established schools and formulated a legal system. All this earns him the title “Alfred the Great.”
V．The Norman Conquest (1066)
1. Reasons for William’s invasion of England after Edward’s death.
It was said that King Edward had promised the English throne to William, but the Witan chose Harold as king. So William led his army to invade England. In October 1066, during the important battle of Hastings, William defeated Harold and killed him. One Christmas Day, William was crowned king of England, thus beginning the Norman Conquest of England.
2．The Norman Conquest and its consequences
The Norman Conquest of 1066 is perhaps the best-known event in English history. William the Conqueror confiscated almost all the land and gave it to his Norman followers. He replaced the weak Saxon rule with a strong Norman government. He replaced the weak Saxon rule with a strong Norman government. So the feudal system was completely established in England. Relations with the Continent were opened, and the civilization and commerce were extended. Norman-French culture, language, manners and architecture were introduced. The Church was brought into closer connection with Rome, and the church courts were separated from the civil courts.
3. England’s feudalism under the rule of William
①Under William, the feudal system in England was completely established. ②According to this system, the King owned all the land personally. ③William gave his barons large estates in England in return for a promise of military service and a proportion of the land’s produce. ④These estates were scattered far and wide over the country, so that
those who held them could not easily combine to rebel the king. ⑤The barons, who had become William’s tenants-in-chief, parceled out land to the lesser nobles, knights and freemen, also in return for goods and services. ⑥At the bottom of the feudal scale were the villeins or serfs. ⑦One peculiar feature of the feudal system of England was that all landowners must take the oath of allegiance，not only to their immediate lord, but also to the king.
4. The English is a mixture of nationalities of different origins. The ancestors of many English people were the ancient Angles and Saxons. Some English people are of the Norman-French origin.
Transition from Feudal Society to the Modern Age (1066 - 1688)
I. Contents and the significance of the Great Charter
Great Charter was signed by King John in 1215 under the press of the barons. It consists of sixty-three clauses. Its important provisions are as follows: (1) no tax should be made without the approval of the Grand Council; (2) no freemen should be arrested, imprisoned or deprived of their property; (3) the Church should possess all its rights, together with freedom of elections; (4) London and other towns should retain their traditional rights and privileges, and (5) there should be the same weights and measures throughout the country. Although The Great Charter has long been popularly regarded as the foundation of English liberties, it was a statement of the feudal and legal relationships between the Crown and the barons, a guarantee of the freedom of the Church and a limitation of the powers of the king. The spirit of the Great Charter was the limitation of the powers of the king, keeping them within the bounds of the feudal law of the land.
II. The English Reformation
Henry VIII was above all responsible for the religious reform of the church. There were three main causes: a desire for change and reform in the church had been growing for many years and now, encouraged by the success of Martin Luther, many people believed its time had come; the privilege and wealth of the clergy were resented; and Henry needed money.
The reform began as a struggle for a divorce and ended in freedom from the Papacy. Henry VIII wanted to divorce Catherine of Aragon but the Pope refused. Henry’s reforms were to get rid of the English Church’s connection with the Pope, and to make an independent church of England. He made this break with Rome gradually between 1529 and 1534. He dissolved all of England’s monasteries and nunneries because they were more loyal to the Pope than to their English kings. The laws such as the Act of Succession of 1534 and the Act of Supremacy of 1535 made his reform possible. He established the Church of England as the national church of the country, and he made himself the supreme head of the Church of England.
Henry VIII’s reform stressed the power of the monarch and certainly strengthened Henry’s position; Parliament had never done such a long and important piece of work before, its importance grew as a result. His attack on the Pope’s power encouraged many critics of abuses of the Catholic Church. England was moving away form Catholicism towards Protestantism.
III. Elizabeth I (1558-1603)
Elizabeth’s religious reform and her foreign policy:
Elizabeth’s religious reform was a compromise of views. She broke
Mary’s ties with Rome and restored her father’s independent Church of England, i.e. keeping to Catholic doctrines and practices but to be free of the Papal control. Her religious settlement was unacceptable to both the extreme Protestants known as Puritans and to ardent Catholics.
For nearly 30 years Elizabeth successfully played off against each other the two great Catholic powers, France and Spain, and prevented England from getting involved in any major European conflict. Through her marriage alliances which were never materialized, Elizabeth managed to maintain a friendly relationship with France. So England was able to face the danger from Spain. IV. The Civil Wars and their consequences
Because of the absolute rule of Charles, the confrontation between Charles I and the parliament developed into the civil war. The war began on August 22, 1642 and ended in 1651. Charles I was condemned to death.
The English Civil War is also called the Puritan Revolution. It has been seen as a conflict between the parliament and the King, but also as a conflict between the economic interests of the urban middle classes and the Crown. The economic interests of the urban middle classed coincided with their religious (Puritan) ideology while the Crown’s traditional economic interests correspondingly allied with Anglican religious belief. The English Civil War not only overthrew feudal system in England but also shook the foundation of the feudal rule in Europe. It is generally regarded as the beginning of modern world history. V. The Glorious Revolution of 1688
In 1685 Charles II died and was succeeded by his brother James II. James was brought up in exile in Europe was a Catholic. He hoped to rule
without giving up his personal religious vies. But England was no more tolerant of a Catholic king in 1688 than 40 years ago. So the English politicians rejected James II, and appealed to a Protestant king, William of Orange, to invade and take the English throne. William landed in England in 1688. The takeover was relatively smooth, with no bloodshed, nor any execution of the king. This was known as the Glorious Revolution.
The age of constitutional monarchy (君主立宪制), of a monarchy with powers limited by parliament, began.
The Rise and Fall of the British Empire (1688-1990)
I. The Industrial Revolution (1780-1830)
1．The industrial Revolution refers to the mechanization of industry and the consequent changes in social and economic organization in Britain 19th centuries.
2. Britain was the first country to industrialize because of the following factors: (1) Favorable geographical location. Britain was well placed geographically to participate in European and world trade; (2) Political stability. Britain had a peaceful society, which, after the 17th century, was increasingly interested in overseas trade and colonies. International trade brought wealth to merchants and city bankers. They and those who had done well out of new farming methods provided capital in large quantities for industrialization. (3) Good foundation in economy. The limited monarchy which resulted from the Glorious Revolution of 1688 ensured that the powerful economic interests in the community could exert their influence over Government policy. (4) It was a country in which the main towns were never too far from seaports, or from rivers,