that he sometimes needed to reach agreement with the Parliament.
Parliament generally supported his policies.
Church of England became official, and Roman Catholics and Puritans were kept out of power.
Plague in London, 1665
Thousands of people died, specially in the poorest areas.
Fire of London, 1666
A great fire destroyed London, many churches, including St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Sir Christopher Wren rebuilt the new St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Samuel Pepys wrote about these events in a diary published later, which is still read today.
Habeas Corpus Act 1679
Important piece of Legislation which is still relevant today.
In Latin this means ‘you must present the person in court’.
This Act guaranteed that no one could be held prisoner unlawfully, and that every prisoner has the right to a court hearing.
Royal Society
Charles II was interested in science, so during his reign, the Royal Society was formed to promote ‘natural knowledge’.
It’s the oldest surviving scientific society in the world.
Early famous members: Sir Edmund Halley (predicted the return of Comet Halley); and Sir Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton (1643-1727)
Born in Lincolnshire, studied in Cambridge.
Published “Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica” (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), which showed how gravity applied to the whole universe.
He also discovered that light is made up of all the colours of the rainbow.
A Catholic King
Charles II had no legitimate children. He died in 1685 and his brother, James (a Roman Catholic) became King James II in England, Wales and Ireland and King James VII of Scotland.
A Catholic King - James II
He allowed Catholics to be army officers, which was forbidden by an Act of Parliament. But he didn’t seek agreements with the Parliament and got some Church of England bishops arrested.
His 2 daughters were Protestant, so there was hope the next monarch would be Protestant, but then he had a son.
The Glorious Revolution
Mary, James II eldest daughter, was a Protestant and married William of Orange, the Protestant ruler of the Netherlands.
In 1688, Protestants in England asked William to invade England and proclaim himself king.
He did so, and there was no resistance.
The Glorious Revolution
William III
William took over the throne, and James fled to France.
He became William III of England, Wales and Ireland; and William II of Scotland.
He ruled jointly with Mary.
This was called the ‘Glorious Revolution’ because there was no fighting and because it guaranteed the power of the Parliament.
The Battle of Boyne (Ireland 1690)
James II wanted to regain the throne, so he invaded Ireland with a French army.
William defeated James there at the Battle of Boyne in Ireland 1690. This is still celebrated in Northern Ireland today.
James fled back to France, and William reconquered Ireland.
there were many restrictions to Catholics there, and they were unable to take part in the government.
the Glorious Revolution - Scotland
There were many supporters of James in Scotland.
There was a rebellion in Killiecrankie, but it was quickly defeated.
Scottish clans were forced to formally accept William and take oath.
The MacDonald’s of Glencoe were late doing this, and were all killed.
This made the Scots distrust the government.
Kings James
James I of England —–> James VI of Scotland
James II of England —–> James VII of Scotland
William III of England —–> William II of Scotland
The Jacobites
James continued having supporters in Scotland, and thought he was the rightful king. Some joined him in exile.
His supporters were called the Jacobites.
A Global Power
Constitutional Monarchy - the Bill of Rights (1689)
Confirmed the rights of the Parliament and the limits of the king’s power.
Parliament took control of who the monarch would be and that they must be a Protestant.
New Parliament to be elected every 3 years (later it became 7 and now is 5).
Monarch had to ask Parliament every year for funding for the army and the navy.
Houses in Parliament and the King’s advisers
In order for the monarch to rule effectively and gain the Parliament’s agreement, they would need advisers, or ministers, to ensure the majority of votes in the House of Commons and the House of Lords
The Parliament
The Whigs and the Tories
The Whigs and the Tories (as the modern Conservative Party is till referred to) were the 2 main groups in Parliament.
This was the beginning of party politics.
Free Press (1695)
In 1695, newspapers were allowed to operate without a government license, so a lot more began publishing.
Constitutional Monarchy
The laws passed after the Glorious Revolution are the beginning of that is called ‘constitutional monarchy.
even though the monarch remained important, they could no longer insist on particular policies or actions if Parliament didn’t agree.
After William III, the ministers became gradually more important than the monarch. but this was not yet democracy in its modern sense.
Constitutional Monarchy
Voters
Pocket boroughs and Rotten boroughs
There were still very few people who could vote for members of Parliament.
Only men who owned property of a certain size could vote.
No women could vote.
Pocket boroughs: constituencies that were controlled by a single wealthy family
Rotten boroughs: constituencies that hardly had any voters
A growing population
Many people left Britain and Ireland to settle in new colonies in America and other colonies.
Others came to live in Britain as well.
First Jews came to England and settled in London in 1656.
Between 1680 and 1720 many refugees, called the Huguenots came from France. they were persecuted for being Protestant.
Many of them were educated: scientists, bankers, weavers and other crafts.
The Act of treaty of Union in Scotland
Queen Anne, William’s and Mary’s successor, had no surviving children, which created uncertainty.
The Act of Union, known as the the Treaty of Union in Scotland, agreed in 1707, created the Kingdom of Great Britain.
Although Scotland was no longer independent, it kept its own legal and education systems and Presbyterian Church.
