creating a dynastic state in england from the anglo-saxon heptarchy to a recognizable monarchy,...
TRANSCRIPT
Creating a Dynastic State in England
From the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy to a Recognizable Monarchy, 410-1603
Anglo Saxon Britain
• Just prior to Visigoth sack of Rome in 410, Roman troops were withdrawn from England (408)
• Angles, Saxons, and Jutes invade British Isles• Age of many kings, but no king of England• Sometimes a given king would have great power
over other kingdoms—such as Aethelberht, King of Kent.
• Seven Kingdoms emerge
ANGLO-SAXON HEPTARCHY
Laws of Aethelberht
1.[Theft of] God's property and the church's shall be compensated twelve-fold; a bishop's property eleven-fold, a priest's property nine-fold; a deacon's property six-fold, a clerk's property three-fold. Breach of the peace shall be compensated doubly when if affects a church or a meeting place. 2.3. If the king is feasting at anyone's house, and any sort of offense is committed there, two-fold compensation shall be paid. 3.4. If a freeman robs the king, he shall pay back a nine-fold amount. 4.5. If one man slays another on the king's premises, he shall pay 50 shillings compensation. 5.6. If a man slays a free man, he shall pay 50 shillings to the king for infraction of his seignorial rights. 6.10. If a man lies with a maiden belonging to the king, he shall pay 50 shillings compensation. 7.11. If she is a grinding slave he shall pay 25 shilllings [if she is of the] third [class], [he shall pay] 12 shillings compensation. 8.13. If one man slays another on the premises of a nobleman, he shall pay 12 shillings compensation. 9.14. If a man lies with a nobleman's serving maid. he shall pay 12 shillings compensation.
Alfred the Great (871-899)
• King of Wessex who wielded power over all of Heptarchy
• Defeated Vikings (Danes)
• Issued a Code of Laws for all the realm
• Began the English Navy
• Commissioned the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (measure of stability)
Alfred the Great
From Alfred to William, 899-1066
• Alfred’s successors were not great rulers—Ethelred the Redeless (stupid), for example—and the Vikings under King Cnut actually assumed control of the realm.
• Cnut’s successor had no heirs and created a question of who would become king
• 3 candidates: Harold Hardrada, Harold Godwinson of Wessex, William, Duke of Normandy
• William wins Battle of Hastings, October 1066
Battle of Hastings—Gory but Important
William I—King of England (1066-1087)
• Introduced Norman Feudalism into England—emphasized power of King (Salisbury Oath)
• Domesday Survey
• Great Council created out of Witan
• Curia Regis established
• Much central authority compared to earlier governmental arrangements in England
Henry I (1100-1135)—further growth in Monarchical Power
• Curia Regis grows in power
• Nobles’ Revolt Crushed
• Kings Court established with system of Itinerant Justices (uniform laws)
• Office of Exchequer (Treasury)
• His death is followed with 19 years of civil war
Henry II (1154-1189)
• Ended Civil War, broke baronial power
• Extensive landholdings in France as well as England
• Further legal reforms including extending common law through realm
• Struggled with Church over whose law governed a churchman accused of a crime—led to murder of Thomas Becket
Henry II (1154-1189) and Eleanor
English nobles reclaim power—1189-1272
• Richard spent time on Crusades; John was weak and had to sign Magna Carta
• Henry III (1216-1272) was dominated by pope and barons
• Henry’s main contribution to the English monarchy was fathering a son, Edward I (1272-1307)
Edward I (1272-1307)
• This is “Longshanks” in Braveheart
• Justinian of England
• 1295—Model Parliament (King rules with advice and consent of the realm)
• Statute of Mortmain (1297)—no lone could leave land to church without permission
Edward II (1307-1327)
• Weak ruler—nobles assert power
• Blamed for loss to Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn in 1314
• Murded by Isabella (his own wife) and her lover Roger Mortimer (Earl of March)
Edward III (1327-1377)
• Strong King, quelled baronial revolt
• Public ceremonies popular with commoners and nobles
• Fought 100 Years War against French Nobles
Edward III—The Warrior King
Pattern of History?
• Strong Kings built institutions (curia regis) and political culture (king ruling with parliament) that survived weak kings
• How to break cycle of strong king/weak king• Richard II (weak), Edward IV (Strong but died
young), Edward V (dominated by French advisors), Richard III (shady character but vilified more by those who came after him)
• Wars of the Roses-Tudor Dynasty
Tudor Dynasty
• Henry VII (1485-1509)
• Henry VIII (1509-1547)
• Edward VI (1547-1552)
• Mary (1552-1558)
• Elizabeth I (1558-1603)
• Tudor Revolution in Government
• Propaganda
Propaganda and William Shakespeare
• Shakespeare and Tudors create effective national mythology within context of political culture
• Richard II, Edward IV, and Edward IV are seen as either excessively weak or dominated by French Advisors
• Shakespeare suggests that English nation is better off with Tudors
Church & State in England
• Distance from Rome gave state leverage on Church
• Church was dominant institution from 400-871
• Powerful kings avoided alienating church—stealing lands, for example; only Henry II challenged church leaders in the Middle Ages.
• Kings put institutions in place that didn’t challenge church but provided for stronger monarchical government
• By the time a true dynastic state emerged (Tudor Dynasty) the church as a political force was losing ground to emerging nationalism and the Reformation