CULTURA Y CIVILIZACIÓN II
1. KING HENRY II AND THOMAS BECKET – THE BECKET CONTROVERSY
(1163-1174)
Thomas Becket was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral, on 28th December AD 1170. He
was a religious person, and he was killed by knights, people who belong to the King.
Why was Thomas Becket murdered in this very holy place?
Because he had refused to follow the King’s orders. 4 knights overheard the King
complaining about this in rage and decided to take action without consulting the King.
Why was King Henry II whipped at Canterbury?
Timeline of the events – The Becket Controversy:
1163: Quarrel between Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket and King Henry II of
England.
1170: Becket’s murder as the culmination of this controversy.
1173: Becket’s Canonization.
1174: Henry’s public penance at Canterbury.
Murder at the Cathedral
Outline:
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Background: 12th century – Henry II very powerful. Ruled over England, Wales
and parts of France and Ireland. Church was jealous of his power. He was best
friends with Becket. He gave him the job of the chancellor of the kingdom (like
prime minister). King Henry had one big problem – he wanted written laws and
courts to make sure they were obeyed. The church, however, was standing in his
way. They didn’t want to be controlled by the courts. Then he made Thomas
Archbishop of Canterbury (most powerful religious position) so he would do what
he wanted him to do.
Start of the dispute: Thomas took his position very serious. He became very
religious (he wasn’t a religious person before) and wouldn’t make the changes
henry wanted. They argued and things became so bad that Thomas left for France.
Becket’s Exile: Thomas left for France and him and the king did not talk for 6
years even though henry tried to fix things.
Aftermath: He went back to England when Henry asked him to and he
excommunicated any bishops that had been appointed by Henry. A few of
Henry’s knights went to Canterbury without an order from the king to do so, and
they demanded that becket leave the cathedral, but he refused. They slashed at
him with their swords, leaving 4 deadly wounds.
Henry said he never meant for Becket to die, but the country was already angry at
him. In order to show his sorrow, Henry changed his royal clothes for itchy
sackcloth and stayed overnight with the coffin of Thomas to say sorry. Next day
he walked barefoot to the church to show his respects.
Background – 12th Century
The Power of Henry II, the power of Thomas Becket, the Power of the Church,
Conflict between powers.
King of England, Wales, and parts of Ireland and France. He was the most powerful King
in Europe (or the world). It was a time when religion was powerful. Sometimes this lead
to conflicts. Sometimes the church wanted more power, and sometimes the king was
jealous from the power of the church.
Henry II wanted England to be a country controlled by law and order. He wanted to
become the main power in his territory. The church was standing in his way since it didn’t
want to be controlled by the king’s courts. The church had their own courts, so not every
crime was treated in the same way; there were secular crimes and religious crimes.
In 1162, Thomas Becket was appointed chancellor, but later he became Archbishop of
Canterbury. This is the moment where this person changed his life from being secular, a
regular citizen, to be a religious citizen. Since the King and Becket had a very good
relationship, the former hoped that the latter would follow his orders as the highest
member of the Church: he wanted to assert the royal supremacy. At the same time, the
King hoped that the power of the church returned to what it was in the times of his
grandfather, Henry I).
Thomas Becket resigned the chancellorship and became the Archbishop. All his life
changed. Becket had lived contentiously, but he started to wear religious clothes and made
certain spiritual changes. He took his charges very seriously and became extremely
religious. Consequently, he no longer helped the king in defending royal interest in the
church. By becoming religious, he no longer wanted to help his friend, but he wanted to
help the Church instead. There were different interests fighting at the same time: Thomas
Becket wanted to fight for the rights of the Church, whereas the King wanted to fight for
his rights as a king. Henry II felt betrayed.
Among the different conflicts that were taking place, one that contributed to this 6-year
controversy, was the one with the clergy. The king wanted to control the law, and that
secular crimes would not be controlled by the church anymore. He wanted to be able to
control those secular crimes committed by the clergy: he wanted the so called criminal
clerks to be controlled by the king. In Becket’s eyes, only the ecclesiastical hierarchy can
judge secular crimes.
In contrast, Henry II considered the opposite. He thought that this situation deprived him
from controlling his country correctly, from being an efficient king. This situation was
also undercutting (weakening) law and order in England.
The reason why all this started is power.
The buildup to Becket’s exile
In 1163, Henry II gathered all the powerful positions in the church and in aristocracy in
the Westminster Abbey to express his complaints about the differences in powers. The
bishops refused to agree – they were following the cannon law (la ley canónica). The
council only met for a day, and the next day not only the king took his heir, Henry the
Young King out of Becket’s custody, but he also confiscated the honors that he had given
to Thomas Becket. Over the next year, both sides (the church and the king) tried to gain
advantages. He worked on diplomatic efforts to keep allies.
On the other hand, Henry II was able to convince some of the bishops, and thus gained
more advantage. At the same times, both sides requested to talk to the papacy, and Becket
also sent diplomatic fillers (negociaciones) to kill the whole king of France and the Holy
Roman Emperor. Nevertheless, the pope Alexander III refused to take sides. He wanted
them to be calm and stop the conflict – he didn’t one any of them. Moreover, Becket also
began to seek for possible safe places of refuge on the continent. This is the beginning of
Becket’s idea to find a place to be on exile. He took a ship to France in November 1164.
One year later, in 1164, there was another meeting. In this committee, we have not only
the clergy, but also King’s barons (important people of the nobility). After a few
arguments and threats, Henry II eventually, persuaded Becket to follow his conviction
and follow the King’s law and power, thus restricting the Church’s ecclesiastical
privileges. This agreement later became known as the Constitutions of Claredon and
consisted on the restriction of ecclesiastical privileges of courts and also of the influence
of the papal in England. Later in the same year, Becket attempted to go to France – this
is his first attempt to go into exile, and he attempted to do this without permission, which
was forbidden by the Constitutions of Claredon. Finally, he was caught and had to remain
in England.
The Pope recommended Thomas Becket to stop scheming until 1166. In that year, Becket
began to threatened the king with ecclesiastical punishment. The king ignored all the
warning letters. For the next 4 years, the Pope Alexander didn’t take any sides, but was
dispatching people in case Becket and Henry were negotiating. However, none of them
wanted to settle down.
The end of the dispute. In 1170, although Henry II was still alive, his son was crowned
junior King of England by the Archbishop of York. The coronation drove the Pope to
allow Becket to lay an interdict (veto) on England as punishment, since he was the only
archbishop who could crown kings in England. The country was punished because of this
coronation. But later on, following this happening, in 1170, Becket and the King Henry
II came to terms and, of course, Becket returned to England.
After Becket went back to England, there’s another plot: the revenge. He
excommunicated people who were his enemies during his exile: Roger of York, Josceline
of Salisbury, and Foliot. The royal anger at the timing of the excommunications was such
that it led to Henry uttering the question often attributed to him: “Will no one rid me of
this turbulent priest?”. These words are the very reason why Thomas Becket was killed,
but he wasn’t killed by the king, but by his knights. These words inspired the four knights
to murder him at Canterbury in 1170.
In 1172, Henry II negotiated a settlement, an agreement, with the papacy. It was called
the “Compromise of Avranches”. The King agreed to eliminate all customs to which the
Church objected. Thus, Becket was murdered but won the battle. Later on, in 1174, the
King performed a public act of penance at Canterbury (he was whipped publically). At
the same time, he publicly confessed his sins, and then allowed each bishop present, to
give him five blows from a rod, then each of the 80 monks of Canterbury Cathedral gave
the King three blows.
Why the greatest of all English medieval kings is remembered at all today as just the
king who ordered the murder in the cathedral?
We established professional courts – he defended to listen what the judges had to say, he
didn’t want everything he wanted to do to be the law.
To what extent do you consider the following elements contributed to the
remembrance of Henry, the hero of the common law, as the biggest of England’s
crowned criminals – the murderer in the Cathedral?
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The Church
His wife.
The only family who would not accept the king's justice was his own.
If there was one person who was likely to think of the king not as judge but as
lawbreaker, it was his wife. It had been 20 years since Henry and Eleanor had
been partners, in bed and in government. Since then, Eleanor had had to suffer the
humiliation of a string of mistresses. What tormented her was not Becket's
shrine, but the shrine Henry built to his favorite mistress, Rosamund Clifford.
Betrayed and alienated, Eleanor turned her formidable energy and intellect to the
business of getting her just desserts through her children. She was now
determined to do everything she could to make her children feel their father
was robbing them of their rightful power and dignity.
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His children: Richard and John
The sons rose to the bait, and what a bunch they were, Henry and Eleanor's four
sons. There was young Henry, officially the next king of England, but in reality
still having to apply to his father for pocket money. He rebelled, only to end up
dying of dysentery.
Then there was Geoffrey, as bright and devious as his namesake grandfather,
given Brittany, but then trampled to death by a horse.
This left Richard Lionheart, physically brave, chivalrous and brutally
ambitious. And the youngest, John. Vindictive, self-serving, but undoubtedly
clever. Henry saw in him perhaps the only prince who could properly inherit the
government.
Between them they managed to undo, in their own spectacular ways, not only
the prospects of the kingdom, but, in the space of 15 years, the entire empire
their father had so skillfully constructed.
It was on Richard that Eleanor pinned her hopes. She was even prepared to go
as far as to encourage an alliance between Richard and Henry's bitterest enemy,
the king of France. So, in 1189, Richard declared war on his father.
Henry had no choice but to negotiate and agree terms which humbled him
before his own son. To onlookers, he appeared to embrace Richard in a kiss of
peace. What he really said was, "God spare me long enough to take revenge on
you." When the king asked to see the names of all those who had joined Richard,
to his horror, the first on the list was his beloved son, John. Faced with this
ultimate treachery, Henry read no more.
Notes from the video:
After the murder at the Cathedral, Henry II would rule for another 20 years, long enough
to see his embryonic legal system grow into a thriving network of courts. Up and down
the land, these new courts were to settle not just the usual disputes of blood and mayhem
but all manner of painful rows over inheritances, estates and properties. How ironic then
that the only family who would not accept the king's justice was his own.
If there was one person who was likely to think of the king not as judge but as lawbreaker,
it was his wife. It had been 20 years since Henry and Eleanor had been partners, in bed
and in government. Since then, Eleanor had had to suffer the humiliation of a string of
mistresses. What tormented her was not Becket's shrine, but the shrine Henry built to his
favorite mistress, Rosamund Clifford. Betrayed and alienated, Eleanor turned her
formidable energy and intellect to the business of getting her just desserts through her
children. She was now determined to do everything she could to make her chidren
feel their father was robbing them of their rightful power and dignity.
The sons rose to the bait, and what a bunch they were, Henry and Eleanor's four sons.
There was young Henry, officially the next king of England, but in reality still having to
apply to his father for pocket money. He rebelled, only to end up dying of dysentery.
Then there was Geoffrey, as bright and devious as his namesake grandfather, given
Brittany, but then trampled to death by a horse. This left Richard Coeur de Lion, the
Lionheart, physically brave, chivalrous and brutally ambitious. And the youngest, John.
Vindictive, self-serving, but undoubtedly clever. Henry saw in him perhaps the only
prince who could properly inherit the government.
Between them they managed to undo, in their own spectacular ways, not only the
prospects of the kingdom, but, in the space of 15 years, the entire empire their father had
so skilfully constructed. It was on Richard that Eleanor pinned her hopes. She was even
prepared to go as far as to encourage an alliance between Richard and Henry's bitterest
enemy, the king of France. So, in 1189, Richard declared war on his father.
The beleaguered Henry had no choice but to negotiate and agree terms which humbled
him before his own son. To onlookers, he appeared to embrace Richard in a kiss of peace.
What he really said was, "God spare me long enough "to take revenge on you." When the
king asked to see the names of all those who had joined Richard, to his horror, the first
on the list was his beloved son, John. Faced with this ultimate treachery, Henry read no
more.
He died two days later in his castle at Chinon, some chroniclers say of a broken heart.
The only child at his deathbed was one of his illegitimate sons. "The others," he said, with
Lear-like bitterness, "are the real bastards." A barge took his body downriver to
Fontevrault Abbey. When Richard finally viewed the tomb, it is said that blood poured
from the nostrils of the corpse. In fact, when Henry II died here at Chinon in 1189, hardly
anyone mourned. It seems that most people were off breaking open bottles to celebrate
the accession of his son, Richard, the darling of popular folklore and legend.
2. THE THREE KINGDOMS: THE MEDIEVAL ATTEMPT
ENGLAND, WALES AND SCOTLAND.
OF
UNION
OF
The purpose of this topic is to reflect on the attempt to unify the three kingdoms of
England, Wales and Scotland by Edward I of England.
How King Edward I’s attempts to force English rule on Scotland and Wales strengthened
the identities of all the British nations. This explains why the Welsh, the Scottish and the
English feel different and have a different identity.
KING EDWARD I (1239-1307): EDWARD “LONGSHANKS” OR “THE HAMMER
OF THE SCOTS”
Edward I was King of England from 1272 to 1307. He was involved from an early age in
the political intrigues of his father’s reign. He was temperamental, and this, along with
his height, made him an intimidating man, and he often instilled fear in his
contemporaries. Nevertheless, he held the respect of his subjects for the way he embodied
the medieval ideal of kingship, as a soldier, an administrator and a man of faith. He
belonged to the Plantagenet family, the 1st son of Henry III. He was interested in politics
and in his father’s reign, particularly in the conquest of the territories in the Isle (Scotland
and Wales). He was a great ruler, a representation of what we now know as a typical
Roman emperor. He was respected by the sapients: lords and royalty, for he embodied
the medieval ideal of kingship, as a soldier, administrator and a man of faith.
Among the accomplishments during his reign are:
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Restoration of royal authority after the reign of Henry III.
Establishment of the Parliament as a permanent institution and thereby also a
functional system for raising taxes.
Reform of the law through statutes.
However, he is also often criticized for other actions, such as his brutal conduct towards
the Welsh and Scots, and issue the Edict of Expulsion in 1290, by which the Jews were
expelled from England. The Edict remained in effect for the rest of the Middle Ages, and
it was over 350 years until it was formally overturned under Oliver Cromwell in 1657.
There were 3 different events that influence this feeling of nationality:
1277: The Conquest of Wales by Edward I (1277 – 1283)
 The defeat and annexation of the Principality of Wales, and the other last
remaining independent Welsh principalities, by Edward I.
 Wales was divided between native Welsh principalities and the territories of the
Anglo-Norman Marcher lords.
 The leading principality was Gwynedd whose princess had the title “Prince of
Wales.” Before him, the princes of this territory had been vassals.
 Edward’s war of Conquest against Wales was the first successful control of the
Welsh territories by English monarchs.
 In two campaigns, in 1277 and 1282/1283 respectively, Edward first
significantly reduced the territory of the Principality of Wales and then completely
overran it, as well as the other remaining Welsh principalities.
 Most of the conquered territory became the territorial endowment of the heir to
the English throne with the tile “Prince of Wales.”
 However, the Welsh territories would not be effectively incorporated into the
Kingdom of England until the Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542.
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Background
o English kings had several times sought to conquer the native Welsh
principalities.
o The principality of Gwynedd was the dominant power in Wales in the first
half of the 13th century Gwynedd’s princes held the title “Prince of Wales.”
o War with England in 1242 and 1245 weakened Gwynedd and allowed
Henry II to seize Prefeddwlad (Welsh Midlands).
o However, from 1256 a resurgent Gwynedd under Llywelyn ap Gruffudd
(who became known as “Llywelyn the Last”) restarted the war with
Hnery and took back Perfeddlad ……………………..
o …………………………….
o …………..
Conquest: Invasion of 1277
o Henry III died in 1272 and was succeeded by his son, Edward I.
o Edward I was a vigorous and forceful ruler and a military leader.
o In 1274, tension between Llywelyn and Edward increased when Gruffydd
ap Gwenwynwyn of Powys and Llywelyn’s younger brother Dafydd ap
Gruffydd defected to the English lands and sought Edward’s protection.
o For Edward I, a further provocation came from Llywelyn’s planned
marriage to Eleanor, daughter of Simon de Montfort, the leader of a
rebellion against the crown during the reign of Edward’s father.
o In November 1276, Edward declared war on Llywelyn.
Conquest: Campaign of 1282-1283
o Early in 1277, many of the native Welsh rulers in the South and MidWales, resentful of Llywelyn’s overlordship, surrendered and joined the
English.
o In July 1277, Edward launched a punitive expedition into North Wales
with his own army of 15,000 – of whom 9,000 were Welshmen from the
south.
o Llywelyn soon realized his position was hopeless and quickly
surrendered. The campaign never came to a major battle.
o Edward decided to negotiate a settlement rather than attempt total
conquest.
o By the treaty of Aberconwy, Llywelyn was left only with the western
part of Gwynedd, though he was allowed to retain the title of “Prince of
Wales”.
o Eastern Gwynedd was split between Edward and Llywelyn’s brother
Dafydd.
o Edward’s victory represented a major redistribution of power and territory
in Wales in Edward’s favor.
o War broke out again in 1282, as a result of a rebellion by Llywelyn’s
brother Dafydd.
o Dafydd launched a series of attacks co-ordinated with the Welsh rulers in
Deheubarth and North Powys, who had been Llywelyn’s vassals until
1277 and were now Edward’s vassals.
o It became a national struggle enjoying wide support among the Welsh.
o Edward, however, soon began to see it as a war of conquest rather than
just a punitive expedition to put down a rebellion.
o Initially the Welsh were successful. However, the war turned in Edward’s
favor at the Bttle of Orewin Bridge in December 1282.
o The conquest of Gwynedd was completed with the capture in June 1283
of Dafydd, who had succeeded his brother as prince the previous
December.
o This is the beginning of the feeling of nationality.
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Aftermath
o The territory of the Welsh rincipalities was divided between himself
and his supporters through feudal grants, which in practice became new
Marcher lordships.
o Edward’s Welsh allies received back their own lands, but on a feudal basis.
o Lands retained under direct royal control were organized under the Statute
of Rhuddlan of 1284, which declared that they were “annexed and united”
to the English crown, although they did not become part of the kingdom
of England.
o They were the King’s personal fief and in 1301, they were bestowed on
Edward’s son, Edward of Caernafon (the future Edward II), with the
title “Prince of Wales”.
o The Statute of Rhuddlan divided the territory under royal control into six
shire counties on the English model, administered by royal officials.
o The Statute also enforced the adoption of English common law in Wales,
albeit with some local variation.
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o From 1277, Edward embarked on a policy of English colonization and
settlement of Wales, creating new towns like Flint, Aberystwyth, and
Rhuddlan.
o To ensure the military security of his new territories and the stone castle
was to be the primary means for achieving this.
o Under the supervision of James of Saint George, a series of imposing
castles was built in order to form a “ring of stone” around North Wales.
o Rebellions continued to occur in Wales sporadically.
o Revolts in 1287-8, and more seriously, in 1294 under Madog ap
Llywelyn, a distant relative of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and in 1316-1318
by Llywelyn Bren, Lord of Senghenydd.
o In the 1370’s, Owain Lawgoch the last representative in the male line of
the ruling house of Gwynedd planned two invasions of Wales with French
support.
o In 1400, a Welsh nobleman, Owain Glyndwr (or Owen Glendower), led
the most serious revolt against English rule.
o None of these rebellions succeeded and by the Laws in Wales Acts 25351542 Wales was effectively incorporated into the Kingdom of England.
Aftermath: Consequences for England
o There was an unforeseen constitutional impact for England.
o The financial cost of the conquest was heavy. Including the construction
and maintenance of the new castles.
o Taxes were needed to be raised in consequence.
o “Birth” of Parliament: it found much of its roots in the subjugation of
the Welsh.
1283: Ring of Iron
1298: English Invasion of Scotland (1298)
To what extent did King Edward I contribute to the emersion of the British nations?
Why King Edward I’s “hammer” strengthened the identities of all the British
Nations (with a sense of who and what they were, which endures to this day)?