Lecture 5

1. England at the Beginning of the Hundred Years War

King Edward II, the first Prince of Wales, was crowned at the age of 23 when his
father died. His twenty years reign was marked by the constant struggle with the
House of Lords. As a monarch Edward was not fitted to carry on his father’s work
either in war or in statesmanship.

His methods of raising money and shameful relationship with this favourite Gaveston
were disapproved by the nobles. In 1313, the Lords chose a board of seven bishops,
eight earls and six barons to draw up Ordinances for the control of the King. The
most important of these Ordinances were as follows:

1. Charters to be kept.

2. The King to make no gifts without the leave of the Lords.

3. Customs to be collected by Englishmen.

4. The King’s ministers to be chosen with the consent of the baronage.

5. The King not to start a war or leave the country without the consent of

the barons.

6. Parliament to be held annually.

In spite of Edward’s protest the barons sent his favourite Gaveston out the country.
The King already was unable to control the Lords. For many years of Edward’s reign
the country was practically governed by the Duke of Lancaster. After the years of
fruitless struggle the King had to submit to the barons, who demanded his resign.

After the resign of Edward II, his son Edward III came to power in 1327. As an
energetic and adventurous leader Edward established his power in England, in-
tervened into domestic affairs of Scotland and was intending to begin the war with
France.

In 1328, his uncle Charles IV French died without children. Edward immediately
claimed the French throne in the right of his mother, but failed. The French crown
came to Edward’s cousin Philip, who later began to support Scotland in her wars with
England.

In 1337, Edward invaded France with his forces, saying that he wanted to defend
English trade with free towns of Flanders, which could be possibly taken by the
French. This was the first fighting, which led to more than hundred years of struggle
in which neither the English nor French gained victory. In popular history this war
was named a Hundred Years War, though it consisted of several wars between
England and France (1337-1453).

In a year after the invasion, Edward with his forces won the battle in the harbour of
Sluys and took the command of the Channel. After it, the war became a national issue
of two countries, diplomacy and economic pressure were called into play.

The Crown constantly needed money to carry on the wars, so Parliament had to
establish and develop control over taxation. In the course of the wars the King agreed
to allow Parliament to elect treasurers, whose duties were in supervising expenditures
of money and examining the royal accounts.

2. The Black Death. The 1381 Peasants’ Revolt

The succession of wars made the internal situation in the country disastrous — the
fields lay waste, the prices doubled each year. The situation was worsened by the
bubonic plague, which swept over England in 1348-1349. It came to Europe from
China and killed people and cattle in great numbers. The population of England was
reduced at least by a third or even by a half.

The great decrease of population increased wages, gave more freedom to peasants
and caused decline in the value of land. The traditional agriculture was displaced by
sheep-farming.

In 1350 Parliament approved “The Statute of Labourers” which prohibited the rise of
wages, but the strict measures were of no effect — peasants and workers demanded
more and more money for their work.

In 1355 the war with France broke again.

The first successful steps of the English in the war were followed by further victories
in France. In 1356 Edward III captured the King of France and his son. The situation
in France became very difficult, French nobles and people fought against each other
— the people rose against the nobles’ cruelty and the nobles rose against the people.

At last a treaty called the Great Peace was signed. In it King Edward agreed to give
up the greater part of his conquests in France and King John of France had to pay a
ransom of 3 million crowns of gold within six years.

In 1377, after the death of Edward II,I his grandson Richard got the crown at the age
of eleven. As the war with France was going on, the Government of England
invented the poll-tax — every person in the kingdom above the age of fourteen had to
pay three four- penny pieces a year.

The people of Essex rose against the poll-tax, many other counties showed
resentment. In Kent the tax- collector came to the cottage of Wat Tyler claming the
tax upon his daughter. The collector brutally insulted the girl, Wat Tyler tried to
defend her and struck the collector dead with a blow.

The people of the town rose as one man. They made Wat Tyler their leader, joined
with the people of Essex led by Jack Straw and the whole mass marched to London
Bridge. In London they broke and opened the prisons, destroyed the buildings and
killed royal officials. They demanded:

1) to be recognized as free people;

2) to fix the rent of land at a certain price of money;

3) to be given liberty to buy and sell in all markets;

4) to be pardoned for past offences.

The rebels killed the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Treasurer, who had proposed
the hateful poll-tax.

When Tyler with his men came to speak to the King, he was suddenly stabbed in the
throat. The men were ready to fight, but the young King promised the people to do
everything they had claimed. As soon as the rebels were calmed, the King forgot his
promise — hundreds of people were tried and executed with great cruelty.

Though the uprising failed, it marked certain changes in the lives of ordinary people
— the serf system inevitably collapsed and the serf was gradually becoming a free
peasant or a wage labourer. In 1382, Parliament voted a new poll-tax placed only on
the landowners.

3. The Lancasters Replace the Plantagenet Dynasty

The failures on the battlefields of the French war gave the barons the opportunity to
interfere with the King’s government.

In 1386, Parliament nominated Council of Eleven to regulate the kingdom. Richard II

got the judges to declare the Council illegal, but the Lords opposed the decision.

The old quarrel flashed in 1398, when the King ban¬ished Dukes of Hereford (his
cousin) and Norfolk. The Duke of Lancaster, who was the father of the Duke of
Hereford, soon died, and the King immediately took his lands, like a robber. The
judges were so afraid of him that declared the theft to be just and lawful. Richard’s
avarice and cruelty knew no bounds.
While the King was away in Ireland, Henry Lancaster the Duke of Hereford came
back from France to claim his rights. When Richard returned to London, he found
that his men had betrayed their King, and Henry was ready to take power in¬to his
hands.

The King was carried prisoner of Chester, where he issued a proclamation to the
Parliament. After it he was put prisoner in the Tower. The deputation from
Parliament came to Richard— he was ready to resign the crown. When the papers
were signed, he gave the royal ring to his triumphal cousin Henry.

Next day Parliament gathered in Westminster Hall where Henry was met with shouts
of joy. The archbishops of Canterbury and York seated him on the throne. So a
Lancaster had supplanted a Plantagenet.

In the reign of Henry IV (1399-1413) Parliament actively participated in the life of

the state. The annual sittings became its permanent feature, the Speakers of the House
of Commons were allowed to represent the House collectively and they were no
longer personally responsible for the requests they made to the King. Elec¬tions to
Parliament were now a privilege, not a burden, in the shires the elections were
controlled by the gentry.

Henry IV during his reign faced a number of revolts led by Mortimer Earl of March,
who had more rights for the English Crown than Henry. Though the rebel¬lions were
defeated and Earl of March was imprisoned, Henry could never feel se¬cure. He
always remembered that he was a king by conquest and election, not by heredity.

In 1411, Henry IV decided to intervene in France, which was tom by the civil war.
He fought in alliance with Duke of Burqundy and the victories they gained

4. The Hundred Years’ War-II

Henry IV was succeeded by his son Henry V, who proved to be a stem and vigorous
king. He set Earl of March free, ordered to bury the unfortunate Richard II among the
Kings of England and held to the alliance with the church.

The war with France was going on — in 1415 Henry with his army gained a victory
of Agincourt, made alliance with Burgundy and conquered Normandy. Success in the
war aroused national enthusiasm, all classes were eager to continue the war.

The year 1420 saw the triumphal achievements of English foreign policy— the
Treaty of Troyes. By it Henry became regent of France during the life of French
insane king. Henry married Katharine, his daughter, and was declared the heir of the
King of France.
The two sides proclaimed the peace that was called the Perpetual Peace. It stipulated
the independence of England and France and was joyously met by poor and miserable
French people. Anyhow, Henry had no time to enjoy the advantages of his foreign
policy. He died in 1422 and insane King Charles of France died the same year. By the
Treaty of Troyes the infant Henry VI became King of France and England.

At the time of Henry V’s death half of France was under his direct control. His
brother the Duke of Bedford, became the Head of Council of Regency, because
Henry VI was only nine months old.

The Duke of Bedford continued the war with France, he made the alliance with the
Duke of Brittany and conquered Northern France. In 1428, the French had only one
important stronghold left— it was Orleans. They desperately defended the city, but
the English were likely to win. With the fall of Orleans the whole country could be
conquered.

At that most critical for France moment the country found a leader in Joan of Arc, a
peasant girl from Domremi. She believed to be appointed by God to save her
motherland — France. Her arrival disheartened the English and encouraged the
French. The latter broke English line of forts, got the provisions into the town and
Orleans was saved. After these events the Dauphin, son of Charles VI was crowned
as King of France Charles VII at Rheims in 1430. Less than a year later Joan was
captured and burnt as a witch by the English at the Rouen market place.

Though Joan was dead, her spirit supported the French. As the English were still the
real masters of France, the coronation of Henry VI took place in Paris in 1431. The
same year the English alliance with Burgundy was renounced and English king was
asked to renounce his claim to the French throne. In 1436, Charles VII captured Paris.

After the war was renewed in 1449, the French won back Normandy, so the war was
actually lost by the English. Moreover, general discontent rose in the country —
Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Wiltshire experienced the rising of the middle classes,
merchants, country gentry and yeomen. People were angry at the loss of Normandy
and chaotic state of public finances.

The end of the Hundred Years War and English defeat in it brought back to England
the warlike nobles, who were dissatisfied with the losses. Under such circumstances
an outbreak of a civil war was inevitable.

5. The Wars of the Roses

Long before the Hundred Years War ended, the feudal struggle between the
descendants of Edward III had broken out. Edward, who was well aware of the
danger represented by the big barons to the Crown, married his sons to the
daugh¬ters of the biggest baronial families — the Yorks and the Lancasters. Thus the
roy¬al family became related to powerful barons and the barons got equal claims for
the Crown.

Henry IV became the first English King of the Lancaster dynasty, who was supported
by the big barons. He was followed by Henry V and Henry VI, in whose reign the
interests of the big barons collided with the interests of the lesser barons and
merchants of the towns, who supported the House of York.

In 1453, King Henry VI became ill with mental disease. Parliament advanced its
power and got the right to draw up Bills. In the country the two rivaling frac¬tions
appeared — the Lancastrians, led by the descendant of John of Gaunt, King Henry
and his Queen Margaret and the Yorkists, led by the Duke of York, who in¬herited
the claim to the throne through his mother. As the two families had roses in their
coats of arms (the Lancasters had a red rose and the Yorks had a white rose), the war
between them got the name of the War of Roses.

After Henry’s disease the Duke of York was made Protector and the Duke of
Somerset was arrested. When Henry recovered, he dismissed the Protector and called
Somerset. The Yorkists immediately took up arms as to protect the King. At the first
battle of St. Albans in 1455 Somerset was killed and the King was cap¬tured. The
Duke of York was made Lord Protector of the kingdom.

By the end of the year the King recovered and got the protector disgraced, so now the
Duke of York was down, and the Duke of Somerset was up. These ups and downs
gradually separated the whole nation into two parties, which led to the terri¬ble civil
wars from 1455 to 1485. There were a lot of battles fought by professional soldiers,
usually not very large in number. This fighting was not as devastating as civil wars in
France, the buildings were not ruined and mostly only the families of the fighters
were involved into the wars.

The opposition of the Yorkists lasted for six years — in 1461 the son of the Duke of
York Edward won a victory over the Lancastrians and the Queen. The Crown came to
the Yorkists and Edward IV was pro¬claimed king.

The crowning of the new king didn’t stop the war. In 1464, Somerset revolted, along
with the former Queen Margaret, who wanted the throne for her young son. Fighting
went on. The noblemen, led by greed and land expectations, easily left either side and
joined the other. The renewal of each party was possible because the magnates were
shifting the alliances and changing sides.
In 1471, Edward IV connived at the murder of Henry VI and his son, which was
followed by new plots and executions. The death of Edward in 1483 put his son
Edward V on the throne. He reigned for a very short period, during his reign Duke of
Gloucester was named Protector of the State.

Being a sly and experienced politician, Duke of Gloucester decided to get the Crown
for himself. With the Duke of Buckingham he made a plot and announced that
Edward V was not the child of the late King. Thus he took power in his hands,
proclaimed himself a new monarch Richard III and soon was crowned twice — in
London and in York. After coronation prince Edward V was murdered in the Tower.

National discontent against the murderous King rose and the nobles resolved to set
the Crown to Henry, Earl of Richmond, who was the descendant of Henry V. As
Henry was of the House of Lancaster, he was offered to marry the princess Elizabeth,
the heiress of the House of York. The unification of the rival families could put an
end to the Wars of the Red and White Roses.

In 1485, Henry of Richmond with his army met the King’s army on Bos¬worth Field.
King Richard was killed in battle, Lord Stanley picked up the crown from Richard’s
head and put it upon the head of Duke Henry. Loud cries “Long Live King Henry”
marked the beginning of the new political era in England — the Tudor dynasty took
the Crown.

Henry’s reign began with the strong opposition of the Yorkists, which ended when
Henry married Princess Elisabeth of York in 1486. This marriage put an end to the
struggle of the Houses of York and Lancaster, so in the portraits Henry VII was
usually depicted holding “a Tudor rose” — a red rose with white outer petals
symbolizing the unity of two rivalling families.