Ktir-K: Studying Civ ...

1-Edward I attempted to create a British empire dominated by England, conquering Wales and pronouncing his eldest son Prince of Wales, and then attacking Scotland. It was to remain elusive and retain its independence until late in the reign of the Stuart kings.

2-In the reign of Edward III the Hundred Years War began, a struggle between England and France. At the end of the Plantagenet period, the reign of Richard II saw the beginning of the long period of civil feuding known as the War of the Roses. For the next century, the crown would be disputed by two conflicting family strands, the Lancastrians and the Yorkists.

3-The period also saw the development of new social institutions and a distinctive English culture. Parliament emerged and grew, while the judicial reforms begun in the reign of Henry II were continued and completed by Edward I.

4-Culture began to flourish. Three Plantagenet kings were patrons of Geoffrey Chaucer, the father of English poetry. During the early part of the period, the architectural style of the Normans gave way to the Gothic, with surviving examples including Salisbury Cathedral. Westminster Abbey was rebuilt and the majority of English cathedrals remodelled. Franciscan and Dominican orders began to be established in England, while the universities of Oxford and Cambridge had their origins in this period.

5-Amidst the order of learning and art, however, were disturbing new phenomena. The outbreak of Bubonic plague or the 'Black Death' served to undermine military campaigns and cause huge social turbulence, killing half the country's population.

6-The price rises and labour shortage which resulted led to social unrest, culminating in the Peasants' Revolt in 1381.

7-These were barbaric times. The punishments of hanging, drawing and quartering and burning at the stake were both invented in England during this period.

8-The slow loss of dictatorial power of the English kings coupled with the introduction of parliamentary democracy. (Magna Carta and Simon de Montfort etc)

9-The continuous battle between English Kings and the Church in Rome for the legal high ground. For example, King Henry 2nd and Thomas Becket.

10-The corruption and unchristian like the behaviour of the Church headquartered in Rome particularly through the Inquisition Office which ordered mass killings of peaceable people like the Cathars and the cash payments demanded of the laity to guarantee their passage to heaven.

11-The development of Universities, particularly Oxford and Cambridge as centres of free thought. For example, John Wycliffe and his Lollards were a product of Oxford, demonstrating freedom of religious thought.

12-The steady increase in power of Islamic forces in the Middle East, North Africa, Spain, Turkey and the Balkans and the disastrous efforts of European Christian forces who often fought each other (Rome v Constantinople) in their attempts to save Jerusalem and their trading routes to the Far East. Even though 1000 miles away, the English were often closely involved both with the Pope’s Crusades e.g. Richard 1st and being directly asked for military support (Henry 4th)