Impact of Norman Conquest on England: Feudal System, Language, & Power Struggles, Schemi e mappe concettuali di Economia e Marketing delle aziende della moda

Scarica Impact of Norman Conquest on England: Feudal System, Language, & Power Struggles e più Schemi e mappe concettuali in PDF di Economia e Marketing delle aziende della moda solo su Docsity! William the Conquerer and the feudal system William of Normandy, the Conquerer, once he conquered England spent most of his time away and he needed a system of strong government to get things done while he was mucking about in France, a reliable sistem of soldiers, money to build castles and mantain an army and keep Anglo-Saxon system. For all theese reasons, William the Conquerer developed the feudal system, which had four levels: on the top level there is the king, the next level the tenants in chief which included around 200 Norman barons and bishops, below theese the knights or under tenants and weight on the bottom were the peasants sometimes known as serfs or villains. The king directly owned the 20% of the land and 25% was owned by the church and the rest was managed by the levels below. Borrowing land under this agreement was colled holding land in tenure and the owners were called vassals the feudal superior was a lord. Tenants in chief were the closest and most loyal to the king: they promised the king money and an army, they provided soldiers and had a duty to garrison the king’s castles for forty days per year. Knights served in the army and personally protected the tenants in chief and the peasants; in return they were given land and could be known as lord of the manor. They give a bit of their land to peasants but they had to obey to the lord of the manor in return, gave them crops and had to work on their lands for a bunch of days without pay. This was known as labour service. Some of them were free, but most couldn’t leave the lord’s land without permission. Normans The most important changes the Norman conquest brought in England:  the Anglo-Saxon landowning elite was almost totally replaced by Normans. (The Norman conquest of England was not a case of one population invading the lands of another but rather the wresting of power from one ruling elite by another. There was no significant population movement of Norman peasants crossing the channel to resettle in England)  Norman motte and bailey castles (towers on mounds, surrounded by larger enclosures) were introduced. Others were immense, most notably the huge palace-castles which William I built at Colchester and at London; the White Tower at London  the ruling apparatus was made much more centralized with power and wealth being held in much fewer hands.  the majority of Anglo-Saxon bishops were replaced with Norman ones and many dioceses’ headquarters were relocated to urban centers.  the system of feudalism developed as consequence of William’s land policies. William gave out lands in return for military service or money (either in person or a force of knights paid for by the landowner). That is, William, who considered all the land in England his own personal property, gave out parcels of land (fiefs) to nobles (vassals) who in return had to give military service. a noble had to provide a number of knights depending on the size of the fief. The noble could have free peasants or serfs (aka villains) work his lands, and he kept the proceeds of that labour. If a noble had a large estate, he could rent it out to a lesser noble who, in turn, had peasants work that land for him, thus creating an elaborate hierarchy of land ownership.  Manorialism spread. The word derives from the ‘manor’, the smallest piece of land which could support a single family for administrative purposes, estates were divided into these units. A powerful lord could own many hundreds of manors, either in the same place or in different locations. Each manor had free and/or unfree labour which worked on the land. The profits of that labour went to the landowner while the labourers sustained themselves by working a small portion of land loaned to them by their lord.  the contact and especially trade between England and Continental Europe greatly increased.  the two countries of France and England became historically intertwined, initially due to the crossover of land ownership, i.e. Norman nobles holding lands in both countries.  As a result of the connection the syntax and vocabulary of the Anglo-Saxon Germanic language were significantly influenced by the French language  Domesday Book was compiled on William’s orders in 1086-7 CE, probably to find out for tax purposes exactly who owned what in England following the deaths of many Anglo-Saxon nobles over the course of the conquest and the giving out of new estates and titles by the king to his loyal followers. Indeed, Domesday Book reveals William’s total reshaping of land ownership and power in England. It was the most comprehensive survey ever undertaken in any medieval kingdom and is full of juicy statistics for modern historians to study such as the revelation that 90% of the population lived in the countryside and 75% of the people were serfs (unfree labourers). Thomas Becket and Henry II In 1162, Henry II appointed Thomas Becket to be Archbishop of Canterbury. Becket had worked with the previous Archbishop of Canterbury, Theobald, and had been on several visits to see the Pope in Rome. Becket and Henry had been close friends for many years and Henry had appointed Becket as his Chancellor. When Archbishop Theobald died, Becket was Henry’s preferred candidate to take up this key position, alongside his role as Chancellor. Henry was confident that Becket would do what he wanted him to and support him in running the country. Later in 1162, Thomas Becket resigned from his position as Chancellor. He wanted to concentrate on increasing the power and influence of the Church. This angered Henry and relations between the two deteriorated. In 1164, Henry tried to pass a set of laws called the Constitutions of Clarendon. The aim of these laws was to limit the power of the Church and increase the king's influence over the bishops and the Church courts. Becket refused to agree to the changes and consequently Henry tried to put Becket on trial for disobeying the king. Their once close relationship had completely broken down. Becket feared for his safety and fled to France. In June 1170, Henry II was concerned about who would succeed him as king. Having seen the devastation that can occur when the line of succession is unclear, he had his son, Henry the Young King, crowned to become ‘junior king’ in a coronation break this promise. Now he wait for news with his wife Lady Eleanor. London, the Earl of Clare, known as Gilbert the red, has called a meeting of the barons. All are agreed that the time has come to stand against the king, but not all are sure that Simon De Montfort is the right man to lead a rebellion. Spring 1264, De Montfort’s army is on the move. On May the 14th they face the king’s arm yat Lewes. The bishop if Chichester the king, tryng to prevent a terrible battle. The battle of Lewes drags on but Simon De Montfort leads his troops well, he has given them a cause to fight for. December 14th 1264, the call goes out choose two representatives and send them to London. Simon De Montfort’s Parliament doesn’t last long and it is by no means perfect, but on 20th January 1265, when the representatives sit down together for the first time, the country takes one more step on the long road to parliamentary democraty. Model Parliament Model Parliament, parliament called by King Edward I of England in 1295 that is widely regarded as the first representative parliament. It included not only archbishops and bishops but also archdeacons and one proctor for each cathedral and two for each diocese, marking the first time the lower orders of clergy were represented. In addition, there were two knights from each shire, two citizens from each city, and two burgesses from each borough. Seven earls and 42 barons were also summoned. The parliament was called, as was standard practice, because the king sought financial support for the wars that he was prosecuting in Scotland and in France. Each of the estates—clergy, nobles, and commons—met separately to consider the request. The clergy agreed to contribute a tenth of their income, and the barons and knights offered an eleventh of theirs, while the boroughs were willing to donate a seventh. For the next several years, the pattern of those summoned for parliaments varied from assembly to assembly, depending on Edward’s decision, but eventually all parliaments came to be composed of the three estates, those from the commons being chosen by election. Although some earlier parliaments had similar compositions and subsequent parliaments did not all follow the precedent of the Model Parliament, historians regard that assembly as a turning point in the development of the English system of government. Edward I made the meeting of Parliament a more frequent event and over the course of his reign of 35 years (1272-1307) he summoned it on 46 occasions. For the first 20 years of his reign it met regularly - almost twice a year. From 1278 official records were kept of its proceedings and decisions, written up and sewn together in long scrolls, the Rolls of Parliament. In 1275 Edward I called his first Parliament. He summoned nobles and churchmen, but also issued orders (known as writs) for the election of two representatives from each county (the knights of the shire) and two from each city or town (the burgesses) to attend. They were called on primarily to listen to and approve the King's plan for a new tax. Over the following years it became an accepted rule that the representatives of those who were going to be most affected by taxation had to give their consent to it in Parliament. However, the practice of summoning these representatives did not become standard for many years. The next time the burgesses were summoned along with the knights of the shire was in 1295. This was to become known as the Model Parliament, because its representation of two knights from each county and two burgesses from each town became normal for (almost) all future Parliaments. Parliament developed in the 13th and 14th centuries largely through the desire of Edward I and his successors to wage war. This needed more money than they had from their own wealth and they had to levy "extraordinary" taxes, with Parliament's assent, to raise the funds. But each time the King requested assent to a tax from Parliament, it could ask a favour back again and often used the King's desperation for money to get what it wanted. Since January 1327 when Parliament removed Edward I's son, Edward II, from the throne every Parliament has included representatives of the people. The pattern was now set for Parliament always to comprise three bodies: Lords, Commons and the Monarch. Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer He can be considered one of the Father of Modern English. He performed a very important cultural operation. He wrote The Canterbury Tales in English (Middle English). He fought in The Hundred Years’ War. He travelled around Europe as a diplomat Literary Production. First period: Romaunt of the Rose, Book of Duchess (inspired by French models- romances) Second period: Parliament of Foules, the House of Fame, Troilus and Criseyde (ispired by Boccaccio, Dante) Third period: Canterbury Tales (1387-1400) -Narrative poem:  Narrative frame: the experience of the pilgrimage that is a typical experience in Medieval life  religious and spiritual experience (act of religious devotion to visist shrine)  - collective social event (can be compared to modern day tourism) The narrator joins a group of 29 pilgrims in Tabard Inn, Southwark. The group is planning to travel to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket, which is in Canterbury, Kent. The narrator describes all the pilgrims briefly. The Host suggest they all go together and share stories to pass the time. Each will tell two stories on the way and two on the way back from Canterbury. Whever tells the best story will get a free meal at his tabern. They determine the knight will go first. Characters: •The narrator: called Chaucer, but we shouldn’t assume the things he says are really Chaucer’s thoughts. He writes his impressions and opinion about other characters, not always unbiased facts. •The Knight - A kind and noble knight who has fought many battles. • The Wife of Bath - A woman from Bath who has been married many times. • The Pardoner - Grants papal indulgences, but is a fraud and saves profits for himself. • The Miller - A bold man, who often doesn't follow order. • The Prioress - A nun who is dainty, kind, and well-mannered. • The Monk - A monk who loves hunting and indulging. • The Friar - A roaming priest, who takes bribes. • The Summoner - Brings those who break church law to court. He has leprosy, drinks often, and is unpleasant. •The Host - Leader of the group. He facilitates the telling of the tales. • The Parson - Pastor of a town, the only good holy man. • The Squire - The knight's son. • The Clerk - A philosophy student who is very poor. • The Man of Law - A lawyer who is commissioned by the king. • The Manciple - In charge of purchasing and storing food for a court. He is not educated, but very intelligent. • The Merchant - Trades furs, upper-class man. • The Shipman - Has long experience sailing. • The Physician - One of the best doctors but is greedy for money. •The Franklin - A "free man" who is not a serf or a noble. • The Reeve - A steward of a manor, who is good at his job but steals from his lord. • The Plowman - Parson's brother, he is a peasant and good man. • The Guildsmen - There are five of them, but always spoken about as one. They are like a common day labor union and craftsmen. • T h e Cook - He works for the Guildsmen. • The Yeoman - Servant of the Knight and his son. • The Second Nun - She does not have her own story. • The Nun's Priest - Also does not have his own story. Norman kings Edward the Confessor (a pious man, he rebuilt Westminster abbey)