The Feudal Kingdom of England, 1042-1216 (5th Edition)

417 Pages·1999·22.085 MB·English

by  Frank Barlow

The Feudal Kingdom of England
The Feudal Kingdom of England 1042-1216 is published as part of Longman's
A HISTORY OF ENGLAND series, which was originally under the
General Editorship of the late W. N. Medlicott. The other series titles
currently available are:
The Anglo-Saxon Age c.400-1042 D. J. V. Fisher
The Later Middle Ages in England 1216-1485 B. Wilkinson
The Tudor Age 1485-1603 James A. Williamson
The Stuart Age 1603-1714 (Second Edition) Barry Coward
Eighteenth Century England 1714-1784 (Second Edition) Dorothy Marshall
The Age of Improvement 1783-1867 Asa Briggs
The Age of Urban Democracy: England 1868-1914 (Revised Edition) Donald
Read
The Feudal Kingdom
of England
1042-1216
Fifth edition
Frank Barlow
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LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 1955 by Pearson Education Limited
Second edition 1961
Third edition 1972
Fourth edition 1988
Fifith edition1999
Published 2014 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, axon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Tay/or & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright © 1955, 1999, Taylor & Francis.
The right of Frank Barlow to be identified as author of this Work has been
asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any
electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
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ISBN 13: 978-0-582-38117-9 (pbk)
British Library Cataloguing in Publicatioll Data
A catalogue entry for this title is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the library of congress.
Barlow, Frank.
The feudal kingdom of England, 1042-1216/ Frank Barlow'. - 5th
ed.
p. cm. - (A history of England)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-582-38117-7 (pbk.)
1. Great Britain-History-Medieval period, 1066-1485. 2. Great
Britain-History-Edward, the Confessor, 1042-1066. 3. Feudalism
England-History-To 1500. 4. England-Civilization-1066-1485.
5. England-Civilization-To 1066. I. Title. II. Series: History
of England (Longman)
DA175.B26 1999
942'.02-dc21 98-51308
CIP
Set by 35 in 10/12 pt Bembo
Contents
List of Maps and Genealogical Tables viii
Introductory Note
IX
Preface
X
1 England in the Reign of Edward the Confessor 1
Political background 1
Description of the kingdom 3
Lords and lordship 5
The cultivators and their lands 12
Trade and towns 18
The church 21
The arts 29
The government of the kingdom 33
2 The Reign of Edward the Confessor, 1042-1066 44
Edward's problems, 1042-51 44
The ambition of Godwine, 1042-53 48
The earldoms, 1052-63 53
The last years, 1063-66 57
3 The Norman Conquest of England, 1066-1086 61
The rivalry of King Harold and Duke William, 1066 61
The battles, 1066 65
The establishment of Norman rule, 1066-71 70
The aftermath of the rebellions, 1071-86 74
4 The Anglo-Norman Kingdom 79
The duchy of Normandy 79
The Anglo-Norman kingdom and king 86
The Anglo-Norman baronage 91
v
The Feudal Kingdom of England
The effect of the Norman Conquest on the peasants, towns,
and forests 96
The Anglo-Norman church and culture 98
Anglo-Norman law 107
5 England and Normandy, 1066-1100 110
Normandy and the neighbouring French fiefs 110
The division of William I's empire, 1087 115
William II and England 120
Relations with Normandy, Scotland, and the church, 1087-97 123
Wales, 1063-99 130
William in Normandy and Robert on Crusade, 1095-99 132
6 The Zenith and the Nadir of Norman Rule,
1100-1154 137
Henry I's re-establishment of the Norman empire, 1100-07 137
The kingdom of England under Henry 145
Henry as Duke of Normandy, 1107-35 155
Stephen's accession and diffIculties, 1135-37 162
Rebellion, 1138-39 168
The war with the Angevins, 1139-49 174
Stephen and the church 182
Stephen's decline and the rise of the Angevins, 1149-54 185
7 Social Changes in England 189
Intellectual and religious advances 189
Aristocratic society 200
The position of women 211
The English towns and the countryside 220
8 The Re-establishment of the Monarchy under
Henry II, 1154-1179 236
Henry's accession, character, and problems, 1154-61 236
Henry and the church, 1162-79 241
Administrative and judicial reforms 256
Economic changes 268
Cultural developments 270
9 The Angevin Empire, 1166-1206 275
Provision for Henry II's sons and the lordship of Ireland,
1166-72 275
Military problems and political alliances, 1154-73 279
Rebellion, 1173-74 282
The administration of the empire 284
Henry, his sons, and Philip Augustus, 1177-89 287
vi
Contents
Richard's accession and the preparations for the Crusade,
1189-90 292
The Third Crusade, 1190-92 294
Richard's captivity, 1192-94 298
Richard and Philip Augustus, 1194-99 301
John and the loss of the paternal fIefs, 1199-1206 304
10 The Angevin Despotism, 1189-1216 310
England during Richard's Crusade, 1189-94 310
Economic, ecclesiastical, and social changes in the kingdom 314
The justiciarship of Hubert Walter, 1193-98 320
The accession and character ofJ ohn, 1199 324
The curia regis ~
The royal revenue and feudal customs 328
John's quarrel with Pope Innocent III, 1205-09 331
John's behaviour in England, and his relations with Wales,
Scotland, and Ireland, 1199-1212 335
Foreign policy and war, peace with the church, and trouble
with the barons, 1205-14 341
Magna Carta, 1215-16 346
Epilogue 358
Note on Books 363
~aps 367
Genealogical Tables 373
Index ~
vii
List of Maps and
Genealogical Tables
1 England and Normandy about 1100 368
2 The continental fIefs of Henry II about 1174 370
1 England and Europe in the Eleventh Century 374
2 The Norman Dynasty 376
3 The Angevin Kings 378
viii
Introductory Note
One of the effects of two world wars and of fIfty years of ever-accelerating
industrial and social revolution has been the growing interest of the citizen in
the story of his land. From this story he seeks to learn the secret of his coun
try's greatness and a way to better living in the future.
There seems, therefore, to be room for a rewriting of the history of England
which will hold the interest of the general reader while it appeals at the same
time to the student. This new presentation will take account of the recent
discoveries of the archaeologist and the historian, and will not lose sight of the
claims of history to take its place among the mental recreations of intelligent
people for whom it has no professional concern.
The history will be completed in a series often volumes. The volumes will
be of medium length, and it is hoped that they will provide a readable narrat
ive of the whole course of the history of England and give proper weight to
the different strands which form the pattern of the story. No attempt has been
made to secure general uniformity of style or treatment. Each period has its
special problems, each author his individual technique and mental approach;
each volume will be able to stand by itself not only as an expression of the
author's methods, tastes, and experience, but as a coherent picture of a phase
in the history of the country.
There is, nevertheless, a unity of purpose in the series; the authors have
been asked, while avoiding excessive detail, to give particular attention to the
interaction of the various aspects of national life and achievement, so that each
volume may present a convincing integration of those developments - polit
ical, constitutional, economic, social, religious, military, foreign, or cultural
- which happen to be dominant at each period. Although considerations of
space will prevent minute investigation it should still be possible in a series of
this length to deal fully with the essential themes.
A short bibliographical note is attached to each volume. This is not intended
to supersede existing lists, but rather to call attention to recent works and to
the standard bibliographies.
W. N. Medlicott
IX