British history

1. Civilization: British history 2. feudalism
2.1. feudalism 2.2. it’s decline
1
Benziadi Katia
British history:
Part two:
2.1. Feudalism: A political and economic system based on hierarchy where all the land is owned by the
king, and he grants it to his followers (tenants in chief/ lords/ barons) in exchange for loyalty, military
service and political backing, those lords appoint knights and live off the fief by renting the land to
peasants and providing them with protection in exchange for taxes.
⮚ King > Barons> knights>Peasants.
Norman feudalism:
After William the conqueror came to power in 1066, he took the lands from the Anglo-Saxon lords and
bestowed them upon his allies and family who helped him seize the country, those people, tenants in
Chief, had to swear loyalty to the king as the knights did to them, they were not give ownership of the
land as it remained with the king. The peasants and everyone else below in the social ladder worked to
sustain the fief by farming and raising animals.
● Doomsday book: is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of England and parts of Wales, and a
record of all the landowners, property, tenants and serfs. It was completed in 1086 by order of King
William the Conqueror.
● Military service: tenants in chief are expected to provide the king with military power by sending
their knights in case of war or conflict, they are also tasked to protect his castle. Knights swear
oaths of loyalty and are obliged to answer the king's summons and fulfill their feudal obligation.
● The two countries of France and England became historically intertwined, initially due to the
crossover of land ownership, i.e. Norman nobles holding lands in both countries.
● Manorialism: The manorial system is an economic and social system that functions with feudalism,
a manor was a self-sufficient community where barons, churchmen, knights and peasants lived in a
piece of land. The fief/estate/manor, was composed of an estate, church, fields, villages and
forests.
● Cultural impact: the syntax and vocabulary of the Anglo-Saxon Germanic language were
significantly influenced by the French language.
2.2. Decline of feudalism:
● Labor shortage: The Black Death killed one-third of Europe's population, creating a labor shortage
that gave the peasants a degree of bargaining power they never had before. Noblemen were
utterly reliant on peasant labor, which was now harder to come by.
● Urbanism: Peasants migrated far away from country lands towards the towns to gain freedom from
feudal lords. The nobles tried to suppress their demands of rights which ended in revolts.
● Crusades: they were a series of religious wars (1095-1272). During the crusades, a large number of
feudal lords lost their lives and Some of those who returned alive from the crusades were forced to
sell the charter of liberties to towns which they once controlled. This also created a shortage of
knights.

2. Civilization: British history 2. feudalism
2.1. feudalism 2.2. it’s decline
2
Benziadi Katia
● Mercenaries: rich nobles were allowed to pay mercenaries to fight in their stead, these mercenaries
had few allegiances, they moved solely for money.
● Trade: Better transportation facilities opened new trading opportunities to England, it slowly
started to focus more on money based economic growth rather than the land economy.

3. Civilization: British history 3. Dynasties
3.1. The Plantagenets 3.2. The Tudors 3.3. The reformation 3.4.the Stuarts 3.5.the civil war
1
Benziadi Katia
● 3.1. The Plantagents: The Plantagenets, sometimes referred to as the Angevin-Plantagenets, were
the ruling dynasty of England from 1154 to 1485 CE. Major events occurred during this time for
example:
o Magna Carta: In 1215, the tyrannical King John met with rebellious barons and was forced to
sign a document known as Magna Carta (“Great Charter”). It stipulated that the king was subject
to the rule of law. It upheld the rights of merchants, noblemen, and clergymen; gave the king’s
subjects the right to forcibly remove him if he did not obey the charter; and, most importantly,
ensured that no one could be imprisoned without trial.
o The Wars of the Roses: were a series of bloody civil wars for the throne of England between two
competing royal families: The House of York and the House of Lancaster, both members of the
age-old royal Plantagenet family. Waged between 1455 and 1487, the Wars of the Roses earned
its flowery name because the white rose was the badge of the Yorks, and the red rose was the
badge of the Lancastrians. After 30 years of political manipulation, horrific carnage and brief
periods of peace, the wars ended and a new royal dynasty emerged (the Tudor dynasty).
o Hundred Years’ War: was a long struggle between England and France over succession to the
French throne. It lasted from 1337 to 1453, so it might more accurately be called the “116 Years’
War.” The war started off with several stunning successes on Britain’s part, and the English
forces dominated France for decades.
3.2. The Tudors: were a royal English family that ruled England from 1485 to 1603. They came to power
as a result of the victory of Henry VII over Yorkist king Richard III in the war of roses in 1485. Henry
Tudor married Catherine of Aragon but died shortly after. His brother Henry VIII married her and
became king and had Mary, he divorced her and married Anne Boleyn and had Elizabeth. His second
wife was executed and married Jane Seymour and had Edward VI who became king after his father’s
death. Mary was the next ruler and she was a strong believer in Catholicism, she ordered many
executions of protestants and was nicknamed Mary the bloody. After her death in 1558, her half-sister
Elizabeth took the throne, she was a protestant and she never married or had kids gaining her the name
“the virgin queen”. She was the last ruler of the Tudor dynasty, after her death, James Stuart, her
cousin’s son became king because she was childless and didn’t name a successor. Her era was
considered the golden age, she unified a Protestant England against the Catholic Spanish and defeated
the Spanish armada in 1588. She was responsible for English exploration of the New World and the
flourishing of the economy, making England a world power.
● 1485- Henry VII -1509 Henry VIII -1547- Edward VI -1553- Mary -1558- Elizabeth -1603.
3.3.the reformation:
The Reformation began when Martin Luther criticized the power and the practices of the Catholic
Church. In 1517, he listed grievances against the Catholic Church and the Pope excommunicated him.
However, many people agreed with his criticisms and joined his protest against the Catholic Church.
They became known as Protestants. The Protestant movement spread from Germany to Scandinavia
and Scotland. The Reformation in England began in 1527, but was not simply a matter of religion.
Some of Martin Luther's beliefs about the Catholic Church:
❖ That people could not buy off their sins money to the Church, only god could pardon sins, not
the Church.

4. Civilization: British history 3. Dynasties
3.1. The Plantagenets 3.2. The Tudors 3.3. The reformation 3.4.the Stuarts 3.5.the civil war
2
Benziadi Katia
❖ That people were naturally sinful and that they should seek salvation by believing in God by
doing good works.
❖ That priests were not divine beings and should be subject to the law as ordinary men and
women.
❖ That all people should be allowed to read the Bible, not just priests. The Catholic Church
believed that if all people were allowed to read the Bible they would form their own opinions
and that the Bible would become more important than the Church.
● The reformation in England: it started after the pope denied king Henry VIII’s divorce with
Catherine of Aragon in 1533. So king Henry rejected the Pope’s authority and established himself as
the supreme head of the church1
in England and cut ties with the Catholic church in Rome. In 1538,
King Henry VIII ordered an English language edition of the Bible to be made, Church services and
prayers were also made in English. Later on James I made the translated bible available to all
people.
3.4. The Stuarts: They were the first kings of the United Kingdom. King James VI of Scotland became
also King James I of England, thus combining the two thrones for the first time. The Stuart dynasty
reigned in England and Scotland from 1603 to 1714, a period which saw a flourishing Court culture but
also much upheaval and instability, of plague, fire and war.
● 1603-1625 James I – Charles I 1625-1649 – Charles II 1660-1685 - James II 1685-1688 - William
III 1689-1702 + Mary II 1689-1694 – Anne 1702-1714.
1.3.4. The civil war: it was a series of civil wars and political plots between Parliamentarians and
Royalists led by Charles I, mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of religious
freedom. It was part of the wider Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
● James I: the king had a terrible relationship with the parliament as he was a strong believer of
the divine right to rule.2
He was a firm protestant and supported a radical protestant group
called the puritans.3
He also expelled all catholic priests from England in 1604, and issued a new
version of the holy bible in 1611.
*The parliament in this era was by no means a democratic institution but rather an assembly of rich
merchants and nobility.
1
•Act of Supremacy, (1534) English act of Parliament that recognized Henry VIII as the “Supreme Head of the
Church of England.” The act also required an oath of loyalty from English subjects that recognized his marriage to
Anne Boleyn. It was repealed in 1555 under Mary I, but in 1559 Parliament adopted a new Act of Supremacy
during the reign of Elizabeth I.
2
*The divine right to rule: also known as the “divine right of kings,” is a political doctrine asserting that monarchs
derive their authority from God and cannot be held accountable for their actions by human means.
3
*The Puritans were English Protestants who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices,
maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant.

5. Civilization: British history 3. Dynasties
3.1. The Plantagenets 3.2. The Tudors 3.3. The reformation 3.4.the Stuarts 3.5.the civil war
3
Benziadi Katia
Royalists vs parliamentarians (1642-1651):
The first (1642–1646) and second (1648–1649) wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the
supporters of the parliament. Charles I inherited his father’s throne in 1625 and attempted to follow his
absolutist political views, he limited the parliament’s role which the parliamentarians didn’t take well
and they ended up opening impeachment4
proceedings against the king, his response was to dissolve
the parliament. He ended up assembling a new parliament in 1628 because he was unable to raise funds
without it, the elected members included Oliver Cornwell5
drew up the petition of the right.6
Charles
ended up accepting it. In 1649, Charles I was executed, his son, Charles II, was sent to exile in 1651 and
the English monarchy was replaced by a republic (1649-1660).
The restoration of the English monarchy: Restoration of the monarchy in England in 1660. It marked the
return of Charles II as king (1660–85) following the period of Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth. The
bishops were restored to Parliament, which established a strict Anglican orthodoxy. The period, which
also included the reign of James II (1685–88), was marked by an expansion in colonial trade, the Anglo-
Dutch Wars, and a revival of drama and literature.
4
Impeachment: a charge of misconduct made against the holder of power(king).
5
Oliver Cornwell: An English military and political leader, played an important role in the civil war as he sided with
the parliamentarians and led them to victory. He led the Scottish army in 1650-51. He established a republic
government in 1649-1660. He dismissed the parliament by force in 1653.
6
Petition of Right, (1628) petition sent by the English Parliament to King Charles I complaining of a series of
breaches of law. The petition sought recognition of four principles: no taxation without the consent of Parliament,
no imprisonment without cause, no quartering of soldiers on subjects, and no martial law in peacetime.
*is an English constitutional document setting out specific individual protections against the state, reportedly of
equal value to Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights 1689.

6. Civilization: British history 3. The glorious revolution.
3.1. the glorious revolution 3.2. the bill of rights.
1
Benziadi Katia
3.1. The glorious revolution: also called the bloodless revolution, it was a pacific political change, the
king James II was overthrown because of two main reasons, first, he was a firm believer of the divine
rights of the kings and many suspected his son, Francis, would also inherit his political views. His rule
was considered arbitrary and tyrannical (he dismissed judges who disagreed with him in court). Second,
his Catholicism caused great unrest, the Whigs attempted to pass the exclusion bill to exclude James II
from the throne but the king at the time dissolved the parliament. He ended up succeeding the throne
in 1685 and was met with great support from the Tories. In 1688, James II re-issued the declaration of
indulgence and arrested all of the clergymen who protested it. Fear dominated the public sentiment as
the majority were protestants and the successor in line for the throne was no longer Mary who was
protestant, but rather, Francis, his son from his French catholic wife. In 1688, William of Orange, the
prince of Holland and Mary’s husband, was invited to invade England and dethrone King James II by the
opposition leaders. King James II was dethroned and fled to France, both Mary and William of Orange
ruled England as co-monarchs in 1689. They solved the religious and political problems and passed the
bill of rights.
3.2. The bill of rights 1689: it was a document that listed the rights of the king and the rights of the
parliament. It guaranteed freedom of speech, justice, equality and free elections. Taxation, passing new
laws and raising an army can’t be done without the consent of the parliament. This bill reinforced the
separation of powers and solidified the position of the parliament as a counter power to the king. With
this bill the constitutional monarchy in England was able to come to light.