Norman Conquest of England Edward I and his armies The English were eventually defeated at Bannockburn under Edward II, but the animosity between the two nations continued for centuries Edward I’s biggest failure came in the form of his son, Edward II, who was feeble, lazy, and incompetent Edward II also had a penchant for surrounding himself with foreigners, a trait that the English barons loathed He carried on a homosexual affair with Piers Gaveston, which led to Gaveston’s exile and murder Eventually Edward II’s wife, Isabella, and her lover, Roger Mortimer, invaded England from France, forced Edward II to abdicate in favor of his son, and murdered him Once his wife and her lover deposed Edward II, Edward III ascended the throne in 1327 He quickly arrested and hanged Mortimer while imprisoning his mother for the last few decades of her life Edward III was responsible for the beginning of the Hundred Years’ War with France in 1337 allegedly to support his claim to the French throne Initially England saw victories at Sluys (1340), Crécy (1346), and Calais (1347), giving them control of the Channel and the land The bubonic plague, or Black Death, provided a short break from hostilities, but England resumed the fight with an invasion of France in 1355 Edward, the “Black Prince” and eldest son of Edward III, found success at Poitiers (1356) The Treaty of Brétigny (1360) brought this phase of the Hundred Years’ War to a close However, John of Gaunt, Edward’s third son, resumed the battle in 1369 when he invaded France again Under Edward III, English social life and economic history changed He experienced relatively peaceful relations with the noble classes Mercantilism began to replace feudalism The taxation system was supported by commerce rather than land taxes Parliament found a bicameral cohesion as it divided into two houses representing the nobility and clergy, and the middle classes In 1362 English replaced French as the national language of the realm Treason was defined in 1352, and the office of justice of the peace was created (1361) to assist the sheriffs Unfortunately Edward III’s final years were marked by increasing senility, the death of the Black Prince, and disintegrating relations between the Crown and his subjects, due in part to Edward’s mistress, Alice Perrers Richard II, son of the Black Prince and grandson of Edward III, ascended the throne in 1377 at the age of 10 His rule was highlighted by his marriage to Isabella of Valois, daughter of Charles VI of France, in order to end further conflict with France He also subdued a Peasants’ Revolt in 1381 that resulted from the effects of the Black Plague’s strain on the economy Rival fac- 307 tions continued to fight for governmental control, and in 1397, Richard II became embroiled in a struggle with some of the nobles for control First John of Gaunt, then his son, Henry Bolingbroke (Henry IV), attempted to take the throne Richard was usurped in 1399, imprisoned, and murdered The Wars of the Roses had claimed their first victim in the former king See also Wales, English conquest of Further reading: Bartlett, Robert England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings, 1075–1225 Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002; Fry, Plantagenet Somerset The Kings and Queens of England and Scotland New York: Grove, 1990; Hallam, Elizabeth, ed The Four Gothic Kings: The Turbulent History of Medieval England and the Plantagenet Kings, 1216–1377 (Henry III, Edward I, Edward II, Edward III) New York: Grove Press, 1987; Lappenberg, J M A History of England under the Norman Kings New York: J Wright, 1857; Spaltro, Kathleen Royals of England: A Guide for Readers, Travelers, and Genealogists Lincoln, NE: I Universe, 2005; Usilton, Larry W The Kings of Medieval England, c 560–1485 Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1996 Jennifer Hudson Allen Norman Conquest of England The Norman Conquest is the period of English history that followed William the Conqueror’s defeat of King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in October 1066 Although Hastings was the turning point of the conquest, it actually took William about six years to put down all Saxon opposition The political personalities changed and Britain became less isolated Along with the AngloSaxon king, most members of the nobility were killed at Hastings or during the ensuing insurrections Those who survived had their lands taken from them These landholdings became the possessions of William and his followers, thus imposing a Norman aristocracy on the English people Recognizing that relatively few Normans were ruling the masses of Englishmen, William utilized the AngloSaxon idea of a centralized monarchy to stabilize and consolidate his power Other political and legal institutions he established borrowed heavily from English tradition In this feature, English feudalism differed from that found on the Continent To strengthen his position of power, William had himself crowned William I, king of England, by the archbishop of Canterbury on Christmas Day 1066 To guarantee further his sovereignty,