History of England, summer semester;

The abridged information on all the facts and names we are supposed to know about.

Please remember that the notes may contain factual errors and/or typos (although it’s very unlikely), so use them with caution and make sure to double-check

everything you’ll find strange.

Good luck.

Things written in grey and italic are optional and contain extended information on the subject. Learn them if you want, do not if you don’t.

Facts, terms and concepts

1.

Battle of Crecy/or Poitiers

: of Crecy –

26.08.

1346; the first decisive battle of the Hundred Years’ War. The

English defeated the French.

Due to the new weapons and tactics used in the battle, many historians

consider the battle to be the beginning of the end of classic chivalry

; of Poitiers –

19.09.

1356; the second of

the three great English victories of the Hundred Years’ War. The English

under the Black Prince

defeated the

French.

2.

New Model Army

– created in 1645 by the Parliamentarians

, disbanded 15 years later

. The army wasn’t tied

to one place, but moved at will and served anywhere in the country.

Its soldiers were not amateurs, but

fully-fledged professionals.

3.

Battle of Agincourt

–

25.10.

1415; a victory of the English against a French army, which had a numerical

advantage over the former. The battle became notable for the use of archers

– the English army consisted in

about 5/6 of them

.

4.

Barebone’s Parliament

– Cromwell’s Parliament of 1653

, 04.07 – came into being, but was dissolved a few

months later

. The last attempt of the English Commonwealth to find a stable political form before making

O.Cromwell a Lord Protector.

5.

Treaty of Troyes

–

21.05.

1420; by this Anglo-French treaty, Henry V and his heirs would inherit the throne of

France once the King Charles VI of France died.

Matter-of-factly Henry V died before Charles, and it was his

son who became king of the ”double monarchy”.

6.

Mercantilism

– the system of political economy, which dominated Europe in 16

th

to 18

th

century

, replacing

feudalism

. It was based on national policies of accumulating bullion, establishing colonies and increased

export

(while keeping growth of import at bay)

.

7.

Lollards/Lollardy

: Lollardy was a sect of religious reformers called Lollards following John Wycliffe

, a

theologian dismissed from the University of Oxford for his criticism of the Church

. The sect existed in the 14

th

and 15

th

centuries.

8.

Navigation Acts

– English laws in the 17

th

-18

th

centuries that required the use of English or colonial ships to

carry English trade.

The laws were designed to encourage English shipbuilding and restrict trade competition

from England’s commercial rivals.

9.

Battle of Bosworth

–

22.08.

1485; the culmination of a three-week campaign by Henry Tudor in his bid for the

throne of England. Henry, who was leading the Lancastrians, beat Richard III – the last king of the House of
York.

10.

East India Company

– an early English joint-stock company that was formed to trade with India

(ended up

trading with China, too)

; despite its humble beginnings, it grew into a powerful force that lasted more than

250 years.

Thanks to its privileged position in relation to the British Government, it was often granted many

special rights and trade monopolies.

11.

Chamber Books

–financial and administrative records kept by Henry VII. He was keeping his eye on them

very carefully, and his signature was to be found on every page.

12.

Great Plague of London

– a massive outbreak of disease in the Kingdom of England; estimated to have killed

20% of London’s population.

It had arrived in Europe 300 years previously as the Black Death and returned in

outbreaks every 10 years or so.

The plague of 1665 was only remembered afterwards as the “great” because

it was the last major widespread outbreak in England.

13.

Court of Star Chamber

– an English court consisting of judges appointed by the Crown, who sat in closed

session on cases involving state security

; existed in 15

th

-17

th

centuries

.

14.

The Great Fire of London

– 02-05.09.1666; a major fire that swept through the central parts of London

,

destroying around seven eights of the homes of the City’s inhabitants

. The death toll is believed to be very

small, with only 6 confirmed deaths.

15.

The Beefeaters

–

popular name of yeomen of the British monarch’s royal guard;

ceremonial guardians of the

Tower of London.

16.

Popish Plot

– 1678; a fictitious but widely believed rumour that Jesuits planned to assassinate Charles II

, so

that he would be replaced by his brother – later, James II

; the panic led to execution of about 35 innocent

people.

17.

Field of the Cloth of Gold

– the name given to a place in northern France, where Kings

Henry VII

of England

and

Francis I

of France met for the purpose of arranging an alliance;

1520

.

18.

Glorious Revolution

– the events of 1688-1689 that resulted in James II being replaced by his daughter

Mary

II

and her husband William III; behind the revolution stood a union of English Parliamentarians that

conspired with an invading

Dutch

army led by aforementioned William III.

19.

First Succession Act

– passed by the Parliament of England in March 1534; the act made then yet-to-be-born

Princess Elizabeth

, daughter of King Henry VIII,

the true successor to the Crown.

20.

Bill of Rights

– an act of the Parliament of England passed in

/on 16.12.

1689

; it incorporated the provisions of

the Declaration of Rights, which William III and Mary II accepted upon taking the throne

. Its main purpose

was to declare illegal various practices of James II, it also made the monarchy clearly conditional on the will
of Parliament and dealt with the succession to the throne.

21.

Act of Supremacy

– 1534; English act of Parliament that recognized the king to be the supreme head

on

earth

of the Church of England.

22.

Act of Settlement

– 1701; act of Parliament that regulated the succession to the English throne. It stated that

if King William III or Princess

(later Queen)

Anne died without issue, the crown was to pass to

James I’s

granddaughter

Sophie of Hanover and her Protestant heirs.

23.

Dissolution of the Monasteries

– the administrative and legal processes by which Henry III disbanded

monasteries, priories and convents in England, Wales and Ireland, appropriated their income and disposed
of their assets.

The authority to do so was given to him by the Act of Supremacy from 1534.

24.

The War of the Grand Alliance

–

or Nine Years’ War;

1688-1697; the war between the Holy Roman Emperor

Leopold I, William III of England, the Netherlands, and the Austrian Hapsburgs against Louis XIV of France.
Was fought to prevent the Bourbon family from gaining power in Europe. The war ended indecisively.

25.

Pilgrimage of Grace

– 1536; an uprising in the northern counties of England against Henry VIII’s religious

policies.

26.

The Battle of the Boyne

– 1690; a battle between William III of England (a Protestant) and the former king

James II (a Roman Catholic). The latter was attempting to regain the throne

with the help of the Irish and the

French

, but lost the battle and was forced to flee.

27.

Spanish Armada

– a great fleet send by Philip II of Spain

in 1588

to invade England. The Armada consisted of

about 130 ships.

28.

Whigs/Tories

: the Whigs – a party in the Parliament of England

from the late 17

th

to the mid 19

th

centuries

.

The Wigs’ origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule. Succeeded by: Liberal
Party; the Tories – a party in the Parliament of England

[…]

Characterized by being strongly attached to

traditionalism; succeeded by: Conservative Party.

29.

The War of the Rough Wooing

– 1543-1550; the war fought between Scotland and England, it was declared

by Henry VIII in an attempt to force the Scots to agree upon the marriage between Henry’s son and Mary,
Queen of Scots.

30.

Peace of Utrecht

–

1713-1714

; a series of treaties that concluded the War of the Spanish Succession; were

signed between several European states

(Great Britain, Spain, France, Savoy, and so forth)

.

31.

Protestant Revolution in Scotland

– 1560; Scotland’s formal break with the Papacy, it was part of the much

wider European Protestant Reformation.

It decisively shaped the Church of Scotland.

32.

Treaty of Paris

–

10.02.

1763; it ended the Seven Year’s War.

Signed by Great Britain, Portugal, Spain and

France.

The treaty marked the beginning of an extensive period of British dominance outside Europe.

33.

Babington Plot

– a conspiracy which was supposed to end up with the death of Elizabeth I

of England

and

securing the freedom of Mary

, Queen of Scots

. The plot failed and resulted in the execution of the latter.

34.

Battle of Culloden

–

16.04.

1746; the final battle of the Jacobite Rising. The British forces utterly defeated the

Jacobites

within 40 minutes

; the battle marked the end of any serious attempt to restore the house of Stuart

to the British throne.

35.

Divine Right of Kings

– a political and religious doctrine of royal absolutism, it states that a monarch is a

God’s messenger and rules on his behalf. Thus, the king is subject to no earthly authority

and any attempts

to restrict his powers may be considered heresy, as they’re against the God’s will

.

36.

Highland Clearances

– the eviction of inhabitants of Scottish highlands from their land, accompanied by the

destruction of their dwellings

for the creation of deer forests

.

37. Hampton Court Conference –

1604

; a meeting convened for discussion between King James I of England and

representatives of the Church of England, including leading English Puritans.

The only major achievement of

the discussion was the authorization of a new translation of the Bible

.

38.

The Battle of the Nile

–

01.08.

1798; the battle between the British and the French fleets. The French were

defeated and as a result Napoleon’s army became isolated in Egypt; the victory secured British control of the
Mediterranean.

39.

Bishops’ Wars

– 1639-1640; two brief campaigns of the Scots against Charles I of England; the main reason

of the conflict was the Charles’ order that Scottish Presbyterian Church should use a new prayer book on the
English model.

40.

The Battle of Trafalgar

–

21.10.

1805; a naval engagement in the Napoleonic Wars that established British

naval supremacy in Europe. It was between a Franco-Spanish fleet

of 33 ships

and a British fleet

of 27 ships

west of Cape Trafalgar

(Spain)

.

41.

Roundheads/Cavaliers

: Roundheads

(also known as Parliamentarians)

– the nickname given to the

supporters of Parliament during the Civil War, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters – the
Cavaliers – Royalist supporters of King Charles I, who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings.

42.

The Great Exhibition

– 1851; the largest trade show the world had ever seen

, spanning 19 acres within Hyde

Park (London)

, 100,000 exhibits were visited by around 6 million people.

Things written in grey and italic are optional and contain extended information on the subject. Learn them if you want, do not if you don’t.

Blue text will mark the year of birth/death of a person in question. I highly doubt whether this is required for us to know, but it will make easier to understand

when the heck the person lived. So it’s not be learned, but for easier comprehension of given data.

Personal comments marked in green.

Names

1.

Edward, the Black Prince

–

1330-1376

;

the eldest son of King Edward III of England.

His nickname’s origin is

the armor he used to wear, after its black color. He was one of the outstanding commanders of the Hundred
Years’ War, winning a major victory at the battle of Poitiers

(1356)

.

2.

James I

–

1566-1625

; he was both: King of England and Ireland

(as James I)

and King of Scots

(as James IV)

.

He continued to rule over the three realms until his death. His reign in Scotland was longer than any of his
predecessors.

3.

Richard II

–

1367-1400

; he was a son of the Black Prince. His reign

, which ended in his abdication

, saw the

rise of strong baronial forces aiming to control the monarchy.

4.

Oliver Cromwell

–

1599-1658

; an English military and political leader, was one of the commanders of the

New Model Army in the English Civil War. He

temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth

and

ruled as Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland

(the latter two were conquered by him)

. He has

been one of the most controversial figures in the history of the British Isles, considered a dictator by some
historians, and a hero of liberty by others.

5.

John of Gaunt

–

1340-1399

;

called “of Gaunt” after the place of his birth

; an English soldier-statesman who

played an active part in military and political affairs of his time;

brother to the Black Prince; his son seized the

throne and reigned as Henry IV.

6.

Sir Christopher Wren

–

1632-1723

; one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, responsible

for rebuilding 51 churches in London after the Great Fire. He was also

an astronomer, geometer and

mathematician-physicist, and

a founder of Royal Society.

7.

Lancastrians (Henry IV, V, VI)

–

1399-1461

; English royal house that produced three kings of England, during

the Wars of the Roses its symbol was a red rose.

If we were supposed to know more about those three fellows,

they should have been put separately into different subparts in the list of names. That’s why I described the house, not
the kings. If you feel like it, google some info on those guys.

8.

William III of Orange

–

1650-1702

; king of England, Scotland, and Ireland; his personality was cold and his

public policy calculating, but he was an able soldier and an astute politician, and his reign was of momentous
constitutional importance.

9.

Owen Glendower

–

1354-1416

; self-proclaimed prince of Wales who led a rebellion against England. H

e

managed to get in control of most of Wales, h

is alliance was eventually crushed though; his rebellions were

the last major Welsh attempts to throw off English rule.

10.

John Churchill

–

1650-1722

; English general and statesman, one of the greatest military commanders of

history, responsible for the British victory at Blenheim

(in 1704),

which smashing victory was possible thanks

to his skills in administration and strategy

.

11.

Saint Joan of Arc

–

1412-1431

; French military heroine; despite being a young woman, she was placed at the

head of an army, she attacked the English and forced them to retreat from Orleans. Eventually captured by
the English and burnt at the stake

; remains a symbol of fierce patriotism

.

12.

Sir Robert Walpole

–

1676-1745

; generally regarded as the first Prime Minister of Great Britain, he

maintained continuing support for royal government by exercising both careful use of Crown patronage and
untiring leadership in the House of Commons.

13.

John Wycliffe

–

1328-1384

; a theologian

, translator and reformist

, best known for being the founder of the

Lollard movement, a precursor to the Protestant Reformation.

He was also responsible for translating the

Bible into vernacular English.

14.

Bonnie Prince Charlie

–

1720-1788

; the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of England, Scotland, and

Ireland, best known for the unsuccessful Jacobite uprising

(1745)

, which ended the Jacobite cause.

15.

Richard, 3

rd

Duke of York

–

1411-1460

; a leading English magnate; governed the country as Lord Protector

during Henry VI’s madness. He was to become the king upon Henry’s death, but was killed in battle before
that.

However, he was the father of Edward IV and thus, every monarch from his son, Edward, to the current

queen, Elizabeth II, is descended from him.

16.

“Butcher” Cumberland

–

1721-1765

; in fact:

Prince William

; best remembered for putting down the Jacobite

Rising at the Battle of Culloden

(1746)

, this event earned him the nickname “Butcher”.

17.

Richard III

–

1452-1485

; last Yorkist king of England, reigned

for 2 years (1483-1485)

during the Wars of the

Roses. He is

generally considered a usurper and is

suspected of the murder of Edward V and his brother.

18.

Edmund Burke

–

1729-1797

; a noted political theorist and philosophical writer

, was a member of the Whig

party

; he is often regarded as the founder of modern conservatism.

19.

Warwick “The Kingmaker”

–

1428-1471

; the wealthiest and mightiest peer of his age;

one of the main

protags in the War of the Roses;

the nickname comes from him overthrowing Henry VI, and restoring him

temporarily a few years later.

20.

Thomas Paine

–

1737-1809

; an English-born journalist and Revolutionary propagandist, his writings

(he was

the author of famous “Common Sense”)

convinced many American colonists of the need for independence.

21.

John Cabot

–

1450-1498

; an Italian navigator and explorer, famous for being the first European (since

Vikings) to land and explore the North America mainland.

22.

Horatio Nelson

–

1758-1805

; an English admiral and naval hero, noted for his bravery, unconventional tactics,

and for his victories, including the decisive Battle of Trafalgar

(during which he died, this secured his position

as one of the most heroic figures of Britain)

.

23.

Thomas Wolsey

–

1475-1530

; an English statesman and prelate, was virtual ruler of England as chief minister

to Henry VIII, he fell from favor because of his inability to secure the King’s divorce.

24.

Arthur Wellesley, 1

st

Duke of Wellington

–

1769-1852

; a British general and an important architect of the

downfall of Napoleon I, led the Allied armies to victory at the Battle of Waterloo

(1815)

– after that he

was

richly awarded by English and foreign sovereign and

became one of the most honored men in Europe.

25.

Saint Thomas More

–

1478-1535

; an author, humanist, statesman; remembered as the person who refused

to acknowledge the Act of Supremacy and thus clashed with Henry VIII (eventually imprisoned and
beheaded), is also well-known for coining the term “utopia”

(such was the name of his book describing a

fictional country in which no war, crime and poverty exist, and everyone’s even)

.

26.

Benjamin Disraeli

–

1804-1881

; a British Prime Minister

(the first and only one born into a Jewish family)

, he

was also the leader of the Conservative party; supported imperialism while opposing free trade.

27.

Mary I Stuart

–

1542-1587

; Queen of Scots; as the rival of Elizabeth I, she was perhaps the last real hope of a

restored Catholicism in England. She is one of the best-known Scottish monarchs because of her tragic life.

I encourage you to lurk more about her and her life, for it was really fucked up and rather than “life” I would use
“everlasting misery” to describe her existence. One of the more interesting figures on this list, really.

28.

William Ewart Gladstone

–

1809-1898

; he was a British Liberal Party statesman and Prime Minister

(four

times)

, famous for his intense rivalry with Benjamin Disraeli, which was not only political, but also personal.

Regarded as one of the greatest British prime ministers.

29.

John Knox

–

1514-1572

; leader of the Scottish Reformation and founder of Scottish Presbyterianism. One of

the most celebrated followers of John Calvin.

Some of you may be angry because there are no general issues in these notes. There’s a good reason behind me not putting them in here. They would simply be

too long, as many of them cannot be overly abridged and—what’s the point anyway? To learn them you have to read twice or thrice information of them. And

that’s about it. Nothing you cannot manage on your own. Several seconds on the net and all the info you might be looking for is yours.