TALLINN FRENCH SCHOOL

TALLINNA PRANTSUSE LÜTSEUM

The End of Year ProjectKristine Leetberg

XB

Contents

1. Prehistoric Britain..........................................3

2. Roman Britain................................................4

3. Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms..................................5

4. The Early Middle Ages...................................6

5. The reign of Henty II, Richard I, John I Magna Carta and the Decline of Feudalism 7

6. England under the Reign of Henry III and Edward I 8

100 Years’ War..................................................8

7. The Age of Chivalry........................................8

The Poor in Revolt.............................................8

8. The Crisis of Kingship...................................10

the Wars of the Roses.....................................10

9. The Tudors...................................................11

10. The Stuarts.................................................13

11. The Georgian Age......................................15

12. The Victorian Age......................................17

13. The Edwardian Age....................................18

14. Post-War Years..........................................19

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1. Prehistoric Britain

Part of the European land mass until the end of the last Ice Age, around 6000 BC.

3000 BC – inhabited by the Iberians, who built the first roads, dwellings and megalithic monuments.

Stonehenge: can be connected with the sun and the passing of the seasons.

The stonehenge The Bronze Age reached Britain between 2100 –

1650 BC. Celts – Invaded Britain in two waves: the Gaels

in 600 BC and Cymri or Britons around 300 BC. Lived in villages, there was no private property,

no classes, no exploitation. Built forts on hilltops and protected them with

ditches and ramparts. Created large-scale artwork, on the chalk hills of

southern England.

The White Horse of Uffington – a large-scale artwork made by the Celts.

The basic unit of family life was the clan, a sort of extended family.

They were great warriors and took tremendous pride in their appearance in battle.

A Celt and a Saxon ready for a battle The Celtic tribes didn’t see themselves as one

people at the time. The Romans called these people Britons. By the time Romans reached Britain, Celtic had

almost entirely replaced Britain’s earlier language.

One of the Celtic words still in use nowadays is ‘avon’ (river).

The church of Stratford-on-Avon

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2. Roman Britain

2000 years ago while the Celts were still living in tribes the Romans were the most powerful people in the world.

A slave society divided into antagonistic classes – the slaves and the slave owners.

Conquered all the countries around. Julius Ceasar made two raids (55 and 54 BC)

across the Channel to punish the Britons for helping their kith and kin against him.

Ceasar had to withdraw his soldiers and the proper invasion didn’t start until 43 AD under the emperor Claudius.

The Celts were not turned into slaves but they had to pay heavy taxes and work for the conquerors.

Ceasar’s first raid to Britain

The Iceni joined forces to defeat a rival tribe, but the Romans turned on the Iceni, torturing Queen Boudicca.

In AD 61 her followers burned down London, Colchester and St Albans.

The queen took poison rather to submit.

Queen Boudicca Romans built a network of towns, forts and

camps connected by paved roads. Hadrian’s Wall was built in 122 to keep out the

raiding Picts and Scots.

Hadrian’s Wall Place names ending in –caster, or –chester

reveal the places of Roman military camps. The Roman baths in Bath, known as Aquae Sulis,

were built between the 1st and 4th centuries around a hot spring.

Roman soldiers and traders brought Christianity, and in the 4th century the Christian Church was established in Britain.

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3. Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms

By the mid-5th century, Angles, Saxons and Jutes from Denmark and Northern Germany started to raid Britain.

They destroyed Roman villas, preferring to live in small farming communities.

By the 7th century towns began to spring up, many towns have names ending in ‘ham’(Anglo-Saxon ‘home’)

The Angles gave England the name and the Saxons the language and mythology.

They were an agricultural people, villages were self-sufficient.

Arable-farming, cattle-breeding and travelling pedlars.

Anglo-Saxon village The legends about King Arthur are based on a

Celtic leader who defended his country against Saxon invasion.

In 579 St Augustine from Rome became the Archbishop of Canterbury – the beginning of the conversion to Christianity.

The Roman monks helped to spread Roman culture in the country.

The Venerable Bede wrote “Ecclesiastical History of the English People”.

“Ecclesiastical History of the English People” From that age is the heroic epic poem

“Beowulf”. King Egbert became the 1st king of England – the

small kingdoms were united to form one kingdom which was called England.

During the 9th and 10th centuries more and more Vikings came, first to plunder, then to stay.

The ending ‘–by’ is the Danish word for ‘town’. Vikings came from Denmark, Norway and

Sweden. Vikings settled in Scotland and Eastern England.

In Ireland they founded Dublin. They lived in tribes and were pagans. Very skilful seamen

A Viking longboat In 871 the Danes invaded Wessex. Under the reign of King Alfred, Wessex became

the centre of resistance against invaders.

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King Alfred The British Navy was built and many places

fortified. The Danes were allowed to settle in the

northern boundary that separated the Danelaw from Wessex. They made York their capital.

Alfred ordered that the learned men should begin to write a history of England – The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle gives an overview of 1,200 years of English history.

In 1016 Engkand was qonquered by the Danish king Cnut.

He divided England into territorial lordships, ended the practice of paying Danegeld and was an effective ruler.

Hus sons did not reign long and the throne was passed to Edward the Confessor.

4. The Early Middle Ages

After the Norman conquest had begun, there was an Anglo-Saxon rebellion every year until 1070.

William, and the kings after him, thought of England as their personal property.

Organised the kingdom according to the feudal system.

Made a complete economic survey called the “Domesday” Book.

The “Domesday” Book He had to recognize the king of France as his

lord, while there was no lord above him in England.

When he died, he left Normandy to Robert an England to William.

The third son, Henry, unfairly took the throne and king’s treasury.

In 1106 he reunited Normandy and England. His son was drowned, so his daughter Matilda

would follow him. He married Matilda to Geoffrey Plantagenet, but

the throne was seized by Stephen of Blois. Matilda invaded England and that lead to a

terrible civil war. In 1153 they agreed that the latter could keep

the throne if Matilda’s son Henry could succeed him.

Matilda

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5. The reign of Henty II, Richard I, John I Magna Carta and the Decline of Feudalism

Henry II inherited Normandy and the English kingdom from his mother and Anjou, Maine and Tourraine from his father and acquired vast areas in France through his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine.

King Henry II of England He was very strong, which enabled him to travel

a lot. He quarreled a lot with his wife and his sons,

Richard and John, took Eleanor’s side. This is also the period of the struggle between

the Church and the state. It had started in 1066, when William had

created Norman bishops and given land to them. The crisis came when Henry II appointed Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162.

After Becket’s canonization Canterbury became a major centre of pilgrimage.

Henry’s son Richard reigned for 10 years and was very popular.

He was educated, spent a lot of time in the Holy Land and got the nickname “Coeur de Lion”.

His younger brother John I (Lackland) inherited the throne after his death.

He was very unpopular because he had taxed heavily his nobles but had not protected their land in France.

He had a quarrel with the Pope in 1209.

He was forced to sign Magna Carta in 1215. It contained 63 clauses defining the rights and responsibilities of the crown and its subjects, it also limited the king’s power.

Magna Carta Feudalism was beginning to weaken, but it took

another 300 years before it disappeared completely.

During John’s reign the 1st stone bridge across the Thames was completed in 1206, it included a drawbridge, a double row of house and some 140 shops.

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6. England under the Reign of Henry III and Edward I

100 Years’ War Henry II reigned for a long time but was not able

to get back his father’s lands in France and spent heavily.

He inspired the improvements to Westminster Abbey and construction of Salisbury Cathedral.

Westminster Abbey During his time the 1st parliament was

summoned in 1265. His son Edward I was interested in bringing the

rest of Britain under his control, he brought together the 1st real parliament, annexed Wales to England in 1282 and brought Scotland under English control for a time.

Tried to have good relations with Philip IV and they decided to marry their children(Isabella + Edward II)

Isabella together with his lover Roger forced Edward to abdicate in favour of his 14-year-old son(Edward III) in 1327.

Isabella and Roger ruled in the name of Edward III, but in 1330 Edward seized the power.

King Edward III

Edward III restored royal authority, his reign saw vital developments in military legislature and government.

His reign was dominated by the 100 Years’ War (1337-1453) with France that started with his claim to the throne.

The war began well for England and Henry IV was crowned King of France, but with the help of Joan of Arc the French went on winning and when the war ended in 1453, England had lost all its French possessions except Calais.

During the war the English noblemen and kings started to speak English.

Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” and the Bible was translated into English

Canterbury Tales Winchester College was established in 1382,

giving the start to lay education. Oxford University is the oldest in the English-

speaking world.

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7. The Age of ChivalryThe Poor in Revolt

Edward III was also the founder of the Order of the Garter, from a legend also comes the motto of the royal family: Honi soit qui mal y pense.

The symbols of the Order of the Garter

The English never rebelled against Edward III, though he was an expensive king.

His grandson, Richard II, became king at the age of 11, so others governed for him.

When a new taxed was introduced, it caused The Peasants’ Revolt in East Anglia and Kent.

When the leader Wat Tyler was killed, Richard managed to calm down the angry crowd and his officers killed the other leading rebels.

During the next century discontent with the Church also grew, the most important reason being the greed of the Church.

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8. The Crisis of Kingshipthe Wars of the Roses

When Richard II became king he was placed under the control of his uncle John, duke of Lancaster, who prepared the throne for his son Henry (IV).

There was another possible successor – the son of his uncle Edmund, the Duke of York.

Although he passed the crown to his son Henry V, 50 years later the nobility were divided between those who remained loyal to Henry VI, the “Lancastrians”, and those who supported the duke of York, the “Yorkists”.

The House of York was identified with a white rose, Lancaster with a red rose.

The roses of Lancaster and York The war began in 1455 with the battle of Saint

Albans. Six years later, the York forces crushed the

Lancaster army and Edward of York became king as Edward IV.

Edward V succeeded him at the age of 12. Richard, the duke of Gloucester, uncle of the

young king, had Edward and his little brother killed in the Tower of London and became king Richard III.

He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty.

King Richard III At Bosworth Field Henry Tudor, a descendant of

the House of Lancaster, defeated the royal army and after the battle was crowned King Henry VII.

Henry married Edward IV’s daughter and so at last united the rival houses of Lancaster and York.

“A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!” from Shakespeare’s Richard III (1594) - King Richard has lost his horse on the battlefield, he continues to battle but it is hopeless.

This quotation is sometimes now repeated when somebody is in need of some unimportant item.

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9. The Tudors

Henry VII was born in Wales in 1457. His father was Edmund Tudor and mother Lady Margaret Beaufort.

Henry's Lancastrian forces defeated Richard's Yorkist army at the Battle of Bosworth on 22nd August 1485.

By killing Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Henry VII ended the Wars of the Roses.

His successors symbolized the unity by use of a red rose with white outer petals, the “Tudor” rose.

The “Tudor” rose He avoided quarrels. He arranged a marriage between his son Arthur

and Catherine of Aragon. He also arranged a marriage between Margaret

and James VI of Scotland. When his son Henry VIII came to the throne, he

married Catherine. Henry wanted a son, so he had many more

wives: Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr.

Henry VIII and his wives At Henry’s insistence, Prliament passed two acts

that made the break with Roman Catholic Church complete. One declared that the Pope had no authority in England, the other made the Church of England a separate institution.

The two acts officially established the Reformation in England.

Henry’s break with Rome was purely political - he simply wanted to control the Church and keep its wealth in his own kingdom.

Henry granted the chief minister’s position to Thomas Cromwell.

Together they made a complete survey of Church property to make money but also to be popular with the rising classes

They closed more than 500 monasteries and other religious houses.

The ruins of Fountains Abbey When Henry died in 1547, his 9-year-old son, a

child dogged by illness, became king as Edward VI.

He died at the age of 16 and named Jane Gray his successor.

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Lady Jane is known as The Nine Days’ Queen, the Privy Council proclaimed Mary, a Roman Catholic as queen.

Bloody Mary Mary married King Philip of Spain. She enacted a policy of persecution against

Protestants and restored the papal authority over the Church of England.

She is called “Bloody Mary”. When she died in 1558, her half-sister Elizabeth

became queen. She wanted a peaceful answer to the problems,

led England back to Protestantism and made herself the head of the Church.

Mary Stuart (a Catholic) was the heir to the English throne.

By 1585 most English people believed that to be a Catholic was to be an enemy of England.

The defeat of the Spanish Armada is one of the most famous events in English history and arguably Queen Elizabeth’s finest hour.

The Spanish Armada

Her reign was also a prosperous period and extremely important culturally.

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10. The Stuarts

Mary Queen of Scots claimed the crowns of four nations: Scotland, France, England and Ireland.

Mary Stuart She became queen when she was just a week

old. Mary was sent to France and married François.

When he died, Mary returned to Scotland. She married Lord Darnley, who was later killed. Her later marriages were unpopular and she was

forced to abdicate in favour of her one-year-old son. She fled to England and was later executed.

Her son James started to rule as James VI of Scotland upon Elizabeth’s death in 1603, who left him a huge debt.

James VI of Scotland He insisted that the king alone had “the divine

right” to make decisions. His extravagant spending habits and nonchalant

ignoring of the nobility’s grievances kept king and Parliament constantly at odds.

The basis of the Gunpowder Plot (November 5, 1605) was religious dissension.

Guy Fawkes and other organizers of the Gunpowder Plot

Under James the ‘golden age’ of Elizabethan culture continued.

The Authorised King James’s Version of the Bible in 1611.

Charles I was born as the second son of James and Anne of Denmark.

He married Henrietta Maria of France. His reign began with the ongoing tension with

Parliament over money. He dissolved parliament three times. The country split between the supporters of the

king (Cavaliers) and supporters of the Parliament (Roundheads).

The Cavaliers The Civil war – at Edgehill on the Cotswolds in

1642. In 1645 the Royalist army was defeated by a

“model” army that Oliver Cromwell had created.

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Oliver Cromwell Charles was put on trial in 1649. Cromwell dissolved Parliament – the start of

England’s only period of dictatorship that lasted until 1660.

After his death, his son Richard succeeded him. One of the army commanders arranged for free

elections and invited Charles II to return from exile.

Charles II The new king was careful to make peace with

his father’s enemies, only those who had been responsible for the execution of Charles I, were punished.

He also resulted in the first political parties in Britain - the “Whigs” and “Tories”.

The Plague in 1665 and the Great Fire of London in 1666.

His brother James II succeeded him. He was catholic and the leading politicians were

looking forward to the succession of his daughter Mary, who was a protestant and who had married William of Orange.

William of Orange William defeated James. Parliament made William king by choice not by

inheritance. All these political events are described as the

Glorious Revolution. William was unpopular but Mary was very

popular. William ruled alone upon 1702 when Mary’s

sister, Anne, became queen. She was the 1st monarch to rule over the

Kingdom of Great Britain. She had 17 children by George of Denmark, but

none survived. During her reign, parliamentary elections had a

decisive effect on the life of the country for the 1st time.

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11. The Georgian Age

The growth of the industries. Britain had the strongest navy in the world. For the 1st time, it was the king’s ministers who

were the real policy and decision-makers. While a few people became richer, many others

lost their land, their homes and their way of life, due to enclosures.

The invention of machinery created factories. In France the misery of the poor and the power

of the trading classes led to a revolution in 1789.

The French Revolution Britain was saved partly by the high level of local

control of the ruling class and by Methodism. Methodism was careful to deal only with

heavenly matters. When Queen Anne died in 1714, James II’s son

returned to Britain as James III. James was unwilling to change his mind and he

would not give up his religion. He tried to win the throne by force.

In 1715 a rebellion started against George I. Stuart supporters were known as “Jacobites”. The new king only spoke German and was not

very interested in his kingdom. Walpole came to power as a result of his

financial ability.

Walpole In 1694 a group of financiers who lent to the

government decided to establish a bank, and the government agreed to lend from it alone.

Government ministers worked together in a small group – the “Cabinet”. Any minister who disagreed deeply with other Cabinet members was expected to resign.

The limits to monarchy: the king could not be a Catholic, could not remove or change laws, was dependent on P.

Walpole put taxes on luxury goods. One of his political enemies was Lord Chatam,

who feared that an alliance with Spain would give France a trade advantage over Britain.

War with France broke out in 1756. It went on all over the world and gave the British control over important trades.

India became the “jewel in the crown”. The British had a very high opinion of

themselves. George III came to throne in 1760. In 1763 he made peace with France. He was the first Hanoverian king who spoke

without an accent. In 1764 there was a serious quarrel over

taxation between Britain and America. In 1773 – “the Boston tea party”.

The Boston tea party The American war of Independence lasted from

1775 – 1783, In July 1776 – a formal Declaration of Independence.

Many British politicians openly supported the colonists – “Radicals”.

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In 1793 attempt to crush French Republic by 1 st

coalition - Austria, Sardinia, Naples, Prussia, Spain, GB.

The 2nd coalition in 1798 – Austria, GB, Naples, Ottoman Empire, Portugal, Russia, Sweden and others.

In 1799 Napoleon seized control of the French government.

He declared France an Empire in 1804 and crowned himself Emperor.

Nelson won brilliant victories over the French navy – in Trafalgar in 1805.

The battle of Trafalgar Wellington invaded France and Napoleon

surrendered in 1814. W, with the help of a Prussian army, defeated Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815.

When peace was made in 1815, there was no longer such need for factory-made goods and many lost their jobs.

A new law made the poor live in workhouses. The emergence of cities.

When the Tories collapsed over the question of Catholic Emancipation in 1829, the Whigs were able to take over, and they were willing to implement parliamentary reform.

Led by Earl Grey, the Whigs wanted to enact a moderate reform that would make the system fairer without actually giving in to the demands of the working classes.

William IV When George IV died in 1830, his more liberal

brother William IV came to the throne. It took a long time for the Great Reform Act to

become law. It increased the number of individuals entitled to vote.

The King, supporting the reformers, was the only king to keep his throne at the time.

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12. The Victorian Age

Victoria became queen at the age of 18 and married at the age of 23 a German prince Albert

When Albert died V. went into deep and permanent mourning.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert During this time Britain ruled one fifth of the

world’s surface- ‘the Empire, where sun never sets’.

Florence Nithingale organized proper nursing in the Crimean War.

In 1857, Britain was threatened by a mutiny. The use of steam-powered machines led to a

huge increase in the number of factories.

All those who needed help had to go to a workhouse where the conditions were made deliberately harsh.

Education was developed, In 1870 State Elementary Schools were introduced for children aged 5-10, it was made free in 1890.

In 1851, Albert planned the Great Exhibition.

The Great Exhibition Christianity encouraged people to act in certain

ways – Victorian values. Writers: Charles Dickens, William Thackeray,

Thomas Hardy, Oscar Wilde, Stevenson, Bronte sisters, Kipling.

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13. The Edwardian Age

Edward VII had been waiting long to get to the throne.

Edward VII The Edwardian period is sometimes extended. Edward was a part of fashionable elite and had

many scandals. During that time the British class system was

very rigid. In 1903 Emmeline Pankhurst founded the

Women’s Social and Political Union that fought for women’s suffrage.

Corresponds to the French Belle Époque period. The church no longer played a vital role. A military rivalry grew between GB and

Germany. In May 1910 E VII was succeeded by his son

George V.

George V George changed his family name to Windsor. His reign saw the First World War, the Russian

Revolution, the Irish troubles, votes for women, the general strike etc.

The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand started WW I.

Country was unprepared for the power of the modern weapons.

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14. Post-War Years

The Treaty of Versailles gave Britain several German and Turkish colonies.

The Treaty of Versailles In 1931 Parliament passed a statute that

recognized the dominions’ complete independence from Britain.

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