Development of England and France

Early Invasions
- Danish Vikings invaded England throughout the 800s.
- Alfred the Great and his successors gradually united England.
- Danish King Canute invaded in 1016, uniting the Viking people and the Anglo-Saxons.

William the Conqueror
- Came from Normandy, Northern France.
- Fought with the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson.
- On October 14, 1066, the Battle of Hastings occurred.
- William invaded England from Normandy, defeating and killing Harold.
- After the victory, William declared England his personal property.
- He took land that had been granted by Harold and gave it to Norman Lords who supported him.
- He kept one-fifth of the land for himself.

After William's conquest, the Kings of England had two main goals:
- Hold and add to their French lands.
- Strengthen their own power over Nobles and the Church.
Henry II
- Married Eleanor of Aquitaine from France, increasing English influence in France.
- This allowed him to be both King of England and of France, increasing his influence in the region.

Royal judges were sent to preside over many areas of England.
- Collected taxes
- Settled lawsuits
- Punished criminals
Decisions made by these judges became known as common law.
Henry also introduced the concept of a jury.
- 12 neighbors of the accused.
- They would answer a judge's questions about the facts of the case.
- This was only used in royal courts.

King John:
- Was considered cruel to his subjects.
- Alienated the Church.
- Raised taxes to finance wars.
- Threatened to take away town charters that guaranteed self-government.
On June 15, 1215, nobles forced John to agree to signing the Magna Carta.
- Guaranteed certain basic political rights.
- Nobles wanted to safeguard their own feudal rights and limit the king’s powers.
- Guaranteed rights included no taxation without representation, a jury trial, and protection of the law.
- Would eventually influence the founding fathers of the United States.

Edward 1st
- Wanted to raise taxes for the war with the French.
- Summoned two burgesses (citizens of wealth and property) from every borough and two knights from every county.
- They were summoned to serve as a parliament, or legislative group.
- This would gradually develop into two houses:
  - House of Commons: knights and burgesses
  - House of Lords: nobles and bishops

Around 1000, France was divided into about 47 feudal territories.
The prior dynasty, the Carolingians, ended with Louis the Sluggard.
A new dynasty was founded by Hugh Capet
- Duke from the middle of France, near Paris.
- The Capetian Dynasty would rule from 987-1328.
- For the first 300 years, they focused on tightening their grip on the land around their original territory.
- The king's power gradually spread outward from Paris.

One of the most powerful Capetians.
Had watched his father lose to English King Henry II.
When Philip was king, he set out to weaken the power of the English kings in France.
Was not successful against Henry II or Richard the Lion-Hearted.
More successful against King John.
- Retook the area of Normandy.
- By the end of his reign, he had tripled the land of France.
- Finally, a French king was more powerful than his vassals.

Louis IX (1226-1270)
- Was pious and saintly, considered an ideal king.
- He was made a saint by the Catholic Church after his death.
- Created a French appeals court
Philip IV (1285-1314)
- Was involved in a quarrel with the Pope.
- The Pope refused to allow priests to pay taxes to the king.
- Disputed the right of the Pope to control Church affairs in his kingdom.
- Usually called a meeting of his lords and bishops when he needed support for his policies.
- To win wider support against the Pope, Philip IV decided to include commoners in the meeting.

In France:
- Church leaders were known as the First Estate.
- Great Lords were known as the Second Estate.
- Commoners (landowners and merchants) were the Third Estate.
The Estates-General was the meeting created to settle the dispute with the Pope.
Like the English Parliament in its early years, it helped to increase royal power against the nobility.
Unlike Parliament, it never became an independent force that limited the king’s power.
- The Third Estate would play a key role in overthrowing the French monarchy during the French Revolution.

Lasted from 1337–1453.
Fought between England and France.
When the last Capetian king died without a successor, England’s Edward III, as grandson of Philip IV, claimed the right to the French throne.
He went to war with France to claim it.
Between 1421 and 1453, the French rallied and drove the English out of France entirely, except for the port city of Calais.

In 1420, the French and English signed a treaty that Henry V would inherit the French crown upon the death of the French king Charles VI.
A teenage French peasant girl named Joan of Arc entered the picture.
- She was moved by God to rescue France from its English conquerors.
- At 13, she saw visions and believed them to be the voices of saints.
- They urged her to drive the English from France.
- On May 7, 1429, she led the French army into battle at a fort city near Orléans.
- Joan of Arc guided the French onto the path of victory.
- She battled on the front lines
In 1430, the Burgundians, England’s allies, captured Joan in battle, turned her over to the British, and she was condemned as a witch and a heretic and burned at the stake.

Change in Warfare
- Introduction of the use of the Longbow.
A feeling of nationalism emerged in England and France.
The power and prestige of the French monarch increased.
The English suffered a period of internal turmoil known as the War of the Roses, in which two noble houses fought for the throne.
Inspiration of the Game of Thrones
Historians consider the end of the Hundred Years’ War in 1453 as the end of the Middle Ages.
Pillars of the medieval world, religious devotion and chivalry, no longer led society.