2.

BRITISH CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION

OVER THE CENTURIES; HERITAGE, TRADITION
AND CHANGE. FROM THE EARLY AGES
TO THE MODERN TIME
Insularity is a key word to British culture and civilization, not only
when reference is made to the countrys geographical outline, but to its
historical background as well; insularity and the oceans proximity made
Britain develop in its unique way, made it accept and dismiss influences,
mingling and melting races and differences in its own peace and
harmony; made its people become explorers, traders and colonists to the
shores of the two hemispheres, transforming Britain from a world margin
into a centre of civilization. The island offered shelter to its inhabitants,
saving them from many dangers, and, not incidentally, it is said that
Britains history and its strong national scene have been shaped by sea
[25; p. 3].
The beginning of the history of mans existence on the British Isles is
very old, lost, somewhere, in the darkness of time. However, here and
there, that beings old traces come out, to arise the curiosity of the
modern people and to make them discover, with wonder, their old
forgotten ancestors.

2.1 Britain in Pre-Historic Time; the Vanished Cultures

Britains territory was part of the continental landmass till late, in the
Mesolithic period, and, at that time, the human migratory population
could reach it with relative easiness. Recent archaeological discoveries
(Boxgrave, Sussex) brought to light the first evidence on the existence of
human beings in Britain, some 50,000 years ago; the remains are of
Homo heidelbergensis, some of the oldest hominid in the world, much
older than Homo sapiens sapiens, there were also discovered hand-axes
and other flint implements used by those ice age hunters, for killing and
butchering animals.

It was the time of the Ice Age, a long period consisting of a series of
glaciations, in fact, an alternation of colder and warmer periods, with the
ice cap covering or retreating from the lands surface which offered the
different groups of migrating hunters, fishers and gatherers the
possibility to inhabit or not the different land areas. The first human
beings seemed to have reached Britain during the Pleistocene period
(the last Ice Age), the earliest human cultures identified being
characterized by the hand-axe, a multi-purpose tool; it is a typical object
of the Lower Palaeolithic period (earliest old Stone Age), indicating
many thousand-years of evolutionary process, prior to human presence in
Britain; the archaeological deposits were found in East Anglia, southern
England, at sites as Hoxne (Suffolk) and Swanscombe (Kent). The
archaeological discoveries and research determined two types of such
stone tools, indicating two different types of inhabitants coming to the
island from different directions of the landmass, at different times: an
earlier, already mentioned type of tool made from a central core of flint
tool, which is spread everywhere in the rest of Europe and Africa, and a
second, much more sophisticated type made from flakes of flint, similar
to those discovered anywhere else in the north of Europe, as far as Russia.
It was around 11000-10000 B.C. that the Ice Age (the beginning of the
Mesolithic period or Middle Stone Age) came to an end, with the ice
sheets finally retreating and with a gradual change of the climate
conditions; the flora and the fauna changed as well, the land being, at that
time, covered by a dense, mixed woodland, populated with herds of wild
cattle, horses and deer. The human communities, dependent on the new
environment continued to develop and adept, a new range of smaller and
more diversified tools (microliths) being imagined. The excavations of a
human settlement at Starr Carr (Yorkshire) offer an image of those
hunter-gatherers lifestyle, in the Early Mesolithic period. The site
represents a camp built on an artificial platform of timber and brushwood
in the reed swamp of a lake edge; it is believed that the group of people
living there comprised several families, seasonal hunters of red deer who
used to process the animal meat and bones, developing ritual ceremonies.
By about 6000-5000 B.C. the cutting of the North Sea land bridge took
place; it was flooded by the high waters, and Britain finally became a
cluster of island, with real important consequences for its inhabitants and
the future settlers; the process of development and adaptation to climate

and environment continued for the small groups of hunter-gatherers, and

the new Late Mesolithic tools appeared, more complex and specially
designed for hunting different animals; however, their life was still one
of constant movement, in search of the food which was, only locally and
seasonally, to be found.
For a long period of time the island was covered by thick dark forests
sheltering big or small game, but there were also shallow mares filled
with fowl and fishes. People from the landmass continued to be attracted
by the hunting possibilities existing on the islands, but not only by them;
in time, a significant change had taken place in the development of
ancient Britain due to the adoption of agriculture, which had determined
the hunter-gatherers to permanently settle on some areas. Attracted by
the fertile soil in the downs, and the woodland clearances practised by
the natives, small groups of immigrants started to cross the narrow
continental stream in their small, round skin boats. It was in the period
around 4000-3000 B.C., at the beginning of the Neolithic period (New
Stone Age). According to most historians, these people came from the
Iberian Peninsula, or even the North African coast (Near East), being
pastoralists and soil tillers. In the regions they came from, farming had
begun around 8000 B.C., and they brought to Britain the seeds of new
plants (wheat and barley) and breeding stock of domesticated animals
(pigs and sheep). For their settlement, they preferred the western part of
Britain, from Cornwall to the far north, and even Ireland. Their life style
seemed to have been rapidly adopted by the populations already existing
on the island. They are commonly known as the Iberians. It is
considered that these first waves of immigrants, small, dark and longheaded would be the forefathers of the dark-haired inhabitants of todays
Cornwall and Wales, and even of Scotland and Ireland.
There are plenty of archaeological discoveries all over Britain, from the
north coast of Scotland to the Southern regions, showing New Stone Age
sites out of which a lot can be learned about the culture of those people.
By about 3500 B.C., there were already well established communities on
Britains territory, that had begun the building of major constructions,
using earth, timber and stone, with some differences between the
northern and southern regions.

There are numerous evidences about the existence, at that time, of a

stable and well organized society in the area, able to develop communal
activities, and to share common rituals and ceremonies.
The most important monuments of Early Neolithic are the burial places
which served the whole community. (There were up to 50 individuals
buried in one place, as discovered at Fussellss Lodge, Wiltshire). In the
Western part, the tombs were built of stone and concealed under mounds
of rubbles, while in the eastern areas, poorer in stone, the dead were
buried under mounds of earth (barrows) with a timber structure.
There was much ritual in connection with the burial places in this early
culture indicating, perhaps, the ancestors veneration, and the emergence
of some ideas connected with social continuity and the links of these
people with the newly occupied territories. The same ritualised attitude
could be noticed in the rare flint mines of the time, for example, those
discovered at Grimes Graves (Norfolk), laboriously dug by using picks
and crowbars. The tools or weapons manufactured, made of flint and
suitable volcanic rocks, were polished almost to perfection, and included
the beautiful and efficient stone axes, flint knives, scrapers and other
implements as well; they were largely produced in some areas, as in
Langdale, Cumbria, but, it seems that there was much exchange practised
at the time over long distances, because a similar type of tools was
discovered in the East part of Yorkshire. As regards pottery, it existed,
and a certain evolution can be noticed over time; the discoveries show
the first plain, round-bottomed vessels evolving to highly decorated ones,
produced in the late Neolithic period.
This population is also known for the building of the famous henges, in
the later Neolithic period, around 2500 B.C. These monuments were
great circles of earth banks and ditches with wooden buildings and stone
circles inside, constructed, probably, for religious ceremonial purposes
but also representing political and economic power centres for the widely
scattered groups of people.
There were discovered almost 100 such sites clustered together to form
groups of henges, in Norfolk, on the Vale of York and in Cumbria, in the
Eden Valley; the best known ones are in Wessex, and include the
Avebury Circle, Durrington Walls, and the famous Stonehenge, in its
early period.

As regards the Neolithic people dwellings, they were less strong, and,
probably, made of timber, which has since rotted, a fact which explains
the relative scarcity of their identification. The only exception so far, is
the village of Skara Brae, Orkney, situated off the north coast of
Scotland; the huts are all stone, including the furniture, and they offer an
image of what the Neolithic man living conditions might have been.
In conclusion, it is interesting to note that certain individuality started to
develop, and it can be identified in the Neolithic culture, determined, of
course, by natural opportunities. [53; p. 21]
Starting with the 2nd millennium, from 2300 B.C. on, or even earlier, new
waves of immigrants are likely to have made their appearance on the
islands territory, coming from mainland Europe; although their number
could not be large, they brought with them a new tradition, which
quickly spread all over Britain and highly influenced the native
population, marking new developments in the area. They are supposed to
have come from the Low Countries and the middle Rhine areas, where
similar material traces were found; their physical aspect was different
from the old inhabitants: they were round-headed, strongly built and
taller than the Neolithic Britons. The first groups to come still used flint,
but those who followed brought good knowledge in the field of
metalworking, and with it, the end of the Stone Age society, and the
opening of the Bronze Age culture. The arrival of these immigrants
could be marked and identified due to new burial sites, that meant the
appearance of the individual tomb of a single crouched skeleton,
alongside the already existing collective communal graves. Besides,
different material objects were discovered in these tombs including flintmade weapons, but also gold jewellery, or copper daggers. The drinking
vessels, finely decorated pottery beakers, found in their gravesgave the
name to a new culture: the Beaker Culture. It was more than a new
material approach; this culture meant a new attitude to the individual,
more concern about him, and the appearance of an elite group; maybe,
they valued the warlike virtues, since many weapons and something that
might be called military equipment were found accompanying them
in the graves.
These people had the skill of making bronze tools which started to
replace the stone ones, being responsible for the first exploitation of the
long-exhausted gold, copper and tin deposits in Britain.

It is considered that they spoke an Indo-European language which was

introduced on the island for the first time.
Towards the later Bronze Age, around 1600 B.C., a new culture
emerged, as a distinct regional tradition; it is known as the Wessex
Culture, and it is considered different from the old Beaker one due to the
rich artefacts discovered in the tombs at Bush Barrow, Wiltshire, and
others. These artefacts represent an abundance of gold jewellery,
personal adornments, and new types of bronze daggers, as well as other
weapons. The flourishing of the Wessex Culture is hard to be explained.
One supposition refers to the areas control of the trade in metals, which
was highly developed at the respective time; the various old centres of
civilization were closely linked by trading relations, not only on the
island itself or Ireland, but with the continent as well. Central Europe and
even the Baltic, from where amber, for instance, was brought,
participated in trade activities with Britains territory.
Agriculture can also be considered as a source for the economic basis of
society during the Bronze Age. From about 1300-1200 B.C., in the late
Bronze Age, new improvements became obvious in agriculture,
especially in the south region, where large areas of landscape came under
intensive agricultural use; the late immigrants had brought with them
from the continent a new, resistant cereal, barley, which could be
cultivated almost everywhere; the growing of cattle and sheep was also
common at that time.
With the development of agriculture new forms of settlement sites
appeared, specific to the consolidation of the settled farming class; the
groups of farms representing houses and storage buildings were fortified,
being provided with timber palisades of massive ramparts of timber and
stone, and were usually situated on a hill. Such sites were discovered in
places as Rams Hill, Berkshire or Mane Tor, Derbyshire.
There were new forms of metal work as well, and weaponry became
increasingly common; new styles of swords, spearheads or shields were
produced under the permanent influence of the Continent, suggesting, at
the same time, a period of conflicts between the different groups;
inevitably, the period knew the emergency of an aristocracy represented
by the warriors elite, supported by peasantry. It is the period which
meant the final break with the preceding Neolithic cultures, and which

announced the beginning of the Iron Age in Britain. However, the

ancient centres of civilization continued to draw the attention of the
generations to come, who, in their turn, and, for a long period of time,
continued to bring their contribution to the further development of these
monuments. It is the case of Stonehenge, Avebury, and other centres
which are worth speaking about.
Stonehenge
It has often been said that Stonehenge can be considered Britains
greatest national icon, symbolizing mystery, power and endurance.
This megalithic ruin is situated on the open downland of Salisbury Plain,
137 kilometres south west of London, in Wiltshire county, southern
England. Stonehenge is dating from the late Stone and early Bronze ages
(about 3000-1000 B.C.), being the most celebrated of the megalithic
monuments of England, and one of the best-known ancient monuments
in the world. The monument consists of what has been four concentric
ranges of stones: the outermost range is a circle, 30 m in diameter formed
of sand stone blocks, called sarsen stones; within this circle there is a
second one, consisting of smaller blue stones, which encloses a
horseshoe-shaped arrangement of five pairs of large sarsen stones; in its
turn, it contains a smaller similar arrangement of blue stones which
enclose a slab known as the Altar Stone; there is one more stone, which
may originally have stood upright, placed near the entrance to the avenue
and which is known as the Slaughter Stone. This monument is made of
more than just rocks: a bank-and-ditch, the henge of the monument,
surrounds the stone circles having about 91 metres in diameter. On the
inside boundary of the henge there are 56 pits, known as Aubrey
Holes, and closer to the stone circles there are other two sets of pits
(called Z and Y holes), these ones being the last additions to the
monument.
Anyway, the Stonehenge that we can see today is mainly its ruin, as
many of its stones were pilfered along the centuries by generations of
builders who used them as building material, no natural stone existing

Aubrey Holes; they are named after the person who first discovered them, the
antiquarian John Aubrey, in the 17th century.

within 21 km of the place the monument is situated. Besides, it has been

subjected to centuries of weathering depreciation.
Stonehenge was built over a long period of time, in several phases, being
revised and re-modelled for a period of more than 1400 years. Following
the archaeological excavations since 1950, the existence of three main
phases of building was suggested: Stonehenge I, II and III with
subphases (III a; III b; III c).

Stonehenge I dates to the period between 2950-2900 B.C. It was the

period of Middle Neolithic, and it is supposed that the people, using red
deer antlers for picks, excavated the first circular ditch (198 m in
diameter), and used the resulting chalky rubble to build the high bank
within the ditch. Inside the earth bank is the circle of the 56 Aubrey
holes, and they are supposed to have held wooden posts, later falling out
of disuse. On the northest of the circle, two paralleled entry stones (one
of them being the Slaughter Stone) are supposed to have been also
erected at this stage.
Stonehenge II (2900-2400 B.C.) meant the radical remodelling of the
complex. Thus, in the centre, and at the north-eastern entrance post holes
were discovered indicating some timber settings, while the Aubrey Holes
no longer held posts, being partially filled with cremation deposits. As
wood did not preserve well over the centuries the image of this phase is
rather unclear.

R. J. C. Atkinson, archaeologist from University College, Cardiff.

Stonehenge III (2500-1600 B.C.). During the three subphases of this

period new stones started to arrive; the setting comprised the
Bluestonecoming from Wales, (Preseli Hills, Pembrokeshire) placed in
what are known as the Q and R holes; the tall Altar Stone and the
Sarsen ring also appeared during this period. The sarsen stones (whose
remains can still be seen today) were transported from the Marlborough
Down, 30 km north, and were placed in a circle of 30 uprights, originally
supporting stone lintels which formed a continuous circle around their
top. Within this ring, a horseshoe formation of five free standing pans of
trilithons was erected, each with a single horizontal lintel; the trilithons
were arranged symmetrically and grading in height, with the tallest in the
central position. As regards the Bluestone Oval, it was added within the
Trilithon Horseshoe, while a Bluestone Circle was added outside the
Trilithon Horseshoe, but inside the Sarsen Circle. There were also four
Station Stones places inside the Bank, and the Slaughter Stone, located
on the north-east side, in a place regarded as the main entrance of the
monument; the Heel Stone is located further along the Avenue, and it is
believed that it may have been paired with another stone, now missing.
There are two important questions we are not able to fully answer even
today: who were the builders of this monument, and what its purpose
was? The answers are mere suppositions coming from archaeologists,
historians, astronomers or from a new science, archaeoastronomy.
The most appropriate supposition refers to the people of the late
Neolithic period as being the first builders of the monument, their work
being carried forward by other generations of people coming from the
new cultures which arose at the respective time; reference is also made to
the Beaker Folk, or to some other immigrants from the continent, but the
latter opinion is not supported by archaeological evidence.
The attribution of the monument construction to the Druids, the Celtic
priests, although the most captivating supposition, and which was made
by John Aubrey three centuries ago, proved to be erroneous. Excepting
the fact that the Druids worshipped in forest temples, Stonehenge had
already been built at the Celts arrival in Britain, and after many

Bluestone various types of mostly igneous rocks including dolerites, clyolites and
volcanic ash; it also includes some sandstones.

centuries of existence it should have been in a ruined condition at that

moment.
It goes without saying that much human effort should have been spent
for erecting this construction. There are modern theories trying to
imagine the long way the stones covered from their mountains of origin
to Salisbury plain: thus, the theories say that the stones were dragged by
rollers and sledges from the mountains to Milford Heaven where they
were loaded on rafts and boats and sailed along the coast of Wales, then
up the rivers Avon and Frome to a point from where they were hauled
over land again, for some miles; and, again, they had a float down the
river Wylye and up the river Salisbury Avon to a place (West Amesbury)
from where a short drag to the Stonehenge site was left.
Stonehenge is, and, perhaps, will remain a mystery, especially as regards
its purpose. Although a lot has been found out about the various parts of
the construction, and even about the way in which it was, probably, built,
very little can be said about the purpose of this construction. Most of the
historians and archaeologists agree that Stonehenge was a temple,
without issuing a precise opinion about the Gods worshipped by its
builders; some suggested that it was a temple for sun worship, as the
entrance points down the middle of the Avenue towards the sunrise on
Midsummer Day; but this idea remains only a supposition. A more recent
theory suggests that Stonehenge could have been a sort of astronomical
calendar marking lunar and solar alignments and other celestial events.
Using computer calculations, and based on maps and charts, the modern
researchers consider that there is a clear evidence of heavenly purpose
in this monument, although some other experts believe that only the first
phase of building holds such astronomical value.
Anyway, the second phase of the monument construction, when the huge
bluestones were carried to the site from south Wales, remained an
important event, and its story passed from one generation to another, to
be recorded in Geoffrey of Monmouths History of Britain (1136).
Stonehenge is considered to have been a sort of capital of the time, with
the area surrounding it recognized as a political authority, maybe, over
the whole of the British Isles. There are plenty of legends linked with the
story of Stonehenge, trying to explain its meaning, but also its dangers;
one of the most beautiful is the story written by Geoffrey of Monmouth,

who made the magician Merlin responsible for the reconstruction of the
Giants Dance (a circle of massive stones believed to have stood on a
mountain in Ireland) on Salisbury Plain.
Over the years, the mystery of this ancient stone monument inspired not
only the creators of legends but also the artists all over the world, leading
to the creation of some wonderful and unique masterpieces. One of them
was Thomas Hardy, who in his novel Tess of the DUrbervilles drew
near to one of the possible true meanings of the monument: the spiritual
force, a symbol of ancient philosophy and civilization.
Among the poets, a special mention should be made of Barbara Cope
Findley, John Dryden, Emily Mace, Thomas Stokes Salmon,
I. R. R. Tolkien and last but not least, William Wordsworth with his
Guilt and Sorrow, or Incidents upon Salisbury Plain:
Pile of Stone-henge! So proud to hint yet keep
Thy secrets, thou that lovst to stand and hear
The Plain resounding to the whirlwinds sweep,
Inmate of lonesome Natures endless year;
Even if thou sawst the giant wicker rear
For sacrifice its throngs of living men,
Before thy face did ever wretch appear,
Who is his heart had groaned with deadlier pain
Than he who, tempest-driven, thy shelter now would gain.
Other megaliths of prehistoric Britain. Stonehenge does not represent
the only strange and remote monument in Britain to evoke a past beyond
the reach of the modern mans understanding. They are quite numerous,
and one of them which is worth mentioning, and which is considered by
many to surpass even Stonehenge in grandeur, is represented by the stone
circles at Avebury; what strikes the modern visitor here is not so much
the stones, less impressive and numerous than those at Stonehenge, but
the surrounding bank, standing 18 feet high, and the ditch, reaching a
depth of 30 feet.
There are three circles at Avebury, laid out in an unusual manner: while
at Stonehenge the elements are laid concentrically, at Avebury there are
two smaller, nearly perfect circles arranged side by side with a third one,
much larger but less perfect.

Unfortunately, the stones at Avebury were much more and even

deliberately destroyed until recently, in the medieval period; the church
in its effort to suppress the persistence of pre-Christian traditions
considered that everything that seemed to have been a pagan temple had
to be systematically vanished. Averbury does not lie alone in the area; it
belongs to some related monuments including Silbury Hill, the West
Kennet Long Barrow and two avenues lined with standing stones,
maybe a processional way between Avebury and the neighbouring
circles.

Some other recent discoveries include the Seahenge, a remarkable ring of

oak timber with a massive central oak stump up-turned burried, found at
Holme-next-the-sea, Norfolk. The modern tests carried out placed the
felling of the trees in the years 2050-2049 B.C., roughly contemporary
with the Stonehenge. The archaeologists believe that those timber circles
built by the prehistoric people of the Bronze Age represented important
ceremonial practices, or rituals connected with the dead.
Prehistoric monuments can be found in Ireland, Scotland and Wales as
well; the monuments in Wales impress because of their megalithic
proportions, some of them being really famous, as Parc Cwne, Capel
Garmon, Ty Isaf, etc while others are less known as Garn Goch. All
these monuments were excavated and studied along the years, but, in
spite of all efforts, their real purpose is still a mystery, with a lot of
supposition about it; thus, they continue to be a subject of permanent
interest to researchers and a place to see for the visitors.

2.2 The Celts, Living Traces of an Old Culture

The beginning of the 7th century B.C. meant the arrival of new migratory
waves in Britain. They were the Celts, tall and strong, fair haired and
blue-eyed people, coming from central Europe, or farther east, from
southern Russia. Celtic place-names, names of Celtic tribes, of
individuals and gods, together with archaeological discoveries enabled
the scientists to consider their presence on the British Isles. From their
early days on, in a slow movement, they succeeded to occupy almost the
entire territory of Europe, moving in all directions: westward, to France
where they became an important element in the formation of the Gaulish
nation, southwards to Spain, where they are still to be found, or
eastwards, along the Danube valley to Balkans, expanding from there
into Asia Minor. One of their wings settled in Italy where they put an end
to the Etruscan civilization; in the 3rd century (387 B.C.) they were about
to conquer Rome, but the legend says that the geese saved the Capitol
and the city. During this long period of time (about seven hundred years)
successive waves of migratory Celts from the wing which had moved
northwards, to North Germany and Netherlands invaded Britain,
imposing Celtic language and lifestyle on the inhabitants. The tribes
crossing the sea from Europe were kindred, but mutually hostile, each of
them speaking their own dialect. (Erse, Gaelic, Welsh are considered as
variants of their tongues).

The historians describe two main waves of Celtic in Britain migration: the first was
represented by the Gaels who gave their language Gaelic to the Isle of Man, Ireland
and Northern Scotland. Linguistically, they represent the Q-Celts. The second wave was
represented by the Belgaes or the Britons/Pretani, and their language is still spoken in
western France, in Brittane. They form the group of P-Celts. The Celts dialects
disappeared in England because of the Anglo-Saxon invasion, with few words being kept,
expressing objects or place names: cradle, avon (river), ox (water); London (latin:
Lundinium) is considered of Celtic origin, as well. Celtic words as clan, plaid, kilt,
shamrock, log, gag, or even the word slogan meaning war cry entered the English
language later, from Scottish or Irish sources. Therefore, the Pretani (together with the
Iceni and other tribes) may be considered as being the Celtic ancestors of the English,
after being first Romanised as a consequence of Roman conquest, and then Anglicised
during the Anglo-Saxon invasion.

Technically, they were more advanced in comparison with the Iberians;

they knew iron and how to work with it, making better weapons and
tools. (There were discovered daggers of the Hallstatt type, but of a
specific British form)
Thus, the 7th century B.C. is considered as the beginning of the Iron Age
on the British Isles, the Celts being generally associated with the
development of the Iron Age in Europe.

PICTISH SEAHORSE

PICTS ABERLEMNO STONE

The Celts were good warriors, always ready to fight, the waves of new
comers pushing, each time, farther to Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall and
Wales not only the old inhabitants of the island, but even the Celts who
had come before; thus they obliged the population to live together and
mingle, the Iberians taking on the new more advanced Celtic culture. The
Celtic element is important in British history and culture, the people
living in the outer region of England being considered descendents of the
Celts who came there either as invaders or traders. Anyway, it is clear
that Britain absorbed the new comers, and, as David McDowall says,
although the British today are often described as Anglo-Saxons, it
would be better to call them Anglo-Celts [25; p. 7]. Unfortunately, very
little is known about the first Celts coming to Britain at the beginning of
their migration. What is known comes, besides the archaeological
discoveries, from Roman sources at the moment of their impact with the
Celts in Britain.

The early Iron Age is associated with Hallstatt culture (8th6th B.C.) named after an
archaeological site in Upper Austria.

First of all, the Celts were tribesmen (clansmen) bound together by very
strong legal and sentimental ties of kinship, with the family as the unit of
social life. The smallest unit in Celtic society was the Fine, a close,
extended family kinship group, in which the individual did not, legally,
exist. He was considered only as a member of the Fine, being responsible
for his share of the Fines property and obligations. More often than not,
these tribes were at war with one another, a fact which made them lose
the power which they could have had if they had been united and
organized in a state form. This type of society was one of the Celts
characteristics, and as G. M. G. Trevelyan says a thousand years after
England had been subjected to Saxon conquest, Wales, Ireland and
Scottish Highland were, in different degrees, still governed by the tribal
rules of life [45; p.26].
Therefore, one of the main features of the Celtic society was its
fragmentation until quite late in history; there were a lot of local chiefs
with a sense of power which made them be considered kings; although
there was some hierarchy among them, only very seldom it could have
happened that one of them became a real king for all the Celts in a
region. Besides, kingship was not hereditary, and it could be easily lost.
This situation led to much political anarchy, and even more, to an
uninterrupted state of war, because of the incompatibility existing
between the groups. As Ioana Zirra comments here are to be found the
roots of regionalism as a privileged theme of British cultural studies,
where the historical regions are contrasted, and with the Celts remained
unassimilated [46; p. 18].
Socially, the Celts were divided into three classes: the Nobility, the Aes
Dana and the Commoners (Churls).
The Nobility was represented by the warriors who were also landowners
and in control of herds and other forms of wealth. The Aes Dana
included the artists the men of learning, and even the skilled craftsman
who were highly regarded. They owed no military service, were free of
other tribal obligations and were allowed to travel between the lands
controlled by different tribes. The Druids were included in this class. The
Commoners were free people, but without any possessions.

All of them constituted a group, called the Tuath (which could be

considered equivalent to the modern clan), ruled by a leader called Ri
(the King). Eligibility for leadership was based on blood relationship but
it was not inherited, the new Ri being selected from among the eligible
candidates by the members of the tribe. Justice was that of the clan,
protecting and punishing its members, but also getting vengeance or
payment for injuries done from other clans.
Anyway, the Celtic warriors, always ready to fight, dominated the
society, enjoying a high prestige; they were well equipped, having
scabbards, shields, helmets and harnesses, beautifully decorated in the
La Tne style. Their long oval shields covered most of their body and
the Celts also used to carry spears made of wood. They had developed
the long, double edged Cut-Thrust sword made of bronze and, later on,
the double-edged broad sword made of iron, the heaviest one ever
imagined. The chariots which they had invented were a very important,
always effective warfare in battle, the driver and the warrior forming
a strong team.
The Celts had few tactics in battle, but they were generally successful;
they used psychological techniques against their enemies, as painting
their faces to look like demonic creatures, or would scream fearcefully
while attacking to scarce the enemies; another psychological technique
was to attack naked and painted, which made their enemies, taken by
surprise, hesitate, so the Celts could have a first hit against them. Being a
very creative people, a fact noticed even in battle, the Celts were the first
in the world to imagine the guerrilla warfare; this technique enabled them
to ambush the enemy giving them an advantage over the latter, when
outnumbered.
As regards the Celts occupations, their main activities were besides
fighting, hunting, fishing, herding, weaving, bee-keeping, mining, metalworking and carpentry; agriculture progressed slowly, the wheat being
grown in the south, and oats in the north, very similar to the location of

La Tne culture; it refers to the later Iron Age, and it is called after a site in Switzerland.
The chariot was driven by the driver to the point of battle where the warrior lept from it
to fight, while the driver wheeled the chariot off to one side, ready to come and retrieve
the warrior when in need.

these crops nowadays; they also cultivated barley, rye and leguminous
vegetables like peas and beans. They were aware with the benefits of
crop rotation, letting land lie
fallow for some season; they
also used manure as fertilizer.
They enjoyed preparing mead,
a beverage made of grain
fermented with honey, which
they drank at their feasts.
Animals breeding was also
one of their occupations, cattle
being the most important livestock, but sheep, goats, pigs and poultry
were also kept.
COTTAGE AT BUCKLAND-IN-THE-MOOR

Horses had been domesticated by the Celts and used in battles for the
first time in the history of mankind.
The Celtic typical rural settlement was the single farmstead, often
enclosed by banks and ditches, to keep stock in at night. Some recent
excavations (Gussage All Saints, Dorset, for example) provided a
detailed picture of the Celtic settlements: their houses were round, in
many cases with a small rectangular porch, and with the door generally
opening to the east, maybe, for religious reasons. The houses were made
of stone, or, more commonly, of wood, and were roofed with thach or
perhaps shingles. The houses were simply furnished, with beds, low
tables and no chairs, as the Celts sat on cushions or furs placed on the
floor. Their pottery was generally richly decorated. Any house possessed
a rotary hand mill and a loom for the weaving of cloth.
The Celts were skilled craftsmen, as, for example, metalworkers in all
kinds of metals: iron, bronze, and occasionally enamelled precious
metals, which were mined where the locations were suitable, or traded
from elsewhere. They were also woodworkers, and were skilled in
building boats or even big ships of oak with iron fittings and anchor
chains; the sails were of hides and soft leather. They were able to
produce the famous chariots and wagons, or other high quality wooden
goods.

The Celts were neat and clean, and it is considered that they were among
the cultures which invented soap. They were highly preoccupied with
their physical appearance, and sleek bodies were admired. They were
fond of bright colours, wearing colourful striped plaids frequently edged
with fringes; they were also fond of personal decorations and both men
and women wore a lot of jewellery made of gold: the torc or neck ring,
arm, ankle and finger rings, bracelets and brooches to fasten their cloaks
and tunics. The noblemen wore a sword or a belt dagger for both
ornamentation and protection.
Rank, position and status within the Celtic society were well determined,
and had to be supported by certain values; individual strength and skill
were important, the Celts using to boast themselves of their own
achievements and victories in battle, as well as of their ancestors
achievements and victories.
On the other hand, the display of physical wealth was important, such as
the abundance of gold and jewellery. Land and cattle also contributed to
a Celts status in his society. All these aspects constituted methods by
which they could build up and maintained the desired image in the eyes
of the others. As regards women, the Celtic civilization was highly
advanced, some reference to equality between sexes being possible. At
least two queens were mentioned by the Romans at the moment of their
invasion in Britain; they were described as fighting from their chariots
with courage and bravery against the invaders. One of them was
Cartimandua, leading the powerful and numerous Brigantes of the north,
and the other one was the highly celebrated Boadicea (Boudicca). At the
death of her husband Boadicea became the queen of her tribe. That tall,
red haired woman with a frightening appearance led a rebellion against
the Romans (61 A.D.), destroyed the Roman capital, London, and almost
had driven them out of Britain, before she was defeated and killed.
(A wonderful monument in her memory can be admired in London).
The Roman historians also mention the strength and courage of the Celtic
women warriors, their appearance often shocking them; the womens
long loose hair seem to have been really impressive in battle.
The Celtic society inhabiting Britain in the Iron Age was constantly
developing, determining the building and improvement of many large

hill-forts as centres for local groups; in this way they created a network
of strongholds that controlled large areas. Such constructions, as Maiden
Castle (Dorset), were provided with multiple ditches and sophisticated
sloping ramparts of chalk and earth. Inside these hill-forts there were
houses forming settlements which represented the first towns, and
which started to function as hubs of political, religious and commercial
centres. They can be considered as representing the development of the
first towns on the British Isles, some of them continuing to exist even
today, as, for example, Verulamium (St. Albans, Hertfordshire) or
Camulodomum (Colchester, Essex).
However, many of these hill forts are, nowadays, only empty places,
although some of them had, for long, remained local economic centres at
the respective time. As David McDowell says, within living memory
certain annual fairs were associated with hill forts, as for example an
annual September fair on the site of a Dorset Hill fort; it inspired
Thomas Hardy in his novel Far From the Madding Crowd (1874)
[25; p. 8]. Towards its end, before the Roman conquest, the continuously
developing Celtic civilization gave way to kingdoms ruled by powerful
dynasties who even minted their own coinage by copying the Greek and
the Roman ones; they were, often, of a remarkable beauty (The first coin
minted in Britain shows Appolos image).
The Celts were also good businessmen and traders, developing trade
relations, not only across tribal borders, but with the continent as well
(Normandy and Mediterranean cultures); much trade was conducted by
river and sea. Trade with Ireland went through the island of Mona
(Anglesey), while the two main trade outlets to Europe were the
settlements along the Thames in the south, and those on the Firth of
Forth in the north.
Pytheas of Massalia, a Greek explorer (3rd century B.C.), revealed a lot
about the Celtic culture, including their trade with the continent; animal
skins and furs, raw metals, salt, amber, and, probably, finished metal
goods and grains were traded for luxury goods: glass, coral, precious
metal goods and wine. The principle merchandise among the Celtic tribes
was the cattle.

A presentation of the Celtic culture and civilization on the British Isles

territory, even as short as this one, has to pay a special attention to the
Celts religion and beliefs; the extent to which some remote religious
rituals can be still detected in the British tradition is also worth
mentioning.
It is considered that the Celts had numerous religious beliefs, being very
superstitious. Most of the knowledge about their religious practices
comes from the Greek and Latin writers, including Pliny the Elder
(Gaius Plinius Securedus), Tacitus and Julius Caesar, who, in their
works, described the Celtic world.
The Celts had a lot of gods and goddesses, each tuath having its own
god. A list of these gods/goddesses, identified as having an important
significance to the Celts, includes Lugh, a warrior god believed to be
skilled in arts and horsemanship, patron of travellers and commerce,
Cernunnos, the ruler and protector of animals, Goibhnui, the blacksmith
god, patron of art and the god of healing, Ogmios, the patron of
eloquence, Don the god of the dead and ruler of the other world, Brigid, a
mother goddess, patroness of arts and crafts, of healing, poetry,
traditional learning, livestock and produce, and of the rites of spring,
Epona or the Horse Goddess, and others.
Another distinguishing characteristic of the Celts religious believes is
represented by the significance held by birds and animals. Thus, the birds
were considered the gods messengers: swans could be the gods
themselves in bird form, ravens and wrens were thought to carry
prophetic massages, while geese were associated with gods as well.
Animals like boar, pig, stag, bull, horse and others, as well as fishes
(salmon, trout) were either associated with gods, or appeared in rituals as
holding an important significance, or representing different symbols. As
regards the Celts calendar practice, the opinions differ, and there are, at
least, three schools of thought in this respect. Most archaeologists and
historians accept the opinion that the Celts divided the year into four
major cycles, each season being separated and identified by four
important religious festivals. They were Imbolc in February, a pastoral

As the Celts did not develop a writing system and all their knowledge was transmitted by
word of mouth, there is no direct source regarding their culture and civilization.

festival of fertility and growth, Beltaine (in May) related to the fertility of
cattle and crops, and commonly associated with fire rites, Lughnasadh
(from mid July to mid August) which was the harvest festival celebrating
the richness of the harvest and honouring the gods, and, finally, Samhain
(in October, 31) heralding the start of the new year, and commemorating
the creation of order out of chaos, and the beginning of the world. These
festivals included multiple day activities like market fairs, athletic
competitions, councils and feasts, besides the observance of the religious
rituals.
Some of the old Celtic rites are still to be discovered nowadays, either
celebrated by small communities, as is the case of Beltaine, or known
over large territories as Samhain. Today, Beltain is well known and
practised in Scotland as a fire rite; it consists in driving the herds
between bonfires and their smoke, for purification and protection against
evil spirits.

THE PICTISH AND EARLY SCOTTISH ART

Samhain has become our modern Halloween, a descendant of the Celtic

festival; it was the moment when, as believed in the old times, the
division between this world and the other world dissolved, and the spirits
roamed the earth; it was a dangerous time when humanity was vulnerable
and exposed to the supernatural world.
The Celtic religion is connected with the name of the Druids. They were
organized in three distinctive groups, each of them having specific
functions and performing well-established tasks. All of them had to cover
long years of intensive training at special universities, where both men
and women were taught in large communities. As the Celts had no

Continuing the Celtic tradition, especially in Scottish Highland, people would run, after
sunsets, the boundaries of their farms with blazing torches in order to protect their
families from the malevolent forces, freely walking the land at the moment and causing
mischief.

writing everything had to be learned by heart. These three groups were

the Bards, the Ovates and the proper Druids.
The Bards, whose training could last for 12 years until getting the status
of Doctor of Poetry, were the keepers of oral tradition regarding the
history of the tribe. They had to memorize hundreds of poems, stories,
and philosophies, being held in high esteem and becoming members of
the kings court.
The Ovates/the Filids were the shamans and philosophers who were
responsible for understanding the mysteries of death and rebirth; they
could divine the future, having knowledge in herbalism and healing arts
as well.
The Druids were trained for the longest period of time (Caesar stated it
for 20 years) covering the levels of both Bards, Ovates and something
more. They were philosophers, astronomers, mathematicians and,
generally, the depositors of the society entire knowledge. They could be
considered as representing the supreme priests, their responsibilities
and privilege being that of serving as kings advisors, but also as judges,
lawyers, teachers, ritual leaders, the ultimate authority in matters of
worship and ceremony. They were, really, extremely powerful; thus, they
were those who ruled on matters of property and inheritance, marriage
and settlement of claims, their decisions in different matters being based
on generations of precedent and tradition which they had learned during
their long years of training. Somehow, their way of making law decision
might be considered similar to the present British law, also based on
precedent and tradition.
The Druidic religion was brought into England by the Gomeridae, from
the Mountains of Noah (the Caucasus), with the Celts first emigration
under Hu Gadarn. According to this religion, the universe is matter
ordered and systematized by the intelligence of God, the name of God
being in itself a creative power. Three pencils of light represent the

The word Druidae is considered of Celtic origin. Pliny the Elder (23/24-79 C.E.)
believed it to come from the Greek word drus meaning oak, combined with the word
wid meaning to know/to see in the Sanscrit. To the Druids, the oak was an
important, sacred tree, as well the mistletoe growing on it. Thus, Druid was a title given
to men/women who possessed oak knowledge/oak wisdom.

Druidic symbol of God. According to their conception, knowledge and

religion could not be separated. They also believed in the soul
immortality, the Druidic nation having no fear of death, as Lucan stated.
For many centuries the Celtic culture and Druidic religion were
forgotten, as a result of the Roman and, then, Christian suppression. Only
during the Renaissance, due to the revival of interest in ancient Greek
and Roman culture, the Celtic world was discovered thanks to the works
of Pliny, Tacitus and Julius Caesar. By the 17th century, a new romantic
image of Druids had begun to emerge first, in French, and later, in
English literature.
In 1717, the first Order of Druids seems to have been initiated on
Primrose Hill, London, although the earliest revival of Druidic order is
accepted to be the Ancient Order of Freemasonry. As a consequence of
the conflicts between its members, a breakaway movement took place in
1839, and the United Order of Druids was established, with lodges in
the U.S. and Australia. The United Order of Druids is still flourishing
today, acting as an international charitable organization.
At the same time, the Ancient Order of Druids, with a more mystical
character, continued to exist along the 19th and 20th centuries; it claims
among its many members illustrious names, as Winston Churchill who
was initiated into the Albion Lodge at Oxford.
There were many Druidic sects emerging and disappearing in the 20th
century, and by 1955 only one of them had survived, called the British
Circle of the Universal Bonds; it claims to be not only the true
descendent of Henry Hurls original Ancient Order of Druids but also,
of the Order of Druids founded in 1717. More recently, new New Age
oriented orders were initiated, such as the neo-pagan Secular Order of
Druids; the annual festivals, organized at Stonehenge and other places
attract huge crowds of people.
As one can see, the Celtic culture was able to dominate almost all of
Europe for a long period of time, covering the centuries from the Bronze
Age well into the early Christian period.

The Celts, a very creative people, were excellent artisans and warriors,
inventive story tellers and poets, combining the religious beliefs with
almost everything they did. This attitude gave them the courage,
perseverance and strength to overcome difficulties and defeat their
enemies.
Beginning with the 1st century (A.D.) most of the Celts on the Continent
were assimilated into the Roman Empire, and they lost their identity and
independent culture.
Fortunately, the Celtic languages survived better in some territories, as in
Western France (Brittany), and, on larger areas which remained Celtic, in
Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Cornwall or the Isle of Man. Thus, in our
modern times the Celtic languages and traditions can be still discovered
in Wales, Ireland and Scottish Highlands, besides Brittany (France).
Thanks to their wisdom and understanding, the culture, which the Celts
developed, is considered by many scholars as being beyond other cultures.

2.3 Roman Britain: the Memory of a Civilization

In his History of England G. M. Trevelyan mentions three things of

value which Romans left behind after their four centuries of stay on the
British Isles: the first was the Welsh Christianity, the second the Roman
roads, and the third, a by-product of the second, was the traditional
importance of certain new city sites, especially that of London (Its name
is of Celtic origin). But, the fact which remains is that the Romans failed
in really and permanently latinizing Britain, as they did with many other
territories of the empire.
Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 B.C. after the conquest of
Gaul, as a necessity required by his need of showy exploits exports,
tribute, grains, slaves and money to fill his war-chest. The first
expedition was a failure, and the second, no great success. However, the

In Latin the country of Pretani; Pretani is the Greeko-Roman word for the inhabitants
of Britani (Mispronounced by the Romans the country became Britania).

moment was important, as it offered us Caesars description of Britain at

the time of his invasions, as the first existent and coherent account.

ROMAN FORT AND BATH BEARDEN SCOTLAND

The actual conquest of the island took place a century after Caesars
expedition, under Emperor Claudius, who decided to conquer the island
partly from his own ambition, and partly because of the Celts aggression
and the help given by them to the Celts on the continent. As a result, in
43 A.D., Claudius sent an army across the channel formed of four legions
(August II, Valeria Victrix XX, Gemina Martia Victoria XIV, and the
famous Hispana IX) together with a number of auxiliary regiments
consisting of cavalry and infantry raised from among warlike tribes
subject to the empire, under the command of Aulus Plautius. Taken by
surprise, the Celts led by Togodumnus and Caratacus were defeated. The
Emperor himself arrived, and took the personal command of the
campaign closing stages. Most of the tribes submitted to the Roman
legions, and the rest of them who continued to resist, were left for being
subdued in the next years. Later, the Romans formed small expeditionary
forces consisting of simple legions or parts of legions supported by
subsidiary allied troops, which gradually advanced into the island. By the
year 47, when Ostorius Scapula succeeded to Plautius as commanding
officer, a frontier had been established from Exeter to the Humber,
showing the Romans intention to limit their invasion to the southeast
area of the island. However, in the coming years, they had to advance
and occupy other territories, up to the river Severn and even farther,
because of the attacks coming from the Celtic tribes which had remained

free. An important event recorded by historians, and which meant a

serious setback in the Roman progress on the islands territory was the
rebellion of Boudicea, queen of the Iceni (year 61 A. D.). The respective
tribe had enjoyed a status of alliance and independence in their relations
with the Romans, but on their kings death (Prasutagus), the Romans
broke the agreements and annexed their territory, outraging the
population. Under these circumstances, the queen Boudicea, relying on
the assistance of other Celtic tribes dissatisfied with the Romans and the
new settlers attitude, rebelled against the conquerors, sacked some
important Romanised centres and got some other victories before being
defeated and taken captive. Boudicea can be considered the first
important Celtic hero, who courageously fought against the invaders for
the freedom of her people. The Romans continued their advance on the
island, Wales being occupied by Julius Frontinus (74-78 A.D.), and
attempts being made by Gracus Julius Agricola (78-84 A.D.) of
defeating the tribes of Caledonia (as they called Scotland). However,
the Romans could never conquer Scotland and, finally, a strong wall was
built along the northern border (Solway-Tyne isthmus) with the declared
intention of keeping out the raiders from the north. The wall was planned
by Emperor Hadrian and named after him (122-130 A. D.), constituting
the permanent frontier of Roman Britani. For many centuries, the wall
remained to symbolically mark the border between the two later
communities, England and Scotland. Thus, the area occupied by the
Romans was confined to modern England and Wales, the island being
divided in its turn into two contrasting regions: the Latinised South and
East, and the barbarian North and West. From the first years of Roman
occupation, the progress towards spreading Roman civilization on the
newly conquered territories was obvious: towns started to be founded,
the cult of the emperor was established, and the Roman way of life was
introduced, being appreciated by the inhabitants.
Britain became an imperial province, the emperor being represented by
the governor who exercised the supreme military authority and civil
jurisdiction. Later on, in the early 3rd century, Britain was divided into
two provinces: Britannia Superior, with its capital at London, and
Britannia Inferior having its capital at York. The reason was the
intention of reducing the governors power and his possible attempt to
rebel against Rome.

As regards society, new categories of people rose to power; social

advancement was secured by Roman citizenship which could be obtained
after 25 years of service in the auxiliary forces; the population got a
cosmopolitan character due to the large number of soldiers and traders
coming from other parts of the empire and being already Roman citizens.
It is estimated that, at its peak, the population of Roman Britain would
have been of about two million. The four centuries period of Roman
administration witnessed an impetuous economic development of
Britain; it was mostly determined by the presence and requirements of
the army, which highly stimulated production in many fields of human
activity. The basis of economy was and remained agriculture, and
according to Tacitus, grain to feed the troops was levied as a tax. During
the period, villa estates were established on large areas of rich soil
mainly provided by forest clearance which had resulted from the heavy
demand for building timber and fuel for the domestic heating of the
newly built towns. At the same time, the pastoralists in Wales and
northern regions had to supply the army the leather required in large
quantities for tents, shields or boots (a military tannery is known at
Catterick), as well as wool for clothing (Archaeological discoveries in
Cotswold indicate the place as one of the main cloth production centre).
Britain was also known for its subsoil resources (gold, silver, iron,
copper and especially lead), which determined not only the development
of mining (a Roman gold mine is known in Wales, lead fields in
Derbyshire or at Mendip, a.s.o.) but of other processing industries as well;
the pottery industry was also well organized and developed.
Trade also increased, especially as regards the import of luxury goods for
the new and prosperous categories of people. The goods ranged from
wine, to tableware and bronze articles, also including high-class pottery,
glass vessels and metal ware. The principal exports of Roman Britain
included tin, pearls, slaves and grains. A large market existed among the
military, while the Britons themselves provided a second one. All these
economic developments determined large profits that were made both by
continental and local businessmen and producers. One of the Romans
main achievements, already mentioned, refers to the urbanization of the
territory, as basis of Roman administration and civilization. Besides the
old Celtic settlements or market centres, most of the towns seem to have
developed from the old garrison forts. There were three different kinds of

towns: colonial, inhabited by Roman settlers, municipia, large cities with

a population to whom Roman citizenship had been given and civitas,
representing the old Celtic centres.
The administrative capitals were well designed with regular street grids,
a forum with basilica, temples, public baths, some of them being
provided with theatres and amphitheatres. In time, and especially towards
the end of the 3rd century almost every town had thick stonewalls to
protect the population during the crisis moments. The towns left by the
Romans (in a number of about twenty) varied in size, some of them with
a population of about 5,000, or even more. The fact that many of these
towns had been, at first, garrison-forts or army camps, called in Latin
castra is provided by the existence of this word as part of many town
names to this day, easily recognized in the English ending chester,
cester, caster. (e.g.: Winchester, Leicester, Chester, Gloucester,
Lancaster, Doncaster, etc).
A special attention has to be paid to the development of the place which
was to become London, the city that was to play so great a part first in
English and then in world history, and that attained its original
importance under the Roman rule (45, p. 31). Due to a geographic
coincidence which made a bridge and a port be in close proximity, the
place became the best landing-place for continental commerce, where six
roads met, and from where the locally produced grains were loaded to be
sent out of the Island, or where other goods arrived and were unloaded
for local use. It is estimated that, at the respective time, London had a
population of about 20,000 people, being, probably, the most important
trading centre of northern Europe; thus, it seems that for the Romans, London
was less an administrative centre than an economic one.
In the countryside, close to towns, prosperous owners could afford the
construction of villas; in the beginning, they were only of a provincial
type, few of them being provided with mosaics, but, later on, and,
especially in the 4th century, they grew to impressive sizes, being built of
stone in the Italian style. They belonged to the richer Britons, very much
Romanised in their manners. There was a clear difference between the
rich people of Roman Britain and those who worked on the land, or had
other activities: the latter continued to live in the same type of villages
formed of round huts in which they had been living in for centuries.

The roads, so well built that they survived to the Romans withdrawal
continuing to be used for centuries and becoming the main roads of
modern Britain, represented another important achievement of the Romans.
Britains romanisation also meant the introduction of Christianity in the
country; how and when it happened, it has been difficult to established,
but the frescoes at Lullingstone (Kent) and the mosaics at Hinton St.
Mary (Dorset) attest its acceptance among villa owners. It is certain that
in the last hundred years of Roman administration, Christianity had
become firmly established across Britain, both in Roman controlled areas
and beyond them [25, p. 13]. It is known that at the beginning of the
4th century there was a bishop in London, Restitutus, who participated in the
Council of Arelatum (Arles) together with other Britain bishops (314 A.D.).
As regards the cultural level of Britons during that period, the frescos and
mosaics discovered provide an evidence of the peoples classical
education, their knowledge of Roman mythology, and even of Aeneid.
In the beginning, the exquisite statues in marble or bronze which
decorated their villas were imported as luxury artefacts from the
workshops on the Continent, but, later on, indigenous sculptors learned
the art, and started to produce their own works.
Many people were bilingual; Romans had brought with them the written
communication in Latin, as the language of the elites of foreign
administrators, but which became, in time, the language of artisans and
common workers, as it is known from the graffiti on the tiles dug out and
interpreted by the modern archaeologists.
In the countryside, Celtic continued to be spoken, but not written.
Thus, Roman civilization took root in Britain, but it was more an urban
civilization similar to the situation in the whole empire, which had grown
out of a city-state. Beyond the city walls, Roman civilization petered
away by degrees, through regions of Romano-British villadom, into
regions of mere Celtic tribalism [45, p. 35].
Starting with the 3rd century the Roman Empire was faced with serious
economic, religious and military problems (the wealth of the provinces
had been exhausted, the conflict between Christianity and paganism

separated the emperor from his people, and Romes military power had
collapsed). It was only for a while that Diocletians reforms put an end to
the chaos, ushering in the late imperial period.
Being still far from barbarian invasions, Britain, in spite of some
rebellions, enjoyed Pax Romana for a longer period of time than the
continental provinces, and the 4th century was a period of prosperity in
towns and countryside alike, representing the climax of Roman culture
on the island. However, its weak point was the defensive system
controlled by distant rulers, and with the garrisons diminished because of
the withdrawal of troop called to defend Rome (Only the garrisons
defending the northern wall were kept for a longer time, as for example
Cohorts 7 Aelia Dacorum).
The main and permanent threat for the Roman Celt population was
represented by the plunder attacks coming from the Brigantes or the Picts
of Scotland, and the Celts of Ireland attracted by the wealth of the region;
besides, some other dissident tribes in the area had never been really
defeated by the Roman legions.
But, towards the end of the 3rd century a new danger appeared: the
invasion of the coasts from the barbarian German tribes coming from the
continent. The Roman fleet charged with the defence of the coast was not
very strong. Anyway, as the withdrawal of the troops called to defend the
empire continued, the security of the island weakened, with insufficient
forces left to provide protection against increasing both Pictish and
Saxon raids. Honorius, the legitimate emperor, asked by the Roman Celts
to offer them protection was unable to send assistance, but authorized the
cities to organize their own defence. This happened in 410 A.D. and the
moment marked the end of the Roman Britain. Gradually, the power fell
into the hands of the local tyrants. One of them was Vortigern
(c. 425 A. D.); unable to face the diverging interests of some local
parties, and, in an attempt to stop the Picts raids which, at the time, had
become troublesome, he seems to have made a gross mistake; he invited
the Saxons Hengest and Horsa to come with their men in order to settle
and garrison strategic areas along the east coast. The event and what
followed is largely described and explained by the Anglo-Saxon

Benedictine scholar Bede, three hundred years later, in his

Ecclesiastical History of the English people. After a short period of
peace, the number of the Saxons coming to Britain increased, and they
rose against those who had called them as friends, plundering, killing and
settling on the new territories (446-454 A. D.).
A long period of warfare and chaos started, meaning the disintegration of
the villa estates, the breakdown of markets and the trade decline, the
escape of slaves, and a general economic disaster in which, practically,
the Celto-Roman civilization disappeared for ever.
The formerly Romanised Celts courageously fought against the ever
more numerous German raiders and settlers, but, during the coming
years, they were slowly pushed westwards, finally into the mountains, in
the far west, where they started to be called Welsh by the Saxons,
meaning in German foreigner (Welshe), and their country became
Wallas or Wales.
Besides the Roman monuments, which certify the Roman presence on
the island, few Latin words were preserved in the peoples language to
speak about the period of the Celto-Roman culture: street from strata
via, recognized in Stratford, mile which is the Roman mila, wall
from vallum, and the ending chester/cester/ caster to be found in
some names.
However, an important inheritance coming from the Romans remained in
the peoples memory: it meant Christianity and the idea of state, of
institutions and of Pax Romana; the monks who got the refuge in
Wales or Ireland, saved the idea of Christianity and Roman culture and,
not accidentally, the chronicler Gildas (aprox. y. 540) quotes Vergil and
calls Latin, nostra lingua. All these elements paved the way for an
easy integration of Britannia into the civilization of the early Middle
Ages in Europe.
In his Histoire dAngleterre, Andr Maurois maintains that although
many of the Celts were killed or turned into slaves, others continued to
live in Britain and if the modern British is so deeply different from the

German, the situation is explained partly by the fact that the Norman
conquest was for him a second Latin conquest, and partly because the
blood of the German invaders was mixed, to a large extent, with the
blood of the races before them (23. p. 52-53).
2.4 Anglo-Saxon England. The Emergence of a New Culture

The settlement in Britain of the Germanic tribes coming from the North
of the continent can be considered a major event in the islands history.
This invasion was more important than the Roman interlude or even
the Norman conquest, as it had permanent results, larger than the other
two; it meant the displacement of the former population from the richest
agricultural areas, and the setting up of a new type of culture and
civilization in the respective region. The distinctive character of the
modern English is Nordic tempered by Welsh [45, p. 37] and not viceversa; even if in Scotland the Celtic element is stronger, the Germanic
language and character is prevailing even here.
According to historical sources, the first Germanic tribes settled in
Britain around the year 430 A.D., coming as mercenaries, and including
different tribal elements. The most important ones were the Angles,
Saxons and Jutes. (Recent archaeological discoveries also mention the
Franks and Frisians). They came from the coast of modern Denmark and
Germany, from both sides of the mouth of the Elbe, or from the lower
Rhine. The differences in the language and customs of these tribes were
really very slight, all of them being kindred. In Britain, the Jutes settled
mainly in Kent, along the south coast, and, or the Isle of Wight, the
Angles in the east and in north Midland, while the Saxons settled
between the Jutes and the Angles on a strip of land lying from the
Thames Estuary westward. This migration gave to the largest part of the
island, the name of its people, namely Engeland or England (the land of
the Angles).
The British Celts opposed to their invasion, which represented a slow
and painful process, until they were driven west to Cornwall, Devon and

The Jutes of Kent, popular in the older accounts are today reckoned disputable.

Welsh Marches. Their resistance was associated with legends and

traditions, and with the names of some famous heroes such as Ambrosius
Aurelianus or King Arthur.
The legend of King Arthur is worth mentioning as it represents an
evidence of the Britons resistance over the years. It consists of a group
of tales concerning the heroic deeds of king Arthur, his realm, and the
knights of his inner circle, being one of the most enduring stories in
recorded history.
Arthur is presented as a leader in ancient times who defeated the Saxons,
fighting also against many other enemies, and uniting the people of
Britain in peace and harmony.
Thus, he was seen as a war hero, fighting everywhere and winning great
victories. (It is certain that the Battle of Badon Hill set the Saxon
occupation back for many years, but it is not still proved whether Arthur
fought at it or not, although it is, generally, positively believed).
Eventually, Arthurs kingdom weakens from within partly because of
him and his queens mistakes and sins and Arthur himself died or was
mortally wounded. The end of the legend is magnificent: a boat carrying
a group of warriors among whom his sisters comes, Arthur is taken and

(Very briefly) The legend tells about Arthur as being the son of king Uther Pendragon and
of Ygraine. As a child, Arthur is taken by the wizard Merlin and raised to become a
squire; at Uthers death, Arthur becomes the king after passing the test of drawing a
magic sword, Excalibur, from a stone, at Merlins suggestion. Merlin becomes Arthurs
advisor, and the young king is always victorious in the fights against Britains enemies,
including the Saxons, Picts, Scots, and even the Romans, and overrunning Ireland and
Iceland. The sword Excalibur has an important part to play in these victories. Arthur
rules from his favourite and famous castle Camelot, where he marries a beautiful young
lady Guinevere; a period of peace follows, during which he founds a fellowship of
knights, as the society of the Round Table; unfortunately, one of his favourites, Lancelot,
falls in love with Queen Guinevere, their sinful love being one of the major causes of the
destruction of Arthurs Kingdom; but Arthur himself has his own flaws, in spite of his
valour and wisdom: he fathers a son, Mordred, with his half sister Morganse; some
versions present Mordred as Arthurs nephew. Arthur has not only foreign enemies, but
he has to restore justice in his kingdom as well, causing more animosities among his
barons. During one of his absences, being at war, Mordred attempts to seize his throne. A
battle for reclaiming his rights take place on Salisbury Plain, Arthur kills Mordred, but he
himself is deadly wounded by the young dying man. His body was buried or taken away
never to be seen again.

they sail away to the island of Avalon for his wounds to be healed; from
there he will return in the hour of Britains greatest need. Thus, Arthurs
fate remains uncertain; although some stories say that he died and was
buried somewhere, most of them preserve the idea of Arthurs
immortality. Thus, besides being the story of a leader, either imaginary
or not and wanted by his people in need, the legend is the tale of fight
and passion, of victory and defeat, and of ceaseless hope.

UTHER

KING ARTHUR

There are in these tales some aspects, which are worth being
commented; one of them is the fellowship of knights, known as The
Round Table which included 150 knights. The shape of the table serving as
the groups meeting place, has
represented the idea of equality in
status of those sitting around it. The
story says about the knights, coming
from every land, who arrived at
Camelot to seek fame as members of
the Round Table fellowship; they
were accepted only after the
favorable appreciations of their deeds
The Round Table
at war, which they had to present in
front of the other knights. The
principle of The Round Table has lived over the centuries and
continues to be, even today, a phrase used by the people everywhere
when equality in status of the persons present at a meeting is credited.

Another interesting aspect is the quest for the Holy Grail in which
Arthurs knights are involved.

THE HOLY GRAIL

ARTHUR RECEIVING EXCALIBUR

(The Holy Grail is understood to have been the chalice Jesus Christ
drank from at the Last Supper). Adventures and quests are known as
important elements of chivalry, but Arthurs knights embarkment on the
greatest of all quests could be considered as one more evidence of the
greatness and absolutely special character assigned to these heroes.
Eventually, Galahad, Lancelots son, finds the Holy Grail, as a person
entirely free of sin and weakness, and, consequently, the one qualified to
complete the quest.

GALAHAD

CAMELOT

In spite of the old and contemporary assiduous research, there is no real

evidence that a historical king Arthur really existed. But, between the 6th
and the 12th centuries, an abundance of documents were produced that

mentioned Arthur, or alluded to events that were, later, associated with

him. Thus, gradually, a legend shaped around the idea of a great king
fighting against the Britons enemies. Among these texts are included:
the poem Y Gododdin, by the Welsh bard Aneirin (6th century), Historia
Britonum by the Welsh historian Nennius (mid 9th century), Mabinogion,
a collection of Welsh tales (11th century) and the most important of them,
Historia Regum Britanniae, by the Welsh writer Geoffrey of Monmouth
(1136) a combination of history, legend and imagination. From the 12th
century on, up to our present days, king Arthurs unique and fascinating
image inspired the artists worldwide, as a symbol of human mind high
aspirations and lofty ideals.
In 1155, Wace, an Anglo-Norman chronicler translated Geoffreys work
into French as the Roman de Brut (Story of Brutus), mentioning The
Round Table for the first time. Some years later, Chrtien de Troyes, a
French writer, created a new fictional form known as Arthurian
Romance, which became the main subject of inspiration for, practically,
all Arthurian texts composed in every European language. It also
inspired a cycle of five romances including the love between Lancelot
and Guinevere, and the quest for the Grail known as the Vulgate
Cycle, and which became the core of a massive 13th century work,
running to thousands of pages. Thus, Arthur crossed the border of
Britain, becoming a hero of continental Europe. The Vulgate Cycle was
translated and adapted even more widely than Chrtiens romances; it
inspired Sir Thomas Mallory who, in the 15th century (1459-1470) used
it as a major source for Le morte dArthur (The Death of Arthur);
Malorys work, whose tales begin before Arthurs conception, extending
past his departure to Avalon, traces - in fact the full rise and fall of the
Arthurian world, as well as of the ideals of medieval chivalry. For the
following about two hundred years (16th-18th century), the popularity of
the Arthurian legends diminished, but, in the 19th century the poet
Alfred Lord Tennyson reintroduced them in the literary world. From that
moment on an explosion of artistic works of Arthurian inspiration burst
forth, and it has continued to contemporary times.
Lord Tennyson wrote a series of poems called Idylls of the King
(1859-1885) using the past as a model opposed to the ugliness of his

Wolfram von Eschenbach, Germany wrote the epic poem Parzival (1210).

present world, but, however, without idealizing the Arthurian age; there
is even some pessimism in Tennysons poems, the poet emphasizing the
transient character of glory and suggesting that sin carried about the ruin
of the Arthurian world.
Mallorys and Tennysons works fired the imagination of hundreds of
poets, dramatists and novelists; many of them saw Arthurs legends as
depicting a heroic and glorious past, when courage and lofty ideals
flourished and prevailed, while a few others, among whom the American
writer Mark Twain, used the legends as an opportunity for humor and
satire. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court (1889) offers
Mark Twain the chance to introduce the medieval customs against the
modern ones. None of the two societies is spared; while Arthur is seen as
a goodhearted man, but simple and rather buffoonish, and Merlin is
shown as a foolish fraud, the contemporary world is not embellished, but
on the contrary; with his specific insight Mark Twain suggests that
modern technology has not made people better or more civilized, they
are only more efficient.
The 20th century was equally rich in literary productions having Arthur as
their protagonist. Out of the long list some examples can be selected, as
representing the most popular names of writers: T. H. White wrote four
novels: The Sword in the Stone (1938), The Witch in the Wood
(1939), The III-Made Knight (1940) and The Candle in the Wind
(1958) with a fifth The Book of Merlin (1977), published after his
death.
Mary Stewart wrote several Arthurian novels forming a trilogy:
The Crystal Cave (1970, The Hollow Hills (1973) and The Last
Enchantment (1979).
The American writer Marion Zimmer Bradley in her The Mists of
Avalon (1982) tackled the traditional subject from a different
perspective: that of the female characters, Guinevere, Morgan le Fay, the
lady Viviane and others, who are seen as stronger and more independent
than the writers predecessors had considered them in the earlier
accounts.

The Arthurian legends are a source of inspiration not only for the literary
world but for other arts as well.
Thus, the medieval artists illustrated the legends through drawings,
sculptures and mural paintings. In the 19th century, with the rebirth of the
interest in the legends, the group of artists known as Pre-Raphaelites,
organized by the English poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and
joined by other artists such as Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones or
William Morris, used Arthurian themes in their paintings, murals,
tapestries, stained glass and other media.
Music has known interpretations of the Arthurian legends since the old
times of medieval troubadours.
Among the best known musical works is the composition of
Henry Purcell written to accompany a text of the English poet
John Dryden: King Arthur or The British Worthy (1691).
Since the 19th century, the composers have created lots of instrumental
pieces, ballets, oratories and about 50 operas inspired by these legends.
Thus, Richard Wagner composed two famous operas Tristan and
Isolde (1865) and Parsifal (1882) whose characters originate in the
Arthurian story.
In the 20th century, Arthurs legend represented a source of inspiration
for the seventh art. The filmmakers and directors were attracted by the
stories in different ways; in 1904 the American director Edwin Porter
produced Parsifal, while A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthurs
Court has been repeatedly filmed along the century.
In Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) the adventures are treated
comically, the story being a mixture of idealism and absurdity.
Excalibur (1981) directed by John Brosman is a serious picture,
telling the whole story of Arthur, from his birth to the final grievous
wound.
There are also animated pictures, such as The Sword in the Stone
(1963), or musicals as Camelot (1967).

A recent picture is The Fisher King (1991), where the Arthurian motifs
are recast in a modern form: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
(1989) introduced the Grail as a reason for adventures. The French
director, Robert Bresson, produced Lancelot of the Lake (1974), an
outstanding film, telling the story of Lancelots adventures, while in
Germany, Eric Rohmec produced a no less outstanding picture Percival
the Welshman (1978) in which he used Chrtien de Troyes medieval
Grail story as a source of inspiration. Very recently, in 1995, the story
inspired a new wonderful romantic drama The Knights of the Round
Table, directed by Jerry Zucker, with Sean Connery as Arthur and
Richard Gere, interpreting the role of Lancelot.
Thus, for about out thousand and five hundred years, by using some
legends, the art, in all its forms, contributed to the creation of a king and
a kingdom with the whole suite of knights, with castles and fortresses,
with heroic deeds and endless fights.
The ideals of these heroes, their strength and weakness are the ideals
,strength and weakness of our contemporaries, because they represent
perennial ideals of the human civilization, and permanent traits of the
human beings character.
Englands emergence. Coming back to the moment of the islands
invasion, the historians agree that the German raiders were mostly a
collection of various tribes and non-tribal bodies, and not at all a
coherent people. As mentioned above, they settled separately, in
convenient farming regions. It also seems pretty certain that the
Germanic invaders did not mix significantly with the Celts, whom in two
generations of conflict, they pushed back into the western and northern
uplands [12; p. 2] and with them, their type of culture.
It is hard to find something of Celtic language or culture left in England,
except for the names of some rivers the Thames, the Mersey, the
Severn, the Avon and of two large cities: London and Leeds.
Besides, the institutions of the Romanized Britons had been disintegrated
with the Roman withdrawal, and, in time, a new type of society emerged
to represent the newly settled population.

Thus, by the end of the 6th century, the settlers had started to regard
themselves as belonging to the nation of the English, though divided
into a number of small kingdoms, some of which are still existing,
nowadays, in county or regional names: Kent, Essex (East Saxons),
Sussex (South Saxons), Wessex (West Saxons), Middlessex (Middle
Saxons), East Anglia (East Angles).
The boundaries of these kingdoms were still fluid, the relations were
governed by rivalry for the farm land and, to a great extent, by the
ambitions of their chiefs or princes, who were generally called kings,
but, in many cases, they were commanders of war-bands.
However, a certain sense of unity started to become manifest, and the
kingdoms south of the Humber would acknowledge the overlordship of a
single ruler (known, as bretwalda) for a longer period of time. These
units of so-called heptarchy seem to have constituted a reality, in spite
of the existing rivalry and dispute among them, and of their constant
appearance and disappearance.
Among the first kingdoms to grow in importance was Kent, its early
supremacy being due to the initial cultural superiority of the invaders (the
Frankish tribes), to their contacts with Europe, and to the capacity of one
of its kings, Aethelberht (Ethelbert).
Kent was the first English kingdom converted to Christianity. However,
after a period of time, it declined, partly because of its comparatively
reduced area, and its failure to secure control over other territories.
By the middle of the 7th century other three kingdoms Northumbria,
Mercia and Wessex became, in turn, the most powerful ones.
The first to get supremacy, at the respective moment, was Northumbria;
it had a period of greatness, which coincided with the influence of the
advanced culture introduced by the Celtic Church (Christian), but which
was mostly due to the warlike character of the people. However, it
declined after a while, as a result of the ambitions attempts of its rulers to

Aethelberht set down in writing a code of laws reflecting some Christian influences, but
the system was still old, brought over from the continent.

extend simultaneously northwards, to Scotland, and southwards, to

Mercia; the internal feuds had also an important negative impact, besides
the imperfect union of Bernicia and Deira, two kingdoms dominated by
Aethelfrith. The most remarkable personalities who contributed to the
growth of this kingdom were Edwin (616-632), Oswald (633-641) and
Oswin (654-657).
The reasons that determined Mercias rise are considered obscure, but it
knew a period of great age. Its greatness might be due, on the one
hand, to the fact that the kingdom had a large and prosperous population,
well settled in the rich Midland plains, and, on the other hand, to the fact
that this population had got an extensive war experience during the
battles against the Welsh. Unfortunately, the absence of good natural
boundaries laid its territory open to the combined attacks coming from all
sides, the fact representing a real weakness for the kingdom, and, finally,
causing its failure towards the beginning of the 9th century. The most
important chieftains or leaders recorded by history were Penda
(beginning of the 7th century), Aethebald (716-757), king not only of the
Mercians but also of all provinces of the south English, who
succeeded in maintaining good order in the kingdom, and especially Offa
(757-796). Offa was the most remarkable king of his time claiming the
kinship of the English, although he did not have authority on the whole
territory beyond the Humber. Not easily, he succeeded in attaining a
powerful position that made Charles the Great (Charlemagne) treat with
him on equal terms, as if he had been the only ruler of England. (A
marriage was arranged between Charless daughter and Offas son).
During his time, there was an important trade developed across the
Channel and a reform of coinage took place for which Offa took his own
responsibility.
The kings name and effigy appeared on coins and they were of an
excellent quality in design and workmanship. It is considered that these
coins had an important propaganda value, showing the importance of the
Mercian king not only to the English subjects but also to the people on
the Continent (53, p. 28).

A golden coin of King Offa shows a direct copy of an Arab dinar (774 A.D.); it is mostly
in Arabic, but the inscription OFFA REX can be read on one side. It tells us that the

Offa was able to draw on immense resources, which made him able to
employ large numbers of people for building an earthen wall along the
Welsh border in an attempt to keep out the Celtic raiders. Due to the
greatness of conception and the skill of its construction the huge dyke
may be considered a memorial to Offa.
He gave a code of laws, but, unfortunately, it was lost; as a consequence,
not much is known about his internal governing, but the chronicler of the
time (Alcuin) spoke highly of it.
After Offas death, in spite of his successors attempts to restore the
subjects personal feelings of loyalty to the leader, the power of Mercia
did no longer entirely survive.
The next powerful kingdom became Wessex. It
was provided with good frontiers, a considerable
area of fertile land and it started to establish
important contacts with the Frankish Empire of
Charlemagne. A name, important to be
mentioned for the respective period, was Egbert
(802-839). He conquered Cornwall, and, for a
short time, ruled over Mercia, Kent, and all
regions south of the Humber, getting from the
EGBERT
chronicler Bede the recognition of a bretwalda.
He, as well as his son, Aethelwulf, who succeeded to the throne after his
death, tried to draw away from ancient rivalries, and look for friendly
relations with the neighbouring kingdoms in face of a new serious
menace: the Danish Vikings.
The Anglo-Saxon Institutions. The institutions created by the AngloSaxons were so solidly conceived, that they succeeded in making the
state strong for the next 500 years, lying the foundation of an

Anglo-Saxons of Britain were well aware of a more advanced economic system in the
distant Arab empire, and also that even as far away as Britain and northern Europe, Arabtype gold coins were more trusted than any others. It shows how great were the distances
covered by international trade at that time (25; p. 12).

administrative organization which can be discovered in the British

administrative system even in our days.
In the Anglo-Saxon society the king was the political authority and he
represented the corner-stone of the state, having some special rights in
the newly established English kingdoms. Among others, they could ask
compensations for offences (committed against those under his
protection, in his presence or in his home), rights to hospitality (later on
developed into a food rent charged on all land), the right to grant land to
his followers (since the latter part of the 7th century that was done by
issuing a charter), the right to different services rendered to him. In case
of important matters the king had normally to consult the Witan,
(in full, Witengemot the council of wise men) acting as a sort of king
council and consisting of seniors warriors and churchmen. In its turn,
the Witan was responsible for the kings election and advised the king
on difficult matters of government. In time, (the 10th century) the Witan
became a formal body, who was entitled to issue laws and charters. Of
course, this council had nothing to do with what we could consider to be
o form of democratic institution, and the king, once elected, could decide
to ignore its advice; however, such an attitude might be dangerous,
because without the Witans support, the kings authority was
jeopardized. Anyway, the system of governing established by the Witan
remained over the years an important aspect of the kings method of
ruling the state affairs. Thus, even today, the British kings and queens
have the Privy Council, a group of advisers on the matters of the state,
influential enough, and whose origin can be found in the old Witan.
As regards the legal system, the Anglo-Saxons peace and order was
guarded by very precise and strict codes of laws, specifying the names,
circumstances and penalties for any crime, from the petty ones
trespassing, poaching, fighting to the severe cases, such as thieving or
killing. On the other hand, the maintenance of laws issued and of order
was in the hands of the people themselves, and the way in which it

At the moment of the invasion, the chieftains were not mentioned by the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle, as kings, but the title was to be used soon. With Christianity the sacral
character of kingship increased, and changed in meaning.

The candidates for kingship had to be members of the royal family, but the Witans role
was to select from within the most suitable successors, who could be another person than
the previous kings son.

worked proves the genius for cooperation the Saxons possessed, in spite
of the lack of real organization in this respect. When something
considered an offense or crime was committed, all freemen were called
out to pursue and catch the offender or the criminal who was brought to
trial in front of the popular assembly. Of course, nothing of the court
procedures today bears any resemble with the trials in those remote
times. (Perhaps, something similar can be seen in the Western films
today). For minor offences or injuries, the Saxon law stipulated
the wergild, a sort of fine or compensation paid to the injured party.
Witchcraft, arson, treachery and, of course, crime were beyond any
compensation, and the punishment was hanging. During the trial, the
accused had to get through different stages which consisted, firstly, in
swearing an oath assisted by other oath-helpers; in case of failure, the
trial by ordeal followed, which could be an ordeal by fire or by water,
according to the crime; the idea was, that heaven might intervene and
pass a correct judgement by healing, in a very short time, the wounds got
by the accused in order to prove his innocence.
There were local differences regarding the way in which law was put into
operation, and, in time, the system developed to meet the changing
circumstances. Thus, as kingdoms grew larger, there were created royal
representatives to administer local justice, and, generally, a certain part
of an area. In the beginning, these representatives were the ealdermen,
who attended and supervised the local courts, being simple local
officials. The aldermen (elected officers in local governments)
existing in the present day local politics can find their roots traced back,
in those remote times. But, during a long and slow process, the handling
of regional affairs passed from the freemen to the king, enabling the
establishment of a firm feudal superstructure on society.
All main activities sharing of land, of a firm feudal administration of
justice, tax payment, the peoples joining the army - took place at the
manor (large house) existing in every district and representing the
beginning of the manorial system in England.

There were meetings of groups of a hundred families the hundred; above it was the
shire-moot and the folk-moot.

Later on, they were also called with the Danish name earl, representing today high
ranking nobles.

The administrative organization. Towards the end of the 10th century,

the land was divided into new administrative areas, the shires
(counties). Over each shire a shire-reeve was appointed, who was the
kings local administrator; he usually was an important figure,
personifying the royal authority to both lords and peasants in each shire.
(The origin of the present-day sheriff can be found in the word shirereeve as a shortened form of the old name). It is interesting to point out
that the shires, (the Norman name for shire was county, both of them
being still in use) as administrative units, remained almost unchanged for a
thousand years. The administrative reorganization, which took place in
Great Britain in 1974, did not change the situation too much in
comparison with the old one.
However, at that time, the old existing popular assemblies continued to
be the general rule, but they were under the control of the king.
A good example is offered by London, towards the end of the
Anglo-Saxon period: there was a complex, local government
permanently active, but public authority remained the rule, with the folk
moot as its highest form. In theory, at least, every citizen of the town
attended it, when they met three times a year, in the open air, on the
highest ground beside St. Pauls Cathedral.
The social system and labour organization. Aelthelberhts code settled
a social system, which, although under Christians influence, was an old
one, brought from the continent; the kingship was still considered the
strongest bond, the protection of the individual coming from his kindred.
The social differences between classes were established according to
their wergild. It represented the amount which could be accepted by
the kindred in case a man was killed in order to give up vengeance for his
death.
The classes included the freemen (ceorls) who were independent
peasants owing some land, the freedman (Kent) or members of a
subject population (Wessex) whose wergild was lower, and
the nobles, either by birth or by service as kings companions, and
whose wergild was three to six times higher than that of a freeman. There
were also slaves, possessed either by nobles or freemen, and who were
regarded as chattels without any wergild.

The Anglo-Saxons were mainly farmers, and the technology they had
brought with them from the continent determined changes in the old
Celtic land ownership and organization. Their type of plough was a
heavy one, suited for ploughing the land in long straight lines, as it was
hard to be turned; besides, six to eight oxen were necessary to pull it. As
a consequence, a village land was divided into several large plots of land
(fields), divided again into long thin strips, each family possessing a
number of them in each field. The teams of oxen were shared on a
cooperative basis. Their plough was also suited to heavier soils,
especially the unfarmed ones, which they got by cutting down many
forested areas in the valleys. The Anglo-Saxons developed a new specific
agricultural pattern, with alternating crops on different fields, and a
common land for animals to feed on. This system became the common
one in England, being preserved almost unchanged, and representing the
basis of English agriculture for about one thousand years. Anyway, the
11th century witnessed the peak of agricultural development of the
region, and almost all villages which can be identified on the 18th century
maps, already existed by that time.
The Anglo-Saxons conversion to Christianity; the role of the
church. At the moment of the islands invasion by the German heathen
tribes, the Celtic inhabitants were already practising a species of the
Christian religion; when and how Christianity first reached Britain is
hard to know. The Christianizing mission carried out by St. Patrick in
Ireland had been a success, but the Irish missionaries were less
successful in converting the barbarians on the main island. That was,
partly, because of the resolute refusal of the old inhabitants and the new
comers to mix together, but, to a large extent, because of the heathenism
vitality with the Anglo-Saxons. (Place-names containing the names of
heathen gods, and other elements can prove it).
As a consequence, the invaders conversion to Christianity was a slow
process, which developed by stages, and later than it took place on the
continent. The first important moments of this process was the
foundation of a missionary monastery on Iona, (563 A. D.) off the west
coast of Scotland, by the Irishman Columba, and the successful mission,

Theodoric the Ostrogoth (474-526) was a Christian when he arrived in Italy, and Clovis
the Frank (464-511) tuned Christian when he established the rule over Gaul.

in Kent, of St. Augustin the Apostle of the English (597 A. D.), sent
there by Pope Gregory I; Kent was the first kingdom to accept
Christianity. Augustine became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in
601. But, although he had brought the rulers to the new faith, the
progress with the ordinary people was rather slow. Meanwhile, the
Christian monks from the Celtic territories left their places (Ireland,
Scotland, Wales) and walking from village to village, taught Christianity
to the people. Thus, Northumbria became the first real Christian
kingdom, and, during Bishop Wilfrids time, the tendency was towards
the Christianity derived from the Celtic monasteries. For a rather short
period of time, there were two Christian churches active in the region,
and very different in character: the Celtic Christian Church, impressive
by its ascetism, fervour and simplicity, interested to reach the hearts of
the ordinary people, and the Roman Christian Church, more interested in
authority and organization. Although, in the beginning, there was some
cooperation between the two
churches, in time, differences
in their usages determined
the appearance of some
frictions;
finally,
the
controversy in the calculation
of the date of Easter was
settled in favour of the
Roman party (the Synod of
Whitby, 664) and, with it, the pressure from the Celtic Church was put an
end. The Anglo-Saxon church turned to Rome, which, gradually,
extended its authority over all Christians, even in the Celtic parts of the
island. Theodore of Tarsus was the first Roman archbishop
acknowledged all over England. He arrived in 669, and although at the
age of sixty-seven, he was extremely active in establishing a proper
diocesan system; thanks to him the English Church and clergy
remained in close contact with the centres of Western Christianity, while
the Celtic fringe and Ireland retreated into a form of stagnant isolation
[12; p. 16].
The role of the church in the growth of the English state and nation was
important. The Christian church was consolidated and developed due to
the Saxon kings, but, in its turn, it supported and increased the power of
kings. At a time when the king was elected from among any members of

a royal family, to have the church on his side, was very important for a
king, consolidating his position. An example is offered by Offa who
arranged his sons coronation as a Christian ceremony led by a bishop;
thus, the king was chosen by his people, but with the Gods approval.
Another way by which the church increased the power of the kings and
of the state was by establishing monasteries (minsters), as places of
learning and education, which enlarged the intellectual horizon of the new
converts.
The men studying there and getting the skills of reading and writing,
largely contributed to the growth of royal and church authority.
Thus, king Alfred (871-899) used the scholars of the Church to help him
establish a system of law, educate people, and write the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle; together with Bedes Ecclesiastical History of
the English People, they represent the most important sources for
understanding the period; even more than that, Englands scholars played
the role of civilizing other places: Alcuin (755-804) contributed to the
raise of Charlemagnes court and his Vulgate Bible became the standard
text in the Middle Ages. During that period England had become a
source of intellectual inspiration for the continental monarchies. On the
other hand, the Church contributed to the economic growth of the state:
the newly set up monasteries determined the development of towns and
villages which grew around them, and increased local trade; large
numbers of monks, emissaries, or even aspiring kings were invited to or
from England, the contacts with the continent being encouraged, and
with them trade between Europe and the island.
Thus, the decision to turn to Rome for Christianity offered England the
possibility of ready-made contacts beyond the limits of the island, as well
as the remarkable opportunity to grow, to become well known, and to
develop intellectually.

Anglo-Saxon England was well known in Europe as an exporter of metal goods, pottery,
woolen goods, cheese and hunting dogs; in its turn, England imported wine, fish, pepper,
jewellery and wheel-made pottery.

Unfortunately, the Church failed in unifying the island politically, and

the 9th century still found England separated in several kingdoms,
coexisting, sometimes at peace but, fighting, other times, for ascendancy.
Anglo-Saxon life-style: architecture, art and literature. The life style
in Anglo-Saxon England was a simple one, but, needless to say, with
differences existing between the rich and the poor.
As Anglo-Saxon were mostly peasants, most of the people were country
dwellers living in settlements that could be called villages; they were
inhabited by groups of families, and the places were named after the
family. The word ham (home) represented a smaller settlement while
ton (town) designated a larger one. The present day place names
ending in these words, as well as those containing ending as wick,
ley, den, hurst, fold, field are considered to indicate initial
Anglo-Saxon settlements: Durham, Burmley, Gatwick, Tannton,
Bradford, Sheffield a. s. o.).
As regards the domestic structures, most of them were built in wood,
rarely had more than one floor and one room. Even the halls of the rich
ones were simple, maybe a bit larger, with a central fire and a hole in the
roof to let the smoke out. There was no privacy secured in these houses,
the room being shared by the whole family and even by the animals,
separated with only a low wall. Most of the dwellings were square or
rectangular in shape, although some round houses have been found.
They used different roofing materials, thatch being the most common,
besides turf and wooden shingles, sometimes. Unfortunately, the number
of surviving Anglo-Saxon buildings is limited, on the one hand, because
of the perishable building materials used and, on the other, because of the
period, beset by frequent warfare and violent invasions particularly by
the Vikings which meant the destruction of the settlements.
The buildings, sometimes, better preserved are the churches and
monasteries built in stone, and which can be seen today in the southeast,
around the county of Kent, and in Northumbria (St. Peter and St. Paul,
Canterbury 600 A.D.; St. Peter-on-the-Wall, Bradwell 660 A.D.; the

Paddington is supposed to have been the dwelling place of the Paddings.

Celtic churches at Escoumb, County Durham 690 A.D.; Monkwearmouth

and Jarrow 675 A.D.).
Saxon churches were generally small in scale, doors and windows
openings were simple, very often only narrow slits, with few decorative
elements; however, a lot of energy was put into tower building which
began as a defensive structure, and which represented the earliest
surviving parts of the English churches.
Towards the end of the 10th century and the beginning of the 11th, kings
as Alfred the Great or his son Edward the Elder, aware of the growing
threat coming from the Danes, encouraged the building of fortified towns
(burhs) which could offer protection to the population.
They were primarily located along the coast and the border of Alfreds
land. In time, the burhs became centres of commerce and local
government. They were remarkable as regards the project of
urbanization, providing a regular grid pattern of streets.
In the beginning, the former Roman sites were re-used for this purpose,
as they were placed on the old Roman network of roads, and
communication was important in the new project. Besides, the Roman
towns already had a basic fortification and with the growth of
Christianity under Romes influence, the town areas were preferred for
their better organization. However, Saxon burhs were also set up on
entirely new sites (Wallingford, Wareham, Wilton, Lewes, Lyng,
Lydford, among others.).
Unfortunately, little survived to be seen in the modern towns of what the
Anglo-Saxon burhs were ten centuries ago!
At Winchester, Cricklade, Chichester or Wallingford, the modern streets
pattern still follow the Saxon plan, and remnants of the defensive ditch
and bank can be seen at Wallingford or Wareham, at Maaldon or
Cricklade.
As regards the domestic life, furnishing was as simple as possible; they
had wooden tables and benches used for both sitting and sleeping.
However, the table glass was beautifully decorated and they also had

hand made pottery, wooden plates and horns for drinking. Food in
villages was probably unsophisticated, with the same menu of poorly
cooked cereals. It seems that in the larger market towns, and especially in
London, there were many cook shops and inns for the itinerant
population, with a better fare to offer.
Clothing was not sophisticated in Anglo-Saxon world: a woolen shirt and
trousers for men, with thick stockings, and the same woolen long and
loose tunic for women, worn over linen undergarments; for work, they
wore skin or leather clothes, and in cold seasons, fur coats, caps and gloves.
The Anglo-Saxons were very fond of ornaments such as bracelets,
brooches, rings and necklaces of bronze, gold or amber, which were
equally worn by men an women; their made was of an exquisite beauty,
showing an astonishing craftsmanship in comparison with the simplicity
of other achievements.
The pieces of jewellery can be considered real works of art of the
respective period.
In spite of the relative simplicity of the material life, Anglo-Saxon
England knew a remarkable spiritual development within a century of
Augustines landing; its high standards derived from a combination of
influences coming, on the one hand, from Ireland, and on the other, from
the Mediterranean regions, due to Archbishop Theodore and his
companion, abbot Adrian.
A famous school was established at Canterbury, training people like
Aldhelm, known for his works in Latin verse and prose. The finest
centre of scholarship was Northumbria, (the monasteries at Warmouth
and Iarrow) where Celtic and classical influences met, and which was
famous for its fine libraries. The most important name of the period
worth to be mentioned is that of Bede (672-735), a great historian, and
theologian, whose work never lost its value.

Examples of such jewellery can be admired in the Guildhall or London Museums, the
largest collection being exhibited in the British Museum.

Other centres of scholarship were at Lindisfarne, Whitby and Ripon,

places where many learned men produced different literary and religious
works.
Art flourished, the churches being the depositors of precious objects,
either brought from abroad, or natively manufactured.
The greatest old English epic poem Beowulf (the manuscript contains
some 3,200 lines), is considered to have been produced during this
period; it is, perhaps, the oldest considerable poem in any modern
language, a colourful and detailed source out of which a lot can be
learned about the way people used to live and think at that time.

2.5 The Scandinavian Invasions; The Anglo-Saxon Civilization

at Stake

In spite of the relative statal organization already existing, the 9th century
found the island without a strong English kingdom, with no well-defined
English identity, and with no real English people, but with some hopes
for a certain stabilization of peoples life and institutions. That was the
moment when a new wave of Germanic invaders struck the island,
convinced that the disunited Anglo-Saxon kingdoms could not keep them
out. They were the Vikings, coming from Norway and Denmark,
tempted not only by the wealth accumulated in monasteries, but also
attracted by the Anglo-Saxon farmland, and being decided to settle there.
Thus, the reasons that could explain the outpouring of this population
include their lack of land, overpopulation of their native places, and
political grievances. Even from the end of the 8th century, the first Viking
raids began to trouble the life on the eastern coast of the island (the
monastery of Lindisfarne was plundered in 793).
The first raiders were the Norwegians who also attacked Ireland
(795-799), followed by the Danes whose raids began in the 9th century
with the attack on Dorestad, 834.

A great example is Lindisfarne Gospel showing obvious classical influences.

The term Viking meant in the period a pirate, a robber who came by sea.

After these events, the raids became about annual, and the raiders even
started to overwinter in England. It was obvious that the quarrelling
Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were not able to keep them out. The first raids
were for the plunder of the treasures hoarded in the Christian holy places
and for which the Vikings had no respect, being pagan. Undefended,
spread on lonely islands or near the coast, the monasteries were an easy
prey for the early raiders; unable to put up a successful resistance, the
Christians offered the alternative of paying tribute, with which they
would divert, for a time, the invaders attention elsewhere.
However, not all the raids were for plunder; some
of these raiders wanted a patch of land to settle.
Thus, in 850 the first Danish army overwintered
in England, and, some years later, (865) the
Vikings started a determined conquest of the
island. They were not always victorious, but,
anyway, they succeeded in absorbing Mercia
taking possessions of East Anglia, and in
KING ALFRED
capturing York, Wessex. There were many battles
in Wessex, and finally, in 878, the Vikings attempt to conquer it failed;
the Saxons victory was due to King Alfred, to his tenacity, his courage
and wisdom. King Alfred came to terms with the Danish king, Guthrum
who accepted Christianity, and settled with his forces in East Anglia.
King Alfreds victory was important as it prevented the Vikings from
becoming masters of the whole England. Alfred reorganized his army,
built fortresses and ships, and, being a diplomat as well, made the Welsh
kings his friends and allies. In 886 he captured London, and prepared for
the further reconquest of the territories. At that moment, he was strong
enough to make a treaty with the Danes, practically dividing England
into two areas: an English territory south and west and a Danish one,
north and east, known as Danelaw.
The situation, at that moment, was greatly different from the one existing
in the old Anglo-Saxon days; the Danish invaders, who had come as
pirates and plunderers had left much destruction, wiping out the monastic
and royal civilization, especially in the northern region, where the
condition of backwardness and wilderness noticeably contrasted with the

great days of Oswy and the Venerable Bede (12; p. 18). Under the
circumstances, King Alfreds role and achievements were of an
outstanding significance. It is considered that during his reign,
King Alfred, called the Great, (849-899, c. 871) succeeded in three main
directions: first of all, he proved to be a real leader, reorganizing his
army, and becoming victorious at a moment when his kingdom, and with
it the Anglo-Saxon civilization, was at stake. Secondly, he had an
efficient government, he reorganized finances and services, and gave a
code of laws which he carefully supervised; he knew how to attract and
use the great men of his kingdom in the government activities, consulting
them during the meetings of his council (Witenagemot), Thirdly, a
scholar himself, he worked to restore and revive the old spiritual life in
his kingdom, as it had been set up by Bede two centuries ago. He himself
translated some books from Latin into Anglo-Saxon, (in an attempt to
bring his people back to European civilization) as Boethius
De Consolatione Philosophiae and the works of Bede, Orosius,
Gregory and Augustine; he also introduced some educational reforms,
whose effects were beneficial over generations. More or less totally
successful in his multiple attempts, King Alfred represented a model for
the future kings of England: determined, highly competent, unshaken by
adversity and passionately devoted to learning (12, p. 25). The later
developments in England were made possible due to his special
personality and exceptional example.
The real achievement of political unity, and the setting up of the
Kingdom of England was the work of his successors, Edward
(c. 899-924) and Athelstan (c. 924-939).
As regards the Danes, they had ceased their raids and settled, accepting
Christianity; some prosperity was restored in East Anglia and York, the
Danes becoming a component part of the English people. The Danish
invasion meant cruel destruction and the return to a dark age of brutality
which jeopardized, for a time, the level of culture and civilization
reached by the Anglo-Saxons. However, it had as a lasting effect the

A highly admired King, he is the only one in 1000 years of British monarchic history to
be called the Great. All we know about him comes from Asser, his contemporary
biographer, and from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, written under his guidance.

By the end of the 9th century no centre of culture represented by Christian churches or
monasteries situated in the central part of England, and, especially in the north, remained
standing. At the same time, the simultaneous attacks coming from the Norseman in

political consolidation of England as a well-defined state, besides the

ethnical complications determined by the settlement of a new population.
After a first victory over the Danes in 910, and the
completion of a plan regarding the building of a
ring of fortresses around Wessex, Edward began,
in 912, a series of campaigns for regaining the old
Saxon territories from the Danes, which he
succeeded. His sister, Aethelflaed, and after his
death, his son, Aethelstan continued to advance in
the Danish territories. Gradually, Aethelstan took
possession of many parts of Danelaw, becoming
the first king ruling over the whole England; he
AETHELSTAN
also received the submission of the kings of
Wales, Scotland and Northumbria. Proud of his position, Aethelstan
called himself king of all Britain on the coins he minted, and, in his
charters, he would express the same message. There were many specific
aspects in the different regions of the newly established state that were
determined by ethnic differences and cultural peculiarities. The kings
who came to reign after Aethelstane did not interfere with these aspects
too much, and they did not try to eradicate the local peculiarities. The
only requirements referred to the existence of only one coinage for all the
kings dominion, to the uniformity in administrative division of the
country (shires / hundred), and to the way in which legal matters were
settled. The period is also remarkable for the monastic revival, which
brought about not only the foundation of new religious places, but a
revival of vernacular and Latin texts writing, manuscript production, and
of other forms of art.
The Danish Revival. The period of the Wessex kings did not last too
long. Towards the end of the 10th century (980) the Vikings who had
settled in Ireland started raiding again westward, and those raids steadily
increased in intensity, being led by formidable leaders. (Olaf
Tryggvason, later king of Norway, Sweyn, king of Denmark, or Thorkell
the Tall). The Saxon king, Ethelred (beginning of the 11th century) tried

Ireland, Isle of Man, or western Scotland prevented the possibility of regeneration from
the old Celtic church.
There was an ordinance in the mid 10th century requiring the courts in each hundred to
meet every four weeks; later on, the shire courts had to meet twice a year and the borough
courts, three times.

to make the Viking stay away, by paying them a tribute; he did it by

setting a taxation on all his people, (Dane geld or Danish money)
whose effects were heavily felt especially by the villagers. After a
difficult period of continuous warfare, renewed invasions from the
Vikings, and Anglo-Saxon resistance, Canute or Cnut (Sweyns son),
who already had the control over most of England, became the king of
the Anglo-Danish state; the fact happened simply, because the Witan,
fearing disorder, preferred a Danish king at the moment of their kings
death (Edmond, 1016). Canutes reign was not recorded as a tyrannical
one, but on the contrary: he rewarded his followers with English land,
but the English element was the strong one in his entourage. In spite of
the wars carried abroad, there was peace at home, and he became a stout
supporter of the church. Canute even went to a pilgrimage to Rome
(1027), and he used the event for getting some advantage for the English
pilgrims and traders there. His laws were based on the old Anglo-Saxon
ones, and the countrys government remained, generally, the same.
After Canutes death, his sons Harold and Hardecanute, who succeeded
to the Crown, and who were known for their rather unpopular reigns,
died without leaving a precise successor.
However, Hardecanute had made an agreement with Magnes, Norways
king, according to which, in case of their death without a direct
successor, the survivor was entitled to both kingdoms. But when
Hardecanute died in 1042, leaving no son, the Witan elected Edward,
Ethelreds son as the king of England. Magnes, too busy with some
troubles with Denmark, did not claim his right to Englands throne; this
will be done by Harold Hardraada, only in 1066.
Edwards reign, the prelude to the Norman conquest. Edward, known
under the name of the Confessor because of his chastity and religious
spirit, had been raised in Normandy, where he had spent almost all his
life, his mother being a daughter of the duke of Normandy. His reign had
some positive and negative aspects, with important consequences for
Englands future. The period of Edwards reign can be considered a
peaceful one, the king usually maintaining friendly relations with his
neighbours. Under such conditions trade was prosperous, and the normal
course of administration was kept in the usual patterns with an efficient
minting, a traditional taxation system, and courts of justice. There was a

strong support for church building in

Edwards time, a church being recorded in
almost every village; the king initiated the
building of an imposing church at
Westminster (outside the City of London)
to fit him, but, as architecture, it was more
a Norman building than a Saxon one.
Scholarship grew, a great number of
EDWARD CONFESSOR
manuscripts being produced at that time,
while art and English illumination were admired abroad.
But, in spite of all these positive achievements, England continued to be
a Saxon state bearing many characteristics of the old Germanic kingship.
The earls were as powerful as the king himself, and there were some
internal frictions causing a negative impact on the course of the events.
Thus, on the one hand, there were some powerful noble Saxon families
who were in a state of rivalry with one another and, on the other hand,
Edward tried to avoid them to become too strong, by introducing in the
country and supporting some Norman friends whom he trusted. It seems
that, being childless, Edward, eventually, designated William, duke of
Normandy, as his heir. The fact deeply disappointed the Saxon barons,
who considered that one of them would have been the natural choice. In
their turn, the Danes had claims to Englands throne. Thus, the
succession issue was a serious one, and by 1060s, Edward the Confessor
was faced with claims to the throne, coming from three directions: the
first were the Saxons, who claimed it by right of tradition and nationality;
their candidate was Harold Godwinson, the most powerful lord in
England, and the leader of anti-Norman party. The second were the
Normans, who claimed the throne by right of bequest, in the person of
William, duke of Normandy; the third, who had a legal claim, were the
Danes whose candidate was Harold Hardraada, a famous warrior, related
to king Canute. Having in view the age, it was clear that the future
successor and the fate of England, as well as the fate of the other
candidates was to be decided on the battlefield! Aware of the danger and
in an attempt to avoid confrontations, Edward ordered Harold
Godwinson to pay a visit to William and, personally, to confirm the

Dukes right to succession; Harold accepted and did it, maybe against
his will, and probably with a hidden intention to recant the promise. It is
sure that Harold was decided to become the king of England, as the next
day of Edwards death (January 5th, 1066), he crowned king, in London.
He produced a document, genuine or a forgery, claiming that on his
deathbed Edward had designated him as his successor. William
protested, but it was clear that Englands crown could not be obtained but
by war. At once, William started his preparations for Englands conquest.
But, he was not the only one to prepare for war. Harold Hardraada was
also preparing, and in September the same year, he landed with a large
army on the Humber River. Harold Godwinson, now king of England,
marched to meet the invaders; two decisive battles took place, one at
Stamford Bridge, and, another, the following day, at Fulford. The
Vikings were definitely defeated, Hardraada himself being killed in the
battle. That was the last major Viking invasion of England.
Meanwhile, William had prepared the attack, but landing was not
possible because of contrary winds, making him and his army wait for
weeks. Finally, on September 27, the wind turned, and William sailed;
the next day he landed near the town of Hastings, where he took the
control of the area and built some defensive work. King Harold was
faced with his old enemy, and his army had to give the final battle. It
took place at Hastings on October 14th, 1066.

There is an interesting story about the way in which the things happened; it reveals the
character and the personality of the two heroes, telling us a lot about the mentality and
attitude of the people at that time. Going to Normandy, Harold had some bad luck; while
crossing the Channel he was caught by a storm and cast ashore at Ponthieu, where he was
captured by the local lord, Count Guy. He asked a ransom for Harold, but William, Guys
lord, din not allow it. More than that, he sent a guard to escort Harold at Caen. Harolds
arrival, as a prisoner, should have been a sad and inappropriate one for a powerful lord!
Under the circumstances, he was obliged to swear an oath of fealty to William, even
promising William to advocate his cause in England. The story goes further, telling that
Harold had to swear his oaths placing his hand on a table; when the table covering was
whipped off it was proved that he had sworn on some sacred relics placed under it. That
was a serious oath, and William had used the trick, suspecting Harold of duplicity in his
attitude.

2.6 The Norman Conquest and its Effects

Who were the Normans? Who were these new, and, in fact, last invaders
of Britain? The Normans were coming from Normandy, a region lying on
the northern coast of France, originally a part of Charlemagnes empire, a
wealthy and well-developed area, with lots of small towns and rich
monasteries. Beginning with the 9th century it had become the Vikings
favourite target, with permanent plunders and important losses. At a
given moment, (911 A. D.) a Norwegian called Rolf offered to defend
the coast against other Vikings, and to convert to Christianity in turn for
a title and his peoples settlement in the region. His offer was accepted
by the king of west Franks, and Rolf became Duke of Normandy; from
that moment on, his people were referred to as the North men (Norsmen),
and their land was called Normandy; in time, the Vikings who settled
there were called Normans. By the middle of the 10th century, the settlers
had adopted the Christian religion, the language of the Frenchmen and
Latin culture. Normandy became ever stronger, gathered territories,
being in the 10th-11th century one of the powerful duchies in France. With
William, Normandy started to develop as a feudal state. At that time, the
duke was at the top, with barons under him; under each baron were the
knights, while the peasants, in fact serfs bound to the soil and to their
lords as owners of the soil, were under all. William succeeded to hold the
barons under a much closer control, as well as the Church. An instinct for
political unity and administrative consolidation had started to develop.
Towards the middle of the 11th century, when Edward became the king of
England (1042), the relations between Normandy and England were very
close, and the Normans were Edwards best friends. Thus, the Normans
attention was directed toward England, as an easy territory to be
conquered. As Trevelyan says [45, p. 99] Edwards role in English
history was to prepare the way for the Norman conquest, both by the
little that he did and by the much that he left undone.

The majority population in Normandy was represented by French peasants, whose main
occupation was the tillage of the soil; the Vikings, as a coming minority included
fishermen and merchants people with an ancestral love for roving and adventure. In spite
of this spirit and mind, they adopted the feudal culture of the French.

The battle at Hastings was hardly fought; it lasted the entire day, with
neither side able to get the better of the other in the beginning. Toward
evening Harold was killed by an arrow, but, at that moment, the
superiority of Norman discipline had already become obvious. The fight
continued at moonlight, with the Normans pursuing the Saxons in all
directions. The next day there was no resistance against the invaders.
The battle of Hastings was remarkably told in the Bayeux Tapestry.
On Christmas Day, 1066, William of Normandy was crowned king
of England.
In the long period of history up to the Norman Conquest, Britains
territory had been crossed by waves of newcomers. Each of them had left
their cultural imprint on the peoples life, influencing the general
development of the area. Thus, the Celts brought the (gold) smiths skill,
and the tradition of Celtic Christianity with its learning and monastic
discipline. The Roman brought the imperial administration, the roads and
the advances in rural and urban civilization. The Anglo-Saxon factor was
overwhelming, contributing to the coagulation of English identity with
the language testifying it. Even the Vikings invasion had their
consequences, strengthening the Germanic element of the English
people, developing the local trade institution, making the people better
organize for facing their attacks and getting more experienced in the
act of war.
As regards the Norman Conquest, the historians agree that it was an
accident, but one with drastic consequences for the further course, not
only of that areas history, but of Europe in general.
These consequences were immediate, changing the life of the people
contemporary to the event, but, also having effects obvious in the long
run. One of the most dramatic consequences was the abrupt and total
transfer of power from the Saxon aristocracy to the Norman lords. (By

There are interesting debates regarding the impact of the conquest on the further
development of England, dividing the historians into two groups: F. W. Maitland,
H. G. Richardson, G. O. Sayles, Lewis Warren and others underline the continuity of the
Saxon element, considering the Conquest a minor event, while J. H. Round, R. Allen
Brown or Sir Frank Stanton a. s. o. demonstrate the overwhelming changes determined
by the Conquest. The truth is hard to be so definitely on one side or another [12, p. 31].

1086, 80% of the fiefs were in Norman hands, belonging to the king, his
lords and the Church which was Norman as well). It was a period of
important changes; one of them had in view some military innovations,
which meant the building of stone castles, all of them given to Norman
lords and meant to protect them against possible rebellions (By 1100,
84 castles had been built, changing the general aspect of the landscape).
The church was a different one as well, William bringing with him the
Norman church, its Romanesque architecture and a reforming spirit.
Besides, the church was based now on the town cathedrals, and less on
the old monasteries. These new cathedrals were built everywhere on the
British Isles, being, together with castle, visible even today, some of
them preserved in a perfect state. Profound changes took place in
politics. Thus, the Saxon freeholders (people who held title to their own
land) were put an end to, the formula nullus terre sans seigneur
meaning no land without a lord and showing that the land was granted
by the king in exchange for services. Heavy demands were imposed on
vassals, requiring the service of a large number of knights. William
introduced the Kings Council whose task was to give advice to the
king and take part in the judgment of the nobles accused of serious
matters. A consequence, which deserves a special attention, is the
making of the English language. After Hastings, Anglo-Saxon ceased to
be used officially, being replaced by French as the language of the court,
government and nobility, and by Latin, spoken by the clergy; AngloSaxon was considered a peasants jargon, the talk of ignorant serfs and it
almost ceased to be a written language. Under these circumstances, for
about three hundred years, English was used as a
dialect, being spoken by common folk and without the
control of the learned people. It underwent important
changes in grammar, losing its clumsy inflexions and
elaborate genders, and acquired the grace, suppleness
and adaptability which are among its chief merits
[45, p. 117]. At the same time, the language
vocabulary was enriched with many French words
related to politics, war, justice, religion, hunting,
cooking and art. In the 15th century it emerged renewed and enriched as the language of the learned
society. But, for a long period, the language had been
ROBIN HOOD
a barrier between the rich Norman lords and the poor

Saxon peasants. This period and its antagonism reflecting the above
consequences of Norman Conquest are well depicted in Robin Hoods
legends, with all the anachronisms specific to any legend. Later on,
Walter Scott used the same period as a source of inspiration for his
historical novels.
In short, all these changes meant a new social and economic order, which
announced the introduction of a new system, feudalism.
However, in spite of these changes, there were some institutions which
remained Anglo-Saxon: the local government, the shires and their reeves,
the Shire court, the Danegeld, the national militia. Thus, at the local
level, among the peasantry who represented the bulk of the population,
the Anglo-Saxon tradition survived as a parallel life, and maintained, for
a long time, the division between the conquerors and the conquered.
As regards the relation with the neighbouring countries, the changes were
also obvious. Until the Norman Conquest the relations and interests of
the Saxon society were turned towards the Scandinavians. With the
Norman Conquest that direction was put a definite end, being replaced
with the relations with Normandy, and generally, with the continent. It is
true that, in this way, England joined the Continent culture and
civilization of the Middle Ages, but, for about 200 years, as long as the
kings were men whose chief interests lay outside England, the country
remained, somehow, a marginal territory, an outlying part of a
continental empire. Thus, the existing complex situation determined a
certain slowness in the self-awareness of the people of England as the
English people.

2.7 The Middle Ages on the British Isles;

the Birth of a People, of a State and of a Culture

2.7.1 England after the Conquest. The Early Middle Ages:

the Dawn of Feudalism.

William did not succeed in his undertaking of conquering England at one

stroke. The victory at Hastings had brought him the crown, but not his
recognition as king on the whole territory of the country. For many years
he was faced with rebellions coming from the Saxon English resistance,
and, in truth, Norman authority was established only through force.
Unfortunately for the conquered, these rebellions offered William the
possibility to do away with his opponents; many of the Saxon best
leaders died or were exiled, and their wealth was confiscated, and given
to Norman nobles.
Thus, by 1086, twenty years after the Conquest, over 4,000 Saxon
landlords had been replaced by 200 Norman barons, England being
politically and economically subordinated to the Norman aristocracy.
William began to organize the country according to the feudal system
brought from Normandy. Most historians consider that the Conquest
meant the introduction of feudalism in England, although, to a certain
extent, it had started to develop there even before the Normans arrival.
In the early Middle Ages, the basis of feudal society was represented by
land holding. In fact, the king was the sole owner of the land and he gave
it to his vassals to hold, in return for services, goods or for their
promise to be on his side at war. The nobles with a higher statute would
give part of their land to the nobles of a lower rank, knights or other
freemen. Land was also distributed as rewards to the followers, who, in

Walter Scotts novel Ivanhoe is centred on these conflicts.

The word feudalism comes from the French word feu used by the Normans with
reference to the land in possession in return for duty or service to a lord.

their turn, rewarded their retainers. A hierarchy of land possession was,

thus, created. The men to whom the king directly granted land were the
tenants in chief and they owed homage and fealty to the king; the
same homage had to be promised to the chief tenants, when, in their turn,
they distributed land to the others who had followed them, and so on.
Thus, according to the principle that every man had a lord, and every
lord had land, and to the fact that the homage had to be promised in
order to be granted land, the king became connected through this
chain of people to the lowest man in the country [25, p. 24]. In this
way, the system worked relying on two principles:
(1) the principle of feudal tenure deciding on the granting of land in
return for goods, services or military obligations, and operating from the
top to the bottom of society; it provided an economic and political
system of grants and obligations which created clear social and economic
relations, and which determined political stability.
(2) the manor, as the basic economic unit of feudalism representing the
surface of land worked by peasant farmers who also cultivated their own
plots of land rented from the lord in return for both their labour on the
latters land and other services/goods/money payment. It continued to
exist until late in the 18th century.
Being the only owner of land and wealth William decided , in 1086, on a
very ambitions undertaking: a general inventory of his new realm, as he
wanted to precisely know what land each man owned, how much it was
worth and produced, and what legal obligations exactly derived from this
wealth. Teams of people were sent all through the country in order to
visit every fief and village and record everything (land, animals, farm
tool, etc.) in detail.
Such a survey was unique in the Europe of that time, and it was not at all
popular with the people, reminding them of the Day of Judgement
painted on the walls of churches. Hence, this collection of records was
called The Doomsday Book. It still exists, representing an extremely

Homage was the promise of loyalty as service of a man to his lord; while the lord was
sitting on his chair, the vassal was kneeling before him, with his hands placed between
those of his lord. (The practice remained part of the coronation ceremony of British
kings/queens till now).

valuable source of information for historians; it helps them understand

the social and economic structure of 11th century England, as well as
Williams political attitude. It proves the great authority that William
enjoyed as well as his keen mind and powerful will.
Williams authority and his unique decisions are also notable, in what is
known as the Salisbury Oath. In 1086, after the suppression of a
serious rebellion, William ordered all his vassals to come to Salisbury
plain, and forced them to swear service directly to him, defying, in this
way, the usual chain mentioned above. William proved, once again, to
be a clear-minded and pragmatic king, making remarkable and
authoritative decisions, chiefly because he was the king of a conquered
people, a conqueror who wanted to keep his fame untouched.
In order to maintain his military strength, William decided the building
of castles which had been, practically, unknown in the Anglo-Saxon
period; however, that was possible only with his permission. These
castles represented centres of military defense, and provided the further
bases for administrative organization. In the beginning he did not change
too much of the Anglo-Saxon administration; as regards the royal
household, it was only by the end of his reigns that the important
administrative officials had become Norman, with corresponding
Norman titles (steward, buttler, chamberlain, constable, marchal,
chancellor etc.). The local government preserved the old Anglo-Saxon
institutions, the shire and hundred courts continuing to exist as units
of justice and administration; of course, some changes took place, as, for
example, the replacement of the native sheriffs with Norman nobles,
similar to vicompte in Normandy. They had the entire control over the
territory, and were responsible for collecting royal revenues. As regards
the kings court, the Anglo-Saxon Witan was changed into the kings
curia regis, consisting of the royal tenants in chief, (lay and
ecclesiastical) and whose meetings took place three times a year
(Christians, Easter, Whitsuntide).
William did much in order to strengthen the administration of justice in
England, and even introduced the jurors; they were summoned to give a
collective verdict under oath. He also developed the financial system
which he had inherited, getting profits from different taxes, ample royal
estates, royal mints and towns. The church-state relations were excellent

during Williams reign, the upper ranks of the clergy being Normanized
and feudalized; the king had the right to invest the ecclesiasts with the
symbol of their spiritual office, and he also granted them the land, and, in
this way, the church was under the kings control; at the same time,
Popes supremacy on many matters was denied.
It is clear that William, Duke of Normandy and King of England was a
courageous political innovator and a gifted administrator of the
conquered land, although, he was presented in some chronicles as a
ruthless tyrant. Besides, he had the merit of linking England to France
and the continent, both economically and culturally, thus, making the
country a real and important European territory.

2.7.2 England after William

The kings who followed William the Conqueror after his death were his
sons, William II Rufus (1087-1100) and, then, Henry I (1100-1135).
While William II was an unworthy king, greedy, ambitious and totally
unpopular, his brother, Henry I, was his contrary: effective, energetic,
educated and tactful. Becoming king, Henry I issued a Charter by which
he gave up many oppressive practices of the past. One of his important
priorities was the conquest of Normandy, which he succeeded, taking it
form his brother Robert. Anyway, that meant frequent absences from the
country; however, he managed to develop a system that operated
effectively, even under these circumstances. His government was
efficient, although it was rather harsh and demanding.
Henry Is most important desire was to pass on both Normandy and
England to his successor. In absence of a son, his daughter Matilda was
to become queen. That did not happen, as, at Henry Is death, one of his
nephews, Stephen of Blois, (1135-1154) took the crown, and opened a
period of civil wars and anarchy in the country. Stephens government
lost control on many parts of England, the kings power being
fragmented and decentralized. The disorder was much spread, with many

Matilda was married to Geoffrey Plantagenet, heir to Anjou, a large and important area
southwest of Normandy.

castles built without royal permission, and with many lords wishing to
control and profit from the government weakness. The experience of that
period was shocking for the people of England, as they had been used to
the rule of law and order. When Stephen died, the legal successor
became Henry II Plantagenet (1159-1189), Matildas son; he is
considered the greatest of the three Angevin kings of England. Known
for his restless energy and decisive action, Henry II was determined to
re-establish the centralized power of his grandfather, Henry I. Similar to
his predecessors, he was involved in continental affairs, but he also paid
attention to the situation at home, especially in the second part of his
reign; he improved the judicial administration, introducing new forms of
legal action, many cases being under his personal control. Important
changes were introduced in the military system; Henry II preferred the
use of mercenaries instead of feudal contingents, replacing military
service with scutage (money payment in lieu of it); at the same time,
he encouraged the revival of the principle of Anglo-Saxon fyrd,
supporting the local militia which could be useful for peacekeeping and,
as a military force, in case of invasions or rebellions.
But, Henry II is recorded by history mostly for his quarrel with Thomas
Becket, and the latters subsequent murder. A former lay lord and
knight, Becket was the kings close friend, whom Henry II made
Archbishop of Canterbury (1162), assuming that Becket would support
him in his policy towards the church. It did not happen like that, and
Becket became a militant defender of the church against the royal
authority; he even became a champion of Popes ideology, claiming
ecclesiastical supremacy over the lay world. After a couple of years of
disputes and reconciliations, Becket was murdered in Canterbury
Cathedral (December 29, 1170) by four knights, incited by the kings
fateful words. Over night, the martyred Thomas Becket became a saint in
the peoples eyes. Henry did penance at Canterbury, being scourged by
the monks, and Thomas was canonized. Annual pilgrimage to Thomas

Henry II, son of Geoffrey of Anjou, became king as the result of Stephens recognition as
his heir. He inherited a vast territory holding England and Normandy (as heir to his
mother and Stephen), Anjou (hence Angevin), Maine and Touraine (as heir to his father),
Brittany (as heir to his brother, Geoffrey) and Acquitaine (as husband of Eleanor). His
holdings in France were larger than those of the French king.

Thomas Beckets life and death represented the source of inspiration for a wonderful film
with Richard Burton as Becket, and Peter OToole as Henry II.

tomb turned into a typical English custom; it was used as framework by

Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400) for his masterpiece The Canterbury
Tales. The establishment of the Oxford University is also connected to
this unhappy event: the Pope did not longer accept the English students
at the Sorbonne University, in Paris, while, Henry II banned the students
attendance at the University; consequently, a separate English seat of
learning was set up at Oxford.
The next Angevin king was Henrys son, Richard, called the Lion-Harted
(1189-1199). A brave, good soldier, Richard was famous especially for
his participation in the Crusade to recover Jerusalem from the Muslims,
and for his struggle against Philip Augustus, in order to maintain his
holdings in France. It is interesting to note that he has always been
considered one of the most popular kings of England, in spite of the fact
that out of the ten years of reign, he spent only six months in the country.
But, maybe, his popularity is due to his image of perfect feudal king, a
skilled warrior, fighting with courage and honour. As he needed money
for his wars, his reign was also notable for some important innovations in
taxation (scutage, tax on plow lands, etc.).
Richard died in France, after he had lost some French lands, and leaving
as successor his brother John, to reign over a land weakened by too many
demands.
King John (1199-1216) was an unpopular king, and a real failure in all
his undertakings, his reign ending in disaster. He lost his wars in France
and with them the French possessions, including Normandy (1204). By
1206, only the Channel Island was left of the inheritance from the
Norman kings.
Besides, he was considered a greedy person, a trait of character which
determined deep dissatisfaction with his barons. The heavy taxations,
which the king had imposed on them, were mainly required because he
needed funds to support new wars, by which he hoped to recapture
Normandy.
When in 1215, king John called his lords to fight for him, many joined to
protest against his abuse and disregard of law and customs. Thus, at
Runnymede, a few miles up the river Thames, the king was forced to

sign an agreement known as Magna Carta (the Great Charter), an

important document, a real symbol of political freedom. This document
is, nowadays, considered a sort of forerunner of the Declaration of
Independence and of the Rights of Man and of the citizen, as it
provided protection for all the freemen against the abuse of the kings
officers, and their right to a fair and legal trial. The text spoke about the
rights of Englishmen at large, their right to justice, to security of person
and property, to good government. A memorable article of the Charter
includes the followings: No freeman shall be seized or imprisoned, or
dispossessed, or outlawed, or in any way brought to ruin: we will not go
against any man nor send against him, save by legal judgement of his
peers or by the law of the land. Another article says: To no man will
we sell, or deny, or delay, right or justice. Note that these words were
committed to paper in the year 1215. By this document the barons tried
to ensure that the king was beneath rather than above the law [53, p. 35].
The document continued to remain valid during Johns successors, and
for the next three hundred years every king had to recognize and to
comply with Magna Carta, till the end of the Middle Ages, when a new
type of monarchy came into being. Thus, the document became a part of
the permanent law of the land, a foundation charter of liberties and
rights, available to an ever-larger part of the people. It lies at the base of
the British judicial system.
Magna Carta is important because it meant the beginning of the collapse
of the feudal system in England. As David McDowall says [25; p. 28].
The feudal society was based on links between lord and vassal, while, in
this case, the nobles were not acting as vassals but as a class; they even
established a committee of lords to make sure that John would keep his
promises, an attitude which was not feudal at all. The document put
an end to the despotism of the Anglo-Norman kings, introduced the new
principle of co-operation, as well as new relations between the king and
nobility, with a far-reaching perspective for other layers of society.
Therefor, the early stage of the Middle Ages was characterized by a
system of royal government mainly connected with continental affairs
and the possession outside the island, while the affairs of the people of
England were guided from above. With the lost of possessions in
Normandy and France, the king and nobility turned their interest to
England and the developments within the country; Magna Carta was a

document emerging from the feudal lords desire to stop the kings
power in England and the possibility of his going beyond his rights.
Thus, it proved the barons growing interest for what was going on in
England, and the strengthening of their position and possessions there.

2.7.3 Life in Norman England

In the years that followed the Conquest, there was much fear and hatred
between Saxons and Normans. It is said that if a dead body was found,
the Saxon had to prove that it was not of a murdered Normans, because
eitherwise the nearest village would have been burnt [25, p. 37]. The
period is well depicted in Walter Scotts novel Ivanhoe.
It took a long time to the conquerors to consider themselves English,
and that happened only after king John had lost the French territories,
including Normandy. Besides, there was a clear-cut social distinction
between the Normans and Saxons, the former representing the oppressive
nobility, while the latter, the repressed peasantry. That was perfectly
mirrored by the legendary figure of Robin Hood and his merry men.
According to the story, Robin lived in Sherwood Forest near Nottingham
as an outlaw, stealing from the rich, to give to the poor, and protecting
the latter against the powerful ones; his weapon was the longbow,
specific to the common man. The legend was very popular over the
centuries, and Robin Hood was much loved by the common people.
Anyway, in many respects, the living conditions in the early Middle
Ages knew some improvements in comparison with the prior period. As
regards dwellings, and, here, we have in view the way in which the
aristocracy used to live, the improvements were considerable, as the
century after the Norman Conquest meant a real outburst of building
activity, especially of castles and baronial halls. They were large, with
many rooms, and built of stone; there was more privacy provided, in
comparison with the Anglo-Saxon houses, as there were some smaller
rooms for use as bedchambers, besides the large hall for use by the whole
family during the day. As these castles were mainly built in the interest
of defence, there was not too much home conform considered, and with
unglazed windows, they should have been draughty and cold enough.

Later on, with the nobility building manor houses, more consideration
started to be given to comfort. But, as there were no glazed windows,
wooden shutters were used to close the windows, a fact which made the
houses very dark, especially in cold weather. As regards the houses of
the common people, they were smaller and generally built of wood and
with thatched roofs; there was some stone building, but rather limited;
anyway, at least a stone wall between the houses (party-wall) was a
requirement, against the danger of fire. These houses had no more than
two rooms, being cold and rather unhealthy.
Furniture was better and more diversified; besides tables and chairs
there were richly ornamented beds, as well as other objects like chests
and coffers, also finely decorated. Of course, there were tapestries and
fabric wall hangings, and rugs on the floor. These objects could be found
only in the rich houses.
Food did not differ too much in variety, cooking and consumption being
much the same in comparison with the Anglo-Saxon period. It consisted
of meat, as an important part of the diet, including beef, poultry,
sometimes game, and much fish; it was seldom eaten fresh, because it
was difficult to preserve it in good conditions, and, in most cases, it was
salted or smoked. The people ate the common vegetables, and the strongflavoured ones (onion, garlic, leek, etc.) seemed to have been preferred.
Perhaps, the wealthy ones could afford some spices which were imported
from the Orient. Fruits eaten were the home-grown ones, but some
varieties, such as quince or mulberry, less common nowadays, were
included on the list. Dairy produce was important as part of the diet,
cheese and butter made on the farm supplementing milk. Bread did not
exist in the form which we know it today; at that time, it was made from
rye, with no yeats added, and, in many cases, it was used as a plate for
the rest of the food, being eaten in the end. Bread was less home made, a
fact which is known from the abundant references to professional bakers,
maybe, because of the lack of ovens in the small houses. As regards
drinks, ale was mostly drunk, but also cider and perry. Although there
was some wine imported from France, it was less drunk, even in the
wealthy families.
Cooking represented, in general, a difficulty because of the oven which
was necessary. For the rich ones there was no problem, because they

were endowed with all the required facilities for cooking. On the other
hand, for the common people living in towns there was one more
possibility: the the take away cookshops and ale shops, most of them in
London, providing 24 hours service to their clients.
Their way of dressing differed with the social classes; for the lower ones
the changes were limited throughout the years, the people continuing to
wear the same simple tunic. But, with a gradual increase of property
some categories of people could afford luxury in their clothes: robes of
Flander cloth or furs from Scandinavia.
As regards the nobles, their clothes were more complicated and we can
try to imagine them: a long sleeveless tunic of linen or wool, worn over a
sleeved linen under-tunic; on their top they wore a cloak, fastened at the
shoulder by a knot decorated with a ring brooch; the ladies wore a longsleeved under-tunic, with a full-length tunic over it, wide-flowing from
the hip. The cloak was semi-circular and tied at the front by a cord. They
also wore a jewelled belt encircling their body twice. Their hair was
long, and the head was covered with a veil, held by a metal circle. The
men were, generally, clean-shaven and their hair was short. As the period
was one of permanent wars, there were important improvements in
weapons and armour which had to give an over-all protection to the
warriors. In battle, the knight wore a conical iron helmet, a long leather
or metal coat of mail, and his metal shield was shaped like a kite, being
devised for horseback fighting. The infantrymen wore a similar but
simpler armours, while the bowmen needed no armour, wearing only a
thick cloth tunic fastened with a belt. In time, the knights armour,
especially if they were wealthy enough, took a more glamorous
appearance, and that became obvious on the occasion of tournaments; the
banners, other devices, and the silk coats worn over the armour
introduced the first team colours.
Tournaments were important activities in the Middle Ages,
characterizing, in a way, the respective period. In the beginning,
tournaments were some free fights without fixed rules, arising, probably,
from the nobles boredom in time of peace, but, having also the value of
keeping them well trained for the circumstances of a war. But, in time,
more training-grounds were laid out, and rules were laid down, the joust
becoming a source of revenue for the knights. They were allowed to

participate in the tournament only after having sworn a vow that the life
of the opponent would be spared in case of victory; it was clear that the
object of the tournament was not the death of any knight, although
accidents would happen.
Finally, tournaments were considered legal activities (1154, Richard I)
but, only when the king licensed them; a fee had to be paid for the
participation, and the number of jousting grounds was limited to five. It
is clear that the tournaments had been turned into an affair, but they
were, not less, an important and colourful event in the life of the society.

2.7.4 Englands Later Development. The Community of the Realm.

The Emergence of New Institutions. The New Industry
and Economic Growth, Cultural Life and Territorial Expansion

The decline of feudalism and the establishment of new institution came

as a direct outcome of Magna Carta.
The setting up of Parliament. After king Johns death, who had rather
unwillingly signed Magna Carta, his successor, Henry III (1216-1272)
continued to be tied to by the document as long as he was too young to
rule for himself. Later on, surrounded by foreign advisers, involved in
expensive wars outside England, and imposing heavy taxation, Henry III
upset everybody and, once again, the nobles took a decided action
against the king. Under the leadership of Simon de Montfort they elected
a council of nobles called Parliament which took control of the
treasury and obliged Henry to act according to their desire (1265).
Although the king finally succeeded to defeat and kill Montfort (1295),
the Parliament had been set up and Henry had to consider it as a body
able to make written laws and political decisions. However, at that time,
it consisted of only nobles; it was during Edward I s (Henrys sons
reign 1272-1307) that a real Parliament came into being, with the setting
up of what was to become the House of Commons (1275). It was

He became king at the age of nine, and for the next sixteen years, he was under the control
of the powerful nobles.

Parliament, from the French word parlement meaning a discussion meeting.

created because of the need for money and taxation requirements which
was both a permanent demand and a problem caused by the continuous
wars within and outside the realm. As by 1272, the royal income got
from the land represented less than 40% of the necessity, the rest of the
money could not come, but from taxation; according to the rules of
feudalism taxes could be raised only with the consent of the donors.
Therefore, Edward I created the institution able to provide him the
money needed, by fostering the concept of the community of the realm.
He developed the practice of calling to Parliament the representative
knights and other wealthy freemen of the shires, the burgesses as well as
merchants from the towns (two representatives for each shire/town) to
give consent to taxation and to enhance communication between the king
and his subjects. Representatives of the lower clergy were also
summoned. In this way, these commoners became the representatives
of their local community. It seem that this, rather than Magna Carta,
was the beginning of the idea that there should be no taxation without
representation, later claimed by the American colonists of the 18th
century [25; p. 31].
Law and justice; common Law. After the Norman Conquest justice had
ceased to be a family matter, and the nobles were those who had to
administer it among the people on their lands, very often mixing the old
Saxon laws with the Norman ones. With Henry I the situation changed;
he wanted that a similar kind of justice be used everywhere in his realm,
and, consequently, appointed his judges, whose duty was to travel from
place to place, and administer justice. Thus, the kings decision meant
and it really was the administration of justice take over from the nobles,
and its transfer to the kings supervision. Who were these new judges?
Many of them were nobles or bishops with no special knowledge or
training in the legal matters, but trusted to use common sense, and, in
many cases, directly, following the kings orders.

There is much debate among the historians about Edwards Parliament. Besides the
interpretation of Parliament development as a practical solution for the financial and
political problems, there are points of view considering either the dispensation of justice
as central element, or the complex character of a growing institution as being of an
increasing importance; there are some historians who see Edward as responding to the
dictates of Roman law [53; p. 37].

These circuit judges still exist today.

It is clear that, under these circumstances, the quality of judgement

depended on the kings choice. Anyway, in time, the persons acting as
judges became men with real knowledge and experience of the juridical
matters. As the law which these travelling judges administered was
similar everywhere they went, it became known under the name of
common law. The system, a mixture of experience and custom,
continues to exist even today representing the basis of law in England; in
this way, England was and continues to be unlike the rest of Europe in
legal matters, the English lawyers creating an entirely different juridical
system based on custom, comparisons, previous cases and decisions. By
the 13th century the old Anglo-Saxon trial by ordeal had been replaces
with the trial by jury, which was meant to provide evidence in defense of
the accused. In the beginning, it was not the type of jury known today;
slowly, over centuries, the obligation of the jury changed; from giving
evidence, it became a body entitled to judge the evidence provided by
others. As the members of the jury were common people with no special
training using in their decisions common sense, the necessity appeared
for some guidance in the legal matters. The result was the emergence of
law schools, which produced the lawyers necessary for advising the jury
on the law-hidden points.
In the 13th century, law development represented a permanent concern
and a treatise On the Laws and Customs of England was issued,
followed by the First Statute of Westminster (1275). In the next years
other statutes were issued as a kind of supplement to Common Law.
The growth of Government. The government grew gradually, out of
necessity, at the same time with the ever more complex requirements of
the realm administration. Important changes took place in the period
between Williams the Conqueror simple government and the situation
existing at the end of the 13th century.
William and the kings who followed him ruled the kingdom from the
saddle; they were permanently on the move, travelling from one place
to another in order to be sure that their authority was accepted, and to

Englands common law system was used, centuries later, in the North American colonies,
and other British colonial possessions as well; in many cases, the system was accepted
and continued to be used even when these colonies became nations in their own rights.

In other parts of Europe legal practice was developed being based on the Civil Law of the
Roman Empire, and the Canon Law of the Church.

raise the necessary money; there was no capital in the sense in which we
understand it today. Crowned at Westminster, with their treasury kept at
Winchester, the kings and the large number of followers accompanying
them, stopped, for a while, to stay in a town or a castle, while the
population had the obligation to feed them. Thus, the kings household
was the government, but that was possible as long as the kingdom was
a small one. When the kingdom became too large to be visited in this
way, persons from the royal household were sent to different places to
act as sheriffs. Later, more people were necessary for administering
taxation, justice, or for carrying out the kings orders. Thus, the
administration, or a sort of government began to take shape; at the end
of the 13th century its place was established at Westminster; today, we
can still find it there. All the records were kept at Westminster
(Doomsday Book, for instance), from where the towns and ports were
checked for making sure the payment of taxes, and from where the
countrys economy was carefully watched. Thus, with the state
development the administration grew as well, and, with it, the number of
clerks involved in the business management.
Church and state. Religious life.
The relation between Church and
state could be characterized as a
long struggle which began in 1066,
when William refused to accept the
popes claim of being considered
the kings feudal lord; in time, both
Church and the kings wanted to
DURHAM CASTLE
increase their authority and,
AND CATHEDRAL
consequently, all kinds of troubles
arose. (e.g.: the quarrel between William Rufus and Anselm, Archbishop
of Canterbury, or Henry II and Thomas Becket). Anyway, there were
periods when Church benefited from the close connections with the
Continent; thus, in the end of the 11th century, and the first part of the
12th century new continental orders were founded: Cluniac Cistercians
and Augustinian houses. That meant the construction of imposing
buildings such as Durham Cathedral and the Tower of London, or the
production of writings such as Winchester Bible and Psalter, which bear
the witness of the artistic craftsmanship of the age.

The ecclesiastical architecture continued to flourish over the

12th-13th century, showing a strong French influence (the New
Westminster Abbey is a remarkable example).
In contrast with Church as a politically powerful organization stood the
church at the local village level. In the beginning, the priests were from
among the peasant community people, who could hardly read or write;
the local church belonged to the local lord, being under his authority. The
Church was eager to put an end to this situation, but with more or less
success. There were also local monasteries or nunneries which had
highly grown in number between the 11th and 13th century. The fact
could be explained by the increasing economic difficulties of the age,
which determined people to prefer the food and shelter of a religious
house to the poor life of a farmer house. Something new was represented
by the brotherhood of friars, or wandering preachers; living in
conditions similar to those of the poor, their aim was to bring the comfort
of Christianity in the soul of ordinary people. It is obvious that these
categories of numerous religious people were representative for the
social classes of the respective age, as Chaucer introduced the monk, the
nun, the priest, the prior, the parson, the friar, the pardon-seller, among
his characters in The Canterbury Tales, all of them masterly depicted
in the Prologue. A lot of things, sometimes humorously presented, can be
learned about these categories from Chaucers work; here is an example,
the lines introducing the village priest:
And there was a god man, a religious.
He was the needy priest of a village.
But rich enough in saintly thought and work,
And educated too, for he could read;
Would truly preach the word of Jesus Christ,
Devoutly teach the folk of his parish.
Kind was he, wonderfully diligent;
And in adversity most patient,
As many a time had been put to the test.

There are records indicating fifty religious houses in 1066 with about 1,000 members,
while, at the end of the 13th century, their number had increased to 900, with about
17,500 monks and nuns.

Economic growth. The people. The countryside and the town

development. Economically, the period of the early Middle Ages was
essentially agrarian. In this respect, the Doomsday Book is an unvaluable
source of information.
It is known that Englands population was between 1.5 and 2 million
inhabitants, most of the land used for farming today, being already
ploughed at that time (80 p.c.).
Life in the countryside was hard, and the people had to work day in day
out, everyday of the year, till they were too old to work. Their houses
were simple, with the walls made of wooden beams and sticks filled with
mud, and with the roofs made of thatch combined with reeds and corn
stalks; their food consisted mainly of vegetables and cereals, while pork
was only for special occasions.
The land belonged to the lord, the main unit was the manor, and the
unfree peasants who worked the land held it in return for performing
labour service.
In other words, the manorial system meant the exchange of land for
labour; generally, the peasants were obliged to work for a fixed number
of days on the lords land, the home farm, while the rest of the time
was used to work on the small strips of land which represented common
land of the village, and which provided them the necessary food.
Sometimes the landlords let out some of, or all their land for a rent which
could be either in crops or money instead of labour.
Towards the end of the 12th century, the situation began to change, with a
shift to high farming. That meant the replacement of the manorial
system with a direct management of the estates, the landlords taking
manors into their own hands and obtaining profits from direct sales of
produce. At the same time, a new class appeared: estate managers or
stewards.

The word farm comes from that period: the arrangement/agreement made between the
landlord and the villages for letting the latter some land was called firma.

In the next century, high farming meant prosperity for great landlords,
but the average size of small peasant holdings seemed to have fallen;
there were both gainers and loosers in this evolutionary process. As
regards the recruitment of labour, that was achieved by using contracts
where service was provided either for life or for a short term in exchange
for fees, robes or wages. Thus, the ties between the landlords and their
tenants slackened, as the relationship became increasingly a legal,
rather than a personal one [53, p. 38].
Meanwhile, the population had grown to over four million, and more
food was required; more land was necessary to provide it, and the
peasants tried hard to get it from draining marshland, or clearing some
areas. Anyway, in the 12th-13th century there was not enough land and
food for the growing number of people, and poverty, hunger, starvation
and death became something quite frequent. The need made people give
up farming and get involved in different trades, becoming smiths,
carpenters, shoemakers, tailors, etc. A sharp rise in food prices was
another consequence of the food shortage, and the inflation was another
cause that weakened the feudal ties. Although, generally, the landlords
got more money from their land due to the new system (paying farm
labourers and receiving money rents) many of them, especially those
possessing small estates, became indebted, and, finally, lost their land.
Some of them went to towns, which offered them the hope for a
better future.
Thus, although England continued to be mainly an agricultural society,
some other activities began to develop, as trade and small manufacturing
industries, while towns, notably London, started to flourish.
A lot is known about Englands trade with the continent at that period, a
strict record of the customs dues was kept because of the king who asked
it, as he obtained an important income from trade activities overseas.
Trade was carried out especially with France, where exchanges were of
wine for cloth and cereal, and with the Low Countries, where the trade
basis was raw wool. Anyway, wool export could be considered
Englands most profitable business at that time, as its quality was not be
matched anywhere, and high prices, much higher than the production
cost, were charged and brought profits. As a symbol of wool being a
source of Englands wealth, a wool sack has been kept in the House of

Lords (Parliament) for the chancellor to sit on it, over since that time.
Besides being exported, wool was also used in the domestic industry,
which had started to develop, especially under the direct influence of the
Flemish weavers who had been encouraged to settle in England, and who
had established new towns such as Newcastle, Hull, Boston, Lynne.
Gradually, trade and industry made the towns flourish; they were given
charters of freedom, and their inhabitants were freed from feudal duties
to local lords; the people could have their own courts and they were able
to develop their own social and economic organizations. The future
middle class came into existence, as a result of the first signs of a
capitalist economy. These organizations, which controlled the economy
of the 13th century, were the guilds, different merchants or skilled
workers brotherhoods, and which announced, in a way, the modern trade
unions. Entry into a guild was not easy, sometimes it was open only to
the sons of its members, or, in other cases, important fees had to be paid
for training in a special field. Later on, craft guilds were set up, as
those of the weavers in London or Oxford. The purpose of the guilds was
to keep a high standard of the respective craft or trade, and to protect the
interests of their members as well as their right to produce, to buy or to
sell the products without paying other taxes; at the same time, the
members of the guild had to keep the agreed prices, and to see to the high
quality of the goods produced. In London the so called livery
companies were developed; they controlled most of the city business,
and, over the centuries, they turned into large financial institutions
playing an important role in the administration of the City of London,
and in the choice of the Lord Major.
The medieval mans growth in mind and spirit. The cosmopolitan
movement known under the name of the 12th century Renaissance
included England as well, being manifest towards the end of the century,
and connected with the name of Henry II. Its most important
accomplishment was in the field of education. Schools attached to
monasteries existed in England from an early date, but their main
purpose had been to train the children for priesthood. With the new
movement, schools started to be established in many towns and cities,
some of them still attached to a cathedral, but many others, the so called

From the Saxon word gildan, meaning to pay; the members had to pay towards the
cost of the brotherhood.

grammar schools, were independent of the Church. It is also during

this period that two important centres of higher learning were established
in England: Oxford (1167) and later on Cambridge (1209).
Scholars were highly esteemed and were invited to frequent the court,
their ideas being applied to the act of government. Dialogue of the
Exchequer and the law book attributed to Ranulf de Glanville, show
modern ideas, used by the king in the administration of his realm. Other
two important intellectual figures were Robert Grosseteste and
Roger Bacon, one of the greatest scholars of the Middle Ages, the one
who, firstly, suggested experimental science.
In schools, the language of the time was Latin, used by the educated
people of almost all Europe for communicating, and expressing their
ideas and learning in writing.
It goes without saying that the number of people attending universities,
and schools in general, was limited. Most of the people had no
knowledge of either Latin or even French, which was the language of law
and Norma rules. A long time had to pass until English became the
language of the entire people.
As regards literature, it was mainly limited to religious writings, poems,
and didactic works with an obvious moralizing character. (Poema
morale, Handling Synne, The Prick of Conscience and others).
There was also some chivalry poetry, consisting of poems written and
interpreted by minstrels at the nobles courts, according to the French
model. In the beginning, they were in French. Most of the poems told
about the knights heroic deeds, and their love for beautiful ladies whom
they faithfully served.

It is a cultural movement, which started in Italy, its influence moving northwards along
the trade routes; it meant a revolution in ideas and learning, its main characteristic being
the desire to test religious faith to reason.

It is considered the oldest English-speaking University in the world. At the end of the
11th century, teaching already existed there in some form, but it knew a rapid
development after 1167, when the English students were banned from attending the
University of Paris.

In the field of architecture, important progress took place: in

ecclesiastical architecture new methods of vaulting offered the architects
greater freedom in building (the construction of the choir at Canterbury),
but its flourishing was obviously under the strong French influence.
(The New Westminster Abbey, built under Henry III s patronage).
Anyway, the period knew an outburst of building activity, nowhere
equalled in Europe. Some of these buildings are really outstanding, as
Durham Cathedral, which surpassed by its scale, impressiveness and
unique character any achievement of the time. The first prevailing style
in England was the English Romanesque, or the Norman one, followed,
towards the end of the 12th century, by the Gothic style. The most typical
example of this style is Salisbury Cathedral, which has remained, even
today, almost exactly as it was planned.
As regards the military architecture, obvious in the building of fortresses
and castles, it showed to be self-confident, innovative and assertive. The
first square tower-keep, characteristic to Norman architecture (Tower of
London, the fortress at Dover, Bamborough, Newcastle-on-Tyne, etc.)
evolved, later on, to the round or cylindrical tower keep, this shape being
less vulnerable to attacks. By 1200 about 350 stone castles had been built
in England and Wales; two of the finest castles in Europe are Conway
and Caernarvon (the end of the 12th century), combining all that could be
considered most efficient in the military architecture of the Middle Ages.
Towards the end of the14th century, the military importance of the
castles declined, with the change of the military tactics in battle. It was
also the period when the wealth of the country was transferred to the
commercial middle-classes living in towns; there was a period of
growing internal peace. Even in the case of some castles still being built,
there was a change in attitude, and an increasing concern with their
comfort became obvious. Thus, Bodiam, Sussex (late, 14th century) combined
defence with the time standard of domestic comfort.
England insular policy; and its relations with the neighbouring
regions. Territorial expansion. The Middle Ages was, pre-eminently,
an age characterized by war as a mode of life; in the beginning, all
social classes were involved in these endless wars. Gradually, wars
started to determine economic and political changes within the feudal
hierarchy, with the replacement, for example, of the feudal obligation of
actual military service, by the levying of taxes; hence, the kings

dependence on Parliament. Besides, military constructions changed

because of new war techniques, and, finally, the buildings turned from
fortified castles into more or less comfortable palaces; later, towards the
end of the Middle Ages, the fortified manor-houses were enough for
defence, in a society which had become more peaceful and stable.
On the other hand, the wars changed their objectives and character; with
the exception of the Hundred Years War with France (1337-1453),
they ceased to be Continental wars, (i.e.: participation of the
Plantagenet kings in the various feudal expansion/defence wars on the
continent, or in the Crusades, religious wars against the heathen
occupation of the Holy City and Tomb of Jerusalem) tending to become
more insular.
The situation was determined by the Norman barons having possessions
in Englands neighbouring regions, in feudal tenure; being powerful, they
had the possibility to influence the local parliaments, representing a
permanent threat to the crowns stability.
Thus, the English kings attention started to be directed towards these
small neighbouring kingdoms, with the obvious intention to subdue
them, and to limit, in this way, the power of the Anglo-Norman lords. A
fact which happened. Anyway, the history of these kingdoms situated in
Wales, Ireland or Scotland was different up to a certain point from
that of England, although most attention was usually paid to the latter as
being the largest, geographically better suited to human settlement, and
more influential.
But what happened outside England, the culture and civilization which
developed outside it, is equally important, because the people living there
still feel different from the Anglo-Saxon English and their experience
helps to explain the feeling they have today [25; p. 18].
England and Wales. Until the Norman Conquest, Wales had been a
territory inhabited by the Celts driven into the peninsula by the AngloSaxon invasion. Living in a mountainous rocky area, life was hard and

The Celts in this region were called by the Anglo-Saxons Welsh (foreigners), while
they called themselves cymry (fellow men).

dangerous, society was based on family grouping, settled in one or more

villages placed along the crowded valleys.
In the beginning, tribal chiefs led them, but, in time, some of them
conquered the others and became a sort of kings. They were itinerant
king, traveling from one place to another around their kingdoms, being
accompanied by their followers and soldiers. Life was not only hard but
also treacherous and bloody. The first and only king who succeeded to
rule over all Wales was Gruffydd ap Llewelyn, (c. 1039) but not for long,
because he was killed by a cymry while fighting against the Saxons.
When William I conquered England, he allowed his lords to fight against
the Welsh kings and win land in Wales. In this way, the Normans
extended their control over the new territories in the region. In time, until
the 13th century, the Normans built castles, mixed with the inhabitants,
and became a new category of rulers, a mixture of French and Welsh,
speaking both languages, but not English. They remained Celtic and free.
A certain national revival, in the end of the 13th century, created the
principality of the north under Llewellyn the Great, prince of Gwynedd.
He was determined to become independent of the Norman English.
At that moment, England had already lost its territories in France
(it still held Gascony) and its attention was fully concentrated on the
island, over whose whole territory its rulers were decided to have a firm
and unchallenged hold. In his turn, Edward I, like Llewellyn, was equally
determined but, his determination was to bring Wales under his control:
in 1282, he managed to conquer Wales, after capturing and killing
Llewellyn. In 1284, west Wales was united with England and organized
by royal decree (the Statute of Rhuddlan) in a way similar to that existing
in the English counties. An ambitious program of building strong castles
was put into practice.
Although there was some unrest and warfare for a time, by the end of the
century the region could effectively be considered a part belonging to
England, while its people had become ever more anglicized. Thus,

History mentions six kingdoms at that time: Anglesey, Gwynedd, Powys, Cardigion,
Dyfed and Glamorgan.

Wales was quite easily subdued; in order to show it, Edward decided to
make his infant son (Edward II) Prince of Wales. Since that time up to
now, the tradition has been preserved, and the eldest son of the ruling
monarch and heir to the throne, has been given the title of Prince of Wales.
England and Ireland. Ireland was not faced with Roman or AngloSaxon invasions, developing a Celtic culture which flourished till late, in
the 9th century. The Irish continued to have, for a longer time, a tribal
society, the people living in family grouping, and the king being elected
from the strongest representatives of the group. There were five
kingdoms known in Ireland, often at war in an attempt to take control
one over the other. The Irish became Christians in 430 A.D., when a
slave called Patrick brought them the message of the new religion; he
was to become their patron saint. For a couple of centuries culture
flourished in Ireland, many Christian monasteries grew up as centres of
learning, famous for their schools and writings. (Numerous Christian
scholars got their refuge in Ireland, after the Anglo-Saxon invasion). This
period is often called Irelands golden age, but, unfortunately, it came
to an end because of the savage Viking raids which destroyed the
monastic centres of culture out of which nothing was left, but the
stone memorials.
However, the positive results of the Viking presence consisted in a
certain refreshment of the Irish economic and political life; Viking trade
determined the development of the first towns and ports, Dublin being
one of them. Besides, the Irish thought, for the first time in their history,
to unite against the invaders. The name of a king who succeeded to rule
successfully for a short period of time, Brian Born (1002-1014), is
recorded by history.
A century later, the Norman lords conquered Ireland with not much
difficulty (1169). Once again, as it happened in Wales, the king (Henry
II) was concerned with the growth of his lords power, and forced both

In fact, Wales consisted of two different areas: the northern part which was conquered by
Edward and became a royal Principality, being entirely in the power of the English king,
and the Welsh Marches, a baronial fief and whose states remained untouched for a longer
period of time. It was Henry VIII who signed, in 1536, the Act of Union of Wales to
England.

The five kingdoms were: Ulster, Munster, Leinster, Connaught, Tara.

them and the Irish chiefs to accept his authority. In fact, only the eastern
part of Ireland was governed by the Norman lords, while the western part
remained under the Irish chiefs. Anyway, both of them tried to avoid
English authority. During Edward Is reign, only Dublin, made capital of
the new colony, and an area around it, known as the Pale was under the
kings control. The Irish chiefs continued their old way of life, while the
Normans built castles, trying to keep their independence from the
English crown.
England and Scotland. As regards Scotland, it represents one more
example of how geography influenced the life of the people settled there,
shaping their history and culture. Thus, the northern mountainous areas
and the neighbouring islands with their severe climate and unfriendly
relief, made people stay tied to their own family group and preserve a
tribal society for a longer period of time. The east southern region, where
the relief is gentler and offers better conditions for farming, land was
held and worked individually, a non-tribal social system being developed.
Scotland was populated by three different Celtic groups: the Picts living
in the north and northeast, the Scots, coming from Ireland, and settling in
the western Highlands (4th century), the Britons, inhabiting the
Lowlands; the Angles from Northumbria lived also there, pushed into the
Scottish Lowlands. There was a marked difference between the first three
groups and the Angles. While the former shared the same Celtic type of
culture, language and background (they had a strong idea of common
landholding, and they preserved the clan organization till late, in the
18th century), the latter developed much similar to the English,
individually working their land and growing crops, with an increased
feeling of being different from the Highlanders.
The people living in Scotland became Christian in the 6th century thanks
to the activity of a missionary monk called Columba, known as the
Dove of the Church.

The Picts were the first inhabitants of the region, different from the other Celts not only as
regards the language, but also the way in which they inherited their rights, name and
property, namely from their mothers.

They were part of the Romano-British world. The name of their kingdom was
Strathclyde, and this name was used in the country reorganization, in 1974 [25; p. 20].

The Viking raids influenced the political life of the Celts living
especially in the northeastern region and northern islands, and made the
Picts and Scots unite against the common enemy. Later on, the English
became their stronger enemy and the Scots had sometimes to accept,
even reluctantly, an English king as their overlord.
In comparison with Wales or Ireland, Scotland was not a kingdom to be
defeated by the Norman lords, and only a large army could do it.
That happened in 1290, when Edward I, taking the chance of a crisis over
the succession to the Scottish throne, invaded Scotland and put one of the
possible thirteen heirs, John de Balliol, on it, obliging him to pay homage
to the English king. What followed in the years to come was much
demand, in money and troops, from the English, Scottish nobles
rebellions, popular resistance movements, and further English invasions.
A name deserving special mention is that of Wallace, a Norman Scottish
knight, who succeeded to gather the people of Scotland around him,
becoming its leader. Finally, he was captured and killed (1297) but his
struggle against the English meant the birth of the Scottish nationalism,
which lasted over the centuries. Wallances fight was continued by
Robert Bruce, who defeated his countrys enemies and became the king
of Scotland. He gained a decisive victory against the English (1314) at
Bannockburn, near Stirling, a place ever remembered and praised by the
Scots. Determined and proud, the Scots expressed their point of view in a
letter written by the Scots clergy to the Pope (1320) as long as even
one hundred of us (the Scots) remain alive, we will never consent to
subject ourselves to the dominion of the English.

On the occasion of such an invasion the sacred Stone of Destiny was stolen from the Scone
Abbey. The legend said that the Scottish king had to sit on it at coronation; by stealing it
Edward hoped to make the Scottish king be considered illegal, and he, its possessor, the
lawful king of the Scots. A couple of years ago, after centuries of its holding by the
English, the stone was sent back to Scotland in sign of respect for the Scottish history; the
event was highly celebrated.

2.7.5 The Late Middle Ages; Destructive Events;

a Painful Changing Process

The period which covered the next two centuries (the 14th and the 15th)
was a difficult one, with many disasters caused by plague, revolts and
wars, with the disappearance of some classes, and the establishment of a
new society; death and birth, two painful processes!
The Plague and its economic consequences. The 14th century meant the
eruption of the terrible plague, which caused the death of one third of
Europes population. Britain was not spared (1348-1349), and whole
villages disappeared, while many towns were left almost without
inhabitants. After that, the Black Death became endemic, killing many
people, especially the young and healthy ones. The fall of the population
was dramatic. Paradoxically, the consequences were not entirely negative
for those remaining alive; the beginning of the century had witnessed an
agricultural crisis, determined by the population growth, and the
impossibility of the farming land to feed everybody; there were sharp
price rises, followed by the landlords cessation of the labourers
payment, and a return to serf labour. After the Black Death, with the
decrease in number of people working the land, the remaining ones asked
for ever higher wages; in order to avoid losses the landlords preferred the
old, 12th century practice of letting their farms out to energetic freeman
farmers, and signed firma for a whole life span. Gradually, these small
farmers turned into a new class, known under the name of yeomen,
whose life was much better in comparison with their forefathers.
The 14th century meant change not only as regards agriculture, but in the
field of trade and industry as well. Thus, the export of raw wool was
replaced by finished cloth, which brought high profits to merchants.
Skilled Flemish workers were encouraged to come to England and settle
there, especially after the collapse of the cloth industry in Flanders. There
are records which mention the quantity of exported raw wool and cloth at
different moments of the 14th century, and which show a clear-cut
difference in favour of cloth exports towards the end of the century.

All the regions were involved in the process, but London grew
significantly, as well as some other ports supported by trade overseas.
The wars of the age. The late Middle Ages can be considered, in many
respects, a bleak age, with misery, permanent domestic turmoil, the
ravages of devastating diseases, everything aggravated by the demands
of inner and foreign wars. However, the age had inherited from the
previous century an important advantage: the peoples different
perspective on themselves; they had got national identity, they already
thought of themselves as English. The reign of Edward I had opened a
new stage in Englands history: that of establishing a determined hold
over the British Isles, in fact, the deliberate building of an empire.
Undoubtedly, success was not always and everywhere certain, but, on the
long run, consequences were constantly favourable to England. Thus, the
English had been successful in Wales and Ireland, where, by the end of
the 13th century, their territories had been effectively attached to
England. However, the English failed when they tried to make the
Scottish king a vassal of England. Besides, the newly attached territories
constituted permanent sources of rebellion and warfare, and a perfect
internal peace was difficult to attain.
At the same time, Englands interests abroad could not be neglected, and,
from this point of view, France represented an important rival. Anyway,
the relations with that country could not have been but tensed, especially
after the Treaty of Paris (1259) which had established that the English
kings owed homage to the French ones for the possession of Gascony,
the only territory left to England after the dramatic losses during king
Johns reign. The building of fortified towns by each side did not
improve the relations.
But, besides the political ambitions, there were equally important
economic interests; they referred to the trade with wine, corn, wool or
wool cloth, which was worth a lot of money to the English crown.
The trade was carried out with Gascony and Flanders, a Burgundys
province. In 1324, France seized part of Gascony, and, then, tried to
impose its authority to the Duke of Burgundy. Any French control over
these two areas was a direct threat to Englands wealth, a fact which
could not be tolerated.

The rich merchants were easily persuaded to support a war with France,
as their own interests were at stake. In 1337, Edward III declared war to
France, claiming his right to the French throne, a good reason for
starting a war. The war, which was to be called the Hundred Year War,
ended only in 1453, and its result was the loss of all English possessions
in France, except for Calais.
As Andr Maurois says [23; p. 216] the war announced one of
the typical later directions that England, then Britain would follow in its
military and political actions; it made manifest the pragmatic force of
Englands decisions, influenced by economic, rather than purely military
ambitions.
As regards the war, initially, it started inconclusively, with a first naval
English victory at Sheys (1340); new important victories followed later,
when the English defeated the French at Crcy (1346) and Poitiers
(1356), and when the French king himself was taken prisoner; a heavy
ransom was charged for him. The English victories were possible as they
were better prepared and trained, having a long experience through the
wars in Wales and Scotland. Another important English military
acquisition was the archers technique, which they had taken from the
Welsh. The use of the longbow was decisive in those battles making the
English army imbattable (23; p. 216). However, Edward I was less
successful in the next battles, and Rheims did not open the gates to him.
In 1360, the treaty of Bretigny was signed, by which Edward I agreed to
drop his claim to the French throne in return to the English possessions in
France held in full sovereignty (all Acquitane, including Gascony, parts
of Normandy and Brittany, and the newly captured port of Calais). The
treaty was not willingly accepted by the French, and in the period that
followed the war began again, the French recovered, while the English
failed to maintain their military superiority, losing much of the
French territories.

Through his mother, Isabella of France, Edward was a closer relative to the last king of
the Capetian dynasty than Valois Philip VI; he appeared more as a legal heir than a
rebellious vassal.

The war continued in the 15th century, after a period of relative peace,
with Henry V s campaigns in France; it started in 1415. Claiming the
French throne once again, Henry invaded France with a small army of
only 9,000 men; after the siege of Harfleur, on the route to Calais, the
English won an astonishing victory at Agincourt. The English army
proved once again that it was better prepared than the French one which
was three times its size; at Agincourt it had better weapons and better
skilled men. By 1420, when the Treaty of Troyes was signed, Henry V
had already conquered Normandy and the nearby areas.
He was recognized as the French kings heir, and married his daughter
Katherine of Valois; but, two years later (1422) Henry V died at the siege
of Meaux, leaving as his heir an infant son of only nine months old.
The army came under the command of John, Duke of Bedford, Henrys
brother, who continued to enlarge the territory under the English control.
But, at a given moment, the situation reversed; the English invasion and
territorial losses started to create, for the first time, a strong national
feeling among the French. Rallying the French resistance, Joan of Arc
stepped forth (1422), inspiring the army and lifting the siege of Orleans.
The English were defeated in the battles which followed, and with, the
death of Bedford in 1435, the English period of glory and success started
to fade. By 1453, the English had lost all their overseas conquests, save
Calais, while France was to become the most powerful kingdom in
Western Europe. The Hundred Years War was over.
Wars with Scotland. The Scots as a nation. During the long period of
war with France, the situation was not entirely peaceful on the island.
Englands relation with Scotland continued to be tense, this time because
of its war with France, as England had given up its claim to overlordship
the Scottish after the defeat at Bannockburn (1314). However, the
permanent threat represented by England had obliged the Scots to look
for allies, and nobody could be a better one than Englands main rival,
France. Thus, an alliance was concluded between the two countries
(Auld Alliance), of which France benefited more. (The treaty stipulated

A peasant girl, claiming to hear heavenly voices, Joan of Arc was captured by the
Burgundians, allies of the English, and given to the latter, who, in their turn, gave her to
the Church in Rouen; she was burnt as a witch in 1431.

that in case of one of the countries being attacked by England, the other
one would attack England, in its turn). Thus, when the war with France
outbroke in 1337, Englands dissatisfaction with the French support of
David II of the Scots could be included among the political grounds.
True to their alliance, the Scots fought alongside the French in war, but
they were defeated at Nevilles Cross (1346), where their king, David II,
was taken prisoner, being ransomed by the French.
The English raided as far as Edinburgh, destroying and looting, but after
this episode, they gave up their control on the Scots, and peace was
established for a while, but not for long, because in the 15th century,
Henry IV claimed to overlordship Scotland once again, and in 1482 his
army occupied Edinburgh. Meanwhile, the English often raided the
Scottish Lowlands, destroying the farms, killing and bringing misfortune
to the Scots.
The only benefit that Scotland could have had from its alliance with
France, consisted, probably, in the Scots finding work as soldiers in
France, at a time when their households at home were permanently
destroyed by English armies. Thus, Scotland experienced the wars
disasters in a way similar to England.
The way in which Scotland developed in the late Middle Ages resembled
England in many respects: there were long struggles between the kings
and nobles, who were strong enough to keep private armies; there were
also powerful clans, perfectly fitted with the Celts tribal loyalties
specific to the Highlands. However, by the end of the Middle Ages,
Scotland had become a nation: they had a parliament which met once a
year, and the king would invite the leading citizens for discussing
government matters. The towns developed, and they had a growing trade
in wool, leather and fish. The Scots were not below the English as
regards learning and education; taking the French model they founded
universities at Edinburgh (1582), St. Andrews (1412), Glasgow (1451)
and Aberdeen (1495). Scotland had obviously become a country, and the
Scots a well-defined nation; no overlordship from England could be
possible or thought of.

Englands troubles in Wales. After its conquest in the 13th century,

Wales had been systematically colonized by the English: people from
England were brought to populate the small Welsh towns, land was given
to the English people, while the natives were either driven into the hills
or, losing their land, were obliged to become soldiers in the English
army. Their weapon, the longbow became the surprise weapon of the
English, and helped them win important battles in France. Thus, as
Andr Maurois says the Hundred Years War that was fought in France
proved the importance of submerging Wales at home.
In the 14th century, the Welsh rebelled, under the leadership of
Owain Glyn Dwr, whom the they followed in a general popular support.
In time (1399-1417), this rebellion turned into a real national war.
In 1400, Glyn Dwr was proclaimed Prince of Wales by his supporters.
He managed to conclude different alliances and coalitions, and continued
his fight against the English, mostly as a successful guerrilla war; the
situation was difficult for the English as, under such circumstances, their
control of Wales had become very costly. However, in spite of the Welsh
peoples resistance, the English, finally, put an end to their fight, but
Glyn Dwr was never captured. He remained an important hero of his
people, and his name was connected with a dignified enterprise: for the
first time, he created among the Welsh the feeling of national identity.
The Wars of the Roses. Only two years had passed since the end of the
war with France, and new troubles began to agitate the life of the English
society: the struggle between the noblemens factions attached to two
important aristocratic families, the Lancastrian House and the Yorkist
Clan, a struggle which was to last for the next 30 years (1455-1485), and
which is known in history under the name of the Wars of the Roses.
The events represented the first civil war in England, being a typical
feudal anarchy war, caused by the conflict between the noblemens
groups interested to support one or another of the two families entitled to
rule England; thus, it can be considered a monarchical civil war.
Anyway, the situation had resulted from the crises of kingship a direct

In the 19th century, Walter Scott named these wars of the two roses because Yorks
badge was a white rose, and Lancasters, a red one.

consequence of the weakness of the legitimate kings who ruled England

in the 14th century and of the nobles increasing power; thus, Edward II
was deposed and cruelly murdered by his nobles in 1327, an event which
meant the first break of the principle that king could be neither deposed
nor killed; the second king to be deposed was Richard II, who,
mysteriously, died soon after that (1389). As Richard had no direct heirs,
the possible successors were either Henry of Lancaster, or the earl of
March (grandson of Edward IIIs second son), both of them with almost
equal rights to claim the throne. Finally, the duke of Lancaster was
stronger and he took the crown, more or less by force, becoming the king
Henry IV; during the years of his reign, he firmly acted to strengthen his
royal authority, and succeeded to peacefully pass the crown to his son,
Henry V. However, his taking of the crown represented the seed of the
future civil war, half a century later; during the fifty years that passed,
the division between the interests of those who supported his family, the
Lancastrians and those who supported the family of the heir of earl of
March, the duke of York, the Yorkists, had deepened and aggravated,
especially with the loss of the war in France.
The nobles had become extremely rich and powerful, some of them
continuing to keep their own private armies after their return from France
(The duke of Burgundy had 2,000 men in his private army), with which
they kept under control whole regions of England. At that time, the king
of England was Henry VI, a gentle and book-loving person, adequate for
a calm and civilized society but not suited for such a tough and
aggressive one; besides, he had temporary periods of mental illness
(1450-1461). During the respective periods, the kingdom was ruled by
Richard, duke of York, as protector. Thus, there were in the country such
circumstances, which could represent the premises of a civil war: a weak
and insane king, an opposition coming from the dynastic rival Richard,
feudal disputes between powerful lords, with the crowns failing to
control them; besides, the loss of the war with France had made
Henry VIs government suffer serious loss of prestige and authority.

Richard II, proud and unpopular because of the choice of his advisers, quarrelled with the
nobles and imprisoned John of Gaunt, the most powerful and wealthy person of the time.
John of Gaunt died in prison and his son, Henry duke of Lancaster succeeded to rally the
discontented nobles around him, and, rising an army, deposed the king; he was entitled to
revenge his fathers death.

The Duke of York claimed the throne based on a better hereditary right
than anybody in the Lancaster family. There were some hostilities
between the parties in the period 1455-1459, and, finally, the duke was
defeated and killed. The Yorkists gathered to support his son, Edward,
Earl of March, who, more successful on the battlefield, was crowned
king in 1461, but only for nine years. Meanwhile, the former king,
Henry VI, had been sent to the Tower of London, but the Lancastrians
rescued him, chasing Edward out of the country.
Next year, Edward returned with his army, and, as
he had got the support of the merchants of London
due to his policy of encouraging profitable trade, he
succeeded in regaining his throne, which he kept
safely, until his death, in 1483. As regards Henry VI,
not after a long time, he died in the Tower, where he
had been imprisoned once again. Edward had been a
pragmatic king whose main concern and
RICHARD III
achievement was to restore the prestige of
monarchy. At Edwards death his ambitious brother
became protector and defender of the kingdom, but, after a short time,
(in 1483) he took the crown, becoming the king Richard III. Edwards
two young sons, aged twelve and ten, were imprisoned in the tower,
where they died, most probably, murdered by their uncle. The events
which took place during the respective period, were, masterly presented
in Shakespeares historical play Richard III.
Although readily accepted, maybe, because of the peoples fear of
insecurity, Richard III was not a popular king, and both Lancastrians and
Yorkists disliked him. In 1485, when the Lancastrians rebelled one again,
supporting their sole male claimant to the throne, Henry Tudor, duke of
Richmond, the Yorkists deserted Richard and joined their rivals. A battle
took place at Bosworth, where Richard III was defeated and killed;
Henry was crowned king just on the battlefield.
For more than one hundred years the Tudor family were to rule England,
a new dynastic line being, thus, inaugurated. The Wars of the Roses had
come to an end, and with it, the Middle Ages in England. What the Wars
of the Roses had achieved, was to destroy the idea of kingship in its old
meaning, the only respect being preserved for the power of getting and
keeping the crown. The wars also had brought about the physical

destruction of nobility; the truth is that not the entire people was involved
in the struggles and battles of this civil war, but only the nobles and their
private armies; almost half the lords of the sixty noble families
controlling England at the beginning of the period were killed in the
wars. The outcome of the disaster was the possibility that a new type of
dynasty, an absolute one, be set up, guarding against civil wars and
regicides, and able to build a new nation state.

2.7.6 The Economic, Social and Political Life in the Late Middle Ages;
the Cultural Progress

The period of the late Middle Ages was dominated by a continuous state
of war, within and outside the realm. The permanent need of the country
was to finance these wars, which meant money and soldiers. There were
moments when the rulers were faced with real crises, as for example
Edward III, in 1340-1341; those crises determined the kings dependence
on Parliament, more exactly on Commons, for the necessary money supply.
The heavy taxations imposed to people, added to the general feeling of
discontent caused by the changes in economy as well as by political
developments, were the causes of a popular rebellion the Peasants
Revolt in 1381; slogans such as when Adam delved and Eve span /
who was then the gentlemen? spread by popular poor preachers
inflamed the peoples mind. The revolt began in Essex and Kent,
continued in southeast of England, taking the form of assaults on tax
collectors, attacks on landlords, lawyers, manors and religious houses,
and causing the destruction of the documents. The attacks continued
against London, where the rebels fury was directed against the Kings
councilors, some of the officials being killed. The king (Richard II) met
them and their leader, Wat Tyler, who had to present the rebels
demands, but during the negotiation Tyler was attacked and slained by
the mayor of London. Finally, an end was put to the rebellion. The king
took back his promises, the only gain of the events being the abolition of
one of the numerous taxes imposed to the people. Anyway, the Peasants
Revolt was the result of the social tensions determined by the economic
adjustments necessary for levelling the imbalances caused by the great

epidemic of the Black Death, and whose consequences have already

been discussed. Anyway, it is important to remember that the revolt was
the most violent manifestation of a potential for unrest which simmered
throughout the realm and throughout the age [12; p. 84].
In the 15th century the wages for farm workers continued to rise, even
faster than the price of goods, with plenty of meat and cereals available
in the market, a real golden age for the English labourers. Important
economic changes took place during this century; thus, the copy hold
tenure replaced villain labour, which had largely disappeared. Some of
the peasants managed to rise above others belonging to the same class,
constituting a new class, the yeomen. Meanwhile, the rich landlords
gave up the direct management of their estates, a method which had been
the characteristic of the previous century, preferring the leasehold
system. However, sometimes, it was difficult for them to keep high their
income level because of the growing arrears of rent. In many cases, the
solution to the problem of labour shortage, high wages and diminishing
income, was to convert the good farm land into sheep pasture land. The
15th century was the period when much land enclosure took place, as the
powerful sheep farmers started to fence in the land which, previously,
had been used to produce food crops. The consequence was that many
peasants were obliged to leave their places, the villages being abandoned
by their inhabitants. The effects of such a decision were felt in the next
century which was faced with a serious social and economic crisis.
However, in the 15th century, England remained a predominantly
agrarian country, although important changes took place in the town
developments. The town population started to grow, especially because
of the movement of the former peasants to the new places which could
offer them the chance of a new life and even the possibility to become
rich through crafts or trade, a fact which often happened, with good
examples in this respect.

The great landlords revenues had fallen (although, probably, only by 10 p.c.) while the
real wages of the lower strata of society had risen sharply, because of low prices of grain,
and high payment of labour.

Tenure by copy of the record of the manorial court..

A famous name is that of Dick Whittington, a poor boy from the countryside who,
coming to London, became a rich merchant, and, for three times, Lord Mayor of
London.

In towns, the merchants as well as craftsmen continued to organize in

different types of associations in order to protect their interests.
The first organizations were the guilds, which, in the beginning, were set
up to protect the production or trade of a town, but, later on, started to
protect their members; at that moment membership was expensive to
buy, as long as it was not a family inheritance. Under such
circumstances, the skilled workers who could not afford to become
guilds members began to think about different forms of protecting their
interests, by setting up some other forms of organization. In time, a new
force emerged in the national economy, and guilds started to decline in
importance. Thus, in the 14th century, some trading stations, the so called
factories, had already been established by groups of merchants, the
purpose of which was similar to the town guilds: on the one hand, to
make sure that the whole export of a certain category of goods was
carried out through these factories, and, on the other hand, that the goods
prices and quality were maintained. Among those factories, Company of
the Staple in Calais, and the Merchant Adventures in different
towns became famous in the 14th century.
As regards the towns, London continued to grow, dominating the
southeastern part of the country, while the development of the woolen
industry determined the growth of new towns such as Halifax or Leeds.
Suffolk and the Cotswold region became important in the national
economy.
As regards the social organization, England continued to be based on
ranks: the nobles (dukes, earls, other lords) were at the top; but their
number had decreased in the 14th and 15th century because a lot of them
had died on the battlefields. The next in the rank were the knights who no
longer had the image of the armoured fighter, but that of a landlord or
landed gentry who had succeeded to increase their land possessions.

Staple, term internationally used, meaning that certain goods could only be sold in
specific places; the arrangement suited both the merchants, as it prevented competition,
and the Crown, as it could tax exports more easily.

Merchant organizations developed with the cloth trade. The one in Antwerp was the most
successful.

There was a significant increase in the number of knights during that

period, as a consequence of Edward Is order that all land owners
possessing an income of 20 a year be made knights. Thus, many
yeomen or esquires got the title.
With the growth of towns new social categories emerged and became
more and more important in the English society. They were the
freemenof the town, having its life and development under their
control. Towards the end of the Middle Ages, the people living in towns
started to form what was to become the English middle class. They were
educated people, represented, mainly, by merchants, cloth manufacturers,
exporters; in the town society, they were as important as the gentlemen
living in the countryside, being considered equal to the latter. During that
period a new phenomenon took place: many of this category, people
living in towns, became possessors of farmland in the countryside, while
the landed gentry used to send their younger sons to town to join
merchant or craft guilds, as well as the lawyer profession. Thus, these
well-off social categories, living both in towns and in the countryside
started to form a single class with common interests manifest in the two
environments. A similar phenomenon took place in Wales and Scotland.
The growth of the middle class, which was an educated one, and,
besides, skilled in law, administration, or trade determined the existence
of a new atmosphere in England.
This class was, directly interested and involved in the way in which the
state or Church were organized and developed, mainly for practical
purposes.
Thus, its members understood that serfdom and the feudal system, in
general, was not economically favourable to the growth of society, and
did not offer the conditions required to create wealth.

The word esquire (esq.) was used for a long time as a common title in written addresses;
it is less in use nowadays.

In the period of the late Middle Age, the serfs form the countryside who worked for
seven years in a town craft guild could become freemen of the respective town.

In the late Middle Ages, they started to have a word to say and that
happened with the development of Parliament, most exactly, with the
moment when Parliament included the Commons, and when new
relations became manifest between the middle class and the king
(Edward III). In the beginning, Parliament was intermittent and
summoned only on special situations, its main purpose being the
effective contact between the ruler and the ruled, and between the centre
and the different regions of the realm; but, in time, the intermittent
character got elements of continuity. Parliament also acquired special
functions connected with the financial matters. Thus, Edward III was
compelled because of the financial pressure caused by the French wars,
to seek taxation by consent, from a body that represented the political
and tax-paying nation; as taxes were agreed to especially by the
Commons, they, surprisingly, asked to see the royal accounts. It was for
the first time in history when a king allowed himself to become
accountable, and the fact represented a major development. The
merchants and the landed gentry were always ready to protect their own
interests by influencing or accepting the kings policy, and their attitude
became obvious when they supported Edward III in his war, as France
had threatened their wool trade with Flanders. The king had been aware
of the situation when he asked their acceptance.
Another important change which took place in the country in the
respective period referred to the legal system; the century witnessed an
unprecedented growth in the legal profession which produced
progressive thinking and intelligent reflection (The work of John
Fortescue, 1394-1476). The common custom of England continued to be
the common law, relying on precedent and decisions, but put into
practice by highly trained professionals. However, the main change took
place in the countryside, where law-making and law-enforcement shifted
from sheriffs and coroners to a new institution, the justices of the peace
[J. Ps] empowered by the royal commission to investigate and deal with
different crimes and offences.

The Commons represented the middle class, but only those who had an income of, at
least, 40 a year could be qualified as M.Ps. The situation lasted for a long time and the
poor citizens had no chance that their demands be heard in the Parliament, until late, in
the middle of the 19th century.

They were appointed by the king (Edward III, 1361) and were qualified
to superintend the scene not by training and not for pay, but as a function
of their social standing controlled by dependence on and obedience to
the kings central administration. [12, p. 101]. They belonged to the
landed gentry, and were selected especially for their honesty and
fairness; the J.Ps position was established by statute, marking a success
for the Commoners. The new system represented one more step directed
towards the taking of local authority from the nobility, correlated with
the strengthening of the middle class position. It is clear that there were
periods, especially during the War of the Roses, when the nobles used
their private armies to force the J.Ps and judges to act according to their
wish; however, the J.Ps remained the only form of local government till
late, in the 19th century (1888). They continued to exist even today, but
are called to deal with only small offences.
Culturally, the country continued to develop in the 14th century, the
striking change being the increased use of the English language. Starting
with the 13th century, French had been less used even by the rulers, and,
towards the end of the Middle Ages, English became predominant. Thus,
Henry of Lancaster used English when he claimed the throne in 1399,
and Edward III even forbade the use of French in his army, in an attempt
to make it aware of its Englishness.
As regards the old Anglo-Saxon language, it had continued to be spoken
after the conquest, but only by the common people, and it had no longer
been used in writing.
In the 14th century, the ruling class started, again, to use English in its
written form, but that language, Middle English, was no longer similar
to the old Anglo-Saxon; on the one hand, a lot of borrowings had been
taken from Norman French, which had enriched it, and, on the other
hand, the fact that it had not been written for three hundred years, had
made it lose most of its inflectionary character. Beyond question, the use
of English as a written language was indirectly indebted to Wycliffe,
whose followers translated the Bible into English.

Wycliffe, priest and Oxford scholar, known as a religious reformer. In his two treaties
(1374-76), he argued that the exercise of lordship depended on the grace of God, and,

A close connection can be noticed between the use of English and the
rise of the new middle class; the members of this class, who considered
that it was their right to read the Bible in the English language, supported
Wycliffes doctrine.
The late Middle Ages also meant the rebirth of English literature due to
the name of some important poets: William Langland, John Gower, and
especially Geoffrey Chaucer.
William Langland (1330?-1400?) was probably a country priest and his
poem The Vision of William concerning Piers the Plowman presented,
in an allegorical form, an interesting description of the times in which he
lived, considered from the point of view of the peasants feelings
and thoughts.
On the other hand, John Gower (1330?-1408?), the son of a rich landlord
in Kent, who had enjoyed an adequate aristocratic education, wrote his
poems for the representatives of the higher classes, adopting a moralizing
attitude. Out of his three poems, only the last one Cofessio Amantis,
(1390-1393) was written in English, while the first Mirour de lOmme,
(1376-1379) was written in French, and the second Vox Clamantis,
(1382-?) in Latin.
The most famous of the three poets is, undoubtedly, Geoffrey Chaucer;
son of a London vintner, he had different official jobs, participated in an
expedition to France (1359) and, for several times, travelled abroad
on royal service.
His work is The Canterbury Tales, written in 1387, before he himself
went on pilgrimage to the well-known place. The Canterbury Tales
introduce a group of pilgrims travelling from London to the tomb of
Thomas Becket at Canterbury, a common place for pilgrimage in
consequently, the sinful men had no right to authority. His ideas were considered
anticlerical, and Wycliffe went into a direct conflict with the church hierarchy; in other
treaties he attacked the papacy, an attitude which brought him before a church court,
(1378) and, later on, a commission of theologians at Oxford (1380) forced him to leave
the university. Retired at Lutterworth he continued to write intensively, until his death
(1384). Supported by many followers, his doctrine became debased and popularised by
preacher priests expanding largely in the country in spite of the governments attempts to
stop it; the doctrine inspired the peasants revolt by its subversive ideas.

England, in the Middle Ages. The tales were

those told by the pilgrims to while away the
journey to Canterbury; many of their themes are
not original, being common in Europe of that
time, and it seems probable that Chaucer picked
them during his travels abroad; anyway, he
rewrote them in an interesting and humorous
way. A really valuable work is the Prologue, in
which Chaucer described his characters, an
entirely original text where Chaucer proved his
gift as a poet; besides, he showed a deep
understanding of human nature, the Prologue
remaining incredibly fresh and interesting even
GEOFFREY CHAUCER
for the modern reader, after six hundred years. At
the same time, the Prologue can be considered a unique description of a
nation, as representatives of the whole people irrespective of age, sex or
social class, old or young, man or woman, priest or merchant, knight or
peasant, townsman or countryman, all are present in his lines.
The 15th century was, in comparison with the 14th, a period of sterility
and no noteworthy name succeeded Chaucer, although poets like
John Lydgate produced a large quantity of verses.
Even monastic chronicles had come to an end, and the writing of
distinguished works of history had declined. The same could be said
about philosophy or theology works.
However, the end of the Middle Ages recorded a major technical event in
the field of culture: the printing press, set up in 1476 at Westminster. It
was due to the first English printer William Caxton (1422-1491). Born in
Kent, he spent some years in Bruges and Germany, after which he came
back to England enjoying the patronage of some kings. The setting up of
the printing press was as revolutionary for the age, as radio, TV or
Internet are for the modern people.
Books increased in number and became cheaper, more people getting
access to them. At the same time, printing determined the standardization
of grammar, and the educated people of the time started to use the
written word as a weapon to change the world in which they lived

[25; p. 65]. Caxton avoided printing any literature which could be

considered dangerous; between 1477 and 1491 he issued over eighty
books, including Chaucers work, Sir Thomas Mallorys collection of
French stories about King Arthur (Le Mort dArthur) as well as an
impressive number of translations from French, made by himself.
The 15th century meant an important progress in the field of education.
Grammar schools already existed in England, for the education of boys
who were not destined to church; till the introduction of printing,
teaching was achieved by word of mouth, with the pupils learning their
lessons by heart. Most of those schools were private, the parents having
to pay for the education of their sons.
With the rise of the new middle class eager to become literate and
encouraged by the cheaper printed books, the foundation of new schools
and colleges was something normal and necessary; they were set up by
public-spirited citizens (by donation or legacy), guilds or corporations, or
by collegiate churches. A well-known institution was founded in this
period: Eton College (1440) by Henry VI, who also founded Kings
College, Cambridge (1441); other colleges were founded at Oxford and
Cambridge as well, by influential persons, as for example William of
Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor of England
(He founded Winchester School, 1382, and New College, Oxford).
Law was taught at the so called Inns of Court which expanded their
membership and improved the teaching methods; they were attended by
many gentlemens sons, who did not necessarily wanted to become
lawyers, but needed the knowledge on the subject in order to better
run their estates.
The foundation of these schools represented a necessity for the respective
time, because the need for educated people, able to administer the
government, Church, law, and trade was continuously growing.
The college system of the universities, where students could both learn
and live, was built up during that period, and it remained the basis of
their organization for a long period of time, being quite singular
even today.

The late Middle Ages was spectacular as regards architecture and

sculpture, which showed great originality; the new style in building
became remarkable especially in regions made rich by woolen industry
development, and it was mainly obvious, in the case of churches
or chapels.
England at the end of an age. The historians agree that the year 1485,
when Henry Tudor, earl of Richmond took the crown, leaving Richard III
dead on the battlefield, represented the moment when England left the
Middle Ages, entering a new epoch. It is beyond doubt that the English
had emerged from the Middle Ages as a nation, perfectly aware of their
identity, and always ready to assert it. Important differences can be
noticed between England and its neighbours on the continent: thus, the
English were relatively prosperous, and free from the famine danger; as
regards the social system, there was a recognized understanding of the
existing gradation ranging from the nobility, through the independent
yeomen to the Commons, farming their land. The kings of England
commanded a range of power and control over all their subjects, and the
country could be simply ruled because the specific law of England, the
common law, was both its offspring and guide. Besides, there were no
provincial powers needed to be overcome by force or diplomacy. These
were some of the essential aspects which emphasized the national
identity of the realm.
However, the English nation-state had not been yet safely built up, and
the wars in the ending age had shown that the recently formed identity
could be easily jeopardized. The next years and the generations of rulers
to come were to continue and strengthen the nation-station construction,
and its modernization.

2.8 The Renaissance in England. the Reformation

and the Consolidation of the Nation-State;
Culture and Civilization in Tudor Period

Henry VII, the supporter of change. When

the civil war (The Wars of the Roses) came to
an end, and Henry Tudor became the king of
England (1485-1509), the first thing he had to
do was to put the system he had inherited into
operation, and direct it on the right way.
Although Henry VII is less known than his
successors (Henry VIII, Elisabeth I), his reign
was, by far, one of the most important for
Englands development at the respective time.
HENRY VII
He was the man who understood his age,
shared the ideas and opinions of the new growing class of merchants and
gentlemen farmers, basing his power on pragmatic common sense. It was
a period of unprecedented economic growth and social change, and
Henry VII understood that the time of wars and military glory had
passed, and business support was the best thing for the state.

The concept of Renaissance is considered highly controversial; its usual meaning is that
of rebirth of the ancient Greek and Roman culture in Italy, (13th century) and its
spreading in Europe, at moments varying from country to country. It was accompanied by
significant socio-economic and political changes. Different opinions were expressed in
connection with this concept (28; p. 346-348).

Henrys claim to the throne was not based on the quality of Plantagenet blood; his title
was won on the battlefield; therefore, the new king consolidated his position, first, by
parliamentary acceptance, and second, by royal marriage. He married Elizabeth of York
(Edward IVs daughter) uniting the two roses, and launching England upon one century
of peace, by Tudor dynasty and rule (1485-1603).

2.8.1 Englands Economy and Society at the End of the 15th Century
and the Beginning of the 16th Century. The Main Institutions
in Henry VIIs Time. Government, Financial Policy,
Justice and Foreign Affairs

The long period of wars had seriously damaged Englands trading

position, especially with France, Germany and Italy; the only open
markets, which represented a way for the English trade in Europe, had
remained the Low Countries. The opportunity was correctly used by
Henry VII, who, soon after his coming to the throne, made a successful
trade agreement with these countries, which allowed the English trade to
grow again. Immediately, the merchants adapted to the new possibilities,
and the export of raw wool was replaces with the export of woolen cloth
manufactured at home. Thus, the exports grew at high levels and the
demand for wool, as well. That made the landlords increase the number
of flocks, converting the meadows into sheep runs; in time, the sheep
came to outnumber the human beings 3 to 1. The result was that the
common land of the manor was divided up and fenced in, while the
peasant farmers was no longer necessary. The medieval system of land
tenure and communal farming had become obsolete. The need for labour
force declined, as one shepherd and his dogs were enough to do the
required work. A large surface of land was enclosed, and, according to
statistics, up to the end of the 16th century, some 50,000 persons were
forced to leave the land, a fact which emerged a large vagrant and
unemployed labour force. The society felt no responsibility for these
people, and the impact was dramatic; it meant the pauperization of a
large part of the society placed at one end of the social scale, while at the
other one, profits were soaring. Those who benefited from that
revolutionary change in the land usage were the landed country
gentlemen, the merchants and lawyers. Thus, at the beginning of the
15th century a new economic and social trend was constituted: the knight
of the shire had changed into a respectable landlord desiring strong,
practical government and the rule of law. they were willing to serve
the prince (king Henry VII) in parliament, in council, in commission and
other offices of the common wealth [53, p. 45].

In order to consolidate his position, Henry had to be financially

independent, and, from this point of view, he was fortunate; a lot of the
old noblemen had been decimated in the endless wars, or their land had
been confiscated as defeated opponents; all their estates had gone to the
king. Besides, he was ruthless in demanding the money owed to him
from different taxes, fees, rents or other sources, as for example the
fining of the rebels. By this policy he could have become unpopular, but
Henry was, on the one hand, extremely temperate in his own spendings,
and, on the other hand, he knew who his supporters were: the merchants
and the representatives of lesser gentry classes who - like him wanted
peace and prosperity in the country. He rose new noblemen and
statesmen from among them, and he expected them to be loyal to him.
Thus, he governed with the help of the Privy Council mainly made up of
the devoted so-called new men.
Having money and being financially independent, Henry had more
power; thus, he was able to establish his authority in the realm, first, by
forbidding the noblemen to maintain private army. In this way, without
destroying nobility, he could keep the lords under his control, and
prevent them from intimidating justice or threatening the throne any
longer.
Second, he won respect by enforcing the law, seriously damaged by the
nobles and their armed mens behaviour in the previous period. Using
the old system of government, Henry succeeded to develop
administration bodies placed directly under his control. Thus, preserving
his position as the centre of the Council the fountain of justice, Henry
used the Court of Star Chamber to deal with lawless nobles and other
criminal cases. Anyway, during this reign the royal council continued to
diversify, its members becoming specialized in different matters.
(The Court of Chancery in civil offences, The Court of Requests in
the suites of poor persons, The Court of Admiralty in piracy a.s.o.).
Similarly, due to the kings initiative and under his direct control, the
matters of finance became more efficient and flexible: he replaced the

The name is derived from the star-painted ceiling of the room where the councillors used
to meet.

traditional exchequer (fiscal agency of the crown) with the treasurer of

the chamber, (department of his personal household) as a central segment
of the government for tax-raising, rent-collection and money-disbursing.
His decisions worked, so that, at his death, he had left behind the huge
amount of 2 million.
One of Henry VIIs important aims was to enforce kings law all over the
country, an enterprise in which he succeeded to a large extent, even in
the northern counties and Wales. (He created The Council of the North
and The Council of the Welsh Marches). Considered by many as being
a robber, in fact a thrifty man who never spent money unless he had to,
Henry understood the changes of his time, and correctly assessed
Englands future wealth as depending on international trade; the accepted
the free spending of money for building ships for merchant fleet. New
sea routes were opened, among which the first was the expedition to
America of John and Sebastian Cabot, and the subsequent discovery of
New-found land or Terra Nova, and Labrador.
As regards the policy abroad, Henry VII was at peace with France, now a
powerful country and in alliance with Spain. Wales was almost
integrated (the event took place in 1543), and peace had been established
with Scotland and Ireland.
Henry VIIs achievements were important, and he can be called the first
absolutist Renaissance monarch who succeeded to restore order in the
country and kept peace by consolidating royal power. His decisions had,
as a direct effect, a real revolution in the social system: all the citizens,
noblemen or commoners, members of the clergy or laymen, were
considered equal before the law of the land.
Trade was supported and developed, while the strength and competence
of the State increased, embodied in the person of the king. [37; p. 7].
After 24 years of reign, Henry left to his successor a new type of state:
a safe throne, a solvent government, a prosperous land, and a
reasonably united kingdom [53; p. 46].

2.8.2 Henry VIII and the Reformation

The new king, who was the second son of

Henry VII, was to rule England for the next 36
years. He is well known as a historical figure
because of his six marriages, two of his wives
being sentenced to death by him, and for the
reformation of the church which he decided
from purely political reasons. With a complex
personality, Henry VIII was just the opposite of
his father: although intelligent, he was
unscrupulous, cruel and interested in pleasing
himself; besides, he enjoyed having a showy
HENRY VIII
life, by maintaining a magnificent court, and
being wasteful with money. Tall and handsome, a perfect athlete and a
cultivated person, musician and lover of gorgeous feasts, he was known
as arbiter elegantiarum and an art patron; in a word he was a real
Renaissance prince [28; p. 357].
The first part of his reign was dominated by the figure of Cardinal Wolsey
who carried on, in fact, the countrys administrative policy and its
international relations for twenty years.
Although of low social extraction (the son of a butcher), Wolsey
accumulated different titles, becoming a specific representative of the
new age social order; he got the highest positions possible in the state,
being, at the same time, lord chancellor and cardinal legate for life,
exercising a degree of power never imagined before; by these two
positions he succeeded to unite in his person both the authority of the
state, and that of the church. As regards his advisers, Henry VIII had
followed his father policy, selecting men of great intellectual capacity
even if they were of humble origin. However, he did not hesitate to
eliminate them when his decisions or interests were contrary; the same
happened to Wolsey.
One of Henry VIIIs greatest ambitions was to become an important
character of Europes political life, and, supported by Wolsey, he

launched himself into the international arena, in an attempt to turn

England into a strong centre of Renaissance learning and brilliance.
However, at that moment, there were two other important centres of
power in Europe, which the monarch and the cardinal seamed to have
underestimated: France and Spain united with the Holy Roman Empire.
Henrys intention was that, by using diplomacy, and swinging the
balance of power on one side or another to keep peace between the two
powerful countries and, therefore, of Europe, making England important
in keeping stability; unfortunately, he failed in his attempts, which
meant a great disappointment for the king, while England became only a
second-rate power in Europe.
Henry VIII had got enough power from his father, the preceding king,
Henry VII, with only one exception: the independent Roman Catholic
church had remained unchanged, much outside the kings control.
At the same time, the Church was an extremely wealthy institution, as
the lands it owned as well as the land of monasteries had been untouched
by the royal power; the monks had ceased to have a truly religious life
living in wealth and comfort, the fact making them less popular with the
people. On the other hand, the land administration no longer coped with
the new economic conditions.
Henry VIII could not have been but interested in finding a way to take
over all that land as a source of new money, much the same his father
had done with the nobles land.
The premises of the Reformation: the major event of Henry VIIIs
reign. In the 16th century reality, witnessing changing economic
practices, new social values and a new governmental structure, the old
medieval church could have been considered an anachronism. The
church was historically a state within a state, an independent clerical
body, possessing special rights and privileges; its duties should have
been mainly of a spiritual nature but, unfortunately, in many respects, it

In 1525, a war took place, and the emperor Charles V defeated and captured Francis I of
France at the battle of Pavia; the whole Europe bowed before the conqueror, the pope
himself being at the emperors disposal. In 1529, the emperor and Francis I concluded the
Treaty of Cambray; it meant the total failure of Wolseys diplomatic activity; he was
dismissed from his office, and fortunately for him, died in time to escape prison and trial.

had become more interested in worldly matters; its representatives, not

only priests, but high ecclesiasts as well, were mainly preoccupied with
worldly affairs. Although the people continued to go to church, from
which, in many cases, the priests were absent, their respect for the
institution had seriously diminished. Under such
circumstances, a movement of new ideas started to
be spread out in England coming from the
universities in Northern Europe, as a response to the
Christians need for inner contentment. New names
became famous, as that of Martin Luther, a
German monk in Saxony, or of Thomas Bilney, a
Cambridge scholar person, who had turned to the
Bible in their search for true, spiritual meanings, far
ERASMUS OF
from ritualism, worldliness and general religious
ROTTERDAM
apathy. In England the new reforming ideas were
also propagated by Erasmus of Rotterdam, a great mind of the
Renaissance, and by his followers, among whom Dean John Colet and
the new learning men.
The new religious ideas found in England a receptive audience: on the
one hand, the representatives of the upper and middle classes
discontented with the old religious formulas in which they could no
longer find the expected spiritual satisfaction, but, which was offered by
Lutheran doctrine, and, on the other hand, the religious subculture known
as Lollardy, officially denied, but, finally, becoming respectable with
the spreading of Luthers new religious doctrine.
Henry VIII was never a Protestant, being, in his first twenty years of
reign, even a persecutor of those who voiced religious nonconformism.
In 1521 he had written a pro-Catholic text directed against Luthers
doctrine. The fact determined the Pope (Clement VII) to give him the
title of defender of faith (Fidei Defensor), born, from that moment on,
by all the Kings of England.

Wolsely himself, the richest and the most famous clerical statesman, seemed to have
represented a wrong example of corruption and worldliness.

Lollardy it started from John Wycliffes ideas.

In 1544 the title became hereditary by Parliament law. The letters F.D. are still to be
found on every British coin.

However, when the moment came, the general anticlerical atmosphere

and the apathy existing within the church combined with momentary
demands and concurrent circumstances made him decide the break with
Rome. The decision was a pure political one.
One of Henrys major internal objectives was to secure a legitimate male
successor to the throne of England. Unfortunately, his wife, Catherine of
Aragon had not been able to offer him the desired son, and Henry tried to
persuade the pope to allow him to divorce her, in favour of marriage to
Anne Boleyn. Cardinal Wolsey was sent to make the necessary
arrangements with the pope; he, normally, should have succeeded; but
the pope was under the control of emperor Charles V who was
Catherines nephew and protector. From both political and family
reasons, Charles was against Henrys divorce, the pope was not able to
oppose him and, thus, he refused Wolsey, and forbade Henrys divorce.
Henry was furious at the news, and took a decisive step: he turned to the
authority of the state in order to obtain the annulment of his marriage,
and used Parliament in order to make the break with Rome a legal
decission. It took some years until Henry Tudor was given the title of the
Supreme Head of the Church of England by the Parliaments Act of
Supremacy. The so-called Reformation Parliament (first met in 1529)
was unprecedented in Englands history, its activity lasting for seven
years, during which time it enacted 137 statutes, out of which 32 were of
vital importance for the further development of the political, social and
economic life of the realm. Even in 1531 the church had been obliged to
acknowledge the kings supremacy as the head of the church. The next
important step which Henry took was to cut the constitutional
connections holding England to papacy. An Act in 1533 declared
England an empire; it was an important statute, (it destroyed the queens
right of appeal from the archbishops court to Rome, regarding the
expertise annulment of her marriage to Henry), and due to it, Henrys
marriage to Catherine was adjudged null and void by an obliging
archbishop. A couple of months later, Anne Boleyn was crowned rightful
queen of England, after her secret marriage to Henry, and on
September 7, 1533 a royal child was born. To Henrys despair it was not
the much expected male heir, but a girl; in history, she will be known as
the famous, unequalled queen Elisabeth I, Tudor.

Reference to the Act of Restraint of Appeals.

As regards the break with Rome which had been started, it had to be
continued, and the Church of England to be rebuilt. A year later (1534)
by the Act of Succession, the kings marriage to Anne was accepted by
Parliament, while the Annates Statute cut most of Englands financial
ties with Rome. The break became legal and final in the same year,
(1534) when a real constitutional revolution took place, with the Act of
Supremacy being solemnized by Parliament. The Church became a
national one, subordinated to the Crown.
At that moment, the decisions had been taken, the things had been done
and England had become a Protestant country; however, in spite of all
these Acts and Statutes the popular religious continued to be
Catholic.
Henry had to carry the Reformation further; Church and State were no
longer two separate entities, with the former above, as representing the
divine law. The new English church had become a sort of department of
Tudor state, while the power of the old church had collapsed in front of
the new royal authority. Anyway, Henry had always disliked the power
of the old church in England because he had not been able to have it
under his control, the Church being an international organization.
Henry VIIIs next step was to decide the dissolution of monasteries and
monastic orders, an action by which he could make good money. In his
decissions the king was assisted by Thomas Cromwell who had taken
Wolseys place as his chief minister after the latters fall and death.
A very careful survey of Church property followed (perhaps the best
organized tax survey since the Doomsday Book), and, in the name of
efficiency and fiscal reform, all small monasteries and other religious
houses whose endowments were under 200 a year were closed and their
land confiscated. The monks and nuns were simply thrown out. Left
without a possibility of subsistence or work, most of them became
wandering beggars. Unfortunately, the dissolution of monasteries
culturally meant, a violent act of official destruction; unless the old
monastery buildings were practically knocked down for their stone to be
used in new buildings, they were just left to fall down, becoming ruins.
The religious images, paintings, sculptures and stained glass were either
destroyed or removed, as a consequence of the Protestant attitude.

In the period 1536-1539, about 800 such religious places were dissolved.

By nationalizing the land of the monasteries, and including it into the

Crown property, Henry made money, as the land was gradually sold to
the new rising classes, landed gentry and merchants on whose support
the king based his policy.
In time, as a result of the dissolution of the monasteries estates, the new
gentry surpassed in number and wealth the nobility and ecclesiasts of the
previous age.
In spite of the fact that, generally, there was little opposition to the
kings decision to break with Rome and close the monasteries, some
people raised their voice against the events. One of them was the famous
humanist and lord chancellor Sir Thomas More, who was sent to the
scaffold for his refusal to repudiate the Papal authority. Bishop John
Fisher and some others were sentenced to death for not accepting the
national church; all those who refused to support the king were
eliminated in one way or another, in accordance with the Act of Treason.
In his achievements, Henry VIII was directly assisted and much
influenced by the political vision of Cardinal Thomas Cromwell, during
his short but explosive political career (1532-1540); Thomas Cromwell
thought about a strictly independent, unitary realm, organized entirely
within its own borders and dedicated to reform in both the spiritual and
the secular sphere [12; p. 116]. It is possible that the will of doing that
was Henrys, while the parliamentary means belonged to Cromwell
[53; p. 49].
In his long reign, covering a period of 38 years, Henry VIII tried to put
into practice four major objectives: [28; pp. 359-362]:
1. to secure a legitimate male successor to the throne of England; (the
experience the country had with queen Matilda 400 hundred years
before had been disastrous). After six marriages, and the
Reformation, Henry succeeded to leave his only son, Edward, a
fragile boy, legitimate heir to the Crown of England.

Pilgrimage of Grace (1536-1537) was a short-lived eruption; the uprisings in

Lincolnshire and Yorkshire were religiously motivated, but they had other causes as well.

2. to consolidate Englands power on the island, both by the force of

weapons and of law. Scotland and Ireland were military defeated,
while Wales was peacefully made a part of England by an Act of
Parliament (1536, 1543).
3. to consolidate Englands independence against the dangers
represented by the two powerful European states of the time, France
and Spain; with this aim in view, Henry continued his fathers work
(Henry VII) of building a strong fleet.
4. to strengthen the central power of the state, emblematically
represented by the absolute monarch; he achieved his objectives with
the support of Parliament which voted a number of laws in this
respect, out of which the Act of Supremacy (1534) was the most
important.
Henry VIII s reign was a period of important changes, continuing the
kingdoms transformation which had started with Henry VII. With Henry
VIII medievalism nearly vanished, and a new type of culture and
civilization announced its dawn with the dramatic events which took
place during his reign.
In fact, the conditions were prepared for what was going to happen and it
is known in history as the glorious Elizabethan age.
When Henry VIII died in 1547, the crown had assumed the authority as
the head of the church, but, without fundamentally changing the old
religious forms; but, undoubtedly, the fundamentals of the Catholic
church had been severely shaken, never to be restored in spite of some
feeble attempts.
2.8.3 England after Henry VIII. The Religious Struggle
Henry VIII left the historical arena in 1547, an old sick man, and,
unfortunately for his kingdom, a clear-cut attitude towards the religious
creed had not been decided by the monarch; in fact, he had never worked
out a consistent policy in religious matters, the Books issued in his
time being either Lutheran in tone, (1536) or mildly Roman Catholic
(1539) in opinion.

Thus, for the period to come, the struggle between Catholics and
Protestants remained opened and it would come for Parliament to decide
what the true faith of the English people was to be.
Edward VI (1547-1553), the legitimate heir of the Crown was only a
nine-year-old boy when he became king, so the power passed to a
Council under the control of his uncle, Edward Seymore, Earl of
Hertford, who, soon, became lord protector. The members of the Council
were selected from the new nobility who had highly benefited from the
sale of the land from the confiscated monasteries,
and, consequently, they were Protestant reformers.
As regards Seymore, he was a man more merciful
than tactful, more idealistic than practical, and,
undoubtedly, highly tolerant. This attitude was a
dangerous one and, at the respective time, the Tudor
state found itself close to destruction; there was
much social and religious discontent (most people
still believed in the old Catholic religion, and they
EDWARD VI
did not want to change it; they had been dissatisfied
with only the bad practices of the Church when they had accepted
Reformation) and, in order to put an end to the lack of uniformity in the
ritual of the new Church, the lord protector introduced the Prayer Book
(1549), written by Thomas Cranmer.
The result was not the expected one, and the book increased the
opposition between Catholics and Protestants.
Economically, the lord protector was not a better manager of the state
matters: the period knew rising prices, debasement of the national
currency and an inflationary crisis, all of them having as a result some
social movements, which also took the form of religious discontent: the
revolts of peasantry in Cornwall and Devonshire (1549).
Internationally, lord Seymore was faced with a war with Scotland which,
inevitably, involved France; the war ended inconclusively.

His mother was Jane Seymore, Henry VIII s third wife.

All these unfortunate events proved the inability of the lord protector to
rule the country, and in 1549, the members of the council, dissatisfied
with his activity, decided to deprive him of his office and, subsequently,
he was arrested; charged of treason, Seymore was executed two years
later.
The council came under the control of John Duddley, a totally different
personality in comparison with the previous lord protector: active and
resolute, he was the specific representative of the new landed nobility,
and closely connected with the radical elements of the Protestant reformers.
In a couple of years, he succeeded to reestablish social order, while the
Catholic tendencies were resolutely repressed, and the still existing
wealth of the church, practically, looted.
Due to his decisions, the kingdom was clearly directed towards
Protestantism; important changes in the religious rituals were established,
the priests became governmental appointee, and the new Prayer Book
(1552) was a step to religious uniformity.
But, in 1553, John Dudly, Earl of Warwick and, meanwhile, duke of
Northumberland was stopped in his decisions by an event which turned
the page of history once again: the young king Edward VI died of
consumption, and the succession to thrown of the next legal heir, the
Catholic Mary, the first daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon,
became inevitable.
In a desperate attempt, Dudley and some Protestant nobles tried their
fortune at kingmaking. Dudley had discovered the young and innocent
Lady Jane Grey, who had become his daughter-in-law, and thought
about her making queen.
The plot had no popular support, and it failed in a couple of days. Mary
was preferred as queen because she was a Tudor and a legal heir.
The unfortunate Dudley, Jane Grey and her husband were imprisoned,
and later on, sentenced to death and beheaded.

Lady Jane Grey was the granddaughter of Henry VIIIs sister, Mary, Duchess of Suffolk.

Queen Mary (1553-1558) was a woman admired by some of her

contemporaries for her heart and courage, but, as regards her policy,
she was unwise and outdated. She was a Roman Catholic, and she
thought that Englands return to the Catholic church could be possible.
She took it as a sacred obligation, as she also took her marriage to Philip
of Spain. Both decisions proved to be gross mistakes as the English
disliked them, and, especially, her marriage to a Spanish prince; very
soon, the queen was faced with a popular rebellion, under the leadership
of Sir Thomas Wyat (1554). The rebellion was cruelly crushed, but it
revealed the real feelings of the people who had placed Protestantism and
nationalism above the loyalty to the Crown.
Queen Marys next step was to start burning Protestants, among whom
many of their leaders (Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer, Hooper); during the last
three years of her reign, three hundred people were considered heretics
and put to death by fire. Such cruel events had a strong emotional impact
on the peoples mind, and the queens death in 1558 was received with a
feeling of relief.

2.8.4 Elizabethan Age

Elisabeth became queen at her half-sisters death in 1558, and, at that
moment, nobody could have thought that the twenty-five-year old lady
would give her name to a long period of Englands history; Elisabeth
reigned for about half a century and her unmatched personality
decisively influenced the countrys further development.

Daughter of Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIIIs first wife.

Philip of Spain was her cousin, son of Charles V, her mothers protector.

Elisabeth was Anne Bouleyns daughter, Henry VIIIs second wife, and she was only
three years old when her mother was executed; it is supposed that, being a precocious
child, she found out even at an early age some details about her mothers cruel end; the
tragic event should have had a profound effect on her emotional development. Educated
in the Renaissance spirit by the best tutors of the realm, both celebrated scholars and
declared Protestants, the young princess was imbued with their ideals, becoming, in her
turn, a genuine Renaissance representative. Endowed with a brilliant intelligence and a
remarkable good memory, she was encouraged to become the equal of men in learning,
by absorbing humanistic knowledge; she had a special gift for languages, being fluent in
Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, Italian and Welsh, and a special interest in philosophy and

The personal cult growing around the

queen, gloriously called Gloriana,
became the very emblem of the wonderful
English Renaissance which borrowed and
centralized as much refinement from all
the neighbouring countries as it had
plundered their riches or simply competed
with them on the market and, military too,
at sea. [40; p. 32].
The first problem, Elisabeth had to face
when she came to Englands throne, was
QUEEN ELISABETH
the religious one, and she had to find a
peaceful answer for it. Elisabeth had
learned from her predecessors mistakes, and she had understood the
necessity for the realms secular leadership, devoid of any religious
bigotry. The queens new title of supreme governor of the church
(instead of head of the church) offered her the possibility to take those
steps which could bring together those parts of the society which were in
disagreement because of religious matters. Thus, she developed a kind of
Protestantism which was much closer to the Roman-Catholic religion
than to the different Protestant forms existing in Europe, and which were
politically dangerous for the state stability; in such circumstances, she
history, reading a lot from the classics. She had great passion for music, singing and
writing it, and she was excellent in activities specific to the Renaissance ladies, as needle
work or embroiding. She was similarly good in horse riding, and she enjoyed walking
outdoors, or shooting with a crossbow; besides, she passionately loved dancing. As
regards her character, it was as complex as her education and skills; she was able to
control her emotions, and to behave circumspectly in public, being dignified and stately in
her attitude. However, under some circumstances, she could also be dictatorial and
temperamental. Endowed with a keen sense of humour, sometimes malicious, the queen
was able of cutting remarks, although her warm and compassionate nature became
obvious particularly towards the old, the sick or the misfortunate ones. But, above all,
Elisabeth was a courageous woman, both when she expressed her points of view and
when she was confronted with dangers and enemies. She also knew how to use her
feminity to advantage, pointing out her womanly weaknesses and shortcomings, although
it was clear that she possessed many qualities most admired in men. Full of energy,
Elisabeth had also a robust health and an acknowledged charisma: with expressive eyes,
lively conversation, wit and vivacity, she was considered attractive and charming.
However, she was inclined towards a single existence, and, in a determined way, she
preserved her independence and autonomy for all her life [Allison Weir, Elisabeth the
Queen, adapted].

decided that Edwards Prayer Book (1552) be amended in a way that

made it be better accepted by Catholics. Another decision was to make
the parish, whose size was generally equal to that of a village, the unit
of the state administration, while the parson or vicar became a very
powerful local person. Besides, people were obliged by law to go to
church on Sundays, and those who did not do it were fined. By all these
decisions, Elisabeth succeeded to make the Church part of the state
machanism.
Although by her aptitudes, and with the help of her advisors, Elisabeth
was successful in maintaining inner peace, her countrys position was
often endangered with threats coming from outside, mainly from the two
powerful Catholic countries, France and Spain. Especially after the first
decade of her reign (1568), considered as relatively quiet, a coincidence
of events determined a state of political crisis of major importance for the
countrys future; the queens permanent refusal to marry, in spite of her
being courted by many kings and princes of Europe, was combined with
different plots of those nobles who wanted to replace her with the
Catholic Mary of Scotland, while the country found itself in a dangerous
economic and religious clash with Spain. Anyway, the presence of Mary,
the former queen of the Scots, held captive in England, represented a
permanent source of discomfort for the queen, and a potential threat for
the crown of England. On the one hand, there were still many Roman

Mary, Queen of Scots was Elisabeths closest living relative (Henry VIIIs grandniece,
and her heir to the throne of England, as Elisabeth had no children). Mary was Catholic,
and she had spent many years in France as the French dauphins wife where she had
absorbed a solid French culture; when she returned to rule Scotland as queen. The country
was already officially Protestant, which had made it closer to England, but the Scottish
monarch did not have over the Protestant Scottish Kirk (church) the authority which the
English king had. Besides, the Kirk was a more democratic organization, as it was
governed by a General Assembly without any bishops to influence the decisions.
Protestantism had been largely adopted in Scotland, and the Roman Catholic Mary was
not highly liked by the kirk, although the queen had clearly showed that she had no
intention of bringing the Catholic religion back in the country. Unfortunately for her,
Mary did no prove to have a right judgment, so necessary for a ruler at moments of crisis,
and shocked the Scottish and English society by her wrong decisions; thus, soon after
becoming queen, she married Lord Darnley, but, getting tired of him allowed his being
murdered and married Bothwell, the murderer,. Discontented with her attitude, the
Scottish nobles rebelled against her and she was captured and imprisoned. In 1568 she
escaped to England, but being considered an unwanted visitor, she was held by Elisabeth
in captivity for 19 years till her execution in 1587.

Catholics in the country who considered Mary of Scotland the rightful

monarch, and, on the other hand, France or Spain could be interested in
Marys reign as a way of bringing England under their control. For a
time, the different plots organized in Marys support, and in which she
herself was involved in an attempt to unset Elisabeth, were discovered
and annihilated, without any decision coming form Elisabeth as regards
her cousins fate; that happened as long as a balance between the
possible support offered to Mary by either France or Spain was
maintained: France did not look interested to attack England in support
of Mary, but Spain had the reason to do it; however, Marys attachment
to France made Spain hesitate in taking a step which could have finally
meant Englands closer relations with that country, in other words,
England being offered as gift to France.
Marys wrong decision of naming Philip II of Spain her heir to the throne
of England, at a moment when a war with Spain already seemed
inevitable, precipitated her end by obliging Elisabeth to take the difficult
step of accusing her of high treason.
The plot organized by Babington in 1586, and whose consequence was
Marys trial and sentence to death had not been but a carefully arranged
trap, in order to gain enough evidence against the former queen.
After long hesitations, Elisabeth agreed to Marys execution in February
1587. It is interesting to point out that, at the respective moment, after
different Catholic plots, and with the threat of a Spanish invasion coming
closer, the anti-Catholic feelings were very strong in England, while a
general belief that to be Catholic was similar to the idea of being an
enemy of the country was largely spread. Such an attitude could not be
but an important political force at the moment when England was faced
with the dangerous threat of a war with Spain.

Spain was at the time the most powerful country on the continent, its troops being the best
in Europe. Much of its well being came from the New World, which poured its wealth
into the treasury in Madrid [53; p. 52].

As regards foreign policy, England had put an end to the century old
enmity with France by the Treaty of Blois (1572), and, at the respective
time, the only real danger came from the powerful and arrogant Spain. In
fact, the clash between the two countries was caused by interests coming
from the trade overseas. Elisabeth considered trade a matter of highest
importance for her kingdom, but in this direction England had a rival and
an enemy: Spain. In order to strengthen its trade position, England had
acted against Spains interests in Netherlands, helping the Dutch
Protestants in their fight of independence against the Spanish rulers; not
only that Elisabeth had allowed their ships to use English harbours for
attacks against the Spanish ships, but also she had directly helped them
with money and soldiers. Besides, since 1570, when Spain refused
Englands free trade with Spanish-American colonies, the English ships
had often attacked the Spanish ones while they were coming back from
America loaded with riches. It was known that the sea dogs, who,
besides traders, were pirates and adventurers, were encouraged in their
actions by the queen, with whom they shared the prey. The most famous
of them were John Hawkins, Francis Drake and Martin Frobisher.
As the Spanish world domination started to be endangered by the English
increasing boldness at sea, doubled by the attitude it had in Netherlands,
Philip II was obliged to seriously consider the matter, and to act
accordingly. In its turn, England could not forget and forgive the Spanish
treacherous behaviour in 1568, when a small English fleet was attacked
and destroyed at the Battle of San Juan de Ulu. Maybe, that unexpected
event had made the English start building the revolutionary fleet which
was going to destroy the old-fashioned Spanish ships in the battles to come.
In this turn, Spain did not remain impassively. Philips also decided the
building of a large fleet, but in 1587, at Cadiz, Drake unexpectedly
attacked and destroyed part of it, delaying, in this way, the sailing date of
the Armada. However, the Spanish Invincible Armada was finally
built, and in the summer of 1588, the largest fleet that had ever gone to

It was a period of weakness for France, especially after the accidental death of Henry II
(1559); its political life was characterized by factional strife, religious and civil wars.

Henry VII was the first to recognize the importance of trade and started to build a large
fleet of merchant ships. Henry VIII continued his policy and spent money to make the
warship and guns the best in Europe.

Spain ruled the Netherlands; most of the people were Protestants and they were against
the Catholic Spanish dominance.

sea (130 vessels, 31,000 men and 2,430 cannons), reached England,
prepared to attack and invade it. What followed proved the superiority of
the English fleet in technology and strategy, but bad weather conditions
also contributed to Armadas disaster. Dashed to pieces, what had
remained out of the Spanish fleet tried to escape home on a northern
route around Scotland and Ireland. Although a glorious moment for
England, the victory did not put an end to the rivalry between the two
countries, and other battles took place till the end of Elisabeths reign. In
1596, a second descent on Cadiz, when the city was seized and the entire
West Indies fleet was burnt meant another English victory. Thus, the
Royal Navy which had been Henry VIII s creation saved both himself
and his daughter when they adopted an island policy and defied the
Catholic powers of Europe [45; p. 199]. Besides, the encouragement that
the queen gave to the buccaneers to attack the Spanish ships, with all the
consequences resulting from such actions, and which represented one
direction of her foreign policy, Elisabeth also encouraged English traders
to settle abroad and set up English colonies. Thus, it was during her reign
that the first English colonists sailed to America (Virginia, 1587), a
political direction which will lead to Britains future colonial empire in
the next centuries.
At the same time, England was interested in continuing the development
of its trade abroad; in this respect, new Merchant Companies were
established on the basis of a charter giving them the right to all the
business in a certain trade or region, some of their profits being given to
the Crown. Such companies were, for example, the Eastland Co. (1579)
trading with Scandinavia and the Baltic, the Levant Co. (1581) trading
with the Roman Ottoman, the Africa Co. (1588) trading in slaves, or the
East India Co. (1600) trading with India.

At that moment, Elisabeth addressed to the soldiers ready to go to battle with some
memorable words: I am come to live or die amongs you all, to lay down for my God,
and for my kingdom, and for my people, my honour and my blood even in the dust. I know
I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king,
and a king of England too.

Being longer and narrower the English fighting ships were faster; the guns could shoot
further than the Spanish ones. Most of the Spanish ships constituting the Armada were
barges designed to carry soldiers. The Spaniards also had great old-fashioned galleons.

A strong impulse was given to trade by some important voyages:

Forbisher s in search of the North West Passage, Drakes around the
world, and John Daviss past Greenland to Baffin Bay.
Thus, the period can be considered an important one, as it laid the
foundations of a new trading empire.
As regards Englands closer neighbours (Wales, Scotland and Ireland),
Elisabeths policy was of bringing them under better control, continuing
his fathers efforts in this respect.
Thus, Wales had become part of England in the period between 1536 and
1543, due to Henry VIII authoritative policy and his desire to make the
Welsh become English.
The Welsh had representatives in the English Parliament, while local
Welshmen were appointed J.Ps, becoming, in this way, part of the ruling
English class.
English became the official language in Wales, and its introduction in
schools discouraged the use of Welsh, which, in time, was almost forgotten.
Henry had tried to carry the same type of policy in Ireland as well, and to
bring that country under his control, but, there, the situation was
different. Although he succeeded to persuade the Irish Parliament to
recognize him as king of Ireland, he was not successful in making them
accept the Church Reformation. The Irish nobles were against the idea of
confiscating the monastic land, and, when they rebelled against the
English crown, they did it as Catholics. Later on, during Elisabeths
reign, there were more rebellions and wars, but, finally, the Irish were
defeated, and obliged to accept the English authority and religion. The
greatest effect of the English rule was felt in the northern part of Ireland,
in Ulster, where, after the conquest, the best Irish land was sold to the
English, while the native population was forced either to leave their
territory, or to work for the new settlers. Thus, during Elisabeths reign
Ireland became Englands first important colony. From the very
beginning the peoples nationalism in Ireland went hand in hand with
Catholicism, clearly oriented against the English Protestantism. The

At the end of the 18th century, only a few people could still speak Welsh.

foundations of the war between Catholics and Protestants in Ulster,

which brought so much misfortune to the people in the second half of the
20th century, were laid at that time.
As regards Scotland, it succeeded to preserve its independence, in spite
of Henry VIIIs desire to have it under his authoritative rule. Scotland
was weak in comparison with England, both economically and legally,
and the Scottish kings avoided an open confrontation with their strong
neighbour. In 1513, the Scots had been severely defeated at Floddon by
Henry VIII s army, an event which they could not forget, being aware
that a balance had to be kept between peace with England and the old
alliance with France. When Henry VIII showed his authoritative
intentions by using his army and badly defeated the Scots, they had
nothing to do but to accept the arrangement of a marriage between their
infant queen, Mary and Edward, Henry VIII s son (1558). However,
after a couple of years a new parliament turned down the agreement, as
the Scots disliked the idea of having an English king; Mary was sent to
France to marry the French kings son (1558). After her return to
Scotland, as a widow queen, Mary caused a lot of trouble to her country,
but her son, James VI, who had started to rule Scotland at the age of
twelve (1578), succeeded to rebuilt the authority of the crown. At
Elisabeths death, James VI succeeded to Englands throne as James I,
although, perhaps, few in England could have liked the idea of a new
king coming from Scotland, their wild northern neighbour [25; p. 78].
Elisabeths reign represented an age, during which England was turned
into a political force, materially cumulative in territorial expansion, but
also highly qualitative culturally and scientifically.
A strong and complex, even heroic personality, Elisabeth was highly
popular at Court and in the country, being recognized abroad as one of
the important monarchs of the time.
Lonely on her throne, she perfectly embodied the Renaissance
personality, equally cool-minded as politician and passionate in
reactions as real woman, a learned scholar, both skeptical and tolerant
in an age of growing fanaticism [37; p. 10].

2.8.5 The Political, Social and Cultural Life in Tudor Period

In Tudor period the political life was based on the principle of coexistence of the monarch and Parliament, in fact, the latter being called
to debate and enshrine in its acts the monarchs decisions. The Privy
Council was also an institution with an important role to play: it acted as
a sort of spokesman of royalty, the legislation which was to be turned
into law by Parliament being initiated by this body.
In fact, although the Tudor kings, as absolute monarchs, did not highly
enjoy the idea of governing through Parliament, they were obliged by the
events to frequently use it, and, consequently, the political power of this
institution grew over the 16th century; in spite of the kings intention,
Parliament got a high level of authority in the state. The Tudors
considered Parliament as an instrument for strengthening their political
decisions by law making, and, by no means an institution whose
functions could be to command or initiate. However, the reality forced
the movement of the kings concept regarding Parliament into a different
direction, and determined the strengthening of Parliament position. That
happened because both the monarchs and their governments were
dependent on Parliament for raising the money necessary for military
adventures, or court expenditures; at the same time, dramatic events
required the frequent summoning of Parliament asked to legislate on
crucial matters of church and state, as breaking with Rome, proclaiming
the monarch as supreme headship (governor), establishing royal
succession, legitimizing or bastardizing the heirs to the Crown and so on;
besides, the monarchs needed the support of the new class of merchants
and landowners whose political conscience had considerably grown. The
response to their interests, and compliance with their requirements
represented the general background of the kings political attitude in
order to get the desired, mutually advantageous and balanced decisions.

The Parliament was supposed to do three things: to agree to the taxes required; to make
the laws suggested by the Crown; to give advice when the Crown needed it.

Today Parliament meets every year and remains in session for about three quarters of it;
in the 16th century Parliament met only when summoned by the king. During Elisabeths
reign of forty-four years, Parliament met thirteen times.

Thus, because of the social changes in the 16th century, the centre of
political power moved from the House of Lords to the House of
Commons. Consequently, the House of Commons increased not only in
importance, but also in size, the number of MPs being practically
doubled during the respective period. (The increase in number of MPs
also resulted from the inclusion of the Welsh boroughs and counties, and
of more English boroughs among the electing areas).
During Elisabeths reign, the MPs were given important rights: freedom
of speech, from fear of arrest, and freedom to meet and speak to the
monarch. [25, p. 80]. On the other hand, the monarch had to be careful
in order to have the right control over the MPs attitude, and be sure that
most of them would support his policy. That is why Parliament was not
always democratic in the proper meaning of the word, the MPs acting,
in many cases, according to the royal wish and not to their electors
wishes. Another innovation which helped the monarch control the
debates in Parliament was the appointment of a speaker, a position
which has continued to exist up to the present days. The speakers duty
was, at that time, to make the MPs have the speeches and make the
decisions wanted by the king.
However, in time, and especially towards the end of Elisabeths reign, in
spite of the monarchs effort to control Parliament, the importance of the
House of Commons grew considerably, reflecting the economic and
political importance of the social elements it represented; it replaced the
House of Lords in importance as it had outnumbered nobility. Should
the crowns leadership falter, there existed by the end of the century an
organization that was quite capable of seizing the political initiative
[53; p. 53].
However, at that moment, there was not a clear image regarding the
categories of problems Parliament was entitled to discuss and decide
upon. It was generally agreed that the Crown was to select the problems
to be debated, but, in practice, during the 16th century, Parliament was
called to advise on almost every subject. Thus, Parliament finally came
to start considering that it had the right to decide on, practically, any
matter.

The speaker is in charge with taking care of MPs good behaviour during the debates.

Imperceptibly, Parliament began to show confidence in itself, and with

the new class becoming more aware of its own strength, the House of
Commons was changed into its instrument by which the voice of this
class could be heard and its will could be fulfilled.
As regards the Tudors way of governing, the general behaviour was of
paternalism, specific to autocratic monarchies, but combined with a
benevolent attitude, showing the enlighted conceptions of those
Renaissance kings; they knew how to hidden their authoritarism by
carefully shaping public opinion and artistically developing pomp and
ceremony. The number of people employed in governmental activities
was limited, with a small number of privy councilors at the top, and a
few thousands at the bottom, scattered in different departments all over
the country. Anyway, much work was done by unpaid amateurs, who
were not professionals, as sheriffs, lord lieutenants or JPs. However, as
regards the economic and social philosophy, the Tudors continue to be
medieval; their final aim was to maintain order and stability in the
country, everything being done and shared according to a recognized and
accepted status.
For a long period of time, the economic and social order of the country
had remained untouched, but in the 16th century the general situation
began to change.
For the first time, there was a sudden increase in population which
doubled in less than a century. (From 2.2 million in 1525 to 4 million in
1603). That increase determined serious food problems; areas of land and
forests had been cleared and turned into pasture lands for sheep grazing,
while wood had been used for the newly developing shipbuilding
industry. Food produce were scarce and expensive, while an
unprecedented inflation took place; the wheat, barley and other produce
prices increased over five times, and, at the same time, the real wages fell
by half.

At the time of Henry VIII, the government tried to stop inflation by making coins
containing up to 50% less gold or silver metal; that was a damaging policy, reducing
English coinage even more, to 1/7 of its value within twenty five years.

It is not surprising that under such a situation of crisis the peoples living
conditions got ever worse. Those who hardly felt the poverty were the
poor farmers cultivating small plots of land, (twenty acres or less) and
who were often not able to pay the rent for their land. In many cases they
were in the situation of losing it, and finding no other work to do, they
were left without any food for themselves and their families.
However, other categories of people managed better, as for example the
yeoman farmers possessing large areas of land; they employed people to
work it, and had plenty of produce to sell. They would ask for higher and
higher prices for the food they produced, as demand was growing while
supply was not sufficient.
Another action which had dramatic consequences as it aggravated the
situation by reducing the area of farming land, was represented by
enclosures.
It was related to cloth industry, and it was caused by the important
amounts of money paid for the wool necessary to this rapidly growing
industry. Thus, the land, either the one which had always belonged to the
whole village or even that used for farming, was fenced off in order to
keep the sheep in; the result was that many poor people lost their land,
and were reduced to a state of severe poverty. The words written in 1583
offer a clear image of the situation: these enclosures be the cause why
rich men eat up poor men as beasts do eat grass [25; p. 82].
There were situations when people showed their anger, and the
rebellions which took place in the first decades of the 16th century,
represented warning signs of the serious problems to come.
In time, the situation worsened, and because of an alarming number of
unemployed and homeless people who had become vagrants and robbers,
the government was obliged to take steps in order to keep the situation
under control. Thus, in 1547, Parliament issued a severe law according to
which any person found without work was obliged to carry out two

Such a rebellion was the so called Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536, when a large mass of
people marched to London in order to show their disagreement with the dissolution of
monasteries, which made them lose their job. It was cruelly put down, the leaders being
executed.

years compulsory labour with some farmers who needed it; found
workless for a second time the person could be sentenced to death. As a
law like that did not solve the problem of poverty and criminality, other
laws had to be issued with the aim of attaining an ordered and stable
society in which each person could share some prosperity according to
his status.
In 1563 The Statute of Apprentices established that everybody had the
moral obligation to work, and the state had to define and control all
occupations according to their utility to society. Another famous law
was Elisabeths Poor Law passed in 1601, when poverty and
unemployment had reached unprecedented levels, and the church alone
could no longer handle the situation. Thus, the state had to interfere and
to take the necessary steps; the law made the local authority responsible
for the poor in the respective area, giving them the power to levy taxes
and pay for the subsistence of the poor ones; besides, the JPs had to take
care and provide work for those able to do it, while the sick, aged and the
disabled were to receive charity. According to the same law the indolent
persons, or those who refused to work were punished.
The 16th century also meant an important change of the countrys
economic patterns, with the stress laid on industrial development; it
mainly included the textile industry of woolen cloth. It grew especially in
the north and west of England where there was a surplus of cheap labour
force providing low production costs.
The metalworking industry (iron, lead, copper) also developed,
especially in Kent, and the English learned how to produce improved
steel (1565) with the assistance of some German craftsmen; as a result,
better knives and forks, clocks and watches, nails, pins a.s.o. could be
produced; besides, new weapons appeared, as for example the musket
which replaced the longbow in Henry VIIIs time.

Wages and working hours were clearly decided; thus, the work had to be carried between
five oclock in the morning and seven oclock at night, with a break of two hours and a
half for meals and rest.

The Poor Law remained in operation until 1834.

The forefather of the gun, the musket, was, perhaps, less efficient than the long arrow,
but gunpowder and bullets were cheaper than arrows, and soldiers easier to be trained.

Famous for the production of steel were Birmingham and Manchester,

where coal was used for fires instead of wood.
In its turn, the mining industry grew, the main extraction being of coal,
the most commonly used fuel, especially in towns (by the end of the 16th
century, more than 150,000 tons of coal from Newcastle had been burnt
in London, the citys sky being darkened with its smoke).
The paper industry started to grow due to the introduction of printing,
and the first glass factories were set up in different places of the country
(Loxwood, Alfold, Wealt, Nottinghamshire etc.) by religious refugees.
Due to the new economic developments, the successful representatives of
these activities were able to show off a life of plenty, expressed in the
building of magnificent houses, good food and lavish clothing.
The differences between the living style of the rich and poor were
considerable. The Sumptuary Laws which had existed since the
14th century became more severe in Tudor period; thus, clothes of
specific qualities were allowed to be worn by each social category, in
keeping with the fortune the person possessed; the trespassing of the law
was immediately punished, with the payment of fines or even with some
days in the stocks. Generally, the clothes of the well-off people were
tailored in a way that altered their figure by the skilful use of padding
and framework. The intention was of making them to look more
imposing. The clothes were made of rich fabrics with bright colours,
while expensive furs were used for nobles coats, varying in length or
draped in exquisite ways; they showed other clothes from rich materials
underneath. The poor people wore simple clothes made of leather and
wool, silk being absolutely forbidden to a person who was not a knights
son, or did not possess a fortune of at least 20 a year; the punishment
was of three months spent in jail and a fine of 10 a day.
The rich ate good quality food, bread made from wheat, while the poor
had to be satisfied with rough bread made from rye and barley, or even
from beans, peas or oats.
As regards the housing condition, people had generally a better and
larger home than ever before, in spite of the comparatively hard living
conditions of most of them. Thus, in the second half of the 16th century
almost all families doubled their living space.

A technical development which improved the peoples life, making it

more comfortable, was the building of chimneys, in, practically, every
home; it made cooking and heating easier, and more than one room could
be used in winter time. In fact, chimneys and enclosed fireplaces had
become necessary because of the widespread adoption of coal as fuel,
and the increased smoke produced.
Although most of the English nation continued to live in villages and
manors, towns underwent different trends of development; on the one
hand, some towns continued to decay, a process which had begun in the
late Middle Ages caused by the Black Death, but, on the other hand,
there were some exceptions, as Bristol or London, both of them
developing as important ports; Bristol, placed in the west of the country,
was found most convenient for overseas exploration and enterprise,
while London embarked on its extraordinary rise to metropolitan status
in the European world [12; p. 124]. London had a spectacular growth in
population over the period between the beginning of the 16th century and
the middle of the 17th century, increasing from 50,000 to 200,000 people;
it resulted mainly from immigration rather than from a rising birth rate.
Although the old City remained confined to the area within the walls
(one square mile), London expanded territorially in all direction,
including the city of Westminster, much of Middlesex, Holborn, and
other neighbouring parts. London had became a centre of attraction for
both rich and poor for several reasons: it was the seat of the royal
government and of the courts of law offering employment and
advantages to those involved in running the countrys matters; it was the
residence of the leading trading companies, Merchant Adventures, of the
banking services and other incipient financial institutions (markets and
exchanges), which brought important profits; it also offered location to
the prosperous printing industry, attracting the publishers and news
sheets promoters, in an age eager of culture.
Londons rapid expansion, both in number of inhabitants and territory,
produced serious administrative problems; its sanitation was hard to

Previously, wood smoke was allowed to escape from the interior through a hole in the
roof. Only the houses of the rich were provided with chimneys.

Woollen industry was mostly developed into the countryside; it was organized by
entrepreneurs who bought raw wool and employed the domestic labour of spinners and
weavers, mostly women and children in the cottages.

keep, and the town was only moderately clean. There were difficulties
with the sewerage systems rubbish disposal and water supply, and only
those living on the Bridge or having houses overlooking the river ditches
and streams could be considered healthy people. Generally, the
Londoners knew that their place was a nuisance and it stank. Besides,
with the permanently growing number of migrants, the public order was
often threatened, although the capitals peace was rarely jeopardized as
the English really appeared to value law and order.
As regards architecture it still largely preserved the Gothic style,
especially during the first half of the century.
If a transformation took place, it was mainly socially oriented, as with
the Reformation taking place, the building effort went towards secular,
rather than ecclesiastical buildings.
There are some architectural aspects considered as being specific to
Tudor period: a special attention paid to details; smaller windows and
doors, but richly ornamented; the replacement of the smartly Gothic arch
with the flattened Tudor one. But the real novelty was represented by the
use of brick in building. Brick was either imported into England, or
produced in the brick yards established in the country. In the beginning,
brick was a luxury item and only those placed at the top of the social and
economic spectrum could afford to build in brick. (The most remarkable
Tudor brick building is Hampton Court Palace). However, in many areas
of England wood continued to be used, most of the houses being built in
oak. Wood was used to create a skeleton, which was filled in with brick
or plaster; bricks also served as decorative infill, but when it was too
expensive, plaster was used instead, the result being the typical black
and white small Tudor house.
Another specific architectural element was represented by the fanciful
gatehouses, which, by their decorated traverses, arches and family coat of
arms created an impressive entrance which had an awe-inspiring
significance.
Towards the end of Henry VIII s reign there was less building activity in
England because of a marked economic downfall which left less wealth
available for important architectural projects. But, with Elisabeths reign

economy started to revive, and, with it, a real building boom became a
characteristic of the age, in which the new wealth expressed itself.
Besides the large number of houses built in the countryside, new
mansions were constructed or old ones were remodeled or modernized.
The style adopted was a blend of Italian Renaissance and Dutch
influence, which could be seen especially in the curved gables. The
gatehouse lost its previous significance, being purely ornamental, but the
main entry became the new ostentations and elaborate architectural
element by which the owner of the house could lavish his wealth.
Windows were larger, showing no arching.
As regards the novelty of the style, it consisted in a new and almost
universal architectural feature specific to Elizabethan manor represented
by the long gallery, often a portrait gallery, used as a family area for
entertaining or exercise on dull days. The Renaissance motifs influenced
less the small houses of the time, they continuing to evolve from the old
Tudor style, with common fireplaces and chimneys, but with more
prominently staircases.
Generally, the building material for those who could afford was stone,
brick suffering in popularity, but where stone was scarce and expensive,
half-timbering remained the most common material. However, the
difference consisted in a more widely spaced apart timber than it was the
style in Tudor years, allowing a more elaborated infill decoration which
consisted in moulded plaster, panelling, coloured marble, curvilinear
columns and plaster ceilings.
Taking into consideration the economic situation of the country
especially towards the end of the 16th century, the social stratification of
the Elizabethan society becomes obvious, although, at the respective
moment, the social distinctiveness was not quite clearly made; the
highest social position was held by the titled nobility, the landed gentry
and the important members of the learned professions, while the lowest
one was composed of illiterate peasantry, unskilled labourers, and small
artisans of little training and poor rewards. In between, there was another

Entries were, in many cases, an odd mix of heraldic pretention and classical columns,
profuse carvings and ornate decoration.

Windows were quite specific, made of a multitude of small rectangular panes separated
by thin mullions.

important class, the class which had emerged during that century, and
which was to represent the backbone of a progressive society, the vigour
and strength of its representatives enabling England to take place of pride
among nations. This class was that of Elizabethan businessmen,
merchants, trades folk, or skilled craftsmen, people whose interests was
centred on business profit. They had developed a philosophy of success,
and their characteristic features were thrift, honesty, industry and
strength of mind. They were the average people, the bourgeoisie, the
middle class, the societys virile group whose type of culture could
explain much of the English culture, and whose ideas vigorously
survived and could be recognized in many clichs of modern civilization.
The way of life they developed combined with their ethics and ideas
contributed not only to their distinctiveness, but to their power as well,
built during a long period of peace. It goes without saying that the
political changes of the time had favoured the growth of the middle class,
but, this class, being grown, determined and forced, in its turn, important
political changes.
The representatives of this class of Nouveau riche were not only MPs
or JPs, but also close advisers of the crown, as Sir William Cecil, and others.
The growth of the middle class went hand in hand with a constant effort
for educating the young people, wealth and literacy being directly related.
The documents show that in the period 1560-1650 more than 140 new
schools were set up, and large amounts of money (290,000) were given
to Grammar schools for their endowment. In the respective period nearly
100 p.c. of the gentry and merchants were literate, about 50 p.c. of the
yeomanry, and a high proportion of the townspeople, as well. However,
the number of literate people among husbandry was reduced (about
10 p.c.), while peasantry continued to be illiterate.
As regards the aim of education in Tudors time, it was not only to teach
the young ones the three Rs, but especially, to establish a type of mind
control by which the children had to get knowledge of their duty
towards God, their prince and all other(s) in their degree [53; p. 51].

Reading, writing and arithmetics.

In this way, the respect and obedience for the established order could be
secured.
Universities also flourished during the period, new colleges being
founded as part of Oxford and Cambridge, (Brasenose, Trinity, St.
Johns, Magdalene a.s.o.) and the number of students increased
significantly.
In Scotland a new university was set up at Edinburgh, 1582, besides
those already existing, and which had been established in the 15th
century: St. Andrews, Glasgow and Aberdeen. The first Irish university,
protestant and using the English language, Dublin University College
was founded by Queen Elisabeth in 1592.
At that time, a mark showing an educated person and its belonging to the
social elite was a good knowledge of Latin and of some Greek; these
elite were the MPs and JPs, landed gentlemen or merchants able to
express their principles on economic, political, social or religious matters
in an abstract way, shaping the peoples attitudes and conscience for the
further political and religious evolution.
Artistically, the Tudor age was characterized by different trends,
determined by situations specific to the respective historical moments.
Thus, the Reformation carried with it a violent destruction of churches
and monasteries, which also meant the destruction of manuscripts, works
of art, and other important relics: religious images, paintings, sculptures
and valuable stained glass.
A direct consequence of the situation was the painters and sculptors
discouragement to produce religious art, and their orientation towards
portrait painting, limning and miniatures.
The first important painters of the period were foreigners, as for example
the German Hans Holbein who had came to London from Basel, (1526),
and who produced more portraits of Henry VIII and of other members of
the royal family, as well as of different official persons at the court,
among whom the portrait of Sir Thomas More. Other foreign painters
were Gerlach Flicke, who worked in England in the period 1545-1558,
Hans Eworth, in London 1545-1574, or Marcus Gheeraerts, who
painted Queen Elisabeth in an allegorical manner.

The first really skilled English painters were John Bettes, appreciated for
the realistic treatment of his models, George Gower, who produced the
famous painting Armada (1588), Nicholas Hilliard (1547-1619), an artist
of European value, and others.
These painters developed a special kind of painting in
England, namely, the miniature portrait.

MARLOWE

With Elisabeth, the artistic life flourished, fully

expressing the English Renaissance which included
in it the personal cult of the queen, gloriously
nicknamed Gloriana, or Oriana, but which also
borrowed and centralized in itself the refinement and
elevate human culture of the neighbouring countries.

In music, England enjoyed its most fruitful period ever, and literature,
including theatre, was England s highest form of art.
The Tudors encouraged music, the monarchs themselves being gifted
musicians (they were not only able to play several instruments, but were
composers as well). The English were famous for their madrigals, and
other types of music as ayre or ballet. Among the well known musicians of
the time, were Robert Fairfax, John Taverner or Christopher Tye, who
composed both religious and secular music, Tallis Byrd and Thomas
Morley who got the monopol on music printing, John Dowland or Hugh
Aston, gifted musicians, famous throughout Europe.
The Renaissance unprecedented explosion of culture produced, in
England as elsewhere, poets, playwrights and scholars of an universal
value. Shakespeare, the best known playwright of the world literature,
Marlowe, and Ben Johnson, who filled the theatres with their plays, Sir
Edmund Spenser, Sir Phillip Sidney and Sir Walter Raleig, the soldier
poets, adventurers and highly educated men, Bacon and Donne, the
scholars whose deep interest in science laid the foundation of inductive
method in the study of natural phenomena.

Being an island, rather isolated from the continent, England felt the effects of the
Renaissance later than the rest of Europe. At the beginning of the 16th century, the
English thinkers became interested in the work of Erasmus, and, under his influence,
Thomas More wrote Utopia, a study of an ideal nation, which soon became highly
appreciated throughout Europe.

The contribution of these extraordinary thinkers to the humanist

movement, by the exaltation of man as a sensible creature, and the
confidence placed in mans infinite capacity for moral progress, entailed
a profound change in the ethos of English society and became an
intrinsic element of the Renaissance concepts regarding universe. At the
heart of the English Renaissance literature, drama and poetry, lies the
extraordinary vision of man as a tangle of contradictions, a blending of
titanic powers of mind and will and of heroic greatness with paralyzing
weakness, and inborn sinfulness [37; p. 15].
Renaissance also meant an important moment in the evolution of the
English language. At the beginning of the 16th century the language
spoken in different regions of the country still preserved lexical elements
reminding the successive invasions, and the languages of the respective
settlers.
However, a mixture of south Midland and south-eastern English dialects
had been accepted as standard English even since the middle of the
14th century, when Chaucer wrote his masterpiece, and, especially, after
the introduction of printing which had made that language widely
accepted amongst the literate people. The event also determined the first
differentiation between the language spoken by the educated people, and
the illiterate ones.
Thus, the correct English started to be considered the London form of
the language, while the other forms continued to be spoken as local
dialects by common people. The language spoken at the Court was
recommended as the correct one in a work written in 1589 (author:
George or Richard Puttenham), with the avoidance of the dialects spoken
in other geographic, or social areas.
On the other hand, even that form underwent important changes during
the 15th-17th century period regarding phonetics, vocabulary, and, to a
certain extent, grammar. The vowel mutation was important, and the
language was enriched with a large number of new words coming from
Latin, Greek, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese or other exotic

Starting with the beginning of the 16th century up to the present, the spoken and written
English belongs to the third period of evolution, called modern English.

languages as a consequence of the Renaissance influences, and multiple

diplomatic contacts.

THOMAS MORUS

In the language area The Renaissance also meant

the final triumph of English over Latin, in
literature and science [28, v. I; p. 460]; the event
took place with the translation of Mores Utopia
into English, in 1551. From that moment on, the
English language was used for all literary or
scientific works. (The first Latin-English
dictionary had been published in 1538; the author
was Thomas Elyot).

2.8.6 The End of an Exceptional Age

The Renaissance was an extraordinary age of transition from the

medieval to the modern world. Its humanist thinkers gave the signal for
the reform of learning directed towards the emancipation of thinking,
education, and culture from the dominant, rigid, and limited medieval
systems.
Humanism, as a distinct Renaissance movement developed the new
doctrine and concept about man, emphasized the study of man and the
necessity of enriching mens minds; it placed man at the centre of human
preoccupations, giving him a new status in the universe.

Utopia, written in Latin, (1516-1517) consists of two parts: the first part is a keen
criticism of Englands economic and social situation, written in the form of a Socratic
dialogue, the second part is the presentation of an idealistic society placed on an island
called Utopia (in Greek: a place of nowhere), somewhere in the New World. The
political and administrative organization of this society is democratic, and it is based on
the principle of collective ownership; there is no private propriety, as this is considered as
generating economic and social imbalances and inequity. Over centuries, Mores Utopia
inspired the socialist (Utopic Socialism) and communist ideologies.

Mans right to be valued in himself, and be measured according to the

achievements and dimension of his spirit fully asserted the intrinsic value
of human life.
This new conception made life more enjoyable on earth, influenced the
spiritual life, and let free the intellectual effervescence and creative
activity that characterized the Elizabethan Age.
But the Renaissance was also the meeting-ground of a diversity of
intellectual trends, in many cases divergent or even controversial and
conflicting; the evolution of the society was not constantly calm and
happy.
Toward the end of Elisabeths reign, Puritanism which had emerged from
Protestantism, had increased in strength, being centred in that part of
society gentry and merchants who had the means, both economic,
political, and social, to influence and even to decide on the states
matters.
They were a disciplined spiritual elite considering themselves different
from the rest of humanity whom they looked upon as being corrupted;
besides spiritual issues, the Puritans aimed at changing the very roots of
society. Thus, they questioned the role of the Church, asking if it
consisted in serving the God, or the Crown. In fact, their intention was to
purify the religious institution, and to do away with the last vestiges of
Roman Catholicism in England.
There were some tensed moments and Elisabeth managed the crisis in
1586, (attacks in the Commons coming from Paul and Peter Westworth,
who asked, among others, whether Parliament was called to debate
religious matters), but the danger coming from those religious idealists
had not passed; on the contrary, they continued to represent a potential
security risk, endangering the Tudor paternalistic society, and its old
values.

The last years of Glorianas reign were not easy, and when she died
(1603) it was almost with relief that men looked forward to the
problems of a new dynasty and a new century, as well as to a man, not a
woman, upon the throne [53, p. 53].
Had been Elisabeth a great queen? She was undoubtedly endowed with
special moral and intellectual qualities and her long reign happily
coincided with the peak of the English Renaissance; but, there were
negative aspects during her reign as well; an unwise fiscal policy, high
inflation, the growth of national debt and usury, as well as an
acknowledged corruption both with the Court and local administration.
However, she had, from clear economic and political reasons, powerful
allies: the gentry and the newly enriched middle class; the common
people also supported her as, in spite of the monarchs autocratism and
even despotism, the queen offered and guaranteed them political
stability, order and peace in the country. The century that came to an end
with Elisabeths death, had witnessed the consolidation of the English
nation-state, and of the national consciousness. Although the victory
against Spain had been, to a large extent, the result of hazard, it meant
the beginning of Englands supremacy over the worlds seas and oceans,
a supremacy which was to last for centuries.
Englands first colonization of the New World took place during her
time.
Her passing away from life after forty-five years of reign was not only
the end of an exceptional life but of an exceptional age as well.

2.9 Culture and Civilization in the Stuart Age.

Civil War. the Period of Commonwealth and Protectorate.
Restoration and the Peoples Life

2.9.1 The Smooth Succession. England at the Beginning

of the 17th Century: Economic, Social
and Political Organization

The accession to the throne of England of James

VI of Scotland, as James I of England, had
been already prepared when the old queen died
in 1603. The takeover of the crown by a foreign
king went on without any complications, and
the smoothness of the event demonstrated the
soundness of both the nation and of its system
of government. Besides, James was a legitimate
king. According to his Scottish subjects James
was a pleasant person; he had a sober character,
JAMES I
enjoyed physical exercises, and he was a scholar
himself, being author of political treaties, and showing interest in the art
of statecraft. Although described as sensible, adaptable and peace-loving
person, James I was less appreciated by his suspicious English subjects, a
situation which could be explained by the centuries of hostility between
the two nations; in many cases, the image they created to him was not at
all flattering. Anyway, the moment was important as it was for the first
time in the history of England and Scotland that both countries were
ruled by the same monarch.
At the moment of James I s accession to the throne, Englands economic
and social situation was quite complex, and there was an accumulation of
difficulties and problems left unsolved by the old queen.

Son of queen Mary of Scotland, executed by Elisabeth for high treason, James VI was
descendent from Henry VIIIs elder sister. As ruler of Scotland (1567-1625), he had
proved to be a successful king, able to put an end to the fights between the factions of
clans and to limit the influence of the Scottish Presbyterian Church.

Thus, more than four million people lived in England and Wales at the
beginning of the 17th century, concentrated in the southeast areas and
along the coasts. The rapid growth of population, and the price inflation
had created serious social and economic problems. Most of this
population (85%) was rural, the economy being basically agricultural, a
mixture of animal husbandry and grain production. There was a high
pressure on the local resources determined by the unprecedented
population increase, and both landlords and tenants were obliged to
consider ways of raising productivity in order to obtain either profit or
the produce necessary for their subsistence.
The practice of enclosures had worsened the situation, leaving the poor
farmers without means of living for them and their families, and turning
them into homeless vagrants in search of work. This difficult situation in
agriculture lasted for several decades, and only towards the middle of the
17th century starvation was put an end to, and the rural economy
recovered by entering a period of real growth.
As regards the urban centres, they had known some development in the
16th century, but it was still reduced in comparison with the situation on
the continent. The most important centres were, besides London, some
other towns as Bristol, Norwich, Exeter, York and Newcastle with a
population varying between 10,000 and 15,000 inhabitants. London was
highly developed at the beginning of the 17th century, and more than a
quarter of a million people lived there, both poor migrants, who had
come to the large town in hope of a decent life, and wealthy people as
well, involved in government work, in finance and overseas trade, or in
cultural activities.
As regards the industry of the time, the really significant manufacturing
activity was that of woolen cloth; it was located especially in the
northeast and southwest regions of the country, where, because of the
poor soil and severe climate conditions the grain production was less
suited and it had given place to sheep raising and wool production.
The English mercantile activity, highly diversified and busy in
transshipping a multitude of domestic and foreign products, was,
perhaps, the most important development of the century that had just
ended, constituting a significant source of wealth and well-being.

As regards the English society, it had developed as a result of the

economic situation, being organized hierarchically, but also flexible.
Thus, the social hierarchy reflected the degree of wealth accumulation,
but he society was not ossified; in this respect, there was a clear
difference between England and the countries on the continent. There
was no special preference here for the old aristocracy, and those who had
achieved some recent elevation due to their wealth or other skills were
highly considered.
Any able person could rise to a high social status, and, similarly, those
holding a high social position could fall and lose it.
At the top of the social hierarchy were the peers (between 76 and 100, at
the beginning of the 17th century), whose title was hereditary. They were
extremely wealthy, had honorific positions in local government, and held
the office of lord lieutenant in their county.
The next in the social rank were the gentry, whose importance and
prestige were constantly growing, representing the rural middle class;
they, generally, had no titles, although some of them were knights or
even baronets. The positions they held were of deputy lieutenants, militia
captains or JPs.
Yeomanry was the next social class, prosperous and economically
independent, although they had to work for their survival. They held
various positions in local government, such as village elders, constables
or tax collectors, being often selected to form the jury that heard different
local cases. Many of them owned enough wealth to participate in the
parliamentary selections and aspired to enter the ranks of the gentry.
The rest of the rural population consisted of husbandmen, cottagers and
labourers who had to work hard in order to get their subsistence.
As regards the urban population, the beginning of the 17th century
witnessed the rapid growth of the town middle class, represented by

JPs had the responsibility to enforce the kings law , being the backbone of governance at
local level. They mediated minor disputes and collectively decided on petty crimes.

merchants and tradesmen; characterized by an important concentration

of wealth, this class used the new educational opportunities for its own
professional development and cultural evolution, becoming active
participants in the urban and even state politics.
Below them, the mass of artisans, apprentices and labourers constituted
the rest of the towns population.
The social hierarchy was reflected in the government organization both
at the state and local level, the rank, status, and reputation representing
aspects that matters in the 17th century political community.
As regards the political organization, the monarch was at the head of the
state which he ruled personally on the basis of divine right, but he could
not limit or interfere with the countrys laws and customs, or seize the
liberty and property of the subjects.
However, most of the aristocracy and gentry were the kings tenants, and
they had different obligations to their monarch, as the payment of taxes,
the fulfillment of military service and the carrying out of local offices.
Any king had around him a court, consisting of a body of royal servants
and officeholders; personal service to the king was considered a social
honour and thus fitting to those who already enjoyed rank and
privilege. [53, p. 54]
From among these persons the king selected the members of the Privy
Council, whose obligation was to advise him on matters of domestic and
foreign policy, being also charged with the administration of
government.
The persons serving the king had no special training or proved skills in
this respect, but they, commonly, were educated people, who had
graduated well grounded universities or had attended the law courts; they

The Private Council mainly included the chief officers of the state: the lord treasurer (he
oversaw revenue), the lord chancellor (the chief legal officer), the lord chamberlain (in
charge of the kings household), the archbishop of Canterbury, (Englands leading
churchman).

were members of the social elite and they had family connections which
was just enough to recommend them for different jobs in the state. At the
same time, they should be people able of imposing respect to the others,
both at the state and local level.
Another political institution active at the beginning of the 17th century
was Parliament; the historians tend to call it more an event than an
institution because of its intermittent summoning by the king, when the
latter needed the support of his subjects for creating new laws or for him
being provided with extra revenue.
Observing the same rule of hierarchy, Parliament also consisted of the
king, lords and commons. The House of Lords was composed of the
peers of the kingdom, and the House of Commons of the most important
citizens of the communities, the position of MP representing a sign of
distinction and an honour for the respective person.
The House of Commons grew in number over the years, at the same time
with the growth of local communities, and with the right they got to be
represented in Parliament. Thus, in the first years of the 17th century, the
House of Commons numbered 464 members, and it continued to grow in
the next decades.
The MPs main function was to create a doubly directed link between the
royal power and the people; on the one hand, they expressed in front of
the king the views of the local communities which they represented, and,
on the other hand, they presented the kings views to the people in their
localities. They were also summoned to provide the kings necessary
revenue in some difficult moments, especially for defense purposes.
However, the kings tried to summon Parliament as seldom as they could,
and their policy was to rule without Parliament. Anyway, at least until
the middle of the 17th century, Parliament was a constituent part of the
kings system of government, in spite of some transient clashes between
the two protagonists over specific state matters.
Against this general social economic and political background, James I
began his reign in England. There were some problems left unsolved by
queen Elisabeth, and just from the start, he was faced with difficulties
and discontent coming from some categories of people. In the beginning,

James showed his abilities and his reign seemed to be under good omens.
Thus, there were religious problems, and, just, at the opening of his reign
in 1603, he received The Millenary Petition, which was signed by one
thousand reforming ministers, and which drew his attention to the
unfinished Church reform; the king organized a debate (Hampton Court
Conference, 1604) with the participation of a number of leading bishops
and of the reformers, where he decided to take a personal role. The king
was determined to continue, in the ecclesiastical matters the moderate
policy inherited from Elisabeth, eliminating the extremists whose desire
was to destroy the established church of England. He considered that
both Protestants and Roman Catholic could dwell together in the existing
church.
Unfortunately, his plan, showing a moderate attitude in the hope of
achieving reconciliation between the two opponents, was undermined by
the foolish plot of the converted Catholic Guy Fawkes. He and his
confederates had conspired to blow up the Houses of Parliament on the
occasion of the official opening of the debates (5 Nov. 1605),
assassinating the king, lords and commons. The plot was discovered,
Guy Fawkes was captured, sentenced to death, after having been
tortured, and executed in the cruel medieval way. Thus, the Gunpowder
Plot failed, and the further period meant not only reprisals against
Catholics, but also a slowdown of the kings initiatives towards finding a
formula of including Catholics into the Calvinist English Church.
Nevertheless, James Is moderate ecumenical outlook contributed to the
creation of an atmosphere of relative peace within the English Church.
Another difficulty James I had to face was of financial nature, as
Elisabeth had left him a massive debt, larger than the total yearly income
of the Crown (more than 400,000). Besides, the king turned out to be
exceptionally spendthrift himself, and his family of wife and three

The next positive result of this debate was the establishment of a commission charged
with the provision of an authorized English translation of the Bible (King James Version,
1611); besides, the decision was taken that a better educated and paid clergy be formed in
the country.

The event is still vivid in the peoples memory, and in the night of November, 5th of each
year, stakes are lighted in parks and private gardens where a guy made of old clothes
filled with straw, rugs and leaves is burnt. The custom is spread especially in Sussex,
Somerset and Kent.

children increased the costs of the Royal Household. By 1606, royal debt
was more than 600,000 and Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, the
Crowns financial minister tried hard to find various measures for raising
the money necessary to the king: an increase in customs duties
(impositions) levied on an expanded list of goods, a better exploitation of
royal rights of wardship, purveyance and the discovery of crown lands on
which rents and dues had not been paid, and, finally, the squeezing of
more revenue out of the sale of titles. Although justified in themselves,
all these measures were unpopular, and produced many loud protests.
One more attempt Salisbury made to commute the crowns fiscal rights
into an annual amount to be raised by a land tax as result of negotiations
with the taxpaying subjects, and levied on the counties (Great Contract)
failed in 1610, when both the royal officials and the representatives of
the House of Commons backed away from the talks.
Anyway, by the end of James I s reign, the royal indebtedness had
reached the huge amount of 1 million.
James I had some problems with Parliament, as well. Even since the
beginning of the 17th century the general situation had changed, and the
economic power had moved into the hands of the middle class,
represented by merchants and landowning farmers; the Crown was
obliged, at the respective moment, to govern with their cooperation, and
no money could be raised without the acceptance of Parliament, more
exactly of the House of Commons, where these new social groups were
represented. In return of money, the Commons demanded political
power, but James was not able to understand and accept the new trends,
or to give up his own belief concerning the kings divine rights to
decide on his own. Thus, during his reign, he summoned Parliament only
for three times; the first Parliament was mismanaged and it deteriorated
into a series of unproductive clashes, while during the next two
Parliaments (1614, 1620-21) only subsidies were accepted and no bills
were passed, to the disappointment of those expecting private acts. The
situation had worsened with the appointment of Sir Edward Coke as
Chief Justice. Coke had opinions different from the kings, considering
that the king was not above the law, and that neither he nor his council
could make laws, this activity being the prerogative of Parliament.

Removed by James from his position, Coke continued to express his

opinions as an MP, causing the quarrel between the king and Parliament,
and determining some negative feeling which accompanied James entire
reign, and were transmitted to his son, king Charles I. Thus, for most of
the time, James I ruled without Parliament and he was successful enough,
but such a position was possible as long as the country was at peace.
As regards foreign policy, James hottest desire was to play an important
part into its development. His accession to the throne of England had
coincided with the peace with Spain (1604) after two decades of war at
sea, and the permanent danger of an invasion coming from the continent.
The conflict with Ireland was settled as it had been reconquered. These
events were in favour of the king, but not for long, as, in 1618, when the
Thirty-Years War burst out in Europe, the king clashed with Parliament
once again, as they were of different opinions: James remained
determined against war, while Parliament called for military action in
support of the Protestant cause. It was only in 1624 that the old king gave
up in front of his son Charles, angry with the Spainiards because of the
humiliation he had suffered during his incognito visit to Spain, and of his
favourite, the Duke of Buckingham.
Parliament was summoned by James for the last time, in 1624 with the
purpose of declaring war to Spain; all laws were passed, the subsidies for
the war were voted, the issues of foreign policy were openly discussed
and a proper grant of taxation was obtained. The 1624 Parliament had
turned out to be the most successful one of James reign. A year later, the
old king died.

George Villier got James Is confidence, and became duke of Buckingham (1623)
although he was of non-royal extraction; he was an able politician, and understood to
support the fiscal reform, as well as James desire to re-establish peace in Europe. When
James, old and sick, was at the end of his power and influence, Buckingham and the
kings son Charles, took the state matters into their hands. In charge with military and
domestic policy after Charles Is accession to the throne, Buckingham was considered
guilty of all that was going on wrong in the country; he was assassinated in 1627, to the
satisfaction of the people, who, in the streets, drank to the health of the assassin.

2.9.2 Charles Is Reign. Events that Led to the Civil War

Inheriting Englands crown at his fathers death (1625), Charles I also
inherited all the problems left by James I. The country was faced with a
serious economic crisis, and it worsened in the further years because of
some consecutive bad grain crops, and the recurrence of a virulent plague
that killed tens of thousands of people.
As regards the war with Spain, the results were not up to the
expectations; Buckinghams expedition to Cadiz was a failure, and
another expedition of the duke, to the Ile de R, this time against France
in support of the besieged Huguenots (French Protestants), was
disastrous (1627-1628).
Parliament that the king summoned in 1626 was badly managed, and the
subsidies needed were not granted. Advised by his councilors Charles
tried to raise money without Parliament by a forced loan from merchants,
bankers and landowning gentry. (The wealthy subjects were persuaded to
give the money freely).
A large sum of money, 260,000, was raised in that year (1627), and,
fiscally, the action could be considered a success.
But, politically, the action had bad consequences for the king; a number
of important gentlemen (27 MPs) refused to pay the money, and they
were imprisoned by the special command of the king while Charless
decision made them get the sympathy of the people. Faced with such a
situation, many MPs started to fear that the common law was not enough
to protect them and their liberties against the kings will. When, next
year (1628), Charles, in need of more money, (especially after the
military defeats the English had suffered) was forced to recall
Parliament, the MPs made the king agree to the parliamentary rights
known as the Petition of Rights, and which asserted some liberties for
them. These rights meant a great victory of parliamentarians, as a new

The four liberties were: freedom from arbitrary arrest, freedom from non-parliamentary
taxation, freedom from the billeting of troops, freedom from martial law.

and important rule of government was to be established in Britain. It

obliged the king to agree to Parliamentary control of both state money
(national budget) and the law. However, Charles, a determined supporter
of the kings divine right concept, could not accept such an approach
of the political life, and next year, 1629, he dissolved the 1628
Parliament, with the clear intention to govern without the parliamentary
institution. For the next eleven years, Charles I ruled without Parliament
(1629-1640), and the period turned out to be, in many ways, quite
successful; peace treaties were concluded ending Englands involvement
in Europes warfare and the subsequent waste of money, administrative
and fiscal reforms took place balancing the budget and making
administration efficient, trade expanded both with Europe and North
America determining customs increase. Due to the clever fiscal policy,
the royal revenue had reached 1 million a year. Charles also did his
best to do away with the dishonesty and corruption that had existed since
Tudor period and had continued during his fathers reign.
But, in spite of real successes, Charles made serious mistakes especially
in the way in which he managed the religious problems; that happened
partly because of his lack of information regarding the state of opinion in
his kingdom. Thus, he was involved into a movement of religious
reform under the influence of the Arminian doctrine which was not
accepted by his Calvinist subjects. Taking no notice of popular feeling,
he appointed William Land, an able Arminian and an enemy of the
Puritans, as Archbishop of Canterbury (1633). Believing into the
beauty of holiness Land was for the importance of ceremony over
preaching, and introduced some decoration in the churches, and even
decided the separation of the communion table from the congregation.

Ruling without Parliament meant working against the principles on which the unitary state
had been imagined by Thomas Cromwell, a century before, and according to which
Parliament had been seen both as a means of making laws and a link between the king
and his subjects, an institution able to keep one another in permanent informed contact.

Religious doctrine, advocated by the Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius, spread to the
English Church and supporting the idea of free will and the importance of works along
with faith; the doctrine of predestination and justification by faith formed the core of
beliefs in the traditional English Church.

Puritans supported the idea of a democratic Church, similar to the Scottish Presbyterian
Kirk and asked for the removal of the Anglican bishops. They had become active since
Elisabeths time and continued their pressures during James Is reign.

The introduction of these practices, similar to the Catholic ones, made

him extremely unpopular, and frightened the Protestants, already worried
about the survival of their religious. In general, the Anti-Catholic
feelings were strong enough and able to unite the diverse elements of the
Protestant reform, the Puritans being the spears end of a rallying attitude
against any innovation in England. Under these circumstances, Land had
the bad idea to make the Scottish Kirk accept the English Church type of
organization, and, in 1637, tried to introduce the bishops and a new
prayer book in Scotland. The king would have liked more religious
uniformity in the three kingdoms he ruled, but he had not the force to
impose it. Lands innovation was met with resistance from the Scots,
and, in 1640, they invaded England, captured Newcastle (the vital source
of coal) and, under the circumstances, Charles was obliged to accept a
treaty which was not in favour of the English; he agreed to respect the
Scottish political and religious freedoms, and to pay money to the
Scottish army.
In the same year, the king had to summon Parliament, known in history
under the name of the Long Parliament (1640-1653). It debated on
important reforms aiming at both the kings prerogatives and the church.
Its first outcome was a limitation of the kings authority, and a real
protection of Parliaments existence; thus, in 1641, the Triennial Act
was passed, stating the kings obligation to summon Parliament at least
every three years. As regards the Church reform, the situation was more
complicated, with more direct attacks coming from the radicals, and a
defensive position of the moderates, which allowed the king to show
himself as a conserver of religious matters as they were in Elisabeths
time; his attitude and his success in creating a peace treaty with the
Scots, made him be positively considered by his subjects and most of the
MPs. The king seemed to control the situation when, unfortunately, a
new crisis emerged in Ireland, when the people rebelled against the
Protestant English and Scottish settlers. Thousands of people were killed

In Ireland, its northern part, Ulster, had started to be colonized in Elisabeths time, this
process continuing during James Is reign; the Catholic Irish had lost their land, and,
during Charless reign, even the Irish workers who had toiled for the new settlers started
to be replaced by workers coming from England and Scotland. The situation exploded
into a rebellion.

during the events. An army had to be raised in order to put the situation
under control, but suspicion about the kings intentions regarding
Parliaments fate (The Grand Remonstrance, 1641) divided the commons
into opposing factions: the royalists and parliamentarians. There was a
dangerous political situation, and the kings attempt to arrest five MPs
worsened it, making even many moderates in Parliament to lose their
confidence in the kings good intentions.
Failing to reach his objective, Charles left London; Parliament continued
its activity, and, after a couple of months (June 1642), some proposals
(the Nineteen Prepositions) were presented to the king; he rejected them,
determined to settle the dispute with Parliament by force. Convinced that
the lords would support him, Charles gathered an army to defeat those
who had opposed him in Parliament, bearing the device Give Caesar
His Due (August, 1642). The Civil War had started.

2.9.3 England during the Civil War and Protectorate

The events that caused the war and the war itself, were much debated by
historians, and one point of view could be that they were only a series
of accidents tied together by a small number of personalities on either
side [12; p. 152]. When the war broke out in 1642 nobody really wanted
it, most of the nations staying neutral (90%) in hope that the fight would
quickly come to an end. During the first year, Parliament was supported
by the navy which protected the coast from foreign invasion, and by most
of the merchants and people of London; Parliament had, in fact, the
control over the national and international sources of wealth covering
East Anglia and the southeast coat. On the other hand, the king had the
support of most of the lords and land gentry, and even of a few of the
Commons. The Royalist known under the name of Cavaliers controlled
most of the west and north of the country.

The proposals, which meant the Parliament determination to impose their conditions,
included among others the parliamentary control over the militia, by appointing the lord
lieutenant, the choice of royal counsellors, and the religious reform in a Puritan direction.

In the next year, the war widened (1644) as both Ireland and Scotland
were involved in it, by their sending of troop. In 1644, the war
continued between the two opponents and several battles took place, the
victory being on one side or another.
(Marston Moor, Lostwithief, Newbury). Finally,
in 1645, Parliamentarians, known under the
name of Roundheads, succeeded to recast
their military establishment, and they formed the
very well centralized New Model Army. It was
directed by a parliamentary committee, which
included the parliamentary generals, one of
them (the general first) being LieutenantOLIVER CROMWEL
General Oliver Cromwell; he represented the
Puritans called the Ironsides. This army met the
royalist one in the Battle of Naseby (June 14, 1645), when the latter was
definitely crushed. The war seemed to be over but the country was still
faced with serious problems. In the year to come, Charles I was obliged
to surrender, and he preferred the Scots in hope of a better bargain, but,
in 1647, he was returned to English custody, for a ransom that the
English had paid. Meanwhile, the discontent and material grievances in
the army determined its rebellion against the way in which different
parties in Parliament, formed around various religious and political
centres, ruled the country. Thus, in 1647, faced with a situation which
had turned a civil war into a revolution, Parliament became, in its turn, a
target of reform. Seized by Cromwell, Charles tried to use the situation in
his advantage, and to negotiate his restoration in exchange of the church
reform.
At that time, there were not only military but also political forces
involved in the conflict. One of them were the Levelers led by John
Lilburne, whose desire was a reform of Parliament through elections,

Charles negotiated with the Irish Catholic rebels and brought Irish troops to England,
while Parliament promised to the Scots the establishment of Presbyterian Church (The
Solemn League and Covenant) and they brought an army to England.

Roundheads because they used to have their hair shortly cut.

Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), gentleman farmer, he created the New model army
where he invited educated men, eager to fight for their beliefs. This army was the first
regular military force in England from which the modern British army developed. Later
on, Lord Protector of England, Scotland and North Ireland.

based on a broad franchise (Agreement of the People, 1647). In an

attempt to use the situation to his benefit, the king encouraged both the
rebellion against Parliament and the Scots rebellion against the
Parliamentarian army. Charles uninspired interference in a situation
already complex and difficult, led to a new outbreak of the Civil War
(1648), when the army opposed the kings supporters joined with the
discontented Scots. Both the English rebellion and the invading Scots
were defeated in two brief but bloody battles (Colchester and Preston).
For the first time after these events, Charles was accused for his attitude,
which had caused loss of lives and started to be called that man of
blood. Two opposing forces clashed again: on the one hand, the
moderate members of Parliament who still believed that a reconciliation
with the king was possible and who wanted him back on the throne, and,
on the other hand, the army (the Ironsides) whose intention was to put
the king on trial for treason, and to establish Gods kingdom in England.
Some negotiations with the king failed, as he continued to be intransigent
in some religious matters. Furious, and fearing that Parliament could,
finally, compromise with the king betraying its ideals, some army troops
purged the House of Commons, where they arrested or removed two
thirds of the MPs; the rest of them together with some civilians and army
officers established a High Court of Justice, prepared a charge of treason
against the king, and found him guilty of making war against his
kingdom and Parliament. Even if the charges against Charles I were
politically correct, the legal basis was less sound, but, he was to be
sacrificed to the law of necessity if not the law of England [53, p. 60].
King Charles I was beheaded on January 30, 1649. His execution was
regarded with hostility not only in England, where most people realized
that Parliamentary rule was not the best option, but throughout the
continent as well, regicide being considered the worst and unpardonable
crime.
With the abolition of monarchy, all the old legitimate English institutions
were dissoluted, including the House of Lords and the representative
House of Commons, as well as the Anglican Church.
The old Parliament was replaced by a new one (the Rump Parliament)
and, latter on (1653), by a Parliament with a single house where the
members were nominated and which had at its back the military power,
army representing, at that moment, a permanent part of the government.

England had become a republic (Commonwealth), and it preserved this

form of government between 1649 and 1660, under the strict command
of Oliver Cromwell and, at his death, of his son, for the last two years.
In the beginning, Cromwell and his army were busy to punish the Irish,
both for the killing of Protestants in 1641, and for security reasons, as the
royalist and catholic forces continued to rebel from there; two towns,
Drogheda and Wexford were captured (autumn, 1649) and the civilian
population was merciless put at sword. About 6,000 people were killed,
and the events remained in the Irish memory as a symbol of English
cruelty.
In the next year, the young English republic was faced with one more
danger: Charles I s son landed in Scotland, where he had been invited by
the Scots shocked with the kings execution, and a large army was
assembled. Once again, Cromwell and his army proved their skills, and
the Scots were decisively defeated in the battle at Dunbar (1650) and
Worcester (1651). Scotland was obliged to accept the English republican
rule. Due to these victories (including the one against the Dutch, 1652),
England started to be looked upon as an important military power.
However, the country was torn in inside by all kinds of disagreements
caused by divergent groups, ranging from the pragmatic ones, interested
in restoring order, to the idealists and missionaries, who dreamed about
the establishment of heaven on the earth.
The situation and the demands of the army made Cromwell dissolve the
Rump Parliament in 1653, and replace it with an assembly, nominated
mostly by the army (The Nominated Parliament). After only five months,
this parliament dissolved itself and the whole power was returned to
Cromwell who became the sole ruler of the country, under the name of
Lord Protector. Backed by the army, he got far greater power than king
Charles I had ever had.
Cromwells government was not a popular one, and his effort of ruling
and maintaining law and order through the army was not appreciated by

Among these groups were the republicans, whose intention was to create a state based on
the model of ancient Rome, millenarians, expecting the Second Coming of Christ, social
reformers, and agrarian communists, who thought that the land should be returned to the
people, mystics, or the Quakers, characterised by religious radicalism, etc.

the people; more than that, this way of governing has remained
unpopular in Britain since then.
However, the first British constitution was drafted in Cromwells time,
by John Lambert (1653), as an instrument of government.
That constitution created the office of Lord Protector who was to
govern helped by a Council of State, as well as by a reformed parliament
which was to be elected once every three years. The Protectorate,
Cromwells republican administration intended a law reform, and tackled
different other issues in social or religious fields. Some of the decisions
did not make the people happy, and the puritan intrusion in their private
life discontented the people. Thus, legislation against swearing and
drunkenness was introduced; stage playing was forbidden as well as
playing games on Sunday, or the celebration of Christmas and Easter.
In the political field, the Protector did not manage better; the parliaments
summoned by him either questioned the new government, or evolved
into oppositions coming from both royalists and republicans. It is clear
that if the regime could continue for a time, it was due only to
Cromwells personality. However, his personality was as complex as the
contradictions it contained, reflecting, in fact, the position of the groups
whose representative he was, the contradictions of the war and
revolution themselves.
Cromwell died in 1658, and, with him, the hope that reform could be in
the end fulfilled vanished from the peoples heart.
His son, Richard, was elevated to the title and dignity of lord protector,
but he did not prove to be a good or skilled leader; being not at all able to
control the Puritans Commonwealth, disorder prevailed in the country
and, in 1659, a real vacuum of power at the centre became obvious.
Under the circumstances he resigned, by simply leaving the office.
Meanwhile, in the period 1658-1659, there were signs in the government

As representative of the gentry, Cromwell understood the necessity of a stable

constitution, but being infused with the millenarism doctrine he believed in a glorious
world to come; as an old MP he was convinced of Parliament authority, but being a
member of the army, he knew the importance of the power, and what the demands of
necessity meant.

and political life resembling the old monarchy; thus, an upper House of
Lords had been created, and the court at Whitehall had started to develop
a monarchical ceremonial style.
With Cromwells death, army had ceased to be a unified force, while a
general state of confusion characterized the countrys life. The political
chaos had to be put an end to, and the solution found was the Restoration
of monarchy; it was the decision of Monck, one of the armys
commanders, to act; he marched to London, invited all members of the
Long Parliament to return under army protection, and, finally, invited
Charles II to return to his kingdom. It was in 1660, when the eleven years
of republic in Britain came to an end.
England had been in turmoil for a long time, about twenty years, and the
period of civil war and protectorate, naturally, draw the attention of
historians, analysts and many others who tried to find explanations for
the events which had influenced human life and the nations fate. There
are, mainly, three prevailing theories in this respect, each of them
containing some truth, but, representing, in fact, a more or less partisan
position. Thus, one of them refers to the part played by the House of
Commons which no longer could bear the attitude of a tyrannical king,
rising against him in defence of constitutional liberties. This theory,
promoted by the Long Parliament itself, could be supported by the
numerous statements delivered during the period in connection with the
fundamental law and the abuse of power; but, in fact, the same Long
Parliament and Protectorate ignored the law and libertys principle in
their battle for victory; besides, the heavy taxation imposed to the people
at the respective time was heavier than ever.
Another theory promoted the idea of an upheaval which broke as an
offspring of puritan principles threatened, at that moment, by a papist or
quasi-papist conspiration. However, the reality reveals the free
emergence, as part of the events, of various other religious sects ranging
from Presbyterians to Quakers, and which claimed the right to warship
God in their own way. Although the political regime favoured the
Puritanism interference with the nations life for a while, the nation did
not become puritan, and most of the people remained, essentially,
attached to the Church of England.

The third theory promoted the idea of a revolution supported by the

newly raised class, bourgeoisie, against the dominance of feudal
landowners and their king; if it was true that a new class had emerged in
England, a class which could be called bourgeoisie, it is equally true
that the landlords had already ceased to be feudal, both classes
believing and being interested in the same facts of economic life.
Maybe, the events, the series of accidents were simply caused by an
unfortunate incompatibility between the political outlook of a king who
had exaggerated the royal prerogatives reigning autocratically in order to
preserve his and his allies interests, on the one hand, and, on the other
hand, the nation, as it had developed as the result of the Tudor Age, and
which, by its Puritans and fervent Anglican representatives had got
enough economic power to be comparable to the Royalist forces. Maybe,
a monarch ruling in a constitutionally moderate way, rather than a highly
autocratic one, would have avoided the clash among the various interests
acting at the respective moment, judiciously accommodating the new
forces present in the English political and economic life. In support of
this point of view are the effects of these convulsions over the nations
development, in the post-war and post-Cromwell period [12; p. 155].
Anyway, the forces emerging from the economic interests of the new
classes combined with the political requirements of the age, to which the
religious demands of the Puritans were attached, joined together to
contribute to the events which shook the nation and society at the
respective historical moment.
However, when in 1660, Charles II was invited to become the king of
England, the old order returned with him, as if nothing had happened; the
country was the same unitary realm, the king having legislative
sovereignty in Parliament and governing in Council, under the common
law everything being held together by the common interests of center
and localities [12; p. 156]. Even in the Church restoration was obvious,
the moderate principles of the previous religious thinkers (Cranmer,
Parker, Andrewes, Land) being restored, while the dissents were pushed
off into sects, with the effort of building a Presbyterian government
deplorably failed.

Also, B. Coward, Was there an English revolution? in Politics and People in

Revolutionary England, C. Jones at. al., 1986, p. 9-39.

In many historians opinion, in spite of Oliver Cromwells energetic

position, what happened in England, at that time, was not really a
revolution, but a sequence of events which brought death and destruction
in the country, but, which eventually ended in the restoration of the same
order already set on a long time before.

2.9.4 England in the Restoration Period.

Domestic and Foreign Policy

When Charles II, accepted by everybody as

lawful king, returned to rule England,
Cromwells laws and Acts were automatically
cancelled. The return to peace and normality
was guaranteed by the Act of Indemnity and
Oblivion (1660) that represented an official
pardon of all persons involved in the
Civil War and the Protectorate rule. In this
way the king wanted to show that his intention
was to make peace with his fathers enemies.
CHARLES II
Besides, his general attitude was towards a
tolerant religious settlement, and the unequivocal assurance of private
property. However, the situation of the nation was too complex and
complicated for a rapid solution, and it took about thirty years and
numerous other events for the desired normality and peace to return and
install in England.
Thus, although Charles II continued to believe, as his father had done, in
the divine right of the king, Parliament was, now, the one to decide,
and its independence represented, maybe, one of the changes that had
survived the past events. As a consequence, in spite of Charles II s
desire to make peace between the different religious groups, and develop
understanding and tolerance in the Church, Parliament (the Cavalier
Parliament, 1661-1679) established a rigid Anglican orthodoxy, and a

The only exception were the Regicides, who were exemplarily punished. Cromwells
body was exhumed and exposed at Tyburn together with two others.

very strong alliance between squires and parsons which was to dominate
the local society for centuries Tolerant, and, to a certain extent, attracted
to the Catholic Church, Charles promulgated, in 1672, the Declaration of
Indulgence, which suspended the penal code against the religious
nonconformists, either dissenters or Catholic.
The English Protestants united against the kings attitude, afraid that he
could become a Catholic himself, and demanded the abrogation of the
Declaration; more than that, next year, in 1673, Parliament passed the
Test Act which prevented any Catholic from holding national office.
(The kings brother, James, Duke of York who was Catholic, had to
resign his position, the admiralty) A declared persecution was carried out
against the dissenters as well, especially Quakers and Baptists, who were
imprisoned by thousands.
The period was known for its mass anti-Catholic hysteria, but Charles II
reacted calmly and decisively keeping the situation under control, and
avoiding a new civil war.
The situation at the respective time, characterized by the fear of
Charless connections with the Catholic France and his interest in the
Catholic Church, on the one hand, combined with the fear of the kings
building a base for royal absolutism, on the other hand, resulted in the
formation of the first political parties in England; they were known as the
Whigs and the Tories each of them being clearly defined, and
politically opposed.
The Whigs (Scottish name for cattle drivers) were not against the Crown,
but they were afraid of an absolute monarchy and of the Catholic faith
(Catholicism and absolutism being firmly linked in the popular mind)
considering that the kings authority depended on Parliament consent.

Thus, bishops returned to Parliament, a new prayer book was authorized and became
compulsory in the church, with repressive acts passed against tresspassers in order to get
general conformity, etc. The dissenters were barred from holding separate church
services.

Under the guidance of the chief minister Thomas Osborne, Earl of Danby, Parliament
was better managed, the crown patronage was centralized, royal finance was well
organized and a standing army could be maintained.

Under the guidance of the chief minister Thomas Osborne, Earl of

Danby, Parliament was better managed, the crown patronage was
centralized, royal finance was well organized and a standing army could
be maintained. On the religious matters, they had inherited the values of
the old Parliamentarians, being tolerant towards the new Protestant
sects so much disliked by the Anglican Church. Thus, they strongly were
for religious freedom, but, in the given circumstances, they feared that
the Crown could go to Charles catholic brother James, a fact which they
could not accept, being, however, undecided whom they wanted as king.
The other political group nicknamed Tories (an Irish name for thieves)
upheld the authority of the Crown and the Church, and they had inherited
the Royalist position in Parliament, being supporters of the Anglican
Church, of the land, and of the principle of passive obedience.
The two parties were actively involved in the political events which took
place during Charles II s last years of reign, being either for, or against
the kings decisions; those who supported the monarch as loyal servants
were the Tories, while the king correctly managed many difficult
situations, succeeding, towards the end of his reign, 1685, to be the full
master of his state; he was financially independent and politically secure.
In spite of the Whigs fear, James II became
the king of England at his brothers death, as
Charles, with no legitimate children would not
allow any interference with his brothers divine
right to the Crown.
When James II became king, in 1685, the Tories
and Anglicans were satisfied, but not for long;
although James had guaranteed the preservation
JAMES II
of the Anglican church, having no desire to
establish either Catholicism or absolutism in the country, he was for a
better treatment of the Catholics (he himself had been converted to
Catholicism), his intention being to repel the Test Act.

Very soon he did it, when, on the occasion of Monmouths rebellion, he

dispensed with the Test Act and appointed Catholics to military
command. Parliament tried to oppose the king, but James II was decided
in his attitude, and he even tried to forge an alliance with the dissenters.
In 1687, he issued the Declaration of Indulgence, which suspended the
penal law against Catholics and dissenters. By his action, James II
became an undesirable ruler for the Anglican Parliament; the more so,
when he imprisoned the bishops who had refused to read the Declaration
in their churches, and when his son was born being likely that another
Catholic heir would come to the throne some day, the leaders of the
political groups decided to take action: some leading Protestants drafted
an invitation addressed to William of Orange to come to England;
there was, in fact, an invitation addressed to a foreign king to invade the
country. It was in 1688.
Although dangerous for him, William accepted
the invitation and organized the crossing,
landing at Exeter; there, he issued a declaration
which called for the election of a new
Parliament. James tried to oppose the invasion
organizing his own army, but, to his surprise,
he had nothing to do but to watch its
dissipation, while his closest supporters,
including his own daughter Anne, betrayed
WILLIAM III
him joining Williams forces. In a state of
breakdown, James tried to escape leaving the country for France, after he
had lost the great Seal into the Thames. Captured, he was allowed a
second escape, while William reached London, where he called
Parliament into being (the Convention Parliament), and started to
organize his acceptance as king of England.
Finally, Parliament declared legitimate the joint reign of Mary
(James II s daughter and Williams wife) and of William III of Orange,

The Duke of Monmouth, illegitimate son of Charles II, could have been considered a
possible heir to the throne. After having recruited farmers and tradesmen he marched to
the west country, but he was defeated at Sedge moor. He was captured and executed, and
more than 600 supporters were hanged or deported.

William of Orange, ruler of Holland; he was Protestant and married to James s daughter
Mary, who was also Protestant.

as the throne had become vacant after James II s abdication. Parliament

decided that Jamess flight to France and his gesture of tossing the Great
Seal into the Thames could be considered an abdication, and that he,
consequently, had lost his right to the crown.
James made one more attempt to take the crown in 1690, when, backed
by the French and supported by Catholic and Puritan partisans, he
invaded Ireland, but, he was crushed at the Battle of the Boyne by
William who, personally, led his army. The event marked the final
victory of what was called the Glorious Revolution, a sequence of
circumstances, completely unplanned and unprepared, but which meant
the replacement of the older absolutist Stuart monarchs, who had
continued to believe in the divine right of king, with the new
constitutional monarchs. Thus, a Counter-reformation monarch had been
replaced with a new Reformation monarch, in the person of the Dutch
Protestant, William III of Orange. However, although called
revolution, the event was more a coup dtat organized by the ruling
class represented in Parliament; the representatives of this class made
William king by their choice, and not because he had inherited the
crown. Acting in this way, Parliament proved that it was more powerful
than monarchs, and it has continued to keep the same position since then.
In this respect, the event was really a revolution.
Two laws sanctioned the Parliament power over the monarch: the Bill of
Rights (1689) and, especially, the Act of Settlement (1701). The former, a
conservative document, established the principle according to which only
a Protestant could wear the crown of England, and the coronation oath
required the king to uphold Protestantism as well as the statutes, laws and
customs of the realm. The latter, was even more specific, stipulating that
the monarch had to be a member of the Anglican Church, that his foreign
policy was to be directed by Parliament, and his domestic policy by the
Privy Council. The king was also limited in his right to dismiss judges.

Besides, Parliament considered that the king had undermined the constitution of the
kingdom by breaking the original contract between King and People. The idea of a
contract was part of some theories (the most important ones belonged to Algernon
Sidney and John Locke), according to which government was based on the consent of
the people (Parliament), the kings powers being limited; it resulted that Parliament and
not the king should represent the real power in the state.

By its clauses the Act of Settlement showed a high degree of control over
monarchy coming from Parliament. The document, important for the
nations political development, has remained in force since then.
By these documents the royal prerogatives were seriously weakened and
the immediate effect was the possibility that the newer wealthy classes
could be better accommodated; it is interesting to notice that these forces
representing the new economic order worked side by side with those
representing the newer, anti-Catholic Protestant religion, the English
masses being organised within both a religious and political framework.
Thus, the English Glorious Revolution was considered politically
parliament-led, and monarchically aimed being, simultaneously,
religiously tinged; according to historians, that revolution was
corporate in spirit, being inspired by a pragmatic need to compromise.
The early modern English political scene was to witness the same
corporate political spirit, and it proved able to accommodate the new
forces within the older frame, and to adjust the old political order so as
in the long run to fit in with the new one. [46, p. 47].
The last of the Stuarts who inherited the crown was Anne, James IIs
daughter. When she came to reign in 1702, the country was politically
divided, and the competition between the two groups the Whigs and the
Tories for gaining power continued during her reign. The major event
which took place at the beginning of the 18th century was the union with
Scotland which happened in 1707.
When Anne died childlessly, in 1714, the succession to the crown had
already been resolved in the Act of Settlement. The person who became
the king under the name of George I, was Georg Ludwig, elector of
Hanover, a grand grandchild of James I. The Stuarts dynasty had come
to an end.

There were some other laws, at the time, restricting the monarchs rights in favour of
Parliament: the Military Act (1689) restrained the kings control over military forces and
the use of martial law; the Toleration Act (1689) by which the Anglican clergy preserved
its monopoly, although it permitted more forms of Protestant worship, etc.; the Triennial
Act (1694) re-established the principle of regular parliamentary sessions.

As regards foreign policy in Stuarts age, Englands main enemies had

been Spain, Holland and France, and the wars with these countries had
been caused by trade competition. During Charless reign, there were
three Dutch Wars (1652-54; 1665-67; 1672-74) which ended
triumphantly for the English as they achieved the trade positions they
wanted. Once peace agreed, Holland and Britain started to cooperate
against France, especially during the reign of William II, who brought
the country into the Dutch-French conflict. At
the beginning of the 18th century, during Annes
reign, Duke of Marlborough led the British army
to victory at Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde
and Malplaquet. By the Treaty of Utrecht (1715)
France accepted the limits imposed on its
expansion to Britains advantage, the latter
expanding its colonial empire to Canada and the
Carribean, and maintaining the possessions of
QUEEN ANN
JAMES II WIFE
Gibraltar and Minorca, already captured in
1704/1708; in this way, Britain controlled the entrance to the
Mediterranean. Besides these new territories, Britain already possessed
twelve colonies on the east coast of America, and some territories in the
West Indies. During the respective period, Britains interest in India was
still in trade only, without any interference in Indian politics; its first
trading settlements there had been established on both the west and east
coasts.
In comparison with Spain or Netherlands, Britains empire overseas was
still small at that time.
Englands neighbour, Scotland, continued to be a separate kingdom in
the 17th century, although, starting with James II (James VII of Scotland),
the two countries shared the same king. However, political and economic
matters urged them to unite in 1707, the name of the new state being
Great Britain.

However, the competition with France will determine direct effort of controlling Indian
politics, in the next century; this will be carried out either by alliance or conquest of
Indian states.

Thus, England was interested to unite with Scotland, as the latter, being
free to choose its own king after Queen Annes death, might invite a
Stuart back on the throne, a situation which could revigorate the Auld
Alliance with France, Englands most dangerous European enemy. On
the other hand, Scotland had some economic problems caused by
Englands limitation of its trade, a situation which was negotiated with
the English against the Scots agreement to the union of the two
countries. The Scots accepted to unite by Act of Parliament and, from
that moment on, the decisions were to be taken by only one parliament
for both countries; however, Scotland preserved its own separate legal
and judicial system, as well as its own separate Church.
In Ireland, the situation was different; the Catholics had some hopes in
connection with James II, especially those who had lost their land
because of the Protestant settlers. After his abdication, James made a last
attempt of taking his throne back by using Ireland as a supporting base
and landing there. An Irish Catholic Parliament passed an Act by which
the Protestants lands in Ireland were confiscated, but the Protestants
resisted, locking themselves in the city of Londonderry, and refusing to
surrender. Very soon, the English army arrived, James was defeated,
and, with this event, Protestant victory in Ireland was complete.
Thus, the 17th century meant the beginning of a new stage in Englands
foreign policy, and a change of its position on the international arena.
The new situation became obvious especially towards the end of the
century, as the result of a long process which had begun with the defeat
of the Armada, and had continued with the union of England with
Scotland under one sovereign. These were important events which made
Britain a leading European power by the beginning of the 18th century.
At that moment, Britain already had so many colonies that it could be
considered an important competitor of other earlier colonial nations, such
as Spain, Portugal or Holland.

No Surrender! was the battle cry of the Protestants at Londonderry, which has
remained, to our days, the cry of Ulster Protestantism.

2.9.5 The Economic, Social, Cultural and Religious Life

in the Stuart Age. The Revolution in Thought
The second half of the 17th century witnessed the flourishing of
Englands economic life, mostly due to the development of trade;
besides, a strong interest was showed to an intensive agriculture which
was achieved by carrying out farming improvements, although the same
traditional grains were cultivated. Thus, Britain was able to export its
cereals to the continent, where the living conditions were inferior to
those on the island.
Sheep growing continued to develop as well, especially in Yorkshire,
Cotswold Hills and East Anglia supplying the raw material for the
traditional textile industry. It included, besides the finest woollen cloths
designed to export and woven at Norfolk or Kendal, the linen produced
in Scotland and Ireland, the silk produced in Canterbury and London,
while in Lancashire (Manchester) a cloth woven from cotton and wool
was produced. In the field of industry, mining was developed in the same old
regions where iron (Sussex, Northumberland, etc.), coal, or salt were found.
At the same time, new industrial branches such as shipbuilding, glass,
paper or leather industries started to develop.
The unprecedented trade development was the direct result of improved
transport conditions, the waterways becoming an important and cheap
means of transport which allowed practically each region to develop its
own specific produce, and to sell them on other markets. The well-known
example is that of Kent the garden of England where large quantities
of fruit and vegetables were grown and, then, sold to other regions.
A new activity became largely appreciated, namely, that of shopkeeper,
as many towns started to have proper shops, contributing, in this way, to
the development of the respective places. However, London remained the

By the end of the century most places were no more than twenty miles from a river or
canal, and no place was more than seventy-five miles from the sea.

most important town of the country, having the control over the sea trade
with other countries by means of large trade companies (East India Co.;
Africa Co.; Hudson Co.).
Important financial institutions were set up in London during the century,
one of them being the Bank of England, established in 1694, mainly to
finance the states large debt. At that time, the Bank of England was a
private bank which wielded great influence, partly because of its close
relationship with the Treasury. It was given a monopoly of joint-stock
banking and it was empowered to discount bills and issue notes. It
became the governments bank, lending to the latter at a fixed rate of
interest (initially 8 p.c.), secured by a specific customs grant.
Lloyds, the world most important insurance company was also settled in
London, during the same period, in 1686, as a necessity of eliminating or
diminishing the sea risk, demanded by the increasing trade activities
overseas. In the beginning, it had been only a famous coffee house where
people met to comment trade news.
But in the second half of the 17th century, London was also the victim of
two unprecedented disasters: the great plague in 1665 and the great fire
in 1666, interpreted as divine judgement against a sinful nation
(The events had followed the kings execution and the calamities of the
Civil War).
Although there were not rigorous statistics at that time, it seems that the
plague killed between 75,000 and 100,000 people in only six months,
with a percentage of 1/3 in the City, because of the dense population.
One year later, London was destroyed by the Great Fire which burst one
night in a bakery situated in Pudding Lane (the City), and continued for
the next three days burning to ashes thousands of houses, numerous
churches, and guildes headquarters. Among the buildings seriously
damaged, and famous at that time, were the old St. Pauls Cathedral, the
Guildhall, the Royal Exchange.

The banks notes, considered gilt-edged securities were highly appreciated by the
investors, and, at that time, a huge amount of 1.2 million was raised on only the initial
offering.

The fire broke out and rapidly extended partly

because of the crowded and rather insane halftimbered houses, and partly because of the
narrow streets, to which a strong east-west wind
contributed substantially.
After the Fire, in only a couple of days, the
architects John Evelyn and Christopher
Wren submitted to the king a plan for the
CHRISTOPHER WREN
reconstruction of the City. A part of it was
turned into life, and London enjoyed larger streets and new magnificent
buildings in a modern style; for the first time, the richer citizens of the
town had water supplied to their houses carried through specially made
wooden pipes.
Thus, those two unhappy events (the plague and the fire) changed the
architectural aspect of London and, paradoxically, determined a state of
mind inclined towards the enjoyment of life.
The population had increased to a total of 7.7 million in Stuarts time,
and as regards the social life, the same categories prevailed; but,
however, some changes became obvious; thus, some improvement in the
life of the poor could be noticed, as fewer people asked for help from the
parish, and, generally, prices had fallen in comparison with wages. The
middle classes did even better, and many former yeoman farmers or
traders turned into minor gentry or merchants. Besides, there were the
aristocrats, the old and the new ones; high position could be easily
bought in the British society by paying money, and the newly rich
families were eager to add aristocratic titles to their names. However, the
old nobility was reluctant in accepting the new rich as their equal, and, in
order to avoid being confused with them, the older Tudor gentry started
to call themselves squire, a title which indicated the ruling class of the
countryside; together with the JPs the squires governed locally.

An impressive description of the Great Fire is presented in Samuel Pepyss Diary

(1633-1703).

Sir Christopher Wren, mathematician, astronomer, inventor, as well as a capable architect

designed the plan of Londons rebuilding into much of what it is today, and giving the
town a definite baroque personality.

Their power consisted in deciding the taxes for local purposes, in calling
out soldiers, and trying different legal causes.
A novelty of the century where the coffee houses were the rich of the
towns used to meet, and where coffee, tea and cocoa were offered as
drinks; the ordinary people had, as a meeting place, the alehouses in
towns and villages.
As a result of the English booming trade, and with it, of a new, rich and
full of perspectives class, a general taste for comfort and elegance
became the commonly accepted premise for the English life-style in the
century to come.
The 17th century is primarily known in England for the revolution which
took place in the political area; but, for sure, it could not have happened
if a revolution in human thought had not primarily taken place. In the
same way in which this new way of thinking had influenced politics or
religion, it also influenced science, which developed some main and
definite principles; thus, the demand for a sceptical mind was considered
necessary in scrutinizing scientific matters; thus, mind had to be freed
from any preconceived ideas, and a critical attitude towards all points of
view ever expressed had to be maintained. A new method of
investigation was taken into consideration based on observation and
experimentation as the only trustworthy means of securing data, and the
inductive method of reasoning started to be used to work on these data.
Thus, the experimental science was imagined, and, with it, the
authoritarian principles of antiquity were undermined, advancing the
cause of modern science. A principle much insisted upon was that of
liberty with a direct reference to the necessity of freedom for
investigation and advance in directing the possible findings against the
established ideas. The removal of ancients authority, especially that of
Aristotle, and the advancement beyond their ignorance made the
scientists embrace the idea of progress.
Towards the second half of the 17th century, all these new ideas, attitudes
and values started to represent a scientific movement comprising not
only the authentic scientists, but many others, who admitted the new
trend, and acknowledged themselves as part of this movement. The chief
embodiment of this movement was the Royal Society, organized around

Francis Bacon (1561-1626). The Stuarts

encouraged the movement, and the Society
became, in time, an important centre for the
thinkers and scientists to meet, argue, ask questions
and share their knowledge and information.
However, when the English scientific movement of
the 17th century is investigated, the first name
which must be taken into consideration is that of
Francis Bacon, James I s Lord Chancellor, whose
works (Novum Organum, Advancement of Learning) disclosed the
spirit which inspired and motivated scientific activities of the century.
Thus, being the creator of the inductive method in the research activity
Francis Bacon insisted on the importance of testing
every scientific ideas by experiment, a point of view
put into practice by scientists ever since.
The discoveries which followed laid the foundations
of modern science in different fields of research.
Thus, William Harvey (1578-1657) discovered
WILLIAM HARVEY
blood circulation (1628), which led to important
advances in medicine and in the study of the human body. Inspired by
him, Robert Boyle (1627-1691) and Robert Hooke (1635-1703) made
important discoveries in chemistry and physics (thus, Boyle discovered
the law of gas compressing and the role of oxygen in
combustion).
One of the most important scientific findings of
humanity belongs to Sir Isaac Newton
(1642-1727), a Cambridge Professor of Mathematics
(Trinity College), who, in 1666, started to study
gravity, and, a couple of years later (1687),
ISAAC NEWTON
published his revolutionary discovery, the law of
gravitation (Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Matematica). The
importance of Newtons discovery was welcomed by his contemporaries,

Some other important names of that time who supported and popularised the new ideas
were Robert Boyle, an authentic scientist, John Webster, a Puritan chaplain (his work:
Academiarum Examen, 1654), Joseph Glanvill, rector in the Anglican Church, Thomas
Sprat, bishop of Rochester, a.s.o.

and, from that moment on, he has been considered the founding father of
modern science in physics. He also stated three fundamental laws of
mechanics called after his name, and had important discoveries in optics
(Newtons rings) as well.
His friend, the astronomer Edmund Halley
(1656-1742) became famous for the tracking of a
comet in 1758 (Halleys Comet), the existence of
which he had announced in 1706; the interest in
the field of astronomy was considereable at that
time, and led to the discovery of the geometric
movement of stars and planets in the same
EDMUND HALLEY
direction of interest; Halley drew up in 1679, a
catalogue of the stars in the South hemisphere
(Catalogus Stellarum Australum) and even, the famous architect
Christopher Wren was Professor of astronomy at Oxford.
As regards arts, the Stuart period, between the reigns of James I and
Georges I, was one of the richest and most interesting in England. A
large quantity of works of art was produced, containing some of the most
vigorous and beautiful expressions of the British genius. Charles I was
the most enthusiastic and discerning patron of arts, assembling a
collection of pictures and works of art unequalled up to him, and
developing, at his time, a perfect taste for art.
With reference to architecture, its impetus came from both the Court and
the upper classes, determining decisive forward moves; the development
of three important styles can be noticed: Jacobean, classical and baroque.
By about the first quarter of the 17th century (1620-1625) most of the
greater aristocracy had built or rebuilt their houses; at the same time, the
lesser aristocracy and squirearchy, (including merchants, who had bought
land and needed new houses) who were to play a greater role in the
national development, built many houses, sometimes charming or
interesting.

Until Einsteins discoveries, Newtons work continued to represent the basis of scientific
development in the field of physics.

Charles s possessions included renaissance and contemporary masterpieces as Titian s

Emperors, Raphael s La Perla, Andrea del Satros Holy Family, Correggio s Allegories,
Mantegua s Triumph of Caesar, Caravaggio s Death of the Virgin a.s.o.

The majority of the country houses built before the Civil War followed a
line of development originating in the Jacobean architecture. It was a
continuation of the Elizabethan style combined with renaissance-classical
elements, characterized in their planning by a decline in importance of
the great hall specific to medieval time. The style, mixed and rather
extravagant, with mouldings having classical profiles, etc., was used at
Halfield (1607-1611) built by Robert Lyminge for Robert Cecil, count of
Salisbury, or for building the bizarre Bodlehein library (1610-1630), the
architects being Thomas Holt or John Ackroyd. Many other buildings
of the same type can be found, as for example: Kew Palace and Broome
Hall near Canterbury (around 1630), interesting especially for the
treatment of brick in a new way, imported from Flanders.
The classical style, Palladianism, had a direct connection with
Inigo Joness buildings, showing a great understanding of Italian
models; these buildings were not only decorated, but also planned in the
full manner of the Italian Renaissance. However, he was genius enough
to considerably adapt that style to English conditions of climate and taste.
Inigo Joness chief surviving houses are at Greenwich, the Queens
House, and at Wilton; Queens House is Joness first demonstration of
Palladianism, and of planning in the manner of the Renaissance
buildings: the hall is a central vestibule with other rooms leading out of
it. The real Palladian masterpiece by Inigo Jones is the Banqueting
House (1622), a palazzo in Whitehall, Englands best example of an
architectural fashion fully accepted only in the next century. It is a
serene, monumental composition, its details deriving from Palladian
villas, and from palaces in Vicenza. Inigo Jones was also the architect of
the Covent Garden piazza, more barn like and indeed called by him a

Ingo Jones (1573-1652), a Londoner of humble origin, made friends with the highest in
the land. He paid formative visits to Italy and France, and made serious studies not only
of Italian buildings, but of the theories of design and of the works by leading Italian
architects. Pupil of the Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio of Vicenza, Jones
was truly influenced by him, becoming a pioneer of the classical style in Englands
architecture. The Palladian architects, with their somewhat rigidly antique Roman style,
drew their inspiration from Palladios careful study of ancient buildings still existing in
Rome, combined with the very precise instructions of planning, proportions and details
coming from the Imperial Roman architectural author Vitruvius. The style was
enthusiastically readopted in England in the 18th century being used especially for the
construction of houses more than for public buildings.

Tuscan Barn; arcaded in the Italian manner, and geometrically laid out
as a rectangular square, the building was a novelty in London of that time.
Other two important architects, students of Inigo Jones, were
Roger Pratt (1620-1685) and Hugh May (1621-1684), whose main
works were, unfortunately, demolished.
However, the architect who dominated the period was Christopher Wren
(1632-1723); endowed with a surpassing ability as an engineer, and with
a great flexibility of mind as an artist, Wren was also a mathematician
and a scientist. His buildings represent British national treasures.
His name was closely connected with the
restoration of St. Pauls Cathedral and of other
churches in London after the Great Fire, in 1666,
his work being extremely important for the
understanding of Wrens character as an
architect. Besides being of an intrinsic value,
these building were of major importance in his
career, for the flood of invention they offered,
St. Pauls Cathedral
and by which an immense practical experience
was gained. Many projects designed by Wren can be found in London,
and include Marlborough House, Kensington Palace, Royal Hospital,
Royal Naval College, Fountain Court and many others; in Cambridge he
designed two colleges (Pembroke and Emmanuel) and the Trinity
College Library, and at Oxford the well-known Tom Tower.
As regards his style, Wren found a balance between the classical, (Trinity
College Library), gothic (Tom Tower) and baroque (St. Pauls) ones.
Towards the end of the century, a change of emphasis took place in
English architecture, with a steady weakening of the dependence on
Italian Renaissance and with strong baroque elements appearing in
architecture and decoration.
During this period, the country-house building showed either the
persistence of the of type old design, or the introduction of the grandiose
baroque elements; William Talman (1650-1719) designed wonderful
country-houses, being famous at his time.

The type of painting representative for the English artists continued to

be the miniature, including not only Hilliards name, but also of his
epigones, Isaac Oliver (1565-1617) being one of the best known.
Samuel Cooper (1608-1672) was considered a great English portrait
painter, while William Dobson was known as Serjeant-Painter at
Charles I s Court. A modern and competent school of portrait painting
grew up in London, whose style was realistic, simple and worldly. A
great contribution to the development of portrait painting in England was
brought by the two titans Peter Paul Rubens (1557-1640) and
Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641), who spent a part of their life there,
creating and introducing into the country a completely new range of
expressions and conventions.
As regards sculpture, it became, especially in the later part of the 17th
century, more closely linked with continental art, dominated by the full
baroque style. Tomb sculpture continued to represent the material in
which the history of English sculpture can be discovered, but a few
important secular statues are also available, side by side with
architectural sculpture, all of them offering the image of the artistic
creation of the time. Among those who produced important works of art
were sculptors as Bushnell, Cibber or Francis Bird. Cibber is known
especially for carving the relief at the base of the Monument celebrating
the Great Fire.
In music, the name which dominated the century
was Henry Purcell (1659-1695). Characterized as
an individual genius, Purcell produced, in his
short life, a considerable amount of religious and
secular music, including full anthems and verse
anthems solo songs, duets and catches in the
French style; over forty Restoration plays had
songs composed by him; he also provided five
musicals, one of them being Fairy Queen, an
HENRY PURCELL
adaptation of Shakespeares Midsummer Nights
Dream. Purcell extended the Ode, a specific English style in music,
representing a joyful verse-anthem composed to welcome or celebrate a
special event. Dido and Aeneas is Purcells opera in which he

experimented dissonance and created bizarre effects, contributing to the

English music future development.
The 17th century witnessed a vast and diverse literary production, from
drama to prose, and from poetry to diary.
Shakespeare,
generally
connected
with
Elizabethan age, perpetuated his greatness in the
17th century producing his famous tragedies,
Hamlet (1601), Othello (1604), King Lear
(1605), Macbeth, Anthony and Cleopatra
(1606) and looking deeply into the human soul.
His last plays, including The Tempest (1611)
represented a quiet acceptance and ultimate
reconciliation with life as a fitting close for his
SHAKESPEARE
literary career. His sonnets were published in
1609, although they had been written much earlier.
Ben Jonson (1572-1677) was an influential figure
of his time, shaping, in his turn, the future
development of the English drama. A cultivated
person (translated Horatios work) he wrote both
comedies and tragedies. Jonson is important in the
English drama especially due to his comedies,
written with verve and imagination, and in which
he satirized various manners considered unproper
BEN JONSON
for the prevailing standards of good sense and
moderation. His best comedies are Volpone (1606) and The
Alchemist (1610), in which he created witty portraits of contemporary
London life. His effort was directed towards improving drama as a form
of literature, and he advocated adherence to classical forms and rules.
Francis Beaumon (1584-1616) and John Fletcher (1579-1625),
collaborated in writing a number of tragicomedies: Philaster, The
Maids Tragedy, A King and No King etc. Their plays reveal morally
dubious situations, reversals of fortune and so on, in which
sentimentality was combined with hollow rhetoric.

Poetry included a significant number of poets, some of them writing in

the first half of the century, in the period prior to the revolution, and
others after the Restoration. For the first period poets as Michael Drayton
(1563-1631), John Milton (1608-1674), John Donne (1571-1631),
Andrew Marvell (1621-1678) or Richard Lovelace (1618-1658) can be
mentioned. Out of them, John Milton could be
considered of special importance, being the
accepted literary authority of his time. His work
covered both historical periods; thus before
becoming involved with the Puritan cause, he
produced remarkable poems as On the Morning
of Christs Nativity (1629), On Shakespeare
(1630), LAllegro and Il Penseroso (1631),
A Mask (1634) and the pastoral elegy of Lycidas
JOHN MILTON
(1637), which showed both his humanist learning
and poetic genius. In the period between 1640 and the Restoration,
Milton wrote fourteen poems and the dramatic poem Samson Agonists
of religious inspiration; it is also the period when he started to work on
the blank-verse epic Paradise Lost, published in 1667/1674; in 1671,
the last work of the blind poet was published, Paradise Regained.
Milton s massive literary achievement stands out as a connection
between the age of Renaissance, whose last representative he was, and
the Neoclassic Age; beginning his literary career with a declared
preference for graver subjects drawn from classical mythology, Milton
evolved towards modified forms in Paradise Lost, where baroque
elements can be detected, and verged on neoclassicism in Samson
Agonists.
Another important poet of the second half of the
century was John Dryden (1631-1700); his
poetry impressed the readers by the grandeur,
force and fullness of tone, which were somehow
specific to the Elizabethans, but, at the same time,
it expressed the new age by achieving a new
clarity and an impersonal atmosphere of
JOHN DRYDEN
moderation and good taste. Although he wrote
odes, he was famous especially for his political
satires, a form of poetic genre dominant of the age; Absalom and

Achitophel (1681/82) and MacFlecknoe (1682) are his most

remarkable poems of this type.
Anyway, the bulk of Drydens work was in drama; his heroic tragedies
The Conquest of Granada (1670), All for Love, or The World Well
Lost (1678), showed the dominant trait of all Restoration tragedy: the
desire to achieve surprise and splendour on the stage, obtained by the
display of exotic places and extravagant plots presented on a rather
bombastic style, on the account of the reality of characterization and
consistency in motivation, intentionally sacrificed.
Dryden also wrote prose: Essay of Dramatic Poesie (1668), where his
easy, informal, and clear style defined the tone of his age.
As regards prose, the most significant writing of the century was
considered King James Bible, also known as The Authorized Version,
which represented the translation of the Bible into English from a
Hebrew version.
Among the prose writers, the most impressive figure of the century was
Francis Bacon (1561-1620), who remained in the history of British
culture for his activity as essayist and philosopher. It is difficult to make
a clear-cut distinction between his literary and philosophical works. His
first essays (Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral) (1597-1625) are
advice to be followed in any circumstances, dense with aphorisms,
sometimes borrowed from the classics, but always with a deep moral
meaning. Some of them, as The remedy is worse than the disease,
Knowledge is power, Travel is a part of education, Histories make
men wise are often quoted, preserving their interest even today
[29; p. 205-206].
Bacon s vast work is represented by a trilogy consisting of
The Advancement of Learning (1605), De Argumentis Scientiarum,
revised issue in Latin (1623) and Novum Organum (1620), an attack to
Aristotle s concept on knowledge, and a proposal for a new
instrument of work (the experiment) in the reform of mind and scientific
investigation. Thus, Bacon moved philosophical approach to a new

direction, by advocating reasoning in any form of human thought. Either

criticized (Kant, Bertrand Russell) or highly admired (Newton, Boyle,
Hooke) Bacon can be considered as the founder of the British empiric
philosophical school, his concept being followed and pushed forward by
other philosophers as Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, and later, David Hume
(An Enquiring Concerning the Human Understanding, 1748).
Bacon also wrote an utopia New Atlantis, printed firstly in Latin
(1627), one year after the writer s death, and, later, in English (1629).
The work, left unfinished at Bacon s death, was roughly used as model
in the construction of the Royal Society, in 1660.
Other prose writers of the first half of the century worth mentioning are:
Robert Burton (1577-1640), an encyclopedic spirit, whose main work
was The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621), James Harrington
(1611-1677) with his utopia The Commonwealth of Oceana,
Isaac Walton (1593-1683) with a work on fishing The Compleat Angler,
Thomas Fuller (1606-1661) who wrote The History of the Worthiest of
England (1662). Among them, Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) deserves
special mention; he wrote Elements of Law and Elementa
philosophiae, but his main achievement is considered Leviathan
(1651), a work of political philosophy; it is centred on the idea that man
is a rebellious being who must be saved from self-destruction (homo
homini lupus) by the setting of a commonwealth which he should
willingly join, on the condition of observing some pre-established rules,
improved by a superior authority having absolute but not arbitrary power,
the monarch [29; p. 211]. Thus, according to Hobbes, the monarch
should rule not by divine right, but by an original and indissoluble social
contract, in order to secure universal peace and material welfare.
According to Leo Strauss, Hobbes is the father of
modern political philosophy, being the founder of the
theory on constitutional monarchy.

JOHN LOCKE

The second half of the century witnessed the

emergence of other important prose writers. One of
them was John Locke (1632-1704), whose work
Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690)

was highly appreciated by Votaire. The treaty consists of four books in

which he rejected the theory of inborn knowledge, considering that its
source is experience, due to senses (Nihil fuerit in intellectu quin fuerit
in sensu); he also referred to the problem of language, and to the limits
of human understanding. Locks work was the product of the belief in
experience as the exclusive basis of knowledge.
John Bunyan s (1628-1688) main works The Pilgrim s Progress from
this World to That Which is to Come was written in prison (1678-1684)
where he spent twelve years of his life. It is an allegory of his character
s journey, Christian, to a heavenly city, and an opportunity of describing
his contemporaries way of being in the part called Vanity Fair.
Together with his second work The Life and Death of Mr. Badman
(1680) the narratives present the moving, allegorical journey of the
human being at the level of the fundamental truths of life, death and
religion. There is a really deep characterization of life in both his works,
and also much vitality which attained, especially, in the beginning, a
special popularity among merchants, artisans and the poor.
The 17th century literature is considered remarkable not only because of
its fiction, philosophical, or religious works, but also for its memoirs.
The two important representatives of the genre were John Evelyn
(1620-1706), who wrote works on different topics, but who was mostly
appreciated for his Kalenderium (discovered in 1818), a document by
which the second half of the 17th century could be perfectly known, and
especially Samuel Pepys (l633-1703). He wrote only one work, Diary,
convering the period between 1660 and 1669, and published in 1815.
Due to the minute details it offers, the vast area of events observed, the
directness and colour of the description, often presented with humour and
irony, Pepys Diary remained a unique achievement of its kind
[29, p. 230].
The revolution in thought, which characterized the 17th century
development in politics, science, and art, also influenced the religious life
of Britain; the real Protestant movement started to express loudly during
the century, and new religious groups came into existence.

The influence of the Puritanism grew considerably, especially among the

merchant class and lesser gentry. An important contribution to these
events was brought by the translation of the Bible, which encouraged its
reading by all those who were able to read; some of them started to
interpret the Bible in a new revolutionary way, according to the new and
rather non-conformist trends in thought, leading to the formation of a
large number of new religious groups. The most important of them were
the Baptists and the Quakers, who, in spite of the opposition met,
managed to survive, having an important impact on the nation s life.
However, many of the members of these groups were not able to bear the
opposition showed to them, and they decided to leave Britain for the new
land of America, where they hoped to live a new life of freedom. For the
first time, such a decision was made in 1620, when the Pilgrim Fathers
embarked The Mayflower to reach Massachusetts. It was the beginning of
the British emigration, which continued with the Catholic families who
settled in Maryland for similar religious reasons, or, latter on, with the
hundred of thousands of young people who left the country for economic
reasons. Their desire was to start a new life in a new place, a chance
never hoped on the old land.

Thus, the Quakers gave hope to the poor and powerless developing a reforming social
activity, in the 18th century; trade unionism and different social reforms which occurred,
owe much to the religious non-conformism of the 17th century. Until the end of the 19th
century, these groups were not liked by the ruling classes in Britain, in spite of their
positive work and attitude.

2.10 Britain in the Early Stage of the Modernization Process.

The Years of Reforms and Revolutions.
Continuity and Change Characteristic Features
of British Culture and Civilization
2.10.1 Britain in the First Half of the 18th Century: Economic,
and Political Life of the Country
At the beginning of the 18th century, Britain was already considered a
leading European country and an imperial power, with colonies in
Gibraltar, Minorca, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Hudsons Bay; it
had also got trading concessions in the Spanish New World, as a
consequence of the Treaty of Utrecht (1713). Inside, the country was
prosperous and cohesive, proving that it had been able to pay for the
wars on the continent, and demonstrating, in this way, the extent of its
wealth, which had resulted from the growth of its industries, but, mainly,
from its large new trading empire. Britains governments had carried a
deliberate policy of creating a trading empire whose routes were
protected and controlled by a strong navy, the strongest in the world, at
that time.
Britains economy was still based on agriculture, with a growth of
production noticed during the period; however, ever more people were
employed in industries, many of them being obliged to leave their land,
homes, and their way of life because of the new practice of enclosures.
Although a wealthy state, the wealth was, however, unequally
distributed, one third of the national income belonging to only 5 p.c. of
the population; but, the society was not totally polarized, the middle
classes being well represented; besides, in most Britains regions there
was, basically, enough food for the whole population to be fed, although
there were some categories of people suffering starvation and hunger
related diseases. Anyway, the general situation secured social stability in
the country, in spite of some controversies in political issues, obvious in
the fighting between the Whig and Tory parties. All these aspects were

obvious in the British society at the moment when Georg Ludwig, elector
of Hanover became king of Great Britain, in 1714, under the name of
George I; they proved that the process of the countrys modernization
had already begun.
Thus, the countrys economy had changed from a subsistence type
economy to a multiple exchange, surplus oriented one; it was the
consequence of the small-scale agrarian economy turning into a
latifundarian one, whose main purpose was no longer the supply of the
necessary means of subsistence, but of the raw materials and means of
production demanded for the exchanges with the wider world; thus, the
first change which had taken place in agriculture meant the transition
from farmland cultivation and cattle raising on farms, to enclosed land
cultivation, and to large scale cattle/sheep raising, whish provided the
raw material for the wool industry and the big centralized markets; later
on, after the discovery and colonization of North America, some of the
wool and linen fabric industries were replaced with cotton weaveries,
largely developed in England. At the same time, the social structure had
begun to change as well, and the farmers and their families driven off the
land (because of a new period of enclosures) came to town becoming the
working proletariat; besides, the situation was the result of the
invention of new machinery, which had destroyed the old cottage-type
industries, determining the setting up of factories in town and cities.
The development of these industries led to the growth of important towns
as Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham or Liverpool.
As regards trade, it continued to be under the control of Companies,
which, in fact, had dictated the changes, while their revenues had
increased, by taxation, the national income of the 18th country; however,
this centralized control diminished towards the end of the century, being
replaced with a new trade principle connected with the market selfregulation, namely the free-market principle, which completely
subordinated production to money interests at the market level. Later on,
the industrial revolution, resulting from science advancement,
represented the stimulus for a series of economic/trade and legislative

Process that refers to the irreversible differentiation, separation and specialization of

certain social functions, structures and institutions and which explains the configuration
and tendencies of the modern/contemporary world [46; p. 58].

reforms, which turned the commercial and moneyed middle classes into
the real and official power of the society, politically modernized as well.
Thus, the series of events that shaped the British civilization of the
18th century represented some chain transformations which had started
very early in England, with the setting up of the first enclosures, and
culminated with trade supremacy as backbone of British economic
development.
The different stages of development meant the growth of industries,
which included, besides those already mentioned, the heavy/
high-energy ones, such as casting iron or smelting metals in foundries;
large amounts of raw materials were required for their running, and trade
facilitated the supplies from remote regions, specialized, in their turn, in
industrial related activities as mining, ore extraction or shipping.
Consequently, the growth of transportation became necessary for
carrying either the raw materials or the goods produced; for Britain, the
best possible means was represented by sea/water, convenient in many
ways: safer, cheaper and more feasible than land transportation.
As a result, the military fleet of the Middle Ages, turned into the
Renaissance both military and buccaneers fleet, became in the 17th-18th
centuries an international commercial fleet, supporting the development
of trade companies business.
Under the new economic conditions, the state (in the person of the
monarch) gradually became the chief guarantee and manager of
production, transportation and trade, both as patron of some groups of
entrepreneurs, and the beneficiary of taxation coming from them.
In the early stages of modernization, the administration of these activities
was delegated to a system of national trade companies and other bodies,

The denomination of first trade companies reminded the guild names (e.g.: the company
of Merchant Adventurers, dealing in woollen cloth, 1400), while the next companies
mirrored the geographical location of the trade area (Muscovy Company, 15th century;
Levant Company, Barbary Company, Guinea Company, 16th century; East India
Company, 1600; West Indies Company, the South Sea Company, the American Virginia
Company, 17th century).

while Parliament was called to vote the economic and administrative

laws by which the working of the system was held under control.
Politically, the state seemed stable, although the inner fight for
supremacy between the two parties, Tories and Whigs, was keen enough.
Thus, at the moment of George Is coming to the crown, some Tories
disagreed the idea of having him king, and supported the return of
James IIs son to England, as James III.
The movement was not an inspired one, as their rebellion was easily
defeated, and George I, a German, mostly interested in European affairs
who did not particularly liked the Tories whom he considered insular,
was offered the occasion to get rid of them entrusting the whole
administration of the realm to the Whigs.
Among the new ministers, Robert Walpole was to become an important
political figure of the century. Considered Britains first Prime
Minister, Robert Walpole, an extremely able politician, shrewd,
greedy and entirely Whig, was, besides, an able manager of financial
matters, a fact obvious in the way in which he handled the South Sea
Bubble. Walpole dominated Britains political life for a period of

There were passed laws for the control of the workers wages, of the commerce prices at
the national level, for the protection of certain foreign groups of entrepreneurs and their
settlement in England, protectionist tariffs etc. [46; p. 62]

They were known under the name of Jacobites.

The title, already applied to some ministers during Queen Anns reign and frequently
used in Walpoles time, became an official title only in the early 20th century.

The affair was the result of the peoples interest in investing their money in financial
matters, the trading companies doing business in the newly developing geographic areas
(West Indies, East Indies, a.s.o.) which represented a very attractive investment. Such a
company was the South Sea Company, founded in 1711, a trading and finance institution,
which, in 1719, offered to take over a large part of the national debt managed by the
Bank of England. The Whig administration supported the action offering the company in
exchange, the monopoly rights to trading in the South Seas. For raising money, the
company planed to sell shares, and one year later, a real madness seized those who, more
or less, could afford buying them, making the share price grow incredibly and
ungroundedly. Inevitably, the crash came with the shares price falling dramatically, and
thousands of people who had invested their money in the business found themselves
ruined. The moment was difficult, a serious shortage of money followed in the country,
and Parliament demanded an investigation of the financial scandal, which had raised the
possibility of some members of the government and Royal family be implicated in the
disaster. Walpole used his ability to minimize the scandal and Parliament inquiry,

twenty years (1722-1742), being considered by some historians as the

architect of political stability in Britain. Thus, due to Walpoles
domestic, and foreign policy, the political power in the country was
stabilize and the Hanoverian dynasty was helped to become well settled
in Britain. However, it is no less true, that at the moment when he began
his political career, Britain was already laid on strong foundations of
peace and wealth.
One of Walpoles main achievements in political management was the
idea of all ministers working together and constituting, in this way, a
team responsible for all political decisions made. The team was called
Cabinet, and the rule was introduced that any minister deeply
disagreeing with the rest of the ministers had to resign.
As regards the relations between government and
the crown, they had been settled by the Glorious
Revolution of 1688, and the political classes
ruling Britain at the beginning of the 18th century
did their best to be sure that the power of the king
would always be limited by the constitution.
These limitations included the kings interdiction
to be a Catholic, to remove or change laws, as
ROBERT WALPOLE
well as his dependency on Parliament for his
financial income and army. But it was the kings obligation to choose
the ministers, although it belonged, to the same extent, to Parliament,
namely to the majority forming Parliament (the House of Commons), and
whose members belonged to one of the two main parties; thus, at the
respective time, Britain already possessed a constitutional structure by
which the executive Crown was responsible to the House of Commons,
while Parliament, in its turn, was responsible to the electorate who had
voted for one of the two parties that had put forward candidates for
election.

managing to restore the public confidence into financial matters; he took firm steps for
avoiding the recurrence of such events in future. It was for the first time that measures
were taken in order to make companies responsible to the public for the money which
they borrowed by the sale of shares [25; p. 108].

In this way, the political debate and action had moved from the Court to
Parliament, and many historians speak about the existence of
a government responsible to and ultimately controlled by the people
[12, p. 192], a point of view sometimes debatable.
However, in spite of political innovation and important achievements,
Walpoles policy was often criticized by his contemporaries who
considered that he had got too much power, which could lead to
corruption and the loss of liberty.
It is worth mentioning that not only his political opponents, (the Tory
MPs and the group of Whig dissidents who had confederated against
him), but also the most gifted writers of the time, Jonathan Swift,
Alexander Pope, Henry Fielding and others took attitude against him.
But his most important political enemy was William Pitt The Elder,
who considered that trade represented the main activity able to make
Britain the most important economic power in the world. His
conception made Britain be involved in the war with France, its most
important trade competitor, in the second half of the century.
However, for many years, Walpole enjoyed the support of the crown,
resisted the military involvement in continental Europe by carrying a
skilful economic policy, in hope that government could finally pay back
the money borrowed and get rid of the national debt, a desideratum never
attained; in spite of the high taxes levied on luxury goods (tea, coffee,
chocolate) brought to Britain from the new colonies and consumed by the
rich, and, although, the government income raised, the national debt
could not be covered; Walpole became very unpopular, but due to his
political abilities preserved his position even during the reign of
George II, who he had initially planned to dismiss him.

They were centered around the journal The Craftsman widely read in the political
circles.

The same opinion was expressed by Daniel Defoe (author of Robinson Crusoe) who
wrote: Trade is the wealth of the world. Trade makes the difference between rich
and poor, between one nation and another.

Walpoles long political career and the important position held, had, as a
result, national prosperity and the growth of national product (from
57.5 million in 1720 to 64 million in 1740). He encouraged trade by
abolishing some customs duties, as well as agriculture by diminishing
taxation from land, which he had switched to the consumption of
luxuries. His decisions, often met with riots and demonstrations coming
from some groups of discontented ones, were supported by others who
were satisfied with them; thus, the decision to keep the land tax at a low
rate made the landed class support him.
However, Walpoles decisions started, at a given moment, to be viewed
as dubious, even anachronistic, and his political power started to decline
as well, announcing the end of his career, in spite of his winning the
general election, (1741), but with a greatly reduced majority. Walpole
resigned in 1742 and his age came to an end, but the political events
which followed his resignation meant only the reshuffling of the state
employments among his former opponents, a situation which caused
much disillusionment and anger among those who had expected that with
Walpoles fall a revolution in government and society would take place.
The major event which occurred in the period 1745-1746 was the
Jacobite rebellion, in support of the Stuarts restoration, in the person of
Charles Edward Stuart (the young pretender). After some initial victories
and a short incursion in Scotland and northern England, the Jacobite
army was finally defeated at Culloden, in northern Scotland (April 16, 1746).
It was an event worth being remembered as it represented the last major
land battle to take place in Great Britain.

The electoral system in Britain was far from being democratic at that time. Power was
closely connected with the possession of property; only adult males had the right to vote,
and only if they possessed some residential property; as regards the persons eligible for
election as MPs, they should possess land worth 600/annum for county constituencies
and 300/ annum in case of borough constituencies. In the rotten boroughs
constituencies with 100 50 voters bribery was widespread, although in larger
constituencies the voice of the public opinion was loud enough to be heard.

2.10.2 British Society by the Mid 18th Century.

Changes in the Peoples Life Style
The first half of the 18th century, which began with the Hanoverian
succession, witnessed important developments in Britains social life, its
composition and quality changing considerably during the respective
period. These changes referred mainly to the categories of people
included in the upper classes, important discrepancies continuing to exist
between the rich and the poor, and to the development of the urban
areas, while the countryside preserved its general aspect and conditions.
At the top, the society was still represented by landed aristocracy, (peers,
great landlords, greater gentry) many of them belonging to the peerage
(about 70 families), which carried with it hereditary titles and the right to
sit in the House of Lords. This landed elite held the dominant position of
power in both central and local government, setting the cultural
background of the time. It was also the landlords who had monopolized
the office of lord lieutenant. But, besides the aristocrats, there was
another important new category of wealthy people, also influential in
society; they were the representatives of the mercantile families, those
who had got rich as the result of the foundation of the Bank of England
(1694) and of other financial institutions/companies, those who had made
fortunes either on the stock markets or due to the expansion of trade and
industry. Many of them had bought landed estates to boast their wealth,
or had built smart houses/villas in towns or in the countryside.

According to the economist of the time Joseph Massie, 40 p.c. of the population
represented the bottom of the society which survived on less than 14 p.c. of the nations
income. The three top categories of his estimation continued to be closely connected to
land, and possessed more than half of the cultivable land in Britain.

Lord lieutenants were the crowns representatives in the territory, being appointed by the
king; their responsibility was to maintain law and order in the county under their control,
and to organize civil defence in time of war; they were assisted by deputy lieutenants and
JPs, offices held by squires and lesser gentry in the countryside, and merchants and
landed gentlemen in towns. All these positions carried no salary (it is obvious that the
respective persons were prosperous ones) but they were looked upon with much
consideration, being locally influential.

The period by the mid 18th century was also important because it offered
the middle-income groups the opportunity to increase in number. They
were represented by small merchants, tradesmen, professionals, artisans
a.s.o.; real opportunities in professions as law, medicine, school teaching,
banking or government services, highly expanded during that period of
time, side by side with commerce and different industries development.
Thus, the general growing prosperity determined a higher demand for
leisure and luxury industries (porcelain china, armchairs, fine mirrors,
newspapers, toys, etc.) which, in their turn, offered increasing job
opportunities. However, the historians argue that only a minority could
enjoy the advantages of the new jobs developed with the new consumer
goods as the great majority of the population continued to live in the
countryside, preserving their old values, ways and traditions.
The opinion could not be but true for large areas, such as the Scottish
Highlands, Wales /, the mountainous central region/, or East Anglia,
which had remained predominantly rural regions. It goes without saying
that the new consumer goods which embellished the life of the well-off
were beyond the reach of the poor. Similarly, while, on the one hand,
imposing and smart town houses or villas were built up for the rich ones,
on the other hand, some agricultural or industrial labourers lived in
precarious conditions, in cottages, cellars or caves. Undoubtedly, there
were in the country beggars, vagrants, and unemployed who needed even
the basic commodities for a decent life.
However, the goods which characterized a style of life specific to modern
age could be seen not only in towns, but also in the rural areas; the fact
was due to the large number of shops which had proliferated in Britain at a
fast rate, starting even with the end of the 17th century. Not accidentally,
Napoleon had described Britain as a nation of shopkeepers. Such
proliferation of shops selling even goods as buttons, toys or jewels could
not have taken place without an existing demand for the respective goods.

An information on the discrepancies existing in society is offered by the amount of

income of the duke of Newcastle, and which was of 100,000/annum while the workers
on his land were paid 15 a year.

The social conditions were better in Britain, in comparison with other European
countries, and British aristocracy had less power over the poor than elsewhere. Besides,
the social classes could mixed freely together, and it was easier to move up and down the
social ladder [12, p. 115].

The paradox of change in continuity, characterizing British society is

very well mirrored in the urban and countryside development. Starting
with the 18th century the preoccupation and effort to make towns cleaner
and healthier became permanent, and the results were obvious. The best
example was London, which had become so clean and tidy that it was
considered the wonder of Europe, and made Samuel Johnson express
his famous remark when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life. For
there is in London all that life can afford. Local authorities became
more seriously involved in the towns correct development and their
level of sanitation: thus, the streets were cut wider to afford the
horse-drawn vehicle to pass each other, and a system of street lightening
(1734, in London), street cleaning and social services was introduced in
the British towns. It had been the local authorities determination to take
such steps, as, many towns asked Parliament to allow them the
introduction of a local tax, payable by each house owner, and which was
designed to local urban improvements. As a consequence, the towns
became better organized, safer, pleasant places to live in.
As a result of the new attitude, the City of London was beyond all praise,
being unique in its size and numerous functions it had. It was a political
centre, being the location of the Court and of Parliament, an economic
and financial centre because of the numerous institutions active in trade,
finance or industries, the hub of the communication network, and a
cultural centre, as well, with new theatres, libraries, assembly rooms and
famous coffee-houses, the base for clubs, debating societies and
spontaneous political activities; besides, it was the home of the printing
industry producing newspapers and books. Other provincial towns in
Britain developed at a similar rate, growing in size and importance,
with sophisticated urban planning and architecture, with insurance
companies and fire fighting systems able to protect the citizens against
the risk of destruction, with good supplies of clean water and with a

The sanitation conditions in towns up to the respective time had been really awful: there
had been no clearing system, the towns smelling bad with the dirt left in the street and
seldom removed; the streets were narrow, about two metres wide, and muddy. Looking in
that way, the towns were real centres of disease, which affected mainly the poor
population. It was estimated that the young people suffered the consequences, only one
child in four living to become an adult.

By 1750, there were 17 towns in Britain with a population of more than 10,000 people,
[53; p. 70].

cultural life of their own, the growing number of schools set up both in
towns and surrounding countryside deserving special mention.
By mid 18th century life in the countryside had changed as well, and that
was mainly due to the new policy of enclosures; the change was
determined by the greater landlords desire to invest their large amounts
of money on land, money which had come either from profits made from
trade, or from investments in coal mines, iron works or other industries.
At that moment, farming could be considered a profitable business due to
the possible improvements introduced and to the interest showed in the
new farming methods. Thus, the introduction of the seed drill had
made fields easier to weed; the method of growing root crops, animal
food and wheat in three successive years, by which the old method of the
land being left to rest for every three years was replaced, represented an
important development which raised productivity and made possible the
growing of animals all the year round. However, the old traditional
farming system did not allow the efficient and large-scale introduction of
these new methods; but, its change had become a necessity. Thus, the
influential and money-possessing people succeeded to persuade the MPs
to pass a law through Parliament allowing them to take over common
land and to enclose it.
Therefore, in the 18th century, the land enclosure was not done for sheep
raising as it had happened in Tudors time, but for mixed animal and
cereal growing, which was possible because of the new farming methods,
and which meant a higher and more efficient food production. The
increased productivity had, as a first result, an improvement of the
peoples life, and it is said that for the first time everyone, including the
poor, could afford to eat white wheat bread [25; p. 118].
In spite of the positive results expected from this policy, enclosures were,
to a certain extent, damaging from the social point of view. In many
cases the impact was negative, as the villagers were simply sent off the
land when it was enclosed, and their homes were destroyed. They were
changed into a landless class, some of them getting some work with the

Until the beginning of the 18th century most farming was still carried out in the old
traditional system, with a village placed in the middle of three or four fields, and with the
type of crop being the decision of the villagers.

new farming class, others finding work in towns by providing the labour
force which made possible the industrial revolution, while a large part of
them became unemployed, dependent upon the assistance given by the
parishes. The situation of this last category worsened in the following years.
However, those who benefited from the new farming policy enjoyed
improved life-styles, the contacts between town and village increased,
and the difference between the two environments tended to diminish.
There was an intensive trade between towns and villages, and there were
many instances when people employed in different urban activities
preferred to live in the countryside where they had build their houses,
taking advantage of the better roads or coach services offered on the
hand; the country landowners used to spend some months a year in the
neighbouring provincial towns or in London, either for settling different
personal business or for pure entertainment.
Thus, the towns and countryside were intermingled, showing the
dynamism of the British society at the respective time. Men and women
moved about to seek pleasure, to do business, to sell goods, to marry, or
to find work; and their ideas or impressions shifted over time [53, p. 71].
2.10.3 Britain in the second half of the 18th century.
Political institutions. The years of revolutions
and change. Conflicts abroad and trade dominance

In 1760, a new king succeeded to the crown of Britain; he was

George III, the grandson of the former king, and one of the most
controversial British kings [53; p. 72].
The first 10 years of this reign were characterized by a marked instability
of administration, seven governments being changed. George III was the
first member of the Hanoverian dynasty born in England, less interested
in Hanovers problems and more preoccupied with the British matters,
eager to take an active part in governing the country. During the first
years of his reign, his ministers had been chosen according to the old and
well settled practices from among the aristocrats; anyway, they were
those who controlled Parliament as well, although it was supposed that

this important institution was a democratic one, being the result of

elections. However, because of the way in which the elections were
organized, bargains were possible between the powerful groups, so that
only the favourite representatives of the respective groups became MPs.
In other words, the persons who generally belonged to the gentry, and
who were wanted by the rich and powerful people were elected to
Parliament, and, in their turn, those persons acted as they were asked.
Thus, in those days, politics was still a matter of the gentry, closely
connected with the political aristocracy, and it is difficult to imagine
elections as being democratic. Such a situation caused the emergence
of individuals like John Wilkes. His opinions were new and
revolutionary, shattering the old behaviour and traditional attitude of the
politicians. Thus, Wilkes claimed that politics should be open to free
discussion by everyone, free speech representing one of the basic
rights of every individual. He had issued a newspaper North Briton
(1763), and in one of its articles Wilkes addressed a strong attack against
government, openly expressing his points of view; the fact made the king
and his ministers extremely angry. Imprisoned of state necessity and
tried in the court, Wilkes was acquitted; the victory made him famous,
and, mostly important, it established essentially important principles in
the history of mankind: first, that freedom of the individual is more
important than the interests of the state and second that nobody could
be arrested without a proper reason [25; p. 111]. Wilkes victory
proved that Parliament was not representative for the common people,
whose individual freedom was not assured. Due to his organizational
skill and well managed propaganda, a nation wide movement became
active in Britain, its effects being felt in the American colonies, as well.

While Britains mid-century population was of eight million, there were fewer than
250,000 voters, out of which 160,000 represented counties and 85,000 represented towns or
boroughs; in many cases the boroughs were represented by a reduced number of people,
controlled by a small number of very rich voters, while representation to Parliament was
carried by two representatives for each county/borough irrespective of the number of
voters.

John Wilkes (1727-1797), a Protestant dissenter, MP of a borough which he had bribed,

was described as an interesting, irresponsible, and cheerfully immoral man [53; p. 72].
Arrested for his opinions, he was acquitted. Leaving Britain for France he was expelled
from the Commons, tried again and declared an outlaw for impeding royal justice.
Returned to Britain, and elected MP once again, John Wilkes was considered both in his
country and in America, a martyr for liberty.

The matter questioned referred to the supremacy of the decisions made

by a Parliament elected by only a fraction of the people. Political
activities outside Parliament started to be organized, as, for example, the
Society for the Supporters of the Bill of Rights (1769) pressing for
parliamentary reform. Their demands referred to parliamentary
representation for some important new towns, (Birmingham, Leeds,
Manchester) the abolition of rotten boroughs, and the right to vote for
men of movable property (merchants, traders, professionals).
Another important development which gave impetus to the movement
was represented by the increasing number of newspapers printed between
1750-1770. Thus, the large number of literate people who had not the
right to vote could, now, have access to the important political matters of
the time. Politics had ceased to be the monopoly of a certain social
category.
Besides, newspapers got the permission to send reporters to Parliament,
and their task was to inform their readers about the political events, and
to comment, in their newspapers, the decisions taken by the MPs.
It was the beginning of a new age. The shaping of the peoples new
attitude towards the way in which they were ruled had started; the people
began to understand that they had the right to have a word to say in the
state politics. It was the beginning of the age of public opinion.
Foreign policy. The domestic instability with which the second half of
the 18th century began in Britain was, mainly, the consequence of the
conflicts which the nation had to face abroad.
At that moment France and Spain were powerful countries, and they had
allied in 1733, offering France a trade advantage over Britain. Although
at peace with France (1748), the British continued to invest in their navy,
in order to build the world strongest fleet with which they could keep the
trading routes under their control and, possibly, to take over the French
trading positions overseas.
Harassment on either sides took place in the colonial settlements in North
America, West Indies and India, and the British often stopped the French
ships to reach or leave their ports.

War broke out in 1756, when the French attacked the British at Minorca,
which was lost, as well as Oswego in North America. But one year later,
in 1759, the British took their revenge over the French at the Battle of
Plessey, and in 1757, the French fleet was largely destroyed at the naval
battle of Quiberon Bay. British dominance over the world trade started to
be imposed: two most profitable regions of India for European traders,
Bengal and Carnatic fell under the British control when the French army
was defeated by the British East India Company army both in Bengal,
and, in the south, near Madras.
In Canada, British control was effectively secured when Quebec fell; the
Island of Guadeloupe was captured, as well the French trading centres
on the west coast of Africa. The Treaty of Paris (1763) was to confirm
most of these gains which had followed the British victories.
Thus, Britain was drunk with victory which caused a feeling of
patriotic exultation, especially among traders and merchants. The new
colonies were to provide fresh raw materials, and besides, they were to
represent new markets for the British manufactured goods. However, the
price paid by the nation for the purchase of these gains was high
enough; the postwar period was difficult for the British explaining the
inner conflicts and political instability, as well as the necessity for the
governments to face the situation with finding new fiscal opportunities;
on the other hand, the Royal Navy had suffered a deterioration which
could explain the subsequent weakness of the British army during the
American revolution.
Anyway, at that moment, Britain had become, and not for the first time,
an imperial nation. The novelty of the situation was that the new empire
had extended beyond the bounds of Europe. One direction was North
America, where settlements had begun during the reign of James I with
the search for new land which had moved an increasing population,
followed, during the reign of Queen Ann, by the emigration of religious
dissidents who were seeking freedom to their worship or, later on, of
Catholics, and of Quakers. A chain of colonies were settled along the
eastern sea board, beginning to extend inland towards the Appalachian
mountains; among these colonies were Virginia, Maryland, Carolinas,

As part of the Treaty of Paris, Guadeloupe was restored to the French in return for
Canadas control.

New England, Rhode Island and the English New York converted from
the Dutch New Amsterdam after the British victory in the second Dutch
War. The new British empire was organized in territorial units ruled by
governors and councils which were appointed by the crown; there were
also representatives assemblies of the local inhabitants.
As a result of the Seven Years War (1756-1763) with France, British
expansion included Canada, and started to control most of India, not only
by conquest, but also by treaties with the local princess. Thus, India
became the jewel in the crown of Britains possessions overseas.
For the rest of the century, Britains international trade continued to
grow, the colonies providing, on the one hand, the raw materials
processed in the countrys industries (e. g.: sugar from the West Indies,
tobacco from Virginia, calicoes from India) and, on the other hand, an
important market where the British sold the goods they had produced.
The empire, whose building started in the 18th century and continued in
the next one, made Britain, in spite of some intermittent difficulties as for
instance the American colonies escape or the Napoleonic wars, the
worlds leading trading and manufacturing nation, until its end, in the
20th century [46; p. 70].

2.10.4 The years of change and revolutions

The years after 1760 witnessed major changes in the British society,
changes known under the name of Industrial Revolution and which
transformed a society, up to that moment predominantly agrarian, into a
factory-based economy using technological changes and innovations.

Important debates are carried by scholars in connection with the term of Industrial
Revolution and the real period of its action over Britains territory. Thus, some scholars
assert that industrialization had started in Britain even from the beginning of the 18th
century, when it had already become the most industrialized state of Europe, without a
sudden take off being necessary for it after 1760-1780; others argue that the term cannot
be applied to the British economy of the respective period, as employment in industry
overtook agriculture only later, in the second half of the 19th century. Besides, they say
that the large factories became common in Britain in that period, while in the previous
century (18th century) the average production unit did not employ more than 10 people.

By the beginning of the 19th century, Britain had become the most
industrialized country in the world, with an accelerated economic growth
towards the end of the 18th century. A number of factors, among which
the geographic position and the subsoil riches contributed to this
economic development. Besides, a small compact island, Britain enjoyed
perfect ways of communication including the natural ports facing the
Atlantic, coastal shipping and a good system of internal waterways; a
whole system of inland canals was built during the 18th century
connecting towns, and providing a cheap means of transport especially
for goods. The roads were also improved during the century, and a
speedy system of coaches secured the rapid travel for people. These
systems of transportation made possible the economic success of the
industrial revolution.
Britain was also rich in coal and iron ore, which were closely located in
counties such as Staffordshire, Northumberland, Lancashire, Yorkshire.
The replacement of wood with coal, found in large quantities, for
changing iron ore into steel or into high quality iron had as a result
Britains positioning as the leading producer of iron in Europe. The
demand for coal and iron rapidly grew, and Britain produced at the
beginning of the 19th century four times more coal, and eight times more
iron than it had done one century before. New and large ironworks were
set up in the country, the high quality of the metal determining the
development of other industries; thus, the first iron bridge was built over
the river Severn (1779), as well as the first iron boats; iron started to be
used as building material, or for the production of different objects or
new machinery, giving an impetus to inventions and innovation never
though of before.

JAMES WATT

Thus, John Wilkinson, a man with a special

confidence in the possibilities offered by iron, and
James Watt greatly improved the steam engine,
producing an engine with a turning motion, made
of iron and steel. Other inventions included the
spinning machine, which replaced the slow work
of the hand spinners (1764), and the weaving
machine (1785) which revolutionized cloth
making, allowing Britain to make cheap cloth,

(The Lancashire cotton was sold everywhere in the world). Thus, the
development of machinery determined the growth of the textile industry.
Another industry which met with an unprecedented growth was the one
producing china goods, by using the locally found clay. The most famous
factories were those belonging to Wedgwood, and their high quality
products became very popular. Wedgwood china continues to be largely
appreciated even today, large quantities being exported.
But the introduction and use of machines had diverse and important
consequences, constituting the essence of what industrial revolution
means. Thus, each machine developed only one working process,
bringing in the workers mind the idea of labour division, essential for
the further industrial development. Besides, large and cheap quantities of
goods could be quicker produced, determining the mass production
never thought of before. It brought about he unprecedented growth of
trade, as the demanded goods were easily produced for an ample supply
of customers represented both by the home market, mainly constituted of
a large number of prosperous people, and by the overseas market
constituted of the larger number of colonies. There was, at that moment,
a positive juncture of circumstances which supporting one another,
created huge advantage for the nations growth; the colonies fed the
newly set up industries with the necessary cheap raw materials, serving,
at the same time, as customers eager to purchase the processed goods.
Besides, there was an expanding population at home, meaning both
labour force and great demand.
Another important consequence of the technological development, and,
with it, of the industrial revolution was the creation of a new social
environment. Thus, the former cottage industry practically
disappeared, being replaced with a factory industry.
But this replacement meant a lot of people being put out of work and
obliged to move to the industrial centres which offered them job
opportunities in a new environment; they had to keep work hours and
rules established by factory owners, developing a new class, the workers.

A good example is the cotton textile industry; the amount of new cotton brought from
India highly increased in the second half of the 18th century, determining the eight time
growth of annual cloth production in Britain, in the period 1770-1800. Most of the
production was consumed by the home market.

Another category which was practically ruined was that of some skilled
craftsmen, especially the handloom weavers.
It goes without saying that the social effects of industrialization were
huge; undoubtedly, there were some families who made enormous
private fortunes, but a large number of people painfully felt the dark side
of early industrialization. The working conditions were hard, sometimes
even brutal, with minimal industrial safety, dangerous environmental
pollution and machines often producing mutilating injuries, or even
death. Both children and women were employed in the industrial sectors,
but the payment offered to them was extremely low, and the hard
working conditions made their life quite miserable. There was enough
labour force emerging from different sources (the ruin of cottage
industries, enclosures in agriculture, the unprecedented growth of the
population a.s.o.), which badly diminished the payment offered to the
workers. At this point there is much debate among scholars in connection
with the standard of the labouring peoples living conditions but it is
certain that it could not have been decent, as long as the workers tried to
join in self-assisting societies (forecasting the development of tradeunions) in order to protect themselves against the employers; they asked
for fair wages and reasonable working conditions. There were also
situations when riots occurred; they were organized by the people left
unemployed when their work was replaced by machines. A famous riot
was that of the Luddites (1799), when the workers started to destroy the
machines considered the cause of their losing the jobs. The government
supported the factory owners, and the attacks against the machines
became punishable by death.

The existence of the Speenhamland Act is an example of how the social problems were
solved in the 18th century. The act stipulated the obligation of the parishes to help those
whose wages were extremely low with money taken from local taxes. The act had
disastrous effects, as the employers being aware of the parishes obligation, were
encouraged to pay even lower wages. As a consequence, the national cost regarding the
poors assistance doubled from 1790 to 1800 (from 2 million to 4 million). A secondary
effect of the Act was that it indirectly determined the growth of the population; the help
was given to the families according to the number of children, and larger families meant
increased financial assistance. The Act also brought to the building of the parish houses
where the poor families were housed and fed; some businessmen thought about hiring
these work houses and the people living there, getting, in this way, cheap labour force.
The workers received only food in return of their work, the system being, practically, a
form of slavery, both adults and children being obliged to work for long hours. Finally, the
old Poor Law collapsed, and a new law was passed in 1834 [25; p. 118].

However, Britains economic situation at the end of the 18th century

showed that, at the respective moment, it was the most industrialized
state of the world, and that the results of
industrialization had been positive. Thus, although
during the second half of the 18th century an
unprecedented growth in the countrys population
took place, (the increase was, between 1770-1790,
of 1.5 million people), Britain was able to sustain
the growth without famines or severe
ADAM SMITH
unemployment being registered. (For comparison,
Irelands case can be considered; in the absence of a real industrialization
a serious famine occurred there at the beginning of the 19th century as a
result of a similar population explosion).
The 18th century also represented the age of the first economic treatise
which laid the foundation of modern economic science. It was
The Wealth of Nations, (1776) and its author was Adam Smith. Two
of his principles turned out to be of essential importance to the economic
health and growth of the nations economy: the division of labour using
specialized skills in the factory setting, and the freeing of trade within
which the market demand was to decide the supply. Some decades were
to pass until the existence of a full free trade, and until the fully
developed factory system really worked (the mid 19th century), but the
foundations had been laid for the incipient practice of manufacturers, and
traders, while occasional decisions of governments started to limit the
restrictive monopolist attitudes.
In the last two decades of the century, Britains
economy was closely connected with the name of the
prime minister William Pitt the Younger
(1773-1801); his policy was in keeping with Adam
Smiths argument which had directed the nation
positively, and had ultimately determined economic
growth and prosperity. Thus, under William Pitts
direct control the national debt was reduced by
WILLIAM PITT
increasing tax revenue, smuggling was limited by
THE YOUNGER
cutting import duties (especially for tea), and an
important commercial agreement was concluded with France (the Eden
Treaty) showing Britains availability to explore trading opportunities in
Europe after the loss of her colonies in North America.

During Pitts rule, and partly because of his reforms and policies, Britain
demonstrated renewed power and international prestige abroad, while at
home, national confidence was registered. An accelerated economic
growth was required in that period; after a short decline in exports and
industrial productivity related to the American war, the nation recovered
rapidly, and in the period 1794-1796 British average exports were of
about 22 million per annum. Even the Napoleonic wars could not slow
down Britains economic boom and prosperity, the fact demonstrating
that, besides Pitts positive measures, the recovery had wider and more
complex explanations; they basically consisted in the results of a new
experience, that of the industrial revolution.
An important development, which also became obvious, took place in the
field of communication which knew a higher mobility, being considered
one more revolution of the century. Starting with the same period the
improvement of roads and of postal services made the relations and
communication between people safer and more rapid. But the dramatic
progress in real communication was the printed word. In 1760 there
were already four dailies and six tri-weekly papers which could be read
not only in London, but also everywhere in the country. Besides, there
were numerous newspapers printed in the provincial towns, while
Scotland had established its own newspapers and periodicals. Printing
became an extensive activity, including books, dictionaries,
advertisements and primers. As literacy was almost general, larger
numbers of people had access to information, including the political one.
Thus, they could become aware of different events inside or outside the
country, as well as of political scandals or protests. It was also in the
second half of the 18th century that the American revolution broke out,
producing a serious impact on the British society and on the whole world
as well, because of the emergence and further development of a new state
and nation.
As regards the British colonies in North America, often referred to as
New England, they represented, at the time of their revolutionary
movement, a special type of communities.
These colonies were socially constituted of middle and lower classes,
traders and farmers, who had come to the New World, mainly, to get land

Colonization of the New World included important events such as: the coming of the
separatist Puritans on board of the Mayflower in 1620, or the foundation of the

for free, and who had transformed the British manorial system they had
been used to, into the plantation system, especially in the Southern
colonies. Far from the metropolis, these people were self-dependent, not
only economically but also politically; thus, they were self-governing
townships led by elected small public officials organized into court-house
assemblies at the local level, and general assemblies at the countrys level.
[46, p. 65]. From the English, they had inherited the common law system
and the justice administration, but, at a time when England was divided
between the monarchs and the parliaments power which led to the Civil
war, they had already succeeded to enforce the expression of the peoples
political will in their Parliament. In the period which followed the
Glorious Revolution, the metropolis mercantile policy, its government as
well as its trading errors made furious the British North Americans. The
metropolis representing the British capital was interested in organizing the
trade of the colonies and in taxing them according to their own needs, with
a view to strengthen Britains position against the colonial competitors.
Thus, the British government decided to tax the inter-colonial trade, and to
control the market prices to its benefit. But, the colonies interests were
different; they wanted to buy the goods they needed cheaper on the
colonial market. The metropolis policy worsened the already existing
discontent of the new Englanders, caused by the previous unpopular
measures taken by the British Parliament without the colonies agreement;
thus, besides the old colonial navigation acts which specified that only
England/Britain was to intermediate all the navigation transactions, with
the goods from different areas having to be shipped only to England, some
other disappointing measures included the restriction of colonial paper
money (1764), the conditions imposed for a standing British colonial army
quartered in North America (1765), and the introduction of a stamp/duty
on printed matters and documents (1765).
Plantation and of the Massachusetts Bay colony, as a religious experiment; the
establishment of Maryland, Rhode Island, New Haven and Connecticut, and the setting
up of the New England Confederation, (1640) in order to defend the American colonies
against the Indians, turned into a Crown dominion after the Restoration; other coast
territories became British, such as the New Netherlands territories conquered by Charles
II in 1667 (including New York and New Jersey); Pennsylvania was founded in 1683 by
the Quakers as a Neo-Protestant colony, and the Carolinas, were chartered as proprietary
colonies in 1663 (named after Charles II), although they had been unofficially set up
even before Restoration; Georgia was a sort of buffer colony, serving as a defence
zone against the Spanish colony of Florida. There were also the inland colonies inherited
from the French Arcadia (Louisiana) and the Hudson Bay Co., in the North and which
had become the objects of the colonial wars between the European great powers of the
respective period in the New World [46; p. 65].

The colonists reacted, considering the laws passed by the British

Parliament as enslaving them, and denied their validity; their point of
view was that the British were not entitled to pass laws without their
agreement, and started to act under the slogan no taxation without
representation.
The clash became obvious in 1773, when, at the port of Boston, a group
of colonists threw a shipload of tea into the sea rather than pay tax on it.
The event is known in history as the Boston Tea party, and it
represented the beginning of the American War of Independence
(1775-1783). The British answered by closing the port, and, in their turn,
the colonists reacted by preventing any British ship from entering the
American ports. Undoubtedly, the British unwise policy had caused the
events that, finally, brought about the loss of the North American
colonies, mainly because they had failed to see the force of the numerous
people who represented, at that moment, the New Englanders. Drifted by
their own prosperity and inspired by the Enlightenment ideas, those
people chose to start a revolutionary war of political and economic liberation.
It is interesting to note that, at the respective moment, even the British
were divided with regard to the political opinion on the situation in North
American colonies; while there were some politicians who considered
the attitude of the British government as being fair, there were many
others (Wilkes, Chatham, Tom Pain) who openly supported the colonists
cause.
The American Declaration of Independence (1777), drafted by
Thomas Jefferson, in the wonderful language of the Enlightenment
philosophy, replaced a rather local conflict on economic matters into
the noble universalities represented by the principles of freedom, justice,
democracy and human fraternity. The war cost Britain a lot, and many
people were convinced that their country was in decline; the war also
meant an unexpected humiliation for a strong and proud nation, besides
the loss of one of the most profitable region of the empire. However, the
recovery was rapid, the national confidence was restored, and in the next
years, the country crossed a period of accelerated economic growth and
prosperity; the situation was partly due to the correct measures and
reforms initiated by the Prime Minister William Pit, but, mostly, because
of the new revolutionary trends in technology, industry, communication

and trade. Thus, when, again, Britain entered a war, in 1793, this time
against revolutionary France, it was a wealthy country, confident in its
power and stability.
British Reaction to the French Revolution
At the moment of the French revolution outbreak
(1784), the economic, social and political
situation was completely different in the two
countries (France and Britain), but it still created
fear in Britain, as it did all over Europe. In fact,
there were, at that moment, in Britain, two
different attitudes towards the French revolution.
On the one hand, there was a category who
THOMAS PAINE
believed that the post-revolutionary France
would become an enlighten state, under whose influence some political,
religious and social changes could be accelerated in Britain. Among
those in this category were the poets William Wordsworth, Samuel
Taylor Coleridge, the writer William Godwin and Mary Wallstonecraft.
Some views were courageously expressed in defense of the French
revolution and of the common peoples rights, against the power of
monarchy and aristocrats. Such a radical was Thomas Paine with his
The Rights of Men (1791-1792), a real best seller, which aroused the
nations enthusiasm for democratic reforms. Monarchy, aristocracy and
all kinds of privileges were attacked in this book, the author demanding
important rights for ordinary people: manhood suffrage, public
education, old-age pensions, maternity benefits, full employment, a. s. o.
Pains ideas were considered so dangerous, that he had to escape to
France, from where he never returned. His book remained one of
reference on the problem of political freedom.

The main difference consisted in the relations existing between the social classes in the
two countries; while in France, it was the middle class who made the revolution against
aristocracy, leading the peasants and the working classes in towns, in Britain, the middle
classes and the gentry had already been acting together in the House of Commons for
centuries, and they represented, at that moment, the most powerful social classes in the
country.

On the other hand, there were those who did not sympathize with the
French revolution. An important representative of this category was
Edmund Burke, who wrote Reflections on the Revolution in France
(1790), in which he expressed his fear that the situation in France could
cause the fall of the political European established order.
Although these problems were mainly debated by the representatives of
the middle class and gentry, without voices coming from the working
classes being really heard, however, the period meant the setting up of
the first political organizations of the lower classes. They were the
Corresponding Societies, established in London and some other centres
(Norwich, Sheffield, Nottingham, as well as similar ones in Scotland)
and which required political reforms, among others, universal manhood
suffrage and annual elections, expressing their members faith in the
French Revolution principles.
Although these societies did not last long as the government closed them
down in 1798, it was for the first time, just in the end of the
18th century, that the working people all over the country had started to
organize themselves in order to achieve political change.
Undoubtedly, the British government, slow as it was in its reactions in
comparison with other European cabinets, also started to be afraid that
the revolution in France could spread to Britain; as a consequence, the
radical leaders were arrested and the army started to be trained,
(the yeomen) being asked to live in specially built army camps. When
Louis XVI was guillotined by the new French regime, and, particularly,
after the French army invasion of the Low Countries the general opinion
in Britain began to change becoming harder. In February 1783, Britain
and France went to war. At the respective period of time, most of the
European countries had already been defeated by Napoleon and had
entered under his control. Britain itself entered a long period of war
(1793-1815).

2.10.5 Life in Britain at the End of the 18th Century

Although, economically, the British society had made decisive steps

towards modernization, socially, it had remained attached to the old
hierarchical structure; the prevalent concept continued to be the rank
more than the class, and even if a remedy for social injustices had been
considered, the idea of levelling the social order had not yet been taken
into consideration. More than that, aristocracy continued to set in the
general tone of the British society.
Thus, the standards of material ambition and taste were those of
aristocracy, and they were obvious in architecture, for example; the
towns renewed themselves, in the fashionable enthusiasm of the Regency
style creating modern spas, such as Bath, or Brighton. It was in the
century after 1750 that England both rural and urban, but more
especially urban, assumed its later face [12; p. 203], the face under
which we can discover it today. At the same time, the wealth
accumulated by the classes situated immediately below the highest
rank, namely by the people making profitable investments in industry,
banking or trade determined the increase in number and influence of the
representatives of these classes, the middle ones. Towards the end of the
century, in front of the new wealth upsurge the old landed gentry had
retreated, to a certain extent, from its ascendancy position, the top layers
of the society altering in composition, in favour of the representatives of
the middle class in search, now, of possible peerage.
On the other hand, the bottom layers of society witnessed much poverty
and despair. As a result of enclosure and of other causes, a lot of families
had no other choice but to go to parish workhouses, in order to keep
themselves alive. The hardest life was for the children of the poor people,
who were obliged to work from the age of six or seven. Due to the rapid
growth of the population in the 18th century, there were plenty of children

New wealth got a higher status, as for example, the House of Lords, which, after 1775,
rose in membership from 199 to 358, with some families dying out to hide the fact of
over 200 new creations [M. W. Cahill, Peerage Creations and the Changing Character
of the British Nobility, E.H.R 9 (1918), p. 259-284].

in the country, and they were particularly useful to the factory owners
who preferred to use their work as they could be paid less than adults,
and were easier to discipline than the latter.
However, towards the end of the century child labour started to be
considered shameful as a result of a charge in peoples mentality and
their increased dislike for cruelty towards both humans and animals
[25; p. 120].
As regards the womans condition in the British society of the
18th century, in many respects, it was not much different from that of
men. Thus, the British society accepted the women active in some
business, and there were women personally attending to the sale of
different products, running some small, especially food producing
industries, or administering their own land or other property.
They enjoyed a good deal of true independence, as well as some
corresponding education especially in the intellectual arts. Even in the
preceding century, outstanding individuals as Dorothy Osborne
(1627-1695), who had taken an active part, side by side with her husband
Sir William Temple, in political entrepreneurial programs, or
Aphra Behn (1640-1689) a well-known playwright, had succeeded to
make a name of their own, proving that the society was not a repressive
or an old fashioned one regarding women.
In the 18th century, women started to play an important part in politics
and arts. Thus, there are extreme examples as Queen Caroline, on the
one hand, who was more the ruler of the kingdom than her husband king
George II, and, on the other hand, Sarah Siddons (1755-1831), the first
actress employing female roles on the stage.
The modern English novel owes a lot to Fanny Burney and especially to
Jane Austin, the 18th century novelist who continues to be read with
pleasure by the 20th century readers.
However, a certain mentality on womens frailty continued to prevail,
and the young girls were often obliged by their parents to make efforts in
order to match the general image regarding feminine beauty; they had to
be, slim with a tight waist and a pale face.

The 18th century meant an advancement in the peoples mentality

regarding family life, the most important change being a more openly
expressed affection among the family members; even the attitude
towards children changed and they started to be seen as a distinct group
with special needs and requesting a gentle treatment. This advancement
was due to the increase of life expectancy, which made people change
their perspective on life in general, but, to a larger extent, it was due to a
growing idea of kindness, shown both to humans and animals; the
people had reached the level of culture which made them understand that
cruelty under all its forms, was wrong and incompatible with the human
as a superior being.
Basically, this dislike to cruelty was connected with the idea that every
human was an individual, and in respect of individuality Britain was
ahead of the rest of Europe. [25; p. 120] This individuality was reflected
in their new style of life, in the need for more privacy, for the
achievement of which even their houses were rebuilt in such a way that
every person in the family had his/her own bedroom.
The end of the century also meant an attempt to improve morals and
morale, and it became manifest in a polite attitude, which was to
pervade everything: individual behaviour, relationships between men
and women, even the play of politics [12; p. 207, 208]. Although this
attitude did not always prevail, it was, at least, a desire for a smooth,
uninvolved courteous selfishness of a polite world [ibidem], and
although the 18th century continued to be still crude and not entirely
refined, its contemporaries achieved, at last, the building of a faade
behind which reality might hide.

This new concept could be seen in the attitude of some groups of people who openly
declared themselves against the evils of the slave trade, which, in fact, brought Britain
large amounts of money. A first success was recorded when a judge freed a slave, ruling
that no man could be a slave in Britain; with that, Britain became the international
leader in the struggle the aim of which was to end slavery; the slave trade was abolished
by law in 1807 in Britain, and in 1833 slavery was abolished in all British colonies. Such
an attitude gave a true meaning to the words of the song Britons never should be
slaves. The same attitude and the efforts made, directed this time against the cruelty of
the employers, limited the childrens long hours of work; thus, under the pressure of a
growing opinion against the childrens hard working conditions, Parliament passed the
first Factory Act (1802) limiting child labour to twelve hours each day, and some years
later (1819) the employment of children under nine was forbidden.

The 18th century is also known as the age of clubs and coffee-houses, a
trait of culture which made Britain famous, and where people with
similar backgrounds and upbringings could meet to politely and
unfanatically discuss on divergent opinions.
As regards education, the old universities Oxford and Cambridge had
been turned into institution for the formation of gentlemen, providing
excellent instruction in some skills which could be considered as
unprofitable (e.g.: the composition of Latin or Greek texts). It is no
wonder why some social classes representing merchants, civic
administrations or other dynamic categories avoided these universities
considered as teaching things irrelevant for life, but preferred the Inns of
Courts, for example, where lawyers were trained.
In this respect, the Scottish universities could be considered as better
serving the real needs of the society; the fact that they produced thinkers
as Adam Smith is a proof of their efficiency.
There was, at the respective time, much outburst of taste in the country,
obvious in arts, pictures, china, silver and other artefacts, in buildings
and in gardens, absorbing a lot of the wealth produced, and giving the
age and the country a certain glow which made it attractive to many other
Europeans.
Thus, the 18th century seemed to draw to its end in a general atmosphere
which looked relaxed and intent on social peace in comparison with the
unrest and turmoil on the continent.
However, the events in the 1790s determined a change of the European
nations attitude towards the British, who started to be blamed for their
position, and be considered to have stood in the way of liberty, and
fought for their interests with the lives of other people.

A. D. Harvey, European Attitudes to Britain during the French Revolutionary and

Napoleonic Era History 63 (1878), 356-365, T. C Banning, The Origins of the French
Revolutionary Wars (1986), p. 131-132.

2.10.6 The Napoleonic Wars (1793-1815) and Britains Imperial

Expansion. The Second British Empire

As well known, the Napoleonic wars, which

involved Britain starting with 1793, were massive,
both geographically (they covered all of the five
continents) and from the point of view of the
expenses required; (The wars cost Britain over
1,650,000,000). Faced with the danger of a French
invasion, the British army, the Royal Navy and the
civil defense forces had to expand more rapidly and
to a larger extent than ever before. Not only once
the financial situation was difficult for the British,
H. NELSON
with the country brought to the verge of
bankruptcy. But its efforts were not in vain. A series of naval victories
(1797, 1798), which caused the destruction of the French navy
safeguarded the British possessions in India. In the
following years, the British fleet captured from the
French a lot of remote territories including St.
Lucia, Tobago, Guiana, the Cape of Good Hope,
French Guiana, Java, Martinique and others.
Besides, the British fleet once again under the
command of Admiral Horation Nelson, won an
extraordinary victory at Trafalgar, near Spain
(1805), where the French-Spanish fleet was almost
WELLINGTON
completely destroyed. Starting with 1803, even the
land war began to turn in Britains favour, and from 1812 Napoleons
final defeat was only a matter of time. The British army under the
command of Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington gained important
victories, while the allied forces expelled the French from many
European territories.

Unfortunately, Nelson himself was killed at Trafalgar, becoming one of the Britains
greatest national heroes. The words he addressed to the fleet before the famous battle
were England expects that every man will do his duty and they are remembered as a
memorable motto in time of national danger.

Weakened by the disastrous invasion of Russia, Napoleon was obliged to

surrender in 1814.
However, one year later, Napoleon escaped from his exile on Elba and
returned to France where he quickly assembled an army to fight his last
campaign (March-June 1815); it ended with his final and total defeat at
Waterloo Belgium. Although the defeat was accomplished by the allied
forces, the contribution to the final victory of the British army under the
command of Wellington was of utmost importance. The direct
consequence of these historic events was the British political dominance
over Europe and much of the world for the next one hundred years. The
events also determined Britains move from the first to the second
empire, constructed around West Indies in the Pacific, the India of the
East India Company, the Australian continent and New Zealand,
discovered by Sir James Cook, as well as Canada. It was further
extended to Africa, as far down as the Cape of Good Hope, China and
the Tibet, covering one third of the world, when it reached the peak of its
extension in the 19th century. Every major war Britain had been engaged
in during that period increased its colonial power.
Thus, the Napoleonic Wars brought 20 new colonies to Britain, including
Tobago, Mauritius, Malta, St. Lucia, the Cape, the United Provinces of
Ague and Ouch in India, and many, many others. By 1820 the total
population of the territories it governed was 200 million, 26% of the
worlds total population [53; p. 76]. It was also the wars which further
increased Britains colonial possessions during the 19th century, as for
example the Opium War (late 1830s) which secured the British trade
from and to India, the Afghanistan War (1839-1842) meant to keep
under control Russias advance in Asia and continued in Europe with the
Crimean War (1854), the Boers War (1890s) fought with the Dutch

The foundations of the first British empire were laid during the Protectorate with the
intervention of the army in colonial trade. Jamaica was won from Spain (1655). After the
loss of the North American colonies, Britain was still in possessions of areas in India,
West Indies, Canada and other colonies (even North American) won from France as a
consequence of the seven years war. Britains control over its neighbours took place by
the Acts of Union, with Scotland in 1707 and with Ireland in 1801, when U. K. was
created.

Captain James Cooks explored Australia and New Zealand after 1770; it was a private
enterprise and a scientific inquiry; later, used by Britain as a penal colony, a new territory
necessary to shelter the convicts previously sent to North American colonies.

settlers in South Africa, who were an obstacle in the development of a

south route trade with India; in 1882 the British invaded the Suez Canal,
forcing its way into Sudan.
Starting the growth of its second empire with the victories gained during
the Napoleonic Wars, Britain was inclined to consider itself a sort of
victorious military guardian of the political interests of Europes
leaders, its mission being to preserve the balance of power or the
equilibrium of the politically established world [46, p. 68].
But, in fact, Britain had pursued the preservation of its own interests over
the already gained territories, as the objectives of the wars further to the
Napoleonic ones had clearly indicated. Thus, as most of the historians
consider, post-Napoleonic Second British Empire that hugely grew in the
19th century was more a political empire than only a commercial one.
Keeping under its control numerous strategic and trading trans-oceanic
positions, Britain had become, at the respective moment, the undisputed
sovereign of the worlds oceans and commercial routes a sea-power
as well as the ruler of 1/5 of the entire world, representing a real power
on the worlds arena. The situation encouraged a certain imperial
ideology (known as Jingoism), which caused the belief into the British
superiority, and Britains right to rule the world [46; p. 70]. However,
the processes by which the empire had grown were complex, and the
theories and explanations with reference to that growth are numerous.
Anyway, in the middle of the 19th century it was widely considered that
the colonies were burdens for the centre and that markets and raw
materials could be more easily acquired by trade.
In spite of such opinions, and even of some colonial crises or colonial
wars in Africa, Asia or Pacific, the process did not stop, and new
acquisitions were located in remote tropical areas, with no European
inhabitants or civilization. (2.5 million square meter of territory fell
under British control). The vast territory with its numerous problems was
a challenge for the centre, but the opportunities it offered, both economic
and political, made the empires rulers focus on the sense of duty
which the British had to assume, in the direction of necessary
improvements required in the area. Thus, the British presence and rule
over many of the territories had to be justified, and it was done in terms
of benefit of law and order. The white mans burden as the poet

Rudyard Kipling saw it, was a burden of responsibility [53; p. 85].

A real network of interwoven motives and interests was built up in
support of the physical empire which was doubled by an ever larger
empire of trade and investments where, although the British flag did
not fly, if practically, covered most of the planet. As regards the white
colonies as Canada, Australia or New Zealand, they had been given
important powers of self-government (Durham Report, 1839; Canada
Union Act, 1840). In case of India, the brightest jewel in the British
crown, the situation was different; its territory represented both the
beginning of the British nation imperial greatness and the cause of its
downfall. India was part of the British empire not by consent, but by
conquest; the initial phase of friendship between Britain and India,
had, gradually, turned the territories of many Indian states into East India
Company possessions. After the Indian Mutiny (1857) suppressed by the
British, the East Indian Company was abolished, and the title of Viceroy
was instituted, while the imperial control was tightened; the construction
of a railway network in the country enforced the British position, which
reached its peak in 1877, when Queen Victoria was declared Empress of
India. The event further caused the emergence of a great nationalistic
movement (the First Indian National Congress took place in 1885),
which culminated in the 1920s, with Mahatma Gandhis struggle for
liberation. It happened only a quarter of a century later (1947), when
India was finally granted independence, the period during which,
practically, all territories once belonging to Britain, were decolonized;
with those events the second British empire did not longer exist.

2.10.7 Continuity and Change Characteristic Features

of British Culture and Civilization

The history of British culture and civilization started a thousand and

more years ago, including in it some older traces of culture and
civilization, coming from other peoples passage on the islands territory;
in spite of dramatic events, drastic circumstances and important changes,
the characteristic features of the general scene were preserved, the
overall image of the British type of culture being one of surprising
continuity.

The British formed one people at stages, at the beginning, from the
mixture of Anglo-Saxons warriors and farmers with the Celts on the
fringes, and, later, with the foreign invaders and alien rulers coming from
the continent; quite early, they succeeded to get a sense of nationhood
which was enforced, at first, as a result of frequent wars on home
grounds, and, later on, overseas, on other peoples territories.
The language, as an evidence of their
origin, but enriched with a multitude of
way, being easily recognizable; in the
language developed as a means of
and adaptable.

unity, preserved its Germanic

other elements that came their
process of its formation, the
communication both flexible

What the British really achieved over the centuries was a sense of unity
at home, in spite of the diversity still persisting in different regions, and
which, formerly, represented different realms and peoples. It is this sense
of unity, which the British show and mostly impress at the moments
of crisis.
As a consequence of their insularity, they acquired and retained a
conviction of uniqueness over outsiders, but a lot was learned from the
latter in the process of their nations development.
Although the British started as a rural people, they succeeded, from an
early date and once again as a consequence of a people living on an
island, first, to promote trade, which made them extremely active on the
continental and world markets, and, then, to build external empires.
As the historians argue, the features which characterize the British as a
people and a nation are due to two mechanisms which have always
worked and become part of the British society and culture: monarchy and
law/administration.
From its early existence, the monarchy meant the institution which
provided not only the leading power of the nation, but also the control
over the society organized according to the standards of European
experiment. Besides, administration and law constituted the pillars

supporting the building of a nation; it goes without saying that changes

occurred, according to the demands of the historical periods crossed by
the nation, but they took place within the same framework of continuity,
without serious disruptions or total destructions. When the changes
occurred, they represented actions of positive reorganization in the
uproar of the events, the two mechanisms being present to set the things
right, and settle the facts of a self-aware people. However, if, at least, one
example of failure in the mechanisms action can be given the situation
was only an intermittent one, with a temporary break in continuity. The
exceptional ease with which the previous normality was restored is one
more proof of the British society basic feature; it is considered that it lies
in the mixture of order enforced by authority with freedom exercised
under authority [12; p. 214], this feature constituting in itself a
principle, developed and confirmed during the events produced over the
ten centuries of human existence. Breaches of this principle, periods of
exception, breaks of different bonds, undoubtedly, occurred, but each
time they were short-lived, rare, and without enduring consequences.
Turmoil and strife are aspects specific to any human society, and the long
historic periods witness much of them; the British were not spared, but
they managed to handle them keeping unchanged an authority accepted
and shared by the nation.
However, with the beginning of 19th century and with the events which
had made Britain the ruler of a global empire and a real world political
and economic power, the situation had become so complex that
important changes were to be taken into consideration.
The events that followed in the next two centuries made Britain a
modern, advanced society, showing a changed image but, fundamentally,
it continued to enjoy its well settled principles and important values.

Reference to the period of Civil War and Protectorate.