The Middle Ages

Broadly speaking, the Middle Ages (or medieval period) spans a thousand years, from the end of the Roman Empire in AD 476 up until 1485. The focus here is on the period after the Norman Conquest of 1066. It was a time of almost constant war.

The English kings fought with the Welsh, Scottish and Irish noblemen for control of their lands. In Wales, the English were able to establish their rule. In 1284, King Edward I of England introduced the Statute of Rhuddlan, which annexed Wales to the Crown of England. Huge castles, including Conwy and Caernarvon, were built to maintain this power. By the middle of the 15th century the last Welsh rebellions had been defeated, and English laws and the English language were introduced.

In Scotland, the English kings were less successful. In 1314, the Scottish, led by Robert the Bruce, defeated the English at the Battle of Bannockburn, and Scotland remained unconquered by the English.

At the beginning of the Middle Ages, Ireland was an independent country. The English first went to Ireland as troops to help the Irish king and remained to build their own settlements. By 1200, the English ruled an area of Ireland known as the Pale, around Dublin. Some of the important lords in other parts of Ireland accepted the authority of the English king.

During the Middle Ages, many knights took part in the Crusades, in which European Christians fought for control of the Holy Land. English kings also fought a long war with France, called the Hundred Years War (even though it actually lasted 116 years). One of the most famous battles was the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, where King Henry V’s vastly outnumbered English army defeated the French. The English left France in the 1450s.

The Normans used a system of land ownership known as feudalism. The king gave land to his lords in return for help in war, and landowners had to send men to serve in the army. Some peasants had their own land, but most were serfs: they had a small area of their lord’s land to grow food and, in return, had to work for their lord and could not move away. The same system developed in southern Scotland. In the north of Scotland and Ireland, land was owned by members of the clans (prominent families).

In 1348, a disease, probably a form of plague, came to Britain. This was known as the Black Death. One third of the population of England died and a similar proportion in Scotland and Wales. This was one of the worst disasters ever to strike Britain. Afterwards, the smaller population meant there was less need to grow cereal crops. There were labour shortages and peasants began to demand higher wages. New social classes appeared, including owners of large areas of land (later called the gentry), and people left the countryside to live in the towns, where growing wealth led to a strong middle class. In Ireland, the Black Death killed many in the Pale and, for a time, the area controlled by the English became smaller.

There were few formal limits to the king’s power until 1215. In that year, King John was forced by his noblemen to agree to the Magna Carta (the Great Charter). The Magna Carta established the idea that even the king was subject to the law. It protected the rights of the nobility and restricted the king’s power to collect taxes or to make and change laws. In future, the king would need to involve his noblemen in decisions.

In the Middle Ages, Parliament began to develop into the institution it is today. Its origins can be traced to the king’s council of advisers, which included important noblemen and the leaders of the Church. Parliaments were called for the king to consult his nobles, particularly when he needed to raise money. Two separate Houses were established: the nobility, great landowners and bishops sat in the House of Lords; knights, who were usually smaller landowners, and wealthy people from towns and cities were elected to sit in the House of Commons. Only a small part of the population could vote for the Commons. A similar Parliament developed in Scotland, with three Houses called Estates: the lords, the commons and the clergy.

This was also a time of development in the legal system. The principle that judges are independent of the government began to be established. In England, judges developed ‘common law’ by a process of precedent (following previous decisions) and tradition. In Scotland, the legal system developed differently and laws were ‘codified’ (written down).

The Middle Ages also saw the development of a national culture and identity. After the Norman Conquest, the king and his noblemen had spoken Norman French and the peasants continued to speak Anglo-Saxon. Gradually these two languages combined to become one English language. Some modern words, such as ‘park’ and ‘beauty’, are based on Norman French; others, such as ‘apple’, ‘cow’ and ‘summer’, are based on Anglo-Saxon. Modern English often has two words with similar meanings, such as ‘demand’ (French) and ‘ask’ (Anglo-Saxon). By 1400, official documents were being written in English, and English had become the preferred language of the royal court and Parliament.

In the years leading up to 1400, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales, a series of poems in English about a group of people going to Canterbury on a pilgrimage, who told each other stories on the journey. It was one of the first books to be printed by William Caxton, the first person in England to print books using a printing press.

In Scotland, many people continued to speak Gaelic and the Scots language also developed. Poets began to write in Scots: John Barbour wrote The Bruce about the Battle of Bannockburn.

Castles were built across Britain and Ireland, partly for defence. Some, such as Windsor and Edinburgh, are still in use today. Great cathedrals were also built, such as Lincoln Cathedral. Several had stained-glass windows telling stories about the Bible and Christian saints; the glass in York Minster is a famous example.

During this period, England was an important trading nation. English wool became a very important export. People came to England from abroad to trade and work, including weavers from France, engineers from Germany, glass manufacturers from Italy and canal builders from Holland.

In 1455, a civil war began to decide who should be king of England. It was fought between the House of Lancaster (symbol: a red rose) and the House of York (symbol: a white rose). This war was called the Wars of the Roses.

The wars ended with the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. King Richard III of the House of York was killed, and Henry Tudor, the leader of the House of Lancaster, became King Henry VII. Henry then married King Richard’s niece, Elizabeth of York, uniting the two families. Henry was the first king of the House of Tudor. The Tudor symbol was a red rose with a white rose inside it, as a sign that the Houses of York and Lancaster were now allies.

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