What does the House of Lords do?

King, Lords, and Commons

It was during the reign of the Tudor monarchs that the modern structure of the English Parliament began to be created. The Tudor monarchy was powerful and there were often periods of several years time when parliament did not sit at all. However the Tudor monarchs were astute enough to realise that they needed parliament to legitimise many of their decisions, mostly out of a need to raise money through taxation legitimately without causing discontent. Thus they consolidated the state of affairs whereby monarchs would call and close parliament as and when they needed it.

By the time Henry Tudor (Henry VII) came to the throne in 1485 the monarch was not a member of either the Upper Chamber or the Lower Chamber. Consequently, the monarch would have to make his or her feelings known to Parliament through his or her supporters in both houses. Proceedings were regulated by the presiding officer in either chamber. From the 1540s the presiding officer in the House of Commons became formally known as the "Speaker", having previously been referred to as the "prolocutor" or "parlour" (a semi-official position, often nominated by the monarch, that had existed ever since Peter de Montforthad acted as the presiding officer of the Oxford Parliament of 1258). This was not an enviable job. When the House of Commons was unhappy it was the Speaker who had to deliver this news to the monarch. This began the tradition, that survives to this day, whereby the Speaker of the House of Commons is dragged to the Speaker's Chair by other members once elected.

A member of either chamber could present a "bill" to parliament. Bills supported by the monarch were often proposed by members of their Privy Council who sat in parliament. In order for a bill to become law it would have to be approved by a majority of both Houses of Parliament before it passed to the monarch for royal assent or veto. The royal veto was applied several times during the 16th and 17th centuries and it is still the right of the monarch of the United Kingdom to veto legislation today, although it has not been exercised since 1707 (today such exercise would presumably precipitate a constitutional crisis).

When a bill became law this process theoretically gave the bill the approval of each estate of the realm: the King, Lords, and Commons. In reality this was not accurate. The Parliament of England was far from being a democratically representative institution in this period. It was possible to assemble the entire nobility and senior clergy of the realm in one place to form the estate of the Upper Chamber. However, the voting franchise for the House of Commons was small; some historians estimate that it was as little as 3% of the adult male population. This meant that elections could sometimes be controlled by local grandees because in some boroughs the voters were in some way dependent on local nobles or alternatively they could be bought off with bribes or kickbacks. If these grandees were supporters of the incumbent monarch, this gave the Crown and its ministers considerable influence over the business of parliament. Many of the men elected to parliament did not relish the prospect of having to act in the interests of others. So a rule was enacted, still on the statute book today, whereby it became illegal for members of the House of Commons to resign their seat unless they were granted a position directly within the patronage of the monarchy (today this latter restriction leads to a legal fiction allowing de facto resignation despite the prohibition). However, it must be emphasised that while several elections to parliament in this period were in some way corrupt by modern standards, many elections involved genuine contests between rival candidates, although the ballot was not secret.

It was in this period that the Palace of Westminster was established as the seat of the English Parliament. In 1548, the House of Commons was granted a regular meeting place by the Crown, St Stephen's Chapel. This had been a royal chapel. It was made into a debating chamber after Henry VIII became the last monarch to use the Palace of Westminster as a place of residence and following the suppression of the college there. This room became the home of the House of Commons until it was destroyed by fire in 1834, although the interior was altered several times up until then. The structure of this room was pivotal in the development of the Parliament of England. While most modern legislatures sit in a circular chamber, the benches of the British Houses of Parliament are laid out in the form of choir stalls in a chapel, simply because this is the part of the original room that the members of the House of Commons utilised when they were granted use of St Stephen's Chapel. This structure took on a new significance with the emergence of political parties in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, as the tradition began whereby the members of the governing party would sit on the benches to the right of the Speaker and the opposition members on the benches to the left. It is said that the Speaker's chair was placed in front of the chapel's altar. As Members came and went they observed the custom of bowing to the altar and continued to do so, even when it had been taken away, thus then bowing to the Chair, as is still the custom today.^{[ citation needed ]}

The numbers of the Lords Spiritual diminished under Henry VIII, who commanded the Dissolution of the Monasteries, thereby depriving the abbots and priors of their seats in the Upper House. For the first time, theLords Temporal were more numerous than the Lords Spiritual. Currently, the Lords Spiritual consist of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Bishops of London, Durham and Winchester, and twenty-one other English diocesan bishops in seniority of appointment to a diocese.

The Laws in Wales Acts of 1535–42 annexed Wales as part of England and this brought Welsh representatives into the Parliament of England.

What does the House of Lords do?

The House of Lords is the second chamber of the UK Parliament. It works with the House of Commons to:

make laws

check and challenge the actions of the government, and

provide a forum of independent expertise

The House of Lords Chamber spends about 60% of its time on legislation; the other 40% is spent on scrutiny – questioning Government and debating issues and policy. Committee work takes place outside the Chamber.

How does the House of Lords relate to Parliament and government?

The House of Lords is often referred to as the 'Upper House' or 'Second Chamber'. Both these terms illustrate that the Lords is one of two parts of the UK Parliament.

The political party which wins the most seats/places in a general election forms the Government.

The Government runs the country and is formed from the political party that wins most seats in the House of Commons in a general election. The Government formulates policy and introduces legislation in Parliament.

Most senior members of the Government are members of the House of Commons but there are ministers, along with two Cabinet members, in the House of Lords.

The House of Lords also contains many Members of Parliament who were in previous governments.

2The system of education (primary and secondary).

PRIMARY EDUCATION

Compulsory education begins at 5 when children in England & Wales go to infant schools or departaments; at 7 many go on to junior schools or departaments. In some areas of England there are nursery schools for children under 5 years of age. Some children between 2 & 5 receive education in nursery classes or in infants classes in primary schools. Many children attend informal pre-school play-groups organized by parents in private homes. Nursery schools are staffed with teachers and students in training. There are all kinds of toys to keep the children busy from 9 o'clock till 4 o'clock p.m.- while their parents are at work here the babies play, lunch & sleep. They can run about and play in safety with someone keeping an eye on them.For day nurseries which remain open all the year round the parents pay according to their income.

Most children start school at 5 in a primary school. A primary school may be divided into two parts- infants & juniors. At infants schools reading, writing & arithmetic are taught for about 20 minutes a day during the first year, gradually increasing to about 2 hours in their last year. There is usually no written timetable. Much time is spent in modelling from clay or drawing, reading and singing.

By the time children are ready for the junior school they will be able to read & write, do simple addition and subtraction of numbers.

At 7 children go on from the infants school to the junior school. This marks the transition from play to 'real work'. The children have set periods of arithmetic, reading and composition which are all Eleven-Plus subjects. History, Geography, Nature Study, Art & Music, PE, Swimming are also on the timetable.

Pupils are streamed, according to their ability to learn, into A,B,C & D streams. The least gifted are in the D streams. Formerly towards the end of their fourth year the pupils wrote their 11-Plus Exams. The hated 11+ was a selective procedure on which not only the pupils' future schooling but their careers depended. The abolition of selection at 11+ brought to life comprehensive schools where pupils can get secondary education.

As you have already guessed the usual age of transfer from primary to secondary school is 11.

Most primary schools are state- funded although many of them are run by churches and the child is taught in order with the National Curriculum.

Independent fee-paying schools which are called preparatory schools, prepare children for the Common Entrance Examination set by the independent secondary schools. Usually parents prefer state primary schools -95 % and only 5% prefer independent.

A number of LEAs in England (local education authorities) have established "first" schools for pupils aged 5 to 8,9,10 & "middle" schools covering various age ranges between 8 & 14.

It goes without saying it that the period of primary schooling is very interesting and fun for boys and girls during that period their character is forming, they are becoming personalities.

And if it was said that it's fun, then there should be some jokes and funny stories about the schooling. So here you go!

SECONDARY EDUCATION

At the age of 11, most children go to comprehevsive schools of which the mayority are for both boys & girls.

About 90 % of all state-financed secondary schools are of this type. Most other children receive secondary education in grammar & secondary modern schools. (Until 1960s most children took an examination at the end of primary school (The 11+): those who passed it succesfully went to grammar schools while those who did not went to secondary modern schools. A few areas especially in the south of England still have selective exams at the age of 11.)

Comprehensive schools were introduced in 1965. The idea of comprehensive education, supported by the Labour Party, was to give all children of whatever background the same opportunity in education.

At 16 students in England and Wales take GCSE examinations. In 1988 these examinations replaced the GCE(General Sertificate of Education) and O-levels(Ordinary levels) which were usually passed by about 29 % of school students. GCSE exams are taken by students of all levels of ability in any of a range of subjects, and may involve a final examination, and assessment of work done by the student during the 2-year course, or both of these things.

Some comprehensive schools, however, do not have enough academic courses for 6-formers. Students can transfer either to a grammar school or to 6-form college to get the courses they want. School-leavers with jobs sometimes take part-time vocational courses, on day-release from work. School-leavers without jobs get no money from the government unless they join a youth training scheme, which provides a living allowance during 2 years of work experience.

At 18 some students take A-level(Advanced level) examinations, usually in two or three subjects. It is necessary to have A-level in order to go to a university or Polytechnic.

But some pupils want to stay on at school after taking their GCSE, to prepare for a vocational course or to work rather then for A-level examinations. Then they have to take the CPVE examination which means the Certificate of Pre-Vocational Education.

In Scotland students take the SCE examinations(Scottish Sertificate of Education). A year later, they can take examinations called Highers after which they can go streight to a university.

Secondary education in Northern Ireland is organized along selective lines according to children's abilities. One can hardly say that high quality secondary education is provided for all in Britain. There is a high loss of pupils of working- class families at entry into the 6 form. If you are a working- class child at school today, the chance of your reaching the second year of a sixth-form course is probably less than one-twelfth of that for the child of a professional parent. Besides, government cuts on school spending caused many difficulties.

Durind all the prosess of education the child is taught in order with the National Curriculum. Even the schools which do specialize in different subjects -nowadays an increasing number- have to teach in order with the National Curriculum & the parents are sure that their child will have a broad-based education. Those schools usually do specialize in technology and often are working with local business.

There are so many types of schools in Britain that from the first sight seems you can 'sink' in variety. First division is from independent & state scools. Some types can be both state and independent, for example grammar schools. There are a lot of voluntary or church schools in Britain which are to encourage the set of belief, they are funded by the local council. Most parents choose to send their children to free state schools financed from the public funds but an increasing number of secondary pupils attend fee-paying independent schools outside the school system. Many of these are boarding schools, which provide accommodation for pupils during term time. There are about 2,500 independent schools educating more than 500,000 pupils of all ages. They charge fees, varying from about 100? a term for day pupils at nursery age to 2.000? a term for senior boarding pupils.

Another type of school is known as grant-maintained or self-governing school. Every, in fact, school can become grant- maintained. Those schools offer education free of charge, but are run by their teachers and governors, independent from the local council. They get their money from central government through the Funding Agency of Schools. This includes a share of what the local council would have spent on administration.

What should the school do to become grant-maintained? The idea usually belongs to parents. If any parent want the school of his/her child to become grant-maintained he/she should tell the other parents about his/her idea and call the council of parents. After the decision is made parents their headmaster/headmistress write a letter to the government with an ask to become a self- governing school. If the government accepts, the school will be sure the local council won't step in if the things go wrong and the school won't have to share money from the government. Some self-governing schools provide boarding places.

There is another important type of schools- City Technology Colleges. It's a new type of free secondary school. They are set up in large towns and cities through partnerships between the government and business and is a type of spesialized schools.

There are schools known as the selective schools. They admit academically able pupils(pupils who can and want to study). Some of them offer places to pupils with an aptitude in a particular subject.

There is a type of schools called public schools.Those are private schools and about 5 per cent of pupils prefer to be educated there. These are schools for the privileged. Only very rich families can afford to pay for the study, because the fees are very high.They are free from state control & most of them are boarding. It goes without saying that education is of a high quality; the discipline is very strict.

There are about 500 public schools in England and Wales, most of them are single-sex and about half of them are for girls. The most famous public schools are Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Winchester, Oundle, Uppingham, Charterhouse. They are famous for their ability to lay the foundation of a successful future by giving their pupils self-confidence, the right accent, a good academic background and, perhaps most important of all, the right friends & contacts.They never think they are school-leavers, but they are 'the old school ties' & 'the old boys network'.

Public schools educate the rulling class of England. Winston Churchill, Lord Byron & many others were educated in Harrow school. In Gorgonstoun was educated the Prince of Wales.

There are many other types of schools like county, all-through, two-tier and others.

Now let's talk about the prosess itself. The school year is divided into terms, three months each, named after seasons: autumn, winter and spring terms.

The autumn term starts on the first Tuesday morning in September. In July school break up for eight weeks.

Each group of 30 pupils is the responsibility of a form tutor the same as in Russian schools nowadays. The same is that each school day is divided into periods of 40-50 minutes, time for various lessons with 10-20 minutes' brakes between them. At the end of the term or before some national holiday, called in England speech-days pupils are gathered in tha assembly area or hall.

Like in our schools in English classrooms also exist desks arranged in rows(each row is called an aisle), chalkboard/blackboard, different kinds of laboratories, technical rooms, rooms for computer studies on so on.

Pupils at many secondary schools in Britain have to wear the school uniform. This usually means a white blouse for girls, with dark-coloured skirt and pullover and for boys these are shirt and tie, dark trousers and dark-coloured pullovers. Pupils also wear blasers with scool badge on the pocket. Shoes are usually black or brown. Senior students do not have to wear their school uniform. Of course it's good for the teachers and for the pupils themselves, because there's no problem of finding the clothes they want(actually it's a problem of parents), but the young people in Britain often do not like their school uniform. If they do not like it so much that they don't wear it at first they will be given a warning, then a punishment.

Corporal punishment has recently been banned in state schools, but in most schools it's still allowed, caning is the usual punishment for serious misbehavior in class, damage and vandalism. Many teachers remark that standarts of discipline have fallen since corporal punishment was banned by the government.

And withoun saying that in each school exist system of rewards for the best pupils.

A very interesting topic is the social, cultural and sporting life in British secondary schools nowadays. Firstly each school or 6-form college has its School/College Council which organizes the social & cultural life at the school, helps to plan the policy for the whole school. School Councils run discos & parties, stage drama productions and decorate the student common room; some of the students help in local hospitals, homes for the handicapped & elderly people.

There also are lots of clubs & societies, national voluntary youth organizations(Boy Scouts & the Girl Guides), several youth organizations associated with political parties(YCND-Youth Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament).

3The flag of Britain.

 

The history, current status, and nomenclature of the Union Flag, and its use other than as a flag for the United Kingdom (for example, in Australia), are treated more fully under the article Union Flag.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland uses as its national flag the royal banner known as the Union Flag or, popularly, Union Jack. ^[1]The current design of the Union Flag dates from the union of Ireland and Great Britain in 1801. It consists of the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England), edged in white, superimposed on the Cross of St Patrick (patron saint of Ireland), which are superimposed on the Saltire of Saint Andrew (patron saint of Scotland). Wales, however, is not represented in the Union Flag by Wales' patron saint, Saint David, as at the time the flag was designed Wales was part of the Kingdom of England.

Its correct proportions are 1:2. However, the version officially used by the British Army modifies the proportions to 3:5, and additionally two of the red diagonals are cropped.

Main article: Union Flag

Proclamation of James I of England, King of Scots: Orders in Council; Official creation of the Union Flag – 1606.

QUOTE – "By the King: Whereas, some differences hath arisen between Our subjects of South and North Britaine travelling by Seas, about the bearing of their Flagges: For the avoiding of all contentions hereafter. We have, with the advice of our Council, ordered: That from henceforth all our Subjects of this Isle and Kingdome of Great Britaine, and all our members thereof, shall beare in their main-toppe the Red Crosse, commonly called St. George’s Crosse, and the White Crosse, commonly called St. Andrew’s Crosse, joyned together according to the forme made by our heralds, and sent by Us to our Admerall to be published to our Subjects: and in their fore-toppe our Subjects of South Britaine shall weare the Red Crosse onely as they were wont, and our Subjects of North Britaine in their fore-toppe the White Crosse onely as they were accustomed. – 1606." ^[2]

Flying the flag

St. George's Flag (England)

St. Andrew's Flag (Scotland)

Great Britain

St. Patrick's Flag (Ireland)

United Kingdom

The Union Flag can be flown by any individual or organisation in Great Britain on any day of their choice. Legal regulations restrict the use of the Union Flagon Government buildings in Northern Ireland. Long-standing restrictions on Government use of the flag elsewhere were abolished in July 2007.^[3][4]

Upside-down

in Whitehall did so. The Flag of the United Kingdom, the right way up, here viewed from behind.

While the flag appears symmetric, the white lines above and below the diagonal red are different widths. On the side closest to the flagpole (or on the left when depicted on paper), the white lines above the diagonals are wider; on the side furthest from the flagpole (or on the right when depicted on paper), the converse is true. Thus, rotating the flag 180 degrees will effect no change, but if mirrored the flag will be upside-down.

Placing the flag upside down is considered lèse majesté and is offensive to some,^[5][6] However, it can be flown upside down as a distress signal. While this is rare, it was used by groups under siege during the Boer War and during campaigns in India in the late 18th century.

St Patrick's saltire

The only reason that the UK flag is not symmetrical is because of the relative positions of the saltires of St Patrick and St. Andrew. The red saltire of St Patrick is offset such that it doesn't relegate the white saltire of St. Andrew to a mere border for it. St. Andrew's saltire has the higher position at the hoist side, with St. Patrick's saltire in the higher position on the opposite side.

History

Main article: History of the English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated from the Anglo-Frisian and Old Saxon dialects brought to Britain by Germanic settlers from various parts of what is now northwest Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands.^[29] Up to that point, in Roman Britain the native population is assumed to have spoken the Celtic language Brythonic alongside the acrolectal influence of Latin, from the 400-year Roman occupation.^[30]

One of these incoming Germanic tribes was the Angles,^[31] whom Bede believed to have relocated entirely to Britain.^[32] The names 'England' (from Engla land ^[33] "Land of the Angles") and English (Old English Englisc ^[34]) are derived from the name of this tribe—but Saxons, Jutes and a range of Germanic peoples from the coasts of Frisia, Lower Saxony, Jutland and Southern Sweden also moved to Britain in this era.^[35][36][37]

Initially, Old English was a diverse group of dialects, reflecting the varied origins of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Great Britain^[38] but one of these dialects, Late West Saxon, eventually came to dominate, and it is in this that the poem Beowulf is written.

Old English was later transformed by two waves of invasion. The first was by speakers of the North Germanic language branch when Halfdan Ragnarsson and Ivar the Boneless started the conquering and colonisation of northern parts of the British Isles in the 8th and 9th centuries (see Danelaw). The second was by speakers of the Romance language Old Norman in the 11th century with the Norman conquest of England. Norman developed into Anglo-Norman, and then Anglo-French – and introduced a layer of words especially via the courts and government. As well as extending the lexicon with Scandinavian and Norman words these two events also simplified the grammar and transformed English into a borrowing language—more than normally open to accept new words from other languages.

The linguistic shifts in English following the Norman invasion produced what is now referred to as Middle English, with Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales being the best known work.

Throughout all this period Latin in some form was the lingua franca of European intellectual life, first the Medieval Latin of the Christian Church, but later the humanist Renaissance Latin, and those that wrote or copied texts in Latin^[15] commonly coined new terms from Latin to refer to things or concepts for which there was no existing native English word.

Modern English, which includes the works of William Shakespeare^[39] and the King James Bible, is generally dated from about 1550, and when the United Kingdom became a colonial power, English served as the lingua franca of the colonies of the British Empire. In the post-colonial period, some of the newly created nations which had multiple indigenous languages opted to continue using English as the lingua franca to avoid the political difficulties inherent in promoting any one indigenous language above the others. As a result of the growth of the British Empire, English was adopted in North America, India, Africa, Australia and many other regions, a trend extended with the emergence of the United States as a superpower in the mid-20th century.

7England. It’s economy and emblem.

The Economy of England is the sixth largest economy in the world and the largest economy of the four countries of the United Kingdom.

England is a highly industrialised country. It is an important producer of textiles and chemical products. Although automobiles, locomotives, and aircraft are among England's other important industrial products, a significant proportion of the country's income comes from the City of London. Since the 1990s, the financial services sector has played an increasingly significant role in the English economy and the City of London is one of the world's largest financial centres. Banks, insurance companies, commodity and futures exchanges are heavily concentrated in the City. The British pound sterling is the official currency of England and the central bank of the United Kingdom, the Bank of England, is located in London.

The service sector of the economy as a whole is now the largest in England, with manufacturing and primary industries in decline. The only major secondary industry that is growing is the construction industry, fuelled by economic growth provided mainly by the growing services, administrative and financial sector. History

In medieval times (c. 11th–15th century), the wool trade was the major industry of England and the country exported wool to Europe. Many market towns and ports grew up on the industry. Poor infrastructure hampered the development of large scale industry. This changed when the canals and railways began to be built, in the late 18th century and early 19th century.

England became the world's first industrialised nation, with the industrial revolution taking place in the late 18th century. This was also the age of British overseas expansion, where England relied upon colonies (such as India, America, Canada, or Australia) to bring in resources such as cotton and tobacco. English factories then processed goods and sold them on in both the quickly growing domestic market or abroad. Cities grew and large industrial centres were established, especially in the Midlands and North England.

Heavy industries, such as coal mining, steel production and shipbuilding, declined in England during the second half of the 20th century and were replaced by service industries and hi-tech industries, such as thecomputer and pharmaceutical industries.

Agriculture and fishing

Finance

Manufacturing

Tourism

Emblem.

The words emblem and symbol often appear interchangeably in day-to-day conversation without causing undue confusion. A distinction between the two may seem unnecessarily fastidious. Nevertheless, an emblem is a pattern that is used to represent an idea, or an individual. An emblem crystallizes in concrete, visual terms some abstraction: a deity, a tribe or nation, a virtue or a vice. An emblem is an object or a representation of an object.

An emblem may be worn or otherwise used as an identifying badge. A real or metal cockle shell, the emblem of St James the Apostle, sewn onto the hat or clothes identified a medieval pilgrim to his shrine at Santiago de Compostela. In the Middle Ages, many saints were given emblems, which served to identify them in paintings and other images: St Catherine had a wheel, or a sword, St Anthony Abbot a pig and a small bell. These are also called attributes, especially when shown carried by or close to the saint in art. Kings and other grand persons increasingly adopted personal devices or emblems that were distinct from their family heraldry. The most famous includeLouis XIV of France's sun, the salamander of Francis I of France, the boar of Richard III of England and the armillary sphere of Manuel I of Portugal. In the fifteenth and sixteenth century there was a fashion, started in Italy, for making large medals with a portrait head on the obverse and the emblem on the reverse; these would be given to friends and as diplomatic gifts. Pisanello produced many of the earliest and finest of these.

"The big eat the small": a political emblem from an emblem book of 1617

In current American usage, police officers' badges refer specifically to their personal metal emblem — sometimes with a uniquely identifying number or name on it — while the woven emblems sewn on their uniforms identify all the members of a particular unit.

A symbol substitutes one thing for another, in a more concrete fashion^[1]:

§ The Christian cross is a symbol of the Crucifixion; it is an emblem of sacrifice.

§ The Red Cross is one of three symbols representing the International Red Cross.^[2] A red cross on a white background is the emblem of humanitarian spirit.

§ The crescent shape is a symbol of the moon; it is an emblem of Islam.

§ The skull and crossbones is an symbol identifying a poison.^[3] The skull is an emblem of the transitory human life.

7Britain in the medieval period.

England in the Middle Ages concerns the history of England during the Medieval period — from the end of Roman rule in Britain through to the Early Modern period. It is in this formative period that England emerged as a unified and political entity, and transformed over several centuries from a diverse, warring and fractious land of petty kingdoms, into one of Europe's most centralized, powerful and richest is usually dated by the rise of what is often referred to as the English Renaissance in the reign ofHenry VIII, and the Reformation in Scotland, or else to the establishment of a centralised, bureaucratic monarchy by Henry VII. From a political point of view, the Norman conquest of England divides medieval England into two distinct phases of cultural and political history. From a linguistic point of view the Norman Conquest had only a limited effect, Old English evolving into Middle English, although the Anglo Norman language would remain the language of those that ruled for two centuries at least, before mingling with Middle English.

At the height of pre-Norman medieval English power, a single English king ruled to the borders with Scotland and Wales. After the Norman Conquest, Anglo-Norman power intruded into Wales with increasing vigour. Southern England had closer relationships with Normandy, Flanders and Brittany, owing to relative proximity, than had the other regions.

8British culture in the 16^th centuary.

English poetry of the 16^th century

The poetry of the earlier part of the 16th century is generally less important, with the exception of the work of John Skelton, which exhibits a curious combination of medieval and Renaissance influences. The two greatest innovators of the new, rich style of Renaissance poetry in the last quarter of the 16th century were Sir Philip Sidney and Edmund Spenser, both humanistically educated Elizabethan courtiers.Sidney, universally recognized as the model Renaissance nobleman, outwardly polished as well as inwardly conscientious, inaugurated the vogue of the sonnet cycle in his Astrophel and Stella (written 1582; published 1591). In this work, in the elaborate and highly metaphorical style of the earlier Italian sonnet, he celebrated his idealized love for Penelope Devereux, the daughter of Walter Devereux, 1st earl of Essex. These lyrics profess to see in her an ideal of womanhood that in the Platonic manner leads to a perception of the good, the true, and the beautiful and consequently of the divine. This idealization of the beloved remained a favored motif in much of the poetry and drama of the late 16th century; it had its roots not only in Platonism but also in the Platonic speculations of humanism and in the chivalric idealization of love in medieval romance.

Drama and prose

The poetry of the English Renaissance between 1580 and 1660 was the result of a remarkable outburst of energy. It is, however, the drama of roughly the same period that stands highest in popular estimation. The works of its greatest representative, William Shakespeare, have achieved worldwide renown. In the previous Middle English period there had been, within the church, a gradual broadening of dramatic representation of such doctrinally important events as the angel's announcement of the resurrection to the women at the tomb of Christ. Ultimately, performances of religious drama had become the province of the craft guilds, and the entire Christian story, from the creation of the world to the last judgment, had been reenacted for secular audiences. The Renaissance drama proper rose from this late medieval base by a number of transitional stages ending about 1580. A large number of comedies, tragedies, and examples of intermediate types were produced for London theaters between that year and 1642, when the London theaters were closed by order of the Puritan Parliament. Like so much nondramatic literature of the Renaissance, most of these plays were written in an elaborate verse style and under the influence of classical examples, but the popular taste, to which drama was especially susceptible, required a flamboyance and sensationalism largely alien to the spirit of Greek and Roman literature.

William Shakespeare

Elizabethan tragedy and comedy alike reached their true flowering in Shakespeare's works. Beyond his art, his rich style, and his complex plots, all of which surpass by far the work of other Elizabethan dramatists in the same field, and beyond his unrivaled projection of character, Shakespeare's compassionate understanding of the human lot has perpetuated his greatness and made him the representative figure of English literature for the whole world.

William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English poet and playwright, now widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard"). His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

England

John Locke was one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers. He influenced other thinkers such as Rousseau, Voltaire, among others. "He is one of the dozens or so thinkers who are remembered for their influential contributions across a broad spectrum of philosophical subfields--in Locke's case, across epistemology, the philosophy of language, the philosophy of mind, metaphysics, rational theology, ethics, and political philosophy." He is known today for his liberalism in political theory. The main goal that most people remember about him is his famous words of " Life, Liberty and Property." With property he stated that it is a natural right derived from labor. He was more of a positive Enlightenment thinker and often disagreed with others that related to Thomas Hobbes.

10Queen’s powers.

The Queen's power is primarily honorary. She or any reigning monarch, cannot enter the House of Commons, Parliament, unless she is invited as a guest. Prime Ministers often seek the Queen's advice and they must go to her when they wish to dissolve Parliament. One of the reasons for the distinction is that the Queen is the titular head of the Church of England., and a definite separation of church and state is maintained.
The Queen and other monarchs before her are always kept up to date on political issues.
I tend to be a monarchist. I see the monarchy in Great Britain as the solid enduring base on which Britain and what's left of the commonwealth can stand and survive. In times of great turmoil, the politicians can make the tough decisions with quiet diplomacy with the monarch, but the monarch is called upon to show the grounded strength that is Great Britain and, by doing so, to ease the fears of the people.
Is it worth the stipend paid to the monarch? You bet.
I am sure others would disagree. But I see how hard the Royal Family works for charities, etc., and I wouldn't want to work that much.
Britain has a Constitutional Monarchy. It is not the kind of monarchy where the reigning king or queen is the government.
Given today's politics...is a Republic really better? Government in Great Britain continues to work quite well with it's Parliament and Monarch.

11Wales it’s economy and emblem.

Wels is the second largest city of the state of Upper Austria, located in the north of Austria, on the Traun River near Linz. It is not part of its surrounding Wels County (Bezirk Wels-Land), but a so-called Statutarstadt (independent city). However, Wels is the county seat of Wels-Land. Economy

There are about 36,000 people employed in Wels. Of that, about 63% are in the service sector. Wels is known as an important city for shopping and the location of several gymnasiums (grammar school) and higher vocational schools and also of a vocational college. Furthermore, it is famous for the Wels Fair, which takes place every two years in the autumn.

Emblem

Like most nations, Wales has a few emblems.

The Leek, Daffodils, Welsh Dragon, and the Prince's 'three feathers' symbol.

The Red Dragon is the heraldic symbol of Wales, and is incorporated into the Welsh national flag.

According to tradition, the red dragon appeared on a crest born by Arthur, whose father, Uthr Bendragon, had seen a dragon in the sky predicting that he would be king.

The dragon as a symbol was probably introduced into Britain by the Roman legions. Medieval Welsh poets often compared their leaders to dragons in poems praising their bravery, for example, Gruffydd ab yr Ynad Coch said of Llewelyn ap Gruffudd Pen dragon, pen draig oedd arnaw ('A dragon's head he had').

Between 1485 and 1603, the dragon formed part of the arms of the Tudor dynasty, but it was replaced on the royal coat of arms with a unicorn by order of James I.

The red dragon reappeared as the royal badge for Wales in 1807, and from then on it was often seen in the regalia of Welsh patriotic societies. At the suggestion of the Gorsedd of the Bards, it was officially recognised by the Queen in 1959, and is now widely used as the national flag.

The leek and the daffodil

 

Both the sixth-century poet Taliesin and the thirteenth-century Red Book of Hergest extol the virtues of the leek, which, if eaten, encouraged good health and happiness. Small wonder, therefore, that a national respect grew around this plant, which was worn by the Welsh in the Battle of Crecy, and by 1536, when Henry VIII gave a leek to his daughter on 1 March, was already associated with St David's Day. It is possible that the green and white family colours adopted by the Tudors were taken from their liking for the leek.

 

In comparison with the ancient Welsh associations of the leek, the daffodil has only recently assumed a position of national importance. An increasingly popular flower during the 19th century, especially among women, its status was elevated by the Welsh-born prime minister David Lloyd George, who wore it on St David's Day and used it in ceremonies in 1911 to mark the investiture of the Prince of Wales at Caernarfon.

12Judiciary system of UK.

HOW UK LAW IS CLASSIFIED
A distinction is made between public law, which governs the relationship between individual citizens and the state, and private law, which governs relationships between individuals and private organisations.

For practical purposes, the most significant distinction is between civil law and criminal law.
Civil law covers such areas as contracts, negligence, family matters, employment, probate and land law.

Criminal law, which is a branch of public law, defines the boundaries of acceptable conduct. A person who breaks the criminal law is regarded as having committed an offence against society as a whole.

HOW CIVIL LAW IS ENFORCED IN ENGLAND AND WALES
A person who believes that another individual or organisation has committed a civil wrong can complete a claim form and send it to the appropriate court. The County Court, which is based at over 200 locations, deals with most claims involving less than £25,000 and claims for less than £50,000 that involve injury to a person. The High Court, which is in London, hears most higher-value cases. In the County and High Courts, each case is heard by a single judge.

The person who starts a civil case is called a claimant, and he or she has the burden of proving that, more probably than not, the other party (the defendant) committed a civil wrong. If the claimant is successful, the usual remedy is damages: a sum of money paid by the defendant to the claimant. Other remedies, such as a court order that prohibits a person from behaving in a certain way, are available in some circumstances.

Either party to a civil case may appeal to a higher court against the decision.
HOW CRIMINAL LAW IS ENFORCED IN ENGLAND AND WALES

A person who believes that a crime has been committed contacts the police, who conduct an investigation. If, after arresting and interviewing a person, the police believe that he or she committed the crime, that individual is charged. A report of the case is then sent to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

If the CPS believes that the case has a reasonable prospect of success, and that it would be in the public interest to do so, it will start criminal proceedings against the suspect, who becomes the defendant in the case. In court, the CPS bears the burden of proving, beyond reasonable doubt, that the defendant committed the crime.

Minor offences, such as speeding, are heard by Magistrates’ Courts. Many towns in England and Wales have their own Magistrates’ Court, where cases are heard by three magistrates. Magistrates do not need any legal qualifications, and they are advised by a Clerk, who is a qualified lawyer. Magistrates do not state reasons for their decisions.

Very serious offences, such as murder and rape, are heard in the Crown Court. The Crown Court is based in about 90 centres throughout England and Wales. A jury consisting of 12 people chosen at random from the local population will decide, without giving reasons, whether the defendant is guilty of the offence. Usually a jury’s decision will be unanimous, but the judge may decide that an 11:1 or 10:2 majority is sufficient. The jury is advised about the law by the judge, whose role also includes imposing a sentence if the defendant is found guilty.

Some intermediate offences, such as theft, may be tried in a Magistrates’ Court or the Crown Court.
The sentences available for criminal offences include fines (payment of a sum of money to the state), imprisonment and community punishments such as unpaid supervised work.

The United Kingdom does not have a single legal system due to it being created by the political union of previously independent countries with the terms of the Treaty of Union guaranteeing the continued existence of Scotland's separate legal system. Today the UK has three distinct systems of law: English law, Northern Ireland law and Scots law. Recent constitutional changes saw a new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom come into being in October 2009 that took on the appeal functions of the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords.^[19] The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, comprising the same members as the Supreme Court, is the highest court of appeal for several independent Commonwealth countries, the UK overseas territories, and the British crown dependencies.

13The government of GB (it’s formation and functions).

The government runs the country. It has responsibility for developing and implementing policy and for drafting laws. It is also known as the Executive.

When a election winning party does not have enough of the % vote to govern/rule on its own - that party will look for another party (that they can get along with) who with there % vote (added together) will give the winning party an overall % 'working' marjority.

When that happens all sorts of deals are done 'behind the scenes' - the smaller party demanding this or that for there agreement - incuding positions in the ruling winning parties government appointments.

Its always trouble when this happens because if the minority party withdraws its support (as sometimes they do) the ruling government party will collapse and another election will have too be called.!!

All government parties have to have a working % majority - if not they will be out voted on issues all the time and will not survive.

 

Functions.

The Prime Minister

As head of the UK government, the Prime Minister oversees the operation of the Civil Service and government agencies, appoints members of the Cabinet, and is the principal government figure in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister is also, by tradition, the First Lord of the Treasury – and draws his or her salary in that role, rather than as Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister's unique position of authority comes from majority support in the House of Commons and the power to appoint and dismiss ministers. By modern convention, the Prime Minister always sits in the Commons.

The Prime Minister presides over the Cabinet, is responsible for allocating functions among ministers and, at regular meetings with the Queen, informs her of the general business of the government.

The Prime Minister's other responsibilities include recommending a number of appointments to the Queen. These include high-ranking members of the Church of England, senior judges and certain civil appointments. He also recommends appointments to several public boards and institutions, as well as to various royal and statutory commissions.

The Prime Minister's Office supports him in his role as head of government. This includes providing policy advice, tracking the delivery of government commitments and initiatives, and ensuring effective communications to Parliament, the media and the public.

· Number 10 websiteOpens new window

The Cabinet

The Cabinet is the committee at the centre of the British political system and the supreme decision-making body in government.

The British Prime Minister has traditionally been referred to as ‘primus inter pares’, which means ‘first among equals’ and demonstrates that he or she is a member of the collective decision-making body of the Cabinet, rather than an individual who has powers in their own right. The Prime Minister is first among equals simply in recognition of the responsibility held for appointing and dismissing all the other Cabinet members.

Cabinet ministers are the highest-ranking ministers in the government, and most government departments have one Cabinet minister (or more). Most Cabinet ministers are titled ‘Secretary of State’ – although some have traditional titles, such as the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Chief Whip.

Britain as Roman Province.

Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.^[1]

The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia (Scotland). Before the Roman invasion, begun in AD 43, Iron Age Britain already had established cultural and economic links with Continental Europe, but the Roman invaders introduced new developments in agriculture, urbanisation, industry and architecture. Besides the native British record of the initial Roman invasion, Roman historians generally mention Britannia only in passing, thus, most knowledge of Roman Britain has derived from archaeological investigations, and the epigraphic evidence lauding the Britannic achievements of an Emperor of Rome, such as Hadrian (r. AD 117–38) and Antoninus Pius (r. AD 138–61), whose walls demarcated the northern borders of Roman Britain.^[2]

The first extensive Roman campaigns in Britain were by the armies of Julius Caesar in 55 and in 54 BC,^[3][4] but the first significant campaign of conquest did not begin until AD 43, in the reign of the Emperor Claudius.^[5] Following the conquest of the native Britons, a distinctive Romano-British culture emerged under provincial government, which, despite steadily extended territorial control northwards, was never able to exert definite control over Caledonia. The Romans demarcated the northern border of Britannia with Hadrian's Wall, completed around the year 128.^[6] Fourteen years later, in AD 142, the Romans extended the Britannic frontier northwards, to theForth-Clyde line, where they constructed the Antonine Wall,^[7] but, after approximately twenty years, they then retreated to the border of Hadrian's Wall.^[8] Around the year 197, Rome divided Britannia into two provinces, Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior;^[9] sometime after AD 305, Britannia was further divided, and made into an imperial diocese.^[10] For much of the later period of the Roman occupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and often came under the control of imperialusurpers and pretenders to the Roman Emperorship.

Most Romans departed from Britain around the year 410, which began the sub-Roman period (AD 5–6 c.), but the legacy of the Roman Empire was felt for centuries in Britain.

Roman invasion

Roman rule is established

End of Roman rule

Sub-Roman Britain

15The legal profession in GB.

Solicitors

Solicitors undertake most of the work in magistrates’ courts and county courts - both preparation of cases and also advocacy. But litigation is only a small part of the work of the solicitor’s profession as a whole. Most are involved in commercial work relating to business eg dealing with commercial transactions, corporate matters, land, share and other property dealings. There is also a large amount of private client work which does not involve any litigation (if all goes to plan!) such as the conveyancing of houses, making wills, advising on tax matters and so on.

Most solicitors are graduates with a law degree. They must also undertake professional training both by a one year Legal Practice Course and then by two years under a training contract with a solicitor in practice. See generally Details of the UK solicitors' profession pages.

John Constable (1776-1837)

William Blake (1757-1827)

King, Lords, and Commons

It was during the reign of the Tudor monarchs that the modern structure of the English Parliament began to be created. The Tudor monarchy was powerful and there were often periods of several years time when parliament did not sit at all. However the Tudor monarchs were astute enough to realise that they needed parliament to legitimise many of their decisions, mostly out of a need to raise money through taxation legitimately without causing discontent. Thus they consolidated the state of affairs whereby monarchs would call and close parliament as and when they needed it.

By the time Henry Tudor (Henry VII) came to the throne in 1485 the monarch was not a member of either the Upper Chamber or the Lower Chamber. Consequently, the monarch would have to make his or her feelings known to Parliament through his or her supporters in both houses. Proceedings were regulated by the presiding officer in either chamber. From the 1540s the presiding officer in the House of Commons became formally known as the "Speaker", having previously been referred to as the "prolocutor" or "parlour" (a semi-official position, often nominated by the monarch, that had existed ever since Peter de Montforthad acted as the presiding officer of the Oxford Parliament of 1258). This was not an enviable job. When the House of Commons was unhappy it was the Speaker who had to deliver this news to the monarch. This began the tradition, that survives to this day, whereby the Speaker of the House of Commons is dragged to the Speaker's Chair by other members once elected.

A member of either chamber could present a "bill" to parliament. Bills supported by the monarch were often proposed by members of their Privy Council who sat in parliament. In order for a bill to become law it would have to be approved by a majority of both Houses of Parliament before it passed to the monarch for royal assent or veto. The royal veto was applied several times during the 16th and 17th centuries and it is still the right of the monarch of the United Kingdom to veto legislation today, although it has not been exercised since 1707 (today such exercise would presumably precipitate a constitutional crisis).

When a bill became law this process theoretically gave the bill the approval of each estate of the realm: the King, Lords, and Commons. In reality this was not accurate. The Parliament of England was far from being a democratically representative institution in this period. It was possible to assemble the entire nobility and senior clergy of the realm in one place to form the estate of the Upper Chamber. However, the voting franchise for the House of Commons was small; some historians estimate that it was as little as 3% of the adult male population. This meant that elections could sometimes be controlled by local grandees because in some boroughs the voters were in some way dependent on local nobles or alternatively they could be bought off with bribes or kickbacks. If these grandees were supporters of the incumbent monarch, this gave the Crown and its ministers considerable influence over the business of parliament. Many of the men elected to parliament did not relish the prospect of having to act in the interests of others. So a rule was enacted, still on the statute book today, whereby it became illegal for members of the House of Commons to resign their seat unless they were granted a position directly within the patronage of the monarchy (today this latter restriction leads to a legal fiction allowing de facto resignation despite the prohibition). However, it must be emphasised that while several elections to parliament in this period were in some way corrupt by modern standards, many elections involved genuine contests between rival candidates, although the ballot was not secret.

It was in this period that the Palace of Westminster was established as the seat of the English Parliament. In 1548, the House of Commons was granted a regular meeting place by the Crown, St Stephen's Chapel. This had been a royal chapel. It was made into a debating chamber after Henry VIII became the last monarch to use the Palace of Westminster as a place of residence and following the suppression of the college there. This room became the home of the House of Commons until it was destroyed by fire in 1834, although the interior was altered several times up until then. The structure of this room was pivotal in the development of the Parliament of England. While most modern legislatures sit in a circular chamber, the benches of the British Houses of Parliament are laid out in the form of choir stalls in a chapel, simply because this is the part of the original room that the members of the House of Commons utilised when they were granted use of St Stephen's Chapel. This structure took on a new significance with the emergence of political parties in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, as the tradition began whereby the members of the governing party would sit on the benches to the right of the Speaker and the opposition members on the benches to the left. It is said that the Speaker's chair was placed in front of the chapel's altar. As Members came and went they observed the custom of bowing to the altar and continued to do so, even when it had been taken away, thus then bowing to the Chair, as is still the custom today.^{[ citation needed ]}

The numbers of the Lords Spiritual diminished under Henry VIII, who commanded the Dissolution of the Monasteries, thereby depriving the abbots and priors of their seats in the Upper House. For the first time, theLords Temporal were more numerous than the Lords Spiritual. Currently, the Lords Spiritual consist of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Bishops of London, Durham and Winchester, and twenty-one other English diocesan bishops in seniority of appointment to a diocese.

The Laws in Wales Acts of 1535–42 annexed Wales as part of England and this brought Welsh representatives into the Parliament of England.

What does the House of Lords do?

The House of Lords is the second chamber of the UK Parliament. It works with the House of Commons to:

make laws

check and challenge the actions of the government, and

provide a forum of independent expertise

The House of Lords Chamber spends about 60% of its time on legislation; the other 40% is spent on scrutiny – questioning Government and debating issues and policy. Committee work takes place outside the Chamber.