The Strengthening of the Royal Power

The Norman conquest had immediate social, political and cultural implication. William declared that all the lands of England belong to him. He granted lands to the Normans and Frenchmen who had taken part in the conquest and to the Anglo-Saxons landlords who supported him.

The country was divided into counties and each county had its sheriff appointed by the king. William ordered to build castles in different parts of the country. The Domesday Book, a survey of England’s land and people was created.

The War of the Roses

The War of the Roses began in 1399. The Lancasters were fighting against the Yorks for the English Throne. Finally a distant relative of the Lancasters Henry Tudor married Elizabeth of York in 1485. This event put an end to the middle ages in England.

Tudor ages

The reign of Henry the 7^st

The Tudors tried to establish absolute royal power. It caused the development and foundation of new capitalist relation in production. Henry the 7^th was opposed to the power of old barons. Merchants and small landowners were useful allies of the Tudors. Henry the 7^th filled the treasure and improved the contacts with Rome.

The reign of Henry the 8^st

Henry the 8th was a wasteful monarch. His despotism was fatal for the country’s progressive minds and terrible for his family. Henry had six wives. When Henry and his first wife divorced against the will of the Pope that caused a break with the catholic church. In 1531 Henry declared himself to be the Head of the Church of England. England became a protestant country. In 1536 Henry united Wales with England. After the death of Henry the 8^th his son Edward became the king. But he had a poor health and soon died.

The reign of Mary the 1^st

Queen Mary turned England back to the Pope. She was a fanatic roman catholic. Her marriage to Philip of Spain was her own idea and was very unpopular and caused several uprisings (rebellions, riots) simultaneously. She crushed the rebellions/rebels and earned her nickname “Bloody Mary”. Her reign and life were a political and personal disaster.

The reign of Elizabeth the 1^st

Elizabeth the 1^st was well educated and remarkable woman.

Elizabeth restored Protestantism of her father. Anglican church was main again. Her policy was compromise and settlement???. In the 16^th century the economic growth was getting faster, trade and industry were growing, education was developing. In 1576 the first theatre appeared.

The Stuarts

The reign of James the 1^st

When Elizabeth died she left James with a huge debt. James had to ask Parliament to raise a tax to pay the debt. Parliament agreed but in return insisted on the right to discuss James’s home and foreign policy. James didn’t agree to this. He was quarreling with Parliament all the time.

The religious situation in Britain was not simple. There were people in the country who disagreed with the teaching of the church if England. They were called “puritans”. James the 1^st colonized Ulster. The catholic Irish were driven off their lands which were given to protestant settlers from England.

The reign of Charles the 1^st

Charles the 1^st quarreled with Parliament even more than his father had done. Charles dissolved Parliament several times but had to call it again because he needed money. Between 1629 and 1640 Charles successfully ruled the country without Parliament. In 1641 Ireland exploded in rebellion against the protestant English settlers. In London Charles and Parliament quarreled over who should lead an army to defeat the rebels. So London where Parliament’s influence was stronger locked its gates against the king and Charles moved to Nottingham where he gathered an army. The civil war started. Parliament was supported by the Navy, by most of merchants and by the population of London. It controlled the sources of wealth. In the end at the battle of Naseby in 1645 the royalist army was defeated.

Republic in England

Several members of Parliament (MPs) had commanded the army during the civil war. The strongest of them was Oliver Cromwell. In 1649 King Charles the 1^st was executed. From 1649 to 1660 England was a republic. But the republic was not a successful. From 1653 England was governed by Oliver Cromwell alone who became Lord-Protector. His efforts to govern the country through the army were extremely unpopular. When Cromwell died in 1658 hi was succeeded by his son Richard. But he was a poor leader and nobody governed the country. The situation could be saved only by the restoration of Monarchy.