THE NORMANS → Vikings who had settled on the north coast of France
Battle of Hastings (1066) → William I the Conqueror invades England
(1066-1087)
He introduces the feudal system : He’s crowned king in Westminster Abbey
nobility holds lands from the Crown in on Christmas Day.
exchange for military service
Under the reign of Henry II → clash between the Crown and the Church : all people, including the
(1154-1189) clergy, are subject to the Crown.
Thomas Becket (Archbishop of Canterbury) opposes the King’s attempt to rule the
Church. He’s murdered by the King’s knights and becomes a martyr and a saint
Richard I the Lionheart → Henry II eldest son, he joins the Third Crusade but is killed in France
(1189-1199)
John I → known as Lackland because he loses Normandy and most of French territories. He
(1199-1216) Introduces a policy of heavy taxation → 1215 the nobles refuse to pay taxes, occupy
London and make the King sign Magna Carta
Henry III → organizes feudal assemblies include nobility and high clergy + 2 representatives from each
(1216-1272) Province → future House of Commons of the Parliament
[ ]
Hundred Years War : reasons → 1) Edward III claims the vacant throne of France
(1337 - 1453) → 2) French threatens Flanders, main market for English wool
1348 Black Death 1415 Battle of Agincourt Henry VI loses many
plague in Western Europe English victory (Henry V) battles against French
Richard II → introduces the Poll Tax : imposed on every adult without reference to their income
→ 1381 Peasants’ Revolt → suppressed by the King
[ The Wars of the Roses → civil war fought by 2 rival noble families : House of York (white rose)
(1455-1485) House of Lancaster (red rose)
1485 battle of Bosworth : Henry Tudor (Lancaster) defeats Richard III (York) and becomes
Henry VII, the first king of the Tudor dynasty
(1485-1509)
]
Consequences of the Norman conquest on English culture
→ Anglo-Saxon literature and the epic poems disappear
→ Language : Old English (common people) | French (nobility) | Latin (Church, laws)
→ Code of Chivalry : values (bravery, loyalty, honesty, glory) which the knights had to respect
Lord Randal : anonymous Scottish ballad, narrated through repetitive questions and answers.
“A young man returns home from hunting in the woods where he met his lover who gave him an eel.
He’s tired and asks his mother to make his bed. The mother realizes the son has been poisoned and
urges him to make his testament. Lord Randal curses his lover and dies.”
→ 10 stanzas each made of 4 lines (quatrains) with the same words used at the end of every line