Aim: How did changes in the Middle Ages lead to the rise of regional

kingdoms in England and France?

Do Now: Growth of Royal Power in England and France – do 1,2

Anglo-Saxon and Norman EnglandBy 450, Roman rule in Britain ended and Germanic tribes moved into the island

Anglo-Saxon and Norman EnglandThe Anglo-Saxons formed several kingdoms and divided them into districts called shires

Anglo-Saxon and Norman EnglandDanes overran much of England until Alfredthe Great subdued them in 886

Alfred the Great at Winchester

Anglo-Saxon and Norman EnglandBy 1013 the Danes regained control of theentire country. King Canute of Denmarktook the throne in 1016

"Sea, I command you to come no farther!"

Anglo-Saxon and Norman EnglandBy 1042 the Danish line died out; Anglo-Saxon nobles chose Edward the Confessoras king

Edward the Confessor (c. 1003 – 5 January 1066)

1066 - Edward died without an heir; DukeWilliam of Normandy claimed the throne

William the Conqueror

King William I of England, aka William of Normandy and William the Bastard, was the illegitimate son of Duke Robert of Normandy, France. Though his blood claim to the throne of England was slim, he set his sights on the land once governed by his cousin, Edward the Confessor, and claimed the old king had named him his heir.

When the Anglo-Saxons denied his claim,William defeated them at the Battle ofHastings in October 1066

William the Conqueror

The Bayeux Tapestry (c. 1073-83)

Feudalism from the “top down”William established a new feudal system –the king held supreme authority, all Englishlords became vassals of the king

English GovernmentWilliam’s successors made reforms in the government and the financial and legal systems

William the Conqueror & his sons & heirs: William Rufus and Henri I, the fourth king

is his nephew Stephen of Blois

Government in England

• The use of Anglo-Saxon officials to assert royal power on the local level

• The “Domesday Book” (1086)

• The rule of Henry I (1100-1135)

--The Royal Exchequer• The rule of Henry II

(1154-1189)

Henry IIWhen King Henry II attempted to try the clergy in royal courts, Thomas Becket, theArchbishop of Canterbury, refused and wasmurdered

Murder of Thomas Becket in 1170

Henry II

• Judicial reform under Henry II-- “common law”

• Henry II marries Eleanor of Aquitaine

• Their subsequent divorce and political turmoil

• Henry II conquered part of Ireland and made the King of Scotland his vassal

Magna Carta1215 - King John demanded that nobles paymore taxes. They revolted and forced him tosign the Magna Carta

The Great Charter of English liberty granted by King John at Runnymede on June 15, 1215

Read Magna Carta

• True or False

• 1. The Magna Carta gave equal rights to everyone.

• 2. Lords could only be tried by their peers.

• 3. The Magna Carta provided a fairer system of justice.

• 4. The Magna Carta endorsed the idea of no taxation without representation.

The Magna Carta:- protected the liberties of the nobles- outlined rights for ordinary citizen

- held the king to the same law as the people

1295 ParliamentThe Parliament grew out of members of themiddle class meeting with the clergy and nobles in a Great Council

Common LawCommon law - a collection of decisionsmade by the courts used as the basis forfuture court verdicts

Rise of Capetian Kings in France

987 - the last Carolingian king died; nobleschose Hugh Capet as king, beginningthe Capetians line

Hugh Capet (c. 940 – 24 October 996)

Rise of Capetian Kings in France

The Capetians developed a strong central

government and tried to unite French

duchies under a monarch

France

• Louis IX moral and religious authority

• Age of scholasticism in Paris

• Extension of royal justice through “Parlement”

• Weakness of the Estates-General

Estates GeneralPhilip the Fair taxed the clergy andconvened the Estates General

End of Capetian Kings in France1328 - the Capetian dynasty ended without achieving unification; France remainedfeudal in its political organization