CHAPTER 27 SECTION 2
ENGLAND
By: CJ,
Lauren,
Kurt and
Mary
SUMMARY
 From about 1000 AD to 1300 AD England under took many changes
and many kings and leader s made changes to the government, daily
life, and even influenced trade. In 1024 witenagemot or later known
as the Great Council made an Anglo -Saxon prince named Edward
the King of England. Although he had good intentions for Religion,
he spent too much time on it and neglected his duty as a ruler
which enabled nobles to become stronger. Because of this when he
died without an heir a noble named Harold Godwinson became King
in 1066. In the same year the Duke of Normandy, William,
challenged his rule by claiming that just before Edward died, he had
promised the Duke the position of the King. So he led his 4000 7000 troops to battle and defeated Harold. When William became
the King he made a big change to the Government. He introduced
Feudalism to squash revolts from the people. This is still the Style
of Government today.
SUMMARY CONTINUED
Af ter William died in 1087 there was no King until 1154 when William’s
great-grandson Henr y II stepped up and claimed the throne. He changed the
Government by setting up a royal cour t and circuit judges. These people
were people that traveled throughout England instead of staying at one
cour t. Henr y also made 2 types of juries; the Grand Jur y and the Trial Jur y.
The grand jur y presents the names of the suspected criminals to the judges.
The trial jur y is responsible for determining if the suspects are innocent or
guilty. When Henr y II died, his son Richard became king but he didn’t really
pay attention to England. Instead he chose to focus on his French lands
more. But when he died his brother, John, became king. Af ter a while John
began to raise taxes and ignore the law. This made the nobles ver y mad so
they refused to obey him unless he gave them cer tain rights. Eventually, in
1 215 AD, the nobles met with him and forced him to sign the Magna Car ta
or Great Char ter. This took some of the king’s power and gave more to the
nobles and people. In 1 224 King Edward I called together representatives to
help him make new laws. This meeting is known as the Parliament. The new
laws gave the people more rights in ruling the land. This gathering
separated into 2 groups; the house of the lords, and house of the commons.
This is what happened during 1000 -1300 in the late middle ages.
GOVERNMENT
 Henr y II restored order and forced nobles to give him
their loyalty
 Used the law to regain power
 Set up English cour ts
 Circuit judges , or judges who traveled, brought the
kings law to all par ts of England
 Set up juries to settle quarrels about land
 2 juries
 Grand jur y group of people who present to the judge
the names of people suspected of crimes
 Trial jur y group of people who decide whether a
per son accused of a crime is innocent or guilty
 Took place of the trial by ordeal
 Henr y wanted church of ficials to be tried in the
kings cour t
 Close friend Thomas a Becket didn’t agree
 Led to murder of Thomas by 3 on henr ys knights
 Henr y soon made peace with the church, only some
clergy to be tried in Church cour ts
King Henry II
GOVERNMENT
 Criminals accused had the right to trial by peer s
 Magna Car ta was a step for ward towards the development of democracy
 It brought to the governments attention that not even the king was above
law
 John died in 1 216, his son king Henr y III became king
 Weak ruler
 Allowed the Great Council to rule England
 1 264 Simon de Montfor t, Henr y’s brother in law took the power
 Let people have a voice in government by letting them have reps in the
great council
 8 year s later the new king Edward I, took it even fur ther
 Called a meeting of all representatives, known as Parliament
 Later broke into two separate groups
 House of Lords, nobles and Clergy
 House of Commons, knights and townspeople
Magna Carta
RELIGION
 In 1042, witenagemont made Edward the
confessor, an Anglo Saxon prince the king
of England
 Gave money to the poor and sponsored
the building in London Westminster abbey
 The church were later English kings and
queens are crowed
 He spent lots of time doing religious work
 So much so that he failed to carry out his
royal duties
 Nobles increased their hold on the country
 Most powerful was Harold Godwinson
 Edward died in 1066, Harold soon became
the new king
TECHNOLOGY/ WARFARE
 1066 William led army cross English Channel with army of
4,000 to 7,000 Norman Knights.
 English foot soldiers armed with axes formed a wall of shields
on the edge of a low hill
 William pretended that his soldiers were retreating because
he knew that the wall was to big to break through
 When English broke formation to follow Normans, they turned
on the English
 King Harold was dead by nightfall
 William was crowned King William I of England
CURRENT EVENT COMPARISON
Current
 Finance minister George
Osborne announced he would
cut the main rate of
corporati on tax by 1 percentage
point to 20 per cent by April
2015, down from 28 per cent
when the government came to
power.
 The changes clarify that policy
maker s can priorities growth,
provided inflation remains
under control , and raise the
likelihood the BoE will in future
provide guidance over how long
it will keep monetar y policy
exceptionally loose, based on
growth and employment as well
as inflation.
Past
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Henry II’s death in 1189 led to his
oldest son Richard to take the throne
Later in 1199 Richard died and his
brother Jon became the king
He began to increase taxes and ignore
the law
Nobles became angry
Refused to obey him unless he agrees
to give them certain rights
Met the nobles in the meadow of
Runnymede
Forced him to sign the Magna Carta or
Great Charter
Took away some of the kings power,
increased the nobles
The king could not taxes unless the
Great Council agreed