Medieval England

After defeating the Anglo-Saxon king Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William of Normandy introduced the Norman feudal system, rewarding his French-speaking followers with land in return for their continued support, and French remained the language of the upper classes and administration until the 14th century.

The power of these Norman Barons gradually increased and during the reign of the Plantagenets began, together with the Church, to challenge the King’s absolute power, which resulted in King John being forced to sign the Magna Carta at Runnymede in 1215. This document contained a long list of limitations to the King's power and these rights obtained by the Barons were eventually extended to the entire population.

The origins of Parliament are to be found in the reign of John's successor, Henry III. It was a meeting of the King and his Barons and servants at which various administrative and financial problems were discussed. In order to make it easier to put the decisions taken into practice, each Shire had to elect a number of knights to attend these meetings and report the decisions to their Shires. Edward I continued this experiment and in 1295 called a parliament that became known as the Model Parliament, at which barons, earls and the high clergy (bishops and abbots) were present, together with the knights and burgesses representing the shires and boroughs. The “House of Commons” as a separate Chamber resulted from the unofficial meetings of these knights and burgesses. The person chosen to “speak” for these “commoners” in Parliament became known as the Speaker.

The Hundred Years’ War fought between France and England had a devastating effect on the English economy. The high taxation necessary to finance the war and the Black Death (a plague in 1348 that killed a third of the population of England) led to such extreme hardship for the peasant class that there was a revolt in 1381. Although the Peasants’ Revolt was soon put down, it led to greatly improved conditions for the peasant class and was the first step towards the ending of the feudal system in England.

Exercise 3. Perhaps the most important of the clauses of the Magna Carta is the one which states that:

“no freeman shall be arrested or imprisoned or disseised [dispossessed] or outlawed or exiled or in any way victimized... except by the lawful judgment of his peers or the law of the land”

What constitutional principle is contained in this clause?

Exercise 4. Outline the main characteristics of:

1. the Norman Conquest 4. the Black Death

2. the Magna Carta 5. the Peasants’ Revolt

3. the first parliaments