Earliest times

1 The foundation stones

The island· Britain's prehistory' The C elts ' The Romans' Roman life

The island Britain's prehistory

However complicat ed the modern industrial state Britain has not always been an island . It became
may be, land and climate affect life in eve ry one only afte r the end of the last ice age. T he
country. They affect social and eco nom ic life, te mpera ture rose and the ice cap melted , flooding
population and eve n po lit ics. Britain is no the lower-lying lan d tha t is now und er the No rt h
except ion . It has a milder cl ima te th an much of the Sea and th e English C ha nne l.
European mainland beca use it lies in the way of the
The Ice Age was not just one lon g eq ually co ld
Gulf Stream, wh ich brings warm water and winds
period. Th ere were warmer times wh en the ice cap
from th e G ulf of Mexico. Within Britain the re are
retreated, and co lder periods when th e ice ca p
differen ces of climate betwee n north and south ,
reach ed as far south as the River Thames. O ur first
east and west. T he north is on average 5°C coo ler
evidence of hum an life is a few stone tools, dating
than th e south. Annual rainfa ll in the east is on
from one of the warmer period s, about 250, 000 BC .
average about 600 mm, whil e in man y part s of the
These simple objects show th at th ere were two
west it is more th an doubl e tha t. The co untryside is
different kinds of inhabitant. The ea rlier group
varied also. The north and west are mountainous or
made the ir too ls from flakes of flint , similar in kind
hilly. Much of the south and east is fairl y fl at , or
to stone tools found across the north European
low-lying. This mea ns th at th e so uth and east on
plain as far as Russia. The ot her group made too ls
the who le have bette r agricultural conditions, and
from a ce ntral core of flint, probably th e earliest
it is possible to harvest crop s in early A ugust , two
meth od of hu man too l makin g, wh ich spread from
months earlier than in the no rth. So it is not
surprising that southeast Brita in has always been A hand axe, rJ1l.u1e from flint, foundaf Swanscombe in norrh Kent.
the most popu lated parr of th e island. For this
reason it has always had th e most poli tical powe r.
Britain is an island, and Brita in's history has been
closely connected with the sea . U ntil modern t imes
it was as easy to travel across water as it was across
land , whe re roads were frequently unusable. At
moments of great da nger Britain has been saved
from da nger by its surrounding seas. Britain's
history and its strong nation al sense have been
shaped by the sea.
Stonehenge is lhe mml JxlU-'eT{ul mllnlnnem of Britain's prehistory. Irs
purpose is sriII nOf prfJpnly undeTS food. These who built Swnehenge knew
!lOH' to CIl I and m ot't' t't'ry large pieces of stone, and place horiZlmcal stone
beams across the upright pi/lars. They also Iuul [he authority fa conrrol large:
numbers of workers, and to fetch some of fhe stone from diswnr parts of
Wales.
3
A n Illustrat ed History of Britain

Africa to Europe . Hand axes made in thi s way ha ve how to make pottery, They probabl y came from
been found widely, as far north as Yorkshire and as eithe r th e Iberian (Spani sh) peninsula or even the
far west as Wal es. North African coast. They were small, dark , and
long-headed people , and may be the forefath ers of
However, the ice adva nced again and Britain
dark-ha ired inhabitants of Wal es and Corn wall
became hardly habit able until an other milder
today. They settled in th e western parts of Britain
period , probably around 50 ,000 BC. Durin g thi s
and Ireland, from Cornwa ll at th e southwest end of
t ime a new type of human bein g seems ro have
Britain all th e way to th e far north .
arriv ed, who was the an cestor of th e modern
British . T hese people looked similar to rhe mode rn These were the first of several waves of invaders
British, but were probably sma ller and had a life before th e first arrival of the Roman s in 55 BC. It
span of on ly about th irty years. used to be though t th at these waves of invaders
marked fresh srages in British development. How-
Around 10, 000 BC, as th e Ice A ge drew to a close,
eve r, alrho ugh rhey must have brought new ideas
Britain was peop led by small groups of hunters,
and methods, it is now thought th at th e cha nging
gatherers and fis he rs. Few had settled homes, and
pattern of Britain's prehistory was the result of local
th ey seemed to have followed herds of deer which
econo mic and social forces.
provided them with food and clothing. By about
5000 BC Britain had finally become an island, The great "public works" of th is tim e, which
and had also beco me hea vily forested . For the needed a huge organ isat ion of labour, reil us a little
wanderer-hunter culture this was a disaster, for [he of how preh istoric Brirain was developin g. The
co ld- loving deer and other an ima ls on which th ey earlier of these works were great "barrows", or
lived largely died out. burial mounds, made of ea rth or stone. Most of
these barrows are found on th e cha lk uplands of
About 3000 BC Neolith ic (or New Stone Age )
south Brita in. To day th ese upland s have poor soil
peopl e crossed th e narrow sea from Europe in sma ll
and few trees, but they were not like tha t th en .
round boats of bent wood covered with an ima l
T hey were airy woodlands th at co uld easily be
skins. Each could carry one or two persons. These
clea red for farming, and as a result were the most
people kept an ima ls and grew corn crops, and kn ew

There were Stone Age sites from

one end of Britain to {he other.
T his stone hId, at Skara Brae,
Orkney, off the northcoast of
SCOlland, was swlJenly covered
by a sandstorm before 2000 BC.
Unlike southern sites, where
wood was used which hill since
rotted, Skara Brae is all stone.
and the stone furnilure is still
there. Behind the firepillCe
(bottom left) there arestorage
shelves against the back wall. On
the riRht is probably a stone sided
bed, in which rushes err heather
were placed forwarmth.

4
 1 The foundation stones

easily habitable part of th e countryside. Eventually,

and ove r a very long period, the se areas became
overfarmed , whi le by 1400 BC the climate became
drier, and as a result this land co uld no lon ger
suppor t man y peop le. It is d ifficult today to imagi ne
these areas, part icu larly the uplands of Wiltshire
and Dorset , as he avily peop led areas.
Yet the monuments remain . After 3000 BC th e
cha lkland peopl e started building great circles of
earth banks and dit ches. Inside, they built wood en
build ings and sto ne circles. These "henges", as they
are called, were cen tres of religious, polit ica l and
economic power. By far th e most spectac ular, both
then and now, was Stonehenge, wh ich was built
in separate stages over a period of more than a
thousand years. The precise purposes of Stonehenge
remain a mystery, bu t during th e seco nd phase of
build ing, after abo ut 2400 BC, hu ge blueston es were
brough t to th e site from south W ales. This could
only have been ach ieved because th e political
autho rity of th e area surround ing S tonehe nge was
recogni sed over a very large area, indeed probably
over the whole of the British Isles. T he movement ~titf~~'·:f''''
of these bluestones was an extremely important
l.',o....IIi.........._ ......:.iiiilBAl·
, ~Ir~:~
~~~- ~
even t, the sto ry of which was passed on from
gene rat ion to gene ration. Three th ousand yea rs The grat'f~ of one of lht: "Beakt:r" peoplt:. alBamack. CambriJReshiTe.
dlxml /800 BC. It conwins a fineb Jecoraud POtlery be(tker and a copper or
later, these unwritten memories were recorded in bf"(m~e daggcr. Borh itemsdistinguisht..>J lhe Beaker peoplt: fnnn llu: t:aTlicr
Geoffrey of Monrnourh's History of Britain, written inh.wilanf.S. This ~dt'e «'ill llu: nwin bUr"k1l pku:e benRtlm one of a group of
"bcmx cs". or burial mOlmas.
in 1136 .
Stonehenge was almost certainly a sort of capital, Neolirh ic Briton s beca use of th eir mil itar y or met al-
to which th e chiefs of othe r gro ups came from all work ing skills. Their infl uence was soo n felt and, as
over Britain. C ertain ly, earth or stone hen ges were a result, they became leaders of Brit ish soc iety.
built in many part s of Brita in, as far as the O rkney Their arrival is marked by the first ind ividual
Islands north of Sco tla nd, and as far south as graves, furni sh ed with pottery beakers, from which
Corn wall. They seem to have been co pies of th e th ese peopl e get th eir name: the "Beaker" peo ple.
great Sto nehenge in the south. In Ireland the
Why did people now dec ide to be buried separately
cen tre of preh istoric c ivilisation grew around the
River Boyne and at T ara in U lster. The importan ce and give up th e o ld communa l burial barrows? It is
of these place s in folk mem or y far outlasted the di ffi cul t to be ce rtai n, but it is tho ugh t that the old
barr ows were built partly to please th e gods of the
builders of the monuments.
soil, in the hope that th is would stop the chalk
After 2400 BC new groups of peop le arrived in upland so il gett ing poorer. T he Beaker people
southeast Britain from Europe . T he y were round- brou ght with th em from Europe a new cerea l,
headed and strongly built, taller than Ne o lithic barley , which co uld grow almost anywhe re. Perh aps
Britons. It is not known whether they in vaded by they fel t it was no longer necessary to please th e
armed force, or wh ether they were in vit ed by gods of the cha lk upland so il.

5
An Illustrated History of Britain

Maiden Ccsde. Dorset, is oneof thelargesr Celtic hiU·farrs A reconstructed lr071 Age fann. Farms like this were established in southeasl Britain
of the early lr071 Age. Ics strength can stiUbe dean)' seen. fram about 700 ec O71wards. This may haw been rhe main or even 0711)' building; largt
but et'fi'l these forTifications were no defence against round hurs increasingly took the plau of smaller ones. ''ThRir houses are large. round.
disciplined Roman troops. built of planks and uiekeruurk. theroof beinga dome of lMlCh, .. wr ote the Greek
philosopher Srrabo. In men ofCeltic Europe hws were square.

T he Bea ker people prob ably spoke an Indo- From thi s time, too, power seems to have shifted to
European language . They seem to have broug ht a th e Thames valley and southeas t Brita in . Except for
single culture to the who le of Britain. They also short periods, poli t ical and econo mic power has
brought skills to make bronze too ls and th ese began remain ed in the southeast ever since. Hi ll-forts
to replace sto ne one s. But th ey acce pte d man y of rep laced henges as the cent res of local power, an d
the old ways. Stonehenge remaine d th e most most of these were found in the southeast,
important cen tre until 1300 BC. The Beaker suggest ing that the land successfully suppor ted more
peop le's richest graves were the re, and they added a peopl e here th an elsewhere.
new circle of thirt y sto ne co lumns , this time
There was an other reason for the sh ift of power
co nnec ted by stone lintels, or cross-pieces. British
eastwards. A number of better-designed bronze
socie ty continued to be ce ntred on a number of
swords have been found in the Thames va lley,
hen ges ac ross the co untryside.
suggesting th at the local peo ple had more adva nced
However, from about 1300 BC on wards th e henge met alworking skills. Man y of these swords have
civilisation seems to have become less important , been found in river beds, almost ce rtain ly thrown
and was overtaken by a new form of society in in for religious reason s. This custom may be the
southern England, that of a settled farming class. or igin of the sto ry of th e legendary King Arrhur's
At first thi s farming society developed in order to sword , which was given to h im from out of th e
feed the peop le at the henges, but eventually it water and wh ich was thrown back into th e wate r
became more important and powerful as it grew whe n he d ied.
richer. T he new farmers grew wealth y beca use th ey
learn ed to enr ich the soil with natural waste
mate rials so that it did not beco me poor and
The Celts
useless. This change probably happened at about Around 700 BC , ano ther grou p of people began to
th e same time th at the ch alk uplands were arrive. Man y of them were tall, and had fair or red
becoming drier. Famil y villages and fort ified hair and blue eyes. These were the C elts, who
enclosures appeared across the land scape, in lower- prob ably came from central Europe or furthe r eas t,
lying areas as well as on th e chalk hill s, and th e o ld from southe rn Russia, and had moved slowly
central control of Sto nehenge and th e othe r henges westwards in earlier centuries. The Cel ts were
was lost . technically advanced. They kn ew how to work with
6
 1 The foundat ion sto nes

iron, and co uld make better weapon s than the

people who used bronze . It is possible th at th ey
drove many of the o lder inh abitants westwards into
W" les, Sco t land and Ireland . T he Ce lts began to
control "11 th e lowland areas of Britain, and were
joined bv new arriva ls from the European mainl an d.
They co n tinued to arrive in one wave after anot her
over the nex t seve n hundred years.

The Celts are important in British histor y because

they "re th e ances tors of ma ny of the peop le in
Highland Scot land. W" les, Ireland, and Cornwall
today. The Iberian peop le of W" ]es and C ornwall
rook on the new Cel tic culture. Cel tic languages,
which have been con tinuously used in some areas
since that time , "re still spoken . T he British today
"re often descri bed as Anglo-Saxon . It would he
better to ca ll them A nglo-Celr.
Our knowledge of the C elts is sligh t. As with
previous groups of settlers, we do not eve n know for
certain whe ther the Celts invaded Brita in or came
peacefullv as a result of the lively trade with Europe
fron, "hour 750 ne o nwa rds, At first most of C elt ic
Britain seems to have developed in a gen erally
similar way. But from about 500 ne trade contact
with Europe declined , and regiona l differen ces
betwee n northw est and so utheast Britain increased.
Th e C el ts were orga nised int o different tribes, and
tribal ch iefs were chose n from eac h famil y or tribe , The Swnu1ckrum.e lT1lUk ShOtllS rhe j ine Ilrrisric work of Cc/ric mew.!worken
sometimes as the result of fighting match es betwee n in.wow AD 50. The simple fines mul lack uf derail Ml'e 11 t'CT) ptJU'crful
individuals, and some times bv elect ion . cffCCl .

int roducti on of more advanced plough ing meth ods

The last C eltic arrivals from Europe were the Belgic made it possible for the m to farm heav ier soils.
tribes. It was natural for th em to settle in th e However, they co ntinued ro use, and build, hill -
southeas t of Britain , proba bly pushing o the r Ce ltic forts. T he inc rease of th ese, part icularly in the
tribes northwards as th ey did so. Ar any rate , when southeast, suggests th at the Ce lts were highl y
[ulius Caesar briefl y visited Britain in 55 IlC he saw successful farmers, growing eno ugh food for a much
that the Belgic tri bes were different from the older larger populat ion.
inhabitant s. "The interior is inhabited", he wrote ,
The hill -fort remain ed th e centre for local groups.
"by peop les who co nsider themse lves ind igen ous,
The insides of th ese hill -forts were fi lled with
the coast by peop le who have crossed from
houses, and they becam e the simple economic
Belgium. Nearly " 11 of th ese still keep th e names of
ca pita ls and sma ller "town s" of th e different tribal
the [European] tribes from which the y came."
areas into wh ich Britain was now divided. Toda y
The C elt ic tr ibes continued th e same kind of the empty hill -forts stand on lonel y hill tops. Yet
agriculture as th e Bronze Age peop le before th em . they remained local economic centres lon g after th e
But their use of iron technology and th eir Roman s ca me to Britain , and long after they went.
7
An Illustrated History of Britain

W ithin living memory ce rtain annual fairs were powerful C elt to stand up to the Romans was a
associa ted with hill -forts. For example, there was an woman , Boadicea. She had beco me queen of her
annual Septe mber fair on the site of a Dorset hill- tribe when her husband had died. She was tall,
fort, which was used by th e write r T homas Hardy in with long red hair, and had a frighten ing
his novel Far from the Madding Crowd, published in appea rance. In AD 6 1 she led her tribe against the
1874. Romans. She nearly dro ve the m from Britain, and
she destroyed Lond on, the Roma n capital, before
The C elts traded across tribal borde rs and trade was
she was defeat ed and killed. Roman writers
probably importan t for political and social contact
comme nted on the courage and strength of women
between th e tribes. Trade with Ireland went
in battl e, and leave an impr ession of a measure of
through the island of A nglesey. The two ma in trade
equa lity betwee n the sexes among the richer C elts.
outle ts eastwards to Europ e were th e settle ments
along th e T hame s River in the south and on th e
Firth of Forth in the north . It is no acc ident tha t The Romans
the presen t-day cap ita ls of England and Sco tla nd
The name "Brita in" comes from the word
stand on or near these two ancient trade ce ntres.
"Pretani ", the G reco- Rornan word for the
Much trade, both inside and beyond Britain , was
inhabitant s of Brita in . T he Romans mispronounced
co nducted by river and sea. For money the C elts
the word and called th e island " Brita nnia".
used iron bars, until th ey began to copy the Roman
co ins they saw used in Gaul (France) . The Rom an s had invaded beca use th e Celts of
Brit ain were working with th e C elts of G au l against
According to the Rom an s, the Celtic men wore
th em. T he British C elts were giving the m food, an d
sh irts and breec hes (knee-length trousers), and
allowing th em to h ide in Brit ain . There was
str iped or chec ked cloaks fastened by a pin . It is
anot he r reason . The C elts used cattle to pull their
possible that the Sco tt ish tarta n and dress
ploughs and th is meant that rich er, heavier land
developed from th is "str iped cloak". The C elts were
could be farmed. Und er the Celts Britain had
also "very careful about cleanl iness and neatness" ,
become an important food producer because of its
as one Roman wrote. "Ne ither man nor woman ,"
mild climate . It now exported co rn and an ima ls, as
he went on, "howeve r poor, was seen eithe r ragged
well as hunting dogs and slaves , to th e Europea n
or dirt y."
mainl and. T he Roman s cou ld make use of Brit ish
T he Ce ltic tribes were ruled ove r by a warrior class, food for thei r own army fighting the Gauls.
of which th e priests, or Druids, seem to have been
The Romans brought th e skills of reading and
parti cu larly important members. These Druids
writing to Britain. Th e written word was important
could not read or write, but they memorised all the
for spreading ideas and also for estab lish ing power.
religious teachi ngs, the trib al laws, histor y,
As early as AD 80, as one Roman at the time not ed ,
med icine and ot her kn owledge necessary in Celt ic
the governor Agricola "trained the sons of ch iefs in
soc iety. The Dru ids from different trib es all ove r
the liberal art s .. . the result was th at th e peop le
Britain pro bab ly met once a year. They had no
who used to reject Latin began to use it in speec h
temples, but the y met in sacred groves of trees, on and writ ing. Further the wearing of our national
certain hills, by rivers or by river sources. We kn ow
dress came to be valued and the toga [the Roman
littl e of their kind of worship except th at at times it
cloak] came into fash ion." While the C elt ic
included hu man sacrifice. peasantry remained illit erate and on ly C el tic-
During the Celtic period wo men may have had spea king, a number of town dwe llers spoke Lat in
more independence th an they had again for and G reek with ease, and the rich er landowners in
hund reds of years. W hen the Romans invaded the co unt ry almost certa in ly used Latin . Bur Latin
Britain two of th e largest tribes were ruled by co mpletely disappea red both in its spoken and
wome n who fought from their cha riots. T he most written forms when th e A nglo-Saxons in vaded
8
 I The foundation stones

Britain in rhe fifth century AD. Britain was probably Germanic groups, Saxon s and Frank s, began to raid
more literate under the Romans than it was to be the coast of Gaul, In A D 409 Rome pulled its last
again until the fifteenth century. soldiers out of Britain and the Romano-Briti sh , the
Romanised Celts, were left to figh t alone against
[ulius C aesar first came to Brita in in 55 BC, but it
the Scots, th e Irish and Saxon raider s from
was not until alm ost a cen tury later, in AD 43, that
Germany. The following year Rome itself fell to
a Roman army actu ally occupied Britain. The
raiders. W hen Brita in called to Rome for he lp
Romans were de termined to conquer the whole
against the raiders from Saxon G erma ny in th e
island . They had little difficulty, apart from
mid-fifth century, no answer came .
Boadicea's revolt , beca use they had a better trained
army and beca use the Celtic tribes fought among
themselves. The Romans co nsidered the Celts as
war-mad , "high spirited and quick for bat tle", a
Roman life
descripti on some wou ld st ill give the Scots, Irish The most obvious cha racteristic of Roman Britain
and Wel sh today. was its towns, which were th e basis of Roman
administration and civi lisat ion. Many grew out of
The Rom an s established a Romano-British culture
Celtic settlements , military camps or market
across the sout hern half of Britain , from the River
centres. Broad ly, ther e were three different kinds of
Humber to the River Sev ern . T his part of Brita in
town in Roman Britain , two of which were towns
was inside th e emp ire. Beyond were the upland
estab lished by Roman cha rter. T hese were the
areas, under Roman con tro l but not developed.
coloniae, towns peop led by Roman settlers, and the
Th ese areas were watched from the towns of York,
municipia , large cities in which th e who le
Chester and Caerleon in the western pen insula of
popu lation was given Roman citizensh ip. The third
Britain th at later becam e kn own as Wales. Each of
kind, the civitas, included th e old C elt ic tr ibal
these towns was held by a Roman legion of about
cap itals, through which th e Roman s ad min istered
7,000 men . The total Roman army in Britain was
the C eltic popu lat ion in the countryside. At first
about 40, 000 men .
these towns had no walls. Then, probably from the
The Romans co uld not conquer "Ca ledoni a" , as end of the seco nd cen tury to the end of the thi rd
they called Scotla nd , although they spent over a century AD, almost every town was given walls. At
century trying to do so. At last they bu ilt a strong fi rst man y of the se were no more than earthworks,
wall along the northern border, named after the but by AD 300 all towns had thick stone walls.
Emperor Hadrian who planned it. At the time ,
Hadrian's wall was simply intended to keep out The Romans left about twenty large towns of about
raiders from the north. But it also marked the 5, 000 inhabitants, and almost one hundred smaller
border between th e two later countries, England ones. Man y of thes e towns were at first army camps,
and Scotland. Eventually, th e border was and the Latin word for camp, castra, has remain ed
established a few miles furt her nort h . Efforts to part of many town name s to this day (with th e
change it in later centuries did no t succeed , mainly
ending chester, caster or cesrer) : G loucester, Lei-
cester, Doncaster, Winch ester, Chester, Lancaster
because on either side of the border an invadin g
army found its supply line overstre tched. A natural and many others besides. These towns were built
point of balance had been found. with stone as well as wood , and had plan ned
streets, markets and sho ps. So me build ings had
Roman co nt rol of Britain came to an end as the central heating. They were connected by roads
empir e began to collapse. The first signs were th e which were so well built that th ey survived when
attacks by C elts of C aled onia in AD 367. T he later roads broke up. These roads contin ued to be
Roman legions found it more and more difficult to used long after the Roman s left , and became the
stop the raiders from crossing Hadrian 's wall. The main roads of modern Brita in. Six of the se Roman
same was happen ing on the European mainland as roads met in London, a cap ita l city of about 20,000
9
A n Illustrated History of Britain

The reconslrw,:tiOll of a ROITI4m

kifcht.>t1 ab!:JW AD 100 shuu's txJl.5
and cqllipmetlf. The ~1I1 pOIS , or
am pho rae. were for wne or oil.
The R(JI1'UlflS proolh.-l.'d willl.' in
Briwin, bill the)' als(l imtxmeJ if
from S(JU ffu.'TTl Europe.

peop le. London was twice the size of Paris, and It is very difficult to be sure how man y peop le were
possibly the most important trading cent re of livin g in Britain when the Romans left. Probably it
northern Europe , because southeast Britain was as man y as five million. partly because of the
produced so much co rn for export. peace and the increased econo mic life wh ich th e
Romans had brought to the count ry. The new wave
O utside the towns, the biggest change during the
of in vaders cha nged all that .
Roman occ upation was the growth of large farms,
ca lled "vi llas". These belonged fa rh e richer Brito ns
who were, like the tow nspeop le, more Roman than
Celt in thei r manners. Each villa had many
workers. The vill as were usually close to tow ns so
th at the crops co uld be sold easily. There was a
grow ing difference betwee n the rich and those who
did the actual work on th e land . T hese. and most
people. still lived in th e same kind of round hu ts
and villages wh ich the C elts had been living in four
hund red yea rs earlier. when th e Rom an s arr ived.
In some ways life in Roman Britain seems ve ry
c ivilised. but it was also hard for all exce pt the
richest. The bodies buried in a Roman graveyard at
York show tha t life expectancy was low. Half the
ent ire populatio n died between the ages of twenty
and forty. whil e 15 pet cent died before reaching
the age of twenty.
10
2 The Saxon invasion
T he invaders ' Government and society' Christianity: the partnership of
Church and state ' The Vikings' W ho should be king?

The invaders
T he wealth of Brita in by th e fourth cen tury, the
D ANGLES N
result of its mild clim at e and centur ies of peace , was
a temptation to th e greedy . At fi rst the German ic D SAXONS J
ir ibes on ly raided Britain , but afte r AD 430 the y o JUTES

began to set tle. The newcom ers were warlike and o l 00 km

illiterate. We owe our knowledge of thi s period Whilby

mainly to an English monk named Bede, who lived

. York
three hundred yea rs later. H is sto ry of eve nts in his
Ecclesiastical History of the English People has been
proved generally corr ect by archaeological ,,
evidence. 'Q
,.
''''
,.-
Bede tell s us th at th e invaders came from three
WALES \~ M E R C IA
powerful Ge rman ic tribes, th e Saxons , Angles and , ~

[ utes. The [utes settle d ma inly in Kent and along "" ,

the south coas t, and were soon considered no dif-
ferent from the Angles and Saxons. T he A ngles
settled in the east, and also in the no rth Midlands,
while the Saxons settled betwee n the [ utes and the
An gles in a band of land from the Thames Estuary
westwards. The Anglo-Saxon migrati on s gave the
larger part of Britain its new name, England , "the
TheAnglo-Saxon inMSK:ms and the kingdoms they established.
land of th e Angles" .
known as Scotland. Some C elts stayed behind, and
The Brit ish C elts fought the raiders and settlers
man y became slaves of the Saxons. Hardl y anyth ing
from Ge rmany as well as th ey co uld. However ,
is left of Ce ltic lan guage or culture in England ,
during th e next hundred years the y were slowly
except for th e names of some rivers, Thames,
pushed westwards until by 570 they were forced
Mersey, Severn and Avon , and two large cities,
west of Gl oucester. Finally most were driv en into
Lond on and Leeds.
the mountains in the far west , which th e Saxons
called "Weallas" , or "Wales" , meaning "the lan d of T he strength of Anglo-Saxon culture is obvious
the foreigne rs". Some C elts were driven into even today. Days of the week were na med afte r
Co rnwa ll, whe re they lat er accep ted th e rule of Ge rmanic gods: Ti g (Tu esday), Wod in
Saxon lords. In the north , other C elts were dr iven (Wednesday), Thor (T hursday), Frei (Friday). New
into the lowlands of th e country which became place-names appeared on th e map . The first of
11
An Illustrated H istory of Brirain

these sho w that the ea rliest Saxon villages, like the d uty was to h is own family. However, thi ngs were
C elt ic ones, were family villages. The ending -ing cha nging. The Saxon kin gs began to replace loyalty
meant folk or family, thu s "Reading" is rhe place of to family with loyalty to lord and kin g.
the family of Rada , "Hast ings" of the fam ily of
Hasta. Ham means farm, ton means settlement.
Birmingha m, Nottingham or Southampton , for Government and society
example, are Saxon place-n ames. Because th e The Saxons created institution s wh ich made the
A nglo-Saxon kin gs ofte n esta blished sett lements , English state strong for the next 500 years. O ne of
Kingston is a frequent place-na me. these institution s was the King's Counc il, called the
T he Anglo-Saxons established a number of Witan. T he W itan probab ly grew out of inform al
kin gdoms, some of wh ich still ex ist in county or group s of sen ior warriors and churchmen to who m
regio nal names to th is day: Essex (East Sa xons), kings like O ffa had turned fo r advice or support on
Sussex (South Saxons), Wessex (W est Saxons), difficult matters. By th e tenth centu ry the Witan
Middlesex (probably a kingdom of Midd le Saxons), was a formal body, issuing laws and ch arte rs. It was
East Anglia (East Angles). By the midd le of the not at all democrat ic, and th e king co uld decide to
seventh cent ury th e three largest kingdoms, th ose ignore the W itan's ad vice. But he kn ew that it
of Northu mbria, Merc ia and We ssex, were the might be dangerous to do so. For the W itan's
most powerful. autho rity was based on its right to choose kings,
and to agree the use of the king's laws. W ithout its
support th e kin g's own author ity was in dan ger.
The W itan established a system wh ich remained an
importan t part of th e kin g's method of govern ment .
Even today, the kin g or queen has a Privy Council,
Left: A si/tier penny showingOffa, king of Mercia ( AV 757-896), Offa
was mort' powerful than any of the other Anglo-Saxon kings of his nme or a group of advisers on the affairs of state.
before him. Hi5 coins were of a higher quality than any coins used since the
departureof the Romans four hundred years earlier, The Saxons div ided th e lan d into new admin is-
Right: A gold coin of King Offa, a direa cop)' of an Arabdinar of the year trative areas, based on shires. or counties. These
AD 774. Most of it is in Arabic, but on one side it also has "OFFA REX". sh ires, established by th e end of the te nth century,
It tells US t1uu the Anglo-Saxons 0/ Briwin were UJell aware of a more
advanced economic system in the distant Arab empire. and alw that even as remain ed almost exactl y the same for a thousand
far away as Britain and northern Europe, Arab-type gold coins were more years. "Shir e" is the Saxon word, "county" the
tnLSted than any others. It shows how greal uere the distances cOt"eTed by
international trade at this time .
Norman one, but both are st ill used . (In 1974 th e
counties were reorganised, but the new system is
It was not until a century late r that one of these very like the old one. ) Over eac h shire was ap-
kings, King Offa of Mercia (757-96) , claimed pointed a shire reeve, the king's local administrator.
"kingship of the English" . He had good reason to In time his name became sho rtened to "sheriff" .
do so. He was powerful eno ugh to employ thou-
Ang lo-Saxon technology cha nged the shape of
sands of men to build a huge dyke, or eart h wall,
English agricu lture . The C elts had kept small,
th e len gth of the Welsh borde r to keep out th e
square fields which were well suited to the light
trou blesom e Celts. But altho ugh he was th e most
plough they used, drawn either by an an imal or two
powerful kin g of his t ime, he did not co ntro l all of
peop le. T h is plough could turn co rners easily. The
England.
Anglo-Saxons introduced a far heavier plough
T he power of Mercia did not survive after O ffa's which was better able to plough in long straigh t
death . A t that time, a king's power depended on lines across th e field . It was part icularly useful for
the person al loyalty of h is followers. Aft er his death cu lt ivating heavier soils. But it requ ired six or eight
the next king had to work hard ro rebu ild these o xen to pull it , an d it was difficult to turn . T his
personal feelings of loyalty. Most peop le still heavier plough led to changes in land owne rsh ip
believed, as the Celts had don e, that a man' s fi rst and organ isation. In order to make the best use of
12
 2 Th e Saxo n invasion

lan d . A s a result . almost all the villages wh ich

appear on eigh tee nt h-century maps already ex isted
by the ele venth cent ury.
In eac h distri ct was a "man or" or large house. T hi s
was a simple bui lding wh ere local villagers ca me to
pay taxes, whe re justice was ad min istered . and
whe re men met toget he r to jo in the Anglo-Saxon
army . th e fyrd. The lord of the man or h ad to
organ ise all th is. a nd make sure village land was
properly sha red . It was th e begin n ing of th e
man or ial syste m wh ich reached its fullest
development un der th e Normans.

Recomtrucrion of an Anglo-Sa:wn I.'illage . Each house had prob.ibly only At first th e lord s, or aldemlen . were simply loca l
une room, with a wooden floor with a pit beneath ir. The pit may Mve been officials. But by th e begin n ing of th e el eventh
used for storage, bur mort' probably to keep che house off the damp ground.
Each tJi/lage had ir.s lord. The UIOTd "lord" means "loaf u.'drd" or "bread
ce n tury th ey were warlords. and were ofte n ca lled
keeper", while "lady" means "loaf kneader" or "bread maker", a reminder by a new Dan ish name, earl. Both words, alderman
tMr the rosis of $axon socit'IY u.'aS farming . The dUl~ of the dlIage head, or an d earl . remain with us today : alderme n are
lord. was to protect the farm and its produce.
elec ted officers in local gove rn me nt . a nd earls are
h igh ran king nob les. It was the beginning of a cl ass
village land . it was d ivided into two or three very syste m, made up of king . lords. sold iers and workers
large fields. T hese were then div ided aga in in to on th e lan d. O n e other important class de veloped
long th in str ips. Each family had a number of str ips during th e Saxon period . th e men of learning.
in eac h of these fields. amo unt ing probab ly to a T h ese ca me from th e C h rist ian C h urc h .
family "holding" of twe nty or so ac res. Plough ing
these long th in strips was easier because it avo ided Christianity: the partnership of
the prob lem of tu rn ing . Few in dividual fam ilies
cou ld afford to keep a team of oxe n . an d the se had
Church and state
to be sha red on a co-operat ive basis. We ca n no t kno w how or wh en C h ristia n ity first
reach ed Britain . but it was ce rta in ly well before
O ne of these fields would be used for planting
C h ristian ity was accepted by th e Roman Emperor
spring crops, and ano ther for autumn crops. The
C onsran t ine in the early fourt h ce n tury AD . In th e
th ird area would be left to rest for a year. and with
last hundred years of Rom an govern me n t
the othe r areas afte r h arvest , would be used as
C h ristian ity became firmly esta blish ed across
common la nd for anima ls to feed on . T his A nglo-
Britain , bo th in Roman-control led areas and
Saxon patte rn, wh ich became more and more
beyond . However. the Anglo-Saxons belo nged to
common. was the basis of Eng lish agricu lture for a
an o lder Germanic religion . an d th ey drove th e
thousa nd years. until the eighteenth century.
C elts into the west and n orth . In th e Ce ltic areas
It needs on ly a moment's thought to recog n ise th at C h rist ian ity co ntin ued to spread. bring ing pagani sm
the fair di visio n of land an d of team s of oxe n . and to an end . T he map of W ales sho ws a num be r of
the sens ible man agement of village land sha red out place-names beginning or end ing with llan.
betwee n families. meant th at villagers h ad to work meaning the site of a small Celt ic monastery aro und
more closely toget her than they had ever don e wh ich a village or tow n grew.
before.
In 597 r ope G regory the G rea t sen t a monk .
The Saxons ser tled previou sly un fanned areas. They A ugustine. to re-establish C h ristianity in Eng land.
cut down many foresred areas in valleys to farm the He went to Cante rbury, th e capita l of the kin g of
richer lowla nd so il. and they bega n to drain the wet Kent. He d id so beca use the king's wife came from

13
An Illustrated Histo ry of Britain

to village teaching C hristian ity. In spite of the

difference s between Anglo-Saxon s and Ce lts, these
bishop s seem to have been readil y acce pted in
Anglo-Saxon areas. The bishops from the Roma n
C hurch lived at th e cou rts of the kin gs, which they
made cent res of C hurch power across Englan d. The
two C hrist ian C hurches, Celt ic and Roman , co uld
hardly have been more different in character. O ne
was most interested in the hearts of ordinary
people , the other was interested in authority and
organ isation. Th e competition between the Cel tic
and Roman C hu rches reached a crisis because they
disagreed over th e date of Easter. In 663 at the
Synod (meet ing) of W h itby the king of
Northumbria decided to support the Roman
C hurch. T he C elt ic C h urch retreat ed as Rome
extended its authority ove r all Christians , eve n in
C elt ic parts of th e island .
England had become C hrist ian very quickly. By 660
only Sussex and th e Isle of W ight had not accepted
th e new faith . T wen ty years lat er, English teache rs
returned to the lands from which th e An glo-Saxon s
had co me, bringing C hristianity to much of
G ermany.
Saxon kin gs helped th e C hurch to grow, but th e
The opening page of St Luke's Gospel, made al the Northumbrian island of C hurch also incre ased the power of kings. Bishops
LiTll:li5fame, about AD 698, In hi:s History, Bede wrote hou.o one man fOld
lhe pagan Northumbrian king, "when '014 are sitting in winter wilh your
gave kin gs the ir support , which made it harder for
lords in the feasting hall, with a good fire re wann and light it, a spalTow Jlies royal power to be question ed . Kings had "God's
in from the storms of rain and snowourside. It flies in al one door, acTOS5 the approval ". T he value of C hurch approval was all
lighted room and out through lhe other dCI(IT into the darkncH and 511mltS
ourside. In the :same way man comes into the light f(IT a shcITt lime, bul of th e greater because of th e un cer tainty of th e roya l
UMt came be{VTe, or what is to follow, man is ignorant. 1{ this new teaching succession . A n eldest son did not automa tically
teUs U!i :something more certain, il :s:eentS worth follot.l!ing." Christianit)'
gave the A nglo-Saxon U l(n'/d new certainl)'. beco me king, as kings were chosen from among the
members of th e royal family, and any member who
had eno ugh soldiers might try for the th ron e. In
Europe and was already C hristian . A ugust ine addit ion , at a time whe n one king might try to
becam e th e first A rchb ishop of Canterbury in 60 I . co nquer a neighbouring kingdom , he would
He was very successful. Severa l ruling families in probably have a son to whom he wou ld wish to pass
England accept ed C hristian ity. But A ugustine and thi s en larged kingdom when he died. Ami so when
h is group of monk s made little progress with th e King Offa arranged for his son to be crow ned as his
ordina ry people. This was partl y beca use Au gustin e successor, he made sure that this was done at a
was interested in estab lish ing C hr istia n authority, C h rist ian ceremony led by a bishop . It was good
and that meant brin ging rulers to th e new faith . political propagand a, because it suggested tha t kings
were chosen not on ly by peop le but also by G od.
It was the Celtic C hurch which brought
C hristianity to the ord ina ry peop le of Britain . The There were other ways in which th e C hurch
Celtic bishops went out from their mon asteries of increased th e power of th e English state. It
Wales, Ireland and Sco tla nd , walkin g from village established mon asteries, or minsters, for ex ample
14
 2 Th e Saxo n invasio n

Westminste r, wh ich were places of learn ing and The Vikings

education. These mona ste ries tra ine d the men who
could read and write, so th at they had the necessary Towards th e end of th e eigh th cent ury new raider s
skills for th e growth of royal and C hurch autho rity. were tempted by Britain 's wealth . These were the
Th e king who made most use of the C hurch was Vikings, a word wh ich prob ably mean s eirhe r
A lfred, the great kin g who ruled Wessex from 871- "pir ates" or "t he peop le of th e sea inlets", and the y
899. He used the Iirerare men of rhe C hu rch to came from Norway and Denmark. Like th e A ngle -
help esrablish a system of law, to ed ucate the Saxons th ey only raided at first. They burnt
people and to write down important matters. He churches and monasteries along the east, north and
started th e A nglo-Saxon Chronicle, the most west coasts of Britain and Irelan d. London was itself
important source, toge ther wit h Bede 's Ecclesiastical raided in 842.
History of the English People, for understan ding th e In 865 th e Vikings in vaded Britain once it was
period. clear th at th e quarrelling A ng lo-Saxo n kingdoms
During the next hundred years, laws were made on could not keep th em o ut. This time they came
a large number of matte rs. By the eleventh cent ury to co nquer and to set tle. The Vikings q uickly
royal author ity probab ly went wider an d deeper in acce pted C hrist ian ity and did not disturb the local
England tha n in any o the r European co untry. populat ion. By 8 75 o nly King A lfred in the west
of Wessex held out against the Vikings, who had
This process gave power int o the hands of those already taken most of England. Afte r some serious
who cou ld read and write , and in this way class defeat s A lfred won a dec isive battle in 878, and
divisions were increased. The power of lan dlords, eight years later he captured Lond on . He was strong
who had been given lan d by the kin g, was increased eno ugh to make a treat y with the Vikings.
because the ir names were written down. Peasant s,
who could neither read nor write, co uld lose their
~ areas under
tradit iona l rights to the ir land, because th eir right s Viking control
Shetland
were not registered. o 200 km
Islands

~!
The Anglo-Saxon kings also preferred the Roman
C hurch to the C elt ic C hurch for eco no mic reason s.
Villages and tow ns grew around the mon asteries
and inc reased local trade. Many bishops and monks
in England were from the Franki sh land s (France
and G ermany) and elsewhere. They were invited by
English rulers who wished to benefit from closer
C hurch an d eco no mic co ntact with Europe. Most
of these bishops and mon ks seem to have come
from churches or mon asteries along Europe 's vital
trade routes. In this way close co ntact with man y
parts of Europe was encouraged. In addit ion they all
used Lat in, the written lan guage of Rome, and th is
encouraged English trade with the contine n t.
Increased literacy itself helped trade. Anglo-Saxon
England becam e well kn own in Europe for its
exports of woollen goods, chee se, hunting dogs,
FRAN CE
pottery and meta l goods. It imported wine, fish ,
pepper, jewellery and wheel-made pottery.
TheViking invasions and the areas they broughr under their control.

15
An Illustr ated H istor y of Britai n

Tne 5kn)' of rite battle uf H(ljting5 and the

Norman Conque5t of Saxon England i5
told in rite Bayeux tape5tTy cartoon.
"Harold rite king is killed" $(1)'5 rite
Luin u.'l'iting, and beneath if 5WruU Cl
man with an arrow in hi5 eye, belielled
to be King Harold. In rite PiCU4fC 5triP
beluu, [ne main scene, men ate seen
sfealing l~ clothing from tne dead and
UJOunded, a common prcc nce on
baukfield.s through rite cen umes.

The05eberg Viking 5hip, made in

about AD BOO. U'(l5 21 metres long and
. carried about 35 men. Although thi5
particular 5hip U'(l5 probably only wed
along rite COc1n, 5hips of5imilar size
uere used to invade Britain. Tneir
de5ign Wt1$ brilliant. When an exact
copy of 5imilar 5hip was used to CT055
rite A flantic to America in 1893, ifS
captain U'TOfe. "!he fines! merchant
ships of our da)' ..• MlIe practically
the some type of lxJuom as rite Viking
5hip5.:'

Viking rule was recogn ised in the east and nort h of When Erhelred died C nu t (or Ca nure), th e lead er
England. It was called the Danc law, the lan d whe re of the Dani sh Vikings, controlled much of
the law of th e Danes ruled. In the rest of th e England . He becam e kin g for th e simple reason
co untry Alfr ed was recognised as king. Durin g his th at the royal counc il, the W iran, and everyone
struggle against the Dane s, he had built walled else, feared disorder. Rule by a Dan ish king was far
set tleme nts to keep the m out. These were called better than rule by no one at all. C nut died in
burghs. They became prosperous market tow ns, an d 1035, and his son died shor tly after, in 1040 . T he
the word, now usually spelt borough. is one of the Witan chose Edward, one of Saxon Erhe lred's sons,
co mmonest endings to place names, as well as the to he king .
name of the un it of municipa l or [own
Edward, known as "the Confessor" . was more
ad min istrat ion today.
interested in the Church than in kingship. Ch urch
building had been going on for ove r a century. and
Who should be king? he encou raged it. By the time Edwa rd died th ere
was a church in almost eve ry village. The pattern of
By 950 England seemed rich and peaceful again th e English village, wit h its manor hou se and
after the troub les of the Viking inva sion, But soon church , dates from this t ime. Edward star ted a new
afterwards the Dan ish Vikings started raidin g church flt for Cl king at Westmin ster, just out side
westward s. The Saxon kin g, Eth elrcd, decid ed to the city of Lond on . In fact Westlllin ster Abbey was
r ay the Vikings to stay away. T o find the mon ey he a Norman , n ot a Saxon building , beca use he had
set a tax on all his peop le, ca lled Oanegeld, or spent almost all his life in Nor mandy, and h is
" Danish mon ey" . It was the beginn ing of a regular mot he r was a daughter of the duke of No rma ndy.
tax system of the people whic h would prov ide the As thei r name suggests, the No rma ns were peop le
mo ney for armies. T he effects of this tax were most from the nort h, T hey were the ch ildre n and
heavily felt by the ordina ry villagers, because they grandchi ldren of Vik ings who had captured. and
had to provide eno ugh mon ey for their village set tled in. northern France, T hey had soon become
landlord to r ay Dan cgcld.
16
 2 The Saxon invasion

French in the ir language and C hristian in the ir promi se . and that bec ause it was made unw illingly
religion . But they wer e st ill we ll known for the ir he was not tied by it.
figh ti ng skills.
Harold was faced by two dan ger s, o ne in th e so uth
Edward on ly lived unt il 106 6, when he di ed a nd one in th e nor th. T he Danish V iki ngs h ad no t
without an obvious heir. Th e question of who given up th eir claim to the Eng lish th rone. In 1066
should follow h im as king was o ne of the most H aro ld had to march north into Yorksh ire to defeat
important in English history. Edward had brought the Danes. No soone r had he defeated the m tha n
many Normans to h is English court from France . he learn t tha t Wi lliam h ad lan ded in Eng land with
These Norrnans were not liked by the more an army. His men were tired. hut th ey had no time
powe rful Saxon nohles, pa rt icularly by the most to rest . They ma rched south as fast as possib le.
powerful fam ily of Wesse x, th e Godwi nso ns. It was
Haro ld dec ided not to wa it for th e wh ole Saxon
a Godwi nson , Har old, who m the \Vi tan chose to
army. th e h'nl. ro gathe r because W illiam's army
be th e next kin g of Eng land. H arold had already
was sma ll. He tho ugh t he could beat the m wi th th e
sho wn his bravery and abil ity. He had no royal
men who h,h..1 don e so we ll against the Dane s.
blood , but he see med a goo d cho ice for the th rone
Howe ver, the No rman so ldiers were bet ter armed ,
of Eng land.
bette r organi sed , and were mount ed on horses. If he
Harold's right to the English throne was challe nged h ad waited , Haro id migh t h ave won . But h e was
by Duke W ill iam of N or mandy . Wi ll iam had two de feat ed and ki lled in ba ttl e n ear Hastings.
claims to the English throne . His first claim was
W illiam marched to London , whi ch qu ick ly gave
that King Edward had promi sed it to hi m. Th e
in whe n he bega n to burn villages o utside the c ity.
secon d cl aim was that Harold, who had visited
H e was crowne d kin g of Eng land in Edward's n ew
Wil liam in 1064 or 106 5, h ad promised William
ch urc h of West m ins te r Abbey on C h ristmas Day,
that he, H arol d , wou ld not try to ta ke the throne
1066 . A new pe riod had begun,
for h imself. Harol d di d not de ny th is second claim,
but said that h e had been force d to mak e th e

17
3 The Celtic kingdoms
Wales · Ireland · Scotland

England has always played the most powerful part

in the h istory of th e British Isles. However, th e
orhe r three countries, Wa les, Ireland and Sco tla nd,
~ o~so km ]

have a differen t history. Until recently few

histori an s looked at British history exce pt from an
Eng lish point of view. But the stor ies of Wa les,
Ireland and Sco tland are also important, beca use
the ir peop le st ill feel different from the Anglo-
Saxon English. The experience of th e Welsh , Irish
and Scots helps to explain the feel ing they have
toda y.

Wales
By th e eight h century most of the C elt s had been
driven int o the W elsh peninsula. T hey were kept
Wales and its Celric kingdoms.
out of England by Offa's Dyke , the huge ea rth wall
built in AD 779. These C elts, ca lled Wel sh by the The early kin gs trave lled around th eir kin gdoms to
A nglo-S axons , called themselves cymr y , "fellow rem ind the peop le of the ir co ntrol. T hey travelled
coun trymen". with th eir hungry followers and soldiers. T he
ordinary people ran away in to the hills and woods
Because Wa les is a mountainous country, the cymry
whe n the king's men approac hed th eir village.
could on ly live in th e crowded valleys. T he rest of
th e lan d was rocky and too poor for an yth ing Life was dang erous, treac herous and bloody. In
except keepin g an imals. For thi s reason th e 1043 th e king of G lamorga n died of old age. It was
popu lation remain ed small. It on ly grew to ove r an unusual event, beca use be twee n 949 and 1066
half a million in th e eigh teent h cen tury. Life was no less th an thirty-five W elsh rulers died violently,
hard and so was the behaviour of the people. usually killed by a cym r y, a fellow co untryman .
Slavery was com mon , as it had been all throu gh
In 1039 G ruffydd ap (son of) L1ewelyn was th e first
Celt ic Britain. Welsh h igh kin g strong eno ugh to rule over all
Soc iety was based on family groupings, each of Wales. H e was also the last , and in order to remain
which owned one or more village or farm in co ntro l he spent almost th e who le of his reign
settlemen t. O ne by on e in each group a strong fight ing his ene mies. Like man y ot he r We lsh rulers,
leader made h imself kin g. These men must have Gruffvdd was killed by a cymr y while defending'
been tribal ch iefs to begin with , who later man aged Wales against the Saxo ns. Wel sh kin gs after him
to beco me overlords ove r neigh bouring family were able to rule on ly after the y had promised
groups. Each of these kin gs tr ied ro conquer th e loyalty to Edward th e C onfessor, kin g of England.
othe rs, and the idea of a high , or senior, king The story of an indepen dent and uni ted Wa les was
developed. over almos t as soo n as it had begun .
18
 3 The Celtic kingdo ms

Ireland
Ireland was never invaded by either th e Roman s or
the An glo-Saxon s. It was a land of monasteries and
had a flourishing C elt ic culture. As in Wales,
people were known by th e family grouping they
belonged ro. O urside th eir tr ibe they had no
protect ion and no name of th eir own . They had
only the na me of th eir trib e. The kings in thi s
tribal society were chosen by electi on. The idea was
that th e strongest man sho uld lead. In fact th e
system led to co nt inuous cha llenges.
Five kingdoms grew up in Ireland: Ul ster in the
north , Mun srer in th e sourhwest , Leinster in the
southeast , Connaugh t in the west , with Tara as the
seat of the high kin gs of Ireland.
Christian ity came to Ireland in abo ut A D 430. The
beginnin g of Ireland 's history date s from th at time,
because for the first time there were people who
could write down events. T he message of
Chri st ianity was spread in Irelan d by a British slave,
Parrick, who becam e the " patron saint" of Ireland.
C hristianit y brought wriring , wh ich weakened the
position of the Druids, who depended on memory
and the spoken word . C hristian mon asteries grew
up, frequen tly alon g the coast.
Thi s period is ofte n ca lled Irelan d's "golden age" .
Invaders were unknown and culture flowered . But ir
is also true th at th e five kingdoms were often at
war, eac h trying to gain advantage over the ot her, Tht' rtJlHkl w U 't.'Tof De"'enish is one fJf (mly «< '(I t!klf still stand (It Celtic
mfl1klSfi(' sifes in UlstCT, lreL:mJ. This one Willbllilt in Ihe fu'(lfth C('T1Ulry
often with grea t cruel ty. An The ounmce is abol/f Ihree metres <!bot:e ground ktd , ,mJ !k,J a L:uLkr
t!klt C(luU be pulkd in so t!ku enemies (mM nOl etue-r. This design may well
haw be!.'n infTflJuad after lhe VikiT\R raids began in the ninlh cenwry .
Ireland's Celtic kingdoms.

TARA
(se at of the
high k ings
of Ireland )

19
An Illustrated History of Britai n

This "golden age" sudden ly ended with th e arrival

of Viking raiders, who sto le all th at the monaste ries
had . Ver y little was left except th e stone memorials
th at th e Vikings could not carry away.
The Vikings, who traded with Constantinop le
(now Istan bul) , Italy, and with central Russia,
brought fresh economi c and po lit ical act ion int o
Irish life. Viking raids forced the Irish to un ite . In
859 Irelan d chose its fi rst high kin g, but it was no t
an effective solut ion because of the quarre ls th at
too k place each t ime a new high kin g was chosen.
Viking trade led to the first towns and ports. For
the C elts, who had always lived in sma ll Iona. the wes tern Scottish islandanwhich SrColumba e5lablished his abbey
settlemen ts, these we re revol ution ary. Dublin, in AD 563 when he came Ireland. FrQJT\ lanaColumba sent his mi55ianarie5
Ireland 's futur e capital, was founded by the Vikings. to bring ChriHUIni[y to the 5C0[5. The present cathedral was buil! in about
/ 500.
As an effecti ve meth od of rule the h igh kingship of
Ireland lasted on ly twelve years, from 1002 to 1014 , Sco tla nd was pop ulated by four separate groups of
whil e Ireland was ruled by Btian Boru. He is st ill people . The main group, th e Piers, lived mostly in
looked back on as Ireland 's greatest ruler. He tried the nor th and no rtheast. T hey spoke C elt ic as well
to create one single Ireland , and enco uraged the as anothe r, proba bly older, lan guage completely
growth of organ isation - in the Church, in unconnect ed with any known language today, and
admin istration, and in learn ing. they seem to have been th e ear liest inh abitants of
the land. T he Piers were differe nt from the C elts
Brian Boru d ied in battle against the Vikings. O ne
because th ey inh erited theit rights , th eir names and
of the fi ve Irish kin gs, th e kin g of Leinsrer , fought
property from their mothers, not from the ir fathe rs.
on th e Vikings' side. Just over a century later
ano the r king of Lein ster in vited th e Norrnans of T he non -Picrish inh abitant s were mainl y Sco ts.
England to hel p him against his high kin g. Th is T he Scots were C eltic settle rs who had started to
gave the Nor mans the excuse th ey wanted to move into the western Highl an ds from Ireland in
en large their kin gdom . the fourth cent ury.
In 843 th e Pict ish and Sco tt ish kin gdoms were
uni ted under a Sco tt ish king, who co uld also
probab ly claim the Pictish th ron e thro ugh his
Scotland mother , in thi s way obeying bot h Sco tt ish and
As a result of its geography , Scotland has two Picti sh rules of kin gship.
different soc iet ies. In the centre of Scotland The third group were the Britons, who inh abited
mountain s stre tc h to the far north and across to the the Lowland s, and had been part of th e Roman o-
west , beyo nd wh ich lie many islan ds. T o the east Briti sh world. (T he name of th eir kingdom ,
and to the south the lowland hill s are gen tle r, and St rathclyde, was used aga in in th e county
much of the co untryside is like England, rich , reorganisatio n of 1974.) T hey had probably given
welcoming and easy to farm. No rth of the up their old tr ibal way of life bv the sixth cen tury.
"Highlan d Line" , as the division between highlan d Finally, there were A ngles from No rthumbria who
and lowland is called, peo ple stayed tied to th eir had pushed northwa rds into the Sco tt ish Lowlands.
own family groups. So uth and east of th is line
society was more easily influen ced by the cha nges Un ity between Piers, Sco ts and Briton s was
taking place in England. achieved for seve ral reason s. T he y all sha red a
20
 3 The Celtic kingdoms

0 l 00 km ~t SHETLANO j e f
. '==='""~
[ ; ISLANDS 't Scorland: ir5 earl)' !'e(lple5. th eir way of life. A ltho ugh they kep t some animals,
" Go the y spent more time growing crops. T h is mean t
~
O R K N EY «'f!i' that land was held by indi vidual people, each man
ISLANDS~A work ing in his own field . Land was distr ibuted for
<;J;g
farmin g by the local lord. This system encouraged
th e A ngles of Sco tland to devel op a non -tribal
system of cont rol, as th e peop le of Eng land furrh er
south were doin g. Th is increased the ir feeling of
difference from th e Celtic tr ibal H ighlanders furthe r
north .
Finally, as in Irelan d and in Wales, fore ign in vaders
increased th e speed of po litical cha nge. Vikings
attacked the coas ta l areas of Sco tla nd, and th ey
settled on man y of the island s, She tla nd, the
O rkneys, the Hebrides, and the Isle of Man
sout hwest of Sco tland. In order to resist them, Piers
Had rian 's Wall
and Sco ts fough t together against the ene my raiders
common Celt ic culture, language and background .
and set tle rs. W he n they co uld no t push th em out of
Th eir economy main ly depended on keeping
th e islan ds and coastal areas, they had to deal with
animals. These an imals were owned by the tribe as
th em politically. At first the Vikings, or
a who le, and for th is reason land was also held by
"Norsemen" , st ill served th e king of N orway. But
tribes, nor by indi vidu al peop le. The co mmon
commun icat ions with No rway were difficult. Slowly
economic system increased the ir feeling of
the ea rls of O rkney and othe r areas found it easier
belonging to th e same kind of soc iety and th e
to accept the king of Sco ts as the ir ovetlord, rather
feeling of differen ce from the agricultural Lowlands.
than t he more distant kin g of Norway.
Th e sense of common culture may have been
increased by marri age alliances betwee n tribes. Th is However, as th e Wel sh had also disco vered , the
idea of co mmon landholdin g remained strong unt il English were a greate r dange r tha n the Vikings. In
the tribes of Sco tland, called "cla ns" , co llapsed in 934 th e Scots were seriously defeated by a W essex
the eighteenth cen tury. anny pushing northwards. The Scots dec ided to
seek the friendship of the English , because of the
The spread of Celtic C hrist ian ity also helped to likely losses from war. England was obviously
unite th e people. The fi rst C hristian mission to
stro nger th an Sco tland but , luckily for the Sco ts,
Scotlan d had co me to southwest Scotla nd in about
bot h th e north of England and Sco tla nd were
AD 400. Later , in 563, Columba, known as the
diffi cul t to control from Lon don . T he Sco ts hoped
"Dove of the C h urch" , came from Ireland.
that if th ey were reason ably peaceful th e
Through his work both Highl and Sco ts and Picts
Sassenac hs, as they called the Saxons (and st ill call
were brought to C hristian ity. He even , so it is said ,
th e English), wou ld leave th em alone.
defeate d a monster in Loch Ne ss, the first mention
of thi s famous creature. By the time of th e Synod of Sco tland rem ain ed a difficult country to rule even
Whi tby in 663 , the Piers, Sco ts and Briton s had all from its capital, Edinburgh . A nyone looking at a
been brought closer togethe r by C hristianity. map of Sco tla nd can immediate ly see that control
of the H ighlan ds and islands was a great prob lem .
The A ngles were very different from the Celts.
T ravel was often impossible in wint er, and slow and
T hey had arrived in Brita in in family groups, but difficu lt in summer. It was easy for a clan chief or
they soon began to accept author ity from people
nob le to throw off th e rule of th e king.
outside the ir own family. This was partl y due to

21
The early Middle Ages
4 Conquest and feudal rule
The Norman Conquest · Feudalism · Kingship: a famil y business·
Magna Carta and the decline of feudalism

The Norman Conquest and only two bishops were Saxon , Willi am gave th e
Saxon land s to his Norman nobles, A fter eac h
William the Conqueror's coro na t ion did not go as
English rebellion there was more land to give away.
planned. W he n the peop le shouted "God Save th e
His army included Norman and o the r French land
King" the nervous Norman guards at W estminster
seekers. Ov er 4.000 Saxon landl ords were replaced
Abbey rhought th ey were going to attack William. by 200 Norman ones.
In their fear th ey set fire to nearby houses and rhe
coronation ce remony ended in disorder.
Although Will iam was now crowned king. his
Feudalism
conquest had on ly just begun. and the fight ing W illiam was careful in the way he gave land to his
lasted for ano ther five years. T he re was an A nglo- nobles. T he king of France was less powerful than
Saxon rebellion again st th e No rrnans every year man y of the great landlords. of whom W ilIiam was
unt il 1070. The small Norman army march ed from the outsta nding example. In England. as each new
village to village , destroying places it co uld not area of land was ca ptured . Wi lliam gave parts of it
cont rol. and building forts to guard others. It was a as a reward to his captains. This meant th at th ey
true army of occupation for at least twenty years. held separate small pieces of land in different parts
The north was parti cu larly hard to control. and th e of th e co unt ry so th at no noble co uld easily or
Norman army had no mercy. When the Saxons quickly gathe r his fightin g men to rebel. Willi am
fought back. the Normans burnt. destro yed and on ly gave some of his nobles larger esta tes along th e
killed. Between Durh am and York not a single troublesome borde rs with Wales and Scotland. At
house was left standing. and it took a century for the same t ime he kept en ough land for him self to
the north to recover. make sure he was much stronger than his nobles,
Of all the farmland of England he gave ha lf to the
Few Saxon lords kept the ir lan ds and th ose who did
Norman nobles, a quarter to the C h urch, an d kep t
were the very sma ll num ber who had acce pted
a fifth him self. He kept th e Saxon system of
William immed iately. A ll the o thers lost
she riffs, and used th ese as a balance to local nob les.
everything. By 1086. twenty years after th e arriv al
As a result England was different from the rest of
of the Normans , on ly two of th e greater landlo rds
Europe because it had one powerful fam ily, instead
An (ITgu mt.'JI1 beru't't'n King Henry' 11 L1nJ his archbishop, Thomas Bt"ckt't. of a large number of powerful nobles. W illiam , and
Behind Beeker send am knighrs, probr.lbl)' those who killed him 10 pkast'
Henry . The pie/ure iUustrafes the stnj~ll." berueen Church and sWle Juring
the kings after him . th ough t of England as th eir
the early Middle Ages. The Church controlled mone:,. land (including roo m personal property.
lIndfelu.l.u este res}, and men. As a resl.lr , the kings of England had 10 be
wry careful in their dealings u'irh cht' ChIITCh. Th.>:o Irlt'd 10 pre ten r tiny William organ ised his English kin gdom according
mcrecse in Church power, and tried to ,If>poinl bishops u·ho U'OlI/J hi: m OTe
ln~'al lfl lhe kinR rhan 10 [he Ch l~rch. Becket died because he [rit.'J w pr ew nr
to the feudal system which had already begun to
[he kinR from gaininRmore control 0/ C hllKh affairs. de velop in England before his arrival. The word
23
An Illustrated Hisrorv of Britain

Casrle Rising in Norfolk, a fine exo.mple of !he s!One,built keeps the No-mens built in rhe ear(~ The greas hall in Casrle Headingham, built in 1140. gil'f!S an
tU'ft/fth cenrury. These replaced !he earlier Ncmnan "mcne and bailey" cudes. u:hich were earrh idea of !he inside ofa Norman casde. The floor was covered
mounds SUTTOtmded by a wooden fena or paIfuade. A s!One·lrnilr keep of !he IU'U' kind Wd5 wirh rushes or reeds, cur from a nearby marsh or u.!edand
extremel)' difficult to capture, except by surprise . Keeps of this kindhad a weU, p-ro~.'iJ ing fTe5h area. The walls were decorated with U!OlIt't1 woollen
water far a long siege. embroidered hangi"Ks. for which England ucs famou.s. !he
fumilUre is of a much larer dare. 1n Norman times there U'a5
probably a large btd simple table and chair ffTf rhe lord of rhe
"feudalism" co mes from th e Frenc h word [eu, which castle. Others Sflf on benches, or mighr haw stood for meals.
th e Normans used to refer to lan d held in return fo r
duty or service to a lord. The basis of feuda l soc iety
was the holding of lan d , and its ma in purpose was
eco no mic. T he cen tral idea was that all lan d was
owned by the king but it was held by others . ca lled
"vassa ls", in retu rn for services and goods. T he king
gave large estates to h is main nobles in return for a
promise to serve him in war for up to forty days.
T he nobles also had to give hi m part of the prod uce
of th e land . T he grea ter nob les gave part of the ir
lan ds to lesser nob les, kn ight s. and o the r
"freemen". So me freemen paid for the land by
doin g milirary service . wh ile othe rs paid rent. The
nob le kept "serfs" to work on his own land. T hese
were not free to leave the estate, and were often
little better tha n slaves.
T he re were two basic princip les to feuda lism: eve ry
man had a lord. and every lord had land, T he king
was connected through thi s "chain" of people to
the lowest man in th e co untry. At each level a man A thirreenth~cenlu ry knighr pays homllge. The
no bilil) of Britain srill pay homlIge UJ lhe
had to promise loyalty and service to his lord. Th is sOl'tTeign during lhe coronation ceremony, ElItT
promise was usually made with the lord sitting on since rheMiddle Ages, wesr European Chrisrians
halOf' wed !hefeudal homage pcsmon u,hen
his chair and h is vassal kneel ing before him, h is praying. a reminder of their relatiaruhip UJ God,
han ds placed between those of his lord. This was rheir lord and prceectc-.

24
 4 Conquest and feudal rule

called " homage" , and h as rem ained parr of the Kingship: a famil y business
coron ation ce re mo ny of British kings and queen s
T o under stand the idea of kin gship a nd lordsh ip in
until now. O n the othe r h an d , ea ch lord had
the early Midd le A ges it is important to rea lise th at
respo nsibilities to h is vassals. He had to give them
at th is time ther e was little or no idea of
land and protec tion.
nation alism. W illiam controlled two large areas:
W he n a nobl e d ied his son usua lly roo k o ver h is N or ma ndy, whi ch he h ad been give n by hi s fa th er ,
estate. But first he had to receiv e permission from and Englan d, wh ich h e h ad won in war. Bot h were
the king and make a spec ial pay me nt. If h e was still personal possession s, and it did not matter to the
a ch ild the king wou ld often ta ke the pro duce of rul ers th at the ordinary peop le of o ne p lace were
th e esta te un ti l th e boy was o ld eno ugh to look Eng lish wh ile those of anot her were French . To
afte r the estate himself. In th is way the kin g could W illiam the im port an t diffe rence betwee n
bene fi t from the death of a noble. If a ll the nob le's N or ma ndy and Eng lan d was tha t as duke of
family died th e land went back to the king, wh o Norma ndy h e h ad to recogn ise the k ing of Fran ce
would be expected to give it to ano the r deservin g as hi s lord, wh er eas in England he was kin g wit h no
noble. But the ki ng often kep t th e land for so me lord abo ve him .
years. usin g its wea lth. befo re giv ing it to anot he r
When Wi lliam d ied , in 1087, he left the Duchy of
noble.
No rma ndy to h is cid er son , Ro be rt. He gave
If the king di ll n ot give the no bles land th ey would England to hi s second son , W illiam, known as
not fig h t for him . Be tween 1066 and the mid - "Rufus" (Lat in for red) because of hi s red hai r and
fourteenth ce ntury there were on ly thirty years of red face. W hen Roberr went to fight th e Muslims in
complete peace . So feuda l duties were extreme ly th e Hol y Lan d, he left W illiam 11 (Ru fus) in c harge
important. T he king had to make sure he had of Norma ndy. Afte r a ll, th e manage me n t of
enough satisfied nobl es who would be will ing to N ormandy and England was a family busine ss.
tigh r for h im.
Wi ll iam Ru fus d ied in a hunting acc ide n t in 1100 ,
W illiam gave o ur land a ll over Englan d to his shot dead hI' an arrow . He had not marri ed , and
nob les, By 1086 h e wanted to kn ow exac tly who the refore had no son to take the crown . At the
owned whic h piece of land . and how much it was t ime of William 's death , Roberr was on hi s way
worth. He needed th is information so rhar he could hom e to Normandy fro m the Hol y Lan d . The ir
plan h is eco no my. find our how muc h was produced younge r brothe r. Henry. kne w that if he wanted
and how much he co uld ask in tax. He therefore the Eng lish c rown h e wou ld h ave to act very
sent a team of peop le all through England to make quick ly. He had been wi th W illiam at the time of
a co mplete econo mic survey. His men asked all the acc ident . He rod e to Winchester and took
kinds of question s at eac h set tlemen t: How much c harge of the king's treasury. He the n rode to
land was there ? \'(fho own ed it ? How much was it We stminster. where he was crow ned king three
worth ? How many famil ies, ploughs and she ep we re da ys later. Roberr was very an gry and prepa red to
the re? A nd so on . T his survey was the on ly on e of invade . Blit it rook him a year to organ ise an army.
its kind in Europe. N ot surprising ly, it was most
The Norma n nohles in England had to c ho ose
unp opu lar wit h the people, because th ey fe lt th ey
between Hen ry and Roh er r. T h is was not easy
could not escape from its findings. It so re minded
beca use most of the m held land in Normandy too .
them of the paint ings of the Day of Judgement, or
In the end they c hose Hen ry beca use he was in
"doo m". o n the walls of thei r churches that they
Lon don, with the c rown already o n his head .
ca lled it the "Domesday" Book. T he na me stuc k.
Robcrr's invasion was a failure and he acce pted
The Do mesday Book still ex ists, and gives us an
payment to return to Normandy . But Henry wante d
exrraordina rv amoun t of info rrna rio n about England
more. He knew tha t many of h is nobles would
at this rime.
willingly follow h im to Normandy so that they

25
A n Illustrated Histo ry of Britain

A t th e t ime both the possible heirs to Henry were

on their own esta tes. Maril da was with her hu sban d
in A njo u and Hen ry's neph ew. Srephen of Blois,
was in Boulogne , only a day's jou rney by sea from
England . As Henry had done before him , Ste phe n
raced to England to cl aim the c rown. Al so as
before, the nobles in England had to choose
between Stcphe n, who was in England, and
Mari lda. who had quarrelled with her fathe r and
who was st ill in France. Most chose Srephc n, who
inherited rrom his
D tands
father, Geotlrey
Plantagenet. count
seems to ha ve been good at fighti ng but littl e else.
ot AnJOu
lands inherited from jus
He was described at the time as "of outstanding
• mother, Queen Matllda
01England skill in arms, but in othe r things almost an idiot,
except that he was more incl ined towards evil. "
O landsgaIned by his
marriage to Eleanor
01AqUlta,ne O n ly a few nob les supported Mat ilda 's claim.
gained by hIS son
O lands
Geollrey's marriage to
constarce 01 Bnttany Mar ilda invaded England four years later . Her fight
with Ste phe n led to a te rrible civil war in wh ich
O lands belongIngto, and
dlrecltyruled by, the
French king vill ages were destroyed and many peop le we re
O lands which recognised
the French kIng
as overlord
killed. N eit he r side co uld win, and finally in 11 53
Marilda and Sre phc n agreed tha t St ephen could
- bound ary or Henry u's
French lands keep the throne but o nly if Marilda's son , Henry,
could succee d him . Fortunatel v for Englan d,
Hemy 1/ '$ clllpire. Srephen died the following year, and th e family
possessions of England and the lands in France were
united und er a king acce pted by eve ryone. It took
could win back thei r Nor man land s. In 11 06 Henry years for Englan d to recover from th e civil war. As
inv aded Norma ndy and captured Rober r. someo ne wrote at the time, "For nin eteen long
Nor mandy and England were reunited und er one wint ers, God and his ang els slept. " This kind of
ruler. disorder and destruction was co mmon in Europe,
Henry l's most important aim was to pass on bo th but it was shocking in England beca use people were
Nor mandy and England to his successor. He spent used to the rule of law and order.
th e rest of his life fight ing tn keep Normandy from Henry 1I was the fi rst unquestion ed ruler of th e
o ther Fren ch nobles who tr ied to take it. But in English throne for a hu ndred years. He destro yed
1120 Henry 's on ly son was drowned at sea. the castles wh ich many nob les had built withou t
During the next fifteen years Henry hoped for royal permission durin g Srephen's reign , and made
ano the r son but fi nally accep ted tha t his daughter, sure that they lived in manor houses that were
Marilda, would follow him . Henry had married und efend ed. The manor again became th e centre of
Marilda to anot her great noble in France, Geoffrey loca l life and admin istra t ion .
Plan tagen et , Ge offrey was heir to A njou, a large Henr y 1I was ruler of far more land than any
and important area southwest of N ormandy. Hen ry previous king . As lord of A njou he adde d h is
hoped tha t the family lands wou ld be made larger fat he r's land s to th e fami ly empire. Afte r his
by th is marr iage. He made all the nobles promise to marriage to Elean or of Aqu itaine he also ruled the
acce pt Matilda when he died. But th en Henry lands south of A njo u. Henry ll 's empi re stretched
him self qua rrelled publicly with Mari lda's hu sband , from th e Scott ish border to th e Pyren ees.
and died soon after. This left th e succession in
question .
26
 4 Conquest and feudal rule

Four kJnRs of the early Middle

Ages: (top row) Henry fI, Richard
1, (bonorn TOW) John mul Henry
111. Richard's shieldcarries the
beulge of the English kings. The
fhree gold lilms (called "leupards"
in heraldic language) on a red field
stillform fWO of fhe four
"qlUlrrers" of the Royal Standard
or shield wJay.

England prov ided most of Henry' s wealth , but th e popular kings, altho ugh he spent hardly any t ime in
heart of his emp ire lay in Anjou . And altho ugh England . He was brave, and a good soldier, but his
Henry recognised the king of Franc e as the overlord nickn ame Coeur de Lion, " lionheart ", sho ws tha t
of all his Fren ch lands, he actually con trolled a his culture, like th at of the kin gs before him , was
greater area tha n th e kin g of France. Man y of Fren ch . Rich ard was ever yone's idea of th e perfect
Henry's nob les held land on both sides of th e feuda l king. He went to th e Holy Land to make war
English cha nnel. on the Muslims and he fought with skill, courage
and honour.
However, Henr y quarrelled with his beautifu l and
powerful wife, and h is sons, Richa rd and John , took On his way back from the Ho ly Land Rich ard was
Eleanor's side. It may seem surprising that Richard captured by th e duke of Au str ia, with whom he had
and Joh n fought against their own father. But in quarrelled in Jerusalem. The duke dem anded money
fact th ey were doi ng th eir dut y to th e kin g of before he would let him go, and it took two years
France, their feudal ove rlord, in payment for th e for England to pay. Shortly afte r, in 1199, Rich ard
lands they held from him . In 11 89 Henry died a was killed in Fran ce . He had spent no more tha n
broken man, disappointed and defeated by his sons four or five years in th e co unt ry of which he was
and by th e Fren ch kin g. king. W hen he died th e Fren ch kin g too k over
parts of Rich ard's Fren ch lands to rule him self.
Hen ry was followed by his rebell ious son, Rich ard .
Rich ard I has always been one of England's most

27
An Illustrated History of Britain

Rich ard had no son, and he was followed by his Magna Carta and the decline of
brother, John. John had already made him self
unpopu lar with the three most important groups of
feudalism
peop le , the nobles, the mercha nt s and the C hurch. This new agreemen t was known as "Magna Carta" ,
the G reat C harte r, and was an important symbol of
John was unpopular mainl y beca use he was greed y. poli tical freedom. The king promi sed all "freemen"
The feudal lords in England had always run rheir protect ion from his officers, and the right to a fair
own law courts and profited from th e fines paid by and legal trial. At the time perhaps less th an one
th ose brought to court. But John too k many cases quarter of the English were "free rne n". Most were
out of thei r courts and tried the m in th e king's not free, and were serfs or littl e better. Hundreds of
co urts , taking th e mone y for him self. years lat er, Magna C arta was used by Parl iament to
It was nor mal for a feuda l lord to make a payment protect itself from a powerful kin g. In fact Magna
to the king whe n his daughter was marri ed , but Ca rta gave no real freedo m to the majori ty of
John asked for more than was the custom . In the people in England . The nobles who wrote it and
same way, whe n a noble died , h is son had to pay forced King John to sign it had no such th ing in
money before he co uld in he rit h is fathe r's land. In mind . They had one main aim: to make sure John
order to en large his own income, John inc reased did not go beyond h is rights as feuda l lord.
the amount they had to pay. In othe r cases when a
Magna Carta marks a clear stage in the co llapse of
nob le died with ou t a son, it was norm al for the land
English feudalism. Feudal soc iety was based on links
to be passed on ro.ano rher nob le fam ily. Joh n kept
bet ween lord and vassal. A t Runn vmede the nobles
the land for a long time , to benefit from its wealth .
we re not acting as vassals but as a class. T hey
He did the same with the bishoprics. As for th e
established a committee of twenty-four lords to
merch ants and towns, he taxed them at a higher
make sure John kept his promises. T hat was not a
level tha n ever before .
"feuda l" th ing to do. In addit ion , th e nob les were
In 1204 King Joh n beca me even more unp opular acting in co-operation with the merch ant cl ass of
with his nob les. T he French king invaded towns.
Normandy and th e English nobles lost their land s
T he nobles did not allow John's successors to forget
there. John had failed to ca rry out his duty to the m
th is c harter and its promises. Every king recognised
as duke of Norma ndy. He had taken their money
Magna Carta, until the Middle Ages ended in
but he had not protect ed the ir land.
disorder and a ne w kind of mon arch y came into
In 1209 John quarrelled with th e pope ove r who being in the sixtee nth century.
sho uld be Arc hbisho p of Can terbury. John was in a There were othe r small signs th at feudalism was
weak posit ion in England and the pope kn ew it. chang ing. W hen the kin g went to war he had th e
T he pope ca lled on the king of Fran ce to invade righ t to forty days' fighting service from each of his
England , and closed every church in th e co untry. lords. But forty days were not lon g eno ugh for
A t a time when most people believed th at without fighting a war in Fran ce. T he nob les refused to fight
the C hurch th ey would go to hell , thi s was a very for lon ger , so th e kin g was forced to pay soldiers to
serious matt er. In 1214 John gave in , and accepted fight for him . (T he y were called "paid fighters" ,
the pope's choice of archbisho p.
snUdari"s, a Latin word from which the word
In 1215 John hoped to recapture Normandy. He "soldier" co mes. ) A t th e same time many lords
ca lled o n his lords to fi ght for him, but they no preferred the ir vassals to pay th em in money rather
lon ger truste d hi m. They march ed to London , than in services. Vassals we re gradually beg inn ing
where they were joined by angry merch ant s. to change into tenants . Feudalism. the use of land
Outside Londo n at Runn ymede, a few miles up the in return for service. was beginn ing to weaken . But
river. John was forced to sign a new agree me n t. it too k anot he r three hundred years before it
disappeared comp letely.
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