SOCIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND – I

[Audio] Welcome to E-LEARNING COURSE THIS IS RAJA LAKSHMI, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, VELS INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND ADVANCED STUDIES, CHENNAI. GOOD DAY TO EVERYONE. TODAY, WE ARE GOING TO LEARN ABOUT SOCIAL HISTORY OF England PAPER 1. LET'S START…..

[Audio] Unit 1 THE EARLY HISTORY OF ENGLAND The Iberians were the earliest inhabitants of England. They came from Spain. Then came the Celts from Central Europe around 600 B.C in two or three distinct waves. Next to come were the Romans. They ruled Britain up to 410 AD The Anglo-Saxon and Danish conquests followed in quick succession. The Normans Infiltrated into England in 1066 by winning the battle of Hastings. Thus, many races went into the making of the English people..

[Audio] The contribution of the Romans and the Anglo – Saxons The Contribution of the Romans ( 43- 410 A.D.) Emperor Claudius of Rome conquered the south-eastern part of Britain. His successor Julius Agricola extended the conquest upto Firth. The Roman occupation of England lasted four centuries only. In 410 AD. they withdrew their legions ( army) and went back to Rome to defend it from invaders. During their brief stay in England, the Romans brought about a number of reforms. They introduced Christianity into England. There was bitter rivalry between the Celtic missionaries from Ireland and the Roman missionaries sent by Pope Gregory. There were many marked differences between the two churches. The Celtic church did not acknowledge the Pope as its head. Also, they did not impose celibacy on its priests. Christianity encouraged learning. The first English poet Caedmon and the first English historian, the Venerable Bede were both patronized by the church. The church patronized musicians and architects also. The church regarded all as equals. This instilled a sense of unity in the minds of people. The Romans built a network of roads branching from London in several directions. They encouraged agriculture, commerce, mining and industry. The Anglo-Saxons in England (410 AD- 1066 A.D.) The Anglo-Saxons hailed from the low-lying coastal lands between the Danish Peninsula and the Rhine. The Angles established themselves in Northumbria, East Anglen and Mercia. The Saxons conquered Sussex, Surtey and Weses. Alfred was the greatest of the Anglo-Saxon rulers. He introduced a number of military reforms. He founded the English navy and codified the English laws. He encouraged learning and literature. He arranged to compile the Anglo-Saxon chronicle Another capable Anglo-Saxon ruler was Edward the Confessor. He had many Norman favourites. He brought the Norman civilization into England. After the death of Edward, William of Normandy won the battle of Hastings and ascended the throne of England in 1066. Thus the Anglo-Saxon rule came to an end and the Norman rule began. The Anglo-Saxon rulers introduced many reforms. Kingship was established firmly. At the same time they introduced a complete system of self-government. Each village and town had its own council called the 'moot'. The "moot or the 'hundred' was in charge of collection of taxes and maintenance of order. The Anglo-Saxon society consisted of three classes. They were - 1) The slaves bound to the land, ii) free men endowed with political and economic rights and iii) nobles who were landowners and followers of the king. The Anglo-Saxons were influenced by the Christian teachings of love and charity. They started schools to teach Latin and the liberal arts..

[Audio] William I ( 1066 - 1087) William I, the first Norman ruler of England, was an absolute monarch. He confiscated the lands of the English nobles and distributed them among his Norman followers to enlist their support. He abolished Anglo-Saxon institutions such as the Hundred. He extorted taxes from all His greatest achievement was the compilation of a book called The Doomsday Book This book gave exhaustive information about the wealth of the people. It was a land register, a census of population and a topographical dictionary, all rolled into one. He replaced English bishops by Norman bishops. He imposed celibacy on the clergy. He set up ecclesiastical courts. Neither the Pope nor his bull was recognized. William Rufus ( 1087 - 1100) William Rufus, son of William I, was highly tyrannical. He clashed with Anslem, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Anslem wanted Rufus to return the confiscated property to the nobles and not to interfere with the functioning of the ecclesiastical courts. Rufus did not yield. So Anslem went into voluntary exile. Henry I (1100- 1135) Henry, brother of William II, was kind and conciliatory. He recalled Anslem from exile and promised free elections to the bishoprics. The charter of liberties that he issued gave many rights to the people and curbed the powers of the barons. He formed a royal court called the ' Curia Regis' It dominated the local courts and supervised the assessment and collection of revenue. Judges belonging to the Curia Regis often visited the local courts and prevented them from misusing their powers. Stephen (1135- 1154) Stephen was the nephew of Henry I. He was autocratic and antagonized both the clergy and the nobles. The Manorial system of the Normans The Normans introduced a new system called the Feudal or Manorial system. A manor included one or more villages. The lord was the ruler of the manor. His land was cultivated for him by the ' serfs' called villeins' or vassals. The rest of the land in the manor was divided into strips which were distributed in rotation among the lord's followers. This ensured a fairly equitable distribution of wealth. However, during the 14th century, the Manorial system broke up. The outbreak of plague called the Black Death, in 1348, depleted many villages. The few labourers who were left were not content to work as villeins under lords. They demanded higher wages. The Peasants Revolt, organized by Wat Tyler, speeded up the collapse of the Manorial system..

[Audio] THE RULE OF THE PLANTAGENET KINGS After the death of King Stephen, Henry I's grandson Henry II ascended the throne Henry II's father Geoffrey of Anjou wore a sprig of 'plantagenisa' ( broom plant) in his cap and so the dynasty founded by him came to be called the Plantagenet dynasty. Henry II ( 1154- 1189) Henry II brought about many legal reforms. He is called the father of the English jury system. The Assize of Clarendon ( 1166) enforced by him made the representatives of townships present criminals before the Itinerant judges of the king. These representatives later on developed into the modem jury. This system made judges think twice before passing judgement on criminals. Judgement was invariably sober and not impulsive. A uniform system of jurisprudence was evolved. This later came to be known as the Common Law. The Constitution of Clarendon implemented the public trial of the clergy. This was opposed by Thomas Becket the Archbishop of Canterbury This led to the slaughtering of Becket by Henry's knights. Richard I (1189- 1199) Richard I the son of Henry II was keen on recovering Palestine from the clutches of Mohammedans. He fought in the Crusades for the recovery of the Holy Land. King John (1199- 1216) and the Magna Carta of 1215 King John the youngest son of Henry IL antagonized all during his short reign. He refused to accept the Pope's nominee, Stephen Langton as the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Pope retaliated by excommunicating King John. Finally, John yielded to the Pope and agreed to pay him an annual tribute John clashed against King Phillip Il of France. He lost the battle against Philip. He imposed a heavy tax on the barons and nobles who did not accompany him to France to fight against the French King. The angry nobles captured London and forced King John to sign the historic Magna Carta on June 15, 1215 The Magna Carta contained sixty-three clauses. The Carta restored to the church, the barons and the people in general their long-cherished rights and liberties. According to the Carta, the king could not impose new taxes without consulting the Great Council of the barons Merchants were permitted to carry on trade without paying heavy taxes. Free men could not be imprisoned or punished without a proper trial. This clause was the origin of the Habeas Corpus night of our age. The Magna Carta is hailed as the key-stone of English liberties ( Hallam) and the Bible of the English Constitution ( Chatham) Henry III (1216- 1272) Henry III his eldest son, did not abide by the Magna Carta. He imposed fresh taxes to finance the Pope The barons resented it Under the leadership of Simon de Montfort they defeated the royal forces and convened the Simon's Parliament of 1265. Common people were allowed to attend this parliament. This was the origin of the House of Commons of our time. He constructed the famous Westminster Abbey. Edward I (1272- 1307) He annexed Wales and made his eldest son the Prince of Wales He also convened the famous Model Parliament ( 1295) which served as a model to later parliaments by its broad-based inclusion of representatives of all classes, both rich and poor. Edward II (1307- 1327) Edward II had homosexual leanings towards one Gaveston. This was objected to by the barons. The unrepentant Edward and Gaveston were both put to death. This is the subject of Marlowe's famous play, Edward II Edward III (1327- 1377) In his period Parliament was divided into the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of Commons was empowered to audit the accounts of the kingdom and also to appoint ministers. The Hundred Years' War ( 1338- 1453) The prolonged war between England and France was the result of Edward III's expansionism. He claimed the throne of France through his mother Isabella. Philip of France and Edward of England competed with one another in possessing Scotland and Flanders. The Hundred Years' War broke out in 1338, and dragged on for several years, with England and France winning and losing alternately, Initially England won the battles of Crecy and Poitiers. In 1360 the treaty of Bretigny was signed and the French King surrendered to the English. Henry V won the battle of Agincourt in France in 1415. He married the French princess and became the regent of France. This victory was followed by certain decisive reverses. A 17-year-old French girl by name Joan of Arc led the French army to victory in the battle at Patay in 1429. The Dauphin (the French prince) was crowned King Charles VII. Later, the French turned against Joan of Arc and burnt her at the stake. In spite of this tragedy. England could not recover the lost French territories. The Hundred Years' War made the English people definitely patriotic. There was no longer any craze for French ways of life or the French language English replaced the French language at all levels in England The Lancastrians and the Yorkists the Wars of the Roses ( 1455- 1485) The family of Lancaster and that of York fought long-drawn-out battles against each other from 1455-1485, The Lancastrians wore the red rose and the Yorkists, the white rose as badges. So, the wars between them came to be described as wars of the roses. The Hundred Years' War had just ended then. It had made the nobles greedy. There was no foreign war to give an outlet to their energies. So, they turned to battling against one another. Richard, Duke of York, defeated the Lancastrian king, Henry VI. Next, York's son proclaimed himself King Edward IV. The next king Edward V, was a mere boy. He was toppled by his own uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester Richard proclaimed himself King Richard III. Richard III could not continue in power for long because both the Yorkists and the Lancastrians were hostile towards him. Richard III was killed by Henry Tudor who was a Lancastrian. Henry Tudor ascended the throne by marrying the Yorkist princess, Elizabeth. This marriage ended the 30-year-long Wars of the Roses and established the Tudor dynasty firmly on the throne. The Growth of English Literature from the Tenth to the Fifteenth century The year 1066 is an important milestone in the history of the English nation as well as the history of English literature. It was in 1066 that the Norman, William I ascended the English throne by defeating the Anglo-Saxon king Harold in the battle of Hastings. The period before 1066 is called the Old English period, and the period after that year is known as the Middle English period. Old English Literature (written before 1066) Beowulf, written in the West Saxon dialect, belongs to Old English It is a badly mutilated form. Its authorship is not known It describes Beowulf's slaying some dragons in alliterative verse. " Widsith", a smaller poem of the period, describes the places visited by a traveller Juliana Elene Christ and " The Fates of the Apostles" are four poems supposed to have been written by one Cynewulf. The Genesis Exodus and Daniel are attributed to another Old English poet by name Caedmon. King Alfred is supposed to be the first prose writer. In order to encourage learning among the clergy, Alfred translated the Pastoral Care of Pope Gregory, the History of the World of Orosius, Bede's Ecclesiastical History, Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy and the Soliloquies of St. Augustine The abbot Aelfric's Grammar, Catholic Homilies, Lives of the Saints and Colloquy (a dialogue between a master and his pupils) are other significant prose works of the Old English period. Nobody reads Old English Literature nowadays. Middle English Literature (1066- 1350) The literature written between 1066 and 1350 is termed Middle English literature. Middle English literature is divisible into two categories, namely, religious literature and secular literature. The religious literature consists of translations from the Bible, lives of saints, etc. The secular literature consists of metrical romances dealing with Alexander the Great, Charlemagne, King Arthur, etc. The Romance of the Rose, a French romance was later translated by Chaucer. The Owl and the Nightingale is in the form of a debate between two birds. It is an allegory, exposing the social evils of the time. Chaucer followed this genre later in his poem, The Parliament of Fowls. In the field of drama, many Miracles and Mysteries dealing with Biblical themes were written. The Age of Chaucer (1350- 1450) Chaucer ( 1340- 1400) Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales is modelled on Boccaccio's Decameron. It is a collection of tales told by a group of pilgrims going to the shrine of Canterbury. The pilgrims represent all the social classes of Chaucer's England. Many of the poems are a mild satire of the abuses in the church. The poem shows Chaucer's expert handling of the seven-line stanza, known as the rime royale or Chaucerian stanza. In contrast to Chaucer are the contemporary poets, William Langland and Gower. In his poem The Vision of William concerning Piers the Plowman, Langland vehemently attacks the sloth and vice of the Church and presents Piers the Plowman as a Messianic deliverer. John Gower's Confessio Amantis is an allegorical representation of the Seven Deadly Sins. John Wycliffe ( 1330- 1384) was a preacher. He exposed the corruption rampant in the church. He has justly been called The Morning Star of the Reformation. He spearheaded the anti-clerical movement of the Lollards. (Since these people were always mumbling protestations against the church, they were called Lollards which means idle babblers') Sir John Mandeville, author of Travels, and Sir Thomas Malory, author of Morte d' Arthur, are other Important prose writers of the Chaucerian Age. Thus, England is invaded by many groups of people and very little is known about the early inhabitants..