FACTS, TERMS AND CONCEPTS
The Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346 near Crécy in northern France, and was one of the most important battles of the Hundred Years' War. The combination of new weapons and tactics has caused many historians to consider this battle the beginning of the end of chivalry.
The Treaty of Troyes was an agreement that Henry V of England would inherit the throne of France upon the death of King Charles VI of France. It was signed in Troyes, France in 1420. The treaty was part of the aftermath of the Battle of Agincourt. This attempt to alter the traditional pattern of French royal succession did not succeed.
Lollardy was the political and religious movement of the Lollards from the mid-14th century to the English Reformation. Lollardy was supposed to have evolved from the teachings of John Wycliffe, a prominent theologian at the University of Oxford beginning in the 1350s - however, it is possible that the Lollards actually predated Wycliffe. Its demands were primarily for reform of the Roman Catholic Church. It taught a form of predestination. It advocated apostolic poverty and taxation of Church properties. It also denied transubstantiation in favour of consubstantiation.
The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field (22 August 1485[2]) was Lancastrian Henry Tudor's defeat of Yorkist Richard III, ending the Plantagenet dynasty to begin a new Tudor dynasty. Historically, the battle is considered to have marked the end of the Wars of the Roses, although further battles were fought in the years that followed as Yorkist pretenders unsuccessfully fought to reclaim the crown.
The Beefeaters are ceremonial guardians of the Tower of London. In principle they are responsible for looking after any prisoners at the Tower and safeguarding the British crown jewels, but in practice they act as tour guides and are a tourist attraction in their own right, a point the Yeoman Warders acknowledge. The Yeomen Warders are often incorrectly referred to as Yeomen of the Guard, which is actually a distinct corps of Royal Bodyguards.
The name Beefeater is of uncertain origin, with various proposed derivations. The most likely is considered to be the Wardens' payment in rations that included beef, as well as mutton and veal, and various historical commentators have noted a preference for beef among the Wardens and the Yeomen of the Guard.
The Great Plague (1665-1666) was a massive outbreak of disease in England that killed 75,000 to 100,000 people, up to a fifth of London's population. The disease was historically identified as bubonic plague, an infection by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, transmitted via a rat vector. It was remembered afterwards as the "great" plague because it was one of the last widespread outbreaks in England.
The Court of Star Chamber was a court of law which evolved from meetings of the king's royal council. In 1487 the court became a judicial body separate from the king's council, with a mandate to hear petitions of redress. The power of the Court of Star Chamber grew under the Stuarts, and by the time of Charles I it had become a byword for misuse and abuse of power by the king and his circle. James I and his son Charles used the court to examine cases of sedition, which, in practice, meant that the court could be used to suppress opposition to royal policies. The Court of Star Chamber was named for the star pattern painted on the ceiling of the room at Westminster Palace where its meetings were held.
The New Model Army was created in February 1645 by Parliament as it felt that a professional army would be more successful against the king's army. It was a military unit that was to transform the English Civil War. It was a military force based on a person's ability rather than on your position within society. It was a force based on lightly armed cavalry. Prince Rupert nick-named them the Ironsides as they seemed to cut through the enemy with ease. The New Model Army would usually attack at the flanks where the enemy was at its weakest.
Barebone's Parliament, also known as the Nominated Assembly and the Parliament of Saints, came into being on 4 July 1653, and was the last attempt of the English Commonwealth to find a stable political form before the installation of Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector. It was an assembly entirely nominated by Oliver Cromwell and the Army's Council of Officers. It acquired its name from the nominee for the City of London, Praise-God Barebone. The Speaker of the House was the Reverend Francis Rous. The total number of nominees was 140, 129 from England, five from Scotland and six from Ireland.
The Great Fire of London, a major fire that swept through the central parts of London from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. It is estimated that it destroyed the homes of 70,000 of the City's 80,000 inhabitants. The death toll from the fire is unknown and is traditionally thought to have been small, as only a few verified deaths were recorded. The fire started at the bakery of Thomas Farriner in Pudding Lane shortly after midnight on Sunday, 2 September, and spread rapidly. The use of the major firefighting technique of the time, the creation of firebreaks by means of demolition, was critically delayed due to the indecisiveness of the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Thomas Bloodworth. By the time large-scale demolitions were ordered on Sunday night, the wind had already fanned the bakery fire into a firestorm which defeated such measures. The fire pushed north on Monday into the heart of the City. Order in the streets broke down as rumours arose of suspicious foreigners setting fires. On Tuesday, the fire spread over most of the City, destroying St. Paul's Cathedral and leaping the River Fleet to threaten Charles II's court at Whitehall, while coordinated firefighting efforts were simultaneously mobilising. The battle to quench the fire is considered to have been won by two factors: the strong east winds died down, and the Tower of London garrison used gunpowder to create effective firebreaks to halt further spread eastward. The social and economic problems created by the disaster were overwhelming. Evacuation from London and settlement elsewhere were strongly encouraged by Charles II, who feared a London rebellion amongst the dispossessed refugees. Despite numerous radical proposals, London was reconstructed on essentially the same street plan used before the fire.
The Popish Plot (1678-1681) was an alleged Catholic conspiracy. The plot was devised as part of a conspiracy to discredit Catholics in England. Protestants feared the increasing power of the Catholic Church in England, and used the Popish Plot as a catalyst to openly oppose them. At the center of the Popish Plot was a low level clergyman named Titus Oates. According to him, if anything were to happen to Charles II, England would almost certainly be made a Roman Catholic state. This fear was also fueled by a growing number of Jesuits coming to the country from France. Charles II believed that a king should not have to share power. So, to help build that alliance, he named Anglicanism the state religion.
The Field of Cloth of Gold is the name given to a place in Balinghem, between Guînes and Ardres, in France, near Calais. It was the site of a spectacular meeting that took place from 7 to 24 June 1520, between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France. The meeting was arranged to increase the bond of friendship between the two kings following the Anglo-French treaty of 1518. The solecism Field of the Cloth of Gold has entered general use in the English language since at least the eighteenth century.
The Glorious Revolution was the overthrow of King James II of England (VII of Scotland) in 1688 by a union of Parliamentarians and the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange. It is sometimes called the Bloodless Revolution, but it was not completely bloodless, since there were two significant clashes between the two armies, plus anti-Catholic riots in several towns. The Revolution is closely tied in with the events of the War of the Grand Alliance on mainland Europe, and may be seen as the last successful invasion of England. The deposition of the Roman Catholic James II ended any chance of Catholicism becoming re-established in England, and also led to limited toleration for nonconformist Protestants. Catholics were denied the right to vote and sit in the Westminster Parliament for over 100 years after this. They were also denied commissions in the British army and the monarch was forbidden to be Catholic or marry a Catholic, thus ensuring the Protestant succession.
The First Succession Act of Henry VIII's reign was passed by the Parliament of England in March 1534, and removed Mary from the line of the succession, leaving Princess Elizabeth the heir presumptive. The Act also required all subjects to swear an oath to recognize this Act as well as the King's supremacy. Anyone who refused to take an oath was subject to a charge of treason. This is what happened to Sir Thomas More, who refused to swear the oath because it acknowledged the anti-Papal powers of Parliament in matters of religion. The Act was later altered by the Second Succession Act, which made Elizabeth illegitimate, and the Third Succession Act, which returned both sisters to the line of succession.
The Bill of Rights 1689 is an Act of the Parliament of England. It is one of the basic documents of English constitutional law, alongside Magna Carta, the Act of Settlement and the Parliament Acts. The Bill of Rights 1689 is largely a statement of certain rights that its authors considered that citizens and/or residents of a constitutional monarchy ought to have. It asserts the Subject's right to petition the Monarch and to bear arms for defense. It forms a list of rights in respect of the people as represented in Parliament, in addition to those rights already provided for individuals as set out in Magna Carta.
The Act of Supremacy November 1534 was an Act of the Parliament of England under King Henry VIII declaring that he was 'the only supreme head on earth of the Church in England'. Henry, who had been declared "Defender of the Faith" (Fidei Defensor) for his pamphlet accusing Martin Luther of heresy, was now confirmed as head of the Church in England. This made official the English Reformation that had been brewing since 1527, and caused a long-lasting distrust between England and the Roman Catholic Church. The act was a result of Henry's desire for an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, which Pope Clement VII had refused to grant.
The Act of Settlement, 1701, was introduced in the reign of William III, to provide for a stable executive branch to the British government. The future Queen Anne was very sickly and had problems producing an heir. She had 17 pregnancies, but none of her children survived childhood. She would not sit on the throne herself if the traditional order of succession had been followed - William and Mary had seen to that. Uniquely in the history of the monarchy, the Crown was shared between William III and Mary II. The Act was a last ditch attempt by Parliament to maintain the status quo, as there had been too much slaughter of one side or the other.
The Dissolution of the Monasteries was the formal process between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monastic communities in England, Wales and Ireland and confiscated their property. He was given the authority to do this by the Act of Supremacy, passed by Parliament in 1534, which made him Supreme Head of the Church in England, and by the First Suppression Act (1536) and the Second Suppression Act (1539).
The Nine Years' War (1688-97) - often called the War of the Grand Alliance was a major war of the late 17th century fought primarily on mainland Europe but also encompassed theatres in Ireland and North America. The war was dominated by siege operations, notably at Mons, Namur, Charleroi and Barcelona; open battles such as Fleurus and Marsaglia were less common. These engagements generally favoured Louis' armies, but by 1696 France was in a grip of an economic crisis. The Maritime Powers (England and the Dutch Republic) were also financially exhausted, and when Savoy defected from the alliance in 1696, all parties were keen for a negotiated settlement. The signing of the Treaty of Ryswick in September 1697 brought an end to the Nine Years' War, but with the imminent death of the childless and infirm King Charles II, a new conflict over the inheritance of the Spanish Empire would soon embroil France and the Grand Alliance in another major conflict - the War of the Spanish Succession.
The Pilgrimage of Grace was a popular rising in York, Yorkshire during 1536, in protest against England's break with Rome and the Dissolution of the Monasteries, as well as other specific political, social and economic grievances led by Henry VIII. Technically the term Pilgrimage of Grace refers specifically to the uprising around York, though sometimes it is used in relation to the risings in general which took place around Northern England; first from Lincolnshire, twelve days before the actual Pilgrimage of Grace.
Successes
The government postponed the collection of the October subsidy. This had been a major grievance amongst the Lincolnshire rebels.
The Statute of Uses was negated by a new law, the Statute of Wills.
Four of the seven sacraments that were omitted from the Ten Articles, were restored in the Bishop's Book of 1537. This marked the end of the drift of official doctrine towards Protestantism. The Bishop's Book was followed by the Six Articles of 1539.
An onslaught upon heresy was promised in a royal proclamation in 1538.
Thomas Cromwell was pushed from power in 1540.
Princess Mary (later Queen Mary I of England) was restored to the succession in 1544.
The Council of the North was re-established in 1537.
Failures
The dissolution of the monasteries continued unabated, with the largest monasteries being dissolved in 1540.
Great tracts of land were stolen from the Church and divided among the monarchy and its supporters.
The moves towards official Protestantism achieved by Cromwell were not reversed (except in the reign of Mary I 1553-1558).
The Battle of the Boyne was a turning point in the Williamite claim on the English throne. The battle took place on July 1, 1690 (Old Style) just outside the town of Drogheda on Ireland's east coast. Each army stood on opposing sides of the River Boyne. William's forces easily defeated those of James who led an army of mostly raw recruits. The symbolic importance of this battle has made it one of the best-known battles in British and Irish history and a key part in Irish Protestant folklore.
The Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, leading to the Norris-Drake Expedition or English Armada of 1589. King Philip II of Spain had been king consort of England until the death in 1558 of his wife, Queen Mary I of England, and he took exception to the policies pursued by her successor, Elizabeth I. The aim of his expedition was to invade and conquer England, thereby suppressing support for the United Provinces — that part of the Spanish Netherlands in possession of the Dutch rebels — and cutting off attacks by the English against Spanish possessions in the New World and against the Atlantic treasure fleets. The king was supported by Pope Sixtus V, who treated the invasion as a crusade. A return voyage to Spain was plotted, and the fleet sailed into the Atlantic, past Ireland. But severe storms disrupted the fleet's course, and more than 24 vessels were wrecked on the north and western coasts of Ireland, with the survivors having to seek refuge in Scotland. Of the fleet's initial complement, about 50 vessels failed to make it back to Spain.
The Whigs (with the Tories) are often described as one of two political parties in England and later the United Kingdom from the late 17th to the mid 19th centuries. While the Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule, both might be termed conservative by modern parameters. The Whig tendency supported the great aristocratic families and non-Anglicans, while the Tories supported the Anglican Church and the gentry. Later on, the Whigs drew support from the emerging industrial interests and wealthy merchants, while the Tories drew support from the landed interests and the British Crown. The Whigs were originally also known as the "Country Party" (as opposed to the Tories, the "Court Party"). By the first half of the 19th century, however, the Whig political programme came to encompass not only the supremacy of parliament over the monarch and support for free trade, but the abolition of slavery, and, significantly, expansion of the franchise (suffrage).
Peace of Utrecht, collective name for several treaties concluded at Utrecht in the Netherlands between 1713 and 1714 which ended the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) by recognizing Philip, duke of Anjou king of Spain, under the condition that the Spanish and French kingdoms would not be united, and established a balance of power in Europe. The settlement consisted of the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) and the treaties of Rastatt and Baden (1714).
The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, and ratified by the Congress of the Confederation on January 14, 1784, formally ended the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United States of America, which had rebelled against British rule starting in 1775. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements.
The Divine Right of Kings is a political and religious doctrine of political absolutism. A general term used for the ideas surrounding the authority and legitimacy of a Monarch, the doctrine broadly holds that a monarch derives his or her right to rule from the will of God, and not from any temporal authority, including the will of his subjects, the aristocracy, or any other estate of the realm. Chosen by God, a monarch is accountable only to Him, and need answer only before God for his actions.
The Hampton Court Conference was a meeting in January 1604, convened at Hampton Court Palace between King James I of England and representatives of the English Puritans. The conference was called in response to a series of requests for reform set down in the Millenary Petition by the Puritans, a document which supposedly contained the signatures of 1000 puritan ministers. The conference was set out in two main parties by James, one party of Archbishop John Whitgift and 8 Bishops who represented the episcopacy, supported by eight deans and one archdeacon, and another party of four or five moderate Puritans.
The Battle of the Nile or Aboukir Bay (August 1-2, 1798) saw a British fleet under Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson defeat a French fleet, stranding Napoleon's army in Egypt. French losses have been estimated to have been as high as 1,700 dead (including Vice-Admiral Brueys) and 3,000 captured. British losses were 218 dead.
In the Battle of Trafalgar, a British fleet of 27 ships of the line defeated an allied French and Spanish fleet of 33 ships of the line on 21 October 1805 in the most decisive naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars. The French and Spanish lost 22 ships, while the British lost none. The British commander Admiral Lord Nelson died late in the battle.
The British victory spectacularly confirmed the naval supremacy that Britain had established during the 18th century. However, by the time it was fought, Napoleon had abandoned his plans to invade southern England and instead was defeating Britain's allies in Germany.
The Bishops' Wars were fought between the Scots and English forces led by Charles I. These conflicts paved the way for the uprising of Parliament that began the English civil wars.
Charles I was attempting to enforce Anglican reforms onto the Scottish church. However the Scots were opposed to this, and even wanted to destroy the control that bishops had over the church. To this end, Charles' reforms were rejected by the Scottish Assembly at Glasgow in 1638. Charles was furious that the Scots had rejected his proposals, and hastily formed an English force with which to march on Scotland in 1639. He did not have the funds for such a military expedition, nor confidence in his troops, so he was forced to leave Scotland without fighting a battle. The unrest continued in Scotland, and when Charles discovered that they had been plotting with the French he again decided to mount a military expedition. This time, Charles called Parliament in order to get funds (1640). When parliament formed, they immediately wanted to discuss grievances against the government, and were generally opposed to any military operation. This angered Charles and he dismissed parliament again, hence the name "Short Parliament" that it is commonly given. Charles went ahead with his military operation without Parliament's support, and was beaten by the Scots. The Scots, taking advantage of this, went on to seize Northumberland and Durham. Charles found himself in a desperate position, and was forced to call parliament again in November, 1640. This parliament is known as the "Long Parliament".