Famine.
—Professor John Arnold
ROBERT THE BRUCE LOOKS OVER THE
TREATY OF EDINBURGH-NORTHAMPTON
77
Treaty of
Edinburgh-Northampton
A
lthough English kings had claimed
overlordship of Scotland since
before the Norman Conquest,
the two countries were at peace in the
13th century. But peace ended with
the Scottish succession debate (the
Great Cause) following the death of
King Alexander III in 1286.
1328
78
Initially, King Edward I of England
managed to impose English rule
on Scotland. But in 1306, Robert
the Bruce rebelled and claimed the
Scottish crown, setting off another
stage in the Wars of Independence
that began in 1296.
After Edward I’s death in 1307,
Bruce enjoyed 20 years of military
success against the new English
king, Edward II. Bruce is especially
well-known for his victory at
Bannockburn in 1314.
By 1327, Edward II had been forced to
give up his crown due to a rebellion
led by his wife, Queen Isabella, and a
majority of the nobles, who had long
disliked his weak rule.
Queen Isabella and the English
Parliament were prepared to make
peace on Bruce’s terms. In return, the
79
Scottish would pay war reparations of
£20,000, a vast amount at that time.
Bruce would finally be recognized by
the English as king of an independent
Scotland.
The promises were all laid out
in a treaty, which was ratified in
Edinburgh in March 1328 and
by the English Parliament at
Northampton in May. The treaty
was sealed by the marriage of Joan,
the sister of Edward III, to Bruce’s
heir, David.
Known in England as the “Shameful
Peace” because it surrendered long-
claimed English rights, the treaty
did not last long. In 1333, Edward III
invaded Scotland, and the Wars of
Independence began again, lasting
off and on for nearly 300 years.
—Professor Christopher Given-Wilson
Part III: 1346–1485
83
Battle of Crécy
D
uring the 14th and 15th centuries,
England was not only at war with
Scotland but also engaged in a long
dispute with France.
This lengthy on-again off-again conflict
between England and France is called
the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453).
King Edward III began the war in 1337,
just four years after breaking peace with
Scotland.
1346
84
Edward’s goals were to maintain his
control over English-held territories
in France, defend and expand English
economic interests on the Continent,
and press a claim to the French
throne.
In the summer of 1346, he led an
invasion force across northern
France to harass and pillage enemy
territories and capture important
towns. Although his expedition
had much success, its progress
was halted in late August near the
village of Crécy by a much larger
French army.
The resulting Battle of Crécy, fought
on August 26, was one of the most
famous of the war. Though greatly
outnumbered, Edward demonstrated
tactical and technological superiority
over his opponents. Having chosen
the high ground, he carefully
85
organized his soldiers into defensive
formations and prepared a system of
ditches, pits, and obstacles for the
enemy cavalry.
Perhaps overconfident in their
greater numbers, the French army
hastily and foolishly launched
several advances of crossbowmen
and cavalry. Edward’s extensive
use of the longbow devastated the
attacking French units, which were
unable to break the disciplined
English line. The English won a
decisive victory with minor loss of
life on their side.
Edward’s unexpected victory at Crécy
threw the French into disarray. This
battle set the tone for a long period
of English military success during the
1350s and 1360s.
—Dr. Gilbert Bogner
THE CANTERBURY TALES
87
Geoffrey Chaucer
G
eoffrey Chaucer, the father of English
literature, came from a family of
rich wine merchants. As a teenager
he joined King Edward III’s army. He was
captured during an invasion of France
but was soon freed, thanks to the king.
By 1367, he had entered royal service
under the patronage of the king’s son
John of Gaunt. Later he would even
become a member of Parliament.
1343-1400
Although he held many jobs during
his life, Chaucer is best remembered
for his poetry.
The Book of the Duchess
,
his first major poem, was written in
memory of John of Gaunt’s first wife,
Blanche of Lancaster.
Chaucer’s most famous poem is
The
Canterbury Tales
. This work follows
the journey of a group of fictional
pilgrims traveling from Southwark
to Canterbury. Its characters include
a friar, a knight, and a cook. Their
stories are told vividly, giving us a
real insight into the lives of medieval
people, both rich and poor.
—Harriet Howes
89
The Black Death
T
he Black Death was the greatest
natural disaster in European
history, killing 50 percent or more
of the continent’s population in just
three years. The disease was probably
bubonic plague (the bacillus
Yersinia
pestis
), spread by the flea
Xenopsylla
cheopsis
carried by black rats.
1348-1350
THE BLACK DEATH
91
The Black Death reached Europe
from Asia in late 1347. The plague
spread northward through France
and Germany, and it arrived on
the south coast of England in the
summer of 1348 (although in
many parts of England, the most
devastation occurred in 1349).
English manorial and church records
provide details of the impact of the
disease. From these records, historians
know that many towns and villages lost
half or more of their population—and
some were wiped out entirely.
By 1350, the disease had moved on
t
o other parts of Europe, but the
legacy of the catastrophe lasted for
centuries. Before 1347, Europe had
a labor surplus, resulting in high
rents and prices and low wages.
But the Black Death reversed these
trends. Those who survived enjoyed
a period of better living standards
called the “Golden Age of the
Peasantry.”
But the disease would appear again.
Regular outbreaks devastated the
populace throughout the 15th and
16th centuries.
Not until about 1750 did England’s
population recover to its 1347 level of
six or seven million.
—Professor Christopher Given-Wilson
93
Anne of Bohemia
A
nne of Bohemia, the daughter of a
Holy Roman Emperor, became the
Queen Consort of England as the
wife of King Richard II.
Their marriage was controversial. One
mean-spirited English chronicler even
called Anne a “tiny scrap of humanity”
because he thought Richard should have
married a more prestigious woman with a
larger dowry. Yet Richard and Anne, both
only 15 years old when they married,
truly loved each other.
1366-1394
94
She was a peacemaker, softening her
husband’s heart toward wrongdoers
and enemies. Londoners were so
grateful to her for mending a quarrel
between them and the king that they
gave her a live pelican, a rare bird and
a symbol of Anne’s piety.
Due to her kind nature and her reform
Christian upbringing, she’s also
said to have protected John Wycliffe
and the Lollards who followed him.
Wycliffe translated the Bible from
Latin into English and challenged the
authority of religious leaders.
She was also an inspiration to
Chaucer, who based a character
on her and wrote a book at her
request.
Yet she and Richard failed at the
most important task of any royal
couple, to produce heirs (preferably
male ones, at that).
When Anne died of the plague 12
years after their marriage, Richard
was so miserable that he demolished
the palace at Sheen where she had
breathed her last breath. Anne of
Bohemia has been long remembered
by the English as their own beloved
Good Queen Anne.
—Greyson Beights
95
Margery Kempe
M
argery Kempe wrote the first
autobiography in the English
language. She was born in 1373
to a prosperous family in the port of
Lynn, where her father was mayor.
When Margery grew up, she married
John Kempe, and they had 14 children.
Although she worked as a brewer and a
miller, both businesses failed. This was
an ordinary life for a woman around 1400,
but other parts of Margery’s life were
truly extraordinary.
1373-1438
97
Margery was a Christian mystic and
believed that Jesus spoke to her
directly. As a sign of her holiness,
she wanted to wear white clothes,
and the archbishop of Canterbury
gave her permission to do so. She
also tried to convince everyone—
husband, neighbors, priests,
bishops—that she could perform
miracles.
Sometimes Margery succeeded in
persuading them, but other times she
didn’t. Some thought she was a fraud.
Because she screamed and cried loudly
whenever she had a vision, even her
supporters sometimes found her
tiresome.
Margery was an enthusiastic pilgrim.
She traveled to holy places like Rome,
Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela,
and many other shrines. Although
Margery could not read, she had an
exceptional memory and could recite
passages from books that had been
read to her. Just before she died, she
dictated her life story to a scribe.
Now known as
The Book of Margery
Kempe
, her autobiography tells
a fascinating story about urban
life, pilgrimage, and faith in late
medieval England.
—Greyson Beights
99
Peasants’ Revolt
T
he Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 is the
most famous uprising of the Middle
Ages in England. The Black Death
had turned a labor surplus into a labor
shortage, driving wages up and rents
down. Landowners, who dominated
Parliament, reacted by passing labor
laws to force wages down, which greatly
upset the peasants.
1381
100
The 1370s also saw English military
failure, political scandal, and high
taxation.
A poll tax was the spark that ignited
the rebellion, causing riots in Kent
and Essex against tax collectors.
This poll tax, or head tax, had to
be paid to the king by every adult
except the very poorest, at the rate
of 12 pence per person.
Led by Wat Tyler and the priest John
Ball, the rebels marched on London
and occupied the city for three days
(June 13 through June 15). They
burned, looted, and killed hundreds
of lawyers, foreigners, and royal
officials, including the chancellor and
the treasurer. Meanwhile, the young
King Richard II hid in the Tower of
London.
The rebels met twice with the king,
who promised to free them from
serfdom and reform the government.
But after the rebels left London,
these promises were broken and
hundreds were tried and executed.
Unrest had also broken out in many
other parts of the country. Conflict
continued until late July, by which
time the government had recovered
101
its nerve. Although it seemed as if
the revolt achieved little, serfdom
rapidly disappeared from England
after 1381. The government, wary of
inciting another revolt, did away with
the hated poll taxes.
—Professor Christopher Given-Wilson
FIGHTING IN THE STREETS
THE MARRIAGE OF KING JOHN I AND PHILIPPA
103
Treaty of Windsor
A
lthough the Hundred Years’ War
(1337–1453) was fought between
England and France, several other
kingdoms were drawn into the conflict.
These smaller kingdoms included Castile,
a kingdom in Spain that allied with
France, and Portugal, which allied with
England.
1386
104
The Treaty of Windsor was made
between England and Portugal on
May 9, 1386. It was sealed by the
marriage of King John I of Portugal
to Philippa, the daughter of John of
Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster.
John of Gaunt claimed the throne of
Castile through his wife and hoped
that the Portuguese king would help
him secure it. But instead, Gaunt
gave up his claim to Castile in 1387
in return for a large cash settlement.
The English-Portuguese treaty has
remained in force ever since and is
the oldest diplomatic alliance in the
world. It has been sorely tested at
times, especially during the 17th-
century Dutch-Portuguese War and
the 19th-century colonial wars of
conquest in Africa.
The marriage between King John I
and Philippa was also a great
success. Their children, known in
Portuguese history as the Illustrious
Generation, included Henry the
Navigator, a great explorer.
—Professor Christopher Given-Wilson
105
Battle of Agincourt
F
ollowing a decades-long period of
truce, the Hundred Years’ War was
renewed in 1415 by King Henry V of
England.
Reviving demands for lands in France,
he also reasserted a claim to the French
throne made by his great-grandfather
Edward III at the beginning of the war.
Henry brought an army across the
English Channel in August 1415.
1415
106
After losing many of his men to
disease during the long siege of
Harfleur on the north coast of
France, the king led his army across
Normandy.
Weakened, ill, and exhausted, the
army was blocked by a much greater
French force near the village of
Agincourt. The result was one of
the most celebrated battles in
English history. On the morning of
October 25, Henry positioned his
army on a strip of land between two
wooded areas, hoping to reduce the
effectiveness of the superior French
numbers. Then, taking a bold risk,
Henry advanced his army to a second
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