history of england - England during the Middle Ages
(Picture) Depiction of the Battle of Hastings (1066) on the Bayeux Tapestry
The defeat of King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 at the hands of William II of Normandy, later styled William I of England, and the subsequent Norman takeover of Saxon England led to a sea-change in the history of the small, isolated, island state. William ordered the compilation of the Domesday Book, a survey of the entire population and their lands and property for tax purposes.

William ruled over Normandy, then a powerful duchy in France. William and his nobles spoke and conducted court in Norman French, in Normandy as well as in England. The use of the Anglo-Norman language by the aristocracy endured for centuries and left an indelible mark in the development of modern English.

The English Middle Ages were to be characterised by civil war, international war, occasional insurrection, and widespread political intrigue amongst the aristocratic and monarchic elite. England was more than self-sufficient in cereals, dairy products, beef and mutton. The nation's international economy was based on the wool trade, in which the produce of the sheepwalks of northern England was exported to the textile cities of Flanders, where it was worked into cloth. Medieval foreign policy was as much shaped by relations with Flemish textile industry as it was by dynastic adventures in western France. An English textile industry was established in the fifteenth century, providing the basis for rapid English capital accumulation.

Henry I, also known as "Henry Beauclerc" (so named because of his education—as his older brother William was the heir apparent and thus given the practical training to be king, Henry received the alternate, formal education), worked hard to reform and stabilise the country and smooth the differences between the Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman societies. The loss of his son, William, in the wreck of the White Ship in November 1120, was to undermine his reforms. This problem regarding succession was to cast a long shadow over English history.

During the disastrous and incompetent reign of Stephen (1135–1154), there was a major swing in the balance of power towards the feudal barons, as civil war and lawlessness broke out. In trying to appease Scottish and Welsh raiders, he handed over large tracts of land. His conflicts with his cousin The Empress Matilda (also known as Empress Maud),led to a civil war, from 1139 - 1153 . Matilda’s father, Henry I, had required the leading barons, ecclesiastics and officials in Normandy and England, take an oath to accept Matilda as his heir. England, was far less than enthusiastic to accept an outsider, and a woman, as their Ruler. There is some evidence suggesting Henry was unsure of his own hopes and the oath to make Matilda his heir. In likelihood, Henry probably hoped Matilda would have a son, and step aside, as Queen Mother, making her son the next heir. Upon Henry’s death, the Norman and English barons ignored Matilda’s claim to the throne, and thus through a series of decisions, Stephen, Henry’s favorite nephew was welcomed by many in England and Normandy, as their new ruler. On December 22, 1135, Stephen was anointed king, with the implicit support of the church and nation. Matilda, and her own son, stood for direct descent by heredity from Henry I, and bided her time in France. In the autumn of 1139, she invaded England with her illegitimate half-brother Robert of Gloucester. By the time her husband Geoffroy V of Anjou conquered Normandy but did not cross the channel to help his wife, satisfied with Normandy and Anjou.

Stephen was captured and his government fell. Matilda was proclaimed queen but was soon at odds with her subjects and was expelled from London. The period of insurrection and civil war that followed continued until 1148, when Matilda returned to France. Stephen effectively reigned unopposed until his death in 1154, although his hold on the throne was still uneasy. Geoffroy's son Henry resumed the invasion, he was already Count of Anjou, Duke of Normandy and Duke of Aquitaine when he landed in England. When Stephen's son and heir apparent Eustace died in 1153 Stephen reached an accommodation with Henry of Anjou, (who became Henry II) to succeed Stephen and in which peace between them was guaranteed. England was at that time part of a greater union retrospectively named the Angevin Empire. Henry II expanded his power through various means and to different levels into Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Flanders, Nantes, Brittany, Quercy, Toulouse, Bourges and Auvergne.

The reign of Henry II represents a reversion in power back from the barony to the monarchical state in England; it was also to see a similar redistribution of legislative power from the Church, again to the monarchical state. This period also presaged a properly constituted legislation and a radical shift away from feudalism. In his reign new Anglo-Angevin and Anglo-Aquitanian aristocracies developed, though not to the same point than the Anglo-Norman once did, and the Norman nobles interacted with their French peers.

(Picture) The signing of the Magna Carta (1215)
Henry's successor, Richard I "the Lion Heart", was preoccupied with foreign wars, taking part in the Third Crusade and defending his French territories against Philip II of France. His younger brother John, who succeeded him, was not so fortunate; he suffered the loss of Normandy and numerous other French territories following the disastrous Battle of Bouvines. He also managed to antagonise the feudal nobility and leading Church figures to the extent that in 1215, they led an armed rebellion and forced him to sign the Magna Carta, which imposed legal limits on the King's personal powers.

John's son, Henry III, was only 9 years old when he became King. His reign was punctuated by numerous rebellions and civil wars, often provoked by incompetence and mismanagement in Government, and Henry's perceived over-reliance on French courtiers (thus restricting the influence of the English nobility). One of these rebellions, led (curiously enough) by a disaffected courtier, Simon de Montfort, was notable for its assembly of one of the earliest precursors to Parliament. Aside of fighting the Second Barons' War Henry III made war against Saint Louis and was defeated during the Saintonge War, yet Louis IX did not capitalise his victory, respecting his opponent's rights.

The reign of Edward I (1272–1307) was rather more successful. Edward enacted numerous laws strengthening the powers of his Government, and summoned the first officially sanctioned Parliaments of England (such as his Model Parliament). He conquered Wales, and attempted to use a succession dispute to gain control of the Kingdom of Scotland, though this developed into a costly and drawn-out military campaign. His son, Edward II, suffered a massive defeat at Bannockburn; but the campaign continued until the early years of Edward III, and was only finally abandoned after the conclusion of the Treaty of Northampton in 1328.

The Black Death, an epidemic of bubonic plague that spread over the whole of Europe, arrived in England in 1349 and killed perhaps up to a third of the population. International excursions were invariably against domestic neighbours: the Welsh, Irish, Cornish, and the Hundred Years' War against the French and their Scottish allies. Notable English victories in the Hundred Years' War included Crécy and Agincourt. In addition to this, the final defeat of the uprising led by the Welsh prince, Owain Glyndŵr, in 1412 by Prince Henry (later to become Henry V) represents the last major armed attempt by the Welsh to throw off English rule.

Edward III gave land to powerful noble families, including many people with Royal blood in their veins. Because land was equivalent to power in these days, this meant that these powerful men could now try to make good their claim to the Crown. The autocratic and arrogant methods of Richard II only served to alienate the nobility more, and his forceful dispossession in 1399 by Henry IV sowed the seeds for what was to come. In the reign of Henry VI, which began in 1422, things came to a head because of his personal weaknesses and mental instability. Unable to control the feuding nobles, he allowed outright civil war to break out. The conflicts are known as the Wars of the Roses and although the fighting was very sporadic and small, there was a general breakdown in the authority and power of the Crown. Edward IV went a little way to restoring this power but the spadework was generally done by Henry VII.

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