Richard and John

• Richard I


  1157 – 1199, managed to get himself captured, built Chateau Gillard, made an attempt to protect Jews from prosecution, was a crusader warrior, slaughtered many Muslims who surrendered to him, left the Kingdom in the hands of someone who was less than capable
• John


  1166 - 1216, famously known as the worst king of England ever, killed his nephew, lost loads of land (in France), pulled people's teeth out, arranged many forced marriages, tried to kill his own brother
• Henry II crowned king of England in 1154, he also ruled the vast Angevin Empire
• Henry II was described as a 'bully with brains and brawn'
• In 1173, Henry II's sons rebelled against him, they were encouraged by their mother – as he was dying, he heard that his favourite son John had abandoned him
• Henry II's wife was Eleanor of Aquitaine who was previously married to the King of France
• Eleanor ruled Aquitaine which was around 1/3 of the size of modern France
• From 1173, Henry II kept Eleanor under armed guard and referred to her as 'the hatred Queen'
• Henry (eldest son) did not want to wait to become king, he wanted land and power from his father and to be deputy king
• When Henry II died, Richard became king of England
• Richard had been ruling Aquitaine with his mother from age 14
• Richard had joined the king of France to rebel against Henry II as he wanted John to be king. This forced Henry II into an embarrassing treaty recognising Richard's control over Aquitaine
• Henry II died 2 days later
• Geoffrey had also joined the rebellions against his father – he was the Duke of Brittany
• Geoffrey died before Richard so never became king of England
• Geoffrey did have a son called Arthur who should have got the throne after Richard died – so he attacked John's land in France
• John was the youngest son – he was given control over Ireland at a young age
• John did plot against his father with Richard, however, when Richard became King, John plotted against him
• John tried to take over when Richard was fighting the Crusades – finally became king in 1199
• The Angevin empire needed to be protected from many formidable opponents and skilled leaders who caused problems in England and Overseas
• The King's potential problems

  • Saladin
  • The English Barons
  • Philip 11, King of France
  • The Roman Catholic Church
  • The Duchy of Aquitaine
  • Brittany
  • Normandy
• The King


  • Extremely powerful, owned all the land in England but granted most of it to tenants-in-chief, duty was to protect his people from invasions and create laws, about 20% of land was owned by the king, known as the Royal Demesne, some of this land was royal forests for hunting
• Nobles and Bishops (Tenants-in-chief)

  • In return for land directly from the king (owned around 50% of land), they paid homage and provided knight service for the king, land held by a tenant-in-chief from the king was called a fief or a fee, the most powerful nobles and clergy were called barons, they advised the king and helped govern England, some of their land was granted to under-tenants, one of their jobs was to provide knights for the King, in return for land, the barons had to make promises of homage and military service
• What happened when a Baron died?

  Land would be passed on with royal approval, usually in return for a large sum of money and homage, a new tenant-in-chief was expected to give the king money when they inherited or gained the estate, the king had a right to ward-ship for an heir who was underage (king held land until they came of age), he could also give or sell these rights to someone else
• Knights and vassals (Under-tenants)


  • In return for land, they paid homage to their lord and provided knight service, under-tenants granted some of their land to peasants, most knights were lords of a manor, around 5% of land owned by this group, usually there were large houses in villages and there was lots of land for peasants to work on, there were around 5000 knights at this time, in return for his oath and loyalty, knights could rent to those below him
• Free men and Peasants

  • Free men could travel wherever they wanted, they included merchants, craftsmen and farmers, free men in villages had to pay rent to their lord (under-tenant, tenant-in-chief or the King) and sometimes were paid to work on their lord's land, peasants provided labour services to their lord in return for protection, shelter and a small strip of land to provide food for their families, lords could buy and sell peasants and they were not allowed to leave without permission, very few peasants were not bound to their land, if a villein ran away from his village for a year and a day without being caught, then they would become a freeman
• The Church


  • Owned around 25% of land, rented land out to lesser nobles and free men, income from this land was used to pay for soldiers
• Forfeiture


  If a vassal (someone who held land from someone else in the feudal system) failed to provide a service, or committed a crime, then the oath (homage) was considered broken. Their land was forfeit (lord took it away) and could be granted to someone else as a reward for loyalty.
• Knight service


  A duty that knights owed to their Lord in return for holding land. Duties included serving in the king's army for at least two months (as well as providing armour and a horse), performing up to 40 days service guarding the Lord's castle, help raise money to pay ransom if the Lord was captured, employed in local government, pay money to the Lord when they inherited land, after death wardship was granted to the Lord (Lord would protect it for the dead knight's heir). However if the knight did not do his military service, the Lord could demand a special tax called scutage.
• Landholding and homage


  Land was divided into fiefs, in return for land, landowners had to pledge homage to their lord by swearing an oath of loyalty.
• Labour service


  Peasants worked in order to have land and protection, (land could be taken, forfeiture, if they did not provide the service). Freemen's sons had to pay a large sum of money to inherit lands.
• In medieval villages, there was a church, manor house, barn, villager's houses, kitchen gardens for the manor house, a mill, woodland, the priest's house, hay meadow, common pasture (animals graze), east field (different crops grown throughout the year), north field, strips belonging to peasants, west field (for soil to rest)
• Seasonal activities in medieval villages

  1. Spring – clear stones, sow barley, oats and wheat, put animals in fields, shear sheep and plough the fields

  2. Summer – pick fruit, gather crops, store hay

  3. Autumn – thresh barley and wheat, sow winter wheat, kill animals for meat, salt and smoke meat

  4. Winter – mend tools, fences and buildings, move animals into barns
• All year round activities in medieval villages included brewing beer, making cheese, spinning wool, working in the house and garden
• Low life expectancy in medieval villages due to diseases such as smallpox and starvation. 20-30% of children died before 7
• Peasants' houses in medieval villages

  • Lived in one-room cruck houses, the walls were not well insulated, thatched roofs, animals shared the houses. In addition, all peasants had to pay to use the village mill to make essential bread.
• Medieval towns


  • Had a castle, church, drains running down roads, market place, mote, crowded streets, tall wooden houses, walls to protect the town, bridges, farming plots
• Medieval towns played a huge role in the economy, main centre of trade
• All town members were free and did not belong to a lord and could chose their own employment
• Occupations in medieval towns

  • Tradesmen – trained as apprentices to highly skilled master craftsmen, often members of a guild
  • Merchants – sold food, raw materials and textiles in England (even Europe)