The First Inhabitants of the British Isles

I. ANCIENT BRITAIN

The First Inhabitants of the British Isles

No one can perfectly say when people began to live on the British Isles. Judging by the remains dug from the earth, the historians say that they have lived there for at least 250.000 years. Early man had lived through sev­eral glacial periods when the ice cap reached as far south as the River Thames. You can guess that the climate was very severe and the nature wild at that time.

The Ice Age was coming to its end around 10.000 BC. It gave a possibility to differ­ent groups of hunters, gath­erers, and fishers to settle down on this territory. As time went on, various tribes and groups of people came to live on the British Isles.

3000 BC — Neolithic (New Stone Age) people came from Europe, probably from the Iberian (Spanish) peninsular or the north of Africa. They were small, dark, and long-headed. Nowadays the inhabitants of Cornwall and Wales look like them. They kept animals, grew crops, and made pottery. They built wooden houses and stone circles called "henges", which were probably religious, political, and economic centres.

2400 BC — New groups of people arrived in Southeast Britain from Europe. They were strong and tall. Nobody knows if they invaded or came peacefully. These people made individual graves for their dead. They also put special pottery, beakers, in them This fact gave the historians the idea to call this folk the "Beaker" people. Scientists suppose that they spoke an Indo-European language. They grew barley, and made bronze tools instead of stone ones. Their culture spread all over the British Isles.

 

DO YOU BELIEVE THAT…

... before the end of the last ice age Britain had been connected with Europe, so it had not been an island until 5000 BC;

... the life span of ancient people was about thirty years;

... a large circle of stones called Stonehenge was started by chalk- land people around 3000 BC;

... the Beaker people added a new circle of 30 stone columns to Stone­henge;

... the Phoenicians used to come to the British Isles for tin, which was used in making bronze. They called the British Isles the Tin Islands.

 

The Celts

Another group of people began to arrive in the British Isles around 700 BC. Scientists suppose that they came from central Europe and even from the territory of southern and eastern Russia. Nobody can say for sure if they came peacefully or invaded the country.

What did they look like?

They were tall; they had fair hair (or red hair)

and blue eyes; some men wore beards.

Draw a portrait of a typical Celt as you see it.

The Celts were more civilized. They used iron to make weapons, they were good farmers and builders. Their famous weapon, the chari­ot with scythes on the wheels scared the enemies to death.

 

DO YOU KNOW THAT...

... the Celts added a few stones to Stonehenge;

... there were several Celtic tribes, and each of them had a name, for in­stance, Belgae, Gaels, Brit­ons, etc.;

... the Celts pushed the older inhabitants of the Brit­ish Isles to the north and to the west;

... the Celts were the ancestors of the people living nowadays in Highland Scotland, Wales, and Ireland;

... there are many words of the Celtic origin in modem English, most of them are geographical names;

... people in Wales, Highland Scotland and western Ireland speak the languages of Celtic origin;

... in England there are several rivers called Avon, which in Celtic means "a river".

 

Celtic clothes

The Celtic men wore shirts and knee-length trousers.

They put on striped or checked cloaks fastened by a pin.

What country has similar traditional clothes nowadays?

 

The Druids

The Druids were a kind of ruling class in the Celtic society. They were like priests. They were very important and powerful. They accumulated all the religious teachings, laws, history, medicine, and other knowledge. They worshipped different gods and magical forces prac­tising human sacrifice.

 

FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES

I. Match the words and their definitions.

1. remains a) to make or become greater in quantity or size,

esp. over a long period; collect or grow into a mass;

2. lifespan b) a religious offering to God or a god, in the hope of gaining

favour or preventing something bad from happening, esp. of an

animal by killing it in a ceremony;

3. ancestor c) parts which are left; a dead body;

4. chariot d) a starting point;

5. origin e) the average length of life of a sort of animal or plant or the time for

which a material object will last;

6. powerful f) a two-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle with no seats, used in ancient

times in battles and races;

7. to accumulate g) a person from whom one is descended, esp.

one who lived a long time ago;

8. sacrifice h) having much control and influence.

Guess the translation of these words.

 

II. Answer the questions.

1. What can you say about the geographical position of the British Isles? Was (Is) it favourable for the people of the British Isles? Why?

2. When does the first evidence of human life on the British Isles date from?

3. What do the scientists mean by such kind of "evidence"?

4. Has Britain always been an island?

5. Was the life span of ancient people long or short? Why?

6. What were the former inhabitants of the British Isles?

7. Where did the Celts come from? What did they look like?

8. What functions were performed by the Druids?

 

III. What do you think was Stonehenge’s purpose? How did the people build it? Discuss it in class. Read the text.

 

Stonehenge

This ancient monument of huge stones solitarily standing on the Salisbury Plain in Wilt­shire is in Southern England. Stonehenge has captured imag­inations for centuries. Theories about who built it have includ­ed the Druids, Greeks, Phoeni­cians, and Atlanteans. Specula­tions on the reason why it was built range from human sacri­fice to astronomy.

These theories include the legend that huge giants were dancing in a circle and then froze into place to create the stone structure; that Stone­henge is an ancient astrological tool that allowed those, from 5000 years ago through the time of the druids, to tell when a so­lar or lunar eclipse would occur; that Stonehenge was built by the Devil who wanted to surprise the peo­ple by such a huge construction which appeared in one night.

Stonehenge is incredible. The pictures are breathtaking, the histo­ry is amazing. What amazes most of all is the high level of intelligence that Stonehenge is evidence of. Constructed in 3100 BC, any purpose that it served, is one that tells us how much knowledge, intelligence and culture the people who built Stonehenge had. Stonehenge also tells us how smart and ingenious the builders were because its construction seems impossible without modern day tools. Similar to the construction of the Great Pyramids in Egypt, one must wonder how they moved such giant stones.

 

Construction

No one knows for sure who built Stonehenge. The first construction began approximately in 3100 BC. Recently there have been radiocar­bon studies that suggest the building of Stonehenge began around 8000 BC. This is right around the time of the construction of the Great Sphinx in Egypt. This predates the Druids. It was believed that the Dru­ids built Stonehenge, but it was around long before they were. Stone­henge went through about 4 different construction phases spanning 5000 years. The rocks of Stonehenge vary in weight with the heaviest weighing 50 tons. These stones were quarried from a location 18 miles away from the current site of Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain. Not only is Stonehenge amazing, but the fact that the people who first built Stone­henge around 3100 BC were able to carry such huge rocks 18 miles on wooden sledges, the stones are of Sarsen.

 

Uses

No one knows for sure why Stonehenge was built and what it was used for, but that has not prevented historians from creating theories as to the uses of Stonehenge. Some say it was used as an ancient astro­nomical observatory because it is aligned so that it can predict eclipses. Other evidence of this use is that once a year (the summer solstice) the sun rises in direct alignment with the heel stone (which lies apart from the others) if viewing the heel stone from the centre of the rings.

More theories say that Stonehenge was an ancient calendar.

Other theories say that Stonehenge is a place of religious worship or of religious ground. Evidence of this includes archaeologic digs that reveal no "trash pits". This signifies that no one left what can be deemed as "trash" around the isolated Stonehenge because it was sacred. It is (11) known that the Druids used Stonehenge as a place of worship and there arc even pictures showing this through the late 19^th century and early 20^th century. However, what was it used for before them?

Investigations over the last 100 years have revealed that Stonehenge was built in several stages, from 2800 ВС to 1800 ВС.

The Romans

The Romans under the leadership of Julius Caesar first came to Britain in on ВС. They did not occupy the island at once. Only in AD 43, almost a hundred years later. Emperor Claudius began to conquer it.

 

How did the name "Britain" appear?

The scientists say that the name "Britain" comes from the Greco-Roman word "Pretani". Romans used this word to call the inhabitants of the British Isles. They also called the island "Britannia"

 

How did the Romans influence Celtic culture?

ü The Romans brought the skills of reading and writing to Britain.

ü Latin became the language of those in power.

ü Many people began to wear togas.

ü The Romans built about twenty large towns, and about one hun­dred smaller ones.

ü They built many roads which were used by people long after the Romans had left the island.

ü They made London the most important trading centre in northern Europe.

 

What modern English words originated from these Latin ones?

Vallum

Via strata

Castra

 

DO YOU KNOW THAT...

... Romans called Scotland "Caledonia";

... Romans did not manage to conquer Scotland;

... the Scottish tribes of Picts often crossed the border with England and killed Roman soldiers. Thus Romans built a large wall to mark the border between later England and Scotland. This wall was called the Hadrian's Wall, in honour of Emperor Hadrian;

... Hadrian's Wall was 73 miles long, about 10 feet thick and 20 feet high; at every mile it had a strong tower with a hundred soldiers; it was made of stone and was one of the strongest Roman fortifications;

... the raiders from Caledonia began to attack Roman Britain when it became weak;

... by AD 400 the Roman Empire began to collapse and in 409 the Roman soldiers left Britain forever;

... Romans brought new vegetables like cabbages, peas and fruits like plums, apples and cherries on the British Isles.

 

 

Put the passages in the correct order.

Boadicea's Revolt

1. Both of them, as well as the others, were defeated. But Queen Boadicea has remained in people's memory because of her brevity.

2. But nevertheless, the Romans were stronger and better equipped, and they managed to surround Boadicea's warriors.

3. Today you can see a monument to Queen Boadicea in London.

4. It would be erroneous to think that the Romans had no difficulties in conquering Britain.

5. Boadicea used to rush at the invaders in her war chariot, with her daughters at the head of the Celtic army.

6. There were several Celtic revolts, for example, revolts headed by Caradoc (or Caractacus) and Queen Boadicea.

7. She did not want to become a prisoner of the Romans and she gave poison to her daughters and then took it herself.

8. At First they were very successful. They managed to destroy the Ro­man towns of Londinium (London), Camulodunum (Colchester), and Verulamium (St Albans), and killed about 70.000 Romans.

9. After the death of her husband she headed the Celtic tribe of Iceni who lived on the territory of contemporary Norfolk.

 

The Anglo-Saxon Invasion

The British Isles had always been a great temptation for the Ger­manic tribes from the north of Europe. At first they only raided the coun­try, but soon they began to settle down.

The most powerful tribes were Angles, Saxons and Jutes. Jutes were believed to come from the territory of later France. Angles and Saxons came from the territory of Germany and Denmark.

The Germanic tribes were warlike and quite illiterate, but their influence on the Celtic culture was great. They introduced a heavy plough which was more effective than anything else used before. Their families and tribes were very strong. Each member of them was loyal to his king or chief.

 

Guess the names of the days of week by the names of some Anglo-Saxon gods:

Tig

Wodin

Thor

Frei

 

 

Anglo-Saxon kingdoms

Angles, Saxons and Jutes formed seven kingdoms.

Angles: East Anglia

Mercia

Northumbria

Saxons: Essex

Sussex

Wessex

Jutes: Kent

 

The Vikings

The Vikings came from Norway and Denmark. The Anglo-Saxons could not resist them, because their kingdoms were not friendly. The Vikings began with short raids, but in 865 they began to settle down. The Vikings accepted Christianity. Step by step, they tried to conquer all the territory of Britain At that time a young king Alfred by name lived in the west of Wessex. He was strong enough to resist the Vikings. In 878 Alfred captured London and made a treaty with the invaders. The Vikings controlled the east and the north of England and Alfred, nicknamed the Great, controlled the rest of the country.

 

Alfred the Great

Alfred the Great was a very talented king. Actually, he was the only king In the British history to be called the "Great". When he came to the throne he was only 22. He was literate and wise. In his childhood he visited Rome and Paris. Alfred cared much for the education of his people. He founded many schools, he ordered to translate several Latin texts into Anglo-Saxon (Old English) including "The History of the Eng­lish Church and People" by Bede and "Pastoral Cares" by Pope Gregory.

He tried to restore country's economy and military forces. He cre­ated a type of settlements which were surrounded with a wall. They were called "boroughs". Inside the boroughs he kept strict discipline. Alfred the Great established order in the law system and administra­tion. Alfred is considered the father of the Royal Navy. His ships pa­trolled the coasts of Britain to prevent the invaders from stepping on the British land.

Alfred died in 899. His son King Edward the Elder was remarkable for having extended the territory of his kingdom by pushing the Danes to the North. He managed to unite all English kingdoms under his rule.

 

DO YOU KNOW THAT...

... Edward the Elder was followed by three of his sons Athelstan, Edmund I and Edred;

... Edmund I was only 18 when he became king;

... Edmund I was killed at a feast by an outlaw, named Leof. Leof stabbed Edmund with a knife when the king tried to make him leave the hall;

… Edred's nephew Eadwig or Edwy the Fair came to power when

he was 15;

...Edwy was young, useless, and handsome. He died four years af­ter he had become king;

... Edgar the Peaceful really deserved the title of the heir of Alfred the Great;

... Edward the Martyr was Edgar's elder son by the first marriage. His reign was short because his stepmother wanted her 10-year-old son Aethelred to become king. She ordered to kill Edward. Edward was as­sassinated at the age of 16. Later he was declared a saint;

… Aethelred II was nicknamed the Unready. His rule was so weak that the country could not resist the Danes. He paid them money, the tax which was called "Danegeld". Then he decided to marry into the powerful Norman family of Richard, Duke of Normandy. It meant that there would soon appear Norman claims for the English throne;

... in 1013 the Danish king Sweyn I drove Aethelred to Normandy and took the power in England. A year later he died and Aethelred re­turned;

... Sweyn's son Canute II the Dane became the ruler of England after a sudden death of Aethelred's son Edmund II Ironside;

... Canute's kingdom fell apart with his death. His two sons Harold and Hardecanute hated each other;

... Hardecanute ordered his men to dig up the body of his dead broth­er, to behead it, and throw it into a marsh;

... Hardecanute died by falling down at a wedding;

... Edward the Confessor was a son of king Aethelred the Unready. He had long lived in Normandy and brought Norman fashions, language, customs and advisers with him;

... Earl Godwin with his son Harold were very popular noblemen among the English population. They tried to overthrow Edward the Confessor from the throne twice. After Edward's death Harold was crowned King in England;

... Edward was called the Confessor because he was a very religious man.

 

FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES

I. Match the words and their definitions.

1. leadership	a. to fail suddenly and completely; break down;
2. to conquer	b. a strong and violent action against those in power, usually with the aim of taking power from them;
3. toga	c. the position of leader;
4. raider	d. a long loose flowing outer garment worn by the citizens of ancient Rome;
5. to collapse	e. to take by force; win by war;
6. temptation	f. a person who visits or attacks a place (not to take control of the place but to do damage);
7. to make a treaty	g. something very attractive
8. revolt	h. to make an agreement between countries, esp. After a war, and formally signed by their representatives.

Guess the translation of these words.

 

II. Answer the questions.

1. When did the Romans come to the British Isles for the first time?

2. How did the Romans contribute to the Celtic culture?

3. Did the Romans succeed in conquering Scotland?

4. Why did the Romans leave Britain?

5. Which town was the most important trading centre of northern Europe?

6. What Germanic tribes invaded Britain from the continent?

7. What states did the Germanic tribes establish?

8. How did the Anglo-Saxon culture influence the Celtic one?

9. What was the historical role of the Vikings on the British Isles?

10. Which of the Anglo-Saxon kings rightly deserved the title of Great? Why?

11. Who was the last Anglo-Saxon king?

 

III. Scrambled sentences.

1. The Britain brought British and became Romans the a Christianity to strong Church institution.

2. Edward the Confessor construction attention was religious monarch a and devoted churches of the his to.

3. Kingdoms The small was network Anglo-Saxon of a England.

 

IV. Match the names of kings and their nicknames.

1.	Alfred	a) the Elder
2.	Edward	b) the Fair
3.	Edmund I	c) the Great
4.	Edwy	d) the Peaceful
5.	Edgar	e) the Unready
6.	Edward	f) the Magnificent
7.	Aethelred II	g) Forkbeard
8.	Sweyn	h) the Dane
9.	Edmund II	i) the Martyr
10.	Canute	j) Harefoot
11.	Harold	i) the Confessor
10.	Edward	j) Ironside

 

V. There is a legend about the second marriage of Edgar the Peaceful. Complete it with the words given below.

A beautiful woman Elfrida lived in her father's (1)... in Devonshire. King Edgar heard about her beauty and decided (2)... her. However he (3)... if she was really so excellent. Thus he sent his friend Athelwold to make sure it was true. Athelwold came to the castle and fell in love with Elfrida. Then he married her himself and told the king that she was (4)... Edgar did not believe and paid a visit to the (5).... Athelwold tried to hide her beauty under ugly (6)..., but when Elfrida learned that the king had wanted to marry her, she refused (7)... her husband and put on the best of her dresses. Edgar discovered that he had been deceived. Several days later Athelwold was (8)... and Edgar married his (9)....

To obey; castle; ugly; clothes; widow; newlyweds; doubted; to marry; murdered.

 

The Norman Conquest

Before his death Edward the Confessor had promised the British throne to his relative Duke William of Normandy. But the British did not like the Normans, and preferred to put a Saxon king Harold on the throne. When William knew about it he decided to invade England and take what he had been promised. Harold, in his turn, was ready to fight William, but he was not lucky that autumn. He had to face two prob­lems: the Danish Vikings attempted to attack from the north, and Wil­liam was going to cross the Strait of Dover.

For the weather was not favourable for crossing the channel Wil­liam decided to wait for some tome. While he was waiting, Harold marched to the north to fight the Vikings. Though Harold had a suc­cess, his soldiers were tired and their march back to the south was hard. Besides, many of his soldiers were simple peasants and they asked Ha­rold to let them go and collect their harvest. As the result Harold's army was still larger than William's but less organized and tired.

William crossed the channel at the beginning of October. The main battle between Harold and William took place on 14 October, 1066 at Hastings. Harold lost his life in it. Meanwhile William the Conqueror marched to London where he was quickly crowned in Westminster' Abbey.

The Norman army continued fighting for several days destroying villages which were against the Norman king.

Those Saxon nobles, landlords and bishops who had not accepted William at once lost their wealth. Only few of them did not lose their positions.

 

William's Domestic Policy

William established a system of feudalism in Britain. He gave land to nobles and knights in return for duty or service. But he was wise not to give large pieces of land to a noble unless it was on the border with Scotland or Wales, where he would have to defend his estate from raid­ers. So the nobles had no possibility to collect an army of fighting men quickly. No noble was stronger than the king himself. All land was owned by the king, but it was held by " vassals " (nobles, nights, freemen, etc.) in return for services.

 

The Domesday Book

William the Conqueror was the first British king who decided to count all the people in the country, as well as their property and land. He sent his people across the country. They came to every family and asked many questions like: "How much land do you have? Who owns it? How much is it worth? How many ploughs and sheep have you got?" Answering these questions people felt as if it were the Day of Judge­ment, or "doom". That is why they called it the "Domesday Book". Ac­tually, it was the first economic survey, which helped the historians imagine how people in Britain lived in the XI-XII centuries

 

DO YOU KNOW THAT...

... William the Conqueror was also nicknamed William the Bastard because he was an illegitimate child;

… William's father Robert Duke of Normandy was killed on his way back from the pilgrimage to Jerusalem;

… William became the Duke of Normandy at the age of seven;

… William and his wife Matilda were happy in marriage and they had nine children;

... William invited foreign soldiers for the battle at Hastings;

... William built Battle Abbey at the place of his victory to com­memorate it;

... Harold was hit with an arrow in his eye at the battle of Hastings;

... the people in England could not move from their land or village without the permission of their lord;

... William possessed lands both in England and France (Norman­dy). This fact began to annoy the kings of France, and the hostility be­tween England and France had become a common thing since then.

 

FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES

I. Match the words and their definitions.

1. peasant   2. noble 3. landlord   4. bishop   5. vassal   6. plough

a) a high-ranking priest in charge of all the churches and priests in a large area; b) a man from whom someone rents a room, a building, land, etc; c) a farming tool with a heavy cutting blade for breaking up and turning over the earth in fields, esp. so that seeds can be planted; d) a person of the highest and most powerful social class outside the royal family; e) a person who works on the land, esp. one who owns and lives on a small piece of land; f) a person who promised to be loyal to a lord and to serve him or fight for him and who in return was given land by the lord.

Guess the translation of these words.

 

II. Answer the questions.

1. In what way was Edward the Confessor responsible for William's claim to the English throne?

2. What is the name of the battle which is a historic turning point for England?

3. What was the meaning of the term "feudalism" in relation to Nor­man England?

4. Why was the Domesday Book written?

5. What historical meaning does the Domesday Book have?

 

III. Correct these false statements.

1. Harold was a coward.

2. Harold did not try to take the throne for himself.

3. When William began to burn villages outside London, it still did not want to give in.

4. Norman invasion was a peaceful event

5. William was not careful in the way he gave land to his nobles.

6. England differed from the rest of Europe because it had a large number of powerful nobles, instead of one powerful family.

7. William sent a team of people all through the country to collect taxes.

 

 

IV. Test yourself.

1. The first people of the British Isles were a) Picts, Scots, Iberians b) the Celts c) the Romans.   2. The Celts were a)short, with dark hair and brown eyes b) tall, with fair hair (or red) and blue eyes c) tall, with dark hair and blue eyes.   3. For the first time Julius Caesar came to Britain in a) 55 BC b) 43 AD c) 55 AD.   4. For the Romans "Caledonia" meant a) England b) Wales c) Scotland.   5. The Angles established such kingdoms as a) Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia b) Kent c) Wessex, Essex, Sussex.

6. The Saxons established such kingdoms as a) Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia b) Kent c) Wessex, Essex, Sussex.   7. Westminster Abbey was built by a) Alfred the Great b) William the Conqueror c) Edward the Confessor.   8. The battle between Harold and William took place at a) Waterloo b) Hastings c) Brighton.   9. "The Domesday Book" was a) the Bible b) a book of laws c) a complete economic survey.

 

V. Among the following words find 19 words of Germanic origin, 3 words of Latin origin, and 14 words of French (Norman) origin.

Germanic	Latin	French

Clothes, castle, government, legal, judge, house, water, people, love, sleep, friend, child, power, authority, library, say, have, nation, be, country, live, work, aquatic, crown, army, shoe, sun, wife, state, man, day, court, moon, food, military, parliament

What are the peculiarities of these words? What domains do they belong to?

How can you explain it?

II. THE MIDDLE AGES

THE PLANTAGENETS

Henry II

(1154-1189)

Henry II was born to Matilda and Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou. It meant that his possessions included England, Normandy, An­jou, Touraine and Maine. Later he acquired Aquitaine through his mar­riage to Eleanor of Aquitaine, the former wife of Louis VII of France. Then he conquered Brittany and Ireland

Henry II was a strong monarch. He ruled over such a large territory that no English king had ever possessed before. He introduced the com­mon law system, which meant that any freeman could plead in royal courts. Henry also improved the system of the Exchequer (it exists in modern Britain).

To the end of his reign Henry II had to face a serious trouble. His wife and his sons rebelled against their father in an effort to depose him.

Henry II had seven sons but several of them had died earlier than their father. His elder sons Henry the Younger, Richard and Geoffrey were given some territories in England and France. But he never let them be independent. They felt as if they were puppets in the king's hands. They were watched, spied and ordered what to do. Besides, Henry, had a favourite son, the youngest of them, John to whom he was willing; to pass on his crown. So the elder brothers rebelled. Henry II turned to be stronger than all of them and the sons had to submit. However, Hen­ry did not forgive his wife and imprisoned her.

Soon Henry the Younger (1183) and Geoffrey (1186) died and Richard became the eldest of Henry's surviving sons. Henry II was not fa­vourable to his son. He started to plot against Richard. Notorious is the story of Richard's fiancée Adelaide (Alice). She was the sister of Philip II Augustus, the French king. Henry II promised Louis VII in 1174 that Richard would marry Adelaide. Henry took her to England. Some time later there came the rumours to France that Henry II took the girl him­self. When Richard learned about it he refused to marry Adelaide. Lat­er Philip showed Richard a document which said that Henry n prom­ised Philip to marry his younger son John to Adelaide and make the spouses heirs to Aquitaine, Normandy, Anjou and England. For the first time Richard showed his power: he made an agreement with Philip and together they made Henry leave his residence by attacking and pursu­ing him for several months in 1188-89. Henry II was not a young man any more. He fell ill. At last the king agreed to give Richard everything he wanted. On 6 July 1189 Henry II died forgotten by everybody. Hen­ry's servants stole everything they thought to be valuable. The dead king was left in trousers and a shirt. When Richard learned about his father's death he ordered to bury him with honour because Henry II was his father and King.

 

Richard the Lion Heart

(1189-1199)

King Richard I has stayed the most popular king through the whole history of Britain.

What do you know about Richard I?

Why was he nicknamed "Lion Heart"?

Why was he popular among people?

 

Richard ruled the country for 10 years, but out of them he spent only about five months in his possessions in England and France. The rest of the time he spent abroad in Crusades. He went to the Holy Land to fight Muslims.

Richard was a brave soldier and excellent commander. He had a passion for fighting. Right after his coronation he started gathering an army for the Third Crusade (1189-1192). He wanted to set Jerusalem free from the Muslim leader Saladin who had captured the Holy Land. Philip II Augustus was not willing to go with Richard, though he had to so that the world would not think that the king of France was a coward, and a man who was not faithful to Christianity. In 1190 Richard I and Philip II Augustus set off for Palestine. Wherever they went Richard's popularity was so great that nobody seemed to notice Philip's presence. Philip became jealous.

Richard won several battles. He captured Cyprus, because Saladin having caught Richard's fiancée, the Princess of Navarre, Berengaria, kept her on the island. After this victory Richard went to storm Accra. It was not an easy matter for both kings. There they fell ill with some strange disease. The enemies of Richard began to spread rumours that hé poisoned Philip. Philip and Richard constantly quarrelled, and it was partly the reason of their failure in this Crusade. Richard and Saladin made peace, and Saladin promised to pay 200.000 in gold, to return the Holy Cross and 1500 of Christian captives. Richard promised to leave Accra and let off its prisoners. But Saladin did not fulfil his promise. In return Richard made a very cruel mistake: he ordered to behead 2000 of his hostages by the walls of Accra.

After the battle at Accra Philip returned to France, where he be­gan to win back his territories from England while Richard was away. Richard's younger brother John was trying to proclaim himself king of England. When Richard heard the news he had to return back though he was only several miles from Jerusalem Richard had come to the walls Jerusalem twice, but twice he had the reasons to turn back. The Cru­sade was almost a failure. The only thing Saladin agreed to was a three years' truce and the permission for pilgrims to visit the Holy City.

When in 1192 Richard was coming back to England he got ship­wrecked. Richard knew that many people desired his death and revenge. He began his way to England through the Austrian land, disguised as an Austrian. He grew long hair and a beard. In spite of these measures he was recognized and captured while sleeping by the men of Duke Leopold of Austria. Leopold had been offended by Richard in the battle of Accra Richard spent 14 months in captivity. The British people had to pay a large tax in order to collect a great ransom of 150.000 marks.

Having been released Richard began to win back his territories in Normandy. Richard had not been killed in Palestine, but he was killed by a simple French archer. The king got hit in an arm, but the arrow was poisoned. Before his death Richard asked to bring to him Bertran, the boy who had shot the arrow, and asked him what evil he had done to the boy. The boy answered that Richard had killed his father and two of his brothers, and had come to kill him, too. Richard ordered to let this boy go, but his men caught Bertran and killed him cruelly.

Richard willed his brains, blood and internal organs to be buried in Scharrou, his heart in Rouen, and the body in Fontevro by his father's tomb.

Richard was a great figure in the British history. His contemporar­ies and historians characterized him differently. To some of them he seemed handsome, to others he seemed pale and ugly; some people called him greedy, others called him generous; some called him a traitor, some a loyal friend. You can have your own opinion of him. But without doubt Richard had a heart of a lion.

 

John I

(1199-1216)

Richard had no lawful children, thus he was succeeded by his broth­er John. John I, the youngest son of Henry II, was very unpopular with people, with barons and with the pope of Rome. In the first years of his rule he managed to make all of them angry with his greed and failures.

Henry II had granted John with Ireland. On his first arrival to this land John began to mock at the most respected Irish people. Six months later he had to return to England. So his rule in Ireland was also a fail­ure.

In 1205 Hugh Lusignan, supported by the king of France, pushed John from Normandy. It was a kind of revenge: John had offended Hugh by marrying his fiancée, a twelve-year-old Isabella of Angouleme. For 8 years John had been gathering money for the war to win back Nor­mandy. People had to pay heavy taxes. In 1214 John suffered a defeat. This defeat led to a rebellion which was headed by barons. They decid­ed to compose a document which included laws and rules the British monarchs had to obey. It was called "Magna Carta", or the Great Char­ter. With this document the barons demanded certain political freedoms. However, this document was composed by barons, not by common peo­ple, that is why every item included was in favour of barons and nobles.

King John was forced to sign Magna Carta, but later he tried to refuse to fulfil its rules. The barons rebelled again. John was so much depressed by his mistakes that on 19 October 1216 he died. He was suc­ceeded by his 9-year-old son Henry III.

 

FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES

I. Match the words and their definitions.

1. crusade a) a sum of money paid to free a prisoner who is being held illegally;

2. to pass on b) confusion; a violent public expression of political dissatisfaction;

3. rival c) not having the right qualities or skills;

4. disorder d) to give to another person;

5. to depose e) to remove from a position of power, esp. from that of a ruler;

6. ransom f) a person, group, or organization with whom one competes;

7. unfit g) to have or express doubts about;

8. to question h) any of the Christian wars to win back Palestine from the Muslims in

the XI-XII centuries, led by European kings and lords.

Guess the translation of these words.

 

II. Answer the questions.

1. How did Henry I come to power?

2. What lands did the Plantagenet Kings possess?

3. How did Richard I come to power?

4. Did he devote enough time to his country?

5. How did Richard the Lion Heart die?

6. Why was John I nicknamed "Lackland"?

7. What was the first attempt to limit the power of the king in Britain?

When and why did it happen?

 

III. How do you imagine Richard the Lion Heart? Describe his character and appearance.

 

IV. Think of the cases in the history of Britain and other countries when the monarchs (or other rulers) were deposed by their sons, relatives or subjects. Did it often happen? What were the typical mistakes of the deposed rulers? Discuss it in class.

 

V. What books about this period in the history of Britain have you read? Tell about them in class.

 

 

VI. Henry II is notorious for the quarrel with his friend Thomas Becket, an Archbishop of Canterbury. Complete the story using the words given below.

Thomas Becket was Henry II's (1)... who had been helping his king for the first eight years of his rule. At first Thomas Becket was his Chan­cellor. Then Henry II offered him the post of (2)..., the highest religious post in England. Becket felt that Henry II was trying to obtain (3)... over the Church of England. Only the Church could appoint archbish­ops. Becket (4)... Henry II for his acting against the Church. In 1164 Henry (5)... Becket. On returning from the exile in 1170 Thomas Becket did not change his mind. Once the king shouted that he wanted to get rid of this (6).... Four of Henry's (7)... thought the king wanted Becket to be dead. They went and killed him right at the (8)... of his Cathedral in Canterbury. The whole world was shocked at the news. Thomas Beck­et was announced a (9)..., and Henry H had to do (10)... in public. Since that time the Church had to consult the king on the matter of appoint­ing Archbishops of Canterbury.

Condemned; friend; exiled; Archbishop of Canterbury; knights; pen­ance; priest; power; altar; saint.

WARS, REVOLTS AND DISASTERS

DO YOU KNOW THAT...

… King Henry IH continued wars with France trying to recapture those lands which had been lost by his father John Lackland;

... barons made Henry III agree to share his power with a council of barons in 1258. However, the king refused to fulfil his promise later and the barons took Henry III and his son Edward prisoners. Later they were released and the last seven years of his rule were quiet. The Oxford Pro­visions put the beginning to the appearance of Parliament;

... Edward I Longshanks got his nickname because he had slender legs. He was happy in his marriage to Eleonor of Castile. Edward I par­ticipated in the Seventh Crusade, where he got a 10 years' truce from the Sultan. In 1295 Edward organized the Great Council (the Model Parliament). He also established English rule in Wales and Scotland;

... Edward II was the first to get the title of the Prince of Wales. Welsh chieftains came to King Edward I and said that they wanted to be ruled not by an English king, but by a prince of Wales, who had to be born in Wales, to be of royal blood, not to speak English and French, and not to have done any harm to anybody. It was a difficult problem, but Edward I solved it easily. He named his small son, who was born in Wales and was too small to speak any language and to have done harm to any­body, the Prince of Wales;

... Edward II was deposed from the throne by his wife Isabella, two of his brothers and rebellious barons. Edward II used to have favourites (Piers Gavestone, Hugh Despenser...), whom he adored and obeyed. He did not pay attention to his wife and acted unreasonably in the matters of politics.

Edward II was imprisoned and on 21 September 1327 he was cruelly murdered. His son became King Edward III.

The Hundred Years' War

(1337-1453)

Among the reasons of the Hundred Years' War historians name the following ones:

1) Edward III's mother Isabella was the daughter of Philip IV, the King of France. When her brother Charles IV died the French throne was taken by Philip of Valois. But Edward III thought he had the right to the French crown (Isabella could not become the queen because in France women could not inherit lands).

2) England did not forgive France for having banished John Lackland from Normandy in 1204.

3) After the failure of the war in Scotland and the baronial rebellion Edward II was murdered. Edward III wanted to distract barons’ attention from political intrigues by organizing a military campaign.

Nobles were not eager to support the war, merchants, on the contrary, financed this campaign generously. Thus Philip of Valois ordered (34) to boycott English goods, mostly wool, which was used by Flemish weavers. Edward III, in his turn, ordered not to buy Flemish fabrics. The incomes both of French and English merchants lowered. The tension between the two countries grew and at last in 1337 King Edward III declared war on France. The conflict lasted for a century. At the beginning of it Britain had a sue J cess. The British soldiers were better equipped and more experienced.

There were two famous bat­tles which brought victories to Edward III. The battle of Crecy took place on 26 August 1346. The English army was eight times smaller than the French one. Nevertheless the French lost a lot of soldiers, among then: eleven princes, twelve hundred knights and 30.000 common men. The English army was more ex­perienced and well-organized. English bowmen were so skilled that maybe only owing to them the battle was won by the Eng­lish army.

During the reign of Plantagenets all English men had to train shoot­ing arrows from a bow; all other competitions were forbidden.

The French army, on the contrary, was badly organized. Princes and knights acted separately, bowmen were not skilful Knights were often haughty and treated peasants as a useless crowd. (Peasants used to be hired in all European armies. Having got experience they could act quite successfully.)

In the battle of Poitiers in September 1356 the situation was simi­lar. The French army lost many important commanders: an archbishop, 13 counts, 5 viscounts, 21 barons and baronettes and about 2000 knights. English casualties were not numerous.

The war can be divided into two stages but both of them were fail­ures for England. The English army usually started with striking victo­ries which were changed by protracted war and ended with the French victory.

The fighting did not go on all the time though. There were long pe­riods of truce. But the desire of France to return back all of its lands made it begin fighting again. To the end of the war England lost several important battles. As the result, France won back almost all the British territories in France, leaving Britain with several ports: Calais, Cher­bourg, Brest, Bordeaux and Bayonne. Besides, Scotland attempted to cross the border and make troubles, and Britain had to defend its terri­tory in the north, which seemed more important than victory in the Hundred Years' War.

 

DO YOU KNOW THAT...

... in 1348 Britain was troubled with the terrible plague called the Black Death;

... the Black Death killed half of Britain's population;

… the Black Death ended serfdom in Britain, because the lack of working hands forced the nobles to pay workers salary for their service.

 

Wat Tyler's Revolt

(1381)

The Hundred Years' War and the plague were not the only troubles of the 14th century. When Richard II came lo power the government introduced a tax payment for each person who was over the age of fifteen. Then the tax was enforced two more times and each time the payment became even higher. This resulted in revolts, which spread all over Britain. The biggest revolt was led by Wat Tyler, John Ball and Jack Straw. People demanded more rights, they wanted to be equal to other people, they wanted to be allowed to buy and sell at all the markets, like other free men, they wanted taxes to be made lower, etc. The most part of the rebels were peasants. The revolt lasted for about four weeks and was skilfully defeated by Richard II: Wat Tyler was killed as well as those who helped him. Richard II told the crowd that Wat Tyler was a traitor. So the crowd dispersed. About 1500 peasants were captured and executed with great cruelty. The revolt was defeated, but it served as a warning to the king that the people could rebel again if he did not improve their life.

 

FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES

I. Match the words and their definitions.

1. banish a) an attack of disease causing death and spreading quickly to a large

number of people;

2. income b) a person who opposes or fights against someone in a position of control;

3. truce c) the same in size, number, value, rank, etc.;

4. plague d) money which one receives regularly, usu. as payment for one's work or

interest from investments;

5. equal e) an agreement between enemies or opponents for the stopping of fighting

or arguing, usu. for a short time;

6. rebel f) to force to leave; drive away.

Guess the translation of these words.

 

II. Answer the questions.

1. Why did the Hundred Years' war begin?

2. How did the scenario of the war develop?

3. Why did England lose the war?

4. What caused the dramatic fall in population in the 14th century?

5. Who was the leader of the Great Peasants' Revolt?

6. What were the reasons of the revolt and how did it end?

 

III. Choose the correct date or each event.

1. England declared war on France. 2. The terrible plague spread all through Britain. 3. The Battle of Crecy took place. 4. The Hundred Years' War ended. 5. Richard II became King. 6. The Battle of Poitiers took place. 7. Wat Tyler stirred up a revolt.

a) 1453 b) 1348 c) 1377 d) 1356 e) 1381 f) 1346 g) 1337

 

IV. True-False quiz.

1. The 14^th century was a quiet time for England.

2. Edward II declared war on France in 1337.

3. English army lost the Battle of Crecy.

4. The English king was a vassal of the French king.

5. England went to war because Edward III wanted to become King of France.

6. At the beginning of the war England had a success.

7. Black death didn't spread further than London.

8. Plague killed half of the population of Britain.

9. Wat Tyler's revolt happened during Edward Ill's reign.

10. Wat Tyler's demands were satisfied.

 

V. Discuss the question.

Why was the Poor People's Revolt a failure? Recall the similar cas­es in the history of your country. Which of the revolts were successful? What helped the rebels win the struggle?

 

THE WARS OF THE ROSES

FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES

I. Match the words and their definitions:

1.	unquestioned	a) to save or set free from harm, danger or loss;
2.	violence	b) a person that has another as grandfather or grandmother, great-grandfather, etc.;
3.	to originate	c) one person's account of an event, esp. as compared with that of another person;
4.	to rescue	d) extreme force in action or feeling, esp. that causes damage, unrest, etc.;
5.	version	e) to have as an established starting point;
6.	descendant	f) which cannot be doubted.

Guess the translation of these words.

 

II. Answer the questions.

1. Why did the Wars of the Roses begin?

2. Was it a romantic event?

3. Who gave these wars such a romantic name?

4. What was the outcome of this struggle?

5. How did the attitude of people towards their monarchs change after the death of

Edward II?

 

III. Discuss the question in class.

What are the usual consequences of taking power by force? Recall similar cases from the history of your country.

 

IV. Match the names of Kings and their nicknames.

1.	Henry IV	a) the Lackland
2.	Edward I	b) the Conqueror
3.	William I	c) the Lion Heart
4.	Richard I	d) Rufus
5.	William II	e) Longshanks
6.	John	f) Bolingbroke

 

 

V. Quiz.

1. The first Plantagenet king was a) Richard I b) John I c) Henry II.   2. The first most favourite English king was a) Henry II b) Richard I c) John I. d) 3. The first document which limited the king's power was a) The Domesday Book b) Magna Carta c) "Oxford Provisions".   4. The symbol of the Yorkists was a) a red rose b) a white rose c) a yellow daffodil.   5. The leader of the Peasants' Revolt was a) Wat Tyler b) Thomas Becket c) Thomas More.

6. Henry VI established a) Eton College b) Oxford University c) London University.   7. William Caxton invented a) book printing b) radio c) telegraph.   8. The Hundred Years' War began in a) 1337 b) 1356 c) 1324.   9. The king who declared the Hundred Years' War on France was a) Richard II b) Edward I c) Edward III.

 

 

III. THE TUDORS

Henry VII

(1485-1509)

Henry VII Tudor was the beginner o this glorious dynasty. Though his son Henry VIII and his grand daughter Elizabeth are more famous than he, Henry VII was very important for establishing the new kind of monarchy. Henry VII was against any wars, because he thought that they could only destroy the economy of the country. He collected taxes for war but never fought any. He never wasted money and when his son Henry VIII succeeded him, the royal treasury was worth about 2 million pounds. Henry VII realized that trade, especially international, could bring high profit to Britain. With this purpose he built a large fleet of merchant ships. Henry VII died in 1509.

 

Henry VIII

(1509-1547)

Henry VIII was not like his father. He used to spend much money for entertain­ment, his court, useless wars, and as the re­sult he wasted all the money his father had saved.

At that time France and Spain were the most powerful countries in Europe. Henry VIII wanted England to be not less impor­tant than them. He tried to make alliances with both of them but did not get their support. Henry needed money. In such cases his (49) father used to take nobles' lands, but he never touched the lands that belonged to the Church. Henry VIII, on the contrary, started closing mon­asteries and taking their lands. This fact aroused public's indignation.

Henry VIII disliked the power of the Church, because he could not control it completely. The wish to become absolute ruler of Britain caused Henry VIII's break with Rome. Though historians usually connect this act with Henry's private life.

 

DO YOU KNOW THAT...

... in 1510 Henry married Catherine of Aragon, who was the widow of his elder brother Arthur.

... Catherine of Aragon was the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain.

... Catherine of Aragon had no sons who could survive infancy.

... Catherine and Henry's elder daughter was Mary.

 

Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived...

Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon was not successful. Hen­ry wanted a son, but his wife could not give him any. Henry decided to divorce and marry Catherine's lady-in-waiting, Anne Boleyn by name. Since the Pope of Rome was the head of the Catholic Church, and the Church of England was Catholic, Henry had to ask the pope of Rome to let him divorce. The pope as well as the Spanish king was against it. Henry was stubborn and he did not want to give in. His wish to control the Church made him break from Rome and adopt Protestantism, which gave more power to the king. So, the country became Protestant At the same time Henry as well as the most part of the population in Britain was a Catholic.

 

DO YOU KNOW THAT...

... earlier Henry VIII had written a book in which he criticized Mar­tin Luther's Reformation Protestantism, and the Pope of Rome award­ed him with the title of Fidei Defensor, or Defender of Faith.

… the letters FD can still be found on British coins.

 

Henry VIII divorced Catherine of Aragon and married Anne Boleyn. She gave birth to a daughter, named Elizabeth. Some time later Henry met Jane Seymour, a lady-in-waiting. Historians say that she was the only woman he really loved. Henry accused Anne Boleyn of being unfaithful, and had her executed. Henry married Jane Seymour ten days later. Jane gave birth to the only son Henry had. His name was Edward. Unfortunately, Jane died twelve days later.

Anne of Cleves was Henry's fourth wife. Anne was a German princess. The story tells that he could not go to Germany to have a look at his fiancée and sent his painter, Hans Holbein the Younger, instead. The painter brought the portrait of a charming lady. Henry liked her. When she herself arrived in Britain, Henry found little likeness in the portrait and the original. He was disappointed and soon divorced her.

His fifth wife was Catherine Howard. She was said to be unfaithful to him and her execution was not to be waited for long.

Henry's sixth wife, Catherine Parr, was clever enough not to anger him. She outlived Henry, who died in 1547 at the age of 56.

 

FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES

I. Match the words and their definitions.

1. glorious a) having a sexual experience or relationship with someone other

than one's husband or wife;

2. treasury b) feelings of surprised anger (because of something wrong or unjust);

3. merchant c) to live longer than;

4. indignation d) the person one is going to marry; a person to whom one is engaged;

5. infancy e) the place where the money of a government is kept;

6. lady-in-waiting f) having or deserving great fame, honour, and admiration;

7. unfaithful g) a person who buys and sells goods, esp. of a particular sort, in

large amounts;

8. fiancée h) early childhood;

9. to outlive i) a lady who looks after and serves a queen or a princess.

Guess the translation of these words.

 

II. Answer the questions.

1. Who was the beginner of the Tudor dynasty?

2. What title was Henry VIII awarded with by the pope of Rome?

3. What reform did Henry VIII carry out?

4. What do you know about Henry VIII's private life?

5. Did Henry's private life influence his political line?

 

III. Characterize Henry VIII's personality. What do you think of him?

 

IV. Read the rhyme and guess what it describes.

Divorced, beheaded, died,

Divorced, beheaded, survived...

 

V. Do you believe that

1. Henry VIII died at the age of 52.

2. Henry VIII was the first Tudor monarch.

3. Henry VIII had a brother named Arthur.

4. Catherine of Aragon was of French origin.

5. Elizabeth was the daughter of Catherine of Aragon.

6. Henry VIII had one son.

7. Catherine Howard was Henry's sixth wife.

8. Anne of Cleves was the most beautiful of all Henry's wives.

9. Henry VIII had always been a Protestant.

10. Henry VIII closed many monasteries and sold their lands to land­owners and merchants.

 

VI. How can the private life of a monarch/president/... influence his/her political decisions? Recall such cases in the history of your country. Tell about them in class.

 

 

Edward VI

(1547-1553)

Edward VI was the son of Henry VI and his third wife Jane Seymour. He was born on 12 October 1537. When Henry VIII died Edward was only ten years old. He was too young to rule over the country. Therefore a special council was created in order to help him. It gave a chance for the nobles who were close to the court to use their power for their own needs.

In general Edward's reign was peaceful, except a few rebellions connected with the discontent of the Catholics over the Protestant reform. Edward was a serious and clever boy. During his reign two new prayer books were published in English.

Edward could make a good king but his weak health shortened his life to 16 years only. He fell ill with tuberculosis and died in 1553. When Protestant lords saw that Edward's health was weakening, they became alarmed at the thought that his successor would be his sister Mary. Unlike Edward, she was a Catholic, and if she succeeded she could introduce Catholicism in the country again. That is why Edward's ministers mad him name his Protestant second cousin, Lady Jane Grey, as his successor.

 

Bloody Mary

(1553-1558)

Queen Mary I ruled in England and Ireland from 1553 to 1558. She was the first queen in Britain, be­sides Matilda who had ruled 400 years before Mary, and Lady Jane Grey who had been the queen only for nine days.

During the reign of Edward VI most people got used to Protestant­ism. Mary was a Catholic and nobles, being afraid of religious persecu­tions tried to put Lady Jane Grey, a Protestant, on the throne. But Mary succeeded in entering London and took control of the kingdom. Later Lady Jane Grey was executed.