Sourcebook for British History I:

From the Age of the Celts to the Napoleonic Wars (1815)

Erzsébet Stróbl
2017.
Contents
1. Course Description........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Optional ASSIGNMENTS ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 4
2. Celtic and Roman............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 6
A. Julius Caesar The Gallic Wars ............................................................................................................................................................................... 6
B. Tacitus “The Rebellion of Boudicca” (AD 60-61) ................................................................................................................................................. 7
C. Tacitus “The Rebellion of Boudicca: the Decisive Battle” (AD 60-61) ................................................................................................................. 8
D. Desborough Mirror E. The Leadenhall Street Mosaic ........................................................................................................................................... 9
3. Anglo-Saxon England .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 11
A. “Augustine’s Mission to the English” .................................................................................................................................................................. 11
B. “The Synod of Whitby” ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 12
C. “Concerning the author himself” from Bede’s Ecclesiastical History .................................................................................................................. 13
D. King Alfred's Preface to ‘Pastoral Care’ ............................................................................................................................................................ 14
4. The Norman Conquest ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16
A. The Bayeux Tapestry ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 16
B. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle on William the Conqueror ....................................................................................................................................... 17
C. Instructions from the Domesday Book, 1086. ....................................................................................................................................................... 18
D. The White Tower, London ................................................................................................................................................................................... 19
5. The Middle Ages: Common Law and the Magna Carta ................................................................................................................................................. 21
A.The Murder of Thomas Beckett .............................................................................................................................................................................. 21
B. Three Summonses to the Parliament of 1295 ....................................................................................................................................................... 22
C. Harlech Castle, Wales .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 23
6. The Late Middle Ages: War and Crisis .......................................................................................................................................................................... 24
A. Excerpts from the Knighton's Chronicle .............................................................................................................................................................. 24
B. The Dance and Song of Death.............................................................................................................................................................................. 25
C. Excerpts from the Crowland Chronicle (1486) about the Death of Richard III .................................................................................................... 26
7. The English Reformations.............................................................................................................................................................................................. 27
A. Letters of the Visitors Sent to Examine the Abbot of Glastonbury....................................................................................................................... 27
B. The title page of the Great Bible, 1541 ................................................................................................................................................................ 28
C. King Edward VI and the Pope.............................................................................................................................................................................. 29
D. The Burning of Thomas Cranmer ........................................................................................................................................................................ 30
8. Elizabethan England ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 31
A. The Allegory of the Tudor Succession ................................................................................................................................................................. 31
B. Queen Elizabeth’s Armada Speech to the Troops at Tilbury ................................................................................................................................ 32
C. Charter to Sir Walter Ralegh 33
9. Crown and Parliament: Civil War .................................................................................................................................................................................. 34
A. James I, Speech to Parliament, 1610 .................................................................................................................................................................... 34
B. House of Commons, Journal, 1642 ...................................................................................................................................................................... 35
C. Extracts from the Writings and Words of Levellers ............................................................................................................................................. 36
D. Decisions of the Rump Parliament ....................................................................................................................................................................... 37
10. Restoration Britain ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 39
A. English Bill of Rights 1689 .................................................................................................................................................................................. 39
B. John Locke: Two Treatises of Government, 1690 ................................................................................................................................................ 40
C. Samuel Pepys: Diary Entry for 2 September, 1666 .............................................................................................................................................. 41
11. British Expansion in the Eighteenth Century ............................................................................................................................................................... 42
A. Excerpts from Daniel Defoe’s The Complete English Tradesman (1724) ............................................................................................................ 42
B. Speech of William Pitt, 1775. .............................................................................................................................................................................. 43
D. United States Declaration of Independence, 1776 July 4 ........................................................................................................................................ 44
12. The Economic, Social and Cultural Scene in the Eighteenth Century ......................................................................................................................... 45
A. From Observations on the Loss of Woollen Spinning (c. 1794) ........................................................................................................................... 45
B. Illustrations of the Cottage Industry and the Spinning Jenny, C. Raw Resources of England and Wales ............................................................. 46

2
 1. Course Description
British History I: From the Age of the Celts to the Napoleonic Wars (1815), BAN/TNA 2210

Erzsébet Stróbl
erzsebet.strobl@gmail.com
Course Schedule
1. Welcome Back!
2. Celts and Romans
3. The Anglo-Saxons and Vikings
4. The Norman Conquest – Assignment 1
5. The Middle Ages: Common Law and the Magna Carta - Assignment 2
6. The Late Middle Ages: War and Crisis
7. The English Reformation
8. Elizabethan England
9. Crown and Parliament: Civil War
10. Restoration and the Glorious Revolution
11. British Expansion in the Eighteenth Century
12. The Economic, Social and Cultural Scene of the Eighteenth Century
Attendance register will be taken at the lectures marked by bold characters

Course Manual: Erzsébet Stróbl. Sourcebook for British History I. 2017.

Compulsory Reading: D. David MacDowall. An Illustrated History of Britain.
London: Longman, 1989. 1-130.

The Final Exam will consist of:

 a test on major concepts, names, dates, events (marked in bold on the hand-outs for the lectures)
 less than 50% at this part will automatically mean the failure of the exam
 an analysis of two primary sources (content description, context, evaluation)
 an essay on a chosen topic

Recommended Reading:
Blair, John, The Anglo-Saxon Age. Oxford University Press, 2000.
Gillingham, John and Ralph A. Griffiths, Medieval Britain. Oxford University Press, 2000
Guy, John, The Tudors. Oxford University Press, 2000.
Morrill, John, Stuart Britain. Oxford University Press, 2000
Langford, Paul, Eighteenth-Century Britain. Oxford University Press, 2000.

An Optional Extra 10%

The completion of three assignments and the attendance of the lectures marked in bold on
the schedule (4, 5, 7, 8, 10) will add an extra 10% to the result achieved at the final exam.
 Assignments 1, 2 (print out the separate hand-outs on page 4 and 5)
 hand in on the 4th and 5th classes
 Assignments 3: an analysis of a chosen source from the Sourcebook
 register for a topic at the first lecture, write a fifteen line answer, hand in your work on the
assigned class, and be prepared to speak about your topic in class

3
ASSIGNMENT 1 − Due on the 4th class NAME:

Choose one scene of the Bayeux Tapestry and describe it.

Use the images of the tapestry at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayeux_Tapestry_tituli

paste the scene you have chosen here

Content: describe the scene

Context: relate this scene to the happenings of 1066

Significance: explain the role of this scene within the composition of the tapestry as a whole

4
ASSIGNMENT 2 − Due on the 5th class NAME:

Read the text and summarize the content of each paragraph in a sentence using your own words.

Magna Carta: The Great Charter of English Liberty

granted (under considerable duress) by King John at Runnymede on June 15, 1215

1. THAT WE HAVE GRANTED TO GOD, and by this present charter have confirmed for us and our
heirs in perpetuity, that the English Church shall be free, and shall have its rights undiminished, and its
liberties unimpaired. That we wish this so to be observed, appears from the fact that of our own free
will, before the outbreak of the present dispute between us and our barons, we granted and confirmed by
charter the freedom of the Church's elections − a right reckoned to be of the greatest necessity and
importance to it − and caused this to be confirmed by Pope Innocent III. This freedom we shall observe
ourselves, and desire to be observed in good faith by our heirs in perpetuity.

TO ALL FREE MEN OF OUR KINGDOM we have also granted, for us and our heirs for ever, all the
liberties written out below …:
12. No `scutage' or `aid' may be levied in our kingdom without its general consent, unless it is for the
ransom of our person, to make our eldest son a knight, and (once) to marry our eldest daughter. For
these purposes only a reasonable ‘aid’ may be levied.

39. No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or
exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send
others to do so, except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land.

61. … We give and grant to the barons the following security:

The barons shall elect twenty-five of their number to keep, and cause to be observed with all their might,
the peace and liberties granted and confirmed to them by this charter. If we, our chief justice, our
officials, or any of our servants offend in any respect against any man, or transgress any of the articles
of the peace or of this security, and the offence is made known to four of the said twenty-five barons,
they shall come to us − or in our absence from the kingdom to the chief justice − to declare it and claim
immediate redress. If we, or in our absence abroad the chief justice, make no redress within forty days
… the four barons shall refer the matter to the rest of the twenty-five barons, who may distrain upon and
assail us in every way possible, with the support of the whole community of the land, by seizing our
castles, lands, possessions, or anything else saving only our own person and those of the queen and our
children, until they have secured such redress as they have determined upon. Having secured the redress,
they may then resume their normal obedience to us.

5
 2. Celtic and Roman
A. Julius Caesar The Gallic Wars Book 5 Chapter 12-13
translated by W. A. McDevitte and W. S. Bohn. The Internet Classics Archive
http://classics.mit.edu//Caesar/gallic.html

The interior portion of Britain is inhabited by those of whom they say that it is handed down by
tradition that they were born in the island itself: the maritime portion by those who had passed over
from the country of the Belgae for the purpose of plunder and making war; almost all of whom are
called by the names of those states from which being sprung they went thither, and having waged
war, continued there and began to cultivate the lands. The number of the people is countless, and
their buildings exceedingly numerous, for the most part very like those of the Gauls: the number of
cattle is great. They use either brass or iron rings, determined at a certain weight, as their money. Tin
is produced in the midland regions; in the maritime,
iron; but the quantity of it is small: they employ brass,
which is imported. There, as in Gaul, is timber of
every description, except beech and fir. They do not
regard it lawful to eat the hare, and the cock, and the
goose; they, however, breed them for amusement and
pleasure. The climate is more temperate than in Gaul,
the colds being less severe.

The most civilized of all these nations are they who

inhabit Kent, which is entirely a maritime district, nor
do they differ much from the Gallic customs. (…) All
the Britains, indeed, dye themselves with woad,
which occasions a bluish colour, and thereby have a
more terrible appearance in fight. They wear their hair
long, and have every part of their body shaved except
their head and upper lip. Ten and even twelve have
wives common to them, and particularly brothers
among brothers, and parents among their children; but
if there be any issue by these wives, they are reputed
to be the children of those by whom respectively each
was first espoused when a virgin.

How does Julius Caesar differentiate between the different tribes of Britons?
_____________________________________________________________

Which continental people had similar customs to the Britons?

_____________________________________________________________

How does Julius Caesar characterize the land and the people?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

 2.A Comment on the advantages and difficulties of conquering Britain based on the
information provided by Julius Caesar’s description! Using some background information,
describe the success of Julius Caesar’s military campaign!

6
B. Tacitus “The Rebellion of Boudicca” (AD 60-61)
from The Annals of Tacitus (AD 110-120), transl. from Latin from Arthur Murphy Works of Tacitus (1794)
http://www.athenapub.com/tacitus1.htm

Book XIV, Chapter 31. [Causes of Boudicca's revolt.]

Prasutagus, the late king of the Icenians, in the course of a long reign had amassed considerable
wealth. By his will he left the whole to his two daughters and the emperor in equal shares,
conceiving, by that stroke of policy, that he should provide at once for the tranquility of his kingdom
and his family.
The event was otherwise. His dominions were ravaged by the centurions; the slaves pillaged his
house, and his effects were seized as lawful plunder. His wife, Boudicca, was disgraced with cruel
stripes [whipped]; her daughters were ravished, and the most illustrious of the Icenians were, by
force, deprived of the positions which had been transmitted to them by their ancestors. The whole
country was considered as a legacy bequeathed to the plunderers. The relations of the deceased king
were reduced to slavery.
Exasperated by their acts of violence, and dreading worse calamities, the Icenians had recourse
to arms. The Trinobantians joined in the revolt. The neighbouring states, not as yet taught to crouch
in bondage, pledged themselves, in secret councils, to stand forth in the cause of liberty. …
To over-run a colony, which lay quite naked and exposed, without a single fortification to defend
it, did not appear to the incensed and angry Britons an enterprise that threatened either danger or
difficulty. The fact was, the Roman generals attended to improvements to taste and elegance, but
neglected the useful. They embellished the province, and took no care to defend it.

Chapter 33. [Suetonius abandons London to the Boudiccan forces.]

Suetonius, undismayed by this disaster, marched through the heart of the country as far as
London; a place not dignified with the name of a colony, but the chief residence of merchants, and
the great mart of trade and commerce. At that place he meant to fix the feat of war; but reflecting on
the scanty numbers of his little army, and the fatal rashness of Cerealis, he resolved to quit the
station, and, by giving up one post, secure the rest of the province. Neither supplications, nor the
tears of the inhabitants could induce him to change his plan. The signal for the march was given. All
who chose to follow his banners were taken under his protection. Of all who, on account of their
advanced age, the weakness of their sex, of the attractions of the situation, thought proper to remain
behind, not one escaped the rage of the Barbarians. The inhabitants of Verulamium , a municipal
town, were in like manner put to the sword.

Locate the Iceni, the Trinovantes, and Verulamium (today St Albans) on the map!

Why did the Iceni rebel?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

What happened to London?

__________________________________________________________________

 2.B Describe the policy of the Icenian Celtic tribe towards the Romans and the cause of the
change of their attitude!

7
C. Tacitus “The Rebellion of Boudicca: the Decisive Battle” (AD 60-61)
from The Annals of Tacitus (AD 110-120), transl. from Latin from Arthur Murphy Works of Tacitus (1794)
Chapters 34-36, http://www.athenapub.com/tacitus1.htm

The fourteenth legion … Svetonius[‘s] army amounted to little less than ten thousand men… He
resolved, without loss of time, to bring on a decisive action. For this purpose he chose a spot
encircled with woods, narrow at the entrance, and sheltered in the rear by a thick forest. In that
situation he had no fear of an ambush. …

The Britons brought into the field an incredible multitude. They formed no regular line of battle.
Detached parties and loose battalions displayed their numbers, in frantic transport bounding with
exultation, and so sure of victory, that they placed their wives in wagons at the extremity of the plain,
where they might survey the scene of action, and behold the wonders of British valour…

Boudicca, in a [chariot], with her two daughters before her, drove through the ranks. She
harangued the different nations in their turn: "This," she said, "is not the first time that the Britons
have been led to battle by a woman. But now she did not come to boast the pride of a long line of
ancestry, nor even to recover her kingdom and the plundered wealth of her family. She took the field,
like the meanest among them, to assert the cause of public liberty, and to seek revenge for her body
seamed with ignominious stripes, and her two daughters
infamously ravished. … But the vindictive gods are now at hand.
… Look round, and view your numbers. Behold the proud display
of warlike spirits, and consider the motives for which we draw the
avenging sword. On this spot we must either conquer, or die with
glory. There is no alternative. Though a woman, my resolution is
fixed: the men, if they please, may survive with infamy, and live
in bondage."

The engagement began. … The Britons advanced with

ferocity, and discharged their darts at random. In that instant, the
Romans rushed forward in the form of a wedge. The auxiliaries
followed with equal ardour. The cavalry, at the same time, bore
down upon the enemy, and, with their pikes, overpowered all who
dared to make a stand. The Britons betook themselves to flight,
but their waggons in the rear obstructed their passage. A dreadful
slaughter followed. Neither sex nor age was spared. … The glory
of the day was equal to the most splendid victory of ancient
times. According to some writers, not less than eighty thousand
Britons were put to the sword. The Romans lost about four
hundred men, and the wounded did not exceed that number.
Boudicca, by a dose of poison, [ended] her life.

Compare the number of the Romans and Britons:

_________________________________________________________________

Why did the Romans win?

_________________________________________________________________

 2.C Based on your background reading, how authentic are the words of Boudicca as reported by
Tacitus? Why is the speech of Boudicca important in Tacitus’s narrative?

8
D. Desborough Mirror
bronze, ca. 50 BC - AD 50 (La Tène Celtic art)
(British Museum)

D. The Leadenhall Street Mosaic (London)

1st C-2nd C AD

 2.D Compare the artistic style of the Celtic people with that of the Romans through the
examples of the Desborough Mirror and the Leadenhall Street Mosaic!

9
http://mapsof.net/map/roman-britain-410

10
 3. Anglo-Saxon England
A. “Augustine’s Mission to the English”
Excerpts from Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation (731) Book I Chapter 23, 25
From Medieval Sourcebook, Fordham University, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/bede-book1.asp

[In 596 A.D. Pope Gregory] being moved by Divine inspiration … sent the servant of God,
Augustine, and with him divers other monks, who feared the Lord, to preach the Word of God to the
English nation. They having, in obedience to the pope's commands, undertaken that work, when they
had gone but a little way on their journey, were seized with craven terror, and began to think of
returning home, rather than proceed to a barbarous, fierce, and unbelieving nation, to whose very
language they were strangers; and by common consent they decided that this was the safer course.
[But the pope] sent them a letter … persuading them to set forth. …

Augustine, thus strengthened by the confirmation of the blessed Father Gregory, returned to the work
of the word of God, with the servants of Christ, and arrived in Britain. The powerful Ethelbert was at
that time king of Kent...
On the east of Kent … landed the servant of our Lord, Augustine, and his companions, being, as is
reported, nearly forty men. They had, by order of the blessed Pope Gregory, taken interpreters of the
nation of the Franks, and sending to Ethelbert, signified that they were come from Rome, and brought
a joyful message… The king having heard this, ordered them to stay … For he had before heard of
the Christian religion, having a Christian wife of the royal family of the Franks, called Bertha; whom
he had received from her parents, upon condition that she should be permitted to practice her
religion...
Some days after, the king came into the island, and sitting in the open air, ordered Augustine and his
companions to be brought into his presence. … "Your words and promises are very fair, but as they
are new to us, and of uncertain import, I cannot approve of them so far as to forsake that which I have
so long followed with the whole English nation. But because you are come from far into my
kingdom, and … are desirous to impart to us those things which you believe to be true, and most
beneficial, we will not molest you, but give you favourable entertainment, and take care to supply
you with your necessary sustenance; nor do we forbid you to preach and gain as many as you can to
your religion." Accordingly he permitted them to reside in the city of Canterbury, which was the
metropolis of all his dominions...

Who sent Augustine to convert the English?

________________________________________________________________

How was Augustine received by the Saxon king of Kent?

________________________________________________________________

Where did he start work?

________________________________________________________________

 3.A Based on Bede’s Ecclesiastical History and some further background reading describe
the mission of Augustine to Britain and give reasons for its success!

11
B. “The Synod of Whitby”
Excerpts from Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation (731) Book III Chapter 23

A.D. 664.At this time a great and frequent controversy happened about the observance of Easter; those
that came from Kent or France affirming, that the Scots kept Easter Sunday contrary to the custom of
the universal church… This dispute began naturally to influence the thoughts and hearts of many …
The controversy being there started, concerning Easter, or the tonsure, or other ecclesiastical affairs,
it was agreed that a synod should be held in the monastery of Streaneshaich [Whitby] … and that
there this controversy should be decided. The kings, both father and son, came thither, Bishop
Colman with his Scottish clerks, and Agilbert with the priests Agatho and Wilfrid ...
King Oswy … then commanded his bishop, Colman, first to declare what the custom was which he
observed, and whence it derived its origin. Then Colman said, "The Easter which I keep, I received
from my elders, who sent me bishop hither; all our forefathers, men beloved of God, are known to
have kept it after the same manner; and that the same may not seem to any contemptible or worthy to
be rejected, it is the same which St. John the Evangelist, the disciple beloved of our Lord, with all the
churches over which he presided, is recorded to have observed."
Having said thus much, and more to the like effect, the king commanded Agilbert to show whence
his custom of keeping Easter was derived, or on what authority it was grounded… [Wulfrid spoke in
Agilbert’s name]: "The Easter which we observe, we saw celebrated by all at Rome, where the
blessed apostles, Peter and Paul, lived, taught, suffered, and were buried; we saw the same done in
Italy and in France, when we travelled through those countries for pilgrimage and prayer. We found
the same practiced in Africa, Asia, Egypt, Greece, and all the world, wherever the church of Christ is
spread abroad, through several nations and tongues, at one and the same time; except only these and
their accomplices in obstinacy, I mean the Picts and the Britons, who foolishly, in these two remote
islands of the world, and only in part even of them, oppose all the rest of the universe. … You
certainly sin, if, having heard the decrees of the Apostolic See, and of the universal church … you
refuse to follow them; for, though your fathers were holy, do you think that their small number, in a
corner of the remotest island, is to be preferred before the universal church of Christ throughout the
world? And … [it is] the most blessed prince of the apostles, to whom our Lord said, 'Thou art Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, and to thee
I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven?'"
When Wulfrid had spoken thus, the king said … "Do you both agree that
these words were principally directed to Peter, and that the keys of heaven
were given to him by our Lord?" They both answered, "We do." Then the
king concluded, "And I also say unto you, that he is the door-keeper, whom
I will not contradict, but will, as far as I know and am able, in all things
obey his decrees, lest, when I come to the gates of the kingdom of heaven,
there should be none to open them, he being my adversary who is proved to
have the keys."

Look at the map and establish where the customs of the “Scottish”
Christians and the Christians of Kent originated?
_________________________________________________
What decision was made at the Synod of Whitby and why?
_________________________________________________

 3.B Based on the text and some background reading describe the controversy between the two
different Christian observances and evaluate the importance of the decision of the synod!
12
C. “Concerning the author himself”
Excerpts from Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation (731) Book V Chapter 24

… Thus much of the Ecclesiastical History of Britain, and more especially of the English nation, as
far as I could learn either from the writings of the ancients, or the tradition of our ancestors, or of my
own knowledge, has, with the help of God, been digested by me, Bede, the servant of God, and priest
of the monastery of the blessed apostles, Peter and Paul, which is at Wearmouth and Jarrow; who
being born in the territory of that same monastery, was given, at seven years of age, to be educated
by the most reverend Abbot Benedict, and afterwards by Ceolfrid; and spending all the remaining
time of my life in that monastery, I wholly applied myself to the study of Scripture, and amidst the
observance of regular discipline, and the daily care of singing in the church, I always took delight in
learning, teaching, and writing. In the nineteenth year of my age, I received deacon's orders; in the
thirtieth, those of the priesthood, both of them by the ministry of the most reverend Bishop John, and
by the order of the Abbot Ceolfrid. From which time, till the fifty-ninth year of my age, I have made
it my business, for the use of me and mine, to compile out of the works of the venerable Fathers, and
to interpret and explain according to their meaning these following pieces:
[23 works are enumerated]

Monasteries and bishoprics

in Northumbria ca. 670

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfrid
Where was Bede born? Locate it on the map!
_____________________________________
Where did he start his education? At what age?
_____________________________________
Describe Bede’s later life and career!
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________

 3.C Based on the three excerpts from Bede’s Ecclesiastical History (A,B,C) and your
background readings explain why Bede is called the “Father of English History”!

13
D. King Alfred's Preface to ‘Pastoral Care’ (late 9th century)

King Alfred bids bishop Wærferth to be greeted with loving and friendly words; and bids you to
know that it very often comes to my mind what wise men there formerly were throughout England …
how happy the times were then throughout England; and how the kings who then had power over the
people obeyed God and his ministers; and they maintained their peace, their morality and their power
within their borders, and also increased their kingdom without; and how they prospered …
Then when I remembered all this, then I also remembered how I saw, before it had all been ravaged
and burnt, how the churches throughout all England stood filled with treasures and books, and there
were also a great many of God's servants. And they had very little benefit from those books, for they
could not understand anything in them, because they were not written in their own language…
Then when I remembered all this, then I wondered extremely that the good and wise men who were
formerly throughout England, who had completely learned all those books, would not have translated
any of them into their own language. But I immediately answered myself and said: “They did not
think that men ever would become so careless and learning so decayed...”
Then I remembered how the law was first composed in the Hebrew language, and afterwards, when
the Greeks learned it, they translated it all into their own language, and also all other books. And
afterwards the Romans in the same way, when they had learned them, translated them all through
wise interpreters into their own language. And also all other Christian peoples translated some part of
them into their own language. Therefore it seems better to me, if it seems so to you, that we also
translate certain books, which are most needful for all men to know, into that language that we all can
understand …
Then when I remembered how knowledge of Latin had formerly decayed throughout England, and
yet many knew how to read English writing, then I began among the other various and manifold
cares of this kingdom to translate into English the book that is called in Latin Pastoralis, and in
English "Shepherd-book," sometimes word for word, and sometimes sense for sense, just as I had
learned it from Plegmund my archbishop and from Asser my bishop ... And I will send one to each
bishopric in my kingdom, and in each will be an æstel worth fifty mancuses. And I command in
God's name that no man may take the æstel from the book nor the book from the church.

What were the reasons for the decline of “wisdom”

in England according to King Alfred?
_________________________________________
_________________________________________

Why did King Alfred promote the use of the

English language in learning?
________________________________________
________________________________________

An æstel (book pointer), 9th C

Anglo-Saxon workmanship
(Ashmolean Museum)

 3.D Describe the æstel and its Anglo-Saxon craftsmanship! How can it be associated with the
distribution of knowledge in Anglo-Saxon England according to King Alfred’s Preface to
‘Pastoral Care’?
14
 Britain AD 500-700
http://www.drshirley.org/geog/geog25.html

https://tenthmedieval.wordpress.com
/2008/03/16/pictland-should-be-plural/
http://forum.christogenea.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=223
15
 4. The Norman Conquest
A. The Bayeux Tapestry

 Look at further images at Bayeux Tapestry tituli.

“King Edward” “Where Harold made an oath to Duke William”

“Here the body of King Edward is carried

to the Church of Saint Peter the Apostle”
“Here King Harold is slain”

Look at the importance of the hand gestures in the top two scenes! What do they express?
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

Describe the function of St Peter’s Church (Westminster Abbey) as represented on the

Tapestry! Argue for a possible second representation of it in the final missing scene of the
Tapestry!
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

How do the border illustrations contribute to the representation of the battle of Hastings?
_________________________________________________________________________

16
B. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle on William the Conqueror
F. A. Ogg, A Source Book of Medieval History [New York, 1907], 241-44.

[1086] If anyone would know what manner of man King William was, the glory that he
obtained, and of how many lands he as lord, then will we describe him as we have known
him, we who had looked upon him and who once lived at his court. This King William... was
a very wise and great man, and more honored and more powerful than any of his
predecessors. He was mild to those good men who loved God, but severe beyond measure to
those who withstood his will. He founded a noble monastery [Battle Abbey] on the spot
where God permitted him to conquer England, and he established monks in it, and he made it
very rich. In his days the great monastery at Canterbury was built, and many others also
throughout England; moreover, this land was filled with monks who lived after the rule of St.
Benedict; and such was the state of religion in his days that all who would, might observe that
which was prescribed by their respective orders.
King William was also held in much reverence. He wore his crown three times every year
when he was in England: at Easter he wore it at Winchester, at Pentecost at Westminster, and
at Christmas at Gloucester. And at these times all the men of England were with him,
archbishops, bishops, abbots and earls, thanes and knights. So also was he a very stern and
wrathful man, so that none durst do anything against his will, and he kept in prison those earls
who acted against his pleasure. He removed bishops from their sees and abbots from their
offices, and he imprisoned thanes, and at length he spared not his own [half-]brother Odo.
This Odo was a very powerful bishop in Normandy. His see was that of Bayeux, and he was
foremost to serve the king. He had an earldom in England, and when William was in
Normandy he [Odo] was the first man in this country, and him did William cast into prison…
Truly there was much trouble in these times, and very great distress. He caused castles to be
built and oppressed the poor. The king was also of great sternness, and he took from his
subjects many marks of gold, and many hundred pounds of silver, and this, either with or
without right, and with little need. He was given to avarice and greedily loved gain. He made
large forests for the deer, and enacted laws therewith, so that whoever killed a hart or a hind
should be blinded. As he forbade killing the deer, so also the boars; and he loved the tall stags
as if he were their father. He also commanded concerning the hares, that they should go free.
The rich complained and the poor murmured, but he was so sturdy that he took no notice of
them; they must will all that the king willed, if they would live, or keep their lands,...or be
maintained in their rights. Alas that any man should so exalt himself.... We have written
concerning him these things, both good and bad, that virtuous men may follow after the good,
and wholly avoid the evil, and may go in the way that leadeth to the kingdom of heaven.

What claim is made by the chronicler to support the authenticity of his words?
_______________________________________________________________
Which are the three most important locations for William’s court in England?
_______________________________________________________________
Where is William when he is not in England? (not in the text, please guess!)
_______________________________________________________________
“We have written … both good and bad.” What are these?
_______________________________________________________________

 4.B Enumerate the changes that were introduced in England after the Norman Conquest
according to the text and your background readings!
17
C. The Instructions for Collection of the Domesday Returns from the Domesday Book, 1086.
http://medieval.ucdavis.edu/20B/Domesday.html

Here is subscribed the inquisition of lands as the barons of the king have made inquiry into them;
what the manor is called, who held it in the time of King Edward, who holds now;
how many hides, how many plowlands in demesne, how many belonging to the men,
how many villagers, how many cottagers, how many slaves, how many free-men, how many
socmen,
how much woods, how much meadow, how many pastures,
how many mills, how many fish-ponds,
how much has been added or taken away, how much it was worth altogether at that time, and
how much now,
how much each free man or socman had or has.
All this threefold, that is to say in the time of King Edward [the Confessor], and when King William
[the Conqueror] gave it, and as it is now; and whether more can be had than is had.

What data was collected in the Doomsday Book?

________________________________________
________________________________________

When was the data collected and about which

years?
________________________________________
________________________________________

List of the king’s holdings in Devonshire

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesday_Book#/media/File:
DevonDomesdayBook_TenantsInChief.png

 4.C Based on the extract and your background readings, what did the Domesday Book contain
and why is it an invaluable source for historians? The changes of which period does it record?
18
D. The White Tower, Tower of London
Late 11th century

White Tower, London. Engraving by Hollar, 1647.

 4.D Based on the illustrations and your background reading, describe the characteristics and
functions of a Norman keep!

19
Possessions of William I, 1087

http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks14/1400541h.html

Henry II and the Angevin Empire, 1172

http://skola.amoskadan.cz/s_aj/esc/UK/uk-history.htm

20
 5. The Middle Ages: Common Law and the Magna Carta
A. The Murder of Thomas Beckett
From Edward Grim’s Vita S. Thomae,
http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/source/Grim-becket.asp

[29 December 1170] After the monks took [Thomas]

through the doors of the church, the four aforementioned
knights followed behind with a rapid pace. …
Without delay the sacrilegious men entered the house of
peace and reconciliation with swords drawn; indeed the
sight alone as well as the rattle of arms inflicted not a small
amount of horror on those who watched. And those knights
who approached the confused and disordered people …
exclaimed in a rage: "Where is Thomas Becket, traitor of
the king and kingdom?" No one responded and instantly
they cried out more loudly, "Where is the archbishop?"
Unshaken he replied to this voice as it is written, "The
righteous will be like a bold lion and free from fear," he
descended from the steps to which he had been taken by
the monks who were fearful of the knights and said in an
adequately audible voice, "Here I am, not a traitor of the
king but a priest; why do you seek me?" …
With rapid motion they laid sacrilegious hands on him,
handling and dragging him roughly outside of the walls of English Psalter of 1250, Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore

the church … But when it was not possible to easily move him from the column … the impious
knight … suddenly set upon him and, shaving off the summit of his crown which the sacred
chrism consecrated to God, he wounded the sacrificial lamb of God in the head; the lower arm
of the writer was cut by the same blow…Then, with another blow received on the head, he
remained firm. But with the third the stricken martyr bent his knees and elbows, offering
himself as a living sacrifice … But the third knight inflicted a grave wound on the fallen one;
with this blow he shattered the sword on the stone and his crown, which was large, separated
from his head so that the blood turned white from the brain yet no less did the brain turn red
from the blood; it purpled the appearance of the church with the colours of the lily and the rose,
the colours of the Virgin and Mother and the life and death of the confessor and martyr. The
fourth knight drove away those who were gathering so that the others could finish the murder
more freely and boldly. The fifth - not a knight but a cleric who entered with the knights - so
that a fifth blow might not be spared him who had imitated Christ in other things, placed his
foot on the neck of the holy priest and precious martyr and (it is horrible to say) scattered the
brains with the blood across the floor, exclaiming to the rest, "We can leave this place, knights,
he will not get up again."
Where was Thomas Becket murdered?
______________________________________________________________________
Describe Becket’s behaviour and personality according to Edward Grim’s description?
______________________________________________________________________

 5.A Based on the text and your background readings, describe why Europe was shocked by
Becket’s murder! How was he later celebrated and when was his shrine destroyed and why?

21
B. Three Summonses to the Parliament of 1295
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/ed1-summons.asp

Summons of a Bishop to Parliament (1295)

The King to the venerable father in Christ Robert, by the same grace archbishop of Canterbury,
primate of all England, greeting.
As a most just law … decrees that what affects all, by all should be approved; so also, very evidently
should common danger be met by means provided in common. You know sufficiently well … how
the king of France fraudulently and craftily deprives us of our land of Gascony, by withholding it
unjustly from us. Now … having gathered together for the conquest of our kingdom a very great
fleet, and an abounding multitude of warriors, with which he has made a hostile attack on our
kingdom and the inhabitants of the same kingdom, he now proposes to destroy the English language
altogether from the earth … Because … your interest especially, as that of the rest of the citizens of
the same realm, is concerned in this affair, we command you, strictly enjoining you in the fidelity and
love in which you are bound to us, that on the Lord's day next after the feast of St. Martin, in the
approaching winter, you be present in person at Westminster; … to consider … along with us and
with the rest of the prelates and principal men and other inhabitants of our kingdom, how the dangers
and threatened evils of this kind are to be met. Witness the king at Wangham, the thirtieth day of
September.

Summons of a Baron to Parliament (1295)

The king to his beloved and faithful relative, Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, greeting.
Because we wish to have a consultation and meeting with you and with the rest of the principal men
of our kingdom, as to provision for remedies against the dangers which in these days are threatening
our whole kingdom; we command you, strictly enjoining you in the fidelity and love in which you
are bound to us, that on the Lord's day next after the feast of St. Martin, in the approaching winter,
you be present in person at Westminster, for considering, ordaining and doing along with us and with
the prelates, and the rest of the principal men and other inhabitants of our kingdom, as may be
necessary for meeting dangers of this kind. Witness the king at Canterbury, the first of October.

Summons of Representatives of Shires and Towns to Parliament (1295)

The king to the sheriff of Northamptonshire.
Since we intend to have a consultation and meeting with the earls, barons and other principal men of
our kingdom with regard to providing remedies against the dangers which are in these days
threatening the same kingdom; and on that account have commanded them to be with us on the
Lord's day next after the feast of St. Martin in the approaching winter, at Westminster, to consider,
ordain, and do as may be necessary for the avoidance of these dangers; we strictly require you to
cause two knights from the aforesaid county, two citizens from each city in the same county, and two
burgesses from each borough, of those who are especially discreet and capable of labouring, to be
elected without delay, and to cause them to come to us at the aforesaid said time and place…
Witness the king at Canterbury on the third day of October.

Why did the king summon a Parliament in 1295?

_______________________________________________________________
Which social class do the addressees of the first two invitations belong to?
_______________________________________________________________
Who is the third letter of invitation addressed to? Why?
_______________________________________________________________

 5.B Based on the text and your background readings, explain why Parliaments were summoned
and who were invited to them!
22
C. Harlech Castle, Wales (1282-89)

http://www.rcahmw.gov.uk/HI/ENG/About+Us/Press+and+N
ews/Instant+Images/?image=4

The Castle-Building Campaign of Edward I.

http://wanderlust-tours.com/portfolio-items/iron-ring-tour-
great-castles-wales/

 5.C Based on your background readings, explain why Edward built a ring of castles in Wales.
Compare Harlech with the White Tower of London and comment on the differences in
architecture from a military point of view!

23
 6. The Late Middle Ages: War and Crisis
A. Excerpts from Knighton's Chronicle
Edited and translated by G. H. Martin. Great Britain: Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1995. 95-105.

A universal mortality. In this year

[1348] and the next there was a
general plague upon mankind
throughout the world. It began in
India, then spread to Tartary, and then
to the Saracens, and finally to the
Christians and Jews, so that in the
space of a single year, from one Easter
to the next, as the report ran in the
papal court, some 8,000 legions of
people died suddenly in those distant
parts, besides Christians. …
Then a lamentable plague travelled by
sea to Southampton and on to Bristol,
where almost the whole population of
https://www.britannica.com/event/Black-Death the town perished, snatched away, as it
were, by sudden death, for there were
few who kept their beds for more than two or three days, or even half a day. And thence cruel death
spread everywhere with the passage of the sun…
A fall in the price of goods. The fear of death caused the price of everything to fall, for there were
very few who cared either for wealth or for possessions. … And sheep and cattle wandered through
the fields and amongst the crops, and there was no one to seek them, or round them up, and they
perished in out-of-the-way places amongst the furrows and under hedges, for want of a keeper, in
numbers beyond reckoning throughout the land, for there was such a shortage of hands and servants
that no one knew what ought to be done.
In the following autumn no one could hire a mower for less than 8d. with his keep, or a reaper for
less than 12d. with his keep. So many crops rotted in the fields for want of harvesting, but in the year
of the plague, as has been said already, in another connection, there was such an abundance of grain
that almost no one cared for it…
In the meantime the king sent word into every shire that mowers and other workmen should take no
more than they had before, under the penalties laid down in the order, and thereupon made a statute.
Nevertheless the workmen were so puffed up and contrary-minded that they did not heed the king's
decree, and if anyone wanted to hire them he had to pay what they asked: either his fruit and crops
rotted, or he had to give in to the workmen's arrogant and greedy demands. When it came to the
king's notice that they had not obeyed his order, and had given their employees higher wages, he
inflicted heavy fines upon abbots and priors, and upon greater and lesser knights, and upon the
others, great and small… Then the king caused many labourers to be arrested, and put them in
prison…
How did the epidemic effect the prices of food in England? Why?
_____________________________________________________
How did the plague effect the wages of labourers? Why?
_____________________________________________________

 6.A Based on the text of the Knighton’s Chronicle and your background readings, comment on
the economic and social consequences of the Black Death!

24
B. The Dance and Song of Death, by Anon.
(London : J. Awdely, 1569.) http://eebo.chadwyck.com/

Who are the characters led by the skeletons in the Dance of Death?
_______________________________________________________

Who do they represent?

_______________________________________________________

What is the central message of this genre?

_______________________________________________________

 6.B Analyse the details of the engraving and based on it and your background readings enumerate
the typical elements of a dance macabre (“Dance of Death”). Comment on the popularity of the
genre in the late Middle Ages!
C. Excerpts from the Crowland Chronicle (1486) about the Death of Richard III
From ‘Historiae Croylandensis,’ (1486) in W. Fulman (ed.) Rerum Anglicarum Scriptorum Veterum, Vol. I (Oxford, 1684), 573-5.
http://www.r3.org/richard-iii/the-battle-of-bosworth/bosworth-contemporary-tudor-accounts/

[King Richard’s] army, though its numbers were not yet fully made up … [came] Leicester. Here was
found ready to fight for the king a greater number of soldiers than had ever been seen before in
England assembled on one side. On the Sunday … the king proceeded on his way, amid the greatest
pomp and wearing the crown on his head; On leaving Leicester, he was informed by scouts where the
enemy most probably intended to spend the next night; upon which, he encamped near the abbey of
Merevale, at a distance of about eight miles from town. …
At day-break on Monday morning there were no chaplains on King Richard’s side ready to celebrate
mass, nor any breakfast prepared to restore his flagging spirits. For he had seen dreadful visions in
the night, in which he was surrounded by a multitude of demons, as he himself testified in the
morning. He consequently presented a countenance which, always drawn, was on this occasion more
livid and ghastly than usual…
At length with the enemy commander and his soldiers approaching at a fair pace, the king ordered
that Lord Strange should be instantly beheaded. The persons to whom this duty was entrusted,
however, seeing that the issue was doubtful in the extreme, and that a matter of more weight than the
destruction of one man was in hand, deferred performance of the king’s cruel order, left the man to
his own disposal and returned to the thickest of the fight.
A most fierce battle thus began between the two sides. The earl of Richmond [Henry Tudor] with his
men proceeded directly against King Richard… In the end a glorious victory was given by heaven to
the earl of Richmond, now sole king, along with a most precious crown, which King Richard had
previously worn on his head. For in the thick of the fight, and not in the act of flight, King Richard
fell in the field, struck by many mortal wounds, as a bold and most valiant prince ... and many others
were slain in this fierce battle, and many, especially northerners, in whom the king so greatly trusted,
took flight without engaging; and there was left no part of the opposing army of sufficient
significance or substance for the glorious victor Henry VII to engage, and so add to his experience in
battle.
Thus through this battle peace was obtained for the whole of the realm. King Richard’s body was
found among the other slain. Many other insults were heaped on it, and not very humanely, a halter
was thrown around the neck, and it was carried to Leicester. The new king, graced with the crown he
won with such distinction, proceeded to the same place….And thus concluding this history … [we]
have brought the narrative down to this battle, which … took place on 22 August, 1485.

Who were the two opposing armies led by?

___________________________________________________________

Is the text biased towards one of them? Why? Underline the evidence in the text!
___________________________________________________________

How does the text represent the behaviour and death of the king?
___________________________________________________________

 6.C Describe the Battle of Bosworth based on the source and your background readings. Why
is this battle so important in the history of England? Find a literary work that refers to this
battle, and compare its description with the historical facts!

26
 7. The English Reformations
A. Letters of the Visitors Sent to Examine the Abbot of Glastonbury
From T. Wright, ed. Letters Relating to the Suppression of Monasteries, (London: Camden Society, 1843),
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/h8-glastonbury.asp

To Thomas Cromwell, September 22, 1539

Please it your lordship to be advertised, that we came to Glastonbury on Friday last past, about ten
o'clock in the forenoon; and … we, without any delay … examined him [the abbot] upon certain
articles. And [because]…his answer was not then to our purpose, we advised him to call to his
remembrance that which he had as then forgotten, and so declare the truth … [we] proceeded that
night to search his study for letters and books; and found in his study…a written book of arguments
against the divorce of his king's majesty and the lady dowager, as also divers pardons, copies of bulls,
and the … life of Thomas Becket in print; but we could not find any letter that was material.
And so we proceeded again to his examination … in the answers whereof … shall appear his
cankered and traitorous heart and mind against the king's majesty and his succession; as by the same
answers, signed with his hand, and sent to your lordship by
this bearer, more plainly shall appear. And so, with as fair
words as we could, we have conveyed from him hence
into the tower, being but a very weak man and sickly…
This is also to advertise your lordship that we have found a
fair chalice of gold, and divers other parcels of plat, which
the abbot had secretly hid from all such commissioners as
have been there in times past … We assure your lordship it
is the goodliest house of that sort that we have ever
seen…. a house meet for the king's majesty, and for no
man else… Glastonbury
http://www.knightsofavalon.com/glastonbury.htm

To Thomas Cromwell, November 16, 1539 by Visitors, Richard Pollard

Pleaseth it your Lordship to be advertised that..[On November 15] the late abbot of Glastonbury went
from Wells to Glastonbury, and there was drawn through the town upon a hurdle to the hill called the
Torre, where he was put to execution …
Afore his execution [he] was examined upon divers articles and interrogatories to him ministered by
me, but he could accuse no man of himself of any offence against the king's highness, nor would he
confess no more gold nor silver nor any other thing more than he did before your Lordship in the
Tower… I suppose it will be near Christmas before I shall have surveyed the lands at Glastonbury,
and take the audit there….

What incriminatory evidence against the abbot did the Visitors of Glastonbury “discover”?
_________________________________________________________________________

Why were these considered treasonous?

_________________________________________________________________________

What were the Visitors also interested in? Why?

_________________________________________________________________________

 7.A Read about the history of the dissolution of the monasteries in England, and with the help of
the source describe what happened to the Abbot of Glastonbury and why!

27
B. The title page of the Great Bible, 1541 http://eebo.chadwyck.com/

The language of the Bible: ___________________ Encircle the image of God on the page!
Who is the central figure? _________________________________________________________
What is the difference between the two sides of the social hierarchy?_______________________
What do you think was represented in the white circle (on the right)?_______________________

 7.B With the help of some background reading, comment on the Reformation context of the
title page illustration of the Great Bible!
28
 C. King Edward VI and the Pope
(National Portrait Gallery, 1570) http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw00459/King-Edward-VI-and-the-Pope

.
Who do you think the man in the bed is? Why is he there?
_______________________________________________
Who helps the boy king to rule?
_______________________________________________
Copy the inscriptions of the paining:
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
What is happening in the bottom left section of the
painting?
_______________________________________________
What is happening in the top right corner of the painting?
_______________________________________________

D. 7.C Explain the political and theological message of the propaganda painting of King
Edward VI and the Pope!

29
 E. The Burning of Thomas Cranmer
from John Foxe Actes and Monuments (London, J. Day, 1563)
http://www.johnfoxe.org/index.php?realm=more&gototype=modern&type=image&book=11

Where is Thomas Cranmer burnt?

______________________________________________

Is he represented as a martyr or a heretic? Why?

_______________________________________________

What do you think Cranmer “subscribed to” with his right

hand so that he “thrust it into the fire first”?
________________________________________________

 7.D With the help of some background reading describe the significance of Foxe’s Actes
and Monuments in the history of the English Reformation! Use the engraving above to
illustrate your claims!
30
 8. Elizabethan England
A. The Allegory of the Tudor Succession, c. 1572
attributed to Lucas de Heere (National Museum Cardiff)
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Family_of_Henry_VIII,_an_Allegory_of_the_Tudor_Succession.png

Identify the four Tudor monarchs − Henry VIII and his three children – on the painting!
How are they depicted?
Henry VIII:____________________________________________________________
Edward VI:____________________________________________________________
Mary I:_______________________________________________________________
Elizabeth I:____________________________________________________________

 8.A With the help of some background reading comment on the Elizabethan political context
and the propagandistic message of this painting!

31
 B. Queen Elizabeth’s Armada Speech to the Troops at Tilbury, August 9, 1588
From Elizabeth I Collected Works (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2000), pp. 325-26

My loving people,
I have been persuaded by some that are careful of my safety, to take heed how I committed myself to
armed multitudes, for fear of treachery. But I tell you that I would not desire to live to distrust my
faithful and loving people. Let tyrants fear: I have so behaved myself that under God I have placed
my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and goodwill of my subjects. Wherefore I am
come among you at this time, not for my recreation and pleasure, but being resolved in the midst and
heat of the battle to live and die amongst you all; to lay down for my God, and for my kingdom, and
my people, mine honour and my blood even in the dust.

I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I

have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England
too. And take foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of
Europe should dare to invade the borders of my realm. To the
which rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself
will take up arms; I myself will be your general, judge, and
rewarder of your virtue in the field. …

Not doubting but by … your obedience to myself and my

general, we shall shortly have a famous victory over those
enemies of my God and of my kingdom.

“My loving people” may refer to the fact that the

subjects love their Queen. How do the first lines of
the speech support this interpretation?
_________________________________________
It may also refer to the fact that the Queen loves her
people. Underline the phrases that support this
interpretation!

What does “stomach” refer to in this context?

_________________________________________
Why does Elizabeth refer to the Spanish as the
“enemies of my God”?
_________________________________________

Map:
Where was the last naval battle fought?
__________________________________________

Why did some Spanish ships try to land in Ireland?

__________________________________________

 8.B Based on the source and your background readings describe the occasion of delivering the
Armada speech and the rhetorical strategies of Queen Elizabeth!
32
C. Charter to Sir Walter Ralegh, March 25 1584
http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/before-1600/charter-to-sir-walter-raleigh-march-25-1584.php

ELIZABETH, by the Grace of God of England, Fraunce and Ireland

Queene, defender of the faith, &c. To all people to whome these
presents shall come, greeting.
Know yee that of our especial grace, certain science, and mere
motion … we give and grant to our trusty and well-beloved servant
Walter Ralegh, Esquire … for ever free liberty and licence from
time to time, and at all times for ever hereafter, to discover, search,
find out, and view such remote, heathen and barbarous lands,
countries, and territories, not actually possessed of any Christian
Prince, nor inhabited by Christian People, as to him… shall seem
good … to have, hold occupy and enjoy … for ever, with all
prerogatives … whatsoever we by our letters patent may grant …
And further that the said Walter Ralegh, … shall have … all the soil of all such lands, territories, and
Countries, so to be discovered and possessed as aforesaid … to be had, or used, with full power to
dispose thereof … according to the order of the laws of England…: reserving always to us our heirs,
and successors, for all services, duties, and demands, the fifth part of all the ore of gold and silver,
that from time to time, and at all times shall be there gotten and obtained …
And for uniting in more perfect league and amity, of such Countries, lands, and territories so to be
possessed and inhabited as aforesaid with our Realms of England, and Ireland, and the better
encouragement of men to these enterprises: we do ... declare that all such Countries … from
thenceforth shall be of the allegiance of us, our heirs and successors. And we do grant to the said
Walter Ralegh, ... and to all and every of them, … that they … shall and may have all the privileges
of free Denizens [residents], and persons native of England…
And … we ... do give and grant to the said Walter Ralegh, … that he … shall, within the said
mentioned remote lands … have full and mere power and authority to correct, punish, pardon,
govern, and rule ... as well in causes capital, or criminal, as civil … according to such statutes, laws
and ordinances, as shall be by him … devised, or established, for the better government of the said
people as aforesaid. So always as the said statutes, laws, and ordinances may be as near as
conveniently may be, agreeable to the form of the laws, statutes, government, or policy of England…

What rights did this charter give Ralegh?

T F To take and occupy any land.

T F To govern the newly taken territories.
T F To make new laws for the governing of these lands.
T F To keep all the gold and silver that is found there.
T F To grant all settlers the rights of English citizenship.

 8.C Describe the rights granted by the royal charter of 1584 to Sir Walter Ralegh and with
the help of some background reading evaluate his success in founding a colony!

33
 9. Crown and Parliament: Civil War

A. James I, Speech to Parliament, 21 March, 1610

From Harvey Robinson, Readings in European History, 2 vols (Boston: Ginn & Company, 1906), 2: 219-220.
http://www.historyguide.org/earlymod/james1609.html

The state of monarchy is the supremest thing upon earth; for kings are not only God's lieutenants
upon earth, and sit upon God's throne, but even by God himself they are called gods. There be three
principal similitudes that illustrate the state of monarchy: one taken out of the word of God; and the
two other out of the grounds of policy and philosophy. In the Scriptures kings are called the gods,
and so their power after a certain relation compared to the divine power. Kings are also compared to
fathers of families; for a king is truly parens patriae, the politic father of his people. And lastly, kings
are compared to the head of this microcosm of the body of man.

Kings are justly calls gods, for that they exercise a manner or resemblance of divine power upon
earth; for if you will consider the attributes to God, you shall see how they agree in the person of a
king. God hath power to create or destroy, make war or unmake at his pleasure, to give life or send
death, to judge all and to be judged nor accountable to none, to raise low things and to make high
things low at his pleasure, and to God are both soul and body due.

And the like power have kings: they make and unmake their subjects, they have power of raising and
casting down, of life and of death, judges over all their subjects and in all causes and yet accountable
to none but God only. They have power to exalt low things and abase high things, and make of their
subjects, like men at the chess, – a pawn to take a bishop or a knight – and to cry up or down any of
their subjects, as they do their money. And to the King is due both the affection of the soul and the
service of the body of his subjects. …

Can monarchs be held accountable for their decisions according to James I?

______________________________________________________________

“Pawn”, “bishop”, and “knight” – what game do these words refer to?
______________________________________________________________

How does this speech defy the English parliamentary traditions?

______________________________________________________________

 9.A Describe James I’s view on the nature of royal power according to his speech to
Parliament of 1610, and comment on the later relationship of the first two Stuart monarchs
to their Parliaments!

34
B. House of Commons, Journal, 5 January 1642
from: Journal of the House of Commons:1640-1643
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=10109

PRAYERS. Door locked, &c.

ORDERED, That the Door be locked, and the Key brought up; and the outward Doors cleared of all
Persons but Servants to Members of the House; and that no Member do offer to go out without
Leave: And also, that some Members do send forth their Servants, to see what Numbers of People are
repairing towards Westminster; and to bring notice to this House. …

Vindicating Privilege – Committee to meet at Guildhall.

Whereas his Majesty, in his Royal Person, Yesterday, being the Fourth Day of January, 1641,1 did
come to the House of Commons, attended with a great Multitude of Men, armed in a warlike Manner
with Halberds, Swords, and Pistols; who came up to the very Door of this House, and placed
themselves there, and in other Places and Passages near to the House, to the great Terror and
Disturbance of the Members thereof, then sitting, and, according to their Duty, in a peaceable and
orderly Manner, treating of the great Affairs of both the Kingdoms of England and Ireland. And his
Majesty having placed himself in the Speaker's Chair, did demand the Persons of divers Members of
That House to be delivered unto him.

It is this Day declared by the House of Commons, that the same is a high Breach of the Rights and
Privilege of Parliament, and inconsistent with the Liberties and Freedom thereof. And therefore this
House doth conceive, they cannot, with the Safety of their own Persons or the Indemnity of the
Rights and Privilege of Parliament, sit here any longer without a full Vindication of so high a Breach,
and a sufficient Guard wherein they may confide …

Notwithstanding which, this House being very sensible of the great Trust reposed in them, and
especially at this Time, … doth Order, that this House shall be adjourned until Tuesday next, at One
of the Clock in the Afternoon. And that a Committee, to be named by this House (and all, that will
come, to have Voices) shall sit at the Guildhall in the City of London, To-morrow Morning at Nine
of Clock. And shall have Power to consider and resolve of all Things that may concern the Good and
Safety of the City and Kingdom; and particularly, how our Privileges may be vindicated and our
Persons secured. …

Why did the king come to the House of Commons on 4 January 1642 and
why was it “to the terror and great disturbance” of its members?
____________________________________________________________

What did the Parliament decide to protect its rights and privileges?
____________________________________________________________

 9.B Give an account of the reasons and circumstances of the outbreak of the Civil War. Illustrate
your narrative with reference to the Journal of the House of Commons!

1
The Legal or Civil English year began on 25 March between the years 1155 and 1751. In 1752 it was moved back to 1
January. Thus 4 January 1641 in an official document means 4 January 1642.
35
C. Extracts from the Writings and Words of Levellers

Richard Overton An Arrow Against All Tyrants (1646)

http://www.libertarianism.org/publications/essays/excursions/freedom-rights-political-philosophy-part-4

For by natural birth all men are equally and alike born to like propriety, liberty and freedom; and as
we are delivered of God by the hand of nature into this world, every one with a natural, innate
freedom and propriety—as it were writ in the table of every man’s heart, never to be obliterated—
even so are we to live, everyone equally and alike to enjoy his birthright and privilege; even all
whereof God by nature has made him free. …

From the Large Petition of the Levellers (March 1947)

http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=2183&chapter=201113&layout=html&Itemid=27

But such is our misery, that after the expense of so much precious time, blood, and treasure, and the
ruin of so many thousands of honest families, in recovering our liberty, we still find the nation
oppressed with grievances of the same destructive nature as formerly, … and which are so much the
more grievous unto us because they are inflicted in the very time of this present Parliament, under
God the hope of the oppressed. …And therefore … we … do most earnestly entreat … that no man
for preaching or publishing his opinion in religion in a peaceable way, may be punished or persecuted
as heretical, by judges that are not infallible but may be mistaken as well as other men in their
judgments …

Debates at the General Council of the Army, Putney, 29 October 1647

http://www.constitution.org/lev/eng_lev_08.htm

Colonel Thomas Rainborough: I desired that those that had engaged in it [tha war] might be included
[in making decisions]. For really I think that the poorest he that is in England has a life to live as the
greatest he; and therefore truly, sir, I think it's clear that every man that is to live under a government
ought first by his own consent to put himself under that government; and I do think that the poorest
man in England is not at all bound in a strict sense to that government that he has not had a voice to
put himself under.

What does the word “to level” mean?

______________________________________

How do the ideas of the Levellers reflect this:

in the first source?
______________________________________
in the second source?
______________________________________
and in the third source?
______________________________________

 9.C On the basis of the extracts and your background reading, enumerate the ideas of the
Levellers and evaluate their political radicalism and success!

36
D. Decisions of the Rump Parliament
http://www.archontology.org/nations/uk/england/commonwealth/01_parl_1640.php

4 Jan 1649
Resolved, &c. That the
Commons of England, in
Parliament assembled, do
Declare that the People are,
under God, the Original of all
just Power:
And do also Declare, that the
Commons of England, in
Parliament assembled, being
chosen by, and representing the
People, have the Supreme
Power in this Nation:
And do also Declare, That
whatsoever is enacted, or
declared for Law, by the
Commons, in Parliament
assembled, hath the Force of
Law … [without] the Consent
and Concurrence of King, or House of Peers…

17 Mar 1649 − An Act for the Abolishing the Kingly Office in England, Ireland, and the Dominions
thereunto belonging

And whereas it is and hath been found by experience, that the Office of a King in this nation and
Ireland, and to have the power thereof in any single person, is unnecessary, burdensome and
dangerous to the liberty, safety and public interest of the people, and that for the most part, use hath
been made of the Regal power and prerogative, to oppress, and impoverish and enslave the Subject;
and that usually and naturally any one person in such power, makes it his interest to encroach upon
the just freedom and liberty of the people, and to promote the setting up of their own will and power
above the Laws, that so they might enslave these Kingdoms to their own Lust;
Be it therefore Enacted and Ordained by this present Parliament, and by Authority of the same, that
the Office of a King in this nation, shall not henceforth reside in, or be exercised by any one single
person;
and that no one person whatsoever, shall or may have, or hold the Office, Stile, Dignity, Power or
Authority of King of the said Kingdoms and Dominions....

What power of the king and House of Peers [Lords] was abolished on 4 January, 1649?
______________________________________________________________________

What was abolished on 17 March, 1649? Why?

_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

 9.D Based on the source and your background readings, describe the resolutions of the Rump
Parliament and evaluate the importance of the decisions!
37
The First English Civil War (1642-46)
http://wps.ablongman.com/long_kishlansky_cw_5/0,6472,268318-,00

Which areas were controlled by the Royalist?

_______________________________________

Who did London support?

_______________________________________

Mark Ulster on the map! Who owned the majority of the land there in 1641?
_______________________________________________________________
Mark the Pale on the map! Who owned the majority of the land there in 1641?
_______________________________________________________________
Who owned the majority of the land in the other parts of the country in 1641?
_______________________________________________________________
How did this change by 1703?
_______________________________________________________________

Land Ownership in Ireland 1641-1703

http://www.wvc.edu/library/Research/
Gen/Internat/RBGenMil_ulsterscots.ht
ml

38
 10. Restoration Britain
A. English Bill of Rights 1689
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/england.asp

Whereas the late King James the Second, by the assistance of divers evil counsellors, judges and
ministers employed by him, did endeavour to subvert and extirpate the Protestant religion and the
laws and liberties of this kingdom;
By assuming and exercising a power of dispensing with and suspending of laws and the execution
of laws without consent of Parliament; …
By levying money for and to the use of the Crown by pretence of prerogative for other time and in
other manner than the same was granted by Parliament;
By raising and keeping a standing army within this kingdom in time of peace without consent of
Parliament, and quartering soldiers contrary to law;
By causing several good subjects being Protestants to be disarmed at the same time when papists
were both armed and employed contrary to law;
By violating the freedom of election of members to serve in Parliament; …
All which are utterly and directly contrary to the known laws and statutes and freedom of this realm;
And whereas the said late King James the Second having abdicated the government and the throne
being thereby vacant … the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons … being now
assembled in a full and free representative of this nation, … declare
That the pretended power of suspending the laws or the execution of laws by regal authority
without consent of Parliament is illegal; …
That levying money for or to the use of the Crown by pretence of prerogative, without grant of
Parliament, for longer time, or in other manner than the same is or shall be granted, is illegal;
That the raising or keeping a standing army within the kingdom in time of peace, unless it be with
consent of Parliament, is against law; …
That election of members of Parliament ought to be free;
That the freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached
or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament; …
And that for redress of all grievances, and for the amending, strengthening and preserving of the
laws, Parliaments ought to be held frequently…
And whereas it hath been found by experience that it is inconsistent with the safety and welfare of
this Protestant kingdom to be governed by a popish prince, or by any king or queen marrying a
papist, … it may be enacted, that all and every person and persons that … shall profess the popish
religion, or shall marry a papist, shall be excluded and be for ever incapable to inherit, possess or
enjoy the crown and government of this realm and Ireland and the dominions thereunto belonging.

Put the following words in their correct form in the sentences!

abdicate Catholic grievance James II Parliament privilege restrict
The first part of the Bill of Rights enlists the ______________ against _____________
and declares that the throne is empty as the king is considered to have ______________.
The second part of the Bill of Rights enlists the ______________ of ______________
and excludes any ___________________ from inheriting the throne.
The Bill of Rights _____________________ the powers of the king.

 10.A Analyse the text of the Bill of Rights and describe its impact and significance!

39
 B. John Locke: Two Treatises of Government, 1690
http://www.constitution.org/jl/2ndtr02.htm

Chap. II. Sect. 4. To understand political power right … we must consider, what state all men are
naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their
possessions and persons, as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of nature…
Sect. 6. But though this be a state of liberty, yet it is not a state of licence: though man in that state
have an uncontrollable liberty to dispose of his person or possessions, yet he has not liberty to
destroy himself … The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one: and
reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and
independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions (…)
Sect. 8. And thus, in the state of nature, one man comes by a power over another; but yet no absolute
or arbitrary power, to use a criminal, when he has got him in his hands, according to the passionate
heats, or boundless extravagancy of his own will; but only to retribute to him, so far as calm reason
and conscience dictate … EVERY MAN HATH A RIGHT TO PUNISH THE OFFENDER, AND BE
EXECUTIONER OF THE LAW OF NATURE.
Sect. 13. … in the state of nature every one has the executive power of the law of nature, I doubt not
but it will be objected, that it is unreasonable for men to be judges in their own cases, that self-love
will make men partial to themselves and their friends: and on the other side, that ill nature, passion
and revenge will carry them too far in punishing others; and hence nothing but confusion and
disorder will follow …
Civil government is the proper remedy for the inconveniencies of the state of nature.
Sec. 87. Man being born, as has been proved, with a title to perfect freedom, and an uncontrolled
enjoyment of all the rights and privileges of the law of nature, equally with any other man, or number
of men in the world, hath by nature a power, not only to preserve his property, that is, his life, liberty
and estate, against the injuries and attempts of other men; but to judge of, and punish the breaches of
that law in others, as he is persuaded the offence deserves, even with death itself, in crimes where the
heinousness of the fact, in his opinion, requires it. …
There, and there only is political society, where every one of the members hath quitted this natural
power, resigned it up into the hands of the community in all cases that exclude him not from
appealing for protection to the law established by it. And thus all private judgment of every particular
member being excluded, the community comes to be umpire, by settled standing rules, indifferent,
and the same to all parties; and by men having authority from the community, for the execution of
those rules, decides all the differences that may happen between any members of that society
concerning any matter of right; and punishes those offences which any member hath committed
against the society, with such penalties as the law has established

What rights does man have in the state of nature?

______________________________________________________________________

What is the right that has to be handed over to the community in a civil society? Why?
______________________________________________________________________

 10.B Explain Locke’s distinction between the state of nature and civil society! Relying on your
background reading, why do Locke’s ideas go against the theory of the “divine rights of kings”?

40
C. Samuel Pepys: Diary Entry for 2 September, 1666
http://www.pepys.info/fire.html

Some of our maids sitting up late last night to get things ready against our feast today, Jane called up
about three in the morning, to tell us of a great fire they saw in the City. So I rose, and slipped on my
night-gown and went to her window, and thought it to be on the back side of Mark Lane at the
farthest; but, being unused to such fires as followed, I thought it far enough off, and so went to bed
again, and to sleep. . . . By and by Jane comes and tells me that she hears that above 300 houses have
been burned down tonight by the fire we saw, and that it is now burning down all Fish Street, by
London Bridge. So I made myself ready presently, and walked to the Tower; and there got up upon
one of the high places, . . .and there I did see the houses at the end of the bridge all on fire …
So down [I went], with my heart full of trouble, to the Lieutenant of the Tower, who tells me that it
began this morning in the King's baker's house in Pudding Lane, and that it hath burned St. Magnus's
Church and most part of Fish Street already. So I rode down to the waterside, … and there saw a
lamentable fire. … Everybody endeavouring to remove their goods, and flinging into the river or
bringing them into lighters that lay off; poor people staying in their houses as long as till the very fire
touched them, and then running into boats, or clambering from one pair of stairs by the waterside to
another.
Having … the fire rage every way, and nobody to my sight endeavouring to quench it, . . . I [went
next] to Whitehall… and The Great Fire by Matthaus Merian the Younger (1670)
there up to the King's
closet … [and when] I was
called for, and did tell the
King and Duke of York what
I saw; and that unless His
Majesty did command houses
to be pulled down, nothing
could stop the fire. They
seemed much troubled, and
the King commanded me to
go to my Lord Mayor from
him, and command him to
spare no houses. . . .
[I hurried] to [St.] Paul's; and
there walked along Watling
Street, as well as I could,
every creature coming away laden with goods to save and, here and there, sick people carried away in
beds. Extraordinary goods carried in carts and on backs. At last [I] met my Lord Mayor... To the
King's message he cried, like a fainting woman, 'Lord, what can I do? I am spent: people will not
obey me. I have been pulling down houses, but the fire overtakes us faster than we can do it.' … So
he left me, and I him, and walked home; seeing people all distracted, and no manner of means used to
quench the fire. The houses, too, so very thick thereabouts, and full of matter for burning, as pitch
and tar, in Thames Street; and warehouses of oil and wines and brandy and other things.

Why could not the fire be quenched easily? _______________________________________

What did Pepys recommend the king? ___________________________________________

 10.C Relying on your background readings and Pepys diary, describe the extent of the
destruction of London! Comment on how the fire effected the future of the city!
41
 11. British Expansion in the Eighteenth Century
A. Excerpts from Daniel Defoe’s The Complete English Tradesman (1724)
From: Daniel Defoe, The Complete English Tradesman (London, 1724), Chap. XXV
http://www.thenagain.info/Classes/Sources/Defoe.html

… it is very well known that, besides the benefit which we reap by being a trading nation, which is
our principal glory, trade is a very different thing in England than it is in many other countries and is
carried on by persons who, both in their education and descent, are far from being the dregs of the
people. …
As so many of our noble and wealthy families, as we have shown, are raised by and derived from
trade, so it is true, and indeed it cannot well be otherwise, that many of the younger branches of our
gentry, and even of the nobility itself, have descended again into the spring from whence they flowed
and have become tradesmen; and thence it is that, as I said above, our tradesmen in England are not,
as it generally is in other countries, always of the meanest of our people. Nor is trade itself in
England, as it generally is in other countries, the meanest thing the men can turn their hand to; but, on
the contrary, trade is the readiest way for men to raise their fortunes and families; and therefore it is a
field for men of figure and of good families to enter upon. …
These things prove abundantly that the greatness of the British nation is not owing to war and
conquests, to enlarging its dominions by the sword, or subjecting the people of other countries to our
power; but it is allowing to trade, to the increase of our commerce at home, and the extending it
abroad.
It is owing to trade that new discoveries have been made in lands unknown, and new settlements and
plantations made, new colonies planted, and new governments formed in the uninhabited islands and
the uncultivated continent of America; and those plantings and settlements have again enlarged and
increased the trade, and thereby the wealth and power of the nation by whom they were discovered
and planted. We have not increased our power, or the number of our subjects, by subduing the
nations which possess those countries, and incorporating them into our own, but have entirely planted
our colonies, and peopled the countries with our own subjects. Excepting the Negroes, which we
transport from Africa to America as slaves to work in the sugar and tobacco plantations, all our
colonies, as well in the islands as on the continent of America, are entirely peopled from Great
Britain and Ireland, and chiefly the former; the natives having either removed further up into the
country, or, by their own folly and treachery raising war against us, been destroyed and cut off.

Who are engaged in trade in England?

___________________________________________
Why is trade deemed to be the key to Britain’s success?
___________________________________________
Who are living on British colonies in America?
_________________________________________________
Look at the map! Where are the British colonies in America?
_________________________________________________
http://www.import-export-made-easy.com/Triangle-Trade.html

 11.A Comment on Defoe’s view on the role of trade and colonial expansion in the
early eighteenth century!
42
 B. From the Speech of William Pitt, Delivered on 20 January, 1775 in the House of Lords.
http://www.classicpersuasion.org/cbo/chatham/chat13.htm

The measures of last year, my Lords, which have produced the present alarming state of America,
were founded upon misrepresentation. They were violent, precipitate, and vindictive. The nation was
told that it was only a faction in Boston which opposed all lawful government; that an unwarrantable
injury had been done to private property, for which the justice of Parliament was called upon to order
reparation; that the least appearance of firmness would awe the Americans into submission, and upon
only passing the Rubicon we should be sine clade victor …
But now, my Lords, we find that, instead of suppressing the opposition of the faction at Boston, these
measures have spread it over the whole continent. They have united that whole people …
When I state the importance of the colonies to this country, and the magnitude of danger hanging
over this country from the present plan of misadministration practiced against them … When I urge
this measure of recalling the troops from Boston, I urge it on this pressing principle, that it is
necessarily preparatory to the restoration of your peace and the establishment of your prosperity. …
This resistance to your arbitrary system of taxation might have been foreseen. It was obvious from
the nature of things, and of mankind; and, above all, from the Whiggish spirit flourishing in that
country. The spirit which now resists your taxation in America is the same which formerly opposed
loans, benevolences, and ship-money in England; the same spirit which called all England "on its
legs," and by the Bill of Rights vindicated the English Constitution; the same spirit which established
the great fundamental, essential maxim of your liberties, that no subject of England shall be taxed but
by his own consent.
This glorious spirit of Whiggism
animates three millions in America,
who prefer poverty with liberty to
gilded chains and sordid affluence,
and who will die in the defence of
their rights as men, as free men.

"The Destruction of Tea at Boston Harbour, 1773."

Lithograph, 1846.
http://bostonharbourtea.com/history

Describe what is happening on the engraving! ______________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

What does Pitt think about the measures introduced by the English? _______________________
____________________________________________________________________________

Does Pitt agree with the Americans? Why?_________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

 11.B Based on Pitt’s speech and some background information, describe the arguments of
William Pitt for defending the American resistance to British taxation!
43
D. From the United States Declaration of Independence, 1776 July 4

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just
powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes
destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to
them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

What unalienable rights are mentioned in the Declaration of Independence?

_____________________________________________________________
What is the duty of Governments according to the document?
_____________________________________________________________
What is the right of people if a government does not fulfil this duty?
_____________________________________________________________

 11.D Read the full length of the US Declaration of Independence and compare it with the English
Bill of Rights and the ideas of John Locke!

http://www.bbc.co
.uk/history/british/
empire_seapower/
britain_empire_01
.shtml

44
 12. The Economic, Social and Cultural Scene in the Eighteenth
Century
A. From Observations on the Loss of Woollen Spinning (c. 1794)
http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/mod/1794woolens.asp

Many things combine to make the Hand Spinning of Wool, the most desirable work for the cottager's
wife and children. - A Wooden Wheel costing 2s. for each person, with one Reel costing 3s. set up
the family. The Wool-man either supplies them with Wool by the pound or more at a time, as he can
depend on their care … No stock is required, and when they carry back their pound of Wool spun,
they have no further concern in it. Children from five years old can run at the Wheel, it is a very
wholesome employment for them, keeps them in constant exercise, and upright: persons can work at
it till a very advanced age. …
Another advantage of this work was, that until these Machines were introduced, it was equally to be
obtained in every County, unlike every manufactory, a child with a Wheel was never thrown
absolutely out of bread, by change of place when grown up. - But all this is altered (…)
I then walked to the Machines, and with some difficulty gained admittance: there I saw both the
Combing Machine and Spinning Jenny. The Combing Machine was put in motion by a Wheel turned
by four men, but which I am sure could be turned either by water or steam. The frames were supplied
by a child with Wool, and as the wheel turned, flakes of ready combed Wool dropped off a cylinder
into a trough, these were taken up by a girl of about fourteen years old, who placed them on the
Spinning Jenny, which has a number of horizontal beams of wood, on each of which may be fifty
bobbins. One such girl sets these bobbins all in motion by turning a wheel at the end of the beam, a
wire then catches up a flake of Wool, spins it, and gathers it upon each bobbin. The girl again turns
the wheel, and another fifty flakes are taken up and Spun. This is done every minute without
intermission, so that probably one girl turning that wheel, may do the work of One Hundred Hand
Wheels at the least. About twenty of these sets of bobbins were, I judge, at work in one room. Most
of these Manufactories are many stories high, and the rooms much larger than this I was in. …
These Machines then once set up, and the expense of them does not appear very great, 20 Girls do the
work of 2,000 Women and Children ... Shut up from morning till night, except when they are sent
home for their meals, these girls are ignorant of, and unhandy at every domestic employment,
whereas if at her wheel in her mother's cottage, the girl assists in every occupation of the family. She
lights the faggot, nurses the young children, gleans in the harvest, takes charge of the house in her
mother's necessary absence to the shop, or when she can get work at neighbouring houses, becoming
an assistant to her parents in sickness and old age, and in her turn a good wife to a day labourer, a fit
mother for his family she lives with those to whom she ought to be attached, and therefore will feel
an affection towards them: but a girl taken from six years old to sixteen, and employed at the
machines, can know none of these habits.

What are the advantages of hand spinning on the wheel at home?

_________________________________________________________________
What are the advantages of using the Combing Machine and the Spinning Jenny?
__________________________________________________________________
What are the social and moral consequences of the change according to the article?
___________________________________________________________________

 12.A Discuss the economic, social and moral consequences of the industrial revolution in
general and the introduction of the spinning machines in particular!
45
 B. Illustrations of the Cottage Industry and the Spinning Jenny
From http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/domestic_system.htm , http://saswesternciv3a.pbworks.com/w/page/8242264

C. Raw Resources of England and Wales around the time of the Industrial Revolution
http://westerncivguides.umwblogs.org/2012/05/01/the-industrial-revolution-and-resources-in-england/

Mark the most important coal mining

areas on the map!

Write the names of the industrial regions

next to them!

Lancashire
North East England
South Wales
West Midlands (“the Black Country”)
Yorkshire

12.C Discuss the development of urban industrial centres in the second part of the 18th century!
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 D. Turnpikes in Great Britain
http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/ch2en/conc2en/ukturnpike.html
E. Enclosures in Britain in the
18th and 19th Centuries

F. Enclosure Map of Upton, Hurstbourne Tarrant, 1735

http://www3.hants.gov.uk/heritage100/item.htm?itemid=50

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