English Rulers

Claiming the throne of England Norman Conquest - 1066

• Edward the Confessor, the ½ Saxon ½ Norman ruler of England died childless

• Harold, brother-in-law of Edward was crowned king of England which led to the Norman Conquest

• William, Duke of Normandy invades and conquers England by winning the Battle of Hastings in 1066, earning him the title Conqueror and King William I of England

• England’s new ruling class spoke French• English kings are now vassals (feudal lords) to the

King of France (Wm. was Duke of Normandy)

William I 1066 - 87• Kept land for himself and made all

nobles/vassal vow loyalty directly to him• New Forest – Royal hunting area –

anyone caught hunting would lose his eyes

• To reduce fires – all went to bed at 8pm• Heavy Taxes on all sales, use of roads

and bridges• Raised the moral level of the English

clergy which loved to marry, gamble and hunt

• Grew so fat he could hardly get on his horse

• Only son Henry stayed by his death bed• Coffin too small, body burst, terrible

smell

William II Rufus 1087 - 1100• Named for his red hair & ruddy

complexion• Wm.I’s favorite son• Named king over his older brother

Robert who became the Duke of Normandy

• His father believed William was better suited to control the English who weren’t happy about Norman rule

• Robert, Duke of Normandy pledged Normandy to his brother William II for 10,000 marks so he could go on a Crusade.

• Fought to recapture lands in France that his brother had lost

• He promised the English that he would rule using more liberal laws and less taxes

• Instead he ruled England as a tyrant

William II Rufus cont

• The church didn’t like his lifestyle or the fact that he delayed in appointing bishops to positions so he could take the churches revenue.

• Excommunicated (reason why he didn’t go on the 1st Crusade)

• William II never married• Rebuilt the Palace of Westminster• Died while on a hunting trip in New Forest. No one

cared if his death was accidental or intentional. • Peasants had to bring his body back, since his nobles

would not• The Clergy refused to perform any last rites over his

body

Henry I 1100 - 1135• Youngest son of the Conqueror• With his brother William II at the time

of death, he went to secure the treasury and was acknowledged as King. (brother Robert, Duke of Normandy was the eldest)

• Secured his position with the nobility & church by issuing a charter of liberties that acknowledged the feudal rights of nobles and the rights of the church.

• Set up Exchequer to handle the kingdom’s finances

• Wise ruler and skilled diplomat• Took over Normandy after his brother

returned from his Crusade.• Imprisoned older brother Robert • His only legitimate son and heir died

in 1120 in a shipwreck crossing the channel

Henry I cont

• He had at least 21 illegitimate children • Began the department of the Exchequer

(Treasury)• Made the central government more efficient by

using lesser nobility as civil servants• Named his daughter Matilda and her young son,

Henry as his heirs, (Matilda was married to Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou in France)

• Stephen of Blois, his nephew, took the throne instead and plunged the nation into civil war

Stephen of Blois 1135 - 54

• Grandson of William I and nephew of Henry I

• England was ravaged by the civil wars between Stephen and Matilda’s armies

• Henry of Anjou, Matilda’s son, finally defeats Stephen

• Stephen names Henry as heir, passing over his two children

Henry II 1154 - 89• Born in France and inherited large

territories in France• Married to Eleanor (she was 11 years

older) and added her wealthy territory, the Aquitaine to his processions.

• Restored law and order in England after Stephen’s rule

• Thomas Becket, his friend and chancellor was named Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162

• Henry quarreled with Becket over his decree which would try priests accused of crimes in royal courts instead of a church court

• The controversy ended when four of Henry’s Knights murdered Becket as he was praying. (Henry had uttered to his Knights, “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?”)

Thomas Becket

Henry I I cont.• He journeyed to Canterbury where he knelt before the altar where

Becket was slain. He had the monks beat him across his bare back!

• To appease the pope for the murder of Becket, Henry invaded Ireland, a Catholic country that did not heed the pope.

• He began the jury system in England and replaced the old feudal courts with his royal courts

• Common Law – rulings from royal judges which formed a body of law for all of England

• His sons often rebelled against him with the financial help of his wife Eleanor. He had Eleanor imprisoned in numerous castles.

• He also spent most of his reign fighting against French King Louis VII and his son Philip II Augustus. (he was a vassal to the French king)

• Queen Eleanor outlived Henry (she was 82 when she died)

Eleanor of Aquitaine

• Daughter of the powerful Duke of Aquitaine

• Married to Louis VII of France – had two daughters by Louis VII before the marriage was annulled

• Married Henry of Anjou the future Henry II of England

• Mother of 5 sons and 3 daughters with Henry

• Mother of two kings; Richard I and John I

Richard I 1189 - 99• He first received the Aquitaine from

his mother to rule at age 14• He fought against his father with

his brothers, who were aided by his mother

• After being crowned King of England, he freed his mother from her castle jail

• He remained in England for 6 months to raise money for his Crusade

• He insisted that Philip II Augustus accompany him on the Crusade so Philip would not try to seize Richard’s lands in France

• He married at the request of his mother (the marriage was probably never consummated)

Richard I cont.• He was kidnapped and held for ransom which his mother

Eleanor raised for him, since she had been left in charge of England

• He discovered that his brother John had been plotting to seize the throne of England, but will forgive him exclaiming, “You are a child”.

• He fought constantly with Philip II Augustus over his lands in France.

• Treasure was found on his lands in France and Richard demanded that it be turned over to him.

• When the treasure was not turned over to him, he laid siege to the area where it was held.

• He took an arrow in the shoulder and refused treatment for his wound

• He died of gangrene poisoning leaving England and his French possessions to his younger brother John

John I 1199 - 1216• Nicknamed John Lackland by his

father because he wasn’t given any land and Softsword by Philip II for losing most of his French lands.

• After refusing to accept the election of a new archbishop, the pope excommunicated him and placed an Interdict on England

• To have the Interdict and excommunication lifted, he had to give England to the pope who gave it back to John as a fief

• He was a tyrant, who extorted money, raised taxes and confiscated property to fund his wars against France

John cont.• His nobles forced him to sign the Magna Carta, the Great

Charter in 1215, which forced him to respect the rights and privileges of the English nobles

• The Magna Carta basically states the king is not above the law and must follow the laws

• England is established as a limited monarchy• The king can not arbitrarily demand taxes, he must have the

consent of the Great Council• Due Process of Law – right to a trial by jury & protection of

the law• His baggage train was swept away while crossing a tidal

area and John lost many valuables, including his crown.• He became ill with fever, which was aggravated by

overeating and also suffered from dysentery. He died at age 49, leaving his 9 year old son Henry, as king.

Henry III 1216 - 72

• Regents ruled for him until 1227 when he took over

• Weak, indecisive, and easily led by others

• High taxes, bad foreign policy (trying to regain his lost lands in France), led to a rebellion of his nobles.

• The Baron’s Rebellion led by Simon de Montfort, his brother in law, led to the capture of Henry III and his son, Edward.

• Nobles rebelled because Henry was violating the Magna Carta

Henry III cont.

• Simon de Montfort actually rules for a period of time and begins the concept of representative assembly by inviting the nobility, clergy, and commoners to join in a meeting of the Great Council (later the Parliament)

• Simon de Montfort is killed by Henry’s son Edward.

• Royal authority is restored in 1267, Henry starts to show signs of senility. He dies in 1272, age 65, after a reign of 56 years

Edward I 1272 - 1307• After supporting his father in the civil

wars, he leaves on a Crusade in 1270 (8th)

• He marries Eleanor of Castile (a love match, they were inseparable)

• An outstanding warrior king who did not exhibit any of his father’s bad characteristics

• Holds regular meetings of the Model Parliament which includes members of the nobility, knights, clergy, and burgesses when he needed approval for levying taxes

Edward I• He conquers Wales naming his

son, Edward the Prince of Wales, heir to the throne of England

• Builds massive castles to keep Wales secure

• He battles William Wallace and Robert the Bruce of Scotland (the movie Braveheart is based on this event)

• Made the concept of Representative government in England a fact

• His son, Edward II, was a terrible ruler

Presiding over the Model Parliament

Today’s Parliament grew from the Model Parliament

• England’s law making body (legislative)

• House of Lords - Upper house of nobles and high clergy

• House of Commons - Lower house of townspeople, knights, freeman

• Only the House of Commons could propose new taxes

Kings of France

Hugh Capet 987 - 996Hugh Capet, the first Capetian Ruler,

was the Count of Paris. He ruled the

Ile de France – Paris and the

surrounding land. He was elected by

French nobles.

Achievements of the Capetians • Primogeniture – the right of the eldest son to inherit

• Married into families to gain land

• Developed a strong central government causing the townspeople to side with them rather that the powerful feudal lords.

• Increased their money through taxation.

• Allied themselves with the Church

• Encouraged the growth of towns, manufacturing & trade by imposing law & order

• Use of royal courts instead of feudal courts

Louis VII 1120 - 1180

• Louis VII went on the 2nd Crusade & spent most of his reign fighting Henry II who married his first wife, Eleanor

Philip II Augustus 1180 - 1223• Son of Louis VII & his third wife

• Became king at age 15

• Probably left the Third Crusade to return to France to seize English lands in France from his co-crusader, Richard I

• Philip II tripled the land under his control

• Philip II gave France a strong central Government

• Called the “maker of Paris” because he paved the streets, walled the city, and began building the Louvre

Louis IX or St. Louis 1226 - 1270

• Grandson of Philip II Augustus• Known for his religious fervor

and his political astuteness• Went on the 7th and 8th

Crusades• Created the Parlement of Paris

– the supreme court of France• Bailiff – royal officials who

presided over the King’s courts & collected the Kings taxes

Philip IV the Fair 1285 - 1314• French King who quarreled with the

pope over the taxation of the Church in France

• Involved himself in costly wars with England and taxed the French heavily

• Borrowed heavily from the Jews and refused to pay them back so he kicked them out of France and confiscated their property

• Destroyed the Knights Templar and took their money

• Called a meeting of the Estates General to approve his tax on the Clergy

"The Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon"

• A monastic military order of Knights formed after the 1st Crusade to protect pilgrims on route to the Holy Land

• They fought with Richard I and others in the battles for the Holy Land

• They became very powerful and wealthy bankers who skirted the usury issue

• Philip IV needed funds to continue his war with England and targeted the Templars as a source of money

The secret meetings and rituals of the Knights

Templar would eventually cause their downfall • Philip IV charged them with heresy

and confiscated their holdings. • He accused them of many crimes,

tortured and destroyed them • On March 19th, 1314 the last Grand

Master of the Knights Templar, Jacques de Molay was burned at the stake.

• De Molay is said to have cursed Philip IV and Pope Clement V, as he burned, asking both men to join him (in death) within a year.

• Both did die within the year!

Estates General• France’s Representative Assembly• First Estate – included upper & lower clergy• Second Estate – included nobles• Third Estate – included the bourgeoisie,

workers, peasants• Unlike the Parliament in England, the Estates-

General did not limit the French Kings power• France will become an absolute monarchy

German States

Otto I the Great 936 - 973

• He ended the Magyar threat

• Admired Charlemagne

• Defended the pope who gave him the title Holy Roman Emperor

Henry III

• Ruled from 1046-1056

• Power of Emperor reached its height

• He saw church as a branch of royal government

• He chose who would be Pope

Henry IV• Only 6 when he came to power

• Nobels and Church took advantage of his youth and reasserted their strength

• Argued with Pope Gregory VII over the investiture controversy.

• Was excommunicated by Gregory VII and was left standing in the snow for 3 days at Canossa Castle (1077) in Northern Italy before Pope would revoke his excommunication.

Concordat of Worms

• In 1122 it was agreed that the Emperor Henry V could grant land to church officials.

• Church would now control all spiritual powers

• Ends struggle over lay investiture.

• Popes continue to meddle in the affairs of the Holy Roman Empire.

Frederick I Barbarossa 1155-1190

• First to call his lands the Holy Roman Empire

• Defeated by the Lombard League trying to increase his power by winning Italian lands

• Drowns on his way to the Holy Land during the Third Crusade

Holy Roman Empire Empire of Frederick I Barbarossa

Papal States

Empire of Charles IV actually from Luxembourg

Germany and Italy

• German Kings tried to increase their power by winning control of more Italian territory

• Lombard League – Alliance of Italian towns (merchants) which will fight against the German Knights under the leadership of Frederick I Barbarossa

• Battle of Legnano – Italian foot soldiers of the Lombard League defeat Frederick’s German Knights

• Shows that towns could wield military and economic power

• Holy Roman Empire – German States and Northern Italy• German States did not unify like England and France

Nation States

Characteristics

• People live in one defined geographical location

• One government for the state

• People speak the same language

• Patriotism to their country