1 - Life and Government in England

• The king (feudal system)

  • owned all the land
  • extremely powerful
  • duty to protect his people from invasion
• Tenants in Chief (feudal system)

  • barons and bishops
  • held land from the king (vassals of the king) in return for loyalty and taxes
  • provided king with knight service
  • barons advised the king
• under-tenants

  • knights and lesser clergy
  • held land from Tenants in chief
  • most knights were lords of a manor
• freemen

  • a type of peasant that could travel and work when they wanted
  • merchants, craftsmen, farmers
  • freemen in villages had to obey and pay homage to their lord
  • sometimes worked on lords land but were paid
• peasants (unfree)

  • unfree peasants provided labour service to their lord in return for his protection, shelter and a small strip of land
  • couldn't leave without permission
• fief/feud

  land held by a vassal in return for service to a lord
• landholding

  • king kept 20% of land (royal demesne)
  • most of the rest (55%) was run by barons, nobles, and knights
  • some land held by church
• homage

  swearing oath of loyalty

  • sworn in a public ceremony, once sworn, the landholder became the vassal of his lord
  • breaking oath of loyalty led to forfeiture
• forfeiture

  if oath of loyalty was broke, land taken away
• knight service

  • ensured the king had an army, amount of land held by a tenant in chief determined the amount of knights
  • scutage could be raised instead

  features:

  • serving in kings army for 2 months per year
  • guarding castle of lord/king for 40 days a year
  • raise money to pay ransom of lord if he was captured
• labour service

  • work that unfree peasants were expected to do on lords land
  • villeins had to work on certain days 'week work' e.g sowing crops
  • cottars - more freedom, had to work once a week

  'boon work' - gathering harvest
• importance of the church in medieval society

  • most people believed god controlled everything (heaven and hell)
  • so pleasing god was vital
  • The Church was an international organisation > based on hierarchy
• hierarchy of church

  • pope
  • cardinals
  • archbishops (head of church in england)
  • bishops and abbots (bishops in charge of priests and monks, abbots in charge of monasteries)
  • priests - ever parish had a priest who was responsible for his church
  • deacons
  • the laity
• spiritual influence of the church

  • taught people to be good christians
  • held religious sacraments - mass, baptism, marriages, funerals
  • also taught people to accept feudalism which helped control society
• political influence of church

  • archbishop of Canterbury - advised the king
  • pope - had influence over the king
  • important churchmen were often leading members of the government
• economic influence of the church

  • church was very wealthy - held a lot of land so got money from rent, profits, donations
  • everyone paid tithe (1/10th income) to church
  • major landholder, church had many vassals so people depended on the church
  • important source of money for the king as it paid taxes to him so church influence the king
• social influence of church

  • monasteries looked after the sick
  • monks and priests taught people to read and write and housed large collections of books
  • played major role in law courts
• rights of the king

  • had almost unlimited rights
  • could decide laws, decide on foreign and domestic policies, raise an army, set taxes, mint coins
  • but was expected to fulfil duties
• itinerant kingship

  • a medieval king needed to display his power by showing himself to his people
  • king travelled the country meeting barons
• coronation of the king

  • king was crowned in the coronation ceremony at westminster abbey
  • anointed with holy oil to show that he was made king by god
  • had to take coronation oath where he swore to protect the church and act with justice
• crown wearings

  • three times a year
  • crown wearing ceremonies that took place in important cathedrals to enforce power of the king
• the king as a law maker

  • maintain and ensure justice , show mercy and fairness
  • expected to consult with leading barons
  • heard court cases himself and sent his own judges to settle other cases
• the king as a decision maker

  • to govern in the interest of his people
  • make policy decisions that would benefit his people
• king as a christian

  • support and respect the church
  • people believed the king was chosen by god, expected to follow advice of the bishops and pope
• king as a protector

  • defend the land and people from attack
  • in charge of the army
  • expected to have military strategy and skills, most kings led barons into war themselves
• qualities of richard I

  • charismatic, brave, strong belief in chivalry
  • arrogant, selfish, could be disloyal
• how richard secured power

  • made peace with those who fought against him when his father was alive
  • appeased those with strong claims to the throne - made John Count of Mortain, made his half brother Geoffrey Archbishop of york
  • agreed that William (scottish king) didn't have to pay homage in return for William abandoning claims to northern england
  • won support of barons punished by King Henry
  • treated nobles with courtesy
• how John secured power

  • leading barons and eleanor of aquitaine supported John (but others supported Arthur)
  • acted quickly by being crowned king quickly after richard died
  • secured support of the court of Angouleme by marying his daughter isabelle
  • drove back Phillip IIs forces and made peace in may 1200
• Treaty of Le Goulet

  • Phillip recognised John as king of the angevin empire
  • john gave phillip some land in normandy
  • arthur remained duke of brittany but did homage to john
  • john agreed to do homage to phillip for his land in france

  john's army captured Arthur then he disappeared, it is said that he killed him
• william longchamp as justiciar, ruled while Richard was on crusade

  • loyal to richard but unpopular with many english barons because:
  • he was Norman, they felt they knew england better
  • paid Richard money to became justiciar
  • replaced many sheriffs with his own men
  • felt he was arrogant
• John's rebellion

  • 1191 - stirs up rebelion and seizes some castles
  • 1193 - pays homage to Phillip II and tries to take the throne, pronouncing Richard as dead
• Hubert Walter

  • Richard's justiciar whilst he was in Normandy
  • well respected by barons, was made Archbishop of Canterbury 1193
  • England was well governed until 1199 as Richard was often in touch, Walter made a more effective justice system
• why John was unpopular

  • did most of the governing himself so received most of the blame
  • replaced advisers with 'new men' who were often inexperienced or exploitative of their influence
  • 'new men' took place of some wealthy barons which angered them
  • did little to gain support of barons
  • raised money through unfair taxes
  • took complete control over justice
• murder of Arthur

  • John blamed for Arthur's murder after war restarts in 1202
• John's rule of England, who he put in power:

  • Fitz Peter as Justiciar
  • Hubert Walter as chancellor
• positive views about John

  • more interested in governing than predecessors, hard working and energetic
  • paid great attention to detail and kept efficient records
  • could be generous and often gave donations to the poor
• Royal Demesne

  Land held directly by the king, raised money through crop sale, rent, tallage
• Tallage

  land tax paid only by peasants
• Sheriffs

  • collected taxes from royal demesne
  • allowed to keep any profit so the role of Sheriff was valuable, often exploited
• Tax on moveables/income - the thirteenth tax

  • new tax by John 1207 on goods and belongings at a rate of a thirteenth of their value
  • very unpopular, people went at great lengths to hide their property