The modern one is often also called Britain, and it is this name that most suits the described country since ancient times. Because when Julius Caesar appeared on the shores of Foggy Albion (55 BC), the Britons lived here. These Celtic tribes inhabited modern England at the time when Caesar invaded these glorious lands, thus initiating the Roman phase of British history.
Therefore, we can say that the history of England actually began with captivity, which turned out to be a very contagious affair for the descendants of the Britons, who founded the British Empire several centuries later, uniting the lands of several continents.
Caesar and Britons, Picts and Scots
So, the era of Caesar, England, the history of the country at the very beginning. The Romans capture the entire southern territory of the island (now there are lands that make up the territories of England and Wales), which entered the Roman Empire and remained in it until the period of collapse (5th century AD).
And it was a time of intrigue and compromise Because inherently weak, the Britons nevertheless desired to be free. They did not want to "walk under the Romans", and as an alternative they turned to the German barbarians for help (the battle of the Roman legionnaires with the barbarian tribes is very plausibly recreated in the film "Gladiator").
However, as long as the Roman legions stood on the soil of England, the Germans could not take possession of new territories for them.
And only with the departure of the Romans (V-VI centuries), the barbarians managed not only to help the Britons (the chronicles of those years testify that it was they who interceded with the Germanic tribes to protect them from the ancestors of the Scots - the Picts and Scots - from the north), but and subsequently push the "natives" to Wales and Cornwall.
Egbert and Alfred the Great
In England of those years, aliens representing three groups of Germans were in charge - these were combat brigades of the Jutes, Saxons and Angles. On the territories taken from the Britons, they formed their own separate kingdoms.
In particular, the history of England keeps evidence of the existence of the Union of the Seven Kingdoms - the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy.
The kings were then called "Britwalds" (that is, the rulers of Britain). Most researchers believe that the history of this state, as a united kingdom, is associated with the name of one of these Britwalds named Egbert (date of birth unknown - 839). The fact is that when the Danish Vikings attacked the eastern lands of England, it was he who managed to rally the rest of the Britwalds around his kingdom of Wessex.
However, the truly "royal" history of England actually began two centuries later, when Alfred the Great (871-899) first introduced the titled phrase "". Some, however, tend to consider 1066 as the "zero point", when the Normans landed on the shores of England.
From William I to James I
Actually, from this date no unification followed. On the contrary, through the efforts of William I the Conqueror, the Franco-Norman order reigned in England. Wales was conquered and became an integral part of a single state in the 13th century. With Scotland, the unification took place much later, in 1707 (the so-called "Act of Union").
All this time, the future kingdom went through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance - to the time of Elizabeth I, the last of the Tudors. James I, who replaced her, was actually James VI, but not in England, but in Scotland. (Since English traditions provide for giving the serial number of the king, only on the basis of the presence or absence of such in the annals of Britain, and Yakovov did not know the history of the country before him, he was destined to become the first of them).
French trail and reformer kings
Britain's closest neighbor was France, which predetermined the most powerful influence of this country on the fate of all generations of the British. Even William the Conqueror, having made historical claims to the English throne, remained to rule French Normandy.
Yes, and his great-grandson Henry II Plantagenet had power over about half of the rulers of the French provinces, who were his vassals. It was to this king that the idea of judicial reform belongs, from which the jury later formed.
Henry gave the throne to Richard I the Lionheart (1189-1199). It was the time of the Crusades. But his younger brother John Landless (1199-1216) took up the strengthening of the English coast from the appetites of the French monarch.
However, Philip-Augustus proved to be a more skilful master of warfare, and after 1214 Britain lost its influence over practically all French provinces. John, however, entered the history of England as the creator of the first constitution of this country (the Magna Carta law).
His son Henry III (1216-1272) also distinguished himself: he initiated the creation of the world's first parliament.
The accession of Wales also became famous for Edward I (1272-1307), who succeeded him.
Centralization, language reform
Despite the activity of the English kings, Scotland maintained its independence for many centuries. As a separate kingdom, this part of the British island was formed in the 9th-11th centuries. The Angles, Saxons and Jutes, already mentioned above, who settled in the southern part of Scotland, had a great influence on the established ethnic community.
Meanwhile, in England itself in the XII-XIII centuries, centralization continued, accompanied by the development of the economy and the growth of cities. The population was also consolidated, the history of the English ethnic community was a merger of the Angles, Saxons and Normans. At the same time, the language standard was formed..
Previously, commoners communicated with each other using the Anglo-Saxon language, and the royal society, nobles and nobility (as later in Russia) - in French. Now the London dialect, not without influence French, united the existing bilingualism. It must be emphasized that at present the British speak three main languages, adopted traditionally on the shores of the Foggy Albion.
This is, in fact, English, with which the vast majority of Britons communicate, as well as Welsh (every fourth Welsh uses it) and Gaelic.
The latter is used by about 60 thousand Scots, in fact, it is nothing more than the Gaelic language in its Scottish dialect form.
The Market, the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of the Roses
Serfdom was gradually pushed aside by the development of the wool industry, and with it, other sectors of the economy. A new type of relationship penetrated into the village - commodity-money, here sheep breeding developed by leaps and bounds. Feudalism thus dug its own grave already in the 15th century..
Meanwhile, the reign of Edward III (1327-1377) was marked by new British claims to the French throne.
As a result of the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453), the French fleet was sunk (1340), the Frogs' army was defeated at Crecy (1346), and their king himself was captured at Poitiers (1356). Thus, the history of Britain began a new countdown to English influence on the continent.
The fiasco at Agincourt (1415) forced the French monarch to leave his throne in favor of the reigning Henry V. However, wars never benefited the common people. If in England the revolt of Wat Tyler (1381) became a reaction to the Hundred Years War, then in France it became the cause of the feat of Joan of Arc, and Henry VI in 1453 was forced to leave the continent back to the island.
From the same time, the beginning of the war that the Lancasters and Yorks unleashed between themselves (Scarlet and White Roses) takes its countdown.
Beginning in 1455, she wiped out all the pretenders to the royal throne from both warring parties, clearing the way for the Tudors. And the new VII (1485-1509) marked the beginning of the reign. And he not only ascended the throne, but, being a relative of the Lancasters, married a representative of the York dynasty. Since then, the enemies have reconciled, and both roses have reigned on the coat of arms of Henry VII.
Absolutism and gentry, Stuarts and Cromwell
The unlimited power of the king was laid down by Henry VII, and his descendant Henry VIII (1491-1547) reformed the church, declaring himself head of the Anglican Church. Edward VI (1537-1553) declared Protestantism the religion of England, the 16th century is also known for the emergence of new nobles - the gentry, from which the bourgeois later went.
The intensive seizure of peasant lands by them formed the basis for the emergence of capitalist relations.
The last of the Tudors, Elizabeth I (1533-1603), found himself without an heir, and it was James I, from whom the Stuarts ruled in England. Under him, the Protestants began to be pushed back by the Catholics, and his son Charles I (1625-1649) aggravated the confrontation with Parliament and, having brought the country to the Civil War, was executed by Cromwell's supporters. The latter, in just five years of his reign, annexed the lands of Scotland and Ireland to England, and from that time the history of the kingdom became united.
End of the Stuarts, bourgeois revolution
In the following decades, the monarchy triumphed (Charles II), in the 17th-19th centuries, two Tory and Whig parties, now traditional for England, were formed., and the Slavic Revolution (1688) marked the end of the Stuarts and the strengthening of the bourgeoisie.
It was the "Slavic" King William III of Orange who helped to strengthen the Tories and Whigs, as well as the press. At the same time, the history of the country's first Bank of England (1694) begins.
Under Anne Stewart, England and Scotland became inseparable (1707).
The bourgeois who came to actual power completed the formation of England as a nation.
The peasantry disappeared in the 18th century. By this time, in three wars, the British managed to break the onslaught of the Dutch, and the wars between England and France continued as the British Empire was created.
However, the Treaty of Versailles (1763) contributed to the civilized redistribution of the colonies between France, Britain and Spain. Australia becomes a state-scale colony (parliamentary laws of England 1768-1771).
In the 18th century, the era of Hanover contributes to the rise of Parliament as the ruling body of the state. The accession to the throne of 18-year-old Victoria (1837) marks the beginning of the longest reign in the history of England. By the same time, Britain becomes the most powerful world power..
Modern England
Today Britain, with 39 counties, is one of the most densely populated countries in the world.
It is the second largest economy in Europe and the fifth in the world.. Tourism is widely developed here. The largest cities in England are London, Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow. The population is almost 60 million people. The cost of living in England is still measured in pounds sterling, although the national currency is the euro.
The first inhabitants known to us Britain there were tribes Celts who moved to the island during the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages (800-700 BC). Since antiquity, the Celtic population of Britain has been assigned the code name " Britons". information about the Celts in Britain ... In 55 BC. made the first trip here Julius Caesar. Finally, Britain was conquered by the Romans by the end of the 60s of our era. All the actions of the Britons against the power of Rome were suppressed, and Roman civilization quickly spread. The Britons rapidly Romanized, successfully assimilating Roman customs and culture.
The crisis of the Roman Empire also affected the fate of Britain. Gradually, all the Roman legions left the island. The Roman protectorate over Britain was destroyed in 410 by the decree of Emperor Honorius. Britain broke up into a number of independent regions.
The inhabitants of Britain suffered greatly from the raids of their northern neighbors picts and scotts, and in 449, according to legend, the Jutes were called for help under the command of Hengist and Horsa. The country was flooded with troops Saxons, Angles and Jutes. They quickly subjugated these lands. The Anglo-Saxon period began in the history of England.
The time of this era is counted from the landing in the British Isles of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes in the 5th century and the formation of the Anglo-Saxon states, and it ended in the 11th century with the Norman conquest of the country.
Having conquered Britain, the aliens formed not one state, but seven or eight ( Heptarchy).
From the beginning of the 9th century, the seven kingdoms of the heptarchy began to fall more and more under the influence of Wessex. The country at that time suffered greatly from devastating raids. vikingo in. They took over almost the entire country. King Alfred the Great (871-899) is considered the liberator and organizer of the state. He became the first of the kings of Wessex to call himself king of england.
The peaceful period in the history of England was interrupted when Æthelred II the Foolish(978-1016). The Danes resumed their attacks with even greater force. Danish king Sven conquered the whole island. Then ruled England Canute the Great son of Sven. He married Æthelred's widow, Emma. After the children of Cnut, who successively inherited the throne, died childless, the son of Ethelred and Emma Edward, who was called the Confessor, was invited to the throne. So in England, which had long suffered under a foreign yoke, the ancient dynasty of Saxon kings was restored. Edward the Confessor (1042-1066), who had no children, bequeathed the English crown to Duke William of Normandy. With the accession of William the Conqueror (1066-1087), the period of the Anglo-Norman monarchy began in the history of England.
The ruling elite of the monarchy spoke only French, even in official acts French customs and language were introduced. Gradually, the Anglo-Saxon nobility was destroyed or emigrated from the country. William I was able to create a strong centralized monarchy in England. Fortresses and castles were built throughout the country, which became the mainstay of the power of the conquerors and the residences of new barons and royal officials. Under William the Conqueror, the Tower was built.
After his death, the English throne was held in succession by the sons of William II Rufus and Henry Beauclerk. King Henry bequeathed the crown of England to his daughter Matilda, who by her second marriage was married to the Count of Anjou, Geoffroy Martell, nicknamed Plantagenet because of his habit of wearing a bunch of flowering gorse (plante-de-genet) on his helmet instead of a plume.
This marriage was considered illegal, since it was concluded without the consent of the Anglo-Norman nobility. This became the reason for Stephen Blois, son of Henry's sister and Count of Blois, to present his claims to the English throne.
During the reign of Stephen (1135-1154), there was a long struggle with the supporters of Queen Matilda, this struggle was continued by Matilda's son Henry, who after Stephen's death became King Henry II of England, becoming the ancestor of the Plantagenet dynasty.
We will begin the history of England with a story about the first inhabitants of the British Isles, about whom we have more or less accurate information. it Celts. The Celtic period of history is still only the history of Britain. The actual history of England will begin later.
Even before the Celts, some people lived in Britain who did not belong to the speakers of the Indo-European languages, and left vague traces of their existence in the form of monuments scattered around the country.
The Celts began to migrate from the continent to the British Isles during the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age (800-700 BC). They moved in several streams, one of the last were the Belgae, who invaded the islands around 75 BC. e.
The Celtic tribe is divided into two branches - Cimbri and Gaels. The former include the inhabitants of Britain and the Welsh, the latter the Irish and the Scottish Highlanders. But even in ancient times, the Celtic and Celtic population of Britain was given the conventional name - "Britons".
Who were these first known inhabitants of Britain? It is already possible to form some idea about them on the basis of the testimonies of ancient authors, and, in particular, Julius Caesar.
He owns the earliest information about the Celts who inhabited Britain. This is how he saw these people: The most educated are the inhabitants of Kantium (Kent); their customs differ little from those of the Gauls. The inhabitants of the inner part of the island are mostly not engaged in agriculture, but eat milk and meat and dress in animal skins. All Britons paint their bodies with woad (blue vegetable dye) to intimidate the enemy in battle. They wear long hair and shave their whole body, except for the mustache". Of the life of the Britons, Caesar writes: the inner part of Britain is inhabited by a tribe that is considered the natives of this country, and the coast is inhabited by newcomers from Belgium, who came here to plunder and stayed here forever. Instead of money, they use pieces of iron or copper of a certain weight. Tin is mined inland, iron along the coast, but in small quantities, all copper is imported from outside».
The entire Celtic population of Britain was divided into warriors, priests (druids) and slaves.
The Druids were responsible for the religious side of Briton life. The main idea of the Druid teaching is that the souls of people do not die with the body, but move to other bodies. In the Celtic tribes, the Druids enjoyed great prestige. They were exempt from military service and from all taxes. They were judges in almost all disputes and litigations, they distributed rewards and punishments. Those members of the tribe who did not want to obey their decision were deprived of the right to participate in sacrifices, which was tantamount to exclusion from society.
The Britons developed agriculture and cattle breeding; they used a potter's wheel, a heavy wheeled plow, a hand mill; engaged in weaving, processed animal skins, developed mines, traded with merchants who came from the continent.
On the eve of the Roman conquest, the Britons were already at the stage of decomposition of the primitive communal system and the emergence of elements of a class society. The emergence of tribal and military nobility testified to the growth of social inequality.
The tribes of the Britons sometimes united in tribal unions led by military leaders ("kings"). Later, from the tribal centers of the Britons, they grew into Roman and medieval cities: Londinium (now London), Camulodunum (now Colchester), Eboracum (now York), etc.
After the conquest in the middle of the 1st century BC. e. Gaul by the Romans, Julius Caesar made two trips to Britain. Caesar mentions that the Britons in 56 BC. e. sent help to the Gallic tribe of Veneti, who rebelled against Roman rule. The following year, Caesar decided to cross over to Britain to punish the Britons for their aid to the Veneti.
August 27, 55 BC e. he landed on the British coast with 2 legions. The Britons, who tried to prevent his landing, were driven back inland and no longer offered much resistance. Having defeated the Britons relatively easily, Caesar did not take into account the height of the tides (unknown in the Mediterranean). Such a high tide destroyed most of his ships at anchor. Therefore, Caesar made peace with the Britons on rather favorable terms for them and returned to Gaul.
The next summer, Caesar again went to Britain with 800 ships, 2000 horsemen and 5 legions of infantry. He entered deep into the country, leaving a small detachment to cover the ships. Chief military leader of the Britons Cassivelaun tried to stop the movement of Caesar, but was defeated, and the Romans took his capital by storm.
Cassivelaun then began to ask for peace. Caesar took an indemnity from him and returned to the mainland. He left no garrison in Britain, because events in Rome and Gaul required his presence.
After that, the Romans planned several trips to Britain, but they were postponed for various reasons.
And only in 43 the emperor Claudius decided to impose tribute on the Britons and sent Avla Plautia with 4 legions to Britain. Plautius entered into battle with the Britons under the leadership of Caratacus and reached the north bank of the Thames. Here he began to wait for the arrival of the rest of the army, led by the emperor. After the arrival of the emperor with reinforcements, the Britons were completely subdued, and Claudius returned to Rome, leaving Plautius to defend the new Roman possessions.
By the end of the 60s. All of Britain was under Roman rule.
It became one of the outlying provinces of the Roman Empire. Mainly the eastern, southern, and partly central regions underwent Romanization; the west and north were hardly affected by it. The local population raised uprisings more than once, the most famous was the uprising of Boudicca in 61.
All speeches were suppressed, and Roman civilization quickly spread.
In 78-84 years. was the ruler of Britain Agricola, father-in-law of Tacitus. He conquered Northern England, Wales and defeated the last independent Caledonian tribe in Scotland.
The Britons rapidly romanized, successfully assimilating Roman culture and customs. In 120, the emperor Hadrian visited Britain and ordered the construction of a series of fortifications (Hadrian's Wall) to protect against the raids of the northern tribes. To the north of Hadrian's Wall in 142-144, during the reign of Antoninus Pius, the Antoninus Wall was built for the same purpose, but after 20 years it was abandoned.
From 259 to 284 Britain was part of the Gallic Empire, and in 286 the head of the Roman fleet Carausius, whose duties included the protection of Britain and Gaul from the Frisian pirates, proclaimed himself emperor of Britain. In 289, the Roman emperor Maximian sent an unsuccessful expedition against him, which allowed Carausius to reign for seven years until 293, until he was killed by his treasurer. Allectome who took his throne.
In 296, Britain was subjugated to Rome for the second time. Constance Chlorine. The crisis of the Roman Empire also affected the fate of Britain. From the end of the 3rd century, in addition to the attacks from the North by the wild tribes of the Picts and Scots, the raids of the Saxon tribes began. In 367, the Germanic tribes of the Saxons, Angles and Jutes invaded the island from the continent. Gradually, all the Roman legions for one reason or another left the island by the Decree of Emperor Honorius, in 410 the Roman protectorate over Britain was destroyed, and she was left to her own forces. Britain broke up into a number of independent regions.
Anglo-Saxon period- an era in the history of England, which began with the landing of troops of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes in the British Isles in the 5th century and the formation of the Anglo-Saxon states and ended with the Norman conquest of the country in the 11th century.
And it began after the Roman legions left Britain at the beginning of the 5th century, and the Britons bitterly regretted it.
Their number had greatly decreased over the long years of wars, there was no one to guard Hadrian's Wall, and crowds of Scots and Picts freely penetrated its breaches. They killed the inhabitants, plundered the richest cities, and their bloody and devastating raids were so frequent that the poor Britons lived in constant horror.
They sent a message to Rome pleading for help. It was called "The lamentation of the Britons". And it said: " Foreigners push us to the sea, and the sea again throws us to foreigners, and we cannot escape death: whether in a massacre, or in the abyss". But the Romans at that time themselves defended themselves against a strong and cruel enemy.
And so the inhabitants of Britain, being no longer able to withstand the raids of their northern neighbors, the Picts and Scots, in 449, according to legend, called for help from the Jutes under the command of Hengist and Horsa.
They defeated the Picts and Scots, and their successes attracted new crowds of Angles, Saxons and Jutes to the country. Thus began more than a century of struggle between the Britons and foreign aliens. As a result, the Britons, despite stubborn resistance, were enslaved, and some of them were forced to seek refuge in the mountains of Wales and Cornwall, where they retained their independence for a long time, while others moved to the neighboring peninsula of France - Armorica (now Brittany). Celtic legend recognizes as the hero of this national struggle King Arthur, the founder of an exemplary chivalric society, known as the Knights of the Round Table.
Civilized Britain - an important part of the Roman Empire - turned into a barbarian England.
But first, having conquered Britain, the aliens formed not one state, but seven or eight ( Heptarchy):
- Sussex, or country of the South Saxons;
- Essex, or the land of the East Saxons;
- Wessex, or the country of the West Saxons, the principal city of Winchester;
- Kent, with Canterbury as its capital, populated chiefly by the Jutes;
- East Anglia, divided into Norfolk (northern people) and Suffolk (southern people):
- Northumbria, or country north of the River Humber;
- Mercia, in the marshlands of Lincolnshire, inhabited predominantly by the Angles.
In the south-west of Britain, several possessions of native princes have survived, such as Cumbria and Dumnonia(in what is now Wales).
In 597 the king Ethelber t, married to Bertha, daughter of the Frankish king Charibert, was baptized in Kent by Saint Augustine who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury.
This was the beginning of the Christianization of England. Soon there appeared works of Christian literature, which reached a high degree of prosperity in " Church history of the people of the Angles» Troubles of the Hon..
England education
From the beginning of the 9th century, the seven kingdoms of the Heptarchy began to fall more and more under the influence of Wessex. Historians sometimes consider King Egbert of Wessex (802-839) the first king of England.
Thus came the end of the Saxon dynasty, which ruled England for more than 600 years. Wilhelm erected and richly endowed a monastery on the site of the battle, which exists to this day, retaining its name "Battle Abbey", that is, the Abbey of the Battle.
England immediately recognized William the Conqueror (1066-1087) as king. As soon as he crossed the Thames, the Primate Stigand, on behalf of the English Church, brought him recognition, and before he could reach London, representatives of the nobility came to his camp, also with an expression of submission to his authority. Wilhelm peacefully received the throne, for which his predecessors had to win not one, but several victories.
In order to give the new king maximum legitimacy, he was crowned Archbishop of York at Westminster and took a solemn oath, in the tradition of his predecessors, the Saxon and Danish kings, to protect and guard the church, impartially govern the people and uphold the laws of the realm.
Having brought the English - now by severity, now by mercy - into complete obedience and having reinforced his power with the traditional coronation, he decided to return to Normandy to enjoy the triumph and receive congratulations from his Norman subjects.
His comrades-in-arms, who remained in England, having freed themselves from the strict control of William, began to engage in extortion and treat the conquered Anglo-Saxons with all the cruelty of petty tyrants.
The English, who were awed by William the Conqueror, saw his departure as an opportunity to regain their freedom. They conspired to slaughter all the invaders on the first Wednesday after Lent, that is, at the time when all Normans were to remain unarmed during the service, as required by the rite of repentance.
The return of William upset all their plans, and he, having learned about the conspiracy, has since lost confidence in his English subjects and already looked at them as inveterate and implacable enemies. Fortresses and castles were built throughout the country, which became the mainstay of the power of the conquerors and the residences of new barons and royal officials. Wilhelm could now afford to treat the English as if they were an enslaved people, crushing and humiliating anyone who could offer any resistance, and consolidating his power with innumerable confiscations. He took away all the estates of the English nobility, rewarding them with the Norman nobles. All roads to promotion or promotion were closed to the British, all the most ancient and noble Saxon families were reduced to poverty. Gradually, the Anglo-Saxon nobility was destroyed or emigrated from the country
He appointed only his fellow tribesmen to responsible spiritual posts, the Saxon prelates were replaced by Norman ones.
After a short time, the British saw with humiliation that, both in the church and in the state, all more or less high positions were occupied exclusively by foreigners.
The ruling elite spoke only French, even in official acts French customs and language were introduced. Anglo-Saxon customs became an object of contempt at court. All this caused uprisings, which were suppressed with the greatest cruelty, accompanied by the ruin of cities and communities.
William I was able to create a strong centralized monarchy in England, which combined the classical feudal militarized social hierarchy with elements of the Anglo-Saxon state-legal system.
He established personal dependence on the king of all the barons and knights of the country, organizing their homage and oath of allegiance to the monarch on August 1, 1086 at a meeting in Salisbury. In the same year, 1086, a comprehensive comprehensive census of the population was carried out, and a list of farms and lands was compiled, indicating their value, current income from them, soil quality, assessment of their potential, etc. The results of this census formed the basis of the register under titled "Books Doomsday"- an unprecedented document that described in detail the demographic and economic state of England under the rule of William I.
This register is still kept in the Treasury and is considered one of the most valuable monuments of antiquity that any country possesses.
Under William the Conqueror, the Tower was built, during his reign, justices of the peace were established for the first time in England.
In the 1070s-1080s. the king was forced to leave England for a long time, protecting his continental possessions. On September 9, 1087, during one of these trips to Normandy, William the Conqueror died unexpectedly. ... Before his death, he bequeathed the throne of England to his second son, William II Rufus (Red), while in accordance with the French hereditary law, Normandy passed to his eldest son, Robert Curthose. ..
The division after the death of William the Conqueror of the Anglo-Norman monarchy caused dissatisfaction with the barons who owned lands on both banks of the English Channel and put the question of restoring unity at the center of the foreign policy of both Normandy and England.
The Norman barons dreamed of the reunification of the Anglo-Saxon monarchy under Robert, whom they considered a more suitable (and perhaps more legitimate) master. A powerful conspiracy was drawn up against Wilhelm II, led by the brother of the late king named Odo.
Sensing the danger threatening him, William first of all tried to win the sympathy of the native English, promising them in the future a merciful and just government and his own favor, and encouraging them to protect his interests. He was able to raise a large army and was ready to resist any attempts to challenge his claim to the throne.
Robert, instead of taking similar actions, wasted his resources in idle revelry. He postponed his sailing to England to help the conspirators until the favorable opportunity for this was missed. In the meantime, Wilhelm tried to crush the conspiracy before Robert could land. The conspirators hastened to surrender to the mercy of the winner at the first appearance of the king. Soon a sharp weakening of the ducal power in Normandy and feudal anarchy provided William II with the opportunity to restore the unity of hereditary possessions. In 1091, during a campaign in Normandy, he forced Kurtgoz to cede to him the right bank of the Seine. The campaign of 1094 was less successful.
Then the crusades began. Duke Robert of Normandy was brave, stubborn, hungry for glory, and at the same time he was poor, exhausted by rebellions and, most importantly, longed for change. The crusade was entirely in line with his inclinations. But participation in the First Crusade required a lot of money.
In order to raise funds to finance such an expensive undertaking, he offered his brother William the duchy of Normandy on a mortgage for a specified amount. This amount was readily provided to him by Wilhelm Rufus, who was eager to use every opportunity to expand his possessions.
The transition of Normandy under the rule of William II made it possible to strengthen the power of the king and restore a centralized state administration in the duchy.
However, the acquisition of rights to Normandy, although it significantly expanded the scope of the kingdom of William II, did not add real power to him. His new subjects were men of proud and independent spirit, ready to challenge his orders rather than obey them. Revolts and uprisings constantly broke out, which the king had to suppress by force.
In England, the reign of William II Rufus was characterized by a sharp increase in the tax burden on the population, a gradual increase in the despotism of royal power. Particularly strong rejection and indignation were met by the king's measures to seize the income of the church: the posts of abbots and bishops long time were not replaced, thanks to which Wilhelm appropriated income from the lands of monasteries and bishoprics. If the king agreed to the appointment of a prelate, he was charged a large cash payment. This policy brought William II into sharp conflict with Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury. There were also disagreements between them on the issue of royal prerogatives regarding the recognition of the pope. As a result of a conflict with the king, in 1097 the archbishop was forced to leave England. And yet, William Rufus managed to significantly strengthen the central government in England and ensure peace in the state. August 2, 1100 William II was killed while hunting. According to the official version, it happened by accident. About this mysterious death...
The situation was immediately taken advantage of by Wilhelm's younger brother Heinrich Beauclerk (Literate) (1100-1135). He hurried to Winchester to take possession of the royal treasury, which was a good help in achieving his goals. The people and the Norman barons, who desired Robert as king, both reluctantly recognized Henry's claims to the throne, which they were unable to resist, and expressed their obedience out of fear of the threat of force.
In order to win over the people in his favor, Henry removed from power all the advisers of his intemperate and despotic brother. In order not to be afraid of rivalry and to secure his rights to the crown, he decided to use the fact that the British remembered the kings of the Saxon dynasty with nostalgia and regretted its removal from the throne. He decided to marry a representative of this popular dynasty. Her name was Matilda and she was the granddaughter of the Anglo-Saxon king Edmund Ironside. Matilda of Scotland, having renounced all claims to the throne, was brought up in a monastery and was already tonsured a nun. With the help of this marriage, it was possible to finally settle the contradictions between the Saxons and the Normans and unite their interests. The council, devoted to the interests of the king, declared Matilda free to marry, and the wedding was celebrated with the greatest splendor and solemnity. With this marriage, Henry attracted a significant part of the Anglo-Saxon population of the country to his side.
Henry I became the first English monarch to sign a Magna Carta at his coronation, which imposed certain obligations on the royal government in relation to the clergy and aristocracy.
During these events, the elder brother Robert was on his way from Palestine, from the first crusade. Returning and taking possession of his duchy, Robert tried to restore his rights to the English throne with weapons in his hands, but through the mediation of Archbishop Anselm, who returned to his homeland, the lawsuit was settled on the following conditions: Robert renounces his claims to England for a certain amount, and in addition In the event that one of the brothers dies without leaving an heir, the other will receive his possessions. Normandy remained with Robert. A year later, however, Henry broke the treaty and went to war against Robert. At the head of a strong army, he landed in Normandy and quickly captured its main cities. Robert, with all his barons and many soldiers, was taken prisoner. Henry condemned his brother to life imprisonment in England, which lasted no less than 28 years, until he finally died at Cardiff Castle in Glamorgshire.
Normandy remained with England, despite the resistance of the French king Louis VI.
Reign of Henry I in the area domestic policy became a period of strengthening state power and the implementation of important administrative reforms. Under him, the first specialized bodies of central administration took shape (the Treasury, the Royal Curia, the Chamber of the Chessboard), the system of royal administration was streamlined, the use of jury trials was expanded, and control over judicial and administrative bodies in the counties was strengthened.
At the end of the reign of Henry I, the problem of succession to the throne of the Anglo-Norman monarchy sharply escalated. The king's only legitimate son, William, died in a shipwreck in 1120. ...
His daughter Matilda was named heir to all his possessions by will. She was married to the German emperor, but in 1125 she was left a widow and returned to her father's court. In England, she bore the honorary title of "Empress".
While in France, Henry took a liking to the young Count of Anjou, Geoffroy Martell, nicknamed Plantagenet because of his habit of wearing a bunch of flowering gorse (plante-de-genet) instead of a plume on his helmet. Henry decided that the young Count of Anjou was the most suitable groom for his daughter Matilda. There was another reason for this choice: the Angevin counts were at war with Normandy all the time and were considered by the Norman barons as primordial enemies. Henry entered into this marriage because he feared the Angevin count most of all.
The marriage was considered illegal because it was concluded without the consent of the Anglo-Norman nobility. This served Stephen of Blois, son of Henry's sister and Count of Blois. pretext for making claims to the English throne.
He took possession of the throne, and during the reign of Stephen (1135-1154), the struggle between him and Matilda continued for a long time. The aristocracy of the country was divided into two warring camps and for about two decades waged an internecine war, complicated by aggression from Scotland and Angevin County.
In 1153, the son of Matilda (the future Henry II) landed in England, and since at that time Stephen lost his eldest son, and the younger was not going to inherit his father, the rivals concluded a peace treaty among themselves, according to which Henry II was declared heir to the throne. The following year, after Stephen's death, Henry succeeded to the English throne and founded the Plantagenet dynasty.
Henry II Plantagenet
Having become the first king from the House of Plantagenet, or Anjou, Henry II (1154-1189) found the country in the power of the barons. By that time, and without the English crown, he was a powerful ruler.
After the death of his father, Henry became count of Anjou, Touraine and Maine, as well as the sole duke of Normandy.
In 1152, Henry married Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was the ruler of the vast Duchy of Aquitaine, which occupied the territory of all southwestern France from the Pyrenees to Poitou and from Auvergne and the borders of the Holy Roman Empire to Bordeaux.
All these territories, combined in area and population several times larger than the lands under the control of the French king himself, each with its own legal system, administrative apparatus, traditions, and local elite, were united only by the person of their ruler, Henry Plantagenet. They became the core of that formation, which received the name of the Angevin Empire from historians and which was the dominant force in the political life of Western Europe in the second half of the 12th century.
The brother of Richard I, John Landless (1199-1216), became king.
John Landless
Although he was Henry's favorite son, unlike his older brothers, he did not receive from his father any of the vast land holdings in France, for which he was nicknamed "Landless". However, John was granted possession of Ireland (1177), and also received significant possessions in England. Now he also held the English crown.
The time of his reign is estimated by historians ambiguously. On the one hand, the period of his reign is considered one of the most significant in the history of England, since at that time a solid foundation was laid for its political freedom. In 1215, the rebellious barons forced him to sign the Magna Carta, for which John became most famous.
On the other hand, his reign is considered one of the most disastrous in the history of England - it began with the conquest of Normandy by the French king Philip II Augustus and ended with a civil war that almost overthrew him from the throne. In 1213, he recognized England as a vassal of the pope in order to end the strife with the Catholic Church. For his defeats, he received another nickname "Soft Sword". John's reputation is such that since then no English monarch has called his heirs by this name (later it became considered unlucky also in the ruling dynasties of France and Scotland).
The death of John in 1216 stopped the civil war, the barons, who sought to overthrow John, willingly supported the Duke of Pembroke, who took the title of protector and enthroned John's 9-year-old son, Henry (1216-1272).
Henry III
Edward III
Since the king was still too young, the parliament established a Privy Council consisting of 12 specially appointed nobles to govern the state. The Queen Dowager's favorite, Mortimer, refused to enter the Privy Council. At the same time, he strongly influenced all decisions of the Council. Mortimer ensured that the queen controlled most of the state income. Edward III himself was almost under a state of siege, so no one had access to him. All sovereign power belonged to the queen and Mortimer, who did not even think to hide their connection.
In 1330, the power of Mortimer, hated by the people, became burdensome for the matured king. Edward executed Mortimer and alienated his mother, after which he began to rule alone. On the overthrow of Mortimer...
In 1333 Edward launched a successful invasion of Scotland and won a resounding victory at the Battle of Halidon Hill. Scotland again had to recognize the sovereignty of England over her.
Edward then laid claim to the French crown after the death of the last of the sons of Philip the Handsome. He justified this by the fact that his mother, Isabella, was the daughter of Philip the Handsome and the sister of the last three French kings. Edward believed that he had more rights to the French crown than Philip VI of Valois, who became king, was only a nephew of Philip the Handsome. This was the reason for the start in 1337 of the Hundred Years' War. Causes of the Hundred Years War...
Under Edward, thanks to the military talents of his son the Prince of Wales (the Black Prince), England won a number of major victories in France. The Battle of Sluys in 1340 and the famous Battle of Cressy in 1346 ended in victory for the British. After a 12-month siege, the fortress and port of Calais fell, which gave the British easy access to France.
While Edward was victorious on the continent, a huge army of the Scots, led by their king David Bruce, invaded the kingdom in 1346. An unexpected invasion at such an inopportune moment did not intimidate the British. Edward's son Lionel, left by the king as trustee of England during his absence, was too young to be entrusted with the leadership of the army. His mother, Philippa, Edward's wife, took command. She raised an army, appointing Lord Percy as her general. The British army met the Scots at the village of Neville's Cross near Durham and entered into battle with them. The Scottish king expected to win an easy victory over an undisciplined army led by a woman, but he was deceived. The Scots army was routed and put on a rout. King Bruce of Scotland, along with many noble lords and knights, was captured and taken to London in triumph. about the Battle of Neville's Cross.
The Black Prince (as the Prince of Wales was called by the color of his armor) in 1356 at the Battle of Poitiers defeated the French, where King John the Good of France was captured, whom he sent to London with the greatest triumph.
Two captured kings who were at the English court at the same time - this was the greatest rise in the glory of English weapons. But fame was, perhaps, the only achievement, since everything that was won in France with such risk and at the cost of such great effort and expense, all this was imperceptibly and gradually lost, although without visible defeats in major battles. Exhausted by the prolonged need to supply their troops on the Continent, the British were unable to keep their army there. Charles V, who inherited the crown of John the Good, who died in captivity in Savoy, avoiding major battles, captured those areas where the British were not strong enough.
Edward's son the Black Prince, deprived of supplies and help from England, exhausted by a severe form of consumption, was forced to return to his homeland, leaving affairs in the south of France in the most deplorable state.
The death of the Black Prince was a heavy loss for the king, whose suffering nothing could moderate. He retired completely from state affairs and left the kingdom to be plundered by predatory ministers. Edward III died, abandoned by all the courtiers in the 65th year of his life and the fifty-first year of his reign in 1377
Due to military needs throughout the reign, the king was constantly in need of money. This greatly contributed to the strengthening and development of the English constitution. The Commons sat in Parliament during the early days of Edward's reign, separate from the nobility and gentry. Then the city representatives and the petty nobility merged, and out of this merger arose the lower house in 1343, which immediately assumed the role of a legislative institution. The ancient assembly of state officials, in which prelates and barons sat as direct vassals (peers), and other noble people - by appointment from the king, has now turned into an upper chamber, retaining the privilege to serve as the highest court in the state.
Relying on their parliament, the kings could already give a decisive rebuff to the extortions of the popes, and the popes in those days received from England 5 times more income than the king himself.
Under Edward III, it was forbidden to appeal to national courts to the papal curia, and the fief to file with the pope was also canceled. In all courts, official communications and acts under Edward III, instead of French, English began to be used predominantly.
Richard II
After the death of the Black Prince, the question arose of who would inherit the throne. Edward III was still alive, but already weak. In addition to the Black Prince, at that time, three more of his sons were alive. The eldest of them, the Duke of Lancaster (more often referred to as John of Gaunt, since he was born in Ghent, and colloquially - Gaunt) enjoyed the greatest influence. John of Gaunt was the richest man in England, whose possessions accounted for a third of its territory. He was an experienced politician and an outstanding warrior, but he was not loved in England. The son of the Black Prince, Richard, who was only 10 years old, could also claim the crown. The Black Prince was remembered and idolized, and his son inherited the favor of the people.
Perhaps that is why the sick Edward chose the 10-year-old grandson Richard as his heir. John of Gaunt was actually the ruler of England. Edward III felt that it would be better for him to do this not on his own, but on behalf of his nephew. On Christmas Day 1376, the king proclaimed Richard his heir, forcing all the bishops, barons and knights of the kingdom to swear allegiance to him.
In 1377, Edward III died and the throne passed to Richard II (1377-1399). The state was ruled by a regency headed by John of Gaunt. The events of the Hundred Years' War developed in that period unsuccessfully for England. The complete exhaustion of the state treasury increased more and more the influence of the House of Commons. In order to cover the public debt, the parliament imposed a poll tax on the people, the same for rich and poor. This caused an open uprising of peasants led by Wat Tyler in 1381. The king promised the rebels to fulfill their rather radical demands, but did not keep his word. Only the poll tax was abolished. The rebellion was put down.
Having become an adult, Richard at first managed the state quite wisely and successfully. He managed to win the love of the people, but not for long. The king began to arbitrarily levy illegal taxes, bribed judges and, with the money squeezed out of the country, led a luxurious life, surrounded by numerous favorites. Richard's unreasonable and wasteful behavior, addiction to favorites caused clashes with Parliament. A rebellion broke out among the Lords Appellants, who, with the help of Parliament, limited the powers of the monarch and actually usurped power in England. Later, the king managed to free himself from guardianship and deal with the appellants, but with his unreasonable behavior, he restored almost the entire society against himself. The cruelty shown by Richard towards the Duke of Gloucester, who was sent on insignificant suspicion to imprisonment in the fortress of Calais and killed there (1397), as well as other similar acts, further strengthened the hostile attitude towards him.
The eyes of all now turned to Henry, son of the Duke of Lancaster, whom the king had expelled from the country and deprived of all his property. He was the eldest grandson of Edward III in the male line. While Richard was pacifying the rebellious Irish princes, Henry returned to England and was hailed by the people as a liberator. Richard was captured and deposed, Parliament gave the throne to Henry of Lancaster. His overthrow was the first step in a series of feudal feuds in the history of England in the second half of the 15th century, known as the War of the Scarlet and White Rose.
By the 40s of the XVII century. England remained an agricultural country.
The vast majority of the population (more than 4 million out of a total of about 5 million people) lived in rural areas.
Medieval foundations in the economy were still preserved, but for England, the path of forcible breaking of the medieval system through enclosures turned out to be especially characteristic. In this form, the genuine agrarian revolution, which stretched over three centuries, proceeded.
Enclosures began to be carried out at the end of the 15th century, and have been deployed since that time in the country on a large scale. This was the specificity of the development of agriculture in England.
The enterprising nobles were no longer satisfied with the size of ordinary incomes. They were weary of traditional land relations and usurped peasant lands by any means.
Enclosing the allotments of the holders, communal lands, they often drove the peasants from the lands altogether.
In pursuit of profit, these new types of nobles often rented out fenced lands for a fee that was many times the size of the former feudal rent.
In other cases, small and medium-sized squires, gentlemen, and sometimes titled nobles themselves became entrepreneurs.
Many nobles were involved in commerce and industrial entrepreneurship.
At the same time, capital owners from among manufacturers, merchants, officials and other townspeople sought to acquire land and receive a title of nobility.
They also joined the ranks of the new nobility. The layer of this new, bourgeois, enterprising nobility in the first decades of the 17th century had already become quite noticeable.
In England at that time, trade was booming. Its natural center and main consumer was London, with approximately 200,000 inhabitants.
The exchange worked here, where transactions were concluded between entrepreneurs from all over the country.
The role of England as an exporter of finished industrial products has increased. New large trading companies: East India, two Virginia, London and Plymouth emerged in the first decades of the XVII century. Entrepreneurial English merchants pooled funds to equip overseas expeditions.
Ireland, India, America, Africa.
By the 40s of the 17th century, England was still an absolutist state.
Obedient for the time being to royal power, the parliament was a class body.
The majority of the House of Commons was elected by the freeholders on the basis of the old 40-shilling land qualification. However, peasants in the House of Commons could not be elected.
The bourgeoisie and the new nobility persistently demanded that the government take into account their interests in politics.
Particularly indignant was the practice of selling patents by the crown for a monopoly of production (salt, soap and other goods) or for monopoly trade with one country or with any region (for example, with the Baltic states, Russia).
Such patents for huge sums of royal power willingly provided a narrow circle of entrepreneurs.
The rest of the entrepreneurs were excluded from profitable activities.
In addition, monopolists set high prices in the domestic market.
The acute problem then, as now, of monopolies that fettered competition, united the British bourgeoisie under the slogan of Free Trade!.
The new class of entrepreneurs was also irritated by the government's support for the guild craft.
The authorities demanded strict observance of the statutes on production standards, trade regulation, the number of students and their indispensable 7-year experience.
Such captious guardianship brought considerable income to the treasury due to countless fines levied on violators of traditional rules.
The policy of absolutism seriously restrained the entrepreneurial spirit of manufacturers and merchants.
The new nobility demanded the legalization of enclosures, which were subject to fines profitable for the treasury.
The feudal hierarchy in England assumed the dependence of vassals and their noble, knightly holdings not only on individual lords, but also directly on the king. The new nobility sought the abolition of all kinds of payments when transferring land by inheritance, in the event of their alienation, when introducing guardianship, etc. to the king as the supreme owner of the land.
The Chamber of Guardianships handled the collection of all feudal payments, while allowing extreme abuses.
In the ideological sphere, the changes were expressed in the wide spread of Puritanism, which opposed the state Anglican Church.
The King was the head of the Anglican Church. He appointed bishops and other spiritual dignitaries; in the country, a church tithe was charged, which burdened the people; the church itself was funded by the state.
The Puritans rejected the doctrine of grace, demanded the destruction of the magnificent rituals of worship, the expensive vestments of the clergy.
Entrepreneurs from the environment of the new nobility and the bourgeoisie liked the simplicity, cheapness of the church, serving God through the interpretation of scripture. In Puritanism great importance preaching was given instead of the Catholic sacraments, there was a dogma about predestination and worldly calling, which encouraged enterprise and hoarding. Revolutionary situation Aggravation of contradictions in English society.
The rise of the economy in all its spheres markedly advanced England, which is a small country in terms of territory and population, among European states, which allowed her to begin rivalry with the then exemplary bourgeois Holland, as well as with such large monarchies as France and Spain.
However, progressive forms of economic management had to make their way step by step while maintaining the old economic structure, overcoming serious obstacles.
The opposition in parliament began to openly demand freedom of entrepreneurial activity.
The lower house became the core of the opposition that was brewing throughout the country.
At the same time, English absolutism in the person of the first Stuarts - James I, the son of the Catholic Mary Stuart, and Charles I - pursued both domestic and foreign policy more and more contrary to the interests of entrepreneurs.
English absolutism, due to its historical characteristics, did not have the right to independent, without the sanction of parliament, taxation.
Faced with opposition in parliament, he began to look for sources of replenishment of the treasury by roundabout ways.
These were abuses in collecting payments on the basis of traditional, feudal land relations; and the unrestrained invention of ever new taxes and duties on goods (per ton, per pound, etc.), and the restoration of ancient, centuries-old fees.
The new nobility sought to turn their lands into unlimited property of the bourgeois type, free from feudal fetters and payments.
This demand constituted the bourgeois-noble agrarian program.
In foreign policy, the Stuarts moved away from the traditional anti-Spanish course.
James I hatched a plan to marry the heir to the throne to the Spanish infanta, which led to a temporary rapprochement with Spain, the main competitor of English entrepreneurs at sea and in the colonies. The growing pro-Catholic sympathies of the court in connection with the rapprochement under James I with Catholic Spain caused concern.
The political struggle between the king and the opposition in parliament and throughout the country proceeded in a religious form.
Completely in the spirit of that time, both sides, in arguing the correctness of their cause, appealed to the texts of the Old Testament and other church writings. The economic struggle turned into an ideological struggle between the Church of England and the Puritans.
The organs of the autocracy, the Star Chamber and the High Commission, persecuted the Puritans and imprisoned them.
Puritans left their homeland, emigrating to Holland, America (the so-called great exodus).
Not wanting to listen to the demands of the opposition, James I dissolved three parliaments. His successor Charles I, who also dissolved the first two parliaments, met in the third with a stubborn and organized opposition (its leaders were J. Eliot, E. Cock). Extorting another subsidy from Parliament, Charles was forced to sign the Petition of the Right, which Parliament presented to him.
The petition for the right became law and, in essence, was the first programmatic document of the opposition.
But the king did not fulfill the law he signed. Moreover, he dissolved Parliament in 1629. Parliament, before dissolving, called on the English people not to pay taxes to the king.
The beginning of the revolution. The period of 11 years of non-parliamentary rule was marked by frank and hardened feudal reaction in all areas, and it ended with an uprising in Scotland. Its population professed Presbyterianism.
Scotland was united with England by a personal union, the Stuart dynasty.
The Scots rebellion broke out in 1637 because of an attempt by Archbishop Laud to forcibly introduce the Anglican church service into their country.
In 1639 the Scots invaded northern England.
Hoping to obtain funds to suppress the uprising
The king was forced in April 1640 to convene Parliament.
However, Parliament refused to vote the subsidy, and was dissolved by the king three weeks later. It was called the Short Parliament.
In support of Parliament, the urban population of London tried to burn down the Archbishop's palace and free opponents of absolutism imprisoned by the authorities.
The critical situation in connection with the advance of the Scots remained, and in November 1640 the king was forced to convene parliament again.
This parliament declared itself permanently functioning and, having existed until 1653, went down in history under the name of the Long Parliament.
This act of disobedience of parliament to the crown, the actual encroachment of the House of Commons on the supreme power in the country, marked the beginning of the English Revolution.
Puritanism, ideologically uniting the revolutionary camp, was in fact not one-sided.
Two major religious movements stood out in it, which took shape during the revolution as political groups, a kind of party.
Coming together against the established church, the Puritans had different visions of the future church organization.
The moderate party Presbyterians considered it necessary to maintain a centralized church in the country.
The main role in this church was assigned not to bishops dependent on the king, but to elders elected from among the most influential and wealthy parishioners and controlled by congresses-synods.
Broad strata of the English bourgeoisie and gentry joined the Independents. The Independents rejected any centralized authority of the church and dreamed of independence, full autonomy for each religious community.
The initial stage of the revolution The formation of revolutionary power.
The policy of the Parliament was directed initially by a solid revolutionary majority, not yet differentiated, not yet demarcated by the opposition of the allied classes.
The originality of parliamentary government from the very beginning of the revolution and in subsequent years was the observance of the traditional relationship of the House of Commons with the crown, its desire to seek the approval of the king in the implementation of its activities.
Opposition leader J. Pim. by origin, the gentry, a prominent figure in the merchant elite of London, was called King Pym as opposed to Charles I.
Parliament gradually concentrated in its hands the highest legislative and executive power in the state.
He liquidated the Star Chamber and the High Commission, dismissed Karl's bad advisers, and brought to trial the king's favorite, the black tyrant Strafford. The king was forced, under the threat of a popular uprising in London, to even agree to the execution of Strafford.
Parliament forbade the king to levy unauthorized taxes, canceled the Stewart patents for monopolies, and removed their owners from the House.
In the counties, along with the power of sheriffs, justices of the peace, and military leaders, local parliamentary committees were created.
In February 1641, the Triennial Act legalized the convocation of parliament, regardless of the will of the king, at least once every three years.
The first revolutionary transformations, sustained in the spirit of the general program of the opposition, were carried out unanimously by the majority of the parliament.
Then fears of an equal distribution of land and property were raised in Parliament.
Members of parliament were especially worried about the armed struggle of the peasants against the fences in the east.
In 1641, the new government declared the inviolability of the fences erected before the convocation of the Long Parliament.
Differences in the heterogeneous revolutionary parliament were inevitable. This was especially revealed during the discussion of the program document of the Great Remonstrance.
The Remonstrance, in its 204 articles, revealed in detail the abuses of Charles and put forward demands for freedom of enterprise, a puritanical reformation of the church, a ban on financial extortion, and, most importantly, the rule of the crown jointly and in agreement with parliament, that is, a bourgeois-constitutional monarchy.
But not everyone in Parliament approved of this Remonstrance. The document was adopted by a majority of only 11 votes.
The king not only refused to accept the impudent demonstration, but tried to carry out a counter-revolutionary coup. But his plan failed.
In January 1642, Charles went to the north loyal to him and in August declared war on Parliament.
First Civil War.
During the war, the delimitation of religious and political parties in parliament was definitely manifested. Among the more than 500 deputies, the Presbyterians began to play a leading role.
The parliamentary army showed little combat capability due to both military and political reasons.
One part of it was recruited from mercenaries indifferent to the cause of the revolution. Another was made up of local militias by counties and cities. They were faithful to the struggle, but only within the boundaries of their area. In addition, they were poorly trained, poorly organized and irregularly supplied with all the necessary products and weapons.
The military conflict was initially resolved not in favor of Parliament, although behind it was the economically advanced rich southeast with London in the center, and the king was supported by the backward counties, especially the north.
The first significant Battle of Edgehill was lost in the autumn of 1642.
The king settled with his headquarters near the capital, in Oxford, and his supporters also moved here from both houses of parliament.
There were also political reasons for the military failures of the Parliament. The Presbyterians, who were the majority in Parliament, had a very moderate program: in the political field, they sought only a slight restriction of royal power.
Therefore, they fought sluggishly and with caution, fearing victory over the king.
In February 1643, the Presbyterians entered into negotiations with Charles, laying out their modest terms (the dissolution of the royal army and the Puritan reformation), which, however, were rejected by the king. This continued until 1644.
The turning point in the course of the war occurred thanks to the then united Independents - a radical minority in Parliament. Among the latter, Oliver Cromwell stood out, who became the leader of the Independents during the revolution.
The son of a middle-class nobleman, brought up in a puritanical atmosphere, Cromwell entered the revolution as a member of the lower house. His distinguishing features were outstanding military abilities and severe puritanism.
The Independents pursued a more serious goal than the Presbyterians: the military defeat of absolutism, and most importantly, the strengthening of the religious and political positions of broad sections of the bourgeoisie and gentry.
They considered it possible to use the revolutionary forces of the masses to achieve this goal.
Cromwell called men from the people into his band as soldiers, saying that he preferred a man in a coarse coat who knew what he was fighting for. Volunteer fighters for the faith and the cause of Parliament reached out to him from the counties, primarily in eastern England. They were people of spirit, full of religious enthusiasm.
In July 1644, Cromwell's soldiers brought Parliament their first significant victory at the Battle of Marston Moor.
An eyewitness wrote that they fought together as one person, for which they were nicknamed iron-sided.
Cromwell initiated the reorganization of the army on the model of his detachment, proving on the battlefield the correctness of the line of the Independents,
In 1645, as a result of a bitter struggle, the Independents forced the Presbyterians to reform. The Renunciation Act removed the Presbyterian military leaders and were replaced by officers of the Independent mentality.
A regular army of a new type was created with a single system of financing, with a common command.
Thomas Fairfax became commander-in-chief, Cromwell became his deputy.
The reform of the army was not slow to justify itself in the battle of Naseby, decisive for the outcome of the war, in June 1645. In the summer of 1646, the king capitulated and fled to the Scots, but they handed him over to Parliament for a ransom. In March 1647, the last royalist bastions fell.
In England, the Presbyterian religion and the corresponding organization of the church were forcibly established, Parliament passed a law abolishing the episcopate.
Already from the beginning of the war and later, Parliament adopted acts of confiscation of the lands of the Anglican clergy, royalists and the crown. These lands were then put on sale in large plots.
On February 24, 1646, the most significant agrarian law on the abolition of knighthood was adopted. The Chamber of Guardianships was liquidated.
This meant that the owners of the knightly holding received the right to private ownership of the estates, to which they had only a feudal right.
However, the peasants remained still in land dependence on the landlords. Having freed the nobles from all restrictions and conditions of feudal landownership, the legislators did not do the same for the peasants. In addition, fencing was actually legalized.
In 1643, Parliament introduced strict censorship, suppressing the circulation of democratic literature.
Struggle to deepen the revolution.
By 1647 the Allied classes had carried out their program in its Presbyterian version. Maintaining their dominant positions in the Long Parliament, the cautious and moderate Presbyterians were fully satisfied with the reforms carried out.
However, neither the popular masses nor the Independents were sufficiently satisfied with the results of the six-year struggle.
The program for the further development of the revolution along the Independent path was outlined in the document of the Chapter of Proposals.
The document formulated demands for a more significant expansion of the prerogatives of parliament.
He was to be elected on a fixed day every two years.
Its competence should include the supreme judicial power and control over the military forces.
The Independents put forward the principle of redistributing electoral districts in proportion to the amount of taxes paid by the population of these districts, taking into account representation from large cities, that is, from the bourgeoisie.
The army, led by the Independents, marched in unison against the king and the Presbyterians. But the soldiers, realizing that the Independents were pursuing only their own interests, were more and more imbued with the ideas of the Levellers.
The political ideas of the Levellers were based on the theory of natural law, which proclaimed the primordial equality of all people and the freedom of each person. Strong supporters of universal political equality (hence their name Levellers, equalizers), they sought broad suffrage for men from the age of 21 (except for servants and recipients of charitable benefits).
The Levellers advocated a republic in which power should come from a unicameral parliament elected every two years. They firmly stood for the observance of the principle of private property.
The Levellers' program also provided for a tax reform, the abolition of tithes, a ban on enclosures, the elimination of all monopolies, and the democratization of the judiciary and law.
In the religious sphere, the Levellers adhered to the principle of complete religious tolerance and separation of church and state. Their most important document was the People's Agreement.
In 1647, the Levellers rallied numerous supporters around themselves and took shape in an independent movement, numbering up to 20 thousand activists.
Their recognized leader was the son of a poor nobleman, John Lilburn. He met the revolution in prison, where he was imprisoned by the authorities in 1637.
After his release, Lilburn in his numerous pamphlets focused entirely on the justification of the rights of the people and criticized the Presbyterians, and then the Independents. He was very popular among the people, who called him honest John.
Senior officers, led by Cromwell, tightened control over the soldiers, trying to direct their activity in a safe direction.
The Presbyterians, in July 1647, took steps to dissolve the army, created their own armed forces in London, and expelled the Independents from the House of Commons.
In response to the Presbyterian counter-revolution, the army marched towards the capital and entered London on 6 August.
Some Presbyterian leaders fled to Holland and France.
The Independents, led by Cromwell, surrounded Westminster with cavalry and purged Parliament, driving out the leaders of the Presbyterian Party.
Real political dominance passed to the Independent Party.
In the autumn of 1647, sharp disagreements between the Levellers and the Independents split the army.
The excitement of the masses of soldiers grew. The slightest occasion was enough for the rise of the army.
Such an occasion was the news of the flight of the captive king to the Isle of Wight. The Levellers saw in this event a betrayal of the Independents, accused Cromwell of complicity with the king and demanded to immediately assemble an army for a general rally, but
Cromwell quickly dealt with the soldiers.
Meanwhile, Karl Stuart again unleashed the war.
He entered into an agreement with the Scots.
Royalist troops were on the move throughout the west, south and east, and the Scottish army took control of the north. The parliamentary regiments under the command of Fairfax and Cromwell came out to defend the revolution.
The second civil war began in February 1648. It ended in August with the defeat of the royalists and the Scots as a result of the decisive victory of the revolutionary forces at Preston.
However, during the absence of the leaders of the Independents in London, the Presbyterians began negotiations with the king and made another attempt with their decision to disband the army.
The army was urgently returned to the capital. On 2 December she entered London, and on 5 December Westminster was surrounded by revolutionary soldiers.
Now virtually all Presbyterians have been removed from the House of Commons. The second (after August 1647) purge of Parliament provided the Independents with solid political hegemony.
Republic proclamation.
But the Levellers also managed to say their weighty word. They vigorously demanded that the Independents carry out democratic measures, which were by no means included in the plans of Cromwell and his party. However, the leaders of the Indians did not dare then to suppress the initiative of the Levellers, to go against the will of the masses.
The tribunal that tried Karl Stuart sentenced him to death. The king was executed on January 30, 1649.
On January 4, 1649, Parliament declared the lower house the sole supreme power in England, and on May 19, 1649, Parliament passed an act officially declaring England a republic.
independent republic
Under the new constitution, England was governed by a unicameral parliament, which held the supreme, legislative power, and the Council of State became the highest executive body.
However, both in Parliament and in the Council of State, seats were occupied by Independents, associates of Cromwell.
The ruling party is not for further democratic reforms: it did not reform the electoral system in the spirit of the Levellers' demands, and did not give political rights to the people.
The Republic did not become democratic, it was independent.
The policy in the commercial and industrial field contributed to the growth of the wealth of the bourgeoisie and the new nobility. Protectionist laws were adopted to prohibit the importation of competing goods into the domestic market (for example, silk, woolen fabrics), acts on reduced duties on imports from English colonies valuable goods (sugar, dyes, tobacco).
To combat the competition of bourgeois Holland, in 1651 a navigation act was issued, according to which goods could be imported into England and its possessions only on English ships or on the ships of those countries that produced these goods.
This deprived the sea cabbie Holland, which grew rich in intermediary trade, a fair share of income.
Cromwell set about building a large fleet in order to successfully carry out commercial and colonial expansion.
The economic successes of the republic ensured its authority in the international arena: in 1650 France and Spain recognized the new England.
Conquest of Ireland. Trip to Scotland.
To pacify the Irish rebels in 1641, a punitive expedition was organized, led by Cromwell himself. Military operations were carried out in 1649-1652. The expeditionary army betrayed the rebellious colony to fire and sword: thousands of civilians were exterminated, masses of people were forcibly moved to the barren lands of the extreme west of the island, captured Irish were sent as slaves to the West Indies.
As a result of the conquest, in 1652 the Act of the Organization of Ireland was passed.
Under the new dispensation, the British colonizers carried out colossal land confiscations. The confiscated lands were distributed to generals, officers of the English army, creditors of Parliament (financiers of the City in payment of debts on loans).
The gigantic sack of Ireland had a negative effect on the development of the revolution in England itself. The army was reborn: the soldiers, having joined the robbery, were corrupted by the policy of conquest. “The English Republic under Cromwell has essentially crashed into Ireland,” wrote Marx.
Events in Ireland undermined the foundations of the republican system. English troops committed a similar robbery on a somewhat smaller scale in Scotland, which put the son of the executed king on his throne. The act of dispensation of Scotland consolidated the regime of English domination there.
Protectorate regime and the restoration of the monarchy Reasons for establishing a protectorate.
The popular masses in the early 1950s finally lost faith in the Independent Republic.
The costs of economic ruin were borne by the people. The old and new landowners who had enriched themselves during the revolution launched an attack on the peasant farms. In 1649, Parliament passed an act to drain the swamps of the great plain, i.e. legalized enclosures in the east of the country.
Depressions in industry, interruptions in trade entailed mass unemployment. Rising food prices did not stop due to poor harvests.
To this was added the oppression of taxes, with which the ruling elite covered the costs of maintaining the army.
By 1653, discord began at the top of the republic between parliament and the army command.
The long parliament, which after two purges had only about 100 members, did not hold new elections, extending its term of office indefinitely. Parliament claimed complete dominance in the republic.
The army command considered the military force to be the main one in the country and strove to strengthen it, all the more necessary in the conditions of the unceasing grumbling and opposition of the people.
The long parliament, personifying the supreme power, was responsible for anti-democratic policies in the eyes of the people. The hatred of the majority of the English was concentrated on him.
Cromwell took advantage of this and on April 20, 1653, dispersed the remnants of the Long Parliament, or, as they said then, the rump.
Cromwell believed that the new Parliament should consist of God's people, from representatives of the Independent religious communities.
The communities singled out the best people, from which the Small Parliament was formed. But Cromwell did not at all expect that the holy men of the commons would be in their majority radical. They saw their mission in actively preparing the establishment of the kingdom of Christ on earth.
The Small Parliament discussed the bills on the abolition of tithes, on the system of levying taxes, on land relations, and others, to a large extent directed in favor of the people, for the benefit of the oppressed. This was not at all part of the plans of Cromwell and his party.
The military dictatorship was considered by Cromwell and his associates to be the only reliable form of power, and on December 16, 1653, Cromwell was proclaimed Lord Protector of the Republic.
The new constitution "Instrument of Government" retained the republican institutions of the parliament and the State Council, but only one person possessed all the fullness of real power - the dictator Cromwell. His closest assistants were generals. He called himself the constable of the whole country.
Later, the country was divided into military districts, each of which was headed by a major general. The dictatorial regime severely suppressed any manifestation of discontent. They were imprisoned on the slightest suspicion of disrespect for the authorities, any crowd of commoners was considered a rebellious gathering and dispersed by soldiers.
During the period of the protectorate, enclosures were encouraged, the law on the abolition of knighthood was confirmed, the monopoly privileges of the East India and other companies were preserved, trade agreements beneficial to the bourgeoisie were concluded with Denmark and Sweden.
But the atmosphere in the country remained extremely tense. The hostility of the peasants made itself felt seriously. The injustice towards the people was also recognized by the Independents themselves.
“Didn't we assure the people that we were fighting for their freedom?.. Didn't we defeat them with exploits and successes?” one of them asked.
By 1657, confusion was felt both among the ruling classes and in the military-dictatorial oligarchy itself. The emergency, the temporality of the established regime was felt by everyone. For five years, the protectorate vigilantly guarded the interests of the ruling classes, but did not bring political and social stability.
Many in the ruling circles began to think about the return of the monarchy, they looked at it as a state system tried and tested for centuries in the eyes of proprietary England.
In these circles, the idea was born to transfer the royal title to Cromwell, which he refused, however, after strong hesitation.
Cromwell was presented with a new constitution, the Most Humble Petition and Council of 1657, which declared the Protector's power to be hereditary and restored the House of Lords. These were already real steps towards the restoration of the monarchy.
The death of Cromwell intensified the process of fermentation at the top.
After the death of Cromwell, his son Richard, a man completely unsuitable for the role of a military dictator, became the protector. In May 1659 he renounced this title.
Restoration of the monarchy.
The generals who remained at the helm of the protectorate were forced to reckon with widespread opposition to the regime of military dictatorship in the country.
They called for power the rump of the Long Parliament, although many were in favor of restoring the Small Parliament of the Saints. In the country, with the beginning of the work of the Independent Parliament, the republic was restored, as it were, again (the second republic, May 1659 - May 1660).
The generals wanted to control parliament. As a contemporary accurately defined the alignment of forces, few people trusted the parliament, but they generally hated the generals as an attribute of the protectorate.
The very first essential demand of the masses for the abolition of tithing was rejected by Parliament.
Both the republicans and the monarchists were not satisfied with the activities of the parliament: it could not cope with financial difficulties, with the presence of a huge public debt, with the salary arrears payable to the soldiers of the army, the question of the state system was not resolved, the lack of a legal dispensation caused concern; the allied classes demanded stable political guarantees for the normalization of economic life.
A wide protest from all sections of the British proprietors and even the army was caused by the attempt of the generals to re-establish a military dictatorship. At the crest of the protest movement, the figure of the commander of the army in Scotland, General Monk, emerged. The general supported the rump of Parliament against the military cabal.
A movement was growing in the country of that part of proprietorship in England, which aspired to a stronger power than the power of the Independent Parliament.
This movement, under the slogan "A full and free parliament!", demanded the restoration of the Presbyterian parliament. General Monk supported this movement as well. Monk's army entered London on February 3, 1660.
With the support of Monk, the Presbyterians organized elections for a new parliament (called the convention), moreover, according to the old, pre-revolutionary electoral system.
The very first act of this new parliament, which began work in April 1660, was the invitation of Charles Stuart Jr. to the English throne.
The Republic fell, and with its collapse ended a long revolutionary period in the history of England.
However, the restoration of the Stuart dynasty in 1660 did not mean a return to absolutism. The King promised the Presbyterian Convention to rule in accordance with and in common with Parliament,
wide tolerance for Protestants.
In 1660, the political and religious results of the revolution were still based on a shaky foundation: on the assurances of Stuart, invited to the throne.
However, Charles II very soon discovered the desire for an absolutist policy.
In 1661 -1679. the new parliament consisted predominantly of royalists (there was a small opposition to Stuart in it).
As the historian Macaulay wrote, parliament was more zealous for royal power than the king, more zealous for bishoprics than bishops.
The restored Anglican Church persecuted those who did not accept it. The prisons were filled with non-believers. The crown, the royalists, the church managed to return part of the lands confiscated during the revolution. Strict censorship was introduced, all printing houses, except for government ones, were closed.
The cheerful king, who loved luxury and entertainment, sold the city of Dunkirk to France. Receiving large subsidies from France, he made England dependent on France. But the king himself received greater independence from parliament.
England lost the war against Holland, which irritated the bourgeoisie.
Struggle between parliament and royalty. In 1672, the king tried to restore Catholicism in the country by trying to adopt a Declaration of Toleration.
Here, for the first time, he encountered serious opposition from Parliament: the House of Commons strongly rejected the Declaration. Parliament adopted an Act of Oath, which required officials to renounce Catholicism (the act was directed primarily against the brother of the king, an outspoken Catholic, Admiral of the Fleet Jacob).
Parliament did not concede its won rights to royal power: it demanded the responsibility of the king's ministers to parliament, controlled finances, strictly adhered to Protestantism.
Since 1673, enmity escalated between the party of the country, which fought for the subordination of the king to the laws and will of parliament, and the party of the court, which proceeded from the principle of the divine origin of royal power, rejected by the revolution.
In 1679, Charles dissolved the parliament, which had become opposition. However, the elections that followed brought victory to the opposition.
The new Parliament adopted the Exclusion Bill, which forbade the king's brother, the Catholic James, to inherit the throne (the bill did not have time to become law).
Parliament passed a law known as the Habeas Corpus Act. This law guaranteed the freedom of the individual, suppressed the arbitrariness of the royal magistrates, prescribed precise rules for arrest and prosecution.
However, the operation of the law could be suspended by the government, and this has been practiced many times in the history of England. The kings also dissolved this parliament and in 1681-1685. ruled, essentially, as an absolute monarch.
Supporters of strengthening the rights of the Whig parliament rallied around the party of the country, their name comes from the nickname of the Scottish Presbyterians, ardent opponents of Catholicism. United around the party of the court were adherents of the preservation of the prerogatives of the king, the Tories, their name after the nickname of the Irish partisans, alluding to the pro-Catholic tendencies of the court.
In 1685, Charles II died and the Catholic James II Stuart became king.
He set out to establish an absolutist-Catholic regime in the country. But this for England was already a passed stage. Parliament did not want to put up with the absolutist habits of the king. The British were alien to Catholicism, as the religion of the original enemies of England and competitors of the English bourgeoisie.
A number of laws stimulated the export of grain and maintained high prices for bread in the domestic market (the Grain Law of 1662, etc.), contributing to the enrichment of landowners and large tenants
In 1660, the law on the abolition of knighthood was confirmed for the second time.
The Settlement Act of 1662, which forbade the poor from leaving their parishes, guaranteed labor to entrepreneurs.
Protectionist acts to ban the export of wool and other raw materials contributed to the rise of industry.
Shipping expanded, manufactories grew, new trading companies appeared (for example, Newfoundland), colonies were conquered in India, the island of Barbados in the Caribbean.
Under these conditions, James II nevertheless proclaimed the Declaration of Tolerance. Acting against the general opposition, the king began to appoint Catholics to the highest positions in the Anglican Church.
The unconditional rejection of Catholicism then united Tories and Whigs.
James II was almost completely isolated.
State coup.
Both Whig and Tory political forces, supported by the Anglican clergy, decided on a coup d'état.
They turned to the stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, William of Orange, with a request to come with an army to England to defend Protestantism and change power.
Pers.
396 people/km²
England is the birthplace of the English language and the Church of England, and English law forms the basis of the legal systems of many countries; furthermore, London was the center of the British Empire and the country the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. England was the world's first industrialized country and also a parliamentary democracy whose constitutional, governmental and legal innovations were adopted by other nations and countries.
origin of name
England got its name from the Angles, a Germanic tribe that settled in Britain in the 5th and 6th centuries AD. e. Some historians [which?] it is believed that this tribe was the descendants of those who lived on the Angeln Peninsula, part of the Jutland Peninsula, which is today part of northern Germany.
The first mention of the Angles is in a work called "Germany", written in 98 AD. e. ancient Roman historian Tacitus.
Geography
History
Some historians [which?] rulers start counting from the Norman conquest in 1066, the numbering of English monarchs also uses this event as a zero point (for example, Edward I, crowned in the 13th century, was not the first king with that name - but he was the first Edward since 1066). But William the Conqueror did not found and unite the country, but only captured the existing England, imposing the Franco-Norman government.
There is a movement in support of the creation of an independent Parliament and Government of England. The dissatisfaction of the supporters of the movement is caused by the fact that while decisions that apply to Scotland alone are taken by Scotland's own parliament (and similarly with Wales and Northern Ireland), decisions that apply to England alone are made by the national parliament, where the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish MPs.
The idea of an independent parliament is supported by many leaders of the Conservative Party, while the Labor Party believes that the creation of independent authorities in the largest part of the kingdom will lead to a sharp decrease in the role of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and is fraught with the collapse of the state.
Administrative device
Historically, the largest administrative entity in England was counties. These formations arose from older ones that existed before the unification of England: kingdoms (like Sussex and Essex), duchies (like Yorkshire, Cornwall and Lancashire) or simply allotments that were awarded to nobles - such as Berkshire. Until 1867 they were divided into smaller formations called hundreds. Self-government within the county after political unification was practically non-existent, so the boundaries of the counties were not precisely defined and had little or no role. After the industrial revolution, as a result of the emergence of large industrial centers, metropolitan counties were formed, the centers of which were the largest cities.
England is currently made up of 9 regions and 48 ceremonial counties.
Economy
play an important role in the British economy Agriculture, industrial production, high-tech industry and sports industry. In 2010, sport accounted for 1.9% of England's GDP, making it one of the top 15 industries in the UK economy, ahead of telecommunications, legal services, accounting, publishing, advertising and utilities. In 2010, over 400,000 jobs were linked to sports, or about 2.3% of all employment in England. The health benefits of regular sportsmen are estimated to have contributed £11.2bn to the English economy. Hosting mass sporting events such as marathons increases the visibility of venues and increases tourism revenues with minimal investment in infrastructure. The construction of new stadiums, such as the Millennium in Cardiff and the Etihad in Manchester, has boosted local property prices.
culture
National Costume
[[C:Wikipedia:Articles without sources (country: Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#property" was not found. )]][[C:Wikipedia:Articles without sources (country: Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#property" was not found. )]]Although England is a country with rich national traditions, it does not, strictly speaking, have a well-defined national costume.
As an example of English folk costume, the costumes of dancers performing the Morris dance are often cited. It is danced in the summer in the villages. In the past, it was considered a ritual dance, and a magical meaning associated with the awakening of the earth was attributed to it.
Various dance groups allow variations on the classic costume, which consists of black breeches with bells around the shin, a white shirt, waistcoat, and a felt or straw hat adorned with ribbons and flowers. Bells and flowers are designed to protect from evil and bring fertility. Initially, this dance was performed only by men, but now women also participate in it.
In addition, there is a point of view according to which the attire of the Anglo-Saxon tribes that inhabited the territory of modern Kent in the 7th-8th centuries AD should be taken as the basis of the national English costume. e. The men wore characteristic girdled light linen shirts (the shirts had a small neckline on the chest, which was pulled together with a drawstring laced crosswise) and dark trousers. A dagger hung from his belt. Women wore light-colored, long-sleeved canvas shirts, over which a belted, unbuttoned women's caftan was put on.
However, in the UK there are some professional differences in clothing, in its details. For example, workers wear caps, and dock workers in port cities tie a colorful scarf around their necks; many older farmers prefer to wear long-out-of-fashion three-piece suits and felt hats. Even now, in the business districts of the City, you can see clerks dressed, according to a long tradition, in exactly the same way: tight striped trousers, a black jacket, a high white collar, a bowler hat on their heads, and in their hands the invariable black umbrella.
| Preceded by: Kingdom of Wessex - approx. |
Kingdom of England approx. - April 30 |
Successor: Kingdom of Great Britain April 30 - January 1 |
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Notes
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| 30px | England in Wiktionary |
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| England in Wikisource | |
| 30px | [((localurl:Commons:Category: Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#property" was not found. ))?uselang=en England] at Wikimedia Commons |
| 30px | England at Wikinews |
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An excerpt characterizing England
“Trust me, it’s not so pleasant to look at them,” the doctor said, “and it will hurt you, I cannot allow you to do this.“You won’t anesthetize me, or I won’t do it at all,” I insisted stubbornly. “Why don’t you leave me a choice? Just because I'm small doesn't mean I don't have the right to choose how I take my pain!
The doctor looked at me with wide eyes and seemed unable to believe what he was hearing. For some reason, it suddenly became very important to me that he believed me. My poor nerves were already apparently on edge, and I felt that a little more, and treacherous streams of tears would flow down my tense face, and this could not be allowed.
“Please, I swear I will never tell anyone this,” I still pleaded.
He looked at me for a long time, and then sighed and said:
- I'll let you if you tell me why you need it.
I got lost. In my opinion, at that time I myself did not understand very well what made me so persistently reject conventional, “saving” anesthesia. But I did not allow myself to relax, realizing that I urgently needed to find some kind of answer if I did not want this wonderful doctor to change his mind and everything would go on as usual.
- I am very afraid of pain and now I decided to overcome it. If you can help me, I will be very grateful to you,” I said, blushing.
My problem was that I didn't know how to lie at all. And I saw that the doctor immediately understood this. Then, without giving him a chance to say anything, I blurted out:
- A few days ago I stopped feeling pain and I want to check it out! ..
The doctor looked at me for a long time.
Did you tell anyone about this? - he asked.
“No, not yet,” I replied. And she told him in detail the incident at the rink.
“Okay, let’s try it,” the doctor said. “But if it hurts, you can’t tell me about it anymore, understand? So raise your hand right away if you feel any pain, all right? I nodded.
To be honest, I was absolutely not sure why I was starting all this. And also, I wasn’t completely sure whether I could really cope with this, and whether I would have to bitterly regret this whole crazy story. I saw the doctor preparing an anesthetic injection and placing the syringe on the table next to him.
- This is in case of an unexpected failure, - he smiled warmly, - Well, let's go?
For a second, this whole idea seemed wild to me, and suddenly I really wanted to be the same as everyone else - a normal, obedient nine-year-old girl who closes her eyes, simply because she is very scared. But I was really scared… but since it was not my habit to retreat, I proudly nodded and prepared to watch. Only many years later, I realized what this dear doctor really risked ... And yet, for me, the “secret behind seven seals” forever remained why he did it. But at the time it all seemed perfectly normal and, frankly, I didn't have time to wonder.
The operation began, and somehow I immediately calmed down - as if from somewhere I knew that everything would be fine. Now I could no longer remember all the details, but I remember very well how I was shocked by the sight of the “thing” that had mercilessly tormented me and my mother for so many years after every slightest overheating or cold ... It turned out to be two gray, terribly wrinkled lumps of some kind matter that didn't even look like normal human flesh! Probably, seeing such a “muck”, my eyes became like spoons, because the doctor laughed and said cheerfully:
- As you can see, something beautiful is not always removed from us!
A few minutes later, the operation was completed and I could not believe that everything was over. My brave doctor smiled sweetly as he wiped his sweaty face. For some reason, he looked like a “squeezed lemon” ... Apparently, my strange experiment cost him not so easy.
“Well, hero, does it still hurt?” He asked looking into my eyes.
“Just a little ticklish,” I replied, which was sincere and absolutely true.
A very upset mother was waiting for us in the corridor. It turned out that at work she had unforeseen problems and, no matter how she asked, the authorities did not want to let her go. I immediately tried to calm her down, but, of course, I had to tell the doctor about everything, since it was still a little difficult for me to talk. After these two remarkable cases, the “self-pain effect” completely disappeared from me and never appeared again.
As far as I can remember, I have always been attracted to people by the thirst for life and the ability to find joy even in the most hopeless or sad life situations. To put it simply - I have always loved "strong spirit" people. A real example of "survival" at that time for me was our young neighbor - Leokadiya. My impressionable childish soul was struck by her courage and her truly indestructible desire to live. Leocadia was my bright idol and the highest example of how high a person is able to rise above any physical ailment, preventing this ailment from destroying either his personality or his life ...
Some diseases are curable and it just takes patience to wait for it to finally happen. Her illness was with her for the rest of her life and, unfortunately, this courageous young woman had no hope of ever becoming a normal person.
Fate-mockery treated her very cruelly. When Leocadia was still a very small, but absolutely normal girl, she was “lucky” to fall down the stone steps very unfortunately and severely injure her spine and sternum. Doctors at first were not even sure if she would ever be able to walk. But, after some time, this strong, cheerful girl still managed, thanks to her determination and perseverance, to get up from the hospital bed and slowly but surely begin to take her “first steps” again ...
Everything seems to have ended well. But, after some time, to everyone's horror, a huge, absolutely terrible hump began to grow in front and behind her, which later literally disfigured her body beyond recognition ... And, what was most offensive - nature, as if mocking, rewarded this a blue-eyed girl with an amazingly beautiful, bright and refined face, thereby, as if wanting to show what a marvelous beauty she could be if such a cruel fate had not been prepared for her ...
I don’t even try to imagine what kind of heartache and loneliness this amazing woman had to go through, trying, as a little girl, to somehow get used to her terrible misfortune. And how could she survive and not break down when, many years later, having already become an adult girl, she had to look at herself in the mirror and understand that she could never experience simple female happiness, no matter how good and kind a person she was ... She she accepted her misfortune with a pure and open soul, and, apparently, this is what helped her to maintain a very strong faith in herself, not getting angry at the world around her and not crying over her evil, distorted fate.
Until now, as I remember now, her unchanging warm smile and joyful glowing eyes that met us every time, regardless of her mood or physical condition(and very often I felt how really hard it was for her) ... I really loved and respected this strong, bright woman for her inexhaustible optimism and her deep spiritual goodness. And it seemed that it was she who did not have the slightest reason to believe the same goodness, because in many ways she had never been able to feel what it was like to truly live. Or perhaps felt much deeper than we could feel it? ..
I was then still too little a girl to understand the whole abyss of difference between such a crippled life and the life of normal healthy people, but I remember very well that even many years later, memories of my wonderful neighbor very often helped me endure emotional insults and loneliness and not break when it was really very, very hard.
I never understood people who were always dissatisfied with something and constantly complained about their always invariably “bitter and unfair” fate ... And I never understood the reason that gave them the right to believe that happiness was already destined for them in advance from their very birth and that they have, well, downright a “legal right” to this undisturbed (and completely undeserved!) happiness ...
But I have never suffered such confidence about “mandatory” happiness and, probably, that’s why I didn’t consider my fate “bitter or unfair”, but on the contrary, I was a happy child in my soul, which helped me overcome many of those obstacles that are very “generous”. and constantly "given me my fate ... It's just that sometimes there were short breakdowns, when it was very sad and lonely, and it seemed that you just had to give up inside, not look for more reasons for your" unusual ", not fight for your" unproven "truth, like everyone else will immediately fall into place ... And there will be no more resentment, no bitterness of undeserved reproaches, no loneliness, which has already become almost permanent.
But the next morning I met my dear, glowing like a bright sun, neighbor Leocadia, who joyfully asked: - What a wonderful day, isn't it? .. - And I, healthy and strong, immediately became very ashamed of my unforgivable weakness and, blushing like a ripe tomato, I clenched my then still small, but rather “purposeful” fists and was again ready to rush into battle with the whole world around me in order to defend my “abnormalities” and myself even more fiercely ...
I remember how once, after yet another "mental confusion", I was sitting alone in the garden under my beloved old apple tree and mentally tried to "sort through" my doubts and mistakes, and was very unhappy with the result. My neighbor, Leocadia, planted flowers under her window (which, with her illness, was very difficult to do) and could see me perfectly. She probably didn’t really like my then state (which was always written on my face, regardless of whether it was good or bad), because she went to the fence and asked if I wanted to have breakfast with her with her pies?
I gladly agreed - her presence was always very pleasant and soothing, just as her pies were always delicious. And I also really wanted to talk with someone about what had been oppressing me for several days, but for some reason I didn’t want to share it at home at that moment. Probably, it’s just that sometimes the opinion of an outsider could give more “food for thought” than the care and vigilant attention of my grandmother or mother, who was always worried about me. Therefore, I gladly accepted the offer of a neighbor and went to her breakfast, already from a distance feeling the miraculous smell of my favorite cherry pies.
I was not very "open" when it came to my "unusual" abilities, but with Leocadia from time to time I shared some of my failures or disappointments, as she was a really great listener and never tried to just "save" me from any troubles, which, unfortunately, my mother did very often and, which sometimes made me shut myself off from her much more than I would like. On that day, I told Leocadia about my little “failure” that happened during my regular “experiments” and which greatly upset me.
"Don't worry so much, honey," she said. - In life, it is not scary to fall, it is important to always be able to rise.
Many years have passed since that wonderful warm breakfast, but these words of hers were forever imprinted in my memory and became one of the “unwritten” laws of my life, in which, unfortunately, I had to “fall” so many times, but so far I have always succeeded rise. Days passed, I got more and more used to my amazing and so unlike the world and, despite some setbacks, I felt really happy in it.
By that time, I had already clearly understood that I could not find anyone with whom I could openly share what was constantly happening to me, and I already calmly took it for granted, no longer upset and not trying to prove something to someone . It was my world, and if someone didn't like it, I wasn't going to forcefully invite anyone there. I remember later, while reading one of my father's books, I accidentally stumbled upon the lines of some old philosopher, which were written many centuries ago and which then made me very happy and unspeakably surprised:
“Be like everyone else, otherwise life will become unbearable. If in knowledge or skill you break away from normal people too far, you will no longer be understood and considered insane. Stones will fly at you, your friend will turn away from you ... "
It means that even then (!) there were “unusual” people in the world who, from their bitter experience, knew how difficult it all was and considered it necessary to warn, and if possible, to save, the same “unusual” people as they were! !!
These simple words, who once lived a long time ago, warmed my soul and instilled in it a tiny hope that someday I might meet someone else who would be as “unusual” for everyone else as myself, and with whom I I will be able to speak freely about any “weirdness” and “abnormalities” without fear that they will perceive me “with hostility” or, at best, they will simply ridicule me mercilessly. But this hope was still so fragile and incredible for me that I decided to get carried away less, thinking about it, so that, in case of failure, it would not be too painful to “land” from my beautiful dream into a harsh reality ...
The origin of the word "English" stems from the old of English language, which was spoken by the Germanic peoples who conquered the British Isles in the fifth century AD. In turn, the words "Britain" and "British" come from words of Roman origin, these words were called the peoples of Britons and Celts.
There is the concept of "Englishness", which is distributed unevenly throughout the country.
We see the strongest gap between the southern part of England and the northern part of England. The South of England, which includes the South East Region, the South West Region, East England and Middle England, is most dominated by a dynamic economy. In this part there are financially successful cities, the main financial center of Great Britain is located here, the building of the national government is located here, in the same part of the country it is located.
In the northern part of England there is all the main industry of the country, so many chimneys rise here. In the northern part of the country are such cities as Yorkshire, Lancashire, Northumberland, Cumbria, Merseyside, and Cheshire. Due to some economic difficulties in the last decade of the 20th century, the northern part of the country experienced de-industrialization.
England is a cultural country, despite the fact that it is divided into several parts, each of them has its own cultural characteristics. And the interest of tourists is often riveted to the countryside of England. The traditional drink of the country is beer, and it also has its own rituals and preferences in art.
In England, traditional dances and folk music that date back to the pre-industrial era are very popular. Such a cultural heritage allows tourists and guests of the country to form their own idea of the nation and culture of England. Also in England there is the concept of stratification of society, there is a working class, a middle class and a wealthy upper class.
In 1847 and 1848, a flood of immigrants from Ireland poured into England during the so-called "potato famine" in the country, and a large stream of immigrants arrived in England during the Second World War. This greatly affected the traditions and culture of the country.
Earlier in the period of the 1700s, Scots moved to England in large numbers, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, due to economic considerations, many Scots also arrived in England. During the 1920s, deindustrialization began in Wales, from where a flood of Welsh people poured into England, who brought Celtic culture into English traditions in various forms.
Also, the culture of England was influenced by various European cultures: Flemish, Jewish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Turkish, Cypriot and others. All this happened in the twelfth century. long ruled the colonies of Afro-Caribbean origin.
Therefore, in England there are many visitors from Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Africa. So, as we can see, many different nationalities live in England, and in order to understand by what criteria people call themselves English, it is worth familiarizing yourself with the culture of the country in more detail.
Emergence of the Nation
The emergence of the nation took place between 1200 and 1850 of the first period, when a quasi-national feeling was able to unite people during the Hundred Years War with France, which took place in the late Middle Ages (1337-1453).
Although there was a dynastic conflict between the English and French monarchs involved, this war was the cause in which the Anglo-Saxon and Norman cultures merged, so that it was this fusion that became the basis of English culture.
In the sixteenth century, one of the hallmarks of nationalism was anti-Catholicism. Henry VIII created the Anglican Church, completely redirecting his people to a slightly different church, thus the monarch avoided the constant intervention of the pope in the national affairs of the country. Elizabeth I, his daughter, created a sense of national unity through a conflict situation with Catholic Spain.
Another manifestation of anti-Catholic sentiment was the Battle of the Boyne in 1689, where William III and his army defeated the Catholic opposition in Ireland. William subsequently confirmed that Catholicism was a very controversial concept in matters of English and Irish law.
In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, England, along with Scotland and Ireland, competed in more strong feeling national unity with countries such as, and Holland. And finally, by 1816, a general feeling of expansionist patriotism arises in England, the last step in the creation of which is the appearance of a prim English morality, which every inhabitant of England can boast of.
National features of England
English cultural roots lie in the fusion of Anglo-Saxon, Danish, and Norman-French culture that has existed as a synthesis since the late Middle Ages. Also, the constant process of finding the golden mean has always been the center of this cultural mixture.
ethnic relations
In 1290, the monarch Edward I expelled the Jews from the English society, so that the Jews until the 20th century could not receive full rights and recognition in society in England. By the way, this is not the only moment of discrimination in English society, because at one time the Flemish guest workers expressed indignation at the fact that English workers were paid more than they were.
German, French and a small number of Protestant refugees in the 16th and 18th centuries faced ethnic prejudice very often. During the era of English nationalism and British imperialism, Irish, Scottish and Welsh Catholics also faced and resented discrimination.
In view of the fact that it was one of the largest colonial countries, a whole stream of immigrants poured into England from the colonies, the law for the period of the 1960s went towards the visitors, and they could easily obtain citizenship in the country, but by 1981 the situation in fundamentally changed, and the rights of immigrants in the UK began to be limited, it became almost impossible to obtain citizenship, as well as benefits for existence.
Margaret Thatcher promoted the development of free market capitalism, and in connection with this there was a strong economic decline in areas where ethnic minorities lived. This fact in 1980 caused violent protests from immigrants, which resulted in riots in the streets of London in 1981. A law on anti-racism was raised. Which somewhat improved the economy and the life of the non-white population.
Nevertheless, economic immigrants and political refugees, who came mainly from East Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa, took their place in society, but non-white people began to be considered in society as objects of public interest.
