Cultural Focus: Prince of Wales

In the 13^th century, when the Prince of Wales was Llewellyn, the Welsh people were fighting for their independence from the English Crown. The first rebellion against the English King ended with English victory and a treaty of Peace in 1265. After the treaty the Welsh calmed for a while, but then rose with a new force.

The proud and hospitable people of Wales believed in the legendary prophet Merlin who had long before predicted that when English money became round, a Prince of Wales would be crowned in London. King Edward at that time introduced round coins, which became one of the reasons of Welsh rebellion in 1282. After a series of severe battles Prince Llewellyn was killed and Wales was subdued.

The Welsh people wanted a new king, who "would be a man born in Wales and not speaking English". Just at that time the Queen gave birth to a young Prince in the Castle of Carnarvon. The King showed the boy in his cradle to Welsh people and called him the Prince of Wales saying that he was born in Wales and did not speak English, everything being true. Young Prince Edward was the second child of King Edward, but as the first child quickly died, he soon became the heir. Since that time an heir of the English throne always bears the title of the Prince of Wales.

England at the Beginning of the Hundred Years War

King Edward II, the first Prince of Wales, was crowned at the age of 23 when his father died. His twenty years reign was marked by the constant struggle with the House of Lords. As a monarch, Edward was not fitted to carry on his father's work either in war or in statesmanship.

His methods of raising money and shameful relationship with favourite Gaveston were disapproved by the nobles. In 1313, the Lords chose a board of seven bishops, eight earls and six barons to draw up Ordinances for the control of the King. The most important of these Ordinances were as follows:

1. Charters to be kept;

2. The King to make no gifts without the leave of the Lords;

3. Customs to be collected by Englishmen;

4. The King's ministers to be chosen with the consent of the baronage;

1. The King not to start a war or leave the country without the consent of the barons;

5. Parliament to be held annually.

In spite of Edward's protest the barons sent his favourite Gaveston out of the country. King already was unable to control the lords. For many years of Edward's reign the country was practically governed by the Duke of Lancaster. After the years of fruitless straggle King had to submit to the barons, who demanded his resign.

After the resign of Edward II his son Edward III came to power in 1327. As an energetic and adventurous leader Edward established his power in . England, intervened into domestic affairs of Scotland and was intending to begin the war with France.

In 1328, his uncle Charles IV French died without children. Edward immediately claimed the French throne in the right of his mother, but failed. The French crown came to Edward's cousin Philip, who later began to support Scotland in her wars with England.

In 1337, Edward evaded France with his forces, saying that he wanted to defend English trade with free towns of Flanders, which could be possibly taken by the French. This was the first fighting, which led to more than hundred years of struggle in which neither English nor French gained victory. In popular history this war was named a Hundred Years War, though it consisted of several wars between England and France (1337—1453).

In a year after the invasion Edward with his forces won the battle in the harbour of Sluys and took the command of the Channel. After it the war became a national issue of two countries, diplomacy and economic pressure were called into play.

The Crown constantly needed money to carry on the wars, so the Parliament had to establish and develop control over taxation. In the course of the wars the King agreed to allow Parliament to elect treasurers, whose duties were in supervising expenditures of money and examining the royal accounts.

The Black Death. The 1381 Peasants' Rising

The succession of wars made the internal situation in the country disastrous — the fields lay waste, the prices doubled each year. The situation was worsened by the bubonic plague, which swept over England in 1348—1349. It came to Europe from China and killed the people and cattle in great numbers. The population of England was reduced at least by a third or even by a half.

The great decrease of population increased wages gave more freedom to peasants and caused the decline in the value of land. The traditional agriculture was displaced by sheep-farming.

In 1350, the Parliament approved "The Statute of Labourers" which prohibited the rise of wages, but the strict measures were of no effect — the peasants and workers demanded more and more money for their work.

In 1355, the war with France broke out again.

The first successful steps of the English in the war were followed by further victories in France. In 1356, Edward III captured King of France and his son. The situation in France became very difficult, the French nobles and people fought against each other — the people rose against nobles' cruelty and latter rose against the people.

At last a treaty called the Great Peace was signed. In it King Edward agreed to give up the greater part of his conquests in France and King John of France had to pay a ransom of 3 million crowns of gold within six years.

In 1377, after the death of Edward III his grandson Richard got the crown at the age of eleven. As the war with France was going on, the Government of England invented the poll-tax — every person in the kingdom above the age of fourteen had to pay three-four penny pieces a year.

The people of Essex rose against the poll-tax, many other counties showed resentment. In Kent the tax-collector came to the cottage of a Tyler Wat claming the tax upon his daughter. The collector brutally insulted the girl, Wat Tyler tried to defend her and struck the collector dead with a blow.

The people of the town rose as one man. They made Wat Tyler then-leader joined with the people of Essex led by Jack Straw and the whole mass marched to London Bridge. In London they broke and opened the prisons, destroyed the buildings and killed royal officials. They demanded:

1. to be recognised as free people;

2. to fix the rent of land at a certain price of money;

3. to be given liberty to buy and sell in all markets;

4. to be pardoned for past offences.

The rebels killed the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Treasurer, who had proposed the hateful poll-tax.

When Tyler with his men came to speak to the King, he was suddenly stabbed in the throat. The men were ready to fight, but the young King promised the people to do everything they had claimed. As soon as the rebels were calmed, the King forgot his promise — hundreds of people were tried and executed with great cruelty.

Though the uprising failed, it marked certain changes in the lives of ordinary people — the serf system inevitably collapsed and the serf was gradually becoming a free peasant or a wage labourer. Lords were scared. In 1382, the Parliament voted a new poll-tax placed only on the landowners.

Task 3. Vocabulary development. Discuss the meaning of the following words in groups and put them into the sentences given below.

Burgess, claim, claimant, damnation, intervene (v), rebellion, subject, summon, uprising, unification, yoke.

1. is made to ask for a rightful belonging. may ask for land

or money.

2. A member of the British Parliament representing a town, a borough or a university was called .

3. Doing unnecessary remarks and causing the argument you into

other people's affairs.

4.A person, who swears by saying "damn" may put on the

others.

5. people are placed under the control of others.

6. a Parliament means to call its members together.

7. of progressive forces may lead to establishing democratic relations in the society.

8. is an action of rising up against a government, not usually

with arms.

9.An act or state of armed resistance to the government — may

often be suppressed.

10. means a subjection, bondage or servitude, when people are

suppressed by others.

Task 4. Answer the following questions.

1. Why did Henry II give a new name Plantagenet to the dynasty?

2. How did Henry II manage to restore the order in England?

3. What were the reasons of the dispute between Henry II and Thomas Becket?

4. Why did the barons rebel against John the Lackland?

5. What kind of document was Magna Carta?

6. What did the Provisions of Oxford provide?

7. How did the First Parliament work? Who were its members?

8. How did Edward I complete the subjugation of Wales?

9. What did the wish of King Edward I to conquer Scotland lead to?

10. Why wasn't Scotland conquered?

11. What were the Ordinances of 1313 aimed at?

12. What did Edward III claim when he started the Hundred Years War with France?

13. How was the control over taxation established by the Parliament?

14. Why did the 1381 Peasants' Rising start?

Task 5. Many kings from the Plantagenet Dynasty had traits which made them recognisable in the popular history. Match the traits of the kings to their names.

A	B
1. Henry II	a) spent more time abroad than at home and died in fighting against the Moslems
2. Richard the Lionhearted	b) let the first English Parliament summon
3. John the Lackland	c) united England and Wales
4. Henry HI	d) suppressed the 1381 Peasants' Rising
5. Edward I	e) reorganised court system and instituted trial by jury
6. Edward 11	f) started the Hundred Years War
7. Edward III	g) lost all English possessions in France and let the barons produce the Great Charter

Task 6. Historical consequences. Match two statements from columns A and B into a compound sentence with the conjunction "so".

A	B
1. Henry II reestablished the system of royal court and government	a) the Irish people started a struggle for independence
2. Henry II was recognised as Lord of Ireland	b) his subjects rebelled and started a civil war
3. John the Lackland needed great money for fruitless wars in France	c) they rebelled against the English
4. The Welsh believed in prophesied crowning of the Prince of Wales in London	d) Scotland remained independent for the next three centuries
5. Edward II died in the course of the war with Scotland	e) he restored the order in the country
6. The Black Death killed one third of the population in England	f) the war shook the two countries for more than 100 years
7. Edward III invaded France in 1337	g) the serfs were becoming free peasants and wage labourers
8. The serf system collapsed	h) the land was not cultivated and enclosures began as traditional agriculture were displaced by sheep-farming

The Lancasters Replace the Plantagenet Dynasty

The failures on the battlefields of the French war gave the barons the opportunity to interfere with the King's government.

In 1386, the Parliament nominated Council of Eleven to regulate the kingdom. Richard II got the judges to declare the Council illegal, but the Lords opposed the decision.

The old quarrel flashed in 1398, when the King banished the Dukes of Hereford (his cousin) and Norfolk. The Duke of Lancaster, who was the father of the Duke of Hereford, soon died and the King immediately took his lands, like a robber. The judges were so afraid of him that declared the theft to be just and lawful. Richard's avarice and cruelty knew no bounds.

While the King was away in Ireland, Henry Lancaster, the Duke of Hereford came back from France to claim his rights. When Richard returned to London, he found that his men had betrayed their King and Henry was ready to take power into his hands.

The King was carried prisoner of Chester, where he issued a proclamation to the Parliament. After it he was put prisoner in the Tower. The deputation from the Parliament came to Richard — he was ready to resign the crown. When the papers were signed, he gave the royal ring to his triumphal cousin Henry.

Next day the Parliament gathered in Westminster Hall where Henry was met with shouts of joy. The archbishops of Canterbury and York seated him on the throne. So Lancaster had supplanted Plantagenet.

In the reign of Henry IV (1399—1413) the Parliament actively participated in the life of the state. The annual sittings became its permanent feature, the Speakers of the House of Commons were allowed to represent the House collectively and they were no longer personally responsible for the requests they made to the King. Elections to the Parliament were now a privilege, not a burden, in the shires the elections were controlled by the gentry.

Henry IV during his reign faced a number of revolts led by Mortimer Earl of March, who had more rights for the English Crown than Henry. Though the rebellions were defeated and Earl of March was imprisoned, Henry could never feel secure. He always remembered that he was a King by conquest and election, not by heredity.

In 1411, Henry IV decided to intervene in France, which was torn by the civil war. He fought in alliance with the Duke of Burgundy and the victories they gained played only in the Duke's hands. When in 1413 Henry IV died, the relations with France were uncertain and the internal matters of England were in confusion.

The Hundred Years War - II

Henry IV was succeeded by his son Henry V, who proved to be a stern and vigorous king. He set Earl of March free, ordered to bury the unfortunate Richard II among the Kings of England and held to the alliance with the church.

The war with France was going on — in 1415, Henry with his army gained a victory of Agincourt, made alliance with Burgundy and conquered Normandy. Success in the war aroused national enthusiasm, all the classes were eager to continue the war.

The year 1420 saw the triumphal achievements of English foreign policy — the Treaty of Troyes. By it Henry became regent of France during the life of the French insane King. Henry married Katharine, his daughter, and was declared the heir of King of France.

The two sides proclaimed the peace that was called the Perpetual Peace. It stipulated the independence of England and France and was joyously met by poor and miserable French people. Anyhow, Henry had no time to enjoy the advantages of his foreign policy. He died in 1422 and insane King Charles of France died the same year. By the Treaty of Troyes the infant Henry VI became King of France and England.

At the time of Henry V's death half of France was under his direct control. His brother the Duke of Bedford became the Head of Council of Regency, because Henry VI was only nine months old.

The Duke of Bedford continued the war with France, he made the alliance with the Duke of Brittany and conquered Northern France. In 1428, the French had only one important stronghold left — it was Orleans. They desperately defended the city, but the English were likely to win. With the fall of Orleans the whole country could be conquered.

At that most critical for France moment the country found a leader in Joan of Arc, a peasant girl from Domremi. She believed to be appointed by the God to save her motherland — France. Her arrival disheartened the English and encouraged the French. They broke the English line of forts, got the provisions into the town and Orleans was saved. After these events the Dauphin, son of Charles VI was crowned as King of France Charles VII at Rheims in 1430. Less than a year later Joan was captured and burnt as a witch by the English at the Rouen market place.

Though Joan was dead, her spirit supported the French. As the English were still the real masters of France, the coronation of Henry VI took place in Paris in 1431. The same year the English alliance with Burgundy was renounced and the English King was asked to renounce his claim to the French throne. In 1436, Charles VII captured Paris.

After the war was renewed in 1449, the French won back Normandy, the war was actually lost by the English. Moreover, the general discontent rose in the country — Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Wilshire experienced the rising of the middle classes, merchants, country gentry and yeomen. People were angry at the loss of Normandy and chaotic state of public finances. The end of the Hundred Years War and English defeat in it brought back to England the warlike nobles, who were dissatisfied with the losses. Under such circumstances an outbreak of a civil war was inevitable.