What should you know about the Middle Ages for the Life in the UK test?

What should you know about the Middle Ages for the Life in the UK test?

The Middle Ages, after the Norman Conquest, are about war, power and a changing society. Three ideas hold the period together: kings fought to control neighbours, a plague changed how people lived, and nobles began to limit the king.

The Middle Ages run from the end of the Roman Empire in AD 476 to 1485. Your study should focus on the years after 1066.

How did the English kings deal with their neighbours?

Wales was brought under English rule. In 1284 Edward I introduced the Statute of Rhuddlan, which joined Wales to England. He built huge castles such as Conwy and Caernarvon to keep that power. The last Welsh rebellions were beaten by the mid 15th century, and English laws and language came in.

Scotland went differently. In 1314 the Scots under Robert the Bruce won at Bannockburn, and Scotland stayed free.

Ireland began as an independent country. English troops came to help an Irish king and stayed to build settlements. By 1200 the English ruled the Pale, the area around Dublin.

Abroad, knights joined the Crusades, where European Christians fought for the Holy Land. England also fought France in the Hundred Years War, which in fact lasted 116 years. At Agincourt in 1415 Henry V's much smaller army defeated the French. The English left most of France in the 1450s.

Hook: Wales was beaten, Scotland was not, and Ireland was only partly held.

What was life like under feudalism?

The Normans brought feudalism. The king gave land to lords, who in return sent men to fight. Most peasants were serfs. They had a small plot of the lord's land to grow food, but had to work for him and could not leave. A similar system grew in southern Scotland. In northern Scotland and in Ireland, land was held by clans, which were prominent families.

What was the Black Death?

In 1348 a disease, probably a form of plague, reached Britain. About one third of the people in England died, with a similar share in Scotland and Wales. It was one of the worst disasters ever to strike Britain.

Fewer people meant less need to grow grain, and a shortage of workers. Peasants asked for higher pay. New classes of landowners appeared, later called the gentry. People moved from the country to the towns, where growing wealth built a strong middle class. In Ireland the plague killed many in the Pale, and for a time the English-held area became smaller.

A good way to learn it is as a chain: death, then fewer workers, then higher wages, then movement to towns.

How did Parliament begin?

Parliament grew out of the king's council of advisers, which included nobles and church leaders. Before 1215 the king had few limits. In that year the nobles forced King John to agree to Magna Carta, a charter of rights whose name means the Great Charter. It established that even the king is under the law, and it limited his power to collect taxes and make laws.

Kings called parliaments to talk to their nobles, mostly when they needed money. In time there were two Houses. Nobles, great landowners and bishops sat in the Lords. Knights and wealthy townspeople were elected to the Commons, though few people could vote. Scotland's parliament had three Estates: lords, commons and clergy.

Judges began to be independent of the government. In England they built up common law, following past decisions. In Scotland the laws were written down.

How did English become one language?

After 1066 the king and nobles spoke Norman French and the peasants spoke Anglo-Saxon. The two slowly joined into English. Park and beauty come from French. Apple, cow and summer come from Anglo-Saxon. Demand is French, and ask is Anglo-Saxon. By 1400 government papers were in English.

Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales in English, about pilgrims telling stories on the road. It was one of the first books that William Caxton printed. In Scotland, John Barbour wrote The Bruce in Scots.

The age also built castles, great cathedrals such as Lincoln, and stained glass such as the windows of York Minster. English wool was a major export.

How did the Wars of the Roses end the period?

From 1455 the houses of Lancaster (red rose) and York (white rose) fought over the throne. At Bosworth Field in 1485 Richard III of York was killed, and Henry Tudor became Henry VII. He married Elizabeth of York and joined the two families. The Tudor rose is red with a white rose inside.

For what came before, read early Britain. For what came next, read the Tudors and Stuarts. The chapter is on the history chapter page, and the free practice test shows how you are doing.

Check yourself

What did Magna Carta say about the king and the law?

Name three results of the Black Death.

Which neighbour of England won its freedom at Bannockburn, and in which year?