A new age in British history began in 1066, when Duke William of Normandy conquered England after the Battle of Hastings. The Normans were subjects of the French king and spoke the French language, but were Vikings who had settled on the north coast of France.
William I the Conqueror (1066-87) introduced the Norman organization of the state into England, which was a feudal system.
Under Henry II (1154-89) there came the first great clash between the Crown and the Church in England. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket (1118-70), opposed the king’s attempt to rule the Church and was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral. He was made a martyr and saint by the Roman Catholic Church.
Henry II’s eldest son Richard I (1189-99), better known as the Lionheart, was celebrated as a legendary figure for his courage and personal charm.
John I (1199-1216),becau known as Lackland because he lost Normandy and most of his French territories, succeeded his brother as king of England. His policy of heavy taxation was resisted by the nobility, the citizens of London and the clergy.In 1215 King John was forced to grant the Magna Carta, or ‘Great Charter of Liberty’, which was to be the foundation of all future rights and freedoms of the English people.
A further step towards the English modern political system was taken during the long reign of Henry III (1216-72).
Parliament was still much of a feudal assembly composed of noblemen and high clergy alone. But in the years 1264-65, two representatives from each borough (i.e., district, province) were also called to Parliament: this was the beginning of the future House of Commons, the branch of Parliament made up of representatives of the “common people”.
The One Hundred Years’ War (1337 - 1453) with France broke out in 1337 when Edward III (1327-77) claimed the vacant throne of France, the most famous victories in English history was achieved by Henry V (1413-22) at Agincourt in 1415, but the war continued with neither side gaining a decisive advantage. In the end France managed to drive the English out of France.
The Middle Ages came to a close in England with a long and devastating civil war that lasted from 1454 to 1485, fought between the two noble houses of York and Lancaster. It was called the Wars of the Roses, because of the white and red roses that figured in the two families’ coats of arms. The wars were finally won by Henry Tudor, of the Lancastrian dynasty, who defeated Richard III (1483-85), the Yorkist king,at the battle of Bosworth in 1485, and became Henry VII of England (1485-1509). This event is usually considered as the beginning of the next great age in English history: the Renaissance.
A new culture and a new literature in English
The Norman Conquest brought to England the French language, Old English was spoken by the common people,
French was spoken by the upper classes, and Latin was the language of the Church, of culture, government and law.
The social and cultural life of Medieval England was dominated by a code of chivalry. The knightly system code may be summed up as follows: loyalty between the knight and his king, courage in the face of death and absolute devotion to a woman.