The Wars of the Roses

Long before the Hundred Years War ended the feudal struggle between the descendants of Edward III had broken out. Edward, who was well aware of the danger represented by the big barons to the Crown, married his sons to the daughters of the biggest baronial families — the Yorks and the Lancasters. Thus the royal family became related to powerful barons and the barons got equal claims for the Crown.

Henry IV became the first English King of the Lancaster dynasty, which was supported by the big barons. He was followed by Henry V and Henry VI in whose reign the interests of the big barons collided with the interests of the lesser barons and merchants of the towns, who supported the House of York.

In 1453, King Henry VI became ill with mental disease. The Parliament advanced its power and got the right to draw up Bills. In the country the two rivaling fractions appeared — the Lancastrians, led by the descendant of John of Gaunt, King Henry and his Queen Margaret and the Yorkists, led by the Duke of York, who inherited the claim to the throne through his mother. As the two families had roses in their coat of arms (the Lancasters had a red rose and the Yorks had a white rose), the war between them got the name of the War of Roses.

After Henry's disease the Duke of York was made Protector and the Duke of Somerset was arrested. When Henry recovered, he dismissed the Protector and called Somerset. The Yorkist immediately took up arms as to protect the King. At the first battle of St Albans in 1455, Somerset was killed and the King captured. The Duke of York was made Lord Protector of the kingdom.

By the end of the year the King recovered and got the protector disgraced, so now the Duke of York was down, and the Duke of Somerset was up. These ups and downs gradually separated the whole nation into two parties, which led to the terrible civil wars from 1455 to 1485. There were a lot of battles fought by professional soldiers, usually not in very large number. This fighting was not as devastating as civil wars in France, the buildings were not ruined and mostly the families of the fighters were involved into the wars.

The opposition of the Yorkists lasted for six years — in 1461 the son of the Duke of York Edward won a victory over the Lancastrians and the Queen. The Crown came to the Yorkists and Edward IV was proclaimed king.

The crowing of the new king didn't stop the war. In 1464, Somerset revolted, along with the former Queen Margaret, who wanted the throne for her young son. Fighting went on. The noblemen, led by greed and land expectations easily left either side and joined the other. The renewal of each party was possible because the magnates were shifting the alliances and changing sides.

In 1471, Edward IV connived at the murder of Henry VI and his son, which was followed by new plots and executions. The death of Edward in 1483 put his son Edward V on the throne. He reigned for a very short period, during his reign the Duke of Gloucester was named Protector of the State.

Being a sly and experienced politician, the Duke of Gloucester decided to get the Crown for himself. With the Duke of Buckingham he made a plot and announced that Edward V was not the child of the late King. Thus he took power in his hands, proclaimed himself a new monarch Richard III and soon was crowned twice — in London an*"* in York. After coronation Prince Edward V was murdered in the Tower.

National discontent against the murderous King rose and the nobles resolved to set the Crown to Henry, Earl of Richmond, who was the descendant of Henry V. As Henry was of the House of Lancaster, he was offered to marry the Princess Elizabeth, the heiress of the House of York. The unification of the rival families could put an end to the Wars of the Red and White Roses.

In 1485, Henry of Richmond with his army met King's army on Bos-worth Field. King Richard was killed in battle, Lord Stanley picked up the crown from Richard's head and put it upon the head of Duke Henry. Loud cries "Long Live King Henry" marked the beginning of the new political era in England — the Tudor dynasty took the Crown.

Henry's reign began with the strong opposition of the Yorkists, which ended when Henry married Princess Elisabeth of York in 1486. This marriage put an end to the struggle of the Houses of York and Lancaster, so in the portraits Henry VII was usually depicted holding "a Tudor rose" — a red rose with white outer petals symbolising the unity of two rivalling families.

Task 7. Match column A representing the royal dynasties of Lancaster and York to column B representing their distinctive features.

The Lancaster! and The Yorks
A		B
1. Henry IV		a) lost the lands in France controlled by the English and finished the Hundred Years War
2. Henry V		b) the first king from the House of York, who killed Henry VI and his son
3. Henry VI		c) was not generally recognised as a lawful king, being a king by election
4. Edward IV		d) was in power for a very short period. Was murdered in the Tower
5. Edward V		e) managed to control half of France and was declared the heir of King of France
6. Richard III		f) murdered his predecessor

Task 8. Answer the following questions.

1. Why was Richard II controlled by the Council of Eleven?

2. How was Richard II replaced by Henry Lancaster?

3. How did the work of Parliament change during the reign of Henry IV?

4. What were the revolts Henry IV connected with?

5. Why did England have favourable positions at home and abroad after the death of Henry V?

6. Why were the English likely to win the Hundred Years War in 1428?

7. What was English victory spoiled by?

8. How did the war between France and England finish?

9. How did the Wars of the Roses start?

10. When did the Crown come to the Yorkists?

11. What were the three kings of the House of York in England?

12. How did the York dynasty decline?

13. How did the rivalry between the Lancasters and the Yorks end?

14. What does the Tudor rose symbolise?

Task 9. Vocabulary development. State the meaning of the derivatives and complete the sentences.

1) heir, heirless, heredity, hereditary

a) It is a title, so Mark Howard will become Sir Mark Howard

on his father's death.

2. Henry was the King by election, not by .

3. When the Queen died , the Tudors were replaced by the Stuarts.

4. The Prince of Wales is the apparent to the throne.

2) dismiss, dismissal

1. Richard II was successfully by Henry Lancaster.

2. No one was upset by his .

3) captor, capture, captive

a) The criminal was put into jail by his .

2. Two of the soldiers were killed and the rest were .

3. They lived in terror of by enemy soldiers.

4) executioner, execute, execution, executor

a) is someone who performs executions.

b) is still the penalty in some states for murder.

c) If a person is , s/he is killed as a legal punishment.

d) is a person who executes the wishes expressed in a will.

5) ally, alliance, allied

1. The attacks of the French were stopped by the forces.

2. NATO is sometimes called the Atlantic .

3. The President said that Britain would remain a vital of the

USA.

6) successor, successively, successive, succeed, succession

a) Russia, Georgia and Ukraine are three of the states to the

Soviet Union.

2. The two sons of Henry II — Richard and John were on the throne in .

3. Last month the Democrats won their third election victory.

4. A of short-lived kings of the House of York did nothing to

increase the country's stability.

e) Prince of Wales usually his father on the English throne.

Economic, Social and Cultural Life in the Middle Ages

The Middle Ages saw the development of a Norman manor as a main economic unit and its decline. The manor contained land of two kinds — folk-land, which was given to the peasants by a tenure known as folk-right and book-land, which was the land of the feudal. Book-land was granted to the nobles by "books" or "charters" from the King, who remained the ultimate owner of all land. Serfs and villains, who were unfree and couldn't leave the manor, cultivated the land.

As the lord exacted service from the villeins, so the King took service and taxation from the lord. The obligations included military service and giving three feudal aids — to help the King to knight his eldest son, to dower his daughter and to ransom himself.

The system of villeinage started to decline because of rapid economic disintegration. As the manors produced wool, it soon led to trading connections with Flanders and appearance of merchant capital. Towns grew and by the time of Edward the Confessor every county had one chief town. Just as the people in the country, who had then- shire moot, the people in the town had their borough moot. There was also a reeve, who collected taxes, held the local courts to administer justice and became the town's representative in all affaires with the King.

The towns were granted certain privileges by the King and by the Lords. These privileges had a form of charters, they gave the right for self-government, which was administered by a mayor and aldermen. Burgesses also took part in the government, they made a smaller part of the town population. Burgesses were originally holders of land within the town, they paid the duties to the King and kept the government of the town to themselves.

Town people were usually grouped into three classes — guilds. There were social or religious guilds, craft guilds and merchant guilds. The social or religious guilds flourished between the 13^th— 16^th centuries, but were suppressed in 1547—1548, when then- property was confiscated by the Crown.

The craft guilds united the men of the same trade and regulated then-activities. These guilds protected trade, distinguished working standards and conditions, the number and training of apprentices. By the 14* century, the guilds became so important, that their government was usually hi the hands of the town authorities, they also controlled merchant guilds. These guilds united burgesses, who obtained privileges from the King for then-commerce. They controlled the whole trade of the town, could supply town councils and had big influence over them.

By the beginning of the 14^th century, appeared a new class — the journeymen organised the Yeomen guilds, which were often discouraged and forced to work secretly. They were a part of the growing overseas trade with European countries. Early in the 14^th century, most of the English textile-market was supplied by English industry, so the export of raw wool and textile became an important part of English economy.

The growth of national industry was interrupted by the epidemic of plague, which struck Britain hi 1349. The Black Death reduced the population of the country by a third or even by a half. The living peasants and craftsmen had now certain advantage — they were paid more and could ask for the reduction of working hours.

The employers, in their turn, tried to safeguard their interests in the Statute of Labourers, which refused the demands of rise in wages. The labourers were not eager to work for nothing, so the Statute proved ineffective. A great number of peasants went to towns, where the wages were higher.

The fields in many villages were waste; there were even not enough people to look after sheep. As sheep couldn't be kept in open fields, the first enclosures were made. This first step led to the further enclosure movement, which on the one hand drew peasants off the land, but on the other hand led to the enormous increase in wool production and accumulation of wealth in the country — the land now could be rented, the landlord gave stock and land lease. These were important steps to capitalism, to making the land a field for the investment of capital from which a regular return could be obtained. The personal relations of the manor were replaced by simple money relation.

Task 10. Match the columns representing different notions to their descriptions.

A	B
1. Borough moot	a) country moot
2. Shire moot	b) head of the town serf-government
3. Reeve	c) town council
4. Charter	d) a representative of the King in a town
5. Burgess	e) a town or a division of a large town
6. Mayor (aldermen)	f) a union of people of commerce
7. Craft guild	g) a citizen of a town with self-government
8. Religious guild	h) a special privilege from the King
9. Merchant guild	i) a union of clergymen
10. Borough	j) a union of the people of the same trade
11. The Yeomen guild	k) an early example of privatisation of public land
12. Enclosure	1) a union of travelling merchants

Cultural Development in the Middle Ages

Through the Middle Ages monasteries became centres of learning. More schools were established with theology and philosophy added to the curricula. The development of schools caused the establishment and development of universities. If before English students had to go to Paris and other centres of university learning, now the university of Oxford established in 1167 was equipped with a curriculum similar to Paris University. In 1209, Cambridge was established. For a long period Oxford remained a leading English University, the well-known rivalry between these centres of learning started in the 15* century.

In the 13^th century, Roger Bacon at Oxford gave start to the development of English philosophy and natural sciences. Scholars began to use their own language instead of Latin, which led to the fixation of the form of a literary English.

Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales" and "Piers Plowman" by William Langland represented the literature of the period. Besides famous writers, a great number of folk poets contributed English literature ballads, religious and love songs, carols. From the 12^th to 15^th century English Catholic architecture developed, the new style is known as the Early English. The best examples of it are Wells Cathedral, Salisbury Cathedral, the chapel of King's College, Cambridge and others.

Cultural Focus: Oxford + Cambridge = Oxbridge

Before the 12^th century, monasteries were the only centres of learning in England, but in the 12* century, the fust universities were founded to develop different sciences. The first English University, Oxford, was founded in 1168, nearly half a century later a second university — Cambridge was formed. These first educational establishments had four faculties: Theology (the study of religion), Canon Law (church laws), Medicine and Art, which included Latin grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music.

Both Universities have long histories, every item of which is preserved and remembered today, their histories have much in common. By the end of the 13^th century they already had some colleges and the system of residential colleges has been preserved till today. Each college is run by a Master and a body of Fellows. Fellows maintain the buildings and provide service for students. All colleges of the University are united into a federation.

The Fellows teach students either one to one or in very small groups — the system comes from medieval times.

Both universities have been associated with the state religion — until the 19^th century only members of the Church of England could enter them.

Task 11. Compare your or any other modern University to Oxbridge, where the medieval system is still preserved.

In Oxbridge	In other universities
Students live and study in colleges
Colleges are united into a federation
Colleges are run by a Master and Fellows
Fellows teach students one-to-one
If the Master dies or retires, Fellows elect a new one
Students may make free copies of any book published in Britain

Cultural Focus: English History in Geographical Names

Geographical names in Britain reflect the history of the nation. They originated from different languages the peoples of Britain spoke. By the end of the Middle Ages you could find the signs of earlier borrowings on the map of Great Britain. Many of these names are preserved today.

The Celtic language can be found in modern English in the names of rivers, forests and hills. There are rivers called Avon, which in Celtic means "a river" and Dervent, which means "clear water". Such Celtic elements as tor — "a hill", comb — "a valley", carr — "a rock" appear in place-names far back in the lowland zone.

The Latin language, brought to the isles by the Romans, can be found in the names of many modern English towns. As the Roman towns were fortified, they were called castra — "camps". In various forms this word is preserved in such names as Chester, Doncaster etc. The town-name Lincoln comes from colonia — "a colony" and Colchester means both colonia and castra.

The language of the Anglo-Saxons, who made the bulk of the population in Britain, became the basis of the present-day English. Since that time it has undergone various changes but many words are stile alive. They are preserved in the names of places. The word ton was the Saxon for "hedge" or a place surrounded by the hedge. Burgh or bury meant "to hide", many town-names like Canterbury, Edinburgh derived from them.

The stem ham "home" can be found in such names as Nottingham, Birmingham etc. The meaning of the word field— "open country" survived in the names Sheffield, Chesterfield, Mansfield.

The Danes gave their names to many towns they built in England. The words by or toft meat "Danish settlements", they can be found in Derby, Wrytby, Ashby, Lowestoft etc. The kingdoms they formed were divided into shires with market towns as their centres. Today nearly all mid-lane countries are named after their couatry towns (as Lincolnshire, Yorshire etc.).

The language of the Normans brought names to the local districts — shires {shire means "county"). Today a big number of English counties has the names with the stem "shire' — Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Hampshire etc.

Task 12. On the geographical map of Great Britain find the place names containing Celtic, Latin, Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian roots. Divide them into groups and explain the meaning of these place-names.

The beginning of the modern era in Europe

(1350 – 1650)