power and people

• Simon de Montfort


  The French nobleman who landed in England
• A deal was struck between de Montfort and the King


  De Montfort would help the King in return for the elder Sam orphan
• De Montfort rose quickly through the social ranks, marrying the King's sister Elinor in 1238
• De Montfort and the King were firm friends to begin with


  They soon fell out over a debt that Simon owed to the King of Savoy which Henry had said he would guarantee
• Henry's failed foreign policy, spiraling debts, and resentment to the influence of foreigners at court


  Resulted in growing opposition amongst the Barons led by De Montfort
• In 1258 the opposition drafted the provisions of Oxford


  Which for a time promised to limit royal power
• When De Montfort returned to France in 1260


  Henry went back on his word
• De Montfort returned to England


  1263
• De Montfort led a rebel army that defeated the king at the Battle of Lewes


  1264
• De Montfort then established a government based on the provisions led by the King's Council and he invited to Parliament for the first time representatives of the borough towns
• At the Battle of Evesham, forces loyal to the king and those loyal to De Montfort engaged in battle


  1265
• The outcome was a resounding victory for Henry, de Montfort was found dead on the battlefield having been stabbed in the neck, his body was mutilated and his body parts were dispatched across the kingdom as a warning to would-be traitors
• De Montfort's wife fled to France where she was later joined by her sons, ending the de Montfort family as a political force in England
• Following his death, Simon was heralded as a martyr at the Abbey of Evesham where de Montfort was briefly buried, and miracles were reported
• Henry soon forbade any reference to De Montfort as a saint, but people continued to visit the site of his death, marking the beginning of the de Montfort legend and the origins of his posthumous title as the father of parliament
• Guy Fawkes
• King John of England was cornered by angry barons

  15th of June 12:15
• In medieval England, society was organized under the feudal system
• Peasants


  Farmed land rented from the Barons
• Barons


  Wealthy because they'd done a favour for the King who'd given them land as a reward
• King


  Owned everything in the kingdom and could do as he liked, including making people pay tax
• King's power was based on the belief supported by the hope and the Archbishop of Canterbury that God himself had made the King
• Henry Plantagenet


  • He set out to make a massive Empire, he inherited some land in France but he wanted more, he married Eleanor of Aquitaine which grew his domain by leaps and bounds
• When Henry II died, Richard became King of England but spent barely any time in England, he was off fighting the Crusades or battling rebels in France
• In 1199, while trying to take a castle in Chalus, Richard was wounded and died, so despite the odds, John was crowned king of England
• King John


  • He needed to expand and protect his father's Empire, King Philip II was a huge threat to John's empire in France, Pope Innocent III wanted to appoint Stephen Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury, the Barons were fed up with John and wanted more money
• King John lost almost all of his dad's land in France and treated his barons very badly


  The rebel barons started printing the king is hiring a lot we need to do so
• The rebel barons meeting with King John

  1. They tried meeting with King John, renouncing their allegiance, even capturing London, but John ignored them

  2. They considered asking Prince Louie to become king

  3. They arranged to meet John in neutral territory

  4. John accepted the Barons' demands and put his royal seal on the Charter of Liberties
• The Pope rejected and condemned the settlement, but this did nothing to change the rebel barons
• John started a rampage across England, destroying Rochester Bridge and attacking the castle, while the Barons swore allegiance to Prince Louie
• John hurried towards King's Lynn, feeling unwell, and died after his baggage train got stuck in the wash
• John's son Henry became king, and William Marshall, the third's main advisor and Regent, reissued the Charter of Liberties as a Royal Charter
• In 1217, William Marshall reissued the Charter of Liberties as part of the peace treaty to end the civil war
• Magna Carta


  The Charter of Liberties was on a bigger sheet of vellum, so it became the Great Charter in Latin, which is what we call it ever since
• In 1225, Henry III needed to raise taxes, so he reassured Magna Carta again to prevent another rebellion
• In 1297, Edward I had the same problem, so he had Magna Carta entered into the statute rolls as English law
• Magna Carta


  • It was the first step towards building a fair society where everyone has equal rights and nobody is more powerful than the law, it became the root of our legal system and government, and it inspired the idea that all humans everywhere deserve equal rights and freedom
• After the Second World War, the United Nations decided to protect the rights of everyone on the planet, and Eleanor Roosevelt described the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a Magna Carta for all mankind
• Magna Carta has inspired the idea that everyone is equal under the law, and it's our responsibility to make our society fairer and more just, and to protect human rights
• Pilgrimage of Grace


  Series of rebellions during Henry VIII's reign, starting in 1536