NORMAN ENGLAND, 1066-1154
Videos:
Animated Bayeux Tapestry (second half, 4:16 min.):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDaB-NNyM8o
Horrible Histories: Stephen and Matilda (Norman Family Tree Song, 3:10 min.):
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2lwjyl
Music:
Marie de France, Lai du Chèvrefeuille (poem about the lovers Tristan and Iseult, possibly written at the court of Henry II, late 12th cent.) (4:42 min.):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2uDdwUQLqU
The sound of Old English:
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: The Battle of Hastings, 1066 (1:21 min.):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjXmKOt7hns
The Lord’s Prayer, in Old English (Anglo-Saxon, 0:28 min.):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQVyol7N1Jo&feature=fvwrel
The Norman Conquest:
The back-story (according to the Normans): Edward the Confessor, King of England, is elderly and childless. He decides to name his maternal cousin William, Duke of Normandy, as his heir. Edward sends his brother-in-law, Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex, the most powerful noble in England, on a diplomatic visit to Normandy. He is shipwrecked, arrested, and delivered to Duke William as a prisoner. William offers to release Harold unharmed if Harold will swear an oath to support William’s claim to be the heir to Edward’s throne. Harold swears and returns to England. There is another claimant waiting to claim the throne of England: Harald Hardrada, King of Norway.
(Click here for an animated [and abbreviated] version of the second half of the tapestry) (or click here for a later version of the same animation)
| 1066 | January:Death of Edward “the Confessor” and accession of his brother-in-law Harold Godwinson as King of England Spring: Halley’s Comet is seen as a fearsome omen September: invasion of Harald of Norway, who is defeated by Harold Godwinson at Stamford Bridge October:invasion of William, duke of Normandy, whose Norman-French army, with archers and cavalry, defeats Harold Godwinson at the battle of Hastings |
| 1066-1087 | Reign of William I “the Conqueror” (click here for a map of William’s dominions) |
| 1086 | Domesday Book (click here for an online glossary to Domesday Book) |
| 1087-1100 | William II “Rufus” |
| 1100-1135 | Henry I “Beauclerk”Establishment of Itinerant Justices and Exchequer |
| 1135-1154 | Stephen: anarchy (struggle for crown vs. Henry I’s daughter Matilda, widow of Emperor Henry V, and wife of Geoffrey, Count of Anjou) |
Online readings:
The Bayeux Tapestry, c. 1070s (see entire tapestry at either of the sites below)
http://www.bayeux-tapestry.org.uk (scroll to right to see entire tapestry)
https://web.archive.org/web/20170803052016/http://hastings1066.com/baythumb.shtml (click to see all 35 images)
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: Domesday Book and William I
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1186ASChron-Domesday.asp
Domesday Book (1086): Instructions and entry
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/domesday1.asp
Henry, archdeacon of Huntingdon (c.1080-1160), Chronicle: Stephen’s reign
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/henry-hunt1.asp
NORMAN ENGLAND, 1154-1307
Music:
Richard the Lionheart, King of England, “Ja nuns hons pris” (Ballad written while imprisoned, 2:40 min.):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DczZ_ZKbr_s&feature=related
Another version of the same (5:54 min.):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p2OhO-QsqY
For your amusement:
Steeleye Span, “Queen Eleanor’s Confession” (A very anachronistic folk song about Henry II and Queen Eleanor, 5:13 min.):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoKLn3aEOyE
The Robin Hood myth lives on:
Clip from the classic: “The Adventures of Robin Hood” (1938), with Errol Flynn, Olivia de Haviland, Basil Rathbone, and Claude Rains (4:58 min.):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuXcMzs8PQY
Theme song to British TV series, 1955-?: “Robin Hood” (1:17 min.):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbyYr6L5xQM&feature=related
Trailer for “Robin and Marian” (1976), with Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn (3:11 min.):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QxuO0_2Ic0
Montage from BBC fantasy TV series “Robin of Sherwood” (c. 1983-4), with Michael Praed (3:13 min.):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo9PSgOIIwo&feature=related
Readying the troops (1:52 min.): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_1yILWMqFA
Cancel Christmas (2:17 min.): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJk-yQadw_U
Trailer for “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” (1993), with Cary Elwes (1:33 min.):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX4Ik-cyp-I
Trailer for “Robin Hood” (2011), with Russell Crowe (3:11 min.):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOJ0NIDGNgc&feature=related
Opening of anime cartoon series, in French, 1990: “Les aventures de Robin des Bois” (1:21 min.):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJapYsqC7cs
The same opening, in its English, Japanese, and German versions (3:54 min.):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBfuqXZEZI0&feature=related
| 1154-1189 |
Henry II Plantagenet, son of Empress Matilda and Geoffrey, count of Anjou marries Eleanor, duchess of Aquitaine (d. 1204; former wife of Louis VII of France) (click here for map of his “Angevin empire” ) expands royal justice, leading to development of common law of England attempts to bring clergy under royal justice, leading to clash with Thomas Becket, chancellor and archbishop of Canterbury (murdered 1170; event commemorated on the seal of Arbroath Abbey) invades and partly conquers Ireland clashes with wife and sons, and with Philip II “Augustus” of France |
| 1189-1199 |
Richard I “the Lionheart”spends only 6 months of reign in England; goes on 3rd Crusade and on return is captured and held to ransom by Germans, while Philip II “Augustus” of France attempts to conquer English possessions in France (Click here for a story about the recent examination of Richard’s embalmed heart.) |
| 1199-1216 | John |
| 1204 | Loses French possessions to Philip II “Augustus” of France (including Richard I’s famous castle, Château Gaillard), except Gascony and parts of Aquitaine: see map of France in 1180 and map of France in 1223 |
| 1207-14 | Interdict by Pope Innocent III forces John to grant England to pope as papal fief, which John then holds as papal vassal |
| 1214 | Defeated at Bouvines |
| 1215 | Baronial revolt forces John to agree to Magna Carta (the “Great Charter”). Provisions of Magna Carta include: King and other lords may not arbitrarily tax tenants or vassals Under-age heirs shall not have their estates despoiled by their guardians Aristocratic widows shall not be forced to re-marry against their will The freedoms of the Church and of London and other towns to be upheld Defendants at law are entitled to trial by a jury of their peers King shall not sell, deny, or delay justice Baronial council of 25 shall oversee fulfilment of the terms of this Charter Main concept of Magna Carta: The king is not above the law; he himself is subject to the laws of the land |
| 1216-1272 | Henry III |
| 1258 | Provisions of Oxford: curtail king’s expenditures; require thrice-yearly Great Councils (“Parliaments”); and establish baronial Council of Fifteen to oversee government |
| 1264-5 | Simon de Montfort‘s rebellion; first representative Parliament summoned (barons, prelates, two knights from every shire, and two burgesses from every borough) |
| 1272-1307 |
Conquest of Wales; attempted conquest of Scotland; war with Philip IV (“the Fair”) of France; development of Parliament; expulsion of all Jews from England |
Online readings:
Peter of Blois: Description of Henry II, 1177
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1177peterblois-hen2.asp
Edward Grim: The Murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket, 29 Dec. 1170
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/grim-becket.asp
Peter of Blois: Letter to Queen Eleanor, 1173
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/eleanor.asp
Magna Carta, 1215: complete text
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/magnacarta.asp
Matthew of Westminster: Simon de Montfort’s rebellion, 1264-5
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/matt-west1.asp
Three summonses to Parliament, 1295
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/ed1-summons.asp