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History of Medieval England - Tuesday 6th Period: Lecture 8: Edward I and an Island Empire
Welcome back from your break. Everyone who was in England, I hope you enjoyed yourself. You certainly never called on me for help, so I assume everything went swimmingly. Everyone who stayed here or went home for the break -- welcome back to learning.
Our lecture today is on the consolidation of power within the British Isles.
England is political concept, consisting of a part of the island of Britain. In addition, across a short stretch of water was another island, Ireland. English monarchs had been attempting to conquer the three main independent countries, namely, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, since the Norman Conquest.
By the time that Edward I of England -- whom we encountered in our last lecture as the military genius who defeated Simon de Montfort -- ascended the throne, both Wales and Scotland were under England's nominal control. They both owed fealty to the English King, which placed them in a subordinate position to him.
Do recall that owing fealty to a king is an entirely separate issue from said king having the power to enforce that overlordship. Wales had been in a near-constant state of rebellion since the Romans had tried to conquer them. They would have had a better shot if they weren't equally as fond of killing each other as they were of killing the English.
Edward finally determined to conquer them once and for all. To do so, he did two radical things: he employed advanced technology that had come home from Crusaders -- in particular, extremely sophisticated castle design that allowed a strategically-placed castle to control an extensive amount of area. He also committed the resources of the English crown to the endeavor. With single-minded purpose, he invaded Wales, captured a territory, and built castles to hold it. In this manner he succeeded where every single one of his ancestors had ultimately failed, and, in conquering Wales, removed a front through which England could be attacked.
At about the same time that Wales was finally subdued, the succession in Scotland became uncertain -- in a way that Edward could take political advantage of. The heiress to the Scottish throne was an unmarried girl, and Edward plotted to marry her to his heir, and join the two countries peaceably through wedlock. Unfortunately, the girl died before she and Edward's son could be married, and left the Scottish succession wide open to a number of equally-qualified candidates. Edward backed one who would easy for England to control. Several Scottish nobles claimed the throne themselves, and Edward began another military campaign to conquer Scotland in much the same way he had conquered Wales.
However, by this time, Edward was no longer young. He died in the middle of the Scottish campaign. He was quite aware his leadership was indispensable to their success, to the point of requesting that the flesh be boiled from his bones and his bones be carried with the English army until they finally succeeded in conquering Scotland.
Instead, the English finally lost to the forces of Robert the Bruce, who became the first Stewart king of Scotland. From that point in about 1314 to 1603, Scotland was no longer nominally a subordinate nation. They often had to bow to political necessity in the face of their more powerful neighbor, England, but they were a thoroughly independent country.
Fortunately for Scotland and unfortunately for England, Edward I's successor, Edward II, was neither as brilliant politically nor was as popular with either the nobility or the lower classes in England. He lost a great deal of support when he failed to conquer Scotland, and did nothing to rebuild the nation's confidence in his abilities. Indeed, he was thoroughly disliked for putting people with no family connections -- meaning, members of the lower class -- in positions of power in the English government. While you might think that the lower classes would appreciate the possibility of upward mobility, that is a fairly modern concept. In the mid-1300s, people believed that you were born to a certain estate and it was contrary to God's will to step out of it.
The final strike against Edward II was that his politically-savvy wife, Isabel of France, and her politically-savvy lover, Roger Mortimer, conspired against him. He was captured, forced to abdicate in favor of his fourteen-year-old son -- who, for the record, was also named Edward, just to confuse historians -- and then imprisoned. He died in a rather gruesome fashion -- a hot poker inserted through his bowels to burn out his insides, so that the body could be displayed with no marks of violence on it -- and Isabel of France and Roger Mortimer ruled England as regents for the underage Edward III. Who we will discuss next week.
[[OOC: OCD threads arecoming up!!]]
Our lecture today is on the consolidation of power within the British Isles.
England is political concept, consisting of a part of the island of Britain. In addition, across a short stretch of water was another island, Ireland. English monarchs had been attempting to conquer the three main independent countries, namely, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, since the Norman Conquest.
By the time that Edward I of England -- whom we encountered in our last lecture as the military genius who defeated Simon de Montfort -- ascended the throne, both Wales and Scotland were under England's nominal control. They both owed fealty to the English King, which placed them in a subordinate position to him.
Do recall that owing fealty to a king is an entirely separate issue from said king having the power to enforce that overlordship. Wales had been in a near-constant state of rebellion since the Romans had tried to conquer them. They would have had a better shot if they weren't equally as fond of killing each other as they were of killing the English.
Edward finally determined to conquer them once and for all. To do so, he did two radical things: he employed advanced technology that had come home from Crusaders -- in particular, extremely sophisticated castle design that allowed a strategically-placed castle to control an extensive amount of area. He also committed the resources of the English crown to the endeavor. With single-minded purpose, he invaded Wales, captured a territory, and built castles to hold it. In this manner he succeeded where every single one of his ancestors had ultimately failed, and, in conquering Wales, removed a front through which England could be attacked.
At about the same time that Wales was finally subdued, the succession in Scotland became uncertain -- in a way that Edward could take political advantage of. The heiress to the Scottish throne was an unmarried girl, and Edward plotted to marry her to his heir, and join the two countries peaceably through wedlock. Unfortunately, the girl died before she and Edward's son could be married, and left the Scottish succession wide open to a number of equally-qualified candidates. Edward backed one who would easy for England to control. Several Scottish nobles claimed the throne themselves, and Edward began another military campaign to conquer Scotland in much the same way he had conquered Wales.
However, by this time, Edward was no longer young. He died in the middle of the Scottish campaign. He was quite aware his leadership was indispensable to their success, to the point of requesting that the flesh be boiled from his bones and his bones be carried with the English army until they finally succeeded in conquering Scotland.
Instead, the English finally lost to the forces of Robert the Bruce, who became the first Stewart king of Scotland. From that point in about 1314 to 1603, Scotland was no longer nominally a subordinate nation. They often had to bow to political necessity in the face of their more powerful neighbor, England, but they were a thoroughly independent country.
Fortunately for Scotland and unfortunately for England, Edward I's successor, Edward II, was neither as brilliant politically nor was as popular with either the nobility or the lower classes in England. He lost a great deal of support when he failed to conquer Scotland, and did nothing to rebuild the nation's confidence in his abilities. Indeed, he was thoroughly disliked for putting people with no family connections -- meaning, members of the lower class -- in positions of power in the English government. While you might think that the lower classes would appreciate the possibility of upward mobility, that is a fairly modern concept. In the mid-1300s, people believed that you were born to a certain estate and it was contrary to God's will to step out of it.
The final strike against Edward II was that his politically-savvy wife, Isabel of France, and her politically-savvy lover, Roger Mortimer, conspired against him. He was captured, forced to abdicate in favor of his fourteen-year-old son -- who, for the record, was also named Edward, just to confuse historians -- and then imprisoned. He died in a rather gruesome fashion -- a hot poker inserted through his bowels to burn out his insides, so that the body could be displayed with no marks of violence on it -- and Isabel of France and Roger Mortimer ruled England as regents for the underage Edward III. Who we will discuss next week.
[[OOC: OCD threads are
ATTENDANCE: Sign In: MEH Lecture 8
Re: ATTENDANCE: Sign In: MEH Lecture 8
Re: ATTENDANCE: Sign In: MEH Lecture 8
Re: ATTENDANCE: Sign In: MEH Lecture 8
Re: ATTENDANCE: Sign In: MEH Lecture 8
Re: ATTENDANCE: Sign In: MEH Lecture 8
Re: ATTENDANCE: Sign In: MEH Lecture 8
QUESTIONS: MEH Lecture 8
TALKING IN CLASS: MEH Lecture 8
Re: TALKING IN CLASS: MEH Lecture 8
AFTER CLASS: MEH Lecture 8
Re: AFTER CLASS: MEH Lecture 8
OOC: MEH Lecture 8
(And why do I suddenly feel like a Colbert Report bullet point?)