Struggles over Power

1100s-1485 – Power in the Medieval Period

• Even the most powerful monarchs were unable to rule alone
  • They relied on the loyalty of the nobles and there was always a chance that they might be dethroned by someone with more power and support
  • The success of the monarch depended on their ability to gain power and support
• For every ruler, the Church was both a key ally and a potential enemy
  • Not only was it wealthy and powerful, it was also morally influential as everyone believed in God
  • Churchmen were greatly respected as God’s servants
  • When a monarch had the support of the Church, they were less likely to be challenged as people believed in the Divine right of kings
  • However, when a monarch wanted to control the Church’s wealth, this sometimes led to conflict
• The barons were a monarch’s greatest asset, but also a potential enemy
  • They fought alongside him, provided troops, ran the government in the outskirts of the kingdom and collected taxes on the king’s behalf
  • Many of them were extremely wealthy and powerful which meant that together, they had the potential to overthrow a king
  • A king had to keep the barons happy to ensure their loyalty and assert his authority to show strength
• By the late 1200s, parliament began to emerge
  • Members of parliament were usually gentry – lesser nobles and wealthy merchants from towns
  • Throughout the medieval period, governing the kingdom became increasingly expensive
  • A king’s personal wealth was no longer sufficient, so people had to be taxed and in return they wanted a say in how the country should be run

1154-89 – Henry II and the Church

• The church had a hierarchy
  • The head of the Church was the pope; he ruled the Church from Rome, assisted by his most senior officials, the cardinals
  • The pope relied on archbishops and bishops, who were based in big cathedrals, to run the Church in their countries and to make sure the pope’s rules were enforced
  • An archbishop was a very senior figure who supervised the bishops; in England there are two archbishops; of Canterbury and York
  • Bishops were responsible for the Church in their areas (diocese)
  • There was also a monastic branch of the Church; monasteries were run by abbots or abbesses
    • The more important abbots and abbesses were similar in status to bishops
  • At the bottom of the hierarchy were priests in the churches and monks in the monasteries, however, they still had a lot of prestige and status in society
• The Church was important for many reasons during medieval times
• The Church was the medieval mass media
  • It helped spread news throughout the country and played a large role in schools and universities
  • New laws and taxes were announced in church services
  • Sermons usually spoke about the virtues of the king and the local baron
  • Churchmen wrote the history books
  • Kings would give land to the Church and pay for new religious buildings
  • In return, chroniclers at the churches were expected to write positive things about the King
• The Church owned lots of land and employed many people
  • According to the Domesday Book, by 1087 the Church owned about 25% of all the land in England
  • Bishops and abbots, in charge of the large abbeys, were effectively managers of giant corporations
  • A large proportion of the population worked for the Church, as labourers on the land, tenant farmers, masons working on church construction and in many other roles
  • The Church also cared for the poor and sick
• The Church helped people get to Heaven
  • Almost everyone believed in God and they were linked to God via the Church
  • Church leaders could seek God’s favour for success in battle or for a good harvest
  • Churchmen could pray to God to ensure that a person’s soul went to heaven when they died
  • Churches were so powerful that Pope Alexander II ordered William the Conqueror to build a church to beg for God’s forgiveness for all the deaths caused by the Conquest
    • He obeyed, building Battle Abbey in 1970
  • Anglo-Saxon and Norman nobles spent huge sums on church-building to praise God
• The Church was the power behind the throne
  • Churchmen wrote official documents and looked after the royal accounts meaning that bishops and abbots were as rich and powerful as the top barons
    • The Bishop of Durham had to defend England from a possible Scottish threat, so he had his own armies
  • When William the Conqueror spent time overseas, the Archbishop of Canterbury ruled in his place
  • Henry II appointed his chancellor Thomas Becket as the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162
    • Becket was appointed because the King thought he could control him
  • Bishops and abbots collected taxes for the king just like the barons
  • The Church also had its own law courts
• Throughout the medieval period, clashes arose between the King and the Church
  • In the 1090s, Archbishop Anselm fought bitterly with William II, claiming the King was taking too much tax from the Church
    • He also criticised William for abusing his right to appoint bishops
  • If there was no bishop in charge of a bishopric, the King could claim all the rent and other income from that land
    • William often delayed appointing a new bishop to take advantage of this
  • As a result of Anselm’s complaints, William agreed that the pope would oversee appointing new bishops, although he had to consult the king of his choices
• In 1154, Henry II inherited a kingdom in chaos and decline after years of civil war under King Stephen (1135-54)
  • Henry swiftly restored peace and stability, bringing the rebellious barons under control and strengthening the power of the law courts
  • His chancellor, Thomas Becket played a key role in his success
• By the 1160s, Henry was trying to increase his control of the Church
  • Church courts were hearing cases that Henry felt should be tried in the royal courts
  • He also wanted more influence over the appointment of bishops and abbots so that he could install people loyal to him in positions of influence
• When Archbishop Theobald died in 1162, Henry gave Becket the job, believing that he would support the king in his decisions
• To Henry’s, disappointment, Becket turned out to be more loyal to the Church than to the king
  • Becket resisted Henry’s demands to have churchmen tried in royal courts if they committed a crime
  • He also refused to let Henry tax the Church or appoint new bishops and abbots
  • Becket was argumentative and difficult whilst Henry was short-tempered
• Becket and Henry soon became bitter enemies and in 1164, Becket was forced to flee to France
  • The dispute did not end as both men appealed to the pope, asking for his support
• By 1170, the pair had been persuaded to reconcile their differences and Becket returned
  • However, one of Becket’s first acts was to excommunicate several powerful churchmen and barons who had supported Henry against him while he was in France
    • The king was furious when he discovered this, saying “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?”
• Four knights, thinking they were doing what Henry wanted, rode to Canterbury and murdered Becket
  • Thomas Becket was made a saint and a martyr with both Henry and his subjects shocked about what happened
• Henry faced humiliating consequences as a result of being blamed for the murder
  • In 1172, he was forced to make a series of concessions to the pope, known as the Compromise of Avranches
  • He agreed to give up any rights over the Church if the Church objected to them
  • He had to accept Becket’s decision to excommunicate some of his advisors
  • He agreed to walk barefoot to Canterbury Cathedral and be whipped by the monks
• Overall, it appears as if the Church were victorious, however it also benefited King Henry II
  • The Church gained a martyr, and Canterbury became internationally well-known as a religious site
  • Henry’s reputation suffered as in history, Thomas Becket was presented as a legend
  • However, long term, Henry strengthened his relationship with the Church, partly because in life, Becket was unpopular
  • Henry retained the power to appoint bishops and to collect money from a bishopric when it had no bishop
    • From 1181-9, he delayed appointing a new Archbishop of York and so collected all the rents and other income himself

1199-1216 – John and the Barons

• Henry I took the throne when his brother William II (Rufus) died in a hunting accident
  • Another brother, Robert, had stronger rights to the throne, however he was on a crusade at the time, so Henry seized it
  • When Robert returned, Henry captured and imprisoned him
  • The barons felt that Robert was the rightful heir, so Henry offered them concessions in return for their support
    • These were set out in his Coronation Charter of 1100
• Henry II successfully balanced force with cooperation in his rule from 1154-89
  • He had to restore royal authority after years of civil war under King Stephen, during whose reign many barons seized lands, stopped paying taxes, ignored royal officials and built castles without permission
    • In the 1150s, Henry seized 40 illegally-built castles, keeping 30 and giving 10 to loyal barons
    • In the 1160s, he forced the barons to provide detailed information about their lands and income
      • He taxed them fairly on this basis
    • He also replaced two-thirds of local sheriffs with his chosen officials
  • Henry was wise enough to forgive rebellious barons after they accepted his authority
    • Geoffry de Mandeville had his lands seized in 1157 but became one of Henry’s top judges in the 1160s
  • The king also consulted his barons on important issues such as changes to the legal system
  • Despite his conflict with Becket, most barons were loyal to Henry II
• King John was suspicious of possible rebellions having rebelled against his brother and father, and he didn’t understand the importance of the barons being content like Henry I and Henry II did
  • His older brother, Richard had spent most of his reign in France, successfully protecting English land from the French king, Philip
    • John inherited this expensive war
• When Philip invaded Normandy, John didn’t have his baron’s support as many of them didn’t have land in France
  • Some only sent very few troops as they didn’t want to risk their best troops, so Normandy fell to Philip
• John spent the next ten years campaigning for funds to help win back Normandy, however this cost him politically
  • He raised 25% more taxes than Henry I did
  • He amassed £1.3 million (£30 billion today)
• John fell out with a large proportion of the barons
  • Many barons were unhappy with the recent increase in taxes, on top of which John didn’t consult them about any important decisions and harshly punished anyone who stood up to him
    • He imprisoned Matilda de Braose, claiming that her dead husband owed him money
      • Some say it was really because she publicly blamed him for murdering his nephew Arthur
      • John demanded £25 000 from her and when she refused, he let her starve to death
  • He forced the barons to pay huge sums of money to inherit their estates or to marry
  • He appointed many sheriffs who were not locals, making the barons feel they were not trusted to carry out their traditional roles
  • Barons were particularly unhappy when the pope excommunicated them, feeling they couldn’t support John and in 1210, the barons of Ireland revolted
• John abused the justice system
  • Henry II had introduced assizes, they were new courts which made the justice system simpler and cheaper
    • Officials called justices travelled the country and held assizes, meaning that people who wanted justice were not forced to travel to the king
  • Instead of building support among justices, he became suspicious of his chief justice, Geoffry Fitz Peter, and insisted that all cases be held by judges with John as he travelled around the country
    • This became impossible, and John began judging in favour of the nobles who paid him the most money
• John had a major clash with the Church
  • In 1205, John wanted to appoint his ally John de Gray as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, but Pope Innocent III appointed Stephen Langton instead
  • John refused to accept his decision, so the pope placed England under an interdict and excommunicated the king
    • Funerals, baptisms and church services were suspended from 1208-14
  • People felt that if the pope disapproved of King John, that God also did
  • The pope also threatened to support the French king in overthrowing John
    • This finally convinced John to accept Langton as archbishop in 1213
• In January 1215, John met with his barons to find a compromise
  • No compromise could be reached and throughout April and May, the barons, led by Robert Filtzwater, raised arms against their king
  • London, Lincoln and Exeter all fell to the rebel barons and many more barons joined the rebellion
  • By June, John was forced to accept the baron’s demands which, in July, were set out in Magna Carta
• Magna Carta was then seen as a peace treaty, containing 61 clauses, mainly demanding an end to specific abuses, however others established wider reforms
  • Clause 39 stated that people should be tried by a jury
  • Clause 40 stated that king was not allowed to ‘sell justice’
  • Clause 61 stated that a council of 25 barons would be set up to ensure the king kept to the charter
• Magna Carta was important as it made the relationship between barons and kings one of a formal contract rather than the king’s personality determining the relationship
• The charter also made the king subject to the law
• Previously, such a charter was unnecessary as kings understood the need of concessions to the barons in return for support, however John did not
• By autumn 1215, John had overturned Magna Carta by asking the pope to annul it, and war was raging
  • The barons invited Louis, the son of the French king to claim the throne
  • He took territory in 1216, and John died at the end of that year
  • John’s nine-year-old son became King Henry III and Henry Marshall acted as his regent
• In 1225, Henry III reissued the Magna Carta to show he would abide by the law
  • In 1265 and 1297, it was reissued again, becoming a symbol of the agreement between monarchs and their subjects

1200s – The Emergence of Parliament

• A good king knew he needed barons’ and bishops’ support to run the country and to raise taxes or armies, so he invited them to meet him
  • Anglo-Saxon kings did this in the Witan
  • Norman kings did this in their Curia Regis (Royal Council)
    • Overtime, Norman kings began to consult regularly with a smaller group of close advisers, the Privy Council
  • The Political Nation at this time were kings, barons and bishops
• In the 1200s, running the country and fighting wars became too expensive, causing tensions between barons and kings; eventually leading to Magna Carta in 1215
• Parliament was not founded on an official date; it emerged during Henry III’s reign, in the 1230s and 1240s as an extended council of barons
• Henry’s reign was expensive; he funded a church-building programme and overseas wars
  • As the monetary demands increased, Henry had to ask for money, so he included lesser nobles and representatives from the towns in his councils
  • In the 1250s, Henry’s financial issues were getting out of control, and he had upset many barons by giving his French relatives important jobs and valuable estates
• In 1258, a group of barons went to the king and demanded a range of reforms
  • Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, and Henry’s brother-in-law emerged as the leader during negotiations
  • He forced Henry to accept the Provisions of Oxford, dictating that the king must defer to a council of 24 advisors – 12 elected by the barons and 12 chosen by Henry himself
  • This council elected a privy council of 15 men who supervised the appointment of officials, local administration and royal castles
  • Parliament met thrice a year to supervise the councils’ performance
• Not all the barons approved of such control over a king, and the wealthiest faction of barons were worried that the earl was gaining too much control
  • This enabled Henry III to gather some support, beginning a civil war between the king and de Montfort
• De Montfort defeated Henry at the Battle of Lewes in May 1264
  • The king was effectively kept in prison and the country came under de Montfort’s rule
• De Montfort was disliked by the great barons, but he had support of the knights and gentry
  • These people became known as the ‘Commons’, and de Montfort wanted to bring them into one political arena
  • In 1265, he asked each county and borough of England to select two representatives to send to a gathering in London; this is often seen as the first parliament
• This parliament first met in January 1265 and discussed how to limit the power of the king and the great barons
  • De Montfort reissued the Magna Carta to demonstrate his belief in the importance of the law
• Within a year, war broke out again as many barons were suspicious of de Montfort, and he was killed at the Battle of Evesham in August 1265, and Henry was reinstated
• Henry continued to summon parliaments until his death in 1272
  • At every meeting, they first confirmed that the king and his subjects all accepted the terms of Magna Carta
• In 1272, Edward I succeeded Henry III
  • Edward was one of the strongest rulers the country had ever seen; he conquered Wales, building several castles that still stand there
  • He was an effective ruler, administrator and military commander
  • For the first 20 years of his reign, he summoned parliament twice a year, and like all great monarchs, he knew how to balance force and compromise
• Edward needed increasing amounts of money as he became increasingly involved in wars against Wales, Scotland and France
  • He was careful to consult people, learning from John and Henry’s mistakes
• In 1295, he called a parliament that became known as the Model Parliament
  • This included the Lords – great barons and churchmen and the Commons – two knights from each county / shire and to burgesses (representatives) from major English towns
• Kings and parliament began to listen to the concerns of their subjects; in return parliament gave the king money for what he needed
  • Edward appreciated that those who would be affected by the taxes levied should have their say in Parliament
  • He even reissued Magna Carta in 1297 to show that he would abide by the law
• The Commons became more important in the 1300s and 1400s, however power was still held by kings and barons
  • Most of the time, kings only met with the Privy Council and didn’t call parliament regularly
  • The Lords and the Commons met separately
    • The Commons began to ask the king for certain reforms, locally and nationally
  • By the end of the Middle Ages, parliament, with a House of Commons and a House of Lords, had been established as a key feature of English government
• The Political Nation had not expanded, and power had not really shifted
  • Ordinary people still had no say
  • The king remained the greatest power
  • Stability was dependent on a good relationship between the king and his nobles

1377-99 – Deposing Richard II

• Richard II became king in 1377, at the age of ten
  • When a child inherited the throne, real power lay with a regent
  • John of Gaunt was Richard’s uncle and strongest candidate for his regent
    • However, Gaunt was head of the powerful Lancastrian family, and many barons suspected that he would try and seize the throne for himself
  • A council of barons was set up in place of a single regent
• In 1381, the Peasants’ Revolt was when a group of rebels protested the high levels of taxation; they were asked to pay for the on-going war with France
  • The burden of taxation had been made worse when half the population in England died in an outbreak of the Black Death in 1349-50
  • The ranks of the rebels were swelled by men from higher up the social scale who resented the behaviour of many royal officials
  • In London, more people joined the rebellion, unhappy about the number of foreign merchants trading in the city and about who should be mayor of London
• The unrest simmered and grew, and in the summer of 1381 a large rebel army led by Wat Tyler, advanced on London
  • The king and his ministers were besieged in the Tower of London; the king was only 14 but still showed strength
  • He met with the rebels, offering concessions and promising to show mercy to those opposed him
  • Tyler was killed shortly after meeting the king, but the peasants believed Richard’s promises and went home
  • Richard ordered a ruthless suppression of all the rebels, killing more than 5000 people
• Richard’s relations with the barons declined in the 1380s when he started promoting men from more humble origins to positions of power, including making Michael de la Pole Earl of Suffolk and chancellor
• The barons began to form a party to oppose the king
• In 1386, the king asked parliament for money to defend the realm as there was the threat of a French invasion
  • Led by the earls of Gloucester and Arundel, parliament demanded that the chancellor should be sacked before they agreed to the funds, but Richard refused
  • The powerful Lancastrians Henry Bolingbroke and Thomas Mowbray joined the rebel forces
• By 1387, Richard had been defeated and the he was forced to execute several of his close allies; de la Pole fled the country
• Over the following ten years, Richard gradually restored his authority and gained support from some noble families
  • In 1397, he arrested his leading opponents – Gloucester, Arundel and Warwick – accusing them of plotting against him
    • Gloucester was murdered before his trial
    • Arundel was tried and executed
    • Warwick was imprisoned
• Richard felt more secure, but the Lancaster family still posed a threat
  • There were rumours that Bolingbroke might claim the throne
  • Richard exploited a quarrel between Bolingbroke and Mowbray to exile them both
  • When John of Gaunt died the following year, Richard confiscated Bolingbroke’s inheritance
• He then felt that he was secure enough to take his forces on a campaign to Ireland
  • This was a mistake in his judgement because while Richard was away, Bolingbroke returned to England
  • Bolingbroke convinced powerful allies such as the Percy family of Northumberland to help him win back his lands
  • When Richard returned from Ireland in July 1399, he was met by superior forces and defeated
  • The king surrendered to Bolingbroke at Flint Castle in North Wales
• With Richard his prisoner, Henry Bolingbroke was free to take the throne; however, powerful noblemen could no longer seize the throne by force
  • Henry needed to make a rightful claim to the throne
    • He first undermined Richard’s support by claiming that the king was unfit to rule
    • He then argued that he descended from Edward III through male relatives, rather than his rivals who descended from female relatives
• Official accounts stated that Richard II abdicated and allowed Henry to take over, this is unlikely true
• Henry Bolingbroke was crowned Henry IV in October 1399

1455-85 – The Wars of the Roses

• In 1413, Lancastrian Henry Bolingbroke, died, his son became Henry V
• Henry V was a successful monarch; England was stable, and he defeated the French at Agincourt in 1415
  • In 1422, he died of dysentery while fighting in France
• Henry VI became king at nine months old, so a council of nobles ruled until he was 16
  • England was relatively stable; there were minor disagreements amongst nobles
• In 1437, Henry VI ruled in his own right, however he was ineffective due to his indecisiveness and weakness
  • The French won back territory
  • Senior nobles tried to rule in his name
  • Economic problems and poor government led to discontent
  • In 1450, a violent protest broke out
• The Dukes of York and Somerset battled over being chief adviser at St Albans, where Somerset was killed
• Most nobles felt a duty to stay loyal to Henry VI
  • By 1459, the Lancaster family suspected the Duke of York was planning to depose Henry
    • Each side built up armies and battled
    • The Duke of York was killed, but his son Edward, won the decisive Battle of Towton
• In 1961, Edward deposed Henry VI, who fled, and became Edward IV
  • The Earl of Warwick helped him stabilise England
  • By 1464, the remaining Lancastrians were defeated, and Henry VI was captured
  • Warwick and Edward fell out over war with France, Edward’s marriage and refusal to give him more power
• In 1469, Warwick rebels against Edward, forcing him to flee
  • Edward gained support from the Duke of Burgundy, and they returned in 1471 with an army to defeat and kill Warwick
  • Edward ordered the murder of Henry VI and his son to remove possible rivals
• From 1471, Edward IV ruled over a peaceful country once again
• In 1483, Edward died, and his 13-year-old son became Edward V
  • Edward V only lasted three months before his uncle Richard seized the throne, becoming Richard III
  • Edward and his younger brother disappeared
• In 1485, Richard III faced opposition from those who believed he claimed the throne illegally
  • Rebels began to rally around Henry Tudor, a distant relative of Henry VI
• In August 1485, Henry invaded England and killed Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth

Describe two examples of the work of the Church in medieval England. [4]

Explain why kings and barons clashed in the medieval period. [8]

What was the significance of Magna Carta? [14]

‘The most significant problem faced by medieval monarchs was war.’ How far do you agree with this view? [24]