Реферат: Summary British History Essay Research Paper ESWHChapter

In 1209 John quarrelled with the pope. The pope asked the king of France to invade England and closed every church in England. Finally in 1214 John gave in.

In 1215 John hoped to recapture Normandy, but his nobles lost their trust in him and did not want to fight.

Magna Carta and the decline of feudalism

John was forced to sign a new agreement called magna carta. This promised protection for all freemen. It was not for the entire population, because the nobles only thought for themselves.

Magna Carta was recognized by every king after John and was used until the sixteenth century.

Chapter 5 The power of the kings of England

Church and state

John?s reign marked the end of the struggle between Church and state. This struggle was for both power and money. The Church wanted the kings of Europe to accept its authority over both spiritual and earthly affairs and argued that even kings were answerable to God. Kings on the other hand, chose bishops as men who could be loyal to them.

The beginnings of parliament

John died in 1216. His son Henry III was only nine years old and tied to magna carta, He was ruled by nobles for the first sixteen years.

Henry was able to rule at twenty-five. He spent lots of money and the nobles were upset. Under the leadership of one of the French nobles parliament was founded in 1258. It forced Henry to get rid of his foreign advisers.

Henry died in 1272 and his son Edward took over the throne.

Edward I brought the first real parliament together.. He also created the house of commons ( representative institution), which could provide the money he needed.

The house of commons was a mixture of inhabitants of Britain. All common people.

Dealing with the Celts

Edward I was less interested in bringing back France than uniting Britain under his control. In 1284 Edward united west Wales with England.

Ireland was conquered by Norman Lords in 1169. They had little problem defeating the Irish kings and tribes.

HenryII went to Ireland himself to ensure his lords would not become to independent.

He made Dublin the capitol of his new colony. The English crown only ruled Dublin and a small surrounding area called ?the pale?.

In Scotland things were very different. They were stronger than the welsh and they had their own king who ruled most of Scotland. This king was to powerful and most English kings did not try to defeat him, but Edward I was different.

In 1290 there was a crises. There were thirteen heirs to the throne. Robert Bruce and John de Balliol were both Norman-Scottish knights. They invited Edward to avoid civil war. Edward was willing to help if they would accept him as their overlord.

He put John de Balliol on the throne, but it was no succes, the Scottish nobles rebelled against him.

William Wallace, a Scottish knight rebelled against Edward and was quite succesful, but Edward excecuted Wallace and it seemed he had won after all. Robert Bruce was the new leader of the movement. Edward died in 1307. He tried to hammer down the Scots, but hammered nationalism in the Scots instead.

Edward II, his son went back to England and Robert Bruce managed to become king of Scotland.

Chapter 6 Government and society

The growth of government

The form of government changed when England had also captured France and the usual way wasn?t very good anymore. They needed one central point and it is still there in Westminster. The king kept all records in Westminster. The officials in Westminster had to keep an eye on the economy of the country and the kings? needs. Government administration kept a copy of each letter they had sent and had grown enormously since William I.

Law and justice

Every lord had his own laws for their land, only for serious crimes there was a king?s court. Henry I introduced that all crimes should be punished equally. The king slowly took over the power of the nobles.