England
Last Updated    12/16/2007    12/14/2007     12/13/2007    12/12/2007   12/11/2007


Edward the Confessor
1042, the Witenagemot made Edward, an Anglo-Saxon prince, king of England.
Edward gave money to the poor.
He sponsored the building of Westminister Abbey.
Westminister Abbey is the church in which kings and queens are crowned.
Edward was in conflict with nobles led by Godwin over his sympathies for Normans..
1045, Edward was married to Godwin's daughter, Edith.
Edward refused Godwin's choice for the archbishop of Canterbury.
Edward appointed a Norman.
Godwin then refused to punish the townspeople of Dover.
They had rioted against Edward's relative.
1051, Edward exiled the Godwins.
He sent his wife to a nunnery.Godwin returned with an army and regained his title.
He forced Edward to send his Norman advisors back.
1053, Godwin died, his son Harold took over.
Harold, increased the land of the Godwins.
1066, Edward dies without an heir, but he names Harold as the next king.
Edward may have told William, Duke of Normandy, that he would be king.
Edward is buried in Westminister Abbey.
1066, Harold Godwinson becomes king.

Harold Godwinson
He did not remain king very long.
William, Duke of Normandy, led an army of 4000-7000 Norman knights to England.
Harold Hardrada of Norway and Tostig, Harold's brother, invades England.
1066 September 25, English lose Battle of Fullford near York.
Harold Godwinson marchers his army 320 KM in four days.
1066 September 30, Battle of Stamford Bridge.
Harold surprises the Viking army.
One bezerker holds the bridge.
A boat sneaks under the bridge and a spear ends the bezerker's life.
They are not able to put their armor on and they are slaughtered.
Tostig, Harold's brother, a leader of the invading Normans is killed
Out of 360 ships that came to England only 24 leave England.



Battle of Hastings
Hastings is south of London.
Harold waits five days for reinforcements.
Harold moves south without his northern troops.
Harold then meets William at the Battle of Hastings.
William uses 600 ships to ferry his army to England.
William had 5,000 infantry and 3,000 knights.
Harold had about 2,500 Fulltime Anglo-Saxon soldiers and over 6,000 members of the working class army.
The English soldiers, armed with axes, made a wall of shields.
They were on the edge of a low hill.
William knew he could not break through.

Morning
9:00AM, At 100 yards William's archers shoot.
The shield wall knocked most arrows down.
He pretended to retreat.
The English fryd broke ranks to pursue.
William's army then turned on the English.
Very few of the fryd made it back to the top of the hill.

Afternoon
12:00PM, a break in the fighting to remove dead and wounded.
1:00 PM, William orders archers to shoot arrows high into the air.
The arrow attack was followed by a cavalry charge.
The shield line held, and the Normans retreated.
The fyrds chased the Flemish down the hill.
William ordered his knight to turn and attack.
The English suffered many casualties.

Early Evening
William takes another break.
He lost 1/4 of his cavalry.
William orders his knights to attack on foot.
The archers fire as the soldiers and knights charge up the hill.
4:00PM, the English shield line is shorter.
The Normans attack on the sides.
The housecarls form a circle around the English standard.
The Normans attack again.
Harold and his housecarls are killed.
Harold is buried on the shore he tried to defend.
William the Conqueror, was crowned King William I of England.

William the Conqueror

William of Normandy
1027, born son of Robert, Duke of Normandy.
1035, Robert goes on pilgrimage.
Lords forced swore fealty to William.
Some barons would not accept William as their leader.
1040, attempt made to kill William.
William survives but one of the plotters becomes William's guardian.

William, Duke of Normandy
1045, begins to govern Normandy.
1047, some lords rebel.
1051, William visits Edward the Confessor.
William says he is promised that he is the heir.
1053, William marries and has nine children.
William's power in Normandy is constantly under threat.
William repulses two French invasions.
William captures Maine, but the people resist his rule.
In 1063, William's army ravaged the land around Maine until he received their submission.
William secures release of Harold when held captive.
William and Harold attack Conan together.
1064, Harold of Essex knighted by William.
Harold took an oath to help William be king.
Edward dies.
Witan chooses Harold king.
William prepares for war.
1066, William defeats Harold at Battle of Hastings.
London will not submit.
William ravaged the land around London.
London submits.

William the Conqueror
1066 December 25, William become King of England.
The English people resisted William's rule.
William introduced feudalism.
He seized the land of English nobles and divided it among the Norman nobles.
William retains 1/5 of the land for himself.
1067, William takes tour of England.

Rebellions
1067-1068, William puts down rebellions.
William would build castles in areas that rebelled.
1071, rebels capture island of Ely.
William leads army against rebels and puts down the rebellion.
Rebels are mutilated and sentenced to prison for life.
William build a castle on Ely.
1073, William's army puts down another rebellion and cuts of the right foot of every rebel.
One rebel leader is executed.
The other rebel leader escapes.
1076, William's son, Robert rebels.
King Philip of France supports William.
Robert unhorses and wounds his father.
Robert puts up his sword when he recognizes his father.
William leaves embarrassed abandoning the expedition.
1080, William's wife gets them to end their feud.
1082, Odo, William's half-brother, is put in prison for 5 years for oppression and misgovernment.
1083, rebellion in Maine.

Domesday Book
In 1085, William orders a survey of England.
The two volume book included a census and a land survey.
All of land, animals, and farm equipment was included.
William would use this book to tax the people.
1086 August 1, William meets with the main land owners.
They swear allegiance to him.

Results of William's Rule
William kept many English laws and government.
A Great Council advised him.
He depended on local officials.
William brought mainland Europe to England.
The English learned Norman customs and the French language.
French style castles, cathedrals, and monasteries were built.
English people learned new skills from Norman weavers and other artisans.

Death of William
1087, King Philip of France describes William as a "Pregnant worm."
August 15, William attacks Mantes and sets fire to the town.
William falls from his horse and suffers internal injuries.
William directed that Robert Curthouse should succeed him in Normandy.
William says William Rufus should become king of England.
He also ordered that his wealth should be distributed between the poor and the Church.
He also pardons his half-brother Odo.
1087 September 9, William died.
He was buried in Normandy.
Because of his large size, he would not fit in his sarcophagus.

Henry II
1154, after years of confusion William's great-grandson becomes king.
Henry ruled England, most of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
He was a feudal lord in France.
He owned more land in France than he did in England.
His wife Elanor of Aquitaine also owned French lands.

Early Life
1151, Henry II married Elanor after her marrriage to Philip of Spain was anulled.
Henry invades England.
1154, Henry crowned king.
1158, Henry restores land lost by Stephen.
Henry's empire contained half of France.



Changes to England
Some barons had built castles with out the king's permission.
Henry had the castles torn down.
He relaced incompetent sheriffs.
Henry set up a central royal court.
The court had trained lawyers and judges.
Circuit judges brought the king's law all over England.
The king's law became the common law.
Henry set up juries to settle land arguements.
The grand jury gave the names of suspected criminals to the judges.
1166, The trial jury decided if a person was guilty or innocent.
Trial jury replaced the medieval trial by ordeal.



Thomas Becket
1162, Thoams Becket, Henry's friend, becomes Archbishop of Canterbury.
Henry wanted church officials tried in the king's court.
Thomas a' Becket wanted church officals free of royal control.


1170, four of Henry's knights killed Becket.
Henry later allowed some clergy to be tried in church courts.
The Pope absolved Henry of guilt.
Henry allowed Monks to whip him for penance.

Henry's Sons
1170, Prince Henry crowned king with his father.
Henry had no power.
1171, Henry assumes control of Ireland.
1172, Henry makes the Roman Catholic religion the only religion in Ireland.
Henry's biggest threat came from his children.
With their mother's encouragement, they plotted against him.
1173, Prince Henry rebels against his father, but a truce is declared.
Prince Henry dies.
1183, Henry II has to redivide his land.
1186, Richard asks to be made heir to the crown.
Henry II refuses.
1189, Henry's last son John leaves to join the French.
1189 July, Henry died humiliated.

Magna Charta and Parliament
Henry II's son, Richard, became king.
Richard spent most of his time on the Crusades.
1169, Richard died and his brother John became king.
John lost his lands in France to the French king.
He increased the taxes in England.
He ignored the law.
The nobles became angry and refused to obey him.

Magna Carta
1215, King John signs the Magna Carta.
It took away some of the king's power and increased the power of the nobles.
The king could not collect taxes unless the council agreed.
Freeman had a right to trial by the peers.
The Magna Carta was an important step toward democracy.

Henry III and Simon de Montfort
1216, John died.
His son became King Henry III.
Henry was weak.
the feudal lords in the Great Council ruled England.
In 1264, Henry's brother-inlaw, Simon de Montfort came to power.
He gave the people the right to have a representative on the Great Council.

Edward I
1272,Edward I becomes king.
Representatives  advised him and helped him make laws.
This became known as Parliament.
Parliament broke into two separate groups.
Nobles and the clergy were the House of Lords.
Knights and townspeople were the House of Commons.

Kings of England

Bibliography
"The Murder of Thomas Becket, 1170." Eyewitness to History. www.eyewitnesstohistory.com. 13 Dec. 2007

"Domesday Book." Wikipedia On Line Encyclopedia. 11 Dec. 2007. 13 Dec. 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesday_Book.

Greenblatt, Miriam, and Lemmo, Peter. Human Heritage A World History. Columbus, Ohio: McGraw-Hill, 2001.

"Harold Godwinson." Wikipedia On Line Encyclopedia. 9 Dec. 2007. 12 Dec. 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Godwinson.

"Henry II." Stewy's Site. 13 Dec. 2007. http://www.stewy6.com/henry2.htm.

"Henry II of England." Wikipedia On Line Encyclopedia. 11 Dec. 2007. 12 Dec. 2007.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_II_of_England.