ENG 216: Handout 4

Medieval England (1066–1485)

Duke William of Normandy’s resounding triumph over
King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 marked the
dawn of a new era. The overthrow of the 600-year Saxon
kingdom of England was to transform the country the
Normans conquered, from how it was organised and
governed to its language and customs – and perhaps most
visibly today, its architecture.

1. Normal Rules

William and his knights, and the castles they built,

transformed England and helped impose Norman rule.
Norman clergy dominated the Church, and monasteries and
churches were constructed in the new Romanesque or
Norman style of architecture.

William’s survey of England, Domesday Book (1086),

recorded a land governed by feudal ties. Every level of
society was under an obligation of service to the class above.
Punitive forest laws protected the royal hunting preserves,
and reinforced the new regime.

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 1066. True to his name, William the Conqueror, invades
England bringing new concepts from across the channel like
the French language, the Doomsday Book, and the duty-free
Galois' multipack. French was de rigueur for all official
business with words like "judge", "jury", "evidence", and
"justice" coming in and giving John Grisham's career a kick
start.

Latin was still used repeatedly in church, but the

common man spoke English, able to communicate only by
speaking more slowly, and loudly, until the others
understood him. Words like "cow", "sheep", and "swine" come
from the English speaking farmers. While the a la carte
versions-- "beef", "mutton", and "pork"-- come from the
French speaking toffs, beginning a long-running trend for
restaurants having completely indecipherable menus.

All in all, the English absorbed about 10,000 new

words from the Normans, though they still couldn't grasp the
rules of cheek kissing. The bon amis all ended when the
English nation took their new warlike lingo of "armies",
"navies", and "soldiers", and began the Hundred Years' War
against France. It actually lasted 116 years, but by that point,
no one could count any higher in French and English took
over as the language of power.

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 William I seated on his throne,
depicted in the late 12th-century
Battle Chronicle, written by the
monks of Battle Abbey

Question: How were a number of French words adopted into

the English language?
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2. Norman and Angevins

However, baronial revolts plagued the Conqueror and

his son, William Rufus (1087–1100). William’s youngest son,
Henry I (1100–1135), brought peace and administrative and
legal reform. But the country descended into chaos and civil
war when Henry’s nephew Stephen (1135–1154) was
crowned king, despite the rival claim of Henry’s daughter
Matilda.

Order was restored by Matilda’s son, Henry II (1154–

1189), the first of the Angevin or Plantagenet kings. A
monarch of boundless energy and ungovernable rages, he
travelled constantly through his vast dominions, stretching
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from the Scottish border to the Pyrenees. The many
fortresses he raised included Dover Castle, which was rebuilt
partly as a splendid stopover on the road to Canterbury and
the shrine of his ‘turbulent’ priest, St Thomas Becket,
murdered in his cathedral by Henry’s knights in 1170.

Henry’s later reign was clouded by his fraught

relationship with his sons and his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine.
When he died in France in 1189 he was at war with his eldest
son, Richard, who had joined forces against him with the
French king.

Reconstruction drawing of the

siege of Dover Castle in 1216,
during the civil war between King
John and his English barons. Here,
French forces, supporting John’s
enemies, undermine the castle’s
northern defences.

* The first Plantagenet king was Henry II and the last was Richard III.
The name came originally from Geoffrey, Count of Anjou in France
(1113-51), who was the father of Henry II. The Anjou family symbol
was the plant à genêt or broom, a bush with small yellow flowers.

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Question: What is “Angevin”?
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3. Magna Carta

Richard I ‘the Lionheart’ (r.1189–99) was always abroad

or on crusade. His younger brother John (r.1199–1216) was
forced by his barons to sign Magna Carta (the ‘Great Charter’),
which was intended to limit his powers, in 1215. But
ultimately he ignored it. His incensed barons invited Prince
Louis of France to invade in May 1216. John died in October
1216, with his nine-year-old son, Henry, assuming the throne
in the midst of French invasion.

Louis conquered almost all of south-eastern England

(though not Dover Castle), but retreated in 1217 after defeats
in the Battle of Sandwich and in the streets of Lincoln.

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 Heraldic floor tile in the Chapter
House at Westminster Abbey
depicting the three lions of
England, Henry III’s coat of arms.
The shield is flanked by centaurs
and wyverns (beasts with dragons’
heads and serpents’ tails)

Question: What is “Magna Carta”?

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4. John I signed the Magna Carta (1215)

King John was perhaps one of the worst King’s in English

history. However, he did inadvertently sign one of the most
important documents in British legal history.

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 After a rebellion by his barons, John was forced to sign
the Magna Carta, or Great Charter which placed certain
restrictions on his royal authority. He would later renege on
the deal, which sparked fresh rebellion, but it was ratified by
his successor, Henry III. It’s seen as one of the founding
documents of our democracy. Henry III had been in ongoing
conflict which his barons leading to the signing of the
Provisions of Oxford which imposed a council of advisers,
chosen by the barons. Henry wriggled out of the provisions,
but was defeated and captured by Simon De Montfort at the
Battle of Lewes in 1264 and Simon De Montfort calls the first
parliament in 1265.

5. Kings, Barons, and the Favorites

The long reign of Henry III (1216–1272) saw further

baronial unrest, from the late 1250s headed by Simon de
Montfort. But after de Montfort’s death at the Battle of
Evesham (1265) and the long siege of Kenilworth Castle,
Warwickshire, rebellion was finally suppressed. This was a
time when chivalric ‘heraldry’ blossomed, enhanced by the
craze for legends of King Arthur.

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 Edward I (1272–1307), another great castle-builder,
united his barons behind the conquest of Wales (1277–1284)
and his attempts on Scotland. His Scottish policy proved
disastrous for his less warlike son Edward II (1307–1327),
though, whose defeat at Bannockburn (1314) was followed
by Scots raids far south of the border.

The king’s devotion to his low-born ‘favourites’, Piers

Gaveston and then the Despenser family, enraged his barons.
So when Edward’s spurned wife, Isabella, and her lover,
Roger Mortimer, invaded from France in 1326, they quickly
gained support. Edward was forced to renounce the throne in
favour of his 14-year-old son, and was almost certainly
brutally murdered at Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire.
Although Isabella and Mortimer initially governed, Edward III
(1327–77) assumed control in his own right in 1330, ousting
his mother and executing her lover.

Edward was a great warrior king, winning victories in

France at Crécy (1346) and Poitiers (1356) during the early
years of what was later known as the Hundred Years War
(1337–1453). His armies included archers using longbows,
which became the dominant English weapon of the later
Middle Ages.

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 Aerial view of Wharram
Percy in Northumberland.
The village had a
population of 200 in the
13th century, but witnessed
a steep decline in the 14th
century. Scottish raids were
followed by the Black
Death, which saw the
population reduce from
about 67 to 45.

6. The Hundred Years War (1337-1437)

From 1066, England had been linked to France, since

William I was Duke of Normandy and as such a vassal of the
French King. One of the most notable results of this vassalage
occurred in 1120 when King Henry I sent his son and heir,
William Adelin, to kneel before the French king. On his return
journey, however, William’s ship was wrecked and the young
prince drowned.

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 This semi-vassalage continued until the Hundred Years
War erupted in 1337. That year, Philip VI of France seized the
English held territory of Aquitaine which led Edward III to
challenge the might of the French by declaring himself
rightful King of France through his mother’s line (she had
been the sister of the previous King of France: Charles IV).
The resulting conflict divided Europe for over 100 years.

Question: Between what groups of people was “The

Hundred Years War”?
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7. The Black Death (1347-1351)

Bubonic plague had already laid waste to much of

Europe and Asia, but in 1348 it arrived in England, probably
through the port of Bristol. The Grey Friars’ Chronicle reports
24 June as the date of its arrival, although it likely arrived
sometime earlier but took time to spread. In a few years it
killed between 30% and 45% of the population.

The Black Death is widely believed to have been the

result of plague, caused by infection with the bacterium

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Yersinia pestis. There were recurrences of the plague in 1361–
63, 1369–71, 1374–75, 1390, and 1400. Modern research has
suggested that, over that period of time, plague was
introduced into Europe multiple times, coming along trade
routes in waves from Central Asia as a result of climate
fluctuations that affected populations of rodents infested
with plague-carrying fleas.

Even the great and powerful, who were more capable of

flight, were struck down: among royalty, Eleanor, queen of
Peter IV of Aragon, and King Alfonso XI of Castile succumbed,
and Joan, daughter of the English king Edward III, died at
Bordeaux on the way to her wedding with Alfonso’s son.
Canterbury lost two successive archbishops, John de
Stratford and Thomas Bradwardine; Petrarch lost not only
Laura, who inspired so many of his poems, but also his
patron, Giovanni Cardinal Colonna. The papal court at
Avignon was reduced by one-fourth. Whole communities and
families were sometimes annihilated.

In the aftermath of the Black Death fit workers were in

high demand and they used this scarcity of labour to attempt
to establish better working conditions. The landowners

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though were reluctant to comply. Coupled with high taxes
this discontent among peasants led to a revolt led by Watt
Tyler.

King Richard II met the rebels and persuaded them to

lay down their arms. After Tyler was killed by the king’s men
Richard persuaded the rebels to disband by promising them
concessions. Instead they received reprisals.

Question: Through what kind of animal was the disease

transmitted?
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8. Royal Upheavals

In 1399 Richard II was deposed and murdered by Henry

IV (1399–1413), the first of the many upheavals to afflict the
monarchy during this period. Though assailed from many
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quarters, Henry held onto his throne, and his Lancastrian
dynasty was reprieved by the achievements of his son.

The greatest of all English warrior kings, Henry V (1413–

22) won a startling victory over the French at Agincourt in
1415, achieved largely thanks to the all-conquering English
longbow. By the time of his premature death he was ruling
half of France.

(With the French King Charles VI sick, Henry V took the

chance to reassert English claims to the throne. He invaded
Normandy but when a much larger French force had him
pinned down at Agincourt it looked like his number was up.
However, the result was a remarkable victory for the English.
The subsequent victory of Troyes left Henry as regent of
France and his heir Henry VI would become King of England
and France.)

The Battle of Agincourt,

depicted in a 15th-century
French manuscript

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9. The Wars of the Roses

More dangerous was the increasingly fashionable

expression of power and status through the recruiting of
private armies of liveried retainers. These contributed to the
breakdown of order as Henry VI (1422–61 and 1470–71)
proved incompetent to rule, and rival aristocratic factions
contended to control both monarch and kingdom.

These feuds developed into a series of short

campaigns (and often bloody battles) fought at intervals
between 1455 and 1485, during which the Crown changed
hands six times. Cannon were used in some sieges, but the
longbow remained the dominant weapon.

The Yorkist Edward IV (1461–70 and 1471–83)

eventually emerged victorious. But his brother Richard III
(1483–1485) alienated supporters by seizing the throne from
his nephew Edward V (1483). Richard was defeated and killed
at Bosworth (1485) by the Lancastrian heir, Henry Tudor.

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 This 15th-century manuscript
illustrates an execution during the
Wars of the Roses (1455–85). One
of the bloodiest conflicts in
English history, the so-called
‘Cousins’ War’ stemmed from a
dynastic quarrel between the
descendants of Edward III over
possession of the English Crown

Question: How many British kings ruled over the throne from
1455-1485?
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10. William Caxton printed the first book in England

(1477)

William Caxton was a former merchant in Flanders. On

his return he established the first printing press in England
which would print, among other things, the Canterbury Tales
by Chaucer.

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 At Bruges in 1473 or 1474 English merchant, diplomat,
writer, and printer William Caxton issued Caxton's English
translation of Raoul Lefèvre's French courtly
romance, Recueil des Histoires de Troye. The printed book,
entitled The Recuyell of the Histories of Troye , was the first
book printed in English. Caxton published the book with
scribe, bookseller and printer, Colard Mansion , from whom
Caxton probably learned the art of printing,

A presentation copy with a specially made engraving

showing Caxton presenting the book to his patroness,
Margaret of York, is preserved in the Huntington Library, San
Marino, California.

William Caxton presenting an imprint

of Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye to
his patron Margaret of York. Unique
engraving in the Huntington Library

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Question: What was the title of the first book printed in
1477?
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11. The Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury Tales, frame story by Geoffrey Chaucer,

written in Middle English in 1387–1400.

The framing device for the collection of stories is a

pilgrimage to the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury,
Kent. The 30 pilgrims who undertake the journey gather at
the Tabard Inn in Southwark, across the Thames from
London. They agree to engage in a storytelling contest as
they travel, and Harry Bailly, host of the Tabard, serves as
master of ceremonies for the contest. Most of the pilgrims
are introduced by vivid brief sketches in the “General
Prologue.” Interspersed between the 24 tales are short
dramatic scenes (called links) presenting lively exchanges,
usually involving the host and one or more of the pilgrims.
Chaucer did not complete the full plan for his book: the
return journey from Canterbury is not included, and some of
the pilgrims do not tell stories.

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 The use of a pilgrimage as the framing device enabled
Chaucer to bring together people from many walks of life:
knight, prioress, monk; merchant, man of law, franklin,
scholarly clerk; miller, reeve, pardoner; wife of Bath and
many others. The multiplicity of social types, as well as the
device of the storytelling contest itself, allowed presentation
of a highly varied collection of literary genres: religious
legend, courtly romance, racy fabliau, saint’s life, allegorical
tale, beast fable, medieval sermon, alchemical account, and,
at times, mixtures of these genres. The stories and links
together offer complex depictions of the pilgrims, while, at
the same time, the tales present remarkable examples of
short narratives in verse, plus two expositions in prose. The
pilgrimage, which in medieval practice combined a
fundamentally religious purpose with the secular benefit of a
spring vacation, made possible extended consideration of the
relationship between the pleasures and vices of this world
and the spiritual aspirations for the next.

The Canterbury Tales consists of the General Prologue,

The Knight’s Tale, The Miller’s Tale, The Reeve’s Tale, The
Cook’s Tale, The Man of Law’s Tale, The Wife of Bath’s Tale,
The Friar’s Tale, The Summoner’s Tale, The Clerk’s Tale, The
Merchant’s Tale, The Squire’s Tale, The Franklin’s Tale, The
Second Nun’s Tale, The Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale, The

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Physician’s Tale, The Pardoner’s Tale, The Shipman’s Tale,
The Prioress’s Tale, The Tale of Sir Thopas, The Tale of
Melibeus (in prose), The Monk’s Tale, The Nun’s Priest’s Tale,
The Manciple’s Tale, and The Parson’s Tale (in prose), and
ends with “Chaucer’s Retraction.” Not all the tales are
complete; several contain their own prologues or epilogues.

Probably influenced by French syllable-counting in

versification, Chaucer developed for The Canterbury Tales a
line of 10 syllables with alternating accent and regular end
rhyme—an ancestor of the heroic couplet.

Excerpt of The Knight's Tale

Iamque domos patrias, Sithice post

aspera gentis prelia,laurigero, etc.

[And now (Theseus drawing nigh his)

native land in
laurelled car after battling with the
Scithian folk, etc.]

859 Whilom, as olde stories tellen

us,
Once, as old histories tell us,

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860 Ther was a duc that highte
Theseus;
There was a duke who was
called Theseus;
861 Of Atthenes he was lord and
governour,
He was lord and governor of
Athens,
862 And in his tyme swich a
conquerour
And in his time such a
conqueror
863 That gretter was ther noon
under the sonne.
That there was no one greater
under the sun.
864 Ful many a riche contree
hadde he wonne;
Very many a powerful country
had he won;
865 What with his wysdom and
his chivalrie,
What with his wisdom and his
chivalry,

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866 He conquered al the regne of
Femenye,
He conquered all the land of
the Amazons,
867 That whilom was ycleped
Scithia,
That once was called Scithia,
868 And weddede the queene
Ypolita,
And wedded the queen
Ypolita,
869 And broghte hire hoom with
hym in his contree
And brought her home with
him into his country

Sources:

https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=316

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/
medieval/

https://www.historyhit.com/key-dates-in-the-history-of-
medieval-britain/

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https://www.superprof.co.uk/blog/the-evolution-of-british-
literature/

Assignments: See an extra file.

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