Plantagenets
1216-1399
Henry III
Opelika High School
AP & Honors English 12
Medieval History Notes
Dr. Hannah
 Son of John; took the throne at nine years of age
 Country ruled by regents until 1227.
 Weak king; saved by his son
 Died in 1272—buried in Edward the Confessor’s old coffin
Edward I “Longshanks”
 Son of Henry III; had run the country since 1265
 Brought barons under control
 Called the “Model Parliament” in 1295
o First Parliament to include commoners
 Conquered Wales and built castles there
o Named his son the first “Prince of Wales”
 Began conquest of Scotland
o After suffering several defeats, captured and executed William Wallace by “drawing and quartering”
 Died in 1307
Edward II
 Son of Edward I; married to the princess of France, Isabella—called the “She-Wolf” by the English
 Lost Scotland at the Battle of Bannockburn
 Put in prison by his wife and her lover, Roger Mortimer
 Executed in prison (maybe) at the order of his Mortimer and Isabella in 1327
Edward III
 Crowned at age 14; Mother (the She-Wolf) and Mortimer ruled as regents.
 Took control at 18; Mortimer hanged (noblemen were usually beheaded) and mother put in convent.
 1337—announced himself King of France; began Hundred Years’ War with France.
o All battles fought in France; Not continuous fighting; more a series of battles in the spring and
summer of each year
o English win major battles until 1360
 1348-1350—the Plague hits England.
o One third to one half of European population dead within three years
o Peasant population drastically reduced
o Feudal system crippled:
 Church must recruit many new priests, monks, and nuns, so education level of clergy drops.
 Nobility must compete for workers.
 Peasants began to realize that the nobility needed them more than they needed the nobility
Edward III (continued)
 Meanwhile, The Hundred Years War Trudged On.
o Nobility began to choose whether they were English or French.
o English nobility began to speak English.
 English had been their first language for years.
 English were having to go to France to learn French.
 French had been making fun of the English accents.
 1362—English becomes official language of Parliament.
 Church Problems
o Jerome translated the Bible into Latin in the early fifth century. His translation became the official
Bible of the Church—”The Vulgate.” The Vulgate was copied by hand over the next thousand years
by monks who, sometimes, were illiterate.
o John Wycliff, an English church scholar in the 1370’s, began to question Church’s wealth and power.
 Wycliff translated The Vulgate into English.
 Wycliff taught against the wealth and power of The Church.
 His followers were called “Lollards,” and “Lollardy” becomes a crime against the Church.
 Death of the Prince of Wales
o Edward’s first son, Edward the Black Prince, was an English hero in the French wars.
o The Black Prince died of disease in 1376 while on campaign in France—buried in Canterbury
Cathedral.
o Edward lived last year of his life grieving over the Black Prince.
 Changes During the Reign of Edward III
o Wars with France began.
o The Plague wiped out population.
o Feudalism began to break apart.
o Written English returned.
o The church was challenged by Wycliff.
o Parliament met as two Houses to control finances.
o Rival noble houses—Lancasters and Yorks—descended from Edward’s second and third sons.
Richard II
 Son of The Black Prince; 10 years old when named king—1377; Regent was his uncle, John of Gaunt
 Weak king—disliked by everyone for his bad decisions
 1399—Richard forced to abdicate by his cousin Henry, son of John of Gaunt—Richard’s uncle and the
Duke of Lancaster; probably murdered in prison