2. HISTORY
Edward, the Confessor, dies 1066
William of Normandy (the Conqueror)
claims Edward promised him the throne
Saxon council chose Harold II as king
Norman invasion (Battle of Hastings) –
Harold is killed, William claims throne
3. William suppressed Anglo/Saxon
nobility and claimed land
Business now conducted in French
or Latin
This threatened the continuation of
English developing into a language
4. Feudalism
Feudal system – exchange of property
for personal services
King owned the land – parceled it out
to supporters (Lords)
Lords further subdivided to Barons
who supplied tax money and knights
5. Knights in return for services
received smaller land parcels called
manors.
Peasants (serfs) worked the manors.
6. PLANTAGENETS
Norman rule ended in 1154 when Henry
Plantagenet comes to the throne (Henry
II)
Henry appoints Thomas Beckett
Archbishop of Canterbury
Beckett defies the King and appeals to
the Pope who sided with Beckett—
angers the King
7. Henry’s knights
misunderstand his anger
and murder Beckett in 1170
Henry condemned the
crime by making a
pilgrimage, a holy journey,
to Beckett’s shrine in
Canterbury
8. MAGNA CARTA
Next king, Richard I, spend time and
money in overseas military expeditions.
King John inherited the debts and tries to
raise money by taxing barons.
Barons resist and John signs the Magna
Carta in 1215 (no tax without meeting
with Barons
Beginning of constitutional government.
9. Black Death
Trade expanded, formation of
guilds and apprenticeships—
London flourishes
Plague swept England in 1348 and
1349—closer living conditions
(unsanitary).
Led to labor shortage—peasants
were now paid.
Feudalism starts to fade away.
10. Literature
Lyric poetry – now either secular (love
and nature), or religious
Ballad – folk song or story, i.e., Robin
Hood.
Drama – church used this format to get
people to listen to Bible stories.
Morality play – depicted the life of an
ordinary man and taught a moral lesson.
11. Canterbury Tales
Written by Geoffrey
Chaucer (1343-1400)
Series of stories told by
pilgrims journeying to
shrine of St. Thomas a’
Beckett.
12. Printing Press
Johann Guttenburg, German,
invented movable type in 1454
Came to England in 1476
Literature and specifically the Bible
now widespread. Canterbury Tales
one of first pieces of lit copied on
press.