The Norman Invasion

From 1066 to 1485

Anna-Maria Bellomo

Historical background # 2

From 1066 to 1485

The Normans

The Normans came originally from Scandinavia. They had landed in Northern France in the region that is still called Normandy. They were rapidly assimilated by the native Franks. Through marriages and the adoption of the Franks' ideals and language, they became a roughly civilized people.

When they landed in Britain under William, Duke of Normandy, and defeated Harold at Hastings (1066), they brought over a new language, French, from their country. William divided all the land of the kingdom among the Barons who had helped him in the conquest, expecting from them service in war. Those who obtained land in this way subdivided it among others on similar terms. That is how they gave origin to the so-called feudal system. Those who received the land from the King or from the Barons had to swear allegiance to the King. A strong central power was so created in this way for the first time in England.

However, this did not happen without a long struggle with the Barons. It took about a century to the Norman Kings to defeat all insurrections. A strong sense of racial and social difference prevented the development of national conscience and the fusion of the conquered and conquerors.

The civilization of the Normans was marked by two main features: chivalry and religion. They built abbeys, churches and castles in Britain and found two orders of knighthood: the knights who protected the pilgrims to the Holy Land were called the Knights Hospitallers of St John while the knights who protected the sepulchre at Jerusalem were the Templars.

The Kings of this period were: William the Conqueror, William II, Henry I and Stephen. Steven reigned through a period of anarchy and disorder and died in 1154. On his death the crown went to Henry II, the son of a Norman Princess, Matilda, who had married Geoffrey Plantagenet, King of Anjou. (Henry reigned both on Britain and a large part of France).

The Plantagenets

From 1154 the three main powerful groups in England, the King, the nobles and the clergy were in constant struggle for supremacy.

Henry II was a strong and learned King. He tried to unify the rules of the common law to the Roman law. He also tried to enforce a certain number of rules (Constitutions of Clarendon) which would have given him control over the clergy. But the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, complained to the Pope. Becket became the champion of the Roman Church provoking the king's anger. In 1170 a group of four knights murdered him in Canterbury Cathedral.

Under Henry II's successors, Richard the Lionheart and John, the crown lost a great deal of its authority. Richard took part in the third Crusade and spent most of his reign away from England. John, his brother, who succeeded him, is known as the cruellest English king. When he did not accept the Archbishop of Canterbury chosen by the Pope, he was excommunicated and his vassals where absolved from their allegiance to the King. The barons understood that this was a good opportunity of reducing the King's power and forced him to sign a charter. The King had to act according to certain rules to obtain their support, for example the king had to consult the barons before taking action. It was called Magna Carta Libertatum and was the first step towards constitutional monarchy.

Henry III never kept his promise to observe the document he had signed (Magna Carta) and the barons revolted against him. The king was defeated and the country ruled by a Council of nobles which met for the first time in 1265 and was called Parliament. They invited representatives of the shires, cities and the members of the Great Council. In the end the War of the Barons, as it was called, was won by the royal forces but it had an important consequence: popular opinion started to consider justice and law as something different from the power of the Kings.

During the reigns of Edward I and Edward II the struggle was against Wales and Scotland. Wales was submitted but Scotland obtained independence.

The struggle between the king and the barons went on. In 1327 Edward II was deposed by Henry IV (Bolingbroke). His reign lasted fourteen years and was paved with rebellions.

When his son, Henry V, accessed to the throne, he found a state of unrest in the country and to avoid rebellion at home, he decided to renew the war in France.

He won (at Agincourt) and obtained to rule in the name of the King of France and to succeed him on his death. This was the period of great power for England on the continent but it lasted for a very short time. Both Henry and the king of France died and the crowns of England and of France both went to a baby (one year old), Henry VI. His uncle, the Duke of Gloucester, became Protector and ruled England. Another uncle, the Duke of Bedford, defended his right on the crown of France.

In 1428 Bedford began the siege of Orléans, a town not yet in the hands of the English. In 1429 a girl born in a small village, Domrémy, believing she was led by God, persuaded the heir to the throne of France to let her try to free Orléans. Her name was Joan of Arc. Wearing a white armour, she marched at the head of the French troops and in a few days they entered the city. The English retired and the Dauphin (heir to the throne of France) was crowned King of France.

The war went on. Joan was betrayed, taken prisoner and sold to the English. She was tried. A court of learned doctors found her guilty of witchcraft and condemned her to be burnt at the stake.

Over time the English lost almost all their French territories and by 1453 Calais was the only town in France that still remained in their hands.

The war against France provoked a burst of fury against the government in England. Soon England was plunged into a Civil War. During a period of insanity of King Henry VI (a member of the house of Lancaster), the Duke of York succeeded him as Protector. When he sent a near relative of the King to prison in the Tower of London, a Civil War broke out. It was called the War of the Roses (1455-1485) after the emblems of the houses of Lancaster (a red rose) and York (a white rose). Many bloody battles were fought and the Duke of York was killed. His son Edward was able to enter London and achieved his aim: being proclaimed king. He became Edward IV (a member of the house of York). During his reign the struggle between the two Houses went on. When he died, he left two sons, Edward and Richard, and a daughter, Elizabeth.

Edward was proclaimed king but never reigned since he was only twelve years old. His uncle Richard, duke of Gloucester, sent him and his brother to the Tower and managed to be proclaimed King by Parliament. He took the name of Richard III. The two young princes were murdered in the Tower. This crime struck the whole country. Richard was hated. Some dukes allied against Richard and offered the crown to Henry, Earl of Richmond (a representative of the house of Lancaster), on condition that he married Elizabeth of York (King Edward IV's daughter).

Richard met the rebels at Bosworth and was killed in battle. His crown fell from his head and was immediately placed on the head of Henry, who became Henry VII, the first Tudor King (1485).serisci qui il tuo testo...