type	monarch of England
name	Edward I ''Longshanks''
imgw	191
alt	A man in half figure with short, curly hair and a hint of beard is facing left. He wears a coronet and holds a sceptre in his right hand. He has a blue robe over a red tunic, and his hands are covered by white, embroidered gloves. His left hand seems to be pointing left, to something outside the picture.
succession	King of England
moretext	(more...)
reign	16 November 1272 – 7 July 1307
coronation	19 August 1274
predecessor	Henry III
successor	Edward II
spouse	Eleanor of Castilem. 1254; dec. 1290Margaret of Francem. 1299; wid. 1307
issue	JohnHenryEleanor, Countess of BarJoan, Countess of HertfordAlphonso, Earl of ChesterMargaret, Duchess of BrabantMary of WoodstockElizabeth, Countess of HerefordEdward II of EnglandThomas, Earl of NorfolkEdmund, Earl of Kent
issue-link	#Issue
issue-pipe	among others
titles	The KingThe Earl of ChesterThe Duke of AquitaineEdward of WestminsterEdward Plantagenet
house	House of Plantagenet
religion	Roman Catholic
father	Henry III of England
mother	Eleanor of Provence
birth date	17/18 June 1239
birth place	Palace of Westminster, London, England
death date	July 07, 1307
death place	Burgh by Sands, Cumberland, England
place of burial	Westminster Abbey, London, England }}

Edward I (17 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (from Latin: ''Malleus Scottorum''), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons. In 1259, he briefly sided with a baronial reform movement, supporting the Provisions of Oxford. After reconciliation with his father, however, he remained loyal throughout the subsequent armed conflict, known as the Second Barons' War. After the Battle of Lewes, Edward was hostage to the rebellious barons, but escaped after a few months and joined the fight against Simon de Montfort. Montfort was defeated at the Battle of Evesham in 1265, and within two years the rebellion was extinguished. With England pacified, Edward left on a crusade to the Holy Land. The crusade accomplished little, and Edward was on his way home in 1272 when he was informed that his father had died. Making a slow return, he reached England in 1274 and he was crowned king at Westminster on 19 August.

He spent much of his reign reforming royal administration and common law. Through an extensive legal inquiry, Edward investigated the tenure of various feudal liberties, while the law was reformed through a series of statutes regulating criminal and property law. Increasingly, however, Edward's attention was drawn towards military affairs. After suppressing a minor rebellion in Wales in 1276–77, Edward responded to a second rebellion in 1282–83 with a full-scale war of conquest. After a successful campaign, Edward subjected Wales to English rule, built a series of castles and towns in the countryside and settled them with Englishmen. Next, his efforts were directed towards Scotland. Initially invited to arbitrate a succession dispute, Edward claimed feudal suzerainty over the kingdom. In the war that followed, the Scots persevered, even though the English seemed victorious at several points. At the same time there were problems at home. In the mid-1290s, extensive military campaigns required high levels of taxation, and Edward met with both lay and ecclesiastical opposition. These crises were initially averted, but issues remained unsettled. When the king died in 1307, he left to his son, Edward II, an ongoing war with Scotland and many financial and political problems.

Edward I was a tall man for his era, hence the nickname "Longshanks". He was temperamental, and this, along with his height, made him an intimidating man, and he often instilled fear in his contemporaries. Nevertheless, he held the respect of his subjects for the way he embodied the medieval ideal of kingship, as a soldier, an administrator and a man of faith. Modern historians have been more divided on their assessment of the king; while some have praised him for his contribution to the law and administration, others have criticised him for his uncompromising attitude to his nobility. Currently, Edward I is credited with many accomplishments during his reign, including restoring royal authority after the reign of Henry III, establishing parliament as a permanent institution and thereby also a functional system for raising taxes, and reforming the law through statutes. At the same time, he is also often criticised for other actions, such as his brutal conduct towards the Scots, and issuing the Edict of Expulsion in 1290, by which the Jews were expelled from England. The Edict remained in effect for the rest of the Middle Ages, and it would be over 350 years until it was formally overturned in 1656.

Early years

Childhood and marriage

thumb|upright|alt=Inside an initial letter are drawn two heads with necks, a male over a female. They are both wearing coronets. The man's left eye is drawn different both from his right and those of the woman.|Early fourteenth-century manuscript initial showing Edward and his wife Eleanor. The artist has perhaps tried to depict Edward's blepharoptosis, a trait he inherited from his father.Edward was born at the Palace of Westminster on the night of 17–18 June 1239, to King Henry III and Eleanor of Provence. Although the young prince was seriously ill on several occasions, in 1246, 1247, and 1251, he grew up to be strong and healthy. Edward was in the care of Hugh Giffard father of the future Chancellor Godfrey Giffard until Bartholomew Pecche took over at Giffard's death in 1246. Among his childhood friends was his cousin Henry of Almain, son of King Henry's brother Richard of Cornwall. Henry of Almain would remain a close companion of the prince, both through the civil war that followed, and later during the crusade.

In 1254, English fears of a Castilian invasion of the English province of Gascony induced Edward's father to arrange a politically expedient marriage between his fourteen-year-old son and Eleanor, the half-sister of King Alfonso X of Castile. Eleanor and Edward were married on 1 November 1254 in the Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas in Castile. As part of the marriage agreement, the young prince received grants of land worth 15,000 marks a year. Though the endowments King Henry made were sizeable, they offered Edward little independence. He had already received Gascony as early as 1249, but Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, had been appointed as royal lieutenant the year before and, consequently, drew its income, so in practice Edward derived neither authority nor revenue from this province. The grant he received in 1254 included most of Ireland, and much land in Wales and England, including the earldom of Chester, but the king retained much control over the land in question, particularly in Ireland, so Edward's power was limited there as well, and the king derived most of the income from those lands.

From 1254 to 1257, Edward was under the influence of his mother's relatives, known as the Savoyards, the most notable of whom was Peter of Savoy, the queen's uncle. After 1257, Edward increasingly fell in with the Poitevin or Lusignan faction the half-brothers of his father Henry III led by such men as William de Valence. This association was significant, because the two groups of privileged foreigners were resented by the established English aristocracy, and they would be at the centre of the ensuing years' baronial reform movement. There were tales of unruly and violent conduct by Edward and his Lusignan kinsmen, which raised questions about the royal heir's personal qualities. The next years would be formative on Edward's character.

Early ambitions

Edward had shown independence in political matters as early as 1255, when he sided with the Soler family in Gascony, in the ongoing conflict between the Soler and Colomb families. This ran contrary to his father's policy of mediation between the local factions. In May 1258, a group of magnates drew up a document for reform of the king’s government the so-called Provisions of Oxford largely directed against the Lusignans. Edward stood by his political allies and strongly opposed the Provisions. The reform movement succeeded in limiting the Lusignan influence, however, and gradually Edward’s attitude started to change. In March 1259, he entered into a formal alliance with one of the main reformers, Richard de Clare, Earl of Gloucester. Then, on 15 October 1259, he announced that he supported the barons' goals, and their leader, Simon de Montfort.

The motive behind Edward's change of heart could have been purely pragmatic; Montfort was in a good position to support his cause in Gascony. When the king left for France in November, Edward's behaviour turned into pure insubordination. He made several appointments to advance the cause of the reformers, causing his father to believe that his son was considering a coup d'état. When the king returned from France, he initially refused to see his son, but through the mediation of the Earl of Cornwall and the archbishop of Canterbury, the two were eventually reconciled. Edward was sent abroad, and in November 1260 he again united with the Lusignans, who had been exiled to France.

Back in England, early in 1262, Edward fell out with some of his former Lusignan allies over financial matters. The next year, King Henry sent him on a campaign in Wales against Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, with only limited results. Around the same time, Simon de Montfort, who had been out of the country since 1261, returned to England and reignited the baronial reform movement. It was at this pivotal moment, as the king seemed ready to resign to the barons' demands, that Edward began to take control of the situation. Whereas he had so far been unpredictable and equivocating, from this point on he remained firmly devoted to protecting his father's royal rights. He reunited with some of the men he had alienated the year before among them his childhood friend, Henry of Almain, and John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey and retook Windsor Castle from the rebels. Through the arbitration of King Louis IX of France, an agreement was made between the two parties. This so-called Mise of Amiens was largely favourable to the royalist side, and laid the seeds for further conflict.

Civil war

The years 1264–1267 saw the conflict known as the Second Barons' War, in which baronial forces led by Simon de Montfort fought against those who remained loyal to the king. The first scene of battle was the city of Gloucester, which Edward managed to retake from the enemy. When Robert de Ferrers, earl of Derby, came to the assistance of the rebels, Edward negotiated a truce with the earl, the terms of which he later broke. Edward then captured Northampton from Montfort's son Simon, before embarking on a retaliatory campaign against Derby's lands. The baronial and royalist forces finally met at the Battle of Lewes, on 14 May 1264. Edward, commanding the right wing, performed well, and soon defeated the London contingent of Montfort's forces. Unwisely, however, he followed the scattered enemy in pursuit, and on his return found the rest of the royal army defeated. By the agreement known as the Mise of Lewes, Edward and his cousin Henry of Almain were given up as prisoners to Montfort.

Edward remained in captivity until March, and even after his release he was kept under strict surveillance. Then, on 28 May, he managed to escape his custodians and joined up with the Earl of Gloucester, who had recently defected to the king's side. Montfort's support was now dwindling, and Edward retook Worcester and Gloucester with relatively little effort. Meanwhile, Montfort had made an alliance with Llywelyn and started moving east to join forces with his son Simon. Edward managed to make a surprise attack at Kenilworth Castle, where the younger Montfort was quartered, before moving on to cut off the earl of Leicester. The two forces then met at the second great encounter of the Barons' War the Battle of Evesham, on 4 August 1265. Montfort stood little chance against the superior royal forces, and after his defeat he was killed and mutilated on the field.

Through such episodes as the deception of Derby at Gloucester, Edward acquired a reputation as untrustworthy. During the summer campaign, though, he began to learn from his mistakes, and acted in a way that gained the respect and admiration of his contemporaries. The war did not end with Montfort's death, and Edward participated in the continued campaigning. At Christmas, he came to terms with the younger Simon de Montfort and his associates at the Isle of Axholme in Lincolnshire, and in March he led a successful assault on the Cinque Ports. A contingent of rebels held out in the virtually impregnable Kenilworth Castle and did not surrender until the drafting of the conciliatory Dictum of Kenilworth. In April it seemed as if Gloucester would take up the cause of the reform movement, and civil war would resume, but after a renegotiation of the terms of the Dictum of Kenilworth, the parties came f. Edward, however, was little involved in the settlement negotiations following the wars; at this point his main focus was on planning his upcoming crusade.

Crusade and accession

Edward took the crusader's cross in an elaborate ceremony on 24 June 1268, with his brother Edmund and cousin Henry of Almain. Among others who committed themselves to the Ninth Crusade were Edward's former adversaries—like the earl of Gloucester, though the earl did not ultimately participate. With the country pacified, the greatest impediment to the project was providing sufficient finances. King Louis IX of France, who was the leader of the crusade, provided a loan of about £17,500. This, however, was not enough; the rest had to be raised through a tax on the laity, which had not been levied since 1237. In May 1270, Parliament granted a tax of a twentieth, in exchange for which the king agreed to reconfirm Magna Carta, and to impose restrictions on Jewish money lending. On 20 August Edward sailed from Dover for France. Historians have not determined the size of the force with any certainty, but Edward probably brought with him around 225 knights and all together less than 1000 men.

Originally, the Crusaders intended to relieve the beleaguered Christian stronghold of Acre, but Louis had been diverted to Tunis. The French king and his brother Charles of Anjou, who had made himself king of Sicily, decided to attack the emirate to establish a stronghold in North Africa. The plans failed when the French forces were struck by an epidemic which, on 25 August, took the life of King Louis himself. By the time Edward arrived at Tunis, Charles had already signed a treaty with the emir, and there was little else to do but return to Sicily. The crusade was postponed until next spring, but a devastating storm off the coast of Sicily dissuaded Charles of Anjou and Louis's successor Philip III from any further campaigning. Edward decided to continue alone, and on 9 May 1271 he finally landed at Acre.

By then, the situation in the Holy Land was a precarious one. Jerusalem had fallen in 1244, and Acre was now the centre of the Christian state. The Muslim states were on the offensive under the Mamluk leadership of Baibars, and were now threatening Acre itself. Though Edward's men were an important addition to the garrison, they stood little chance against Baibars' superior forces, and an initial raid at nearby St Georges-de-Lebeyne in June was largely futile. An embassy to the Mongols helped bring about an attack on Aleppo in the north, which helped to distract Baibar's forces. In November, Edward led a raid on Qaqun, which could have served as a bridgehead to Jerusalem, but both the Mongol invasion and the attack on Qaqun failed. Things now seemed increasingly desperate, and in May 1272 Hugh III of Cyprus, who was the nominal king of Jerusalem, signed a ten–year truce with Baibars. Edward was initially defiant, but an attack by a Muslim assassin in June forced him to abandon any further campaigning. Although he managed to kill the assassin, he was struck in the arm by a dagger feared to be poisoned, and became severely weakened over the following months.

It was not until 24 September that Edward left Acre. Arriving in Sicily, he was met with the news that his father had died on 16 November. Edward was deeply saddened by this news, but rather than hurrying home at once, he made a leisurely journey northwards. This was partly due to his health still being poor, but also due to a lack of urgency. The political situation in England was stable after the mid-century upheavals, and Edward was proclaimed king at his father's death, rather than at his own coronation, as had until then been customary. In Edward's absence, the country was governed by a royal council, led by Robert Burnell. The new king embarked on an overland journey through Italy and France, where among other things he visited the pope in Rome and suppressed a rebellion in Gascony. Only on 2 August 1274 did he return to England, and was crowned on 19 August.

Reign

Administration and the law

Upon returning home, Edward immediately embarked on the administrative business of the nation, and his major concern was restoring order and re-establishing royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father. To accomplish this, he immediately ordered an extensive change of administrative personnel. The most important of these was the appointment of Robert Burnell as chancellor, a man who would remain in the post until 1292 as one of the king's closest associates. Edward then replaced most local officials, such as the escheators and sheriffs. This last measure was done in preparation for an extensive inquest covering all of England, that would hear complaints about abuse of power by royal officers. The inquest produced the set of so-called Hundred Rolls, from the administrative subdivision of the hundred.

The second purpose of the inquest was to establish what land and rights the crown had lost during the reign of Henry III.

The Hundred Rolls formed the basis for the later legal inquiries called the ''Quo warranto'' proceedings. The purpose of these inquiries was to establish by what warrant () various liberties were held. If the defendant could not produce a royal licence to prove the grant of the liberty, then it was the crown's opinionbased on the writings of the influential thirteenth-century legal scholar Bractonthat the liberty should revert to the king.

By enacting the Statute of Gloucester in 1278 the king challenged baronial rights through a revival of the system of general eyres (royal justices to go on tour throughout the land) and through a significant increase in the number of pleas of quo warranto to be heard by such eyres.

This caused great consternation among the aristocracy, who insisted that long use in itself constituted license. A compromise was eventually reached in 1290, whereby a liberty was considered legitimate as long as it could be shown to have been exercised since the coronation of King Richard I, in 1189. Royal gains from the ''Quo warranto'' proceedings were insignificant; few liberties were returned to the king. Edward had nevertheless won a significant victory, in clearly establishing the principle that all liberties essentially emanated from the crown.

The 1290 statute of ''Quo warranto'' was only one part of a wider legislative effort, which was one of the most important contributions of Edward I's reign. This era of legislative action had started already at the time of the baronial reform movement; the Statute of Marlborough (1267) contained elements both of the Provisions of Oxford and the Dictum of Kenilworth. The compilation of the Hundred Rolls was followed shortly after by the issue of Westminster I (1275), which asserted the royal prerogative and outlined restrictions on liberties. In the Mortmain (1279), the issue was grants of land to the church. The first clause of Westminster II (1285), known as ''De donis conditionalibus'', dealt with family settlement of land, and entails. Merchants (1285) established firm rules for the recovery of debts, while Winchester (1285) dealt with peacekeeping on a local level. ''Quia emptores'' (1290)issued along with ''Quo warranto''set out to remedy land ownership disputes resulting from alienation of land by subinfeudation. The age of the great statutes largely ended with the death of Robert Burnell in 1292.

Welsh wars

Llywelyn ap Gruffudd enjoyed an advantageous situation in the aftermath of the Barons' War. Through the 1267 Treaty of Montgomery, he officially obtained land he had conquered in the Four Cantrefs of Perfeddwlad and was recognised in his title of Prince of Wales. Armed conflicts nevertheless continued, in particular with certain dissatisfied Marcher Lords, such as the earl of Gloucester, Roger Mortimer and Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford. Problems were exacerbated when Llywelyn's younger brother Dafydd and Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn of Powys, after failing in an assassination attempt against Llywelyn, defected to the English in 1274. Citing ongoing hostilities and the English king's harbouring of his enemies, Llywelyn refused to do homage to Edward. For Edward, a further provocation came from Llywelyn's planned marriage to Eleanor, daughter of Simon de Montfort. In November 1276, war was declared. Initial operations were launched under the captaincy of Mortimer, Lancaster (Edward's brother Edmund) and William de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. Support for Llywelyn was weak among his own countrymen. In July 1277 Edward invaded with a force of 15,500 of whom 9,000 were Welshmen. The campaign never came to a major battle, and Llywelyn soon realised he had no choice but to surrender. By the Treaty of Aberconwy in November 1277, he was left only with the land of Gwynedd, though he was allowed to retain the title of Prince of Wales.

When war broke out again in 1282, it was an entirely different undertaking. For the Welsh, this war was over national identity, enjoying wide support, provoked particularly by attempts to impose English law on Welsh subjects. For Edward, it became a war of conquest rather than simply a punitive expedition, like the former campaign. The war started with a rebellion by Dafydd, who was discontented with the reward he had received from Edward in 1277. Llywelyn and other Welsh chieftains soon joined in, and initially the Welsh experienced military success. In June, Gloucester was defeated at the Battle of Llandeilo Fawr. On 6 November, while John Peckham, archbishop of Canterbury, was conducting peace negotiations, Edward's commander of Anglesey, Luke de Tany, decided to carry out a surprise attack. A pontoon bridge had been built to the mainland, but shortly after Tany and his men crossed over, they were ambushed by the Welsh and suffered heavy losses at the Battle of Moel-y-don. The Welsh advances ended on 11 December, however, when Llywelyn was lured into a trap and killed at the Battle of Orewin Bridge. The conquest of Gwynedd was complete with the capture in June 1283 of Dafydd, who was taken to Shrewsbury and executed as a traitor the following autumn.

Further rebellions occurred in 1287–8 and, more seriously, in 1294with five under Madog ap Llywelyn, a distant relative of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. This last conflict demanded the king's own attention, but in both cases the rebellions were put down. By the 1284 Statute of Rhuddlan, the Principality of Wales was incorporated into England and was given an administrative system like the English, with counties policed by sheriffs. English law was introduced in criminal cases, though the Welsh were allowed to maintain their own customary laws in some cases of property disputes. After 1277, and increasingly after 1283, Edward embarked on a full-scale project of English settlement of Wales, creating new towns like Flint, Aberystwyth, and Rhuddlan. An extensive project of castle-building was also initiated. The assignment was given to Master James of Saint George, a prestigious architect whom Edward had met in Savoy on his return from the crusade. Among the major buildings were the castles of Beaumaris, Caernarfon, Conwy and Harlech. His programme of castle building in Wales heralded the introduction of the widespread use of arrowslits in castle walls across Europe, drawing on Eastern influences. Also a product of the Crusades was the introduction of the concentric castle, and four of the eight castles Edward founded in Wales followed this design. In 1284, King Edward's son Edward the later Edward II was born at Caernarfon Castle. In 1301 at Lincoln, the young Edward became the first English prince to be invested with the title of Prince of Wales.

Diplomacy and war on the Continent

Edward never again went on crusade after his return to England in 1274, but he maintained an intention to do so, and took the cross again in 1287. This intention guided much of his foreign policy, until at least 1291. To stage a European-wide crusade, it was essential to prevent conflict between the greater princes on the continent. A major obstacle to this was represented by the conflict between the French House of Anjou ruling southern Italy, and the kingdom of Aragon in Spain. In 1282, the citizens of Palermo rose up against Charles of Anjou and turned for help to Peter of Aragon, in what has become known as the Sicilian Vespers. In the war that followed, Charles of Anjou's son, Charles of Salerno, was taken prisoner by the Aragonese. The French began planning an attack on Aragon, raising the prospect of a large-scale European war. To Edward, it was imperative that such a war be avoided, and in Paris in 1286 he brokered a truce between France and Aragon that helped secure Charles' release. As far as the crusades were concerned, however, Edward's efforts proved ineffective. A devastating blow to his plans came in 1291, when the Mamluks captured Acre, the last Christian stronghold in the Holy Land.

After the fall of Acre, Edward's international role changed from that of a diplomat to an antagonist. He had long been deeply involved in the affairs of his own Duchy of Gascony. In 1278 he assigned an investigating commission to his trusted associates Otto de Grandson and the chancellor Robert Burnell, which caused the replacement of the seneschal Luke de Tany. In 1286, Edward visited the region himself and stayed for almost three years. The perennial problem, however, was the status of Gascony within the kingdom of France, and Edward's role as the French king's vassal. On his diplomatic mission in 1286, Edward had paid homage to the new king, Philip IV, but in 1294 Philip declared Gascony forfeit when Edward refused to appear before him in Paris to discuss the recent conflict between English, Gascon, and French sailors (that had resulted in several French ships being captured, along with the sacking of the French port of La Rochelle).

In the war that followed, Edward planned for a two-pronged attack. While the English forces focused on Gascony, alliances were made with the princes of the Low Countries, Germany, and Burgundy, who would attack France from the north. The alliances proved volatile, however, and Edward was facing trouble at home at the time, both in Wales and Scotland. It was not until August 1297 that he was finally able to sail for Flanders, at which time his allies there had already suffered defeat. The support from Germany never materialised, and Edward was forced to seek peace. His marriage to the French princess Margaret, Philip IV's half-sister and his own first cousin once removed, in 1299 ended the war, but the whole affair had proven both costly and fruitless for the English.

The Great Cause

The relationship between the nations of England and Scotland by the 1280s was one of relatively harmonious coexistence. The issue of homage did not reach the same level of controversy as it did in Wales; in 1278 King Alexander III of Scotland paid homage to Edward I, but apparently only for the lands he held of Edward in England. Problems arose only with the Scottish succession crisis of the early 1290s. In the years from 1281 to 1284, Alexander's two sons and one daughter died in quick succession. Then, in 1286, King Alexander died himself, leaving as heir to the throne of Scotland the three-year-old Margaret, the Maid of Norway, who was born in 1283 to Alexander's daughter Margaret and King Eric II of Norway. By the Treaty of Birgham, it was agreed that Margaret should marry King Edward's then one-year-old son Edward of Carnarvon, though Scotland would remain free of English overlordship.

Margaret, by now seven years of age, sailed from Norway for Scotland in the autumn of 1290, but fell ill on the way and died in Orkney. This left the country without an obvious heir, and led to the succession dispute known to history as the Great Cause. Even though as many as fourteen claimants put forward their claims to the title, the real contest was between John Balliol and Robert de Brus. The Scottish magnates made a request to Edward to arbitrate in the dispute. At Birgham, with the prospect of a personal union between the two realms, the question of suzerainty had not been of great importance to Edward. Now he insisted that, if he were to settle the contest, he had to be fully recognised as Scotland's feudal overlord. The Scots were reluctant to make such a concession, and replied that since the country had no king, no one had the authority to make this decision. This problem was circumvented when the competitors agreed that the realm would be handed over to Edward until a rightful heir had been found. After a lengthy hearing, a decision was made in favour of John Balliol on 17 November 1292.

Even after Balliol's accession, Edward still continued to assert his authority over Scotland. Against the objections of the Scots, he agreed to hear appeals on cases ruled on by the court of guardians that had governed Scotland during the interregnum. A further provocation came in a case brought by Macduff, son of Malcolm, Earl of Fife, in which Edward demanded that Balliol appear in person before the English Parliament to answer the charges. This the Scottish king did, but the final straw was Edward's demand that the Scottish magnates provide military service in the war against France. This was unacceptable; the Scots instead formed an alliance with France and launched an unsuccessful attack on Carlisle. Edward responded by invading Scotland in 1296 and taking the town of Berwick in a particularly bloody attack. At the Battle of Dunbar, Scottish resistance was effectively crushed. Edward confiscated the Stone of Destiny – the Scottish coronation stoneand brought it to Westminster, deposed Balliol and placed him in the Tower of London, and installed Englishmen to govern the country. The campaign had been very successful, but the English triumph would only be temporary.

Finances, Parliament and the Expulsion of Jews

Edward I's frequent military campaigns put a great financial strain on the nation. There were several ways through which the king could raise money for war, including customs duties, money lending and lay subsidies. In 1275, Edward I negotiated an agreement with the domestic merchant community that secured a permanent duty on wool. In 1303, a similar agreement was reached with foreign merchants, in return for certain rights and privileges. The revenues from the customs duty were handled by the Riccardi, a group of bankers from Lucca in Italy. This was in return for their service as money lenders to the crown, which helped finance the Welsh Wars. When the war with France broke out, the French king confiscated the Riccardi's assets, and the bank went bankrupt. After this, the Frescobaldi of Florence took over the role as money lenders to the English crown.

Another source of crown income was represented by England's Jews. The Jews were the king's personal property, and he was free to tax them at will. By 1280, the Jews had been exploited to a level at which they were no longer of much financial use to the crown, but they could still be used in political bargaining. Their usury businessa practice forbidden to Christianshad made many people indebted to them and caused general popular resentment. In 1275, Edward had issued the Statute of the Jewry, which outlawed usury and encouraged the Jews to take up other professions; in 1279, in the context of a crack-down on coin-clippers, he arrested all the heads of Jewish households in England and had around 300 of them executed. In 1280, he ordered all Jews to attend special sermons, preached by Dominican friars, with the hope of persuading them to convert, but these exhortations were not followed. The final attack on the Jews in England came in the Edict of Expulsion in 1290, whereby Edward formally expelled all Jews from England. This not only generated revenues through royal appropriation of Jewish loans and property, but it also gave Edward the political capital to negotiate a substantial lay subsidy in the 1290 Parliament. The expulsion, which was not reversed until 1656, followed a precedent set by other European territorial princes: Philip II of France had expelled all Jews from his own lands in 1182; John I, Duke of Brittany, drove them out of his duchy in 1239; and in the late 1240s Louis IX of France had expelled the Jews from the royal demesne before his first passage to the East.

Among the main achievements of the reign of Edward I were the reforms of the institution of the English Parliament and its transformation into a source for generating revenues. Edward held Parliament at a reasonably regular basis throughout his reign. In 1295, however, a significant change occurred. For this Parliament, in addition to the secular and ecclesiastical lords, two knights from each county and two representatives from each borough were summoned. The representation of commons in Parliament was nothing new; what was new was the authority under which these representatives were summoned. Whereas previously the commons had been expected simply to assent to decisions already made by the magnates, it was now proclaimed that they should meet with the full authority (''plena potestas'') of their communities, to give assent to decisions made in Parliament. The king now had full backing for collecting lay subsidies from the entire population. Lay subsidies were taxes collected at a certain fraction of the moveable property of all laymen. Whereas Henry III had only collected four of these in his reign, Edward I collected nine. This format eventually became the standard for later Parliaments, and historians have named the assembly the "Model Parliament".

Constitutional crisis

The incessant warfare of the 1290s put a great financial demand on Edward's subjects. Whereas the king had only levied three lay subsidies until 1294, four such taxes were granted in the years 1294–97, raising over £200,000. Along with this came the burden of prises (appropriation of food), seizure of wool and hides, and the unpopular additional duty on wool, dubbed the ''maltolt''. The fiscal demands on the king's subjects caused resentment, and this resentment eventually led to serious political opposition. The initial resistance was not caused by the lay taxes, however, but by clerical subsidies. In 1294, Edward made a demand of a grant of one half of all clerical revenues. There was some resistance, but the king responded by threatening with outlawry, and the grant was eventually made. At the time, the archbishopric of Canterbury was vacant, since Robert Winchelsey was in Italy to receive consecration. Winchelsey returned in January 1295 and had to consent to another grant in November of that year. In 1296, however, his position changed when he received the papal bull ''Clericis laicos''. This bull prohibited the clergy from paying taxes to lay authorities without explicit consent from the Pope. When the clergy, with reference to the bull, refused to pay, Edward responded with outlawry. Winchelsey was presented with a dilemma between loyalty to the king and upholding the papal bull, and he responded by leaving it to every individual clergyman to pay as he saw fit. By the end of the year, a solution was offered by the new papal bull ''Etsi de statu'', which allowed clerical taxation in cases of pressing urgency. Quoted in |align=left}}

Opposition from the laity took longer to surface. This resistance focused on two things: the king's right to demand military service, and his right to levy taxes. At the Salisbury parliament of February 1297, Roger Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, in his capacity as Marshal of England, objected to a royal summons of military service. Bigod argued that the military obligation only extended to service alongside the king; if the king intended to sail to Flanders, he could not send his subjects to Gascony. In July, Bigod and Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford and Constable of England, drew up a series of complaints known as the Remonstrances, in which objections to the extortionate level of taxation were voiced. Undeterred, Edward requested another lay subsidy. This one was particularly provocative, because the king had sought consent only from a small group of magnates, rather than from representatives from the communities in parliament. While Edward was in Winchelsea, preparing for the campaign in Flanders, Bigod and Bohun turned up at the Exchequer to prevent the collection of the tax. As the king left the country with a greatly reduced force, the kingdom seemed to be on the verge of civil war. What resolved the situation was the English defeat by the Scots at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. The renewed threat to the homeland gave king and magnates common cause. Edward signed the ''Confirmatio cartarum''a confirmation of ''Magna Carta'' and its accompanying Charter of the Forestand the nobility agreed to serve with the king on a campaign in Scotland.

Edward's problems with the opposition did not end with the Falkirk campaign. Over the following years he would be held up to the promises he had made, in particular that of upholding the Charter of the Forest. In the parliament of 1301, the king was forced to order an assessment of the royal forests, but in 1305 he obtained a papal bull that freed him from this concession. Ultimately, it was a failure in personnel that spelt the end of the opposition against Edward I. Bohun died late in 1298, after returning from the Falkirk campaign. As for Bigod, in 1302 he arrived at an agreement with the king that was beneficial for both: Bigod, who had no children, made Edward his heir, in return for a generous annual grant. Edward finally got his revenge on Winchelsey in 1305, when Clement V was elected pope. Clement was a Gascon sympathetic to the king, and on Edward's instigation had Winchelsey suspended from office.

Final years: return to Scotland

The situation in Scotland had seemed resolved when Edward left the country in 1296, but resistance soon emerged under the leadership of the strategically gifted and charismatic William Wallace. On 11 September 1297, a large English force under the leadership of John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey, and Hugh de Cressingham was routed by a much smaller Scottish army led by Wallace and Andrew Moray at Stirling Bridge. The defeat sent shockwaves into England, and preparations for a retaliatory campaign started immediately. Soon after Edward returned from Flanders, he headed north. On 22 July 1298, in the only major battle he had fought since Evesham in 1265, Edward defeated Wallace's forces at the Battle of Falkirk. Edward, however, was not able to take advantage of the momentum, and the next year the Scots managed to recapture Stirling Castle. Even though Edward campaigned in Scotland both in 1300 and 1301, the Scots refused to engage in open battle again, preferring instead to raid the English countryside in smaller groups. The English managed to subdue the country by other means, however. In 1303, a peace agreement was reached between England and France, effectively breaking up the Franco-Scottish alliance. Robert the Bruce, the grandson of the claimant to the crown in 1291, had sided with the English in the winter of 1301–02. By 1304, most of the other nobles of the country had also pledged their allegiance to Edward, and this year the English also managed to re-take Stirling Castle. A great propaganda victory was achieved in 1305 when Wallace was betrayed by Sir John de Menteith and turned over to the English, who had him taken to London where he was publicly executed. With Scotland largely under English control, Edward installed Englishmen and collaborating Scots to govern the country.

The situation changed again on 10 February 1306, when Robert the Bruce murdered his rival John Comyn and a few weeks later, on 25 March, had himself crowned king of Scotland by Isobel, sister of the Earl of Buchan. Bruce now embarked on a campaign to restore Scottish independence, and this campaign took the English by surprise. Edward was suffering ill health by this time, and instead of leading an expedition himself, he gave different military commands to Aymer de Valence and Henry Percy, while the main royal army was led by the Prince of Wales. The English initially met with success; on 19 June, Aymer de Valence routed Bruce at the Battle of Methven. Bruce was forced into hiding, while the English forces recaptured their lost territory and castles. Edward responded with severe brutality against Bruce's allies; it was clear that he now regarded the struggle not as a war between two nations, but as the suppression of a rebellion of disloyal subjects. This brutality, though, rather than helping to subdue the Scots, had the opposite effect, and rallied growing support for Bruce. In February Bruce reappeared and started gathering men, and in May he defeated Aymer de Valence at the Battle of Loudoun Hill. Edward, who had rallied somewhat, now moved north himself. On the way, however, he developed dysentery, and his condition deteriorated. On 6 July he encamped at Burgh by Sands, just south of the Scottish border. When his servants came the next morning to lift him up so that he could eat, he died in their arms.

Various stories emerged about Edward’s deathbed wishes; according to one tradition, he requested that his heart be carried to the Holy Land, along with an army to fight the infidels. A more dubious story tells of how he wished for his bones be carried along on future expeditions against the Scots. Another account of his deathbed scene is more credible; according to one chronicle, Edward gathered around him the earls of Lincoln and Warwick, Aymer de Valence, and Robert Clifford, and charged them with looking after his son Edward. In particular they should make sure that Piers Gaveston was not allowed to return to the country. This wish, however, the son ignored, and had his favourite recalled from exile almost immediately. Edward I's body was brought south, and after a lengthy vigil he was buried in Westminster Abbey on 27 October. The new king, Edward II, remained in the north until August, but then abandoned the campaign and headed south. He was crowned king on 25 February 1308.

Character and assessment

Physically, Edward was an imposing man; at 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) he towered over most of his contemporaries, and hence perhaps his epithet "longshanks". He also had a reputation for a fierce temper, and he could be intimidating; one story tells of how the Dean of St Paul's, wishing to confront Edward over the high level of taxation in 1295, fell down and died once he was in the king's presence. When Edward of Caernarfon demanded an earldom for his favourite Gaveston, the king erupted in anger and supposedly tore out handfuls of his son's hair. Some of his contemporaries considered Edward frightening, particularly in his early days. The ''Song of Lewes'' in 1264 described him as a leopard, an animal regarded as particularly powerful and unpredictable. Despite these frightening character traits, however, Edward's contemporaries considered him an able, even an ideal, king. Though not loved by his subjects, he was feared and respected. He met contemporary expectations of kingship in his role as an able, determined soldier and in his embodiment of shared chivalric ideals. In religious observance he also fulfilled the expectations of his age: he attended chapel regularly and gave alms generously.

Modern historians have been more divided in their view of Edward I. Bishop William Stubbs, working in the whig tradition of historical writing, praised Edward as a king deliberately working towards the goal of a constitutional government. "...the self-regulating action of the body politic", according to Stubbs "was very much the work of Edward." Stubbs' student T. F. Tout departed from this view. In Tout's opinion, "Even the parliamentary system grew up in obedience to the royal will. It was no yielding to a people crying for liberty, but the shrewd device of an autocrat, anxious to use the mass of the people as a check upon his hereditary foes among the greater baronage." F. M. Powicke offered a more positive perspective in his extensive work on Edward I in ''King Henry III and the Lord Edward'' (1947) and ''The Thirteenth Century'' (1953). K. B. McFarlane, on the other hand, criticised Edward's restrictive policy towards his earls, and concluded that "...he belonged less to the future than to the past."

In 1988, Michael Prestwich released what has been called "...the first scholarly study devoted exclusively to the political career of Edward I." Prestwich's work, which is considered authoritative, tries to assess Edward by the standards of his own age, and concludes that his reign was a great one. His contributions to the development of the law, parliament and a functioning system of taxation, as well as his military exploits, stand out in particular. At the same time, he left a legacy of financial difficulties, political distrust and an unresolved situation in Scotland. The roots of the disasters of the reign of Edward II can be found in the reign of Edward I. Other contemporary writers have been more willing to criticise Edward for his failings, particularly his severe treatment of the Jews. This view of Edward is reflected in the popular perception of the king, as can be seen in the 1995 movie ''Braveheart'''s portrayal of the king as a hard-hearted tyrant.

Name and epithets

Edward, being an Anglo-Saxon name, was not a common name among the aristocracy of England after the Norman Conquest. Henry III was devoted to the veneration of Edward the Confessor, and for this reason decided to name his firstborn son after the saint. Other Anglo-Saxon kings had included Edward the Elder and Edward the Martyr, and numerals were still not commonly used in Edward's time; as the first post-Conquest king to carry that name, he was referred to simply as "King Edward", "King Edward, son of King Henry", or "King Edward, the first by that name after the Conquest". It was only after the succession of first his son and then his grandsonboth of whom bore the same namethat "Edward I" came into common usage. The epithet under which Edward I is best known is probably "Longshanks"meaning "long legs" or "long shins"in reference to his tall stature. On 2 May 1774, the Society of Antiquaries opened Edward's tomb in Westminster Abbey. They reported that his body had been well preserved over the preceding 467 years, and measured the king's body to be 6 feet 2 inches (188 cm). At this length, he would tower over most of his common contemporaries. Another epithet applied to Edward I is "Hammer of the Scots". This comes from the Latin inscription on his tomb, which reads ''Edwardus Primus Scottorum Malleus hic est, 1308. Pactum Serva'' ("Here is Edward I, Hammer of the Scots, 1308. Keep the Vow"). This inscription, however, referring to his incessant campaigns against the Scots in the later years of his reign, is from a later date, probably the sixteenth century. The seventeenth-century lawyer Edward Coke called Edward the "English Justinian". This was a way of highlighting the king's legislative accomplishments, by comparing him to the renowned Byzantine law-maker Justinian I. Unlike Justinian, Edward did not codify the law, but as William Stubbs pointed out, "if it be meant to denote the importance and permanence of his legislation and the dignity of his position in legal history", the comparison is still a valid one.

Issue

Eleanor of Castile died on 28 November 1290. Uncommon for such marriages of the period, the couple loved each other. Moreover like his father, Edward was very devoted to his queen and was faithful to her throughout their married lives—a rarity among monarchs of the time. He was deeply affected by her death. He displayed his grief by erecting twelve so-called Eleanor crosses, one at each place where her funeral cortège stopped for the night. As part of the peace accord between England and France in 1294, it was agreed that Edward should marry the French princess Margaret. The marriage took place in 1299.

Edward and Eleanor had at least fourteen children, perhaps as many as sixteen. Of these, five daughters survived into adulthood, but only one boy outlived Edward: the future King Edward II. Edward I was reportedly concerned with his son's failure to live up to the expectations of an heir to the crown, and at one point decided to exile the prince's favourite Piers Gaveston. Edward may have been aware of his son's bisexual orientation even though he did not throw the prince's favourite from the castle battlements as depicted in ''Braveheart''.

By Margaret, Edward had two sons, both of whom lived into adulthood, and a daughter who died as a child. The Hailes Abbey chronicle indicates that John Botetourt may have been Edward's illegitimate son, however the claim is unsubstantiated.

before 17 June 1264 Summer or January 1265 13 July 1266 6 May 1268 c. 18 June 1269 after May 1271 1272 24 November 1273 Probably< 1 May 1276 December 1277 11/12 Mar. 1279 1280/81 c. 7 Aug. 1282 25 Apr. 1284 1 Aug. 1301 6 May 1306

colspan="4" style="background:"#cccccc"	Children by Eleanor of Castile
width="10%"	Name
Daughter	May 1255	29 May 1255
Katherine	|	5 September 1264	Buried at Westminster Abbey.
Joan	|	before 7 September 1265	Buried at Westminster Abbey.
John of England (1266-1271)	John	|	3 August 1271	Died at Wallingford, while in the custody of his granduncle, Richard, Earl of Cornwall. Buried at Westminster Abbey.
Henry of England	Henry	|	14 October 1274	Buried at Westminster Abbey.
Eleanor of England (1269–1298)	Eleanor	|	19 Aug. 1298	Married, in 1293, Henry III, Count of Bar, by whom she had two children. Buried at Westminster Abbey.
Juliana Catherine	|	5 September 1271	Acre, Israel>Acre.
Joan of Acre	Joan	|	23 Apr. 1307	Married (1) in 1290 Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford
[[Alphonso, Earl of Chester	Alphonso	|	19 August 1284	Buried at Westminster Abbey.
Margaret of England (1275–1333)	Margaret	15 Mar. 1275	|	After11 Mar. 1333	Married John II of Brabant in 1290, with whom she had one son.
Berengaria	|	between 7 June 1277 and 1278	Buried at Westminster Abbey.
Daughter	|	January 1278	Buried at Westminster Abbey.
Mary of Woodstock	Mary	|	29 May 1332	A Benedictine nun in Amesbury, Wiltshire, where she was probably buried.
Son	|	1280/81	Little evidence exists for this child.
Elizabeth of Rhuddlan	Elizabeth	|	5 May 1316	John I, Count of Holland, (2) in 1302 Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford>Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford. The first marriage was childless; by Bohun Elizabeth had ten children.
Edward II of England	Edward	|	21 Sept. 1327	Succeeded his father as king of England. In 1308 he married Isabella of France, with whom he had four children.
colspan="4" style="background:"#cccccc">Children by Margaret of France
!Name!!Birth!!Death!!Notes
Thomas of Brotherton	Thomas	1 June 1300	4 Aug. 1338
Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent	Edmund	|	19 Mar. 1330	Margaret Wake, 3rd Baroness Wake of Liddell>Margaret Wake with issue.
Eleanor	|	1310

Ancestry

Notes

References

|location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/2966}} |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8518}}

External links

Edward I of England at royal.gov.uk

Images of the castles of Edward I in Wales

King Edward I Monument

Category:1239 births Category:1307 deaths Category:English people of French descent Category:Anglo-Normans in Wales Category:Burials at Westminster Abbey Category:Earls in the Peerage of England *305 Category:House of Plantagenet Category:Lords Warden of the Cinque Ports Category:People from Westminster Category:Roman Catholic monarchs Category:Christians of the Eighth Crusade Category:Christians of the Ninth Crusade Category:People of the Wars of Scottish Independence

af:Eduard I van Engeland ang:Ēadƿeard I Englalandes ar:إدوارد الأول ملك إنجلترا bg:Едуард I bs:Eduard I, kralj Engleske br:Edouarzh Iañ (Bro-Saoz) ca:Eduard I d'Anglaterra cs:Eduard I. cy:Edward I, brenin Lloegr da:Edvard 1. af England de:Eduard I. (England) et:Edward I el:Εδουάρδος Α' της Αγγλίας es:Eduardo I de Inglaterra eo:Eduardo la 1-a (Anglio) eu:Eduardo I.a Ingalaterrakoa fa:ادوارد یکم fr:Édouard Ier d'Angleterre ga:Éadbhard I Shasana gd:Eideard I Shasainn gl:Eduardo I de Inglaterra ko:에드워드 1세 hr:Edvard I. Dugonogi id:Edward I dari Inggris is:Játvarður 1. it:Edoardo I d'Inghilterra he:אדוארד הראשון, מלך אנגליה ka:ედუარდ I (ინგლისი) la:Eduardus I (rex Angliae) lv:Edvards I Plantagenets lt:Eduardas I hu:I. Eduárd angol király mk:Едвард I mr:एडवर्ड पहिला, इंग्लंड arz:إدوارد الأول ملك إنجلترا ms:Edward I dari England nl:Eduard I van Engeland ja:エドワード1世 (イングランド王) no:Edvard I av England nn:Edvard I av England oc:Edoard Ièr d'Anglatèrra pl:Edward I Długonogi pt:Eduardo I de Inglaterra ro:Eduard I al Angliei ru:Эдуард I sco:Edward I o Ingland simple:Edward I of England sk:Eduard I. (Anglicko) sr:Едвард I Плантагенет fi:Edvard I (Englanti) sv:Edvard I av England th:สมเด็จพระเจ้าเอ็ดเวิร์ดที่ 1 แห่งอังกฤษ tr:I. Edward uk:Едуард I Довгоногий vi:Edward I của Anh zh:爱德华一世 (英格兰)

Conventional long name	England
Common name	England
Flag width	125px
Alt	Vertical red cross on a white background
Image coat	Royal Standard of England (2) at 3^5 ratio.svg
Alt	Stylised image of three golden coloured lions, heads facing left, one above the other, on a dark red background
Symbol width	125px
Symbol type	Royal Banner
National motto	(French)"God and my right"
National anthem	None (''de jure'')God Save the Queen (''de facto'')
Prime minister	David Cameron
Patron saint	Saint George
Map width	250px
Map caption
Alt	Map of England within the British Isles and within Europe
Capital	London
Demonym	English
Largest city	capital
Official languages	English (''de facto'')
Regional languages	Cornish
Ethnic groups	87.5% White, 6.0% South Asian, 2.9% Black, 1.9% Mixed race, 0.8% Chinese, 0.8% Other
Ethnic groups year	2009
Government type	Non-devolved constituent country within a constitutional monarchy
Legislature	Parliament of the United Kingdom
Leader title1	Monarch
Leader name1	Elizabeth II
Leader title2	Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Leader name2	David Cameron MP
Area magnitude	1 E11
Area km2	130,395
Area sq mi	50,346
Population estimate	52,234,000
Population estimate year	2010
Population census	49,138,831
Population census year	2001
Population density km2	395
Currency	Pound sterling
Currency code	GBP
Time zone	GMT
Utc offset	0
Time zone dst	BST
Utc offset dst	+1
Cctld	.uk
Calling code	44
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy (AD)
Drives on	left }}

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, while the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separate it from continental Europe. Most of England comprises the central and southern part of the island of Great Britain in the North Atlantic. The country also includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.

The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Palaeolithic period, but it takes its name from the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in AD 927, and since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century, has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world. The English language, the Anglican Church, and English law—the basis for the common law legal systems of many other countries around the world—developed in England, and the country's parliamentary system of government has been widely adopted by other nations. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the world's first industrialised nation. England's Royal Society laid the foundations of modern experimental science.

England's terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north (for example, the mountainous Lake District, Pennines, and Yorkshire Dales) and in the south west (for example, Dartmoor and the Cotswolds). The former capital city of England was Winchester until London took over in 1066. Today London is the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. England's population is about 51 million, around 84% of the population of the United Kingdom, and is largely concentrated in London, the South East and conurbations in the Midlands, the North West, the North East and Yorkshire, which each developed as major industrial regions during the 19th century. Meadowlands and pastures are found beyond the major cities.

The Kingdom of England—which after 1284 included Wales—was a sovereign state until 1 May 1707, when the Acts of Union put into effect the terms agreed in the Treaty of Union the previous year, resulting in a political union with the Kingdom of Scotland to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922, the Irish Free State was established as a separate dominion, but the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 reincorporated into the kingdom six Irish counties to officially create the current United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

== Toponymy == The name "England" is derived from the Old English name ''Englaland'', which means "land of the Angles". The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages. The Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', the first known use of "England" to refer to the southern part of the island of Great Britain occurs in 897, and its modern spelling was first used in 1538.

The earliest attested mention of the name occurs in the 1st century work by Tacitus, ''Germania'', in which the Latin word ''Anglii'' is used. The etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars; it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an ''angular'' shape. How and why a term derived from the name of a tribe that was less significant than others, such as the Saxons, came to be used for the entire country and its people is not known, but it seems this is related to the custom of calling the Germanic people in Britain ''Angli Saxones'' or English Saxons. It may be worth noting that in Scottish Gaelic, another language which developed on the island of Great Britain, it was the dominant Saxon tribe who gave their name to the word for 'England' ("Sasunn").

An alternative name for England is Albion. The name ''Albion'' originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC ''De Mundo'': "Beyond the Pillars of Hercules is the ocean that flows round the earth. In it are two very large islands called Britannia; these are Albion and Ierne". The word ''Albion'' (Ἀλβίων) or ''insula Albionum'' has two possible origins. It either derives from a cognate of the Latin ''albus'' meaning white, a reference to the white cliffs of Dover, the only part of Britain visible from the European Continent, or from the phrase in ''Massaliote Periplus'', the "island of the ''Albiones''". ''Albion'' is now applied to England in a more poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, ''Lloegr'', and made popular by its use in Arthurian legend.

History

Prehistory and antiquity

The earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of ''Homo antecessor'', dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago. Modern humans are known to have first inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years. After the last ice age only large mammals such as mammoths, bison and woolly rhinoceros remained. Roughly 11,000 years ago, when the ice sheets began to recede, humans repopulated the area; genetic research suggests they came from the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula. The sea level was lower than now, and Britain was connected by land to both Ireland and Eurasia. As the seas rose, it was separated from Ireland 10,000 years ago and from Eurasia two millennia later.

The Beaker culture arrived around 2500 BC, introducing drinking and food vessels constructed from clay, as well as vessels used as reduction pots to smelt copper ores. It was during this time that major Neolithic monuments such as Stonehenge and Avebury were constructed. By heating together tin and copper, both of which were in abundance in the area, the Beaker culture people made bronze, and later iron from iron ores. The development of iron smelting allowed the construction of better ploughs, advancing agriculture (for instance, with Celtic fields), as well as the production of more effective weapons.

According to John T. Koch and others, England in the Late Bronze Age was part of a maritime trading-networked culture called the Atlantic Bronze Age that included the whole of the British Isles and much of what we now regard as France together with the Iberian Peninsula. Celtic languages developed in those areas; Tartessian may have been the earliest written Celtic language.

During the Iron Age, Celtic culture, deriving from the Hallstatt and La Tène cultures, arrived from Central Europe. Brythonic was the spoken language during this time. Society was tribal; according to Ptolemy's ''Geographia'' there were around 20 different tribes in the area. However, earlier divisions are unknown because the Britons were not literate. Like other regions on the edge of the Empire, Britain had long enjoyed trading links with the Romans. Julius Caesar of the Roman Republic attempted to invade twice in 55 BC; although largely unsuccessful, he managed to set up a client king from the Trinovantes.

The Romans invaded Britain in AD 43 during the reign of Emperor Claudius, subsequently conquering much of Britain, and the area was incorporated into the Roman Empire as Britannia province. The best-known of the native tribes who attempted to resist were the Catuvellauni led by Caratacus. Later, an uprising led by Boudica, Queen of the Iceni, ended with Boudica's suicide following her defeat at the Battle of Watling Street. This era saw a Greco-Roman culture prevail with the introduction of Roman law, Roman architecture, sewage systems, many agricultural items, and silk. In the 3rd century, Emperor Septimius Severus died at Eboracum ''(modern-day York)'', where Constantine was subsequently proclaimed emperor.

There is debate about when Christianity was first introduced; it was no later than the 4th century, with probability lying much earlier. According to Bede, missionaries were sent from Rome by Eleutherius at the request of the chieftain Lucius of Britain in AD 180 to settle controverted points of differences as to Eastern and Western ceremonials which were disturbing the church. There are, however, traditions linked to Glastonbury claiming an introduction through Joseph of Arimathea, while others claim through Lucius of Britain. By 410, as the Empire declined, Britain was left exposed by the withdrawal of Roman army units, to defend the frontiers in continental Europe and partake in civil wars.

Middle Ages

Roman military withdrawals left Britain open to invasion by pagan, seafaring warriors from north-western continental Europe, chiefly the Angles, Saxons and Jutes who had long raided the coasts of the Roman province and now began to settle, initially in the eastern part of the country. Their advance was contained for some decades after the Britons' victory at the Battle of Mount Badon, but subsequently resumed, over-running the fertile lowlands of Britain and reducing the area under Brythonic control to a series of separate enclaves in the more rugged country to the west by the end of the 6th century. Contemporary texts describing this period are extremely scarce, giving rise to its description as a Dark Age. The nature and progression of the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain is consequently subject to considerable disagreement. Christianity had in general disappeared from the conquered territories, but was reintroduced by missionaries from Rome led by Augustine from 597 onwards and by Irish missionaries led by Aidan around the same time. Disputes between the varying influences represented by these missions ended in victory for the Roman tradition.

During the settlement period the lands ruled by the incomers seem to have been fragmented into numerous tribal territories, but by the 7th century, when substantial evidence of the situation again becomes available, these had coalesced into roughly a dozen kingdoms including Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex, East Anglia, Essex, Kent and Sussex. Over the following centuries this process of political consolidation continued. The 7th century saw a struggle for hegemony between Northumbria and Mercia, which in the 8th century gave way to Mercian preeminence. In the early 9th century Mercia was displaced as the foremost kingdom by Wessex. Later in that century escalating attacks by the Danes culminated in the conquest of the north and east of England, overthrowing the kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia and East Anglia. Wessex under Alfred the Great was left as the only surviving English kingdom, and under his successors it steadily expanded at the expense of the kingdoms of the Danelaw. This brought about the political unification of England, first accomplished under Æthelstan in 927 and definitively established after further conflicts by Eadred in 953. A fresh wave of Scandinavian attacks from the late 10th century ended with the conquest of this united kingdom by Sweyn Forkbeard in 1013 and again by his son Cnut in 1016, turning it into the centre of a short-lived North Sea empire that also included Denmark and Norway. However the native royal dynasty was restored with the accession of Edward the Confessor in 1042.

A dispute over the succession to Edward led to the Norman conquest of England in 1066, accomplished by an army led by Duke William of Normandy. The Normans themselves originated from Scandinavia and had settled in Normandy in the late 9th and early 10th centuries. This conquest led to the almost total dispossession of the English elite and its replacement by a new French-speaking aristocracy, whose speech had a profound and permanent effect on the English language.

The House of Plantagenet from Anjou inherited the English throne under Henry II, adding England to the budding Angevin Empire of fiefs the family had inherited in France including Aquitaine. They reigned for three centuries, proving noted monarchs such as Richard I, Edward I, Edward III and Henry V. The period saw changes in trade and legislation, including the signing of the ''Magna Carta'', an English legal charter used to limit the sovereign's powers by law and protect the privileges of freemen. Catholic monasticism flourished, providing philosophers and the universities of Oxford and Cambridge were founded with royal patronage. The Principality of Wales became a Plantagenet fief during the 13th century and the Lordship of Ireland was gifted to the English monarchy by the Pope.

During the 14th century, the Plantagenets and House of Valois both claimed to be legitimate claimants to House of Capet and with it France—the two powers clashed in the Hundred Years' War. The Black Death epidemic hit England, starting in 1348, it eventually killed up to half of England's inhabitants. From 1453 to 1487 civil war between two branches of the royal family occurred—the Yorkists and Lancastrians—known as the Wars of the Roses. Eventually it led to the Yorkists losing the throne entirely to a Welsh noble family the Tudors, a branch of the Lancastrians headed by Henry Tudor who invaded with Welsh and Breton mercenaries, gaining victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field where the Yorkist king Richard III was killed.

Early Modern

During the Tudor period, the Renaissance reached England through Italian courtiers, who reintroduced artistic, educational and scholarly debate from classical antiquity. During this time England began to develop naval skills, and exploration to the West intensified.

Henry VIII broke from communion with the Catholic Church, over issues relating to divorce, under the Acts of Supremacy in 1534 which proclaimed the monarch head of the Church of England. In contrast with much of European Protestantism, the roots of the split were more political than theological..|group=nb}} He also legally incorporated his ancestral land Wales into the Kingdom of England with the 1535–1542 acts. There were internal religious conflicts during the reigns of Henry's daughters, Mary I and Elizabeth I. The former brought the country back to Catholicism, while the later broke from it again, more forcefully asserting the supremacy of Anglicanism.

An English fleet under Francis Drake defeated an invading Spanish Armada during the Elizabethan period. Competing with Spain, the first English colony in the Americas was founded in 1585 by explorer Walter Raleigh in Virginia and named Roanoke. The Roanoke colony failed and is known as the lost colony, after it was found abandoned on the return of the late arriving supply ship. With the East India Company, England also competed with the Dutch and French in the East. The political structure of the island was changed in 1603, when the Stuart James VI of Scotland, a kingdom which was a longtime rival, inherited the throne of England as James I—creating a personal union . He styled himself King of Great Britain, although this had no basis in English law.

Based on conflicting political, religious and social positions, the English Civil War was fought between the supporters of Parliament and those of King Charles I, known as Roundheads and Cavaliers respectively. This was an interwoven part of the wider multifaceted Wars of the Three Kingdoms, involving Scotland and Ireland. The Parliamentarians were victorious, Charles I was executed and the kingdom replaced with the Commonwealth. Leader of the Parliament forces, Oliver Cromwell declared himself Lord Protector in 1653, a period of personal rule followed. After Cromwell's death, and his son Richard's resignation as Lord Protector, Charles II was invited to return as monarch in 1660 with the Restoration. It was now constitutionally established that King and Parliament should rule together, though Parliament would have the real power. This was established with the Bill of Rights in 1689. Among the statutes set down were that the law could only be made by Parliament and could not be suspended by the King, and the King could not impose taxes or raise an army without prior approval by Parliament. With the founding of the Royal Society in 1660, science was greatly encouraged.

The Great Fire of London in 1666 gutted the City of London but it was rebuilt shortly afterwards. In Parliament two factions had emerged—the Tories and Whigs. The former were royalists while the latter were classical liberals. Though the Tories initially supported Catholic king James II, some of them, along with the Whigs, deposed him in the Revolution of 1688 and invited Dutch prince William III to become monarch. Some English people, especially in the north, were Jacobites and continued to support James and his sons. After the parliaments of England and Scotland agreed, the two countries joined in political union, to create the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. To accommodate the union, institutions such as the law and national church of each remained separate.

Late Modern and contemporary

Under the newly formed Kingdom of Great Britain, output from the Royal Society and other English initiatives combined with the Scottish Enlightenment to create innovations in science and engineering. This paved the way for the establishment of the British Empire. Domestically it drove the Industrial Revolution, a period of profound change in the socioeconomic and cultural conditions of England, resulting in industrialised agriculture, manufacture, engineering and mining, as well as new and pioneering road, rail and water networks to facilitate their expansion and development. The opening of Northwest England's Bridgewater Canal in 1761 ushered in the canal age in Britain. In 1825 the world's first permanent steam locomotive-hauled passenger railway—the Stockton and Darlington Railway—opened to the public.

During the Industrial Revolution, many workers moved from England's countryside to new and expanding urban industrial areas to work in factories, for instance at Manchester and Birmingham, dubbed "Warehouse City" and "Workshop of the World" respectively. England maintained relative stability throughout the French Revolution; William Pitt the Younger was British Prime Minister for the reign of George III. During the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon planned to invade from the south-east. However this failed to manifest and the Napoleonic forces were defeated by the British at sea by Lord Nelson and on land by the Duke of Wellington. The Napoleonic Wars fostered a concept of Britishness and a united national British people, shared with the Scots and Welsh.

London became the largest and most populous metropolitan area in the world during the Victorian era, and trade within the British Empire—as well as the standing of the British military and navy—was prestigious. Political agitation at home from radicals such as the Chartists and the suffragettes enabled legislative reform and universal suffrage. Power shifts in east-central Europe led to World War I; hundreds of thousands of English soldiers died fighting for the United Kingdom as part of the Allies.|group=nb}} Two decades later, in World War II, the United Kingdom was again one of the Allies. At the end of the Phoney War, Winston Churchill became the wartime Prime Minister. Developments in warfare technology saw many cities damaged by air-raids during the Blitz. Following the war, the British Empire experienced rapid decolonisation, and there was a speeding up of technological innovations; automobiles became the primary means of transport and Frank Whittle's development of the jet engine led to wider air travel. Residential patterns were altered in England by private motoring, and by the creation of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948. England's NHS provided publicly funded health care to all UK permanent residents free at the point of need, being paid for from general taxation. Combined, these changes prompted the reform of local government in England in the mid-20th century.

Since the 20th century there has been significant population movement to England, mostly from other parts of the British Isles, but also from the Commonwealth, particularly the Indian subcontinent. Since the 1970s there has been a large move away from manufacturing and an increasing emphasis on the service industry. As part of the United Kingdom, the area joined a common market initiative called the European Economic Community which became the European Union. Since the late 20th century the administration of the United Kingdom has moved towards devolved governance in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. England and Wales continues to exist as a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. Devolution has stimulated a greater emphasis on a more English-specific identity and patriotism. There is no devolved English government, but an attempt to create a similar system on a sub-regional basis was rejected by referendum.

Governance

Politics

As part of the United Kingdom, the basic political system in England is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary system. There has not been a Government of England since 1707, when the Acts of Union 1707, putting into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union, joined England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. Before the union England was ruled by its monarch and the Parliament of England. Today England is governed directly by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, although other countries of the United Kingdom have devolved governments. In the House of Commons which is the lower house of the British Parliament based at the Palace of Westminster, there are 532 Members of Parliament (MPs) for constituencies in England, out of the 650 total.

In the United Kingdom general election, 2010 the Conservative Party had won an absolute majority in England's 532 contested seats with 61 seats more than all other parties combined (the Speaker of the House not being counted as a Conservative). However, taking Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales into account this was not enough to secure an overall majority, resulting in a hung parliament. In order to achieve a majority the Conservative party, headed by David Cameron, entered into a coalition agreement with the third largest party, the Liberal Democrats, led by Nick Clegg. Subsequently the Labour Party leader, Gordon Brown was forced to step down as prime minister and leader of the Labour party, now led by Ed Miliband.

As the United Kingdom is a member of the European Union, there are elections held regionally in England to decide who is sent as Members of the European Parliament. The 2009 European Parliament election saw the regions of England elect the following MEPs: 23 Conservatives, ten Labour, nine UK Independence Party (UKIP), nine Liberal Democrats, two Greens and two British National Party (BNP).

Since devolution, in which other countries of the United Kingdom—Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland—each have their own devolved parliament or assemblies for local issues, there has been debate about how to counterbalance this in England. Originally it was planned that various regions of England would be devolved, but following the proposal's rejection by the North East in a referendum, this has not been carried out.

One major issue is the West Lothian question, in which MPs from Scotland and Wales are able to vote on legislation affecting only England, while English MPs have no equivalent right to legislate on devolved matters. This when placed in the context of England being the only country of the United Kingdom not to have free cancer treatment, prescriptions, residential care for the elderly and free top-up university fees, has led to a steady rise in English nationalism. Some have suggested the creation of a devolved English parliament, while others have proposed simply limiting voting on legislation which only affects England to English MPs.

Law

The English law legal system, developed over the centuries, is the basis of common law legal systems used in most Commonwealth countries and the United States (except Louisiana). Despite now being part of the United Kingdom, the legal system of the Courts of England and Wales continued, under the Treaty of Union, as a separate legal system from the one used in Scotland. The general essence of English law is that it is made by judges sitting in courts, applying their common sense and knowledge of legal precedent—''stare decisis''—to the facts before them.

The court system is headed by the Supreme Court of Judicature, consisting of the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice for civil cases, and the Crown Court for criminal cases. The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is the highest court for criminal and civil cases in England and Wales. It was created in 2009 after constitutional changes, taking over the judicial functions of the House of Lords. A decision of the Supreme Court is binding on every other court in the hierarchy, which must follow its directions.

Crime increased between 1981 and 1995, but fell by 42% in the period 1995–2006. The prison population doubled over the same period, giving it the highest incarceration rate in Western Europe at 147 per 100,000. Her Majesty's Prison Service, reporting to the Ministry of Justice, manages most prisons, housing over 80,000 convicts.

Regions, counties, and districts

The subdivisions of England consist of up to four levels of subnational division controlled through a variety of types of administrative entities created for the purposes of local government. The highest tier of local government were the nine regions of England: North East, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, East, South East, South West, and London. These were created in 1994 as Government Offices, used by the British Government to deliver a wide range of policies and programmes regionally, but there are no elected bodies at this level, except in London, and in 2011 the regional Government offices were abolished. The same boundaries remain in use for electing Members of the European Parliament on a regional basis.

After devolution began to take place in other parts of the United Kingdom it was planned that referendums for the regions of England would take place for their own elected regional assemblies as a counterweight. London accepted in 1998: the London Assembly was created two years later. However, when the proposal was rejected by the northern England devolution referendums, 2004 in the North East, further referendums were cancelled. The regional assemblies outside London were abolished in 2010, and their functions transferred to respective Regional Development Agencies and a new system of local authority leaders' boards.

Below the regional level, all of England is divided into 48 ceremonial counties. These are used primarily as a geographical frame of reference and have developed gradually since the Middle Ages, with some established as recently as 1974. Each has a Lord Lieutenant and High Sheriff; these posts are used to represent the British monarch locally. Outside Greater London and the Isles of Scilly, England is also divided into 83 metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties; these correspond to areas used for the purposes of local government and may consist of a single district or be divided into several.

There are six metropolitan counties based on the most heavily urbanised areas, which do not have county councils. In these areas the principal authorities are the councils of the subdivisions, the metropolitan boroughs. Elsewhere, 27 non-metropolitan "shire" counties have a county council and are divided into districts, each with a district council. They are typically, though not always, found in more rural areas. The remaining non-metropolitan counties are of a single district and usually correspond to large towns or counties with low populations; they are known as unitary authorities. Greater London has a different system for local government, with 32 London boroughs, plus the City of London covering a small area at the core, governed by the City of London Corporation. At the most localised level, much of England is divided into civil parishes with councils; they do not exist in Greater London.

Geography

Landscape and rivers

Geographically England includes the central and southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain, plus such offshore islands as the Isle of Wight and the Isles of Scilly. It is bordered by two other countries of the United Kingdom—to the north by Scotland and to the west by Wales. England is closer to the European continent than any other part of mainland Britain. It is separated from France by a sea gap, though the two countries are connected by the Channel Tunnel near Folkestone. England also has shores on the Irish Sea, North Sea and Atlantic Ocean.

The ports of London, Liverpool, and Newcastle lie on the tidal rivers Thames, Mersey and Tyne respectively. At , the Severn is the longest river flowing through England. It empties into the Bristol Channel and is notable for its Severn Bore tidal waves, which can reach in height. However, the longest river entirely in England is the Thames, which is in length. There are many lakes in England; the largest is Windermere, within the aptly named Lake District.

In geological terms, the Pennines, known as the "backbone of England", are the oldest range of mountains in the country, originating from the end of the Paleozoic Era around 300 million years ago. Their geological composition includes, among others, sandstone and limestone, and also coal. There are karst landscapes in calcite areas such as parts of Yorkshire and Derbyshire. The Pennine landscape is high moorland in upland areas, indented by fertile valleys of the region's rivers. They contain three national parks, the Yorkshire Dales, Northumberland, and the Peak District. The highest point in England, at , is Scafell Pike in Cumbria. Straddling the border between England and Scotland are the Cheviot Hills.

The English Lowlands are to the south of the Pennines, consisting of green rolling hills, including the Cotswold Hills, Chiltern Hills, North and South Downs—where they meet the sea they form white rock exposures such as the cliffs of Dover. The granite Southwest Peninsula in the West Country includes upland moorland, such as Dartmoor and Exmoor, and enjoys a mild climate; both are national parks.

Climate

England has a temperate maritime climate: it is mild with temperatures not much lower than in winter and not much higher than in summer. The weather is damp relatively frequently and is changeable. The coldest months are January and February, the latter particularly on the English coast, while July is normally the warmest month. Months with mild to warm weather are May, June, September and October. Rainfall is spread fairly evenly throughout the year.

Important influences on the climate of England are its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, its northern latitude and the warming of the sea by the Gulf Stream. Rainfall is higher in the west, and parts of the Lake District receive more rain than anywhere else in the country. Since weather records began, the highest temperature recorded was on 10 August 2003 at Brogdale in Kent, while the lowest was on 10 January 1982 in Edgmond, Shropshire.

Major conurbations

The Greater London Urban Area is by far the largest urban area in England and one of the busiest cities in the world. It is considered a global city and has a population larger than other countries in the United Kingdom besides England itself. Other urban areas of considerable size and influence tend to be in northern England or the English Midlands. There are fifty settlements which have been designated city status in England, while the wider United Kingdom has sixty-six.

While many cities in England are quite large in size, such as Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle, Bradford, Nottingham and others, a large population is not necessarily a prerequisite for a settlement to be afforded city status. Traditionally the status was afforded to towns with diocesan cathedrals and so there are smaller cities like Wells, Ely, Ripon, Truro and Chichester. According to the Office for National Statistics the ten largest, continuous built-up urban areas are: {| style="width:100%;" class="wikitable" |- ! style="width:5%;"| Rank ! style="width:30%;"| Urban area ! style="width:15%;"| Population ! style="width:5%;"| Localities ! style="width:45%;"| Major localities |- style="text-align:center;" ||1 || style="text-align:center;"|Greater London Urban Area || style="text-align:center;"|8,278,251|| 67 || style="text-align:center;"|Greater London, divided into the City of London and 32 London boroughs including Croydon, Barnet, Ealing, Bromley |- style="text-align:center;" ||2 || style="text-align:center;"|West Midlands Urban Area || style="text-align:center;"|2,284,093 || 22 || style="text-align:center;"|Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Dudley, Walsall, Aldridge |- style="text-align:center;" ||3 || style="text-align:center;"|Greater Manchester Urban Area || style="text-align:center;"|2,240,230 || 57 || style="text-align:center;"|Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Stockport, Oldham |- style="text-align:center;" ||4 || style="text-align:center;"|West Yorkshire Urban Area || style="text-align:center;"|1,499,465 || 26 || style="text-align:center;"|Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Wakefield |- style="text-align:center;" ||5 || style="text-align:center;"|Tyneside || style="text-align:center;"|879,996 ||25 || style="text-align:center;"|Newcastle, North Shields, South Shields, Gateshead, Jarrow |- style="text-align:center;" ||6 || style="text-align:center;"|Liverpool Urban Area || style="text-align:center;"|816,216 || 8 || style="text-align:center;"|Liverpool, St Helens, Bootle, Huyton-with-Roby |- style="text-align:center;" ||7 || style="text-align:center;"|Nottingham Urban Area || style="text-align:center;"|666,358 || 15 || style="text-align:center;"|Nottingham, Beeston and Stapleford, Carlton, Long Eaton |- style="text-align:center;" ||8 || style="text-align:center;"|Sheffield Urban Area || style="text-align:center;"|640,720 || 7 || style="text-align:center;"|Sheffield, Rotherham, Chapeltown, Mosborough |- style="text-align:center;" ||9 || style="text-align:center;"|Bristol Urban Area || style="text-align:center;"| 551,066 || 7 || style="text-align:center;"|Bristol, Kingswood, Mangotsfield, Stoke Gifford |- style="text-align:center;" ||10 || style="text-align:center;"|Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton || style="text-align:center;"| 461,181 || 10 || style="text-align:center;"|Brighton, Worthing, Hove, Littlehampton, Shoreham, Lancing |}

Economy

England's economy is one of the largest in the world, with an average GDP per capita of £22,907. Usually regarded as a mixed market economy, it has adopted many free market principles, yet maintains an advanced social welfare infrastructure. The official currency in England is the pound sterling, whose ISO 4217 code is GBP. Taxation in England is quite competitive when compared to much of the rest of Europe—as of 2009 the basic rate of personal tax is 20% on taxable income up to £37,400, and 40% on any additional earnings above that amount.

The economy of England is the largest part of the UK's economy, which has the 18th highest GDP PPP per capita in the world. England is a leader in the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors and in key technical industries, particularly aerospace, the arms industry, and the manufacturing side of the software industry. London, home to the London Stock Exchange, the United Kingdom's main stock exchange and the largest in Europe, is England's financial centre—100 of Europe's 500 largest corporations are based in London. London is the largest financial centre in Europe, and is also the largest in the world.

The Bank of England, founded in 1694 by Scottish banker William Paterson, is the United Kingdom's central bank. Originally established as private banker to the Government of England, since 1946 it has been a state-owned institution. The Bank has a monopoly on the issue of banknotes in England and Wales, although not in other parts of the United Kingdom. The government has devolved responsibility to the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee for managing the monetary policy of the country and setting interest rates.

England is highly industrialised, but since the 1970s there has been a decline in traditional heavy and manufacturing industries, and an increasing emphasis on a more service industry oriented economy. Tourism has become a significant industry, attracting millions of visitors to England each year. The export part of the economy is dominated by pharmaceuticals, cars—although many English marques are now foreign-owned, such as Rolls-Royce, Lotus, Jaguar and Bentley—crude oil and petroleum from the English parts of North Sea oil along with Wytch Farm, aircraft engines and alcoholic beverages. Agriculture is intensive and highly mechanised, producing 60% of food needs with only 2% of the labour force. Two thirds of production is devoted to livestock, the other to arable crops.

Science and technology

Prominent English figures from the field of science and mathematics include Sir Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday, Robert Hooke, Robert Boyle, Joseph Priestley, J. J. Thomson, Charles Babbage, Charles Darwin, Stephen Hawking, Christopher Wren, Alan Turing, Francis Crick, Joseph Lister, Tim Berners-Lee, Paul Dirac, Andrew Wiles and Richard Dawkins. Some experts claim that the earliest concept of a metric system was invented by John Wilkins, the first secretary of the Royal Society, in 1668. As the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, England was home to many significant inventors during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Famous English engineers include Isambard Kingdom Brunel, best known for the creation of the Great Western Railway, a series of famous steamships, and numerous important bridges, hence revolutionising public transport and modern-day engineering. Thomas Newcomen's steam engine helped spawn the Industrial Revolution. The physician Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccine is said to have "saved more lives [...] than were lost in all the wars of mankind since the beginning of recorded history."

Inventions and discoveries of the English include: the jet engine, the first industrial spinning machine, the first computer and the first modern computer, the World Wide Web along with HTML, the first successful human blood transfusion, the motorised vacuum cleaner, the lawn mower, the seat belt, the hovercraft, the electric motor, steam engines, and theories such as the Darwinian theory of evolution and atomic theory. Newton developed the ideas of universal gravitation, Newtonian mechanics, and infinitesimal calculus, and Robert Hooke his eponymously named law of elasticity. Other inventions include the iron plate railway, the thermosiphon, tarmac, the rubber band, the mousetrap, "cat's eye" road marker, joint development of the light bulb, steam locomotives, the modern seed drill and many modern techniques and technologies used in precision engineering.

Transport

The Department for Transport is the government body responsible for overseeing transport in England. There are many motorways in England, and many other trunk roads, such as the A1 Great North Road, which runs through eastern England from London to Newcastle (much of this section is motorway) and onward to the Scottish border. The longest motorway in England is the M6, from Rugby through the North West up to the Anglo-Scottish border. Other major routes include: the M1 from London to Leeds, the M25 which encircles London, the M60 which encircles Manchester, the M4 from London to South Wales, the M62 from Liverpool via Manchester to East Yorkshire, and the M5 from Birmingham to Bristol and the South West.

Bus transport across the country is widespread; major companies include National Express, Arriva and Go-Ahead Group. The red double-decker buses in London have become a symbol of England. There is a rapid rail network in two English cities: the London Underground; and the Tyne and Wear Metro in Newcastle, Gateshead and Sunderland. There are several tram networks, such as the Blackpool tramway, Manchester Metrolink, Sheffield Supertram and Midland Metro, and the Tramlink system centred on Croydon in South London.

Rail transport in England is the oldest in the world: passenger railways originated in England in 1825. Much of Britain's of rail network lies in England, covering the country fairly extensively, although a high proportion of railway lines were closed in the second half of the 20th century. There are plans to reopen lines such as the Varsity Line between Oxford and Cambridge. These lines are mostly standard gauge (single, double or quadruple track) though there are also a few narrow gauge lines. There is rail transport access to France and Belgium through an undersea rail link, the Channel Tunnel, which was completed in 1994.

England has extensive domestic and international aviation links. The largest airport is London Heathrow, which is the world's busiest airport measured by number of international passengers. Other large airports include Manchester Airport, London Stansted Airport, Luton Airport and Birmingham Airport. By sea there is ferry transport, both local and international, including to Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium. There are around of navigable waterways in England, half of which is owned by British Waterways (Waterscape), however water transport is very limited. The Thames is the major waterway in England, with imports and exports focused at the Port of Tilbury in the Thames Estuary, one of the United Kingdom's three major ports.

Healthcare

The National Health Service (NHS) is the publicly funded healthcare system in England responsible for providing the majority of healthcare in the country. The NHS began on 5 July 1948, putting into effect the provisions of the National Health Service Act 1946. It was based on the findings of the Beveridge Report, prepared by economist and social reformer William Beveridge. The NHS is largely funded from general taxation including National Insurance payments, and it provides most of its services free at the point of use, although there are charges for some people for eye tests, dental care, prescriptions and aspects of personal care.

The government department responsible for the NHS is the Department of Health, headed by the Secretary of State for Health, who sits in the British Cabinet. Most of the expenditure of the Department of Health is spent on the NHS—£98.6 billion was spent in 2008–2009. In recent years the private sector has been increasingly used to provide more NHS services despite opposition by doctors and trade unions. The average life expectancy of people in England is 77.5 years for males and 81.7 years for females, the highest of the four countries of the United Kingdom.

Demography

Population

With over 51 million inhabitants, England is by far the most populous country of the United Kingdom, accounting for 84% of the combined total. England taken as a unit and measured against international states has the fourth largest population in the European Union and would be the 25th largest country by population in the world. With a density of 395 people per square kilometre, it would be the second most densely populated country in the European Union after Malta.

The English people are a British people. Some genetic evidence suggests that 75–95% descend in the paternal line from prehistoric settlers who originally came from the Iberian Peninsula, as well as a 5% contribution from Angles and Saxons, and a significant Norse element. However, other geneticists place the Norse-Germanic estimate up to half. Over time, various cultures have been influential: Prehistoric, Brythonic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Norse Viking, Gaelic cultures, as well as a large influence from Normans. There is an English diaspora in former parts of the British Empire; especially the United States, Canada, Australia, Chile, South Africa and New Zealand. In Canada there are around 6.5 million Canadians who claim English ancestry. Around 70% of Australians in 1999 denoted their origins as Anglo-Celtic, a category which includes all peoples from Great Britain and Ireland. Chileans of English descent are somewhat of an anomaly in that Chile itself was never part of the British Empire, but today there are around 420,000 people of English origins living there. |group=nb}} Since the late 1990s, many English people have migrated to Spain. At the time of the ''Domesday Book'', compiled in 1086, more than 90% of the English population of about two million lived in the countryside. By 1801 the population had grown to 8.3 million, and by 1901 had grown to 30.5 million. Due in particular to the economic prosperity of South East England, it has received many economic migrants from the other parts of the United Kingdom. There has been significant Irish migration. The proportion of ethnically European residents totals at 87.50%, including Germans and Poles.

Other people from much further afield in the former British colonies have arrived since the 1950s: in particular, 6% of people living in England have family origins in the Indian subcontinent, mostly India and Pakistan. 2.90% of the population are black, from both the Caribbean and countries in Africa itself, especially former British colonies. There is a significant number of Chinese and British Chinese. , 22% of primary school children in England were from ethnic minority families. About half of the population increase between 1991 and 2001 was due to immigration. Debate over immigration is politically prominent; according to a Home Office poll, 80% of people want to cap it. The ONS has projected that the population will grow by six million between 2004 and 2029.

Language

As its name suggests, the English language, today spoken by hundreds of millions of people around the world, originated as the language of England, where it remains the principal tongue today. It is an Indo-European language in the Anglo-Frisian branch of the Germanic family. After the Norman conquest, the Old English language was displaced and confined to the lower social classes as Norman French and Latin were used by the aristocracy.

By the 15th century, English came back into fashion among all classes, though much changed; the Middle English form showed many signs of French influence, both in vocabulary and spelling. During the English Renaissance, many words were coined from Latin and Greek origins. Modern English has extended this custom of flexibility, when it comes to incorporating words from different languages. Thanks in large part to the British Empire, the English language is the world's unofficial ''lingua franca''.

English language learning and teaching is an important economic activity, and includes language schooling, tourism spending, and publishing. There is no legislation mandating an official language for England, but English is the only language used for official business. Despite the country's relatively small size, there are many distinct regional accents, and individuals with particularly strong accents may not be easily understood everywhere in the country.

Cornish, which died out as a community language in the 18th century, is being revived, and is now protected under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. It is spoken by 0.1% of people in Cornwall, and is taught to some degree in several primary and secondary schools. State schools teach students a second language, usually French, German or Spanish. Due to immigration, it was reported in 2007 that around 800,000 school students spoke a foreign language at home, the most common being Punjabi and Urdu.

Religion

Christianity is the most widely practised religion in England, as it has been since the Early Middle Ages, although it was first introduced much earlier, in Gaelic and Roman times. It continued through Early Insular Christianity, and today about 72% of English people identify as Christians. The largest form practised in the present day is Anglicanism, dating from the 16th century Reformation period, with the 1536 split from Rome over Henry VIII wanting to divorce Catherine of Aragon; and the need for the Bible in the English tongue, the religion regards itself as both Catholic and Reformed.

There are High Church and Low Church traditions, and some Anglicans regard themselves as Anglo-Catholics, after the Tractarian movement. The monarch of the United Kingdom is a titular leader of the Church, acting as its Supreme Governor. It has the status of established church in England. There are around 26 million adherents to the Church of England and they form part of the Anglican Communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury acting as the symbolic worldwide head. Many cathedrals and parish churches are historic buildings of significant architectural importance, such as Westminster Abbey, York Minster, Durham Cathedral and Salisbury Cathedral.

The second largest Christian practice is the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, which traces its formal, corporate history in England to the 6th century with Augustine's mission and was the main religion on the entire island for around a thousand years. Since its reintroduction after the Catholic Emancipation, the Church has organised ecclesiastically on an England and Wales basis where there are 4.5 million members (most of whom are English). There has been one Pope from England to date, Adrian IV; while saints Bede and Anselm are regarded as Doctors of the Church.

A form of known as Methodism is the third largest and grew out of Anglicanism through John Wesley. It gained popularity in the mill towns of Lancashire and Yorkshire, and amongst tin miners in Cornwall. There are other non-conformist minorities, such as Baptists, Quakers, Congregationalists, Unitarians and The Salvation Army.

The patron saint of England is Saint George; he is represented in the national flag, as well as the Union Flag as part of a combination. There are many other English and associated saints; some of the best known include: Cuthbert, Alban, Wilfrid, Aidan, Edward the Confessor, John Fisher, Thomas More, Petroc, Piran, Margaret Clitherow and Thomas Becket. There are non-Christian religions practised. Jews have a history of a small minority on the island since 1070. They were expelled from England in 1290 following the Edict of Expulsion, only to be allowed back in 1656.

Especially since the 1950s, Eastern religions from the former British colonies have begun to appear, due to foreign immigration; Islam is the most common of these, accounting for around 3.1% of the population in England. Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism are next in number, adding up to 2% combined, introduced from India and South East Asia. Around 14.6% have no religion.

Education

The Department for Education is the government department responsible for issues affecting people in England up to the age of 19, including education. State-run and -funded schools are attended by approximately 93% of English schoolchildren. Of these, a minority are faith schools, primarily Church of England or Catholic. Between three and four is nursery school, 4 and 11 is primary school, and 11 to 16 is secondary school. After finishing compulsory education, pupils take a GCSE examination, following which they may decide to continue in further education and attend a college for two years; either a separate further education college, or a two-year extension to attend sixth form college at certain secondary schools.

Although most English secondary schools are comprehensive, in some areas there are selective intake grammar schools, to which entrance is subject to passing the eleven plus exam. Around 7.2% of English schoolchildren attend private schools, which are funded by private sources. Standards in state schools are monitored by the Office for Standards in Education, and in private schools by the Independent Schools Inspectorate.

Students normally enter universities in the United Kingdom from 18 onwards, where they study for an academic degree. There are over 90 universities England, all but one of which are public. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is the government department responsible for higher education in England. Students are generally entitled to student loans for maintenance. The first degree offered to undergraduates is the Bachelor's degree, which usually takes three years to complete. Students are then eligible for a postgraduate degree, a Master's degree, taking one year, or a Doctorate degree, which takes three.

England's universities include some of the highest-ranked universities in the world; the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, the University of Oxford and University College London are all ranked in the global top 10 in the 2010 ''QS World University Rankings''. The London School of Economics has been described as the world's leading social science institution for both teaching and research. The London Business School is considered one of the world's leading business schools and in 2010 its MBA programme was ranked best in the world by the ''Financial Times''. Academic degrees in England are usually split into classes: first class (I), upper second class (II:1), lower second class (II:2) and third (III), and unclassified (below third class).

The King's School, Canterbury and King's School, Rochester are the oldest schools in the English-speaking world. Many of England's better-known schools, such as Winchester College, Eton College, St Paul's School, Rugby School, and Harrow School are fee-paying institutions.

Culture

Architecture

Many ancient standing stone monuments were erected during the prehistoric period, amongst the best known are Stonehenge, Devil's Arrows, Rudston Monolith and Castlerigg. With the introduction of Ancient Roman architecture there was a development of basilicas, baths, amphitheaters, triumphal arches, villas, Roman temples, Roman roads, Roman forts, stockades and aqueducts. It was the Romans who founded the first cities and towns such as London, Bath, York, Chester and St Albans. Perhaps the best known example is Hadrian's Wall stretching right across northern England. Another well preserved example is the Roman Baths at Bath, Somerset.

Early Medieval architecture's secular buildings were simple constructions mainly using timber with thatch for roofing. Ecclesiastical architecture ranged from a synthesis of Hiberno—Saxon monasticism, to Early Christian basilica and architecture characterised by pilaster-strips, blank arcading, baluster shafts and triangular headed openings. After the Norman conquest in 1066 various Castles in England were created so law lords could uphold their authority and in the north to protect from invasion. Some of the best known medieval castles include the Tower of London, Warwick Castle, Durham Castle and Windsor Castle amongst others.

Throughout the Plantagenet era an English Gothic architecture flourished—the medieval cathedrals such as Canterbury Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and York Minster are prime examples. Expanding on the Norman base there was also castles, palaces, great houses, universities and parish churches. Medieval architecture was completed with the 16th century Tudor style; the four-centred arch, now known as the Tudor arch, was a defining feature as were wattle and daub houses domestically. In the aftermath of the Renaissance a form of architecture echoing classical antiquity, synthesised with Christianity appeared—the English Baroque style, architect Christopher Wren was particularly championed.

Georgian architecture followed in a more refined style, evoking a simple Palladian form; the Royal Crescent at Bath is one of the best examples of this. With the emergence of romanticism during Victorian period, a Gothic Revival was launched—in addition to this around the same time the Industrial Revolution paved the way for buildings such as The Crystal Palace. Since the 1930s various modernist forms have appeared whose reception is often controversial, though traditionalist resistance movements continue with support in influential places. Architects like Raymond Erith, Francis Johnson and Quinlan Terry continued to practice in the classical style.|group=nb}}

Folklore

English folklore developed over many centuries. Some of the characters and stories are present across England, but most belong to specific regions. Common folkloric beings include pixies, giants, elfs, bogeymen, trolls, goblins and dwarves. While many legends and folk-customs are thought to be ancient, for instance the tales featuring Offa of Angel and Wayland the Smith, others date from after the Norman invasion; Robin Hood and his Merry Men of Sherwood and their battles with the Sheriff of Nottingham being, perhaps, the best known.

During the High Middle Ages tales originating from Brythonic traditions entered English folklore—the Arthurian myth. These were derived from Anglo-Norman, French and Welsh sources, featuring King Arthur, Camelot, Excalibur, Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table such as Lancelot. These stories are most centrally brought together within Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Historia Regum Britanniae''.. Also Michael Wood explains; "Over the centuries the figure of Arthur became a symbol of British history—a way of explaining the matter of Britain, the relationship between the Saxons and the Celts, and a way of exorcising ghosts and healing the wounds of the past."|group=nb}} Another early figure from British tradition, King Cole, may have been based on a real figure from Sub-Roman Britain. Many of the tales and pseudo-histories make up part of the wider Matter of Britain, a collection of shared British folklore.

Some folk figures are based on semi or actual historical people whose story has been passed down centuries; Lady Godiva for instance was said to have ridden naked on horseback through Coventry, Hereward the Wake was a heroic English figure resisting the Norman invasion, Herne the Hunter is an equestrian ghost associated with Windsor Forest and Great Park and Mother Shipton is the archetypal witch. On 5 November people make bonfires, set off fireworks and eat toffee apples in commemoration of the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot centred around Guy Fawkes. The chivalrous bandit, such as Dick Turpin, is a recurring character, while Blackbeard is the archetypal pirate. There are various national and regional folk activities, participated in to this day, such as Morris dancing, Maypole dancing, Rapper sword in the North East, Long Sword dance in Yorkshire, Mummers Plays, bottle-kicking in Leicestershire, and cheese-rolling at Cooper's Hill. There is no official national costume, but a few are well established such as the Pearly Kings and Queens associated with cockneys, the Royal Guard, the Morris costume and Beefeaters.

Cuisine

Since the Early Modern Period the food of England has historically been characterised by its simplicity of approach and a reliance on the high quality of natural produce. During the Middle Ages and through the Renaissance period, English cuisine enjoyed an excellent reputation, though a decline began during the Industrial Revolution with the move away from the land and increasing urbanisation of the populace. The cuisine of England has, however, recently undergone a revival, which has been recognised by the food critics with some good ratings in ''Restaurant'''s best restaurant in the world charts. An early book of English recipes is the ''Forme of Cury'' from the royal court of Richard II.

Traditional examples of English food include the Sunday roast, featuring a roasted joint, usually beef, lamb or chicken, served with assorted boiled vegetables, Yorkshire pudding and gravy. Other prominent meals include fish and chips and the full English breakfast—consisting of bacon, grilled tomatoes, fried bread, black pudding, baked beans, fried mushrooms, sausages and eggs. Various meat pies are consumed such as steak and kidney pie, cottage pie, Cornish pasty and pork pie, the last of which is eaten cold.

Sausages are commonly eaten, either as bangers and mash or toad in the hole. Lancashire hotpot is a well known stew. Some of the most popular cheeses are Cheddar and Wensleydale. Many Anglo-Indian hybrid dishes, curries, have been created such as chicken tikka masala and balti. Sweet English dishes include apple pie, mince pies, spotted dick, scones, Eccles cakes, custard and sticky toffee pudding. Common drinks include tea, whose popularity was increased by Catherine of Braganza, while alcoholic drinks include wines, ciders and English beers such as bitter, mild, stout, and brown ale.

Visual arts

The earliest known examples are the prehistoric rock and cave art pieces, most prominent in North Yorkshire, Northumberland and Cumbria, but also feature further south, for example at Creswell Crags. With the arrival of Roman culture in the 1st century, various forms of art utilising statues, busts, glasswork and mosaics were the norm. There are numerous surviving artefacts, such as those at Lullingstone and Aldborough. During the Early Middle Ages the style was sculpted crosses and ivories, manuscript painting, gold and enamel jewellery, demonstrating a love of intricate, interwoven designs such as in the Staffordshire Hoard discovered in 2009. Some of these blended Gaelic and Anglian styles, such as the Lindisfarne Gospels and Vespasian Psalter. Later Gothic art was popular at Winchester and Canterbury, examples survive such as Benedictional of St. Æthelwold and Luttrell Psalter.

The Tudor era saw prominent artists as part of their court, portrait painting which would remain an enduring part of English art, was boosted by German Hans Holbein, natives such as Nicholas Hilliard built on this. Under the Stuarts, Continental artists were influential especially the Flemish, examples from the period include—Anthony van Dyck, Peter Lely, Godfrey Kneller and William Dobson. The 18th century was a time of significance with the founding of the Royal Academy, a classicism based on the High Renaissance prevailed—Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds became two of England's most treasured artists.

The Norwich School continued the landscape tradition, while the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood with their vivid and detailed style revived the Early Renaissance style—Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Everett Millais were leaders. Prominent amongst 20th century artists was Henry Moore, regarded as the voice of British sculpture, and of British modernism in general. Contemporary painters include Lucian Freud, whose work ''Benefits Supervisor Sleeping'' in 2008 set a world record for sale value of a painting by a living artist.

Literature, poetry and philosophy

Early authors such as Bede and Alcuin wrote in Latin. The period of Old English literature provided the epic poem ''Beowulf'' and the secular prose of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', along with Christian writings such as ''Judith'', Cædmon's ''Hymn'' and hagiographies. Following the Norman conquest Latin continued amongst the educated classes, as well as an Anglo-Norman literature.

Middle English literature emerged with Geoffrey Chaucer, author of ''The Canterbury Tales'', along with Gower, the Pearl Poet and Langland. William of Ockham and Roger Bacon, who were Franciscans, were major philosophers of the Middle Ages. Julian of Norwich, who wrote ''Revelations of Divine Love'', was a prominent Christian mystic. With the English Renaissance literature in the Early Modern English style appeared. William Shakespeare, whose works include ''Hamlet'', ''Romeo and Juliet'', ''Macbeth'', and ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', remains one of the most championed authors in English literature.

Christopher Marlowe, Edmund Spenser, Philip Sydney, Thomas Kyd, John Donne, and Ben Jonson are other established authors of the Elizabethan age. Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes wrote on empiricism and materialism, including scientific method and social contract. Filmer wrote on the Divine Right of Kings. Marvell was the best known poet of the Commonwealth, while John Milton authored ''Paradise Lost'' during the Restoration. Some of the most prominent philosophers of the Enlightenment were John Locke, Thomas Paine, Samuel Johnson and Jeremy Bentham. More radical elements were later countered by Edmund Burke who is regarded as the founder of conservatism. The poet Alexander Pope with his satirical verse became well regarded. The English played a significant role in romanticism: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Byron, John Keats, Mary Shelley, Percy Bysshe Shelley, William Blake and William Wordsworth were major figures.

In response to the Industrial Revolution, agrarian writers sought a way between liberty and tradition; William Cobbett, G. K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc were main exponents, while the founder of guild socialism, Arthur Penty, and cooperative movement advocate G. D. H. Cole are somewhat related. Empiricism continued through John Stuart Mill and Bertrand Russell, while Bernard Williams was involved in analytics. Authors from around the Victorian era include Charles Dickens, the Brontë sisters, Jane Austen, George Eliot, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy, H. G. Wells, Lewis Carroll and Evelyn Underhill. Since then England has continued to produce novelists such as C. S. Lewis, George Orwell, D. H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, Enid Blyton, Aldous Huxley, Agatha Christie, Terry Pratchett, J. R. R. Tolkien, and J. K. Rowling.

Performing arts

The traditional folk music of England is centuries old and has contributed to several genres prominently; mostly sea shanties, jigs, hornpipes and dance music. It has its own distinct variations and regional peculiarities. Wynkyn de Worde printed ballads of Robin Hood from the 16th century are an important artefact, as are John Playford's ''The Dancing Master'' and Robert Harley's ''Roxburghe Ballads'' collections. Some of the best known songs are ''The Good Old Way'', ''Pastime with Good Company'', ''Maggie May'' and ''Spanish Ladies'' amongst others. Many nursery rhymes are of English origin such as ''Twinkle Twinkle Little Star'', ''Roses are red'', ''Jack and Jill'', ''Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush'' and ''Humpty Dumpty''.

Early English composers in classical music include Renaissance artists Thomas Tallis and William Byrd, followed up by Henry Purcell from the Baroque period. German-born George Frideric Handel became a British subject and spent most of his composing life in London, creating some of the most well-known works of classical music, ''The Messiah'', ''Water Music'', and ''Music for the Royal Fireworks''. There was a revival in the profile of composers from England in the 20th century led by Benjamin Britten, Frederick Delius, Edward Elgar, Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams and others. Present-day composers from England include Michael Nyman, best known for ''The Piano''.

In the field of popular music many English bands and solo artists have been cited as the most influential and best-selling musicians of all time. Acts such as The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Queen, Rod Stewart and The Rolling Stones are among the highest selling recording artists in the world. Many musical genres have origins or strong associations with England, such as British invasion, hard rock, glam rock, heavy metal, mod, britpop, drum and bass, progressive rock, punk rock, indie rock, gothic rock, shoegazing, acid house, UK garage, trip hop and dubstep.

Large outdoor music festivals in the summer and autumn are popular, such as Glastonbury, V Festival, Reading and Leeds Festivals. The most prominent opera house in England is the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden. The Proms, a season of orchestral classical music concerts held at the Royal Albert Hall, is a major cultural event held annually. The Royal Ballet is one of the world's foremost classical ballet companies, its reputation built on two prominent figures of 20th century dance, ''prima ballerina'' Margot Fonteyn and choreographer Frederick Ashton.

Museums, libraries, and galleries

English Heritage is a governmental body with a broad remit of managing the historic sites, artefacts and environments of England. It is currently sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The charity National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty holds a contrasting role. 17 of the 25 United Kingdom UNESCO World Heritage Sites fall within England. Some of the best known of these include; Hadrian's Wall, Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites, Tower of London, Jurassic Coast, Saltaire, Ironbridge Gorge, Studley Royal Park and various others.

There are many museums in England, but the most notable is London's British Museum. Its collection of more than seven million objects is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world, sourced from every continent, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its beginning to the present. The British Library in London is the national library and is one of the world's largest research libraries, holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats; including around 25 million books. The most senior art gallery is the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, which houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The Tate galleries house the national collections of British and international modern art; they also host the famously controversial Turner Prize.

Sports

England has a strong sporting heritage, and during the 19th century codified many sports that are now played around the world. Sports originating in England include association football, cricket, rugby union, rugby league, tennis, badminton, squash, rounders, hockey, boxing, snooker, billiards, darts, table tennis, bowls, netball, thoroughbred horseracing and fox hunting. It has helped the development of sailing and Formula One. Football is the most popular of these sports. The England national football team, whose home venue is Wembley Stadium, won the 1966 FIFA World Cup against the Germany national football team where they won it 4–2 in extra time helped by the fact that Geoff Hurst scored a hatrick. That was the year the country hosted the competition.

At club level England is recognised by FIFA as the birth-place of club football, due to Sheffield FC founded in 1857 being the oldest club. The Football Association is the oldest of its kind, FA Cup and The Football League were the first cup and league competitions respectively. In the modern day the Premier League is the world's most lucrative football league and amongst the elite. The European Cup has been won by Liverpool, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa, while Arsenal, Chelsea and Leeds United have reached the final.

Cricket is generally thought to have been developed in the early medieval period among the farming and metalworking communities of the Weald. The England cricket team is a composite England and Wales team. One of the game's top rivalries is The Ashes series between England and Australia, contested since 1882. The finale of the 2009 Ashes was watched by nearly 2 million people, although the climax of the 2005 Ashes was viewed by 7.4 million as it was available on terrestrial television. England are the current holders of the trophy and are ranked 1st in Test and 4th in One Day International cricket.

England has hosted four Cricket World Cups (1975, 1979, 1983, 1999) and the ICC World Twenty20 in 2009. There are several domestic level competitions, including the County Championship in which Yorkshire are by far the most successful club having won the competition 31 times. Lord's Cricket Ground situated in London is sometimes referred to as the "Mecca of Cricket". William Penny Brookes was prominent in organising the format for the modern Olympic Games. London hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1908 and 1948, and will host them again in 2012. England competes in the Commonwealth Games, held every four years. Sport England is the governing body responsible for distributing funds and providing strategic guidance for sporting activity in England. A Grand Prix is held at Silverstone.

The England rugby union team won the 2003 Rugby World Cup, the country was one of the host nations of the competition in the 1991 Rugby World Cup and is set to host the 2015 Rugby World Cup. The top level of club participation is the English Premiership. Leicester Tigers, London Wasps, Bath Rugby and Northampton Saints have had success in the Europe-wide Heineken Cup. In another form of the sport—rugby league which was born in Huddersfield in 1895, the England national rugby league team are ranked third in the world and first in Europe.

Since 2008 England has been a full test nation in lieu of the Great Britain national rugby league team, which won three World Cups but is now retired. Club sides play in Super League, the present-day embodiment of the Rugby Football League Championship. Some of the most successful clubs include Wigan Warriors, St Helens, Leeds Rhinos and Huddersfield Giants; the former three have all won the World Club Challenge previously. The United Kingdom is to host the 2013 Rugby League World Cup. In tennis, the Wimbledon Championships are the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely considered the most prestigious.

National symbols

The St George's Cross has been the national flag of England since the 13th century. Originally the flag was used by the maritime Republic of Genoa. The English monarch paid a tribute to the Doge of Genoa from 1190 onwards, so that English ships could fly the flag as a means of protection when entering the Mediterranean. A red cross was a symbol for many Crusaders in the 12th and 13th centuries. It became associated with Saint George, along with countries and cities, which claimed him as their patron saint and used his cross as a banner. Since 1606 the St George's Cross has formed part of the design of the Union Flag, a Pan-British flag designed by King James I. There are numerous other symbols and symbolic artefacts, both official and unofficial, including the Tudor rose, the nation's floral emblem, the White Dragon, and the Three Lions featured on the Royal Arms of England. The Tudor rose was adopted as a national emblem of England around the time of the Wars of the Roses as a symbol of peace. It is a syncretic symbol in that it merged the white rose of the Yorkists and the red rose of the Lancastrians—cadet branches of the Plantagenets who went to war over control of the nation. It is also known as the ''Rose of England''. The oak tree is a symbol of England, representing strength and endurance. The term Royal Oak alludes to the escape of King Charles II from the grasp of the parliamentarians after his father's execution: he hid in an oak tree to avoid detection before safely reaching exile.

The Royal Arms of England, a national coat of arms featuring three lions, originated with its adoption by Richard the Lionheart in 1198. It is blazoned as ''gules, three lions passant guardant or'' and it provides one of the most prominent symbols of England; it is similar to the traditional arms of Normandy. England does not have an official designated national anthem, as the United Kingdom as a whole has ''God Save the Queen''. However, the following are often considered unofficial English national anthems: ''Jerusalem'', ''Land of Hope and Glory'' (used for England during the 2002 Commonwealth Games), and ''I Vow to Thee, My Country''. England's National Day is 23 April which is St George's Day: St George is the patron saint of England.

See also

Outline of England

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

Official website of the United Kingdom Government

English Heritage  – national body protecting English heritage

Natural England  – wildlife and the natural world of England

Enjoy England  – website of the English Tourist Board

BBC England  – news items from the BBC relating to England

England Category:English-speaking countries and territories Category:Great Britain Category:Island countries Category:Northern Europe Category:Western Europe

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{{infobox historical event |event name

The French Revolution |Image_Name Prise de la Bastille.jpg |Image_Caption The storming of the Bastille, 14 July 1789 |Participants French society |Location France |Date 1789–1799 |Result *A cycle of royal power being limited by uneasy constitutional monarchy—then abolition and replacement of the French king, aristocracy and church with a radical, secular, democratic republic—in turn becoming more authoritarian, militaristic and property-based. Radical social change to forms based on Enlightenment principles of citizenship and inalienable rights, as well as nationalism and democracy. Rise of Napoleon Bonaparte Armed conflicts with other European countries }}

The French Revolution (; 1789–1799), was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France that had a major impact on France and indeed all of Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years. French society underwent an epic transformation as feudal, aristocratic and religious privileges evaporated under a sustained assault from radical left-wing political groups, masses on the streets, and peasants in the countryside. Old ideas about tradition and hierarchy – of monarchy, aristocracy and religious authority – were abruptly overthrown by new Enlightenment principles of equality, citizenship and inalienable rights.

The French Revolution began in 1789 with the convocation of the Estates-General in May. The first year of the Revolution saw members of the Third Estate proclaiming the Tennis Court Oath in June, the assault on the Bastille in July, the passage of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in August, and an epic march on Versailles that forced the royal court back to Paris in October. The next few years were dominated by tensions between various liberal assemblies and a right-wing monarchy intent on thwarting major reforms.

A republic was proclaimed in September 1792 and King Louis XVI was executed the next year. External threats also played a dominant role in the development of the Revolution. The French Revolutionary Wars started in 1792 and ultimately featured spectacular French victories that facilitated the conquest of the Italian Peninsula, the Low Countries and most territories west of the Rhine – achievements that had defied previous French governments for centuries.

Internally, popular sentiments radicalized the Revolution significantly, culminating in the rise of Maximilien Robespierre and the Jacobins and virtual dictatorship by the Committee of Public Safety during the Reign of Terror from 1793 until 1794 during which between 16,000 and 40,000 people were killed. After the fall of the Jacobins and the execution of Robespierre, the Directory assumed control of the French state in 1795 and held power until 1799, when it was replaced by the Consulate under Napoleon Bonaparte.

After the Napoleonic Wars and ensuing rise and fall of Napoleon's First French Empire, a restoration of absolutist monarchy was followed by two further successful smaller revolutions (1830 and 1848). This meant the 19th century and process of modern France taking shape saw France again successively governed by a similar cycle of constitutional monarchy (1830–48), fragile republic (Second Republic) (1848–1852), and empire (Second Empire) (1852–1870). The modern era has unfolded in the shadow of the French Revolution. The growth of republics and liberal democracies, the spread of secularism, the development of modern ideologies and the invention of total war all mark their birth during the Revolution.

Causes

Adherents of most historical models identify many of the same features of the ''Ancien Régime'' as being among the causes of the Revolution. Economic factors included hunger and malnutrition in the most destitute segments of the population, due to rising bread prices (from a normal 8 sous for a four-pound loaf to 12 sous by the end of 1789), after several years of poor grain harvests. Bad harvests (caused in part by extreme weather from El Niño along with volcanic activity at Laki and Grímsvötn in 1783–1784), rising food prices, and an inadequate transportation system that hindered the shipment of bulk foods from rural areas to large population centers contributed greatly to the destabilization of French society in the years leading up to the Revolution.

Another cause was the state's effective bankruptcy due to the enormous cost of previous wars, particularly the financial strain caused by French participation in the American Revolutionary War. The national debt amounted to some 1,000–2,000 million livres. The social burdens caused by war included the huge war debt, made worse by the loss of France's colonial possessions in North America and the growing commercial dominance of Great Britain. France's inefficient and antiquated financial system was unable to manage the national debt, something which was both partially caused and exacerbated by the burden of an inadequate system of taxation. To obtain new money to head off default on the government's loans, the king called an Assembly of Notables in 1787.

Meanwhile, the royal court at Versailles was seen as being isolated from, and indifferent to, the hardships of the lower classes. While in theory King Louis XVI was an absolute monarch, in practice he was often indecisive and known to back down when faced with strong opposition. While he did reduce government expenditures, opponents in the parlements successfully thwarted his attempts at enacting much needed reforms. Those who were opposed to Louis' policies further undermined royal authority by distributing pamphlets (often reporting false or exaggerated information) that criticized the government and its officials, stirring up public opinion against the monarchy.

Many other factors involved resentments and aspirations given focus by the rise of Enlightenment ideals. These included resentment of royal absolutism; resentment by peasants, laborers and the bourgeoisie toward the traditional seigneurial privileges possessed by the nobility; resentment of the Church's influence over public policy and institutions; aspirations for freedom of religion; resentment of aristocratic bishops by the poorer rural clergy; aspirations for social, political and economic equality, and (especially as the Revolution progressed) republicanism; hatred of Queen Marie-Antoinette, who was falsely accused of being a spendthrift and an Austrian spy; and anger toward the King for firing finance minister Jacques Necker, among others, who were popularly seen as representatives of the people.

Pre-revolution

Financial crisis

Louis XVI ascended to the throne amidst a financial crisis; the state was nearing bankruptcy and outlays outpaced income. This was because of France’s financial obligations stemming from involvement in the Seven Years War and its participation in the American Revolutionary War. In May 1776, finance minister Turgot was dismissed, after he failed to enact reforms. The next year, Jacques Necker, a foreigner, was appointed Comptroller-General of Finance. He could not be made an official minister because he was a Protestant.

Necker realized that the country's extremely regressive tax system subjected the lower classes to a heavy burden, while numerous exemptions existed for the nobility and clergy. He argued that the country could not be taxed higher; that tax exemptions for the nobility and clergy must be reduced; and proposed that borrowing more money would solve the country's fiscal shortages. Necker published a report to support this claim that underestimated the deficit by roughly 36 million livres, and proposed restricting the power of the ''parlements''.

This was not received well by the King's ministers and Necker, hoping to bolster his position, argued to be made a minister. The King refused, Necker was fired, and Charles Alexandre de Calonne was appointed to the Comptrollership. Calonne initially spent liberally, but he quickly realized the critical financial situation and proposed a new tax code.

The proposal included a consistent land tax, which would include taxation of the nobility and clergy. Faced with opposition from the parlements, Calonne organised the summoning of the Assembly of Notables. But the Assembly failed to endorse Calonne's proposals and instead weakened his position through its criticism. In response, the King announced the calling of the Estates-General for May 1789, the first time the body had been summoned since 1614. This was a signal that the Bourbon monarchy was in a weakened state and subject to the demands of its people.

Estates-General of 1789

The Estates-General was organized into three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and the rest of France. On the last occasion that the Estates-General had met, in 1614, each estate held one vote, and any two could override the third. The ''Parlement'' of Paris feared the government would attempt to gerrymander an assembly to rig the results. Thus, they required that the Estates be arranged as in 1614. The 1614 rules differed from practices of local assemblies, where each member had one vote and third estate membership was doubled. For example, in the Dauphiné the provincial assembly agreed to double the number of members of the third estate, hold membership elections, and allow one vote per member, rather than one vote per estate.

The "Committee of Thirty," a body of liberal Parisians, began to agitate against voting by estate. This group, largely composed of the wealthy, argued for the Estates-General to assume the voting mechanisms of Dauphiné. They argued that ancient precedent was not sufficient, because "the people were sovereign." Necker convened a Second Assembly of Notables, which rejected the notion of double representation by a vote of 111 to 333. The King, however, agreed to the proposition on 27 December; but he left discussion of the weight of each vote to the Estates-General itself.

Elections were held in the spring of 1789; suffrage requirements for the Third Estate were for French-born or naturalised males only, at least 25 years of age, who resided where the vote was to take place and who paid taxes.

''Pour être électeur du tiers état, il faut avoir 25 ans, être français ou naturalisé, être domicilié au lieu de vote et compris au rôle des impositions.''

Strong turnout produced 1,201 delegates, including: "291 nobles, 300 clergy, and 610 members of the Third Estate." To lead delegates, "Books of grievances" (''cahiers de doléances'') were compiled to list problems. The books articulated ideas which would have seemed radical only months before; however, most supported the monarchical system in general. Many assumed the Estates-General would approve future taxes, and Enlightenment ideals were relatively rare.

Pamphlets by liberal nobles and clergy became widespread after the lifting of press censorship. The Abbé Sieyès, a theorist and Catholic clergyman, argued the paramount importance of the Third Estate in the pamphlet ''Qu'est-ce que le tiers état?'' ("What is the Third Estate?"), published in January 1789. He asserted: "What is the Third Estate? Everything. What has it been until now in the political order? Nothing. What does it want to be? Something."

The Estates-General convened in the Grands Salles des Menus-Plaisirs in Versailles on 5 May 1789 and opened with a three-hour speech by Necker. The Third Estate demanded that the verification of deputies' credentials should be undertaken in common by all deputies, rather than each estate verifying the credentials of its own members internally; negotiations with the other estates failed to achieve this. The commoners appealed to the clergy who replied they required more time. Necker asserted that each estate verify credentials and "the king was to act as arbitrator." Negotiations with the other two estates to achieve this, however, were unsuccessful.

National Assembly (1789)

On 10 June 1789, Abbé Sieyès moved that the Third Estate, now meeting as the ''Communes'' (English: "Commons"), proceed with verification of its own powers and invite the other two estates to take part, but not to wait for them. They proceeded to do so two days later, completing the process on 17 June. Then they voted a measure far more radical, declaring themselves the National Assembly, an assembly not of the Estates but of "the People." They invited the other orders to join them, but made it clear they intended to conduct the nation's affairs with or without them.

In an attempt to keep control of the process and prevent the Assembly from convening, Louis XVI ordered the closure of the Salle des États where the Assembly met, making an excuse that the carpenters needed to prepare the hall for a royal speech in two days. Weather did not allow an outdoor meeting, so the Assembly moved their deliberations to a nearby indoor real tennis court, where they proceeded to swear the Tennis Court Oath (20 June 1789), under which they agreed not to separate until they had given France a constitution.

A majority of the representatives of the clergy soon joined them, as did 47 members of the nobility. By 27 June, the royal party had overtly given in, although the military began to arrive in large numbers around Paris and Versailles. Messages of support for the Assembly poured in from Paris and other French cities.

National Constituent Assembly (1789–1791)

Storming of the Bastille

By this time, Necker had earned the enmity of many members of the French court for his overt manipulation of public opinion. Marie Antoinette, the King's younger brother the Comte d'Artois, and other conservative members of the King's privy council urged him to dismiss Necker as financial advisor. On 11 July 1789, after Necker published an inaccurate account of the government's debts and made it available to the public, the King fired him, and completely restructured the finance ministry at the same time.

Many Parisians presumed Louis's actions to be aimed against the Assembly and began open rebellion when they heard the news the next day. They were also afraid that arriving soldiers – mostly foreign mercenaries – had been summoned to shut down the National Constituent Assembly. The Assembly, meeting at Versailles, went into nonstop session to prevent another eviction from their meeting place. Paris was soon consumed by riots, chaos, and widespread looting. The mobs soon had the support of some of the French Guard, who were armed and trained soldiers. On 14 July, the insurgents set their eyes on the large weapons and ammunition cache inside the Bastille fortress, which was also perceived to be a symbol of royal power. After several hours of combat, the prison fell that afternoon. Despite ordering a cease fire, which prevented a mutual massacre, Governor Marquis Bernard de Launay was beaten, stabbed and decapitated; his head was placed on a pike and paraded about the city. Although the fortress had held only seven prisoners (four forgers, two noblemen kept for immoral behavior, and a murder suspect), the Bastille served as a potent symbol of everything hated under the ''Ancien Régime''. Returning to the Hôtel de Ville (city hall), the mob accused the ''prévôt des marchands'' (roughly, mayor) Jacques de Flesselles of treachery and butchered him.

The King, alarmed by the violence, backed down, at least for the time being. The Marquis de la Fayette took up command of the National Guard at Paris. Jean-Sylvain Bailly, president of the Assembly at the time of the Tennis Court Oath, became the city's mayor under a new governmental structure known as the ''commune''. The King visited Paris, where, on 17 July he accepted a tricolore cockade, to cries of ''Vive la Nation'' ("Long live the Nation") and ''Vive le Roi'' ("Long live the King").

Necker was recalled to power, but his triumph was short-lived. An astute financier but a less astute politician, Necker overplayed his hand by demanding and obtaining a general amnesty, losing much of the people's favour.

As civil authority rapidly deteriorated, with random acts of violence and theft breaking out across the country, members of the nobility, fearing for their safety, fled to neighboring countries; many of these ''émigrés'', as they were called, funded counter-revolutionary causes within France and urged foreign monarchs to offer military support to a counter-revolution.

By late July, the spirit of popular sovereignty had spread throughout France. In rural areas, many commoners began to form militias and arm themselves against a foreign invasion: some attacked the châteaux of the nobility as part of a general agrarian insurrection known as ''"la Grande Peur"'' ("the Great Fear"). In addition, wild rumours and paranoia caused widespread unrest and civil disturbances that contributed to the collapse of law and order.

Working toward a constitution

On 4 August 1789, the National Constituent Assembly abolished feudalism (although at that point there had been sufficient peasant revolts to almost end feudalism already), in what is known as the August Decrees, sweeping away both the seigneurial rights of the Second Estate and the tithes gathered by the First Estate. In the course of a few hours, nobles, clergy, towns, provinces, companies and cities lost their special privileges.

On 26 August 1789, the Assembly published the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which comprised a statement of principles rather than a constitution with legal effect. The National Constituent Assembly functioned not only as a legislature, but also as a body to draft a new constitution.

Necker, Mounier, Lally-Tollendal and others argued unsuccessfully for a senate, with members appointed by the crown on the nomination of the people. The bulk of the nobles argued for an aristocratic upper house elected by the nobles. The popular party carried the day: France would have a single, unicameral assembly. The King retained only a "suspensive veto"; he could delay the implementation of a law, but not block it absolutely. The Assembly eventually replaced the historic provinces with 83 ''départements,'' uniformly administered and roughly equal in area and population.

Amid the Assembly's preoccupation with constitutional affairs, the financial crisis had continued largely unaddressed, and the deficit had only increased. Honoré Mirabeau now led the move to address this matter, and the Assembly gave Necker complete financial dictatorship.

Women's March on Versailles

Fueled by rumors of a reception for the King's bodyguards on 1 October 1789 at which the national cockade had been trampled upon, on 5 October 1789 crowds of women began to assemble at Parisian markets. The women first marched to the Hôtel de Ville, demanding that city officials address their concerns. The women were responding to the harsh economic situations they faced, especially bread shortages. They also demanded an end to royal efforts to block the National Assembly, and for the King and his administration to move to Paris as a sign of good faith in addressing the widespread poverty.

Getting unsatisfactory responses from city officials, as many as 7,000 women joined the march to Versailles, bringing with them cannons and a variety of smaller weapons. Twenty thousand National Guardsmen under the command of La Fayette responded to keep order, and members of the mob stormed the palace, killing several guards. La Fayette ultimately persuaded the king to accede to the demand of the crowd that the monarchy relocate to Paris.

On 6 October 1789, the King and the royal family moved from Versailles to Paris under the "protection" of the National Guards, thus legitimizing the National Assembly.

Revolution and the Church

The Revolution caused a massive shift of power from the Roman Catholic Church to the state. Under the ''Ancien Régime'', the Church had been the largest single landowner in the country, owning about 10% of the land in the kingdom. The Church was exempt from paying taxes to the government, while it levied a tithe—a 10% tax on income, often collected in the form of crops—on the general population, which it then redistributed to the poor. The power and wealth of the Church was highly resented by some groups. A small minority of Protestants living in France, such as the Huguenots, wanted an anti-Catholic regime and revenge against the clergy who discriminated against them. Enlightenment thinkers such as Voltaire helped fuel this resentment by denigrating the Catholic Church and destabilizing the French monarchy. As historian John McManners argues, "In eighteenth-century France throne and altar were commonly spoken of as in close alliance; their simultaneous collapse ... would one day provide the final proof of their interdependence."

This resentment toward the Church weakened its power during the opening of the Estates General in May 1789. The Church composed the First Estate with 130,000 members of the clergy. When the National Assembly was later created in June 1789 by the Third Estate, the clergy voted to join them, which perpetuated the destruction of the Estates General as a governing body. The National Assembly began to enact social and economic reform. Legislation sanctioned on 4 August 1789 abolished the Church's authority to impose the tithe. In an attempt to address the financial crisis, the Assembly declared, on 2 November 1789, that the property of the Church was "at the disposal of the nation." They used this property to back a new currency, the assignats. Thus, the nation had now also taken on the responsibility of the Church, which included paying the clergy, caring for the poor, the sick and the orphaned. In December, the Assembly began to sell the lands to the highest bidder to raise revenue, effectively decreasing the value of the assignats by 25% in two years. In autumn 1789, legislation abolished monastic vows and on 13 February 1790 all religious orders were dissolved. Monks and nuns were encouraged to return to private life and a small percentage did eventually marry.

The Civil Constitution of the Clergy, passed on 12 July 1790, turned the remaining clergy into employees of the state. This established an election system for parish priests and bishops and set a pay rate for the clergy. Many Catholics objected to the election system because it effectively denied the authority of the Pope in Rome over the French Church. Eventually, in November 1790, the National Assembly began to require an oath of loyalty to the Civil Constitution from all the members of the clergy. This led to a schism between those clergy who swore the required oath and accepted the new arrangement and those who remained loyal to the Pope. Overall, 24% of the clergy nationwide took the oath. Widespread refusal led to legislation against the clergy, "forcing them into exile, deporting them forcibly, or executing them as traitors." Pope Pius VI never accepted the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, further isolating the Church in France. During the Reign of Terror, extreme efforts of de-Christianization ensued, including the imprisonment and massacre of priests and destruction of churches and religious images throughout France. An effort was made to replace the Catholic Church altogether, with civic festivals replacing religious ones. The establishment of the Cult of Reason was the final step of radical de-Christianization. These events led to a widespread disillusionment with the Revolution and to counter-rebellions across France. Locals often resisted de-Christianization by attacking revolutionary agents and hiding members of the clergy who were being hunted. Eventually, Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety were forced to denounce the campaign, replacing the Cult of Reason with the deist but still non-Christian Cult of the Supreme Being. The Concordat of 1801 between Napoleon and the Church ended the de-Christianization period and established the rules for a relationship between the Catholic Church and the French State that lasted until it was abrogated by the Third Republic via the separation of church and state on 11 December 1905. The persecution of the Church led to a counter-revolution known as the Revolt in the Vendée, whose suppression is considered by some to be the first modern genocide.

Intrigues and radicalism

Factions within the Assembly began to clarify. The aristocrat Jacques Antoine Marie de Cazalès and the abbé Jean-Sifrein Maury led what would become known as the right wing, the opposition to revolution (this party sat on the right-hand side of the Assembly). The "Royalist democrats" or ''monarchiens'', allied with Necker, inclined toward organising France along lines similar to the British constitutional model; they included Jean Joseph Mounier, the Comte de Lally-Tollendal, the comte de Clermont-Tonnerre, and Pierre Victor Malouet, comte de Virieu.

The "National Party", representing the centre or centre-left of the assembly, included Honoré Mirabeau, La Fayette, and Bailly; while Adrien Duport, Barnave and Alexandre Lameth represented somewhat more extreme views. Almost alone in his radicalism on the left was the Arras lawyer Maximilien Robespierre. Abbé Sieyès led in proposing legislation in this period and successfully forged consensus for some time between the political centre and the left. In Paris, various committees, the mayor, the assembly of representatives, and the individual districts each claimed authority independent of the others. The increasingly middle-class National Guard under La Fayette also slowly emerged as a power in its own right, as did other self-generated assemblies. The Assembly abolished the symbolic paraphernalia of the ''Ancien Régime''— armorial bearings, liveries, etc. – which further alienated the more conservative nobles, and added to the ranks of the ''émigrés''. On 14 July 1790, and for several days following, crowds in the Champ de Mars celebrated the anniversary of the fall of the Bastille with the ''Fête de la Fédération''; Talleyrand performed a mass; participants swore an oath of "fidelity to the nation, the law, and the king"; the King and the royal family actively participated.

The electors had originally chosen the members of the Estates-General to serve for a single year. However, by the terms of the Tennis Court Oath, the ''communes'' had bound themselves to meet continuously until France had a constitution. Right-wing elements now argued for a new election, but Mirabeau prevailed, asserting that the status of the assembly had fundamentally changed, and that no new election should take place before completing the constitution.

In late 1790, the French army was in considerable disarray. The military officer corps was largely composed of noblemen, who found it increasingly difficult to maintain order within the ranks. In some cases, soldiers (drawn from the lower classes) had turned against their aristocratic commanders and attacked them. At Nancy, General Bouillé successfully put down one such rebellion, only to be accused of being anti-revolutionary for doing so. This and other such incidents spurred a mass desertion as more and more officers defected to other countries, leaving a dearth of experienced leadership within the army.

This period also saw the rise of the political "clubs" in French politics. Foremost among these was the Jacobin Club; 152 members had affiliated with the Jacobins by 10 August 1790. The Jacobin Society began as a broad, general organization for political debate, but as it grew in members, various factions developed with widely differing views. Several of these fractions broke off to form their own clubs, such as the Club of '89.

Meanwhile, the Assembly continued to work on developing a constitution. A new judicial organisation made all magistracies temporary and independent of the throne. The legislators abolished hereditary offices, except for the monarchy itself. Jury trials started for criminal cases. The King would have the unique power to propose war, with the legislature then deciding whether to declare war. The Assembly abolished all internal trade barriers and suppressed guilds, masterships, and workers' organisations: any individual gained the right to practice a trade through the purchase of a license; strikes became illegal.

In the winter of 1791, the Assembly considered, for the first time, legislation against the ''émigrés''. The debate pitted the safety of the Revolution against the liberty of individuals to leave. Mirabeau prevailed against the measure, which he referred to as "worthy of being placed in the code of Draco". But Mirabeau died on 2 April 1791 and, before the end of the year, the new Legislative Assembly adopted this draconian measure.

Royal flight to Varennes

Louis XVI, egged on by Marie Antoinette and other members of his family, opposed the course of the Revolution, but rejected the potentially treacherous aid of the other monarchs of Europe. He cast his lot with General Bouillé, who condemned both the emigration and the Assembly, and promised him refuge and support in his camp at Montmédy. On the night of 20 June 1791, the royal family fled the Tuileries Palace dressed as servants, while their servants dressed as nobles.

However, late the next day, the King was recognised and arrested at Varennes (in the Meuse ''département''). He and his family were brought back to Paris under guard, still dressed as servants. Pétion, Latour-Maubourg, and Antoine Pierre Joseph Marie Barnave, representing the Assembly, met the royal family at Épernay and returned with them. From this time, Barnave became a counselor and supporter of the royal family. When they returned to Paris, the crowd greeted them in silence. The Assembly provisionally suspended the King. He and Queen Marie Antoinette remained held under guard.

Completing the constitution

As most of the Assembly still favoured a constitutional monarchy rather than a republic, the various groups reached a compromise which left Louis XVI as little more than a figurehead: he was forced to swear an oath to the constitution, and a decree declared that retracting the oath, heading an army for the purpose of making war upon the nation, or permitting anyone to do so in his name would amount to abdication.

However, Jacques Pierre Brissot drafted a petition, insisting that in the eyes of the nation Louis XVI was deposed since his flight. An immense crowd gathered in the Champ de Mars to sign the petition. Georges Danton and Camille Desmoulins gave fiery speeches. The Assembly called for the municipal authorities to "preserve public order". The National Guard under La Fayette's command confronted the crowd. The soldiers responded to a barrage of stones by firing into the crowd, killing between 13 and 50 people.

In the wake of this massacre the authorities closed many of the patriotic clubs, as well as radical newspapers such as Jean-Paul Marat's ''L'Ami du Peuple''. Danton fled to England; Desmoulins and Marat went into hiding.

Meanwhile, a new threat arose from abroad: Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, Frederick William II of Prussia, and the King's brother Charles-Philippe, comte d'Artois, issued the Declaration of Pillnitz, which considered the cause of Louis XVI as their own, demanded his absolute liberty and implied an invasion of France on his behalf if the revolutionary authorities refused its conditions. The French people expressed no respect for the dictates of foreign monarchs, and the threat of force merely hastened their militarisation.

Even before the "Flight to Varennes", the Assembly members had determined to debar themselves from the legislature that would succeed them, the Legislative Assembly. They now gathered the various constitutional laws they had passed into a single constitution, showed remarkable strength in choosing not to use this as an occasion for major revisions, and submitted it to the recently restored Louis XVI, who accepted it, writing "I engage to maintain it at home, to defend it from all attacks from abroad, and to cause its execution by all the means it places at my disposal". The King addressed the Assembly and received enthusiastic applause from members and spectators. With this capstone, the National Constituent Assembly adjourned in a final session on 30 September 1791.

Mignet argued that the "constitution of 1791... was the work of the middle class, then the strongest; for, as is well known, the predominant force ever takes possession of institutions... In this constitution the people was the source of all powers, but it exercised none."

Legislative Assembly (1791–1792)

Failure of the constitutional monarchy

Under the Constitution of 1791, France would function as a constitutional monarchy. The King had to share power with the elected Legislative Assembly, but he still retained his royal veto and the ability to select ministers. The Legislative Assembly first met on 1 October 1791, and degenerated into chaos less than a year later. In the words of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica: "In the attempt to govern, the Assembly failed altogether. It left behind an empty treasury, an undisciplined army and navy, and a people debauched by safe and successful riot." The Legislative Assembly consisted of about 165 Feuillants (constitutional monarchists) on the right, about 330 Girondists (liberal republicans) and Jacobins (radical revolutionaries) on the left, and about 250 deputies unaffiliated with either faction. Early on, the King vetoed legislation that threatened the ''émigrés'' with death and that decreed that every non-juring clergyman must take within eight days the civic oath mandated by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Over the course of a year, such disagreements would lead to a constitutional crisis.

Constitutional crisis

On the night of 10 August 1792, insurgents and popular militias, supported by the revolutionary Paris Commune, assailed the Tuileries Palace and massacred the Swiss Guards who were assigned for the protection of the king. The royal family ended up prisoners and a rump session of the Legislative Assembly suspended the monarchy; little more than a third of the deputies were present, almost all of them Jacobins.

What remained of a national government depended on the support of the insurrectionary Commune. The Commune sent gangs into the prisons to try arbitrarily and butcher 1400 victims, and addressed a circular letter to the other cities of France inviting them to follow this example. The Assembly could offer only feeble resistance. This situation persisted until the Convention, elected by universal male suffrage and charged with writing a new constitution, met on 20 September 1792 and became the new ''de facto'' government of France. The next day it abolished the monarchy and declared a republic. This date was later retroactively adopted as the beginning of Year One of the French Republican Calendar.

War and Counter-Revolution (1792–1797)

The politics of the period inevitably drove France towards war with Austria and its allies. The King, many of the Feuillants and the Girondins specifically wanted to wage war. The King (and many Feuillants with him) expected war would increase his personal popularity; he also foresaw an opportunity to exploit any defeat: either result would make him stronger. The Girondins wanted to export the Revolution throughout Europe and, by extension, to defend the Revolution within France. The forces opposing war were much weaker. Barnave and his supporters among the Feuillants feared a war they thought France had little chance to win and which they feared might lead to greater radicalization of the revolution. On the other end of the political spectrum Robespierre opposed a war on two grounds, fearing that it would strengthen the monarchy and military at the expense of the revolution, and that it would incur the anger of ordinary people in Austria and elsewhere. The Austrian emperor Leopold II, brother of Marie Antoinette, may have wished to avoid war, but he died on 1 March 1792. France preemptively declared war on Austria (20 April 1792) and Prussia joined on the Austrian side a few weeks later. The invading Prussian army faced little resistance until checked at the Battle of Valmy (20 September 1792), and forced to withdraw.

The new-born Republic followed up on this success with a series of victories in Belgium and the Rhineland in the fall of 1792. The French armies defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Jemappes on 6 November, and had soon taken over most of the Austrian Netherlands. This brought them into conflict with Britain and the Dutch Republic, which wished to preserve the independence of the southern Netherlands from France. After the king's execution in January 1793, these powers, along with Spain and most other European states, joined the war against France. Almost immediately, French forces faced defeat on many fronts, and were driven out of their newly conquered territories in the spring of 1793. At the same time, the republican regime was forced to deal with rebellions against its authority in much of western and southern France. But the allies failed to take advantage of French disunity, and by the autumn of 1793 the republican regime had defeated most of the internal rebellions and halted the allied advance into France itself.

The stalemate was broken in the summer of 1794 with dramatic French victories. They defeated the allied army at the Battle of Fleurus, leading to a full Allied withdrawal from the Austrian Netherlands. They followed up by a campaign which swept the allies to the east bank of the Rhine and left the French, by the beginning of 1795, conquering Holland itself. The House of Orange was expelled and replaced by the Batavian Republic, a French satellite state. These victories led to the collapse of the coalition against France. Prussia, having effectively abandoned the coalition in the fall of 1794, made peace with revolutionary France at Basel in April 1795, and soon thereafter Spain, too, made peace with France. Of the major powers, only Britain and Austria remained at war with France.

It was during this time that ''La Marseillaise'' was first sung. Originally titled ''Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin'' ("War Song for the Army of the Rhine"), the song was written and composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792. It was adopted in 1795 as the nation's first anthem.

National Convention (1792–1795)

Execution of Louis XVI

In the Brunswick Manifesto, the Imperial and Prussian armies threatened retaliation on the French population if it were to resist their advance or the reinstatement of the monarchy. This among other things made Louis appear to be conspiring with the enemies of France. On 17 January 1793 Louis was condemned to death for "conspiracy against the public liberty and the general safety" by a close majority in Convention: 361 voted to execute the king, 288 voted against, and another 72 voted to execute him subject to a variety of delaying conditions. The former Louis XVI, now simply named ''Citoyen Louis Capet'' (Citizen Louis Capet), was executed by guillotine on 21 January 1793 on the ''Place de la Révolution'', former ''Place Louis XV'', now called the Place de la Concorde. Royalty across Europe was horrified and many heretofore neutral countries soon joined the war against revolutionary France.

Economy

When war went badly, prices rose and the ''sans-culottes'' — poor labourers and radical Jacobins – rioted; counter-revolutionary activities began in some regions. This encouraged the Jacobins to seize power through a parliamentary ''coup'', backed up by force effected by mobilising public support against the Girondist faction, and by utilising the mob power of the Parisian ''sans-culottes''. An alliance of Jacobin and ''sans-culottes'' elements thus became the effective centre of the new government. Policy became considerably more radical, as "The Law of the Maximum" set food prices and led to executions of offenders. This policy of price control was coeval with the Committee of Public Safety's rise to power and the Reign of Terror. The Committee first attempted to set the price for only a limited number of grain products but, by September 1793, it expanded the "maximum" to cover all foodstuffs and a long list of other goods. Widespread shortages and famine ensued. The Committee reacted by sending dragoons into the countryside to arrest farmers and seize crops. This temporarily solved the problem in Paris, but the rest of the country suffered. By the spring of 1794, forced collection of food was not sufficient to feed even Paris and the days of the Committee were numbered. When Robespierre went to the guillotine in July of that year the crowd jeered, "There goes the dirty maximum!"

Reign of Terror

The Committee of Public Safety came under the control of Maximilien Robespierre, a lawyer, and the Jacobins unleashed the Reign of Terror (1793–1794). According to archival records, at least 16,594 people died under the guillotine or otherwise after accusations of counter-revolutionary activities. A number of historians note that as many as 40,000 accused prisoners may have been summarily executed without trial or died awaiting trial.

On 2 June 1793, Paris sections — encouraged by the ''enragés'' ("enraged ones") Jacques Roux and Jacques Hébert – took over the Convention, calling for administrative and political purges, a low fixed price for bread, and a limitation of the electoral franchise to ''sans-culottes'' alone. With the backing of the National Guard, they managed to persuade the Convention to arrest 31 Girondin leaders, including Jacques Pierre Brissot. Following these arrests, the Jacobins gained control of the Committee of Public Safety on 10 June, installing the ''revolutionary dictatorship''. On 13 July, the assassination of Jean-Paul Marat — a Jacobin leader and journalist known for his bloodthirsty rhetoric — by Charlotte Corday, a Girondin, resulted in further increase of Jacobin political influence. Georges Danton, the leader of the August 1792 uprising against the King, undermined by several political reversals, was removed from the Committee and Robespierre, "the Incorruptible", became its most influential member as it moved to take radical measures against the Revolution's domestic and foreign enemies.

Meanwhile, on 24 June, the Convention adopted the first republican constitution of France, variously referred to as the French Constitution of 1793 or Constitution of the Year I. It was progressive and radical in several respects, in particular by establishing universal male suffrage. It was ratified by public referendum, but normal legal processes were suspended before it could take effect.

War in the Vendée

In Vendée, peasants revolted against the French Revolutionary government in 1793. They resented the changes imposed on the Roman Catholic Church by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (1790) and broke into open revolt in defiance of the Revolutionary government's military conscription. This became a guerrilla war, known as the War in the Vendée. North of the Loire, similar revolts were started by the so-called Chouans (royalist rebels).

After the defeat at Savenay, when regular warfare in the Vendée was at an end, the French general Francois Joseph Westermann is argued by some historians to have penned a letter (its veracity is disputed) to the Committee of Public Safety, stating:

"There is no more Vendée. It died with its wives and its children by our free sabres. I have just buried it in the woods and the swamps of Savenay. According to the orders that you gave me, I crushed the children under the feet of the horses, massacred the women who, at least for these, will not give birth to any more brigands. I do not have a prisoner to reproach me. I have exterminated all. The roads are sown with corpses. At Savenay, brigands are arriving all the time claiming to surrender, and we are shooting them non-stop... Mercy is not a revolutionary sentiment."''

Other historians doubt the authenticity of this document and point out that the claims in it were patently false — there were in fact thousands of living Vendean prisoners, the revolt had been far from crushed, and the Convention had explicitly decreed that women, children and unarmed men were to be treated humanely. It has been hypothesized that if the letter is authentic, Westermann may have been attempting to exaggerate the intensity of his actions and his success, because he was eager to avoid being purged for his opposition to ''sans-culotte'' generals (he was later guillotined together with Danton's group).

The revolt and its suppression, including both combat casualties and massacres and executions on both sides, are thought to have taken between 117,000 and 250,000 lives (170,000 according to the latest estimates). Because of the extremely brutal forms that the Republican repression took in many places, certain historians such as Reynald Secher have called the event a "genocide". This description has become popular in the mass media, but has largely been rejected by mainstream scholars.

Facing local revolts and foreign invasions in both the East and West of the country, the most urgent government business was the war. On 17 August, the Convention voted for general conscription, the ''levée en masse'', which mobilized all citizens to serve as soldiers or suppliers in the war effort.

The National Convention subsequently enacted more legislation, voting on 9 September to establish ''sans-culottes'' paramilitary forces, ''revolutionary armies'', and to force farmers to surrender grain demanded by the government. On 17 September, the ''Law of Suspects'' was passed, which authorized the charging of counter-revolutionaries with "crimes against liberty." On 29 September, the Convention extended price limits from grain and bread to other household goods and established the Law of the Maximum, intended to prevent price gouging and supply food to the cities.

The guillotine as a symbol

The guillotine became the symbol of a string of executions. Louis XVI had already been guillotined before the start of the terror; Queen Marie Antoinette, Barnave, Bailly, Brissot and other leading Girondins, Philippe Égalité (despite his vote for the death of the King), Madame Roland and many others were executed by guillotine. The Revolutionary Tribunal summarily condemned thousands of people to death by the guillotine, while mobs beat other victims to death.

At the peak of the terror, the slightest hint of counter-revolutionary thoughts or activities (or, as in the case of Jacques Hébert, revolutionary zeal exceeding that of those in power) could place one under suspicion, and trials did not always proceed according to contemporary standards of due process. Sometimes people died for their political opinions or actions, but many for little reason beyond mere suspicion, or because some others had a stake in getting rid of them. Most of the victims received an unceremonious trip to the guillotine in an open wooden cart (the tumbrel). In the rebellious provinces, the government representatives had unlimited authority and some engaged in extreme repressions and abuses. For example, Jean-Baptiste Carrier became notorious for the ''Noyades'' ("drownings") he organized in Nantes; his conduct was judged unacceptable even by the Jacobin government and he was recalled.

Another anti-clerical uprising was made possible by the installment of the Republican Calendar on 24 October 1793. Against Robespierre's concepts of Deism and Virtue, Hébert's (and Chaumette's) atheist movement initiated a religious campaign to dechristianize society. The climax was reached with the celebration of the flame of Reason in Notre Dame Cathedral on 10 November. The Reign of Terror ultimately weakened the revolutionary government, while temporarily ending internal opposition. The Jacobins expanded the size of the army, and Carnot replaced many aristocratic officers with soldiers who had demonstrated their patriotism, if not their ability. The Republican army was able to throw back the Austrians, Prussians, British, and Spanish. At the end of 1793, the army began to prevail and revolts were defeated with ease. The Ventôse Decrees (February–March 1794) proposed the confiscation of the goods of exiles and opponents of the Revolution, and their redistribution to the needy. However this policy was never fully implemented.

In the spring of 1794, both extremist ''enragés'' such as Hébert and moderate Montagnard ''indulgents'' such as Danton were charged with counter-revolutionary activities, tried and guillotined. On 7 June Robespierre, who had previously condemned the ''Cult of Reason'', advocated a new state religion and recommended the Convention acknowledge the existence of the "Supreme Being".

Thermidorian Reaction

On 27 July 1794, the Thermidorian Reaction led to the arrest and execution of Robespierre, Louis de Saint-Just, and other leading Jacobins. The new government was predominantly made up of Girondists who had survived the Terror, and after taking power, they took revenge as well by persecuting even those Jacobins who had helped to overthrow Robespierre, banning the Jacobin Club, and executing many of its former members in what was known as the White Terror.

In the wake of excesses of the Terror, the Convention approved the new "Constitution of the Year III" on 22 August 1795. A French plebiscite ratified the document, with about 1,057,000 votes for the constitution and 49,000 against. The results of the voting were announced on 23 September 1795, and the new constitution took effect on 27 September 1795.

The Constitutional Republic: The Directory (1795–1799)

The new constitution created the ''Directoire'' () and the first bicameral legislature in French history. The parliament consisted of two houses: the ''Conseil des Cinq-Cents'' (Council of the Five Hundred), with 500 representatives, and the ''Conseil des Anciens'' (Council of Elders), with 250 senators. Executive power went to five "directors," named annually by the ''Conseil des Anciens'' from a list submitted by the ''Conseil des Cinq-Cents''. Furthermore, the universal male suffrage of 1793 was replaced by limited suffrage based on property.

With the establishment of the Directory, contemporary observers might have assumed that the Revolution was finished. Citizens of the war-weary nation wanted stability, peace, and an end to conditions that at times bordered on chaos. Those who wished to restore the monarchy and the ''Ancien Régime'' by putting Louis XVIII on the throne, and those who would have renewed the Reign of Terror were insignificant in number. The possibility of foreign interference had vanished with the failure of the First Coalition. The earlier atrocities had made confidence or goodwill between parties impossible. The same instinct of self-preservation which had led the members of the Convention to claim so large a part in the new legislature and the whole of the Directory impelled them to keep their predominance. However, many French citizens distrusted the Directory, and the directors could achieve their purposes only by extraordinary means. They habitually disregarded the terms of the constitution, and, even when the elections that they rigged went against them, the directors routinely used draconian police measures to quell dissent. Moreover, to prolong their power the directors were driven to rely on the military, which desired war and grew less and less civic-minded.

Other reasons influenced them in the direction of war. State finances during the earlier phases of the Revolution had been so thoroughly ruined that the government could not have met its expenses without the plunder and the tribute of foreign countries. If peace were made, the armies would return home and the directors would have to face the exasperation of the rank-and-file who had lost their livelihood, as well as the ambition of generals who could, in a moment, brush them aside. Barras and Rewbell were notoriously corrupt themselves and screened corruption in others. The patronage of the directors was ill-bestowed, and the general maladministration heightened their unpopularity.

The constitutional party in the legislature desired toleration of the nonjuring clergy, the repeal of the laws against the relatives of the émigrés, and some merciful discrimination toward the émigrés themselves. The directors baffled all such endeavours. On the other hand, the socialist conspiracy of Babeuf was easily quelled. Little was done to improve the finances, and the assignats continued to fall in value.

The new régime met opposition from remaining Jacobins and the royalists. The army suppressed riots and counter-revolutionary activities. In this way the army and its successful general, Napoleon Bonaparte eventually gained total power.

On 9 November 1799 (18 Brumaire of the Year VIII) Napoleon Bonaparte staged the ''coup of 18 Brumaire'' which installed the Consulate. This effectively led to Bonaparte's dictatorship and eventually (in 1804) to his proclamation as ''Empereur'' (emperor), which brought to a close the specifically republican phase of the French Revolution.

Symbolism in the French Revolution

The French Revolution was a time of upheaval, especially towards traditional ideology, in almost every sense: the current monarch, King Louis XVI, was executed; the Catholic Church was all but abolished; a new calendar was created; and a new Republican government was established. In order to effectively illustrate the differences between the new Republic and the old regime, the leaders needed to implement a new set of symbols to be celebrated instead of the old religious and monarchical symbolism. To this end, symbols were borrowed from historic cultures and redefined, while those of the old regime were either destroyed or reattributed acceptable characteristics. These revised symbols were used to instill in the public a new sense of tradition and reverence for the Enlightenment and the Republic.

Fasces

Fasces, likes many other symbols of the French Revolution, are Roman in origin. Fasces are a bundle of birch rods containing an axe. In Roman times, the fasces symbolized the power of magistrates who could order the beating of a criminal, representing union and accord with the Roman Republic. The French Republic continued this Roman symbol to represent state power, justice, and unity. During the French Revolution the fasces image is seen in conjunction with many other symbols. This is seen with many emblems of the French Revolution. Though seen throughout the French Revolution, perhaps the most well known French reincarnation of the fasces is the Fasces surmounted by a Phrygian cap. This image has no display of an axe or a strong central state; rather, it symbolizes the power of the liberated people by placing the Liberty Cap on top of the classical symbol of power.

Liberty cap

The Liberty cap, also known as the Phrygian cap, or pileus, is a brimless, felt cap that is conical in shape with the tip pulled forward. The cap was originally worn by ancient Romans and Greeks. The cap implies ennobling effects, as seen in its association with Homer’s Ulysses and the mythical twins, Castor and Pollux. The emblem’s popularity during the French Revolution is due in part to its importance in ancient Rome: its use alludes to the Roman ritual of manumission of slaves, in which a freed slave receives the bonnet as a symbol of his newfound liberty. The Roman tribune Lucius Appuleius Saturninus incited the slaves to insurrection by displaying a pileus as if it were a standard. The pileus cap is often red in color. This type of cap was worn by revolutionaries at the fall of the Bastille. According to the Revolutions de Paris, it became "the symbol of the liberation from all servitudes, the sign for unification of all the enemies of despotism." The pileus competed with the Phrygian cap, a similar cap that covered the ears and the nape of the neck, for popularity. The Phrygian cap eventually supplanted the pileus and usurped its symbolism, becoming synonymous with republican liberty.

Liberty Tree

The Liberty Tree, officially adopted in 1792, is a symbol of the everlasting Republic, national freedom, and political revolution. It has historic roots in revolutionary France as well as America, as a symbol that was shared by the two nascent republics. The tree was chosen as a symbol of the French Revolution because it is a symbol of fertility in French folklore, which provided a simple transition from revering it for one reason to another. The American colonies also used the idea of a Liberty Tree to celebrate their own acts of insurrection against the British, starting with the Stamp Act riot in 1765. The riot culminated in the hanging in effigy of two Stamp Act politicians on a large elm tree. The elm tree began to be celebrated as a symbol of Liberty in the American colonies. It was adopted as a symbol that needed to be living and growing, along with the Republic. To that end, the tree is portrayed as a sapling, usually of an oak tree in French interpretation. The Liberty Tree serves as a constant celebration of the spirit of political freedom.

Hercules

The symbol of Hercules was first adopted by the Old Regime to represent the monarchy. Hercules was an ancient Greek hero who symbolized strength and power. The symbol was used to represent the sovereign authority of the King over France during the reign of the Bourbon monarchs. However, the monarchy was not the only ruling power in French history to use the symbol of Hercules to declare its power.

During the Revolution, the symbol of Hercules was revived to represent nascent revolutionary ideals. The first use of Hercules as a revolutionary symbol was during a festival celebrating the National Assembly’s victory over federalism on 10 August 1793. This Festival of Unity consisted of four stations around Paris which featured symbols representing major events of the Revolution which embodied revolutionary ideals of liberty, unity, and power. The statue of Hercules, placed at the station commemorating the fall of Louis XVI, symbolized the power of the French people over their former oppressors. The statue’s foot was placed on the throat of the Hydra, which represented the tyranny of federalism which the new Republic had vanquished. In one hand, the statue grasped a club, a symbol of power, while in the other grasping the fasces which symbolized the unity of the French people. The image of Hercules assisted the new Republic in establishing its new Republican moral system. Hercules thus evolved from a symbol of the sovereignty of the monarch into a symbol of the new sovereign authority in France: the French people. This transition was made easily for two reasons. First, because Hercules was a famous mythological figure, and had previously been used by the monarchy, he was easily recognized by educated French observers. It was not necessary for the revolutionary government to educate the French people on the background of the symbol. Additionally, Hercules recalled the classical age of the Greeks and the Romans, a period which the revolutionaries identified with republican and democratic ideals. These connotations made Hercules an easy choice to represent the powerful new sovereign people of France.

During the more radical phase of the Revolution from 1793 to 1794, the usage and depiction of Hercules changed. These changes to the symbol were due to revolutionary leaders believing the symbol was inciting violence among the common citizens. The triumphant battles of Hercules and the overcoming of enemies of the Republic became less prominent. In discussions over what symbol to use for the Seal of the Republic, the image of Hercules was considered but eventually ruled out in favor of Marianne. Hercules was on the coin of the Republic. However, this Hercules was not the same image as that of the pre-Terror phases of the Revolution. The new image of Hercules was more domesticated. He appeared more paternal, older, and wiser, rather than the warrior-like images in the early stages of the French Revolution. Unlike his 24 foot statue in the Festival of the Supreme Being, he was now the same size as Liberty and Equality. Also the language on the coin with Hercules was far different than the rhetoric of pre-revolutionary depictions. On the coins the words, "uniting Liberty and Equality" were used. This is opposed to the forceful language of early Revolutionary rhetoric and rhetoric of the Bourbon monarchy. By 1798, the Council of Ancients had discussed the "inevitable" change from the problematic image of Hercules, and Hercules was eventually phased out in favor of an even more docile image.

Role of women

Women had no political rights in pre-Revolutionary France; they could not vote or hold any political office. They were considered "passive" citizens; forced to rely on men to determine what was best for them in the government. It was the men who defined these categories, and women were forced to accept male domination in the political sphere. The ''Encyclopédie'', published by a group of philosophers over the years 1751–1777, summarized French male beliefs of women. A woman was a "failed man," the fetus not fully developed in the womb. "Women’s testimony is in general light and subject to variation; this is why it is taken more seriously than that of men" as opposed to men, upon whom "Nature seems to have conferred… the right to govern." In general, "men are more capable than women of ably governing particular matters". Instead, women were taught to be committed to their husbands and "all his interests… [to show] attention and care… [and] sincere and discreet zeal for his salvation." A woman’s education often consisted of learning to be a good wife and mother; as a result women were not supposed to be involved in the political sphere, as the limit of their influence was the raising of future citizens.

When the Revolution opened, some women struck forcefully, using the volatile political climate to assert their active natures. In the time of the Revolution, women could not be kept out of the political sphere; they swore oaths of loyalty, "solemn declarations of patriotic allegiance, [and] affirmations of the political responsibilities of citizenship." Throughout the Revolution, women such as Pauline Léon and her Society of Revolutionary Republican Women fought for the right to bear arms, used armed force and rioted.

Even before Léon, some liberals had advocated equal rights for women including women's suffrage. Nicolas de Condorcet was especially noted for his advocacy, in his articles published in the ''Journal de la Société de 1789'', and by publishing ''De l'admission des femmes au droit de cité'' ("For the Admission to the Rights of Citizenship For Women") in 1790.

Feminist agitation

The March to Versailles is but one example of feminist militant activism during the French Revolution. While largely left out of the thrust for increasing rights of citizens, as the question was left indeterminate in the Declaration of the Rights of Man, activists such as Pauline Léon and Théroigne de Méricourt agitated for full citizenship for women. Women were, nonetheless, "denied political rights of ‘active citizenship’ (1791) and democratic citizenship (1793)."

Pauline Léon, on 6 March 1792, submitted a petition signed by 319 women to the National Assembly requesting permission to form a garde national in order to defend Paris in case of military invasion. Léon requested permission be granted to women to arm themselves with pikes, pistols, sabers and rifles, as well as the privilege of drilling under the French Guards. Her request was denied. Later in 1792, Théroigne de Méricourt made a call for the creation of "legions of amazons" in order to protect the revolution. As part of her call, she claimed that the right to bear arm would transform women into citizens.

On 20 June 1792 a number of armed women took part in a procession that "passed through the halls of the Legislative Assembly, into the Tuilleries Gardens, and then through the King’s residence." Militant women also assumed a special role in the funeral of Marat, following his murder on 13 July 1793. As part of the funeral procession, they carried the bathtub in which Marat had been murdered as well as a shirt stained with Marat’s blood.

The most radical militant feminist activism was practiced by the Society of Revolutionary Republican Women, which was founded by Léon and her colleague, Claire Lacombe on 10 May 1793. The goal of the club was "to deliberate on the means of frustrating the projects of the enemies of the Republic." Up to 180 women attended the meetings of the Society. Of special interest to the Society was "combating hoarding [of grain and other staples] and inflation."

Later, on 20 May 1793, women were at the fore of a crowd that demanded "bread and the Constitution of 1793." When their cries went unnoticed, the women went on a rampage, "sacking shops, seizing grain and kidnapping officials."

Most of these outwardly activist women were punished for their actions. The kind of punishment received during the Revolution included public denouncement, arrest, execution, or exile. Théroigne de Méricourt was arrested, publicly flogged and then spent the rest of her life sentenced to an insane asylum. Pauline Léon and Claire Lacombe were arrested, later released, and continued to receive ridicule and abuse for their activism. Many of the women of the Revolution were even publicly executed for "conspiring against the unity and the indivisibility of the Republic".

These are but a few examples of the militant feminism that was prevalent during the French Revolution. While little progress was made toward gender equality during the Revolution, the activism of French feminists was bold and particularly significant in Paris.

Women writers

While some women chose a militant, and often violent, path, others chose to influence events through writing, publications, and meetings. Olympe de Gouges wrote a number of plays, short stories, and novels. Her publications emphasized that women and men are different, but this shouldn’t stop them from equality under the law. In her "Declaration on the Rights of Woman" she insisted that women deserved rights, especially in areas concerning them directly, such as divorce and recognition of illegitimate children. De Gouges also expressed non-gender political views; even before the start of the terror, Olympe de Gouges addressed Robespierre using the pseudonym "Polyme" calling him the Revolution’s "infamy and shame." She warned of the Revolution’s building extremism saying that leaders were "preparing new shackles if [the French people’s liberty were to] waver." Stating that she was willing to sacrifice herself by jumping into the Seine if Robespierre were to join her, de Gouges desperately attempted to grab the attention of the French citizenry and alert them to the dangers that Robespierre embodied. In addition to these bold writings, her defense of the king was one of the factors leading to her execution. An influential figure, one of her suggestions early in the Revolution, to have a voluntary, patriotic tax, was adopted by the National Convention in 1789.

Madame Roland (aka Manon or Marie Roland) was another important female activist. Her political focus was not specifically on women or their liberation. She focused on other aspects of the government, but was a feminist by virtue of the fact that she was a woman working to influence the world. Her personal letters to leaders of the Revolution influenced policy; in addition, she often hosted political gatherings of the Brissotins, a political group which allowed women to join. While limited by her gender, Madame Roland took it upon herself to spread Revolutionary ideology and spread word of events, as well as to assist in formulating the policies of her political allies. Though unable to directly write policies or carry them through to the government, Roland was able to influence her political allies and thus promote her political agenda. Roland attributed women’s lack of education to the public view that women were too weak or vain to be involved in the serious business of politics. She believed that it was this inferior education that turned them into foolish people, but women "could easily be concentrated and solidified upon objects of great significance" if given the chance. As she was led to the scaffold, Madame Roland shouted "O liberty! What crimes are committed in thy name!" Witnesses of her life and death, editors, and readers helped to finish her writings and several editions were published posthumously. While she did not focus on gender politics in her writings, by taking an active role in the tumultuous time of the Revolution, Roland took a stand for women of the time and proved they could take an intelligent active role in politics.

Though women did not gain the right to vote as a result of the Revolution, they still greatly expanded their political participation and involvement in governing. They set precedents for generations of feminists to come.

Counter-revolutionary women

A major aspect of the French Revolution was the dechristianisation movement, a movement that many common people did not agree with. Especially for women living in rural areas of France, the demise of the Catholic Church meant a loss of normalcy. For instance, the ringing of Church bells resonating through the town called people to confession and was a symbol of unity for the community. With the onset of the dechristianisation campaign the Republic silenced these bells and sought simultaneously to silence the religious fervor of the majority Catholic population. As Olwen Hufton argues, these women began to see themselves as the “defenders of faith”. They took it upon themselves to protect the Church from what they saw as a heretical change to their faith, enforced by revolutionaries.

Counter-revolutionary women resisted what they saw as the intrusion of the state into their lives. Economically, many peasant women refused to sell their goods for assignats because this form of currency was unstable and was backed by the sale of confiscated Church property. Instead, they secretly hid nonjuring priests and attended clandestine traditional masses. These women continued to adhere to traditional practices such as Christian burials and naming their children after saints in spite of revolutionary decrees to the contrary.

It was this determined resistance to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy and the dechristianisation campaigns that played a major role in the re-emergence of the Catholic Church as a prominent social institution. In fact, Olwen Hufton notes about the Counter-Revolutionary women: “for it is her commitment to her religion which determines in the post-Thermidorean period the re-emergence of the Catholic Church…”. Although they struggled, these women were eventually vindicated in their bid to reestablish the Church and thereby also to reestablish traditional family life and social stability. This was seen in the Concordat of 1801, which formally reinstated the Catholic Church in France. This act came after years of failed attempts at dechristianisation or state-controlled religion, which were thwarted in part due to the resistance of devout counter-revolutionary women. After the upheaval of the revolutionary period, the reestablishment of the Church was seen by many people as a welcome return to normalcy.

Legacy

The French Revolution has received enormous amounts of historical attention, both from the general public and from scholars and academics. The views of historians, in particular, have been characterized as falling along ideological lines, with disagreement over the significance and the major developments of the Revolution. Alexis de Tocqueville argued that the Revolution was a manifestation of a more prosperous middle class becoming conscious of its social importance. Other thinkers, like the conservative Edmund Burke, maintained that the Revolution was the product of a few conspiratorial individuals who brainwashed the masses into subverting the old order—a claim rooted in the belief that the revolutionaries had no legitimate complaints. Other historians, influenced by Marxist thinking, have emphasized the importance of the peasants and the urban workers in presenting the Revolution as a gigantic class struggle. In general, scholarship on the French Revolution initially studied the political ideas and developments of the era, but it has gradually shifted towards social history that analyzes the impact of the Revolution on individual lives.

Historians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history, and the end of the early modern period, which started around 1500, is traditionally attributed to the onset of the French Revolution in 1789. The Revolution is, in fact, often seen as marking the "dawn of the modern era". Within France itself, the Revolution permanently crippled the power of the aristocracy and drained the wealth of the Church, although the two institutions survived despite the damage they sustained. After the collapse of the First Empire in 1815, the French public lost the rights and privileges earned since the Revolution, but they remembered the participatory politics that characterized the period, with one historian commenting: "Thousands of men and even many women gained firsthand experience in the political arena: they talked, read, and listened in new ways; they voted; they joined new organizations; and they marched for their political goals. Revolution became a tradition, and republicanism an enduring option." Some historians argue that the French people underwent a fundamental transformation in self-identity, evidenced by the elimination of privileges and their replacement by rights as well as the growing decline in social deference that highlighted the principle of equality throughout the Revolution. The Revolution represented the most significant and dramatic challenge to political absolutism up to that point in history and, despite its failures, spread democratic ideals throughout Europe and ultimately the world. It had a profound impact on the Russian Revolution and its ideas inspired Mao Zedong in his efforts at constructing a communist state in China.

See also

Biens nationaux

Dual revolution

History of democracy

La Révolution française (film)

List of people granted honorary French citizenship during the French Revolution

List of revolutions and rebellions

Military career of Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleonic code

Jean-Nicolas Pache

Dechristianisation of France during the French Revolution

Rise of nationalism in Europe

Audio files

Other revolutions or rebellions in French history

Camisard Rebellion, French Huguenots (1710–1715)

Haitian Revolution, Haiti colony (1791–1804)

July Revolution (1830)

Canut revolts of the July Monarchy

French Revolution of 1848

Resistance to the coup of 1851

Paris Commune of 1871

French Army Mutinies (1917)

French Resistance during World War II

May 1968 in France, a noteworthy rebellion, though not quite a revolution

Notes

References

Desan, S. “The Role of Women in Religious Riots during the French Revolution.” Eighteenth-Century Studies. Vol. 22, No. 3, Special Issue: The French Revolution in Culture (Spring, 1989), pp. 451–468.

Hufton, Olwen. “In Search of Counter-Revolutionary Women.” The French Revolution: Recent debates and New Controversies. Ed. Gary Kates. New York, NY. Routledge (1998).

Levy, Darline Gay and Harriet B. Applewhite. "Women and Militant Citizenship in Revolutionary Paris," in Rebel Daughters, ed. Sara e. Melzer and Leslie W. Rabine (New York: Oxford University Press 1992).

Marquise de Maintenon "Instruction to the Nuns of St. Louis," in Writings by Pre-Revolutionary French Women. ed. Anne R. Larsen and Colette H Winn. (New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 2000), 321.

Scott, Joan Wallach. "A Woman Who Has Only Paradoxes to Offer," in Rebel Daughters, ed. Sara e. Melzer and Leslie W. Rabine (New York: Oxford University Press 1992).

Walker, Leslie H. "Sweet and Consoling Virtue: The Memoirs of Madame Roland" Eighteenth-Century Studies, French Revolutionary Culture (2001): 403–419.

"Women." The Encyclopedia of Diderot and d’Alembert. University of Michigan Library, n.d. Web. 10/29/09. < http://quod.lib.umich.edu/d/did/>.

Further reading

Baker, Keith M. ed. ''The French Revolution and the Creation of Modern Political Culture'' (Oxford, 1987–94) ''vol 1: The Political Culture of the Old Regime,'' ed. K.M. Baker (1987); ''vol. 2: The Political Culture of the French Revolution,'' ed. C. Lucas (1988); ''vol. 3: The Transformation of Political Culture, 1789–1848,'' eds. F. Furet & M. Ozouf (1989); ''vol. 4: The Terror,'' ed. K.M. Baker (1994). excerpt and text search vol 4

Blanning, T.C.W. ''The French Revolutionary Wars 1787–1802'' (1996).

Censer, Jack R. "Amalgamating the Social in the French Revolution." ''Journal of Social History 2003'' 37(1): 145–150. Issn: 0022-4529 Fulltext: in Project Muse and Ebsco

Davies, Peter. ''The French Revolution: A Beginner's Guide'' (2009), 192pp

Doyle, William. ''The Oxford History of the French Revolution'' (1989). online complete edition; also excerpt and online search from Amazon.com

Doyle, William. ''The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction.'' (2001), 120pp; online edition

Doyle, William. ''Origins of the French Revolution'' (3rd ed. 1999) online edition

Dunne, John. "Fifty Years of Rewriting the French Revolution: Signposts Main Landmarks and Current Directions in the Historiographical Debate," ''History Review.'' (1998) pp 8+ online edition

Englund, Steven. ''Napoleon: A Political Life.'' (2004). 575 pages; the best political biography excerpt and text search

Fremont-Barnes, Gregory. ed. ''The Encyclopedia of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars: A Political, Social, and Military History'' (ABC-CLIO: 3 vol 2006)

Frey, Linda S. and Marsha L. Frey. ''The French Revolution.'' (2004) 190pp online edition

Furet, François. ''The French Revolution, 1770–1814'' (1996) excerpt and text search

Furet, François and Mona Ozouf, eds. ''A Critical Dictionary of the French Revolution'' (1989), 1120pp; long essays by scholars; conservative perspective; stress on history of ideas excerpt and online search from Amazon.com

Hufton, Olwen. ''Women and the Limits of Citizenship in the French Revolution'' University of Toronto Press (1992).

Hunt, Lynn. ''The Family Romance of the French Revolution.'' (1992)

Hunt, Lynn. "Politics, Culture, and Class in the French Revolution." (1984)

Germani, Ian and Robin Swayles. ''Symbols, myths and images of the French Revolution''. University of Regina Publications. 1998. ISBN 9780889771086

Griffith, Paddy. ''The Art of War of Revolutionary France 1789–1802,'' (1998); 304 pp; excerpt and text search

Jones, Colin. ''The Longman Companion to the French Revolution'' (1989)

Jones, Colin. ''The Great Nation: France from Louis XV to Napoleon'' (2002) excerpt and text search

Kaiser, Thomas, and Dale Van Kley. ''From Deficit to Deluge: The Origins of the French Revolution'' (2010)

Kates, Gary. ''The French Revolution'' (2nd ed. 2005), 308pp; essays by scholars; excerpts and online search from Amazon.com

Lefebvre, Georges. ''The French Revolution'' (2 vol 1957) classic Marxist synthesis. complete online edition vol 1; also excerpt and online search from Amazon.com

Neely, Sylvia. '' A Concise History of the French Revolution'' (2008)

Palmer, Robert R. ''The Age of the Democratic Revolution: A Political History of Europe and America, 1760–1800.'' (2 vol 1959), highly influential comparative history; vol 1 online

Paxton, John. ''Companion to the French Revolution'' (1987), hundreds of short entries.

Rothenberg, Gunther E. "The Origins, Causes, and Extension of the Wars of the French Revolution and Napoleon," ''Journal of Interdisciplinary History,'' Vol. 18, No. 4, (Spring, 1988), pp. 771–793 in JSTOR

Rude, George F. and Harvey J. Kaye. ''Revolutionary Europe, 1783–1815'' (2000), scholarly survey excerpt and text search

Schroeder, Paul. ''The Transformation of European Politics, 1763–1848.'' 1996; Thorough coverage of diplomatic history; hostile to Napoleon; online edition

Schwab, Gail M., and John R. Jeanneney, eds. ''The French Revolution of 1789 and Its Impact'' (1995) online edition

Scott, Samuel F. and Barry Rothaus. ''Historical Dictionary of the French Revolution, 1789–1799'' (2 vol 1984), short essays by scholars

Schama, Simon. ''Citizens. A Chronicle of the French Revolution'' (1989), highly readable narrative by scholar excerpt and text search

Sutherland, D.M.G. ''France 1789–1815. Revolution and Counter-Revolution'' (2nd ed. 2003, 430pp excerpts and online search from Amazon.com

Woshinsky, Barbara R. ''Imaging Women’s Conventual Spaces in France, 1600-1800: The Cloister Disclosed''. Burlington, Vermont. Ashgate (2010).

External links

"French Revolution" in the ''Catholic Encyclopedia''

Open University course

Entry on Encyclopedia.com from the Columbia Encyclopedia

Primary source documents from The Internet Modern History Sourcebook

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution, a collaborative site by the Center for History and New Media (George Mason University) and the American Social History Project (City University of New York)

The Origins of the French Revolution, The French Revolution: The Moderate Stage, 1789–1792, and The French Revolution: The Radical Stage, 1792–1794, three essays from The History Guide: Lectures on Modern European Intellectual History

Vancea, S. The Cahiers de Doleances of 1789, Clio History Journal, 2008.

english.republique.de A large collection of links

Category:18th-century rebellions Category:18th-century revolutions Category:Republicanism in France

af:Franse Rewolusie als:Französische Revolution ar:الثورة الفرنسية an:Revolución francesa ast:Revolución Francesa gn:Revolusiõ Hyãsiapegua az:Böyük Fransa inqilabı bn:ফরাসি বিপ্লব zh-min-nan:Hoat-kok Kek-bēng be:Вялікая французская рэвалюцыя be-x-old:Француская рэвалюцыя bg:Френска революция bar:Französische Revolution bs:Francuska revolucija br:Dispac'h Gall ca:Revolució Francesa ceb:Rebolusyong Pranses cs:Velká francouzská revoluce cy:Y Chwyldro Ffrengig da:Den Franske Revolution de:Französische Revolution et:Suur Prantsuse revolutsioon el:Γαλλική Επανάσταση es:Revolución francesa eo:Franca revolucio de 1789 eu:Frantziako Iraultza fa:انقلاب فرانسه hif:French Revolution fo:Franska Kollveltingin fr:Révolution française fy:Frânske revolúsje ga:Réabhlóid na Fraince gv:Irree Magh ny Frank (1789) gl:Revolución Francesa ko:프랑스 혁명 hy:Ֆրանսիական հեղափոխություն hi:फ़्रान्सीसी क्रान्ति hr:Francuska revolucija io:Franca revoluciono ilo:Pranses a Rebolusion id:Revolusi Perancis ia:Revolution francese ie:Francés Revolution is:Franska byltingin it:Rivoluzione francese he:המהפכה הצרפתית jv:Revolusi Prancis kn:ಫ್ರೆಂಚ್ ಕ್ರಾಂತಿ krc:Уллу француз революция ka:საფრანგეთის რევოლუცია kk:Француз төңкерісі kw:Domhwelans Frynkek sw:Mapinduzi ya Ufaransa ku:Şoreşa Fransayê la:Res Novae Francicae lv:Franču revolūcija lb:Franséisch Revolutioun lt:Didžioji Prancūzijos revoliucija hu:Francia forradalom mk:Француска револуција ml:ഫ്രഞ്ച് വിപ്ലവം mt:Rivoluzzjoni Franċiża mr:फ्रेंच राज्यक्रांती arz:الثوره الفرنسيه ms:Revolusi Perancis mwl:Reboluçon Francesa mn:Францын хувьсгал my:ပြင်သစ် တော်လှန်ရေး nl:Franse Revolutie ja:フランス革命 no:Den franske revolusjon nn:Den franske revolusjonen oc:Revolucion Francesa pnb:انقلاب فرانس pms:Rivolussion fransèisa nds:Franzöösche Revolutschoon pl:Rewolucja francuska pt:Revolução Francesa kaa:Fransuz ko'terilisi ro:Revoluția franceză rm:Revoluziun franzosa rue:Велика французьска револуція ru:Великая французская революция sc:Revolutzione frantzesa sq:Revolucioni Francez scn:Rivuluzzioni francisa si:ප්‍රංශ විප්ලවය simple:French Revolution sk:Francúzska revolúcia sl:Francoska revolucija szl:Francusko rewolucyja sr:Француска револуција sh:Francuska revolucija fi:Ranskan suuri vallankumous sv:Franska revolutionen tl:Himagsikang Pranses ta:பிரெஞ்சுப் புரட்சி te:ఫ్రెంచ్ విప్లవం th:การปฏิวัติฝรั่งเศส tr:Fransız Devrimi uk:Велика французька революція ur:انقلاب فرانس vi:Cách mạng Pháp fiu-vro:Suur Prantsusõ riigipööreq vls:Fransche Revoluusje war:Rebolusyon Pranses yi:פראנצויזישע רעוואלוציע yo:Ìjídìde Fránsì zh-yue:法國大革命 bat-smg:Dėdliuojė Prancūzu revuoliocėjė zh:法国大革命

royal title	Monarchy
realm	France
coatofarms	Arms of the Kingdom of France (Moderne).svg
coatofarmssize	120px
coatofarmscaption	Coat of arms of France
first monarch	Clovis I(as King of the Franks)
last monarch	Napoleon III(as Emperor)
style	see Style of the French sovereign
appointer	Hereditary
began	428
ended	24 February 1848(Royal Monarchy)4 September 1870(Imperial Monarchy)
pretender	DisputedLouis Alphonse(House of Bourbon)Henri d'Orléans(House of Orléans)Jean Christophe(House of Bonaparte) }}

The Monarchs of France ruled from the establishment of the Frankish Kingdom in 486 to 1870. During most of its history, France was ruled by kings. However, four Carolingian monarchs were also Holy Roman Emperors and the Bonapartes were Emperors of the French.

This article lists all rulers to have held the title "King of Franks", "King of France", "King of the French" or "Emperor of the French". For other Frankish monarchs, see List of Frankish Kings.

In addition to the monarchs listed below, the Kings of England and Great Britain from 1340–1360 and 1369–1801 also claimed the title of King of France. For a short time, this had some basis in fact — under the terms of the 1420 Treaty of Troyes, Charles VI had recognized his son-in-law Henry V of England as regent and heir. Henry V predeceased Charles VI and so Henry V's son, Henry VI, succeeded his grandfather Charles VI as King of France. Most of Northern France was under English control until 1435, but by 1453, the English had been expelled from all of France save Calais (and the Channel Islands), and Calais itself fell in 1558. Nevertheless, English and then British monarchs continued to claim the title for themselves until the creation of the United Kingdom in 1801.

The title "King of the Franks" () remained in use until the reign of Philip II. During the brief period when the French Constitution of 1791 was in effect (1791–1792) and after the July Revolution in 1830, the style "King of the French" was used instead of "King of France (and Navarre)". It was a constitutional innovation known as popular monarchy which linked the monarch's title to the will of the French people rather than to the possession of the territory of France.

In addition to the Kingdom of France, there were also two French Empires, the first from 1804–1815, founded and ruled by Napoleon I, and the second from 1852–1870, founded and ruled by his nephew Napoleon III.

Merovingian Dynasty (428–737)

The name of France comes from the Germanic tribe known as the Franks. The Merovingian kings began as mere chieftains, the oldest known being Chlodio. Clovis I was the first of these to rise to true kingship. After his death, his kingdom was split between his sons into Soissons (Neustria), Paris, Orléans (Burgundy), and Metz (Austrasia). Several Merovingian monarchs reunited the Frankish kingdoms and assumed the title of "King of the Franks". But upon their deaths, according to Frankish custom, the kingdom would often be split once again between their sons. For a complete list of the various Merovingian kings and the specific territories they controlled, see List of Frankish kings.

{| width=95% class="wikitable" ! width=8% | Portrait ! width=20% | Name ! width=7% | King From ! width=7% | King Until ! width=15% | Relationship with Predecessor(s) ! width=10% | Title |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Chlodio ''the Longhair''(Clodion ''le Chevelu'') |align="center"|428 |align="center"|445/448 |Son of Theudemeres |align="center"|King of the Salian Franks (Roi des Francs saliens) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Merovech (Mérovée) |align="center"|445/448 |align="center"|457 |Son of Chlodio |align="center"|King of the Salian Franks (Roi des Francs saliens) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Childeric I (Childéric Ier) |align="center"|457 |align="center"|481/482 |Son of Merovech |align="center"|King of the Salian Franks (Roi des Francs saliens) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Clovis I (Clovis Ier) |align="center"|481/482 |align="center"|511 |Son of Childeric I |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Childebert I (Childebert Ier) |align="center"|511 |align="center"|23 December 558 |Son of Clovis I |align="center"|King of Paris (Roi de Paris) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Chlothar I ''the Old'' (Clotaire Ier ''le Vieux'') |align="center"|23 December 558 |align="center"|29 November 561 |Son of Clovis I Younger brother of Childebert I |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Charibert I (Caribert Ier) |align="center"|29 November 561 |align="center"|567 |Son of Chlothar I |align="center"|King of Paris (Roi de Paris) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Chilperic I (Chilpéric Ier) |align="center"|567 |align="center"|584 |Son of Chlothar I Younger brother of Charibert I |align="center"|King of Paris (Roi de Paris) King of Neustria (Roi de Neustrie) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Chlothar II ''the Great, the Young'' (Clotaire II ''le Grand, le Jeune'') |align="center"|584 |align="center"|18 October 629 |Son of Chilperic I |align="center"|King of Neustria (Roi de Neustrie) King of Paris (Roi de Paris) (595–629) King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) (613–629) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Dagobert I (Dagobert Ier) |align="center"|18 October 629 |align="center"|19 January 639 |Son of Chlothar II |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Clovis II ''the Lazy''(Clovis II ''le Fainéant'') |align="center"|19 January 639 |align="center"|31 October 657 |Son of Dagobert I |align="center"|King of Neustria and Burgundy (Roi de Neustrie et de Bourgogne) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Chlothar III (Clotaire III) |align="center"|31 October 657 |align="center"|673 |Son of Clovis II |align="center"|King of Neustria and Burgundy (Roi de Neustrie et de Bourgogne) King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) (657–663) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Childeric II (Childéric II) |align="center"|673 |align="center"|675 |Son of Clovis II Younger brother of Chlothar III |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Theuderic III (Thierry III) |align="center"|675 |align="center"|691 |Son of Clovis II Younger brother of Childeric II |align="center"|King of Neustria (Roi de Neustrie) King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) (687–691) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Clovis IV (Clovis IV) |align="center"|691 |align="center"|695 |Son of Theuderic III |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Childebert III ''the Just''(Childebert III ''le Juste'') |align="center"|695 |align="center"|23 April 711 |Son of Theuderic III Younger brother of Clovis IV |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Dagobert III |align="center"|23 April 711 |align="center"|715 |Son of Childebert III |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Chilperic II (Chilpéric II) |align="center"|715 |align="center"|13 February 721 |Probably son of Childeric II |align="center"|King of Neustria and Burgundy (Roi de Neustrie et de Bourgogne) King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) (719–721) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Theuderic IV (Thierry IV) |align="center"|13 February 721 |align="center"|737 |Son of Dagobert III |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |}

Carolingian Interregnum (737–743)

The last Merovingian kings, known as the lazy kings (rois fainéants), did not hold any real political power, while the Mayor of the Palace governed instead. When Theuderic IV died in 737, Mayor of the Palace Charles Martel left the throne vacant and continued to rule until his own death in 741. His son Pepin the Short briefly restored the Merovingian dynasty by raising Childeric III to the throne in 743, only to depose him in 751.

Merovingian Dynasty, Restored (743–751)

{| width=95% class="wikitable" ! width=8% | Portrait ! width=20% | Name ! width=7% | King From ! width=7% | King Until ! width=15% | Relationship with Predecessor(s) ! width=10% | Title |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Childeric III (Childéric III) |align="center"|743 |align="center"|November 751 |Son of Chilperic II or of Theuderic IV |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |}

Carolingian Dynasty (752–987)

Three of the twelve kings during the 147-year Carolingian Dynasty – Odo, his brother Robert I and Robert's son in law Raoul/Rudolph – were not from the Carolingian Dynasty but from the rival Robertian Dynasty, named for Robert the Strong (father of Odo and Robert I). The Robertian Dynasty became the Capetian Dynasty with the ascent to the throne of Hugh Capet (son of Hugh the Great, son of Robert I) in 987. The rise and fall of Carolingian Charles III played out during the ascent of these Robertian kings. {| width=95% class="wikitable" ! width=8% | Portrait ! width=20% | Name ! width=7% | King From ! width=7% | King Until ! width=15% | Relationship with Predecessor(s) ! width=10% | Title |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Pepin ''the Short'' (Pépin ''le Bref'') |align="center"|752 |align="center"|24 September 768 |Son of Charles Martel |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Carloman I |align="center"|24 September 768 |align="center"|4 December 771 |Son of Pepin the Short |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Charlemagne (Charles I) |align="center"|24 September 768 |align="center"|28 January 814 |Son of Pepin the Short |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) Emperor of the Romans (Imperator Romanorum) (800–814) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Louis I ''the Pious, the Debonaire'' (Louis Ier ''le Pieux, le Débonnaire'') |align="center"|28 January 814 |align="center"|20 June 840 |Son of Charlemagne |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) Emperor of the Romans (Imperator Romanorum) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Charles II ''the Bald'' (Charles II ''le Chauve'') |align="center"|20 June 840 |align="center"|6 October 877 |Son of Louis I |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) Emperor of the Romans (Imperator Romanorum) (875–877) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Louis II ''the Stammerer'' (Louis II ''le Bègue'') |align="center"|6 October 877 |align="center"|10 April 879 |Son of Charles II |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Louis III |align="center"|10 April 879 |align="center"|5 August 882 |Son of Louis II |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Carloman II |align="center"|5 August 882 |align="center"|6 December 884 |Son of Louis II |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Charles ''the Fat'' (Charles ''le Gros'') |align="center"|20 May 885 |align="center"|13 January 888 |Son of Louis the GermanCousin of Louis II and Carloman IIGrandson of Louis I ''the Pious'' |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) Emperor of the Romans (Imperator Romanorum) (881–887) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Odo of Paris(Eudes de Paris) |align="center"|29 February 888 |align="center"|1 January 898 |Son of Robert the Strong (Robertians)Elected king against young Charles III. |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Charles III ''the Simple'' (Charles III ''le Simple'') |align="center"|28 January 893 |align="center"|30 June 922 |Posthumous son of Louis IIYounger half-brother of Louis III and Carloman II |} |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Robert I(Robert Ier) |align="center"|30 June 922 |align="center"|15 June 923 |Son of Robert the Strong (Robertians)Younger brother of Odo |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Rudolph(Raoul de France) |align="center"|13 July 923 |align="center"|14 January 936 |Son of Richard, Duke of Burgundy (Bosonids)Son-in-law of Robert I |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Louis IV ''from overseas'' (Louis IV ''d'Outremer'') |align="center"|19 June 936 |align="center"|10 September 954 |Son of Charles III |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Lothair(Lothaire de France) |align="center"|12 November 954 |align="center"|2 March 986 |Son of Louis IV |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"| |align="center"|Louis V ''the Lazy'' (Louis V ''le Fainéant'') |align="center"|8 June 986 |align="center"|22 May 987 |Son of Lothair |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |}

Capetian Dynasty (987–1792)

The Capetian Dynasty, the male-line descendants of Hugh Capet, ruled France continuously from 987 to 1792 and again from 1814 to 1848. The branches of the dynasty which ruled after 1328, however, are generally given the specific branch names of Valois and Bourbon.

Direct Capetians (987–1328)

{| width=95% class="wikitable" ! width=8% | Portrait ! width=10%|Coat of Arms ! width=20% | Name ! width=7% | King From ! width=7% | King Until ! width=15% | Relationship with Predecessor(s) ! width=10% | Title |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"| ||align="center"|Hugh Capet (Hugues Capet) ||align="center"|3 July 987||align="center"|24 October 996||Grandson of Robert I |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"| ||align="center"|Robert II ''the Pious, the Wise'' (Robert II ''le Pieux, le Sage'') ||align="center"|24 October 996||align="center"|20 July 1031||Son of Hugh Capet |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"| ||align="center"|Henry I(Henri Ier)||align="center"|20 July 1031||align="center"|4 August 1060||Son of Robert II |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"| ||align="center"|Philip I(Philippe Ier ''l' Amoureux'')||align="center"|4 August 1060||align="center"|29 July 1108||Son of Henry I |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"| ||align="center"|Louis VI ''the Fat'' (Louis VI ''le Gros'')||align="center"|29 July 1108||align="center"|1 August 1137||Son of Philip I |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px ||align="center"|Louis VII ''the Young'' (Louis VII ''le Jeune'')||align="center"|1 August 1137||align="center"|18 September 1180||Son of Louis VI |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs) |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px ||align="center"|Philip II ''Augustus'' (Philippe II ''Auguste'')||align="center"|18 September 1180||align="center"|14 July 1223||Son of Louis VII |align="center"|King of the Franks (Roi des Francs)King of France (Roi de France) |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px ||align="center"|Louis VIII ''the Lion'' (Louis VIII ''le Lion'')||align="center"|14 July 1223||align="center"|8 November 1226||Son of Philip II Augustus |align="center"|King of France (Roi de France) |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px ||align="center"|Louis IX ''the Saint'' (Saint Louis)||align="center"|8 November 1226||align="center"|25 August 1270||Son of Louis VIII |align="center"|King of France (Roi de France) |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px ||align="center"|Philip III ''the Bold'' (Philippe III ''le Hardi'')||align="center"|25 August 1270||align="center"|5 October 1285||Son of Louis IX |align="center"|King of France (Roi de France) |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px ||align="center"|Philip IV ''the Fair'' (Philippe IV ''le Bel'')||align="center"|5 October 1285||align="center"|29 November 1314||Son of Philip III |align="center"|King of France and of Navarre (Roi de France et de Navarre) |- |align="center"|80px ||align="center"|100px||align="center"|Louis X ''the Quarreller'' (Louis X ''le Hutin'')||align="center"|29 November 1314||align="center"|5 June 1316||Son of Philip IV |align="center"|King of France and of Navarre (Roi de France et de Navarre) |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px||align="center"|John I ''the Posthumous'' (Jean Ier ''le Posthume'')||align="center"|15 November 1316||align="center"|20 November 1316||Son of Louis X |align="center"|King of France and of Navarre (Roi de France et de Navarre) |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px||align="center"|Philip V ''the Tall'' (Philippe V ''le Long'')||align="center"|20 November 1316||align="center"|3 January 1322||Son of Philip IVYounger brother of Louis X |align="center"|King of France and of Navarre (Roi de France et de Navarre) |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px||align="center"|Charles IV ''the Fair'' (Charles IV ''le Bel'')||align="center"|3 January 1322||align="center"|1 February 1328||Son of Philip IVYounger brother of Philip V |align="center"|King of France and of Navarre (Roi de France et de Navarre) |}

''Not listed above are Hugh Magnus, eldest son of Robert II, and Philip of France, eldest son of Louis VI; both were co-Kings with their fathers (in accordance with the early Capetian practice whereby Kings would crown their heirs in their own lifetimes and share power with the co-king), but predeceased them. Because neither Hugh nor Philip were sole or senior king in their own lifetimes, they are not traditionally listed as Kings of France, and are not given ordinals.''

House of Valois (1328–1589)

{| width=95% class="wikitable" ! width=8% | Portrait ! width=10%|Coat of Arms ! width=20% | Name ! width=7% | King From ! width=7% | King Until ! width=15% | Relationship with Predecessor(s) ! width=10% | Title |- |align="center"|80px ||align="center"|100px||align="center"|Philip VI ''of Valois'', ''the Fortunate'' (Philippe VI ''de Valois'', ''le Fortuné'')||align="center"|1 April 1328||align="center"|22 August 1350||Son of Charles of Valois, who was son of Philip III |align="center"|King of France (Roi de France) |- |align="center"|80px ||align="center"|100px||align="center"|John II ''the Good'' (Jean II ''le Bon'')||align="center"|22 August 1350||align="center"|8 April 1364||Son of Philip VI |align="center"|King of France (Roi de France) |- |align="center"|80px ||align="center"|100px||align="center"|Charles V ''the Wise'' (Charles V ''le Sage'')||align="center"|8 April 1364||align="center"|16 September 1380||Son of John II |align="center"|King of France (Roi de France) |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px ||align="center"|Charles VI ''the Beloved'', ''the Mad'' (Charles VI ''le Bienaimé'', ''le Fol'') ||align="center"|16 September 1380||align="center" |21 October 1422||Son of Charles V |align="center"|King of France (Roi de France) |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px ||align="center"|Charles VII ''the Victorious'', ''the Well-Served'' (Charles VII ''le Victorieux'', ''le Bien-Servi'') ||align="center"|21 October 1422||align="center"|22 July 1461||Son of Charles VI |align="center"|King of France (Roi de France) |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px ||align="center"|Louis XI ''the Prudent'', ''the Universal Spider'' (Louis XI ''le Prudent'', ''l'Universelle Aragne'') ||align="center"|22 July 1461||align="center"|30 August 1483||Son of Charles VII |align="center"|King of France (Roi de France) |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px ||align="center"|Charles VIII ''the Affable'' (Charles VIII ''l'Affable'')||align="center"|30 August 1483||align="center"|7 April 1498||Son of Louis XI |align="center"|King of France (Roi de France) |}

Valois–Orléans Branch (1498–1515)

{| width=95% class="wikitable" ! width=8% | Portrait ! width=10%|Coat of Arms ! width=20% | Name ! width=7% | King From ! width=7% | King Until ! width=15% | Relationship with Predecessor(s) ! width=10% | Title |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px||align="center"| Louis XII ''Father of the People'' (Louis XII ''le Père du Peuple'') ||align="center"|7 April 1498||align="center"|1 January 1515||Great-grandson of Charles VSecond cousin, and by first marriage son-in-law of Louis XIBy second marriage husband of Anne of Brittany, widow of Charles VIII |align="center"|King of France (Roi de France) |}

Valois–Angoulême Branch (1515–1589)

{| width=95% class="wikitable" ! width=8% | Portrait ! width=10%|Coat of Arms ! width=20% | Name ! width=7% | King From ! width=7% | King Until ! width=15% | Relationship with Predecessor(s) ! width=10% | Title |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px||align="center"|Francis I ''the Father and Restorer of Letters'' (François Ier ''le Père et Restaurateur des Lettres'')||align="center"|1 January 1515||align="center"|31 March 1547||Great-great-grandson of Charles VFirst cousin once removed, and by first marriage son-in-law of Louis XII |align="center"|King of France (Roi de France) |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px||align="center"|Henry II (Henri II) ||align="center"|31 March 1547||align="center"|10 July 1559||Son of Francis I |align="center"|King of France (Roi de France) |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px||align="center"|Francis II (François II) ||align="center"|10 July 1559||align="center"|5 December 1560||Son of Henry II |align="center"|King of France (Roi de France) King of Scots (1558–1560) |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px||align="center"|Charles IX||align="center"|5 December 1560||align="center"|30 May 1574||Son of Henry IIYounger brother of Francis II |align="center"|King of France (Roi de France) |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px ||align="center"|Henry III (Henri III)||align="center"|30 May 1574||align="center"|2 August 1589||Son of Henry IIYounger brother of Charles IX |align="center"|King of France (Roi de France) King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1573–1575) |}

House of Bourbon (1589–1792)

{| width=95% class="wikitable" ! width=8% | Portrait ! width=10%|Coat of Arms ! width=20% | Name ! width=7% | King From ! width=7% | King Until ! width=15% | Relationship with Predecessor(s) ! width=10% | Title |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px ||align="center"|Henry IV, ''Good King Henry'', ''the Green Gallant'' (Henri IV, ''le Bon Roi Henri'', ''le Vert-Galant'') ||align="center"|2 August 1589||align="center"|14 May 1610||Tenth generation descendant of Louis IX in the male lineGrandnephew of Francis ISecond cousin, and by first marriage brother-in-law of Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III |align="center"|King of France and of Navarre (Roi de France et de Navarre) |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px ||align="center"|Louis XIII ''the Just'' (Louis XIII ''le Juste'') ||align="center"|14 May 1610||align="center"|14 May 1643||Son of Henry IV |align="center"|King of France and of Navarre (Roi de France et de Navarre) |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px ||align="center"|Louis XIV ''the Great'', ''the Sun King'' (Louis XIV ''le Grand'', ''le Roi Soleil'')||align="center"|14 May 1643||align="center"|1 September 1715||Son of Louis XIII |align="center"|King of France and of Navarre (Roi de France et de Navarre) |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px ||align="center"|Louis XV ''the Beloved'' (Louis XV ''le Bien-Aimé'')||align="center"|1 September 1715||align="center"|10 May 1774||Great-grandson of Louis XIV |align="center"|King of France and of Navarre (Roi de France et de Navarre) |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px ||align="center"|Louis XVI ''the Last''(Louis XVI ''le Dernier'')||align="center"|10 May 1774||align="center"|21 September 1792||Grandson of Louis XV |align="center"|King of France and of Navarre (Roi de France et de Navarre) (1774–1791) King of the French (Roi des Français) (1791–1792) |}

''From 21 January 1793 to 8 June 1795, Louis XVI's son Louis-Charles was the titular King of France as Louis XVII; in reality, however, he was imprisoned in the Temple throughout this duration, and power was held by the leaders of the Republic. Upon Louis XVII's death, his uncle (Louis XVI's brother) Louis-Stanislas claimed the throne, as Louis XVIII, but only became ''de facto'' King of France in 1814.''

First Republic (1792–1804)

''The First French Republic lasted from 1792 to 1804, when its First Consul, Napoléon Bonaparte, declared himself Emperor of the French.''

House of Bonaparte, First Empire (1804–1814)

{| width=95% class="wikitable" ! width=8% | Portrait !width=10%|Coat of Arms ! width=20% | Name ! width=7% | Emperor From ! width=7% | Emperor Until ! width=15% | Relationship with Predecessor(s) ! width=10% | Title |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px||align="center"|Napoleon I, ''the Great''(Napoléon Ier, le Grand)||align="center"|18 May 1804||align="center"|11 April 1814 |align="center"|- |align="center"|Emperor of the French (Empereur des Français) |- |}

House of Bourbon, Bourbon Restoration (1814–1815)

{| width=95% class="wikitable" ! width=8% | Portrait !width=10%|Coat of Arms ! width=20% | Name ! width=7% | King From ! width=7% | King Until ! width=15% | Relationship with Predecessor(s) ! width=10% | Title |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px||align="center"|Louis XVIII||align="center"|11 April 1814||align="center"|20 March 1815||Younger brother of Louis XVI/ uncle of Louis XVII |align="center"|King of France and of Navarre (Roi de France et de Navarre) |}

House of Bonaparte, First Empire (Hundred Days, 1815)

{| width=95% class="wikitable" ! width=8% | Portrait !width=10%|Coat of Arms ! width=20% | Name ! width=7% | Emperor From ! width=7% | Emperor Until ! width=15% | Relationship with Predecessor(s) ! width=10% | Title |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px||align="center"|Napoleon I (Napoléon Ier)||align="center"|20 March 1815||align="center"|22 June 1815 |align="center"|- |align="center"|Emperor of the French (Empereur des Français) |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px||align="center"|Napoleon II(Napoléon II)||align="center"|22 June 1815||align="center"|7 July 1815 |align="center"|Son of Napoleon I |align="center"|Emperor of the French (Empereur des Français) |- |}

House of Bourbon (1815–1830)

{| width=95% class="wikitable" ! width=8% | Portrait ! width=10%|Coat of Arms ! width=20% | Name ! width=7% | King From ! width=7% | King Until ! width=15% | Relationship with Predecessor(s) ! width=10% | Title |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px||align="center"|Louis XVIII||align="center"|7 July 1815||align="center"|16 September 1824||Younger brother of Louis XVI/ uncle of Louis XVII |align="center"|King of France and of Navarre (Roi de France et de Navarre) |- |align="center"|80 px||align="center"|100px||align="center"|Charles X||align="center"|16 September 1824||align="center"|2 August 1830||Younger brother of Louis XVIII |align="center"|King of France and of Navarre (Roi de France et de Navarre) |}

''The elder son of Charles X, the Dauphin Louis-Antoine, is occasionally considered to have legally been the King of France as Louis XIX in the 20 minutes that passed between Charles X's formal signature of abdication and the Dauphin's own signature.'' ''Henri d'Artois, Charles X's grandson, was considered by monarchists to be the titular King of France, as Henry V from 2 August 1830 to 9 August 1830, but his reign remained largely fictional, as he acceded in a revolutionary context and hence was never recognized by the French State. He is generally not accounted for in lists of official French monarchs.''

House of Orléans, July Monarchy (1830–1848)

{| width=95% class="wikitable" ! width=8% | Portrait ! width=10%|Coat of Arms ! width=20% | Name ! width=7% | King From ! width=7% | King Until ! width=15% | Relationship with Predecessor(s) ! width=10% | Title |- |align="center"|80px||align="center"|100px||align="center"|Louis-Philippe I ''the Citizen King''(Louis Philippe, ''le Roi Citoyen'')||align="center"|9 August 1830||align="center"|24 February 1848||Sixth generation descendant of Louis XIII in the male lineFifth cousin of Louis XVI, Louis XVIII and Charles X |align="center"|King of the French (Roi des Français) |}

Second Republic (1848–1852)

''The Second French Republic lasted from 1848 to 1852, when its president, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, was declared Emperor of the French.''

House of Bonaparte, Second Empire (1852–1870)

{|width=95% class="wikitable" !width=8%|Portrait !width=10%|Coat of Arms !width=10%|Name !width=7%|Emperor From !width=7%|Emperor Until !width=15%|Relationship with Predecessor(s) !width=10%|Title |- |align="center"|80px ||align="center"|100px||align="center"|Napoleon III(Napoléon III)||align="center"|2 December 1852||align="center"|4 September 1870||Nephew of Napoleon I |align="center"|Emperor of the French (Empereur des Français) |}

Government of National Defence (Paris Commune 1870–1871)

''The transition period between the fall of the Second Empire after the capture of Napoleon III by the Prussians and the assumption of the Third Republic by General Louis Jules Trochu.''

Heads of State following 1871

The chronology of Head of State of France continues with the Presidents of France and short term interim periods by the Chief of State of the French State (1940–1944), the Chairman of the Provisional Government of the French Republic (1944–1946) and the President of the French Senate (1969 and 1974) during the Fifth Republic.

Later pretenders

Various pretenders descended from the preceding monarchs have claimed to be the legitimate monarch of France, rejecting the claims of the President of France, and of each other. These groups are:

Legitimist claimants to the throne of France—descendants of the Bourbons, rejecting all heads of state since 1830. Unionists recognized the Orléanist claimant after 1883.

Orléanist claimants to the throne of France—descendants of Louis-Phillippe, a cadet Bourbon, rejecting all heads of state since 1848.

Bonapartist claimants to the throne of France—descendants of Napoleon I and his brothers, rejecting all heads of state 1815–52, and since 1870.

English claimaints to the throne of France—Kings of England and later, of Great Britain (renounced by Hanoverian King George III upon union with Ireland)

Jacobite claimants to the throne of France—senior cognatic descendants of King Edward III of England and thus his claim to the French throne, also claiming England, Scotland, and Ireland.

See also

Coronation of the French monarch

Bourbon family tree

English and French monarchs overlap chart

English Kings of France

Kings of France family tree

Members of the French Royal Families

Style of the French sovereign

Notes

References

Edward James, ''The Origins of France: Clovis to the Capetians 500-1000''. ISBN 0-333-27052-5.

Edward James, ''The Franks.'' Blackwell: 1991. ISBN 0-631-17936-4.

The history of France as recounted in the ''Grandes Chroniques de France'', and particularly in the personal copy produced for King Charles V between 1370 and 1380 that is the saga of the three great dynasties, the Merovingians, Carolingians, and the Capetian Rulers of France, that shaped the institutions and the frontiers of the realm. It should be noted that this work was commissioned at a time that France was embroiled in the Hundred Years' War with England, a war fought over hereditary claims to the throne of France. It must therefore be read with a careful eye toward biases meant to justify the Capetian claims of continuity and inheritance.

''The Cambridge Illustrated History of France''. Cambridge University Press.

Paul Fouracre and Richard A. Gerberding, ''Late Merovingian France: History and Hagiography, 640–720''. Manchester University Press. ISBN 0-7190-4791-9.

Patrick Geary, ''Before France and Germany: The Creation and Transformation of the Merovingian World.'' Oxford: Oxford U. Press, 1988. ISBN 0-19-504458-4.

Patrick Geary, ''The Myth of Nations: The Medieval Origins of Europe.'' Princeton University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-691-11481-1.

Category:French monarchs France Monarch

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type	monarchy
name	William the Conqueror
more	england
imgw	229
succession	King of England
reign	25 December 1066 – 9 September 1087
coronation	25 December 1066
cor-type	britain
predecessor	Edgar the Ætheling ''(uncrowned)''''(otherwise)'' Harold II
successor	William II
succession1	Duke of Normandy
reign1	3 July 1035 – 9 September 1087
predecessor1	Robert the Magnificent
successor1	Robert Curthose
spouse	Matilda of Flanders
issue	Robert CurthoseRichard of NormandyWilliam II of EnglandCecilia of NormandyAdelizaMatildaAgatha of Normandy (existence doubtful)Constance of NormandyAdela, Countess of BloisHenry I of England
issue-link	#Children
styles	The King of the AnglesThe Duke of the Normans
house	Norman dynasty
father	Robert I, Duke of Normandy
mother	Herleva of Falaise
birth date	''c.'' 1028
birth place	Château de Falaise, Falaise, Normandy, France
death date	September 09, 1087 (aged 58–59)
death place	Priory of St Gervase, Rouen, France
place of burial	Saint-Étienne de Caen, France }}

William I (''circa'' 1028 – 9 September 1087), also known as William the Conqueror or William the Bastard, was the first Norman King of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name of William II. Descended from Viking raiders, William faced a number of difficulties when he became duke at the age of 7 or 8, but by 1060 he had established his hold over Normandy and was able to invade and conquer England in 1066.

William was the illegitimate child of the unmarried Duke Robert the Magnificent of Normandy and Herleva. This caused some difficulties for him after he succeeded his father in 1035. His youth presented further problems when he became duke, as did the anarchy which plagued the first years of his rule. During his childhood and adolescence, the Norman aristocracy battled each other, both for control of the child duke and for their own ends. In 1047, William was able to defeat a rebellion and begin to establish his authority over the duchy, a process that was not complete until about 1060. His marriage in the 1050s to Matilda of Flanders aided his efforts by providing a powerful ally in the neighbouring county of Flanders. By the time of his marriage, William was able to appoint his own choices as bishops and abbots in the Norman church. His consolidation of power allowed him to expand his horizons, and by 1062 William was able to secure control of the neighbouring county of Maine.

In the 1050s and early 1060s, William became a contender for the throne of England, then held by his childless relative, Edward the Confessor. But there were other potential claimants, including the powerful English earl Harold Godwinson, who was named the next king by Edward on the latter's deathbed in January 1066. But William argued that Edward had earlier promised the throne to him, and that Harold had sworn to support William's claim. After building a large fleet, William invaded England in September 1066 and decisively defeated and killed Harold at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066. After some further military efforts, William was crowned king on Christmas Day, 1066 at London. He then made arrangements for the governance of England in early 1067 before returning to Normandy. A number of rebellions followed, but William was able to put them down and by 1075 his hold on England was mostly secure. This allowed William to spend the majority of the rest of his reign on the continent.

The final years of William's reign were marked by difficulties in his continental domains, troubles with his eldest son, and threatened invasions of England by the Danes. In 1086 William ordered the compilation of ''Domesday Book'', a survey listing all the landholders in England along with their holdings. William died in September 1087 while leading a campaign in northern France, and was buried in Caen. His reign in England was marked by the construction of castles, the settling of a new Norman nobility on the land, and change in the composition of the English clergy. He did not try to integrate his various domains into one empire, instead continuing to administer each part separately. After his death, William's lands were divided: Normandy went to his eldest son and his second surviving son received England.

Background

Norsemen first began raiding in what became Normandy in the late 8th century. Permanent settlement occurred sometime before 911, when an agreement between Rollo, one of the Viking leaders, and King Charles the Simple of France was reached which surrendered the county of Rouen to Rollo. These lands around Rouen became the core of the later duchy of Normandy. In the later part of the 10th century, Danish and other Vikings resumed raiding the shores of England and they may have used Normandy as a base of operations. If they did use Normandy in this manner, it would have contributed to the worsening of relations between England and Normandy, and in an effort to improve matters King Æthelred married Emma of Normandy, daughter of Duke Richard I, and sister of the current duke, Richard II in 1002.

Although the marriage was meant to help eliminate the raids and improve relations between the duchy and the kingdom, it does not appear to have worked completely. The Danes under King Swein Forkbeard continued to raid England, and may have come to an agreement with Duke Richard to sell the English plunder only in Normandy in exchange for allowing the Danish wounded to recover there. Æthelred also sought help from Richard, taking refuge in Normandy in 1013 when Swein drove Æthelred and his family from England. Swein's death in 1014 allowed Æthelred to return to England, but Swein's son Cnut contested Æthelred's return. Æthelred himself died unexpectedly in 1016 and Cnut became king of England. Æthelred and Emma's two sons, Edward and Alfred remained in exile in Normandy while their mother, Emma, married Cnut as his second wife.

When Cnut died in 1035, his son by his first wife Harold Harefoot succeeded in England while his son by Emma, Harthacnut, became king in Denmark. But England remained unstable, and Alfred returned to England to visit his mother, and perhaps challenge Harold as king in 1036. Alfred was killed, with one story implicating Earl Godwin of Wessex, and other stories blaming Harold for Alfred's death. Emma then went into exile in Flanders, but in 1040, Harold died and Harthacnut became king, and he summoned both his mother and his half-brother Edward to England. When Harthacnut died in June 1042, Edward was proclaimed king before Harthacnut was buried.

Early life

William was born in either 1027 or 1028 in Falaise, Normandy, France, most likely in the autumn of the later year. William was the only son of Robert I, Duke of Normandy. His mother, Herleva, was the daughter of Fulbert of Falaise, who may have been a tanner or embalmer. She was possibly a member of the ducal household, but did not marry Robert. Instead, she later married Herluin de Conteville, with whom she had two sons—Odo of Bayeux and Robert, Count of Mortain—and a daughter whose name is unknown. One of Herleva's brothers, Walter, later became a supporter and protector of William during his minority. Robert also had a daughter, Adelaide of Normandy, by another mistress.

Robert, William's father, became Duke of Normandy on 6 August 1027, in succession to his elder brother Richard III, who had only succeeded to the title in 1026. Robert and his brother had been at odds over the succession, and Richard's death was very sudden. Robert was accused by some writers of killing his brother, a possible but unprovable charge. Conditions in Normandy were unsettled at the time, as noble families despoiled the church and Alan III of Brittany waged war against the duchy, possibly in an attempt to take control. In By 1031, Robert had gathered considerable support from noblemen, many of whom became prominent in Williams's life. These included Robert's uncle, Robert the Archbishop of Rouen, who had originally opposed the duke. Other supporters of Robert were Osbern, a nephew of Gunnor the wife of Duke Richard I, and Count Gilbert of Brionne, who was a grandson of Richard I. Robert also supported the exiled English princes – Edward and Alfred, who were still in exile in northern France.

There are indications that Robert may have been briefly betrothed to a daughter of King Cnut of Denmark and England, but no marriage took place. If he had married, it is unclear if William would have been supplanted in the ducal succession. Earlier dukes had been illegitimate and William's association with his father on ducal charters appears to indicate that William was considered Robert's most probable heir. In 1034, Duke Robert decided to go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Although a number of his supporters tried to dissuade him from going, Robert convened a council in January 1035 and had the assembled Norman magnates swear fealty to William as his heir. Robert then departed on his journey and died in early July 1035 at Nicea while returning to Normandy.

Duke of Normandy

Challenges

William, as the new duke, faced a number of challenges, including his illegitimate birth and his young age; sources state that he was either seven or eight years old at the time. William enjoyed the support of his great-uncle, Archbishop Robert, as well as the king of France, Henry I, and this enabled the young duke to succeed to his father's duchy. The support given to the exiled English princes in their attempt to return to England in 1036 shows that the new duke's guardians were attempting to continue the policies of his father. However, Archbishop Robert's death in March 1037 removed one of William's main supports, and conditions in Normandy descended into chaos quickly.

The anarchy in the duchy lasted until 1047, and control of the young duke was one of the prime concerns of those contending for power. At first, Alan of Brittany had custody of the duke, but when Alan died in either late 1039 or October 1040, Gilbert of Brionne took control of William. Gilbert was killed within months, and another guardian, Turchetil, was also killed around the time of Gilbert's death. Another guardian, Osbern, was killed in the early 1040s in William's sleeping chamber while the duke slept. Walter, William's maternal uncle, was occasionally forced to hide the young duke in the houses of peasants, although this story may be an embellishment by Orderic Vitalis. The historian Eleanor Searle speculates that William was raised with the three cousins who later became important in his career – William fitzOsbern, Roger de Beaumont, and Roger of Montgomery. While many of the Norman nobles engaged in their own private wars and feuds during William's minority, but the viscounts still acknowledged the ducal government and the ecclesiastical hierarchy was supportive of William.

King Henry continued to give support to the young duke, but in late 1046 forces opposed to William came together in a co-ordinated rebellion centred in lower Normandy and led by Guy of Burgundy, with further support from Nigel, viscount of the Cotentin and Rannulf, viscount of the Bessin. According to stories, which may have legendary elements, an attempt was made to seize William at Valognes, but the duke escaped by night and sought out King Henry to ask for help. In early 1047 Henry and William returned to Normandy and were victorious at the Battle of Val-ès-Dunes near Caen, although few details of the actual fighting are recorded. William of Poitiers claimed that the battle was won mainly through William's efforts, but earlier accounts claim that King Henry's men and leadership were important also. The battle marked William's assumption of authority in Normandy, and he marked it by promulgating the Truce of God throughout Normandy shortly after the battle. The Truce was an effort to restrict warfare and violence, and William's proclamation restricted the days of the week on which forces were supposed to fight. Although the battle marked a turning point in William's control of the duchy, it was not the end of his struggles to gain the upper hand over the nobility. The period from 1047 to 1054 saw almost continuous warfare and smaller crises continued up until 1060.

Consolidation of power

William's next efforts were against Guy of Burgundy, who retreated to his castle at Brionne, which William was forced to besiege. After a long effort, the duke succeeded in exiling Guy in 1050. Another problem was the growing power of Geoffrey Martel, the count of Anjou. William joined with King Henry in a campaign against Anjou, but this was the last known cooperation between the two. Although the campaign captured an Angevin fortress, little else was accomplished. Geoffrey attempted to expand his authority into the county of Maine, especially after the death of Hugh IV of Maine in 1051. Central to the control of Maine were the holdings of the family of Bellême, who held Bellême on the border of Maine and Normandy, as well as the fortresses at at Alençon and Domfort. Bellême's overlord was the king of France, but Domfort was under the overlordship of Geoffrey Martel and Duke William was Alençon's overlord. The Bellême family, whose lands were quite strategically placed between their three different overlords, were able to play each of them against the other and secure virtual independence for themselves.

On the death of Hugh of Maine, Geoffrey Martel occupied Maine, but this move was contested by William and King Henry, and eventually they managed to drive Geoffrey from the county. In the process, William was able to secure the Bellême family strongholds at Alençon]] and Domfort for himself, and this allowed William to assert his overlordship over the Bellême family and compel the family to act in Norman interests consistently. In 1052, however, the king and Geoffrey Martel made common cause against William at the same time as some Norman nobles began to contest the growing power of William. Henry's change of sides was likely motivated by a desire to retain dominance over Normandy, which was now threatened by William's growing mastery of his duchy. Throughout 1053, William was involved in military actions against his own nobles, as well as the new Archbishop of Rouen, Mauger. In February 1054 both the king and the Norman rebels launched a double invasion of the duchy. The main thrust was led by Henry and came through the county of Évreux while the other wing, under the French king's brother Odo, invaded eastern Normandy.

William met the invasion by dividing his forces into two groups. The first group, which he led, faced Henry. The second, which included a number of men who became firm supporters of William such as Robert, Count of Eu, Walter Giffard, Roger of Mortemer, and William de Warenne, faced the other invading force. This second force defeated the invaders at the Battle of Mortemer. Besides ending both invasions, the battle also allowed the ecclesiastical supporters of the duke to depose Mauger from the archbishopric of Rouen. Thus, Mortemer marked another turning point in William's growing control of the duchy, but fighting with the French king as well as the Count of Anjou continued until 1060. Henry and Geoffrey led another invasion of Normandy in 1057, but were defeated by William at the Battle of Varaville. This was the last invasion into Normandy during William's lifetime, and the deaths of the count and the king in 1060 cemented the shift in the balance of power towards William.

One factor that helped William was his marriage to Matilda of Flanders, the daughter of Count Baldwin V of Flanders. The marriage was arranged in 1049, but Pope Leo IX forbade the marriage at the Council of Rheims in October 1049. Despite this, the marriage went forward and was conducted sometime during the early 1050s, possibly without papal sanction. According to a late source, papal sanction of the already performed marriage was not secured until 1059, but the source for this is not considered generally reliable. Further corroboration of an earlier than 1059 grant of papal approval is the fact that papal-Norman relations in the 1050s were generally good and that Norman clergy were able to visit Rome in 1050 without incident. Papal sanction of the marriage appears to have required the founding of two monasteries in Caen – one by William and one by Matilda. The marriage itself was important in bolstering William's power, as Flanders was one of the more powerful French territories, with ties to the French royal house as well as to the German emperors. Contemporary writers considered the marriage to be a success and it produced four sons and five or six daughters over time.

Physical appearance and character

No authentic portrait of William has been found, with the contemporary depictions of him on the Bayeux Tapestry and on his seals and coins being stylised portraits designed to assert his authority. However, there are some written descriptions of his appearance which describe him as burly and robust with a guttural voice. He enjoyed excellent health until old age; but he became quite fat in later life. He was strong enough to draw bows that others were unable to pull and had great stamina. Geoffrey Martel described him as without equal as a fighter and as a horseman. Examination of William's femur, the only bone to survive when the rest of his remains were destroyed, showed he was approximately tall, quite tall for the time period.

There are records of two tutors for the young duke during the late 1030s and early 1040s, but the extent of William's literary education is unclear. He was not known as a patron of authors, and little evidence of sponsoring scholarship or other intellectual activities. His main hobby appears to have been hunting. His marriage to Matilda appears to have been quite affectionate, and there are no signs that he was unfaithful to her – unusual in a medieval monarch. Medieval writers criticised William for his greed and his cruelty. His personal piety, however, was universally praised by contemporaries.

Norman administration

Norman government under William was similar to the government that had existed under earlier dukes. This was a fairly simple administrative system, which was built around the ducal household. The household consisted of a group of officers such as stewards, butlers, and marshalls. The duke travelled constantly around the duchy, confirming charters and collecting revenues. Most of the income came from the ducal lands as well as tolls, and a few taxes. This income was collected by the chamber, one of the household departments.

William cultivated close relations with the church in his duchy. He took part in church councils, and made a number of appointments to the Norman episcopate, including the appointment of Maurilius as Archbishop of Rouen. Another important appointment was that of William's half-brother Odo as Bishop of Bayeux in either 1049 or 1050. He also relied on a number of the clergy for advice, including Lanfranc, a non-Norman who rose to become one of William's prominent ecclesiastical advisors in the late 1040s and remained so throughout the 1050s and 1060s. Besides the two monasteries founded by William and Matilda in Caen to appease the papacy, William also gave generously to the church. William himself founded no new monasteries besides the two in Caen prior to 1066, but from 1035 to 1066, the Norman aristocracy founded at least 20 new monastic houses, a remarkable expansion of religious life in the duchy.

English and continental concerns

In 1051, King Edward of England appears to have decided that William was to be his successor on the English throne. The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', in the "D" version, goes so far as to state that William visited England in the later part of 1051, perhaps to secure confirmation of the succession, or perhaps William was attempting to secure aid for his troubles in Normandy. The trip is unlikely given William's absorption in warfare with Anjou at the time. Whatever Edward's wishes, it was likely that any claim by William would be opposed by Godwin, the Earl of Wessex and his family, who were the most powerful family in England. Edward had married Edith, Godwin's daughter, in 1043, and Godwin appears to have been one of the main supporters of Edward's claim to the throne. But by 1050, relations between the king and the earl had soured, which in 1051 broke into a crisis that led to Godwin and his family's exile from England. It was during this exile that Edward offered the throne to William. Godwin, however, returned from exile in 1052 with armed forces and a settlement was reached between the king and the earl, with the earl and his family being restored to their lands and the replacement of Robert of Jumièges, a Norman who Edward had named Archbishop of Canterbury, with Stigand, the Bishop of Winchester. No English source mentions a supposed embassy by Archbishop Robert to William conveying the promise of the succession, and the two Norman sources which mention it, William of Jumièges and William of Poitiers, are not precise on their chronology of when this visit took place.

thumb|Scene from the Bayeux Tapestry showing Harold swearing an oath of fealty to William.|left|220px

In 1062, Count Herbert II of Maine died, and William, who had betrothed his eldest son Robert to the sister of Herbert, claimed the county through his son. This was resisted by the local nobles, but William invaded the county and by 1064 had secured control of the area. William appointed a Norman to the bishopric of Le Mans in 1065 as well as allowing his son Robert Curthose to do homage to the new count of Anjou, Geoffrey the Bearded. This secured William's western border but the border with Brittany was still insecure. In 1064 William invaded Brittany, in a campaign which remains obscure in its details. The effect, however, was to foster instability inside Brittany, forcing the duke, Conan II, to focus on internal problems rather than expansion. Conan's death in 1066 further secured William's borders in Normandy. William benefited another way from his actions in Brittany, as he had secured the support of a number of Breton nobles, some of whom went on to support the invasion of England in 1066.

Meanwhile in England, Earl Godwin died in 1053 and his sons became powerful, with Harold succeeding to his father's earldom and another son, Tostig, becoming Earl of Northumbria. Other sons were granted earldoms later: Gyrth as Earl of East Anglia in 1057 and Leofwine as Earl of Kent sometime between 1055 and 1057. Some sources claim that Harold took part in William's Breton campaign of 1064 and that Harold swore to uphold William's claim to the English throne at the end of the campaign. However, no English source reports this trip, and it is unclear if it actually occurred. It may have been Norman propaganda designed to discredit Harold, who had emerged as the main contender to succeed King Edward. Meanwhile, another contender for the throne had emerged – Edward the Exile, son of Edmund Ironside and a grandson of Æthelred II, returned to England in 1057, and although he died shortly after his return, he brought with him his family, which included two daughters Margaret and Christina and a son, Edgar the Ætheling.

In 1065, Northumbria revolted against Tostig, and the rebels chose Morcar, the younger brother of Edwin, Earl of Mercia, as earl in place of Tostig. Harold, perhaps to secure the support of Edwin and Morcar in his bid for the throne, supported the rebels, and persuaded King Edward to replace Tostig with Morcar. Tostig went into exile in Flanders, along with his wife Judith, who was the daughter of Count Baldwin IV of Flanders. Edward was ailing, and died on 5 January 1066. It is unclear what exactly happened at Edward's deathbed. One story, deriving from the ''Vita Edwardi'', claims that Edward was attended by his wife Edith, Harold, Archbishop Stigand, and Robert FitzWimarc and that the king named Harold as his successor. The Norman sources do not dispute the fact that Harold was named as the next king, but declare that Harold's oath and Edward's earlier promise of the throne could not be changed on Edward's deathbed. Later English sources stated that Harold had been elected as king by the clergy and magnates of England.

Invasion of England

Harold's preparations

Harold was crowned on 6 January 1066 at Westminster Abbey, although some controversy surrounds who performed the ceremony. English sources claim that Ealdred, the Archbishop of York performed the ceremony, but Norman sources state that the coronation was performed by Stigand, who was considered a non-canonical archbishop by the papacy. His claim was not secure, however, and there were four main claimants to the English throne – Harold himself and his exiled brother Tostig, who also seems to have claimed the throne, were the two main English claimants. King Harold Hardrada of Norway also had a claim to the throne based on Hardrada being the nephew and heir of King Magnus I who had made a pact with Harthacnut around 1040 that if either Magnus or Harthacnut died without heirs, the other would succeed. The last claimant was William of Normandy, and King Harold Godwinson made most of his preparations to repel William's anticipated invasion.

Harold's brother Tostig made probing attacks along the southern shore of England in May 1066, landing at the Isle of Wight, using a fleet supplied by Baldwin of Flanders. Tostig appears to have received little local support, and further raids into Lincolnshire and near the River Humber met with no more success, so Tostig retreated to Scotland, where he remained for a while. Meanwhile, William had, according to the Norman writer William of Jumieges, sent an embassy to King Harold Godwinson reminding Harold of his oath to support William's claim. Whether this embassy actually occurred is unclear. Harold meanwhile assembled an army and a fleet to repel the expected invasion by William. These troops and ships were deployed along the English Channel for most of the summer.

William's preparations

William of Poitiers describes a council called by the duke, where the writer describes a great debate that took place between William's nobles and supporters over whether to risk the invasion, but although some sort of formal assembly probably was held, it is unlikely that any debate occurred, since Duke William had secured control over his nobles earlier. Most of the assembled nobles would have been anxious to secure the rewards of conquering England. William of Poitiers also relates that the duke obtained Pope Alexander II's consent for the invasion, along with a papal banner. The chronicler also claimed that the duke secured the support of Emperor Henry IV and King Sweyn II of Denmark, but as Henry was still a minor and Sweyn was more likely to support Harold who could then help Sweyn against the Norwegian king, these claims should be treated with caution. Although Alexander did give papal approval to the conquest after it succeeded, no other source claims papal support prior to the invasion. Events after the invasion, which included the penance William performed and statements by later popes, do lend circumstantial support to the claim of papal approval. William also put the government of Normandy into the hands of his wife for the duration of the invasion.

Throughout the summer, William assembled an army and an invasion fleet in Normandy. Although William of Jumieges claim that the ducal fleet numbered 3,000 ships is clearly an exaggeration, the fleet was probably large and mostly built from scratch. Although William of Poitiers and William of Jumieges disagree about where the fleet was built – Poitiers stating it was constructed at the mouth of the River Dives while Jumieges states it was built at Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, both agree that the fleet eventually sailed from Valery-sur-Somme. The fleet carried an invasion force which included, in addition to troops from William's own territories of Normandy and Maine, large numbers of mercenaries, allies and volunteers from Brittany, northeastern France and Flanders, together with smaller numbers from other parts of Europe. Although the army and fleet were ready by early August, adverse winds kept the force in Normandy until late September. There were likely other reasons for William's delay, however, including intelligence reports from England which would have reported that Harold's forces were deployed along the coast. William would have preferred to delay the invasion until he could make an unopposed landing. Harold kept his forces on alert throughout the summer, but with the arrival of the harvest season, he disbanded his army on 8 September.

Tostig and Hardrada's invasion

Tostig and Hardrada invaded Northumbria in September 1066, and defeated the local forces under Morcar and Edwin at the Battle of Fulford. King Harold got word of their invasion and marched north and defeated the invaders at the Battle of Stamford Bridge on 25 September. Both Tostig and Hardrada were killed at Stamford. Meanwhile, on 27 September the Norman fleet finally set sail, landing in England at Pevensey Bay on 28 September. William then moved to Hastings, a few miles to the east, where he built a castle as a base of operations. From there, he ravaged the interior and waited for Harold's return from the north, refusing to leave behind the sea, which was his line of communication with Normandy.

Battle of Hastings

Harold, after defeating his brother Tostig and Harald Hardrada in the north, left much of his forces in the north, including Morcar and Edwin, and marched the rest of his army south to deal with the threatened Norman invasion. It is unclear when Harold learned of William's landing, but likely it was while he was travelling south. Harold stopped in London, and was there for about a week before Hastings, so he likely spent about a week on his march south, averaging about per day, for the approximately distance. Although Harold attempted to surprise the Normans, William's scouts reported the English arrival to the duke. The exact events preceding the battle are obscure, with contradictory accounts in the sources, but all agree that William led his army from his castle and advanced towards the enemy. Harold had taken a defensive position at the top of Senlac Hill (present-day Battle, East Sussex), about from William's castle at Hastings.

The battle began at about 9 am on 14 October and lasted all day, but while a broad outline is known, the exact events are obscured by contradictory accounts in the sources. Although the numbers on each side were about equal, William had both cavalry and infantry, including many archers, while Harold had only foot soldiers and few if any archers. The English soldiers formed up as a shield wall along the ridge, and were at first so effective that William's army was thrown back with heavy casualties. Some of William's Breton troops panicked and fled, and some of the English troops appear to have pursued the fleeing Bretons. However, Norman cavalry then attacked the pursuing troops and killed them. While the Bretons were fleeing, rumours swept the Norman forces that the duke had been killed, but William rallied his troops. Twice more the Normans feigned flight and drew the English into pursuing them, allowing the Norman cavalry to attack them repeatedly. The available sources are more confused about events in the afternoon, but it appears that the decisive event was the death of Harold, about which differing stories are told. William of Jumieges claimed that Harold was killed by the duke. The Bayeux Tapestry has been claimed to show Harold's death by an arrow to the eye, but this may be a later reworking of the tapestry to conform to 12th century stories that Harold had died from an arrow wound to the head.

The day after the battle, Harold's body was identified, whether through his armour or through marks on his body. The bodies of the English dead, which included some of Harold's brothers and his housecarls, were left on the battlefield. Gytha, Harold's mother, offered the victorious duke the weight of her son's body in gold for custody of the body, but this offer was refused. Harold's body was ordered to be thrown into the sea by William, but whether this took place is unclear. Waltham Abbey, which had been founded by Harold, later claimed that his body had secretly been buried there.

March on London

After his victory, William may have hoped for the surrender of the English, but this did not happen. Instead, some of the English clergy and magnates nominated Edgar the Ætheling as king, but Edgar's supporters were not solidly behind him. After waiting a bit, William then secured Dover, parts of Kent, and Canterbury, while also sending a force to capture Winchester, where the royal treasury was. These captures secured William's rear areas and also his line of retreat to Normandy, if that was needed. William then marched to Southwark, across the Thames from London, which he reached in late November. William then led his forces around the south and west of London, burning along the way. He finally crossed the Thames at Wallingford in early December. It was at Wallingford that Archbishop Stigand submitted to William, and when the duke moved on to Berkhamsted soon afterwards, Edgar, Morcar, Edwin and Archbishop Ealdred also submitted. William then sent forces into London to construct a castle and was crowned at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066.

Consolidation

First actions

William remained in England after his coronation, and tried to reconcile the native magnates. The remaining earls – Edwin (of Mercia), Morcar (of Northumbria), and Waltheof (of Northampton) were confirmed in their lands and titles. Waltheof was married to William's niece and a marriage between Edwin and one of William's daughters was also proposed. Edgar the Ætheling also appears to have been given lands. Ecclesiastical offices also continued to be held by the same bishops as before the invasion, including the uncanonical Stigand. Some who had fought against William at Hastings, however, lost their lands – including the lands of Harold and his brothers. By March, William was secure enough to return to Normandy, but he took with him Stigand, Morcar, Edwin, Edgar, and Waltheof. He left his half-brother Odo, the Bishop of Bayeux in charge of England along with another influential supporter, William fitzOsbern, the son of his former guardian. Both men were named to earldoms also – fitzOsbern to Hereford (or Wessex) and Odo to Kent. Although he put two Normans in overall charge, he retained many of the native English sheriffs. Once in Normandy, the king went to Rouen and the Abbey of Fecamp, and then attended the consecration of new churches at two Norman monasteries.

While William was in Normandy, a former ally, Eustace, the Count of Boulogne, invaded at Dover but was repulsed. English resistance had also begun, with Eadric the Wild attacking Hereford and revolts at Exeter, where Harold's mother Gytha was a focus of resistance. FitzOsbern and Odo had difficulties with controlling the native population and resorted to a programme of castle building to keep the kingdom under control. William returned to England in December 1067, and marched on Exeter, besieged it, and after 18 days, took the town and built a castle to secure control. Harold's sons, however, were raiding the southwest of England from a base in Ireland. These forces landed near Bristol, but were defeated by Eadnoth. By Easter, William was at Winchester and he was joined shortly by his wife Matilda, who was crowned in May 1068.

English resistance

In 1068 Edwin and Morcar revolted, supported by Gospatric. The chronicler Orderic Vitalis states that Edwin's reason for revolting was that the proposed marriage between himself and one of William's daughters had not taken place, but other reasons probably included the increasing power of William fitzOsbern in Herefordshire, which impacted Edwin's power within his own earldom. The king marched through Edwin's lands and built a castle at Warwick. This caused Edwin and Morcar to submit, but William continued on to York, building castles at York and Nottingham before returning south. On his southbound journey, the king began construction of castles at Lincoln, Huntingdon, and Cambridge. William placed supporters in charge of these new fortifications – among them William Peverel at Nottingham and Henry de Beaumont at Warwick. Then the king returned to Normandy late in 1068.

Early in 1069, Edgar the Ætheling rose in revolt, and attacked York. Although William returned to York and built another castle, Edgar remained free and in the autumn joined up with King Sweyn of Denmark. The Danish king had brought a large fleet to England and attacked not only York, but Exeter and Shrewsbury. York was captured by the combined forces of Edgar and Sweyn. Edgar was proclaimed king by his supporters, but William responded swiftly, ignoring a continental revolt in Maine. William symbolically wore his crown in the ruins of York on Christmas Day 1069, and then proceeded to buy off the Danes. Further, he marched to the River Tees, ravaging the countryside as he went. Edgar, having lost much of his support, fled to Scotland, where King Malcolm III was husband of Edgar's sister Margaret. Waltheof, who had joined the revolt, submitted, along with Gospatric, and both were allowed to retain their lands. William was not finished, however, and marched over the Pennines during the winter and defeated the remaining rebels at Shrewsbury before building castles at Chester and Stafford. This campaign, which included the burning and destruction of part of the countryside that the royal forces marched through, is usually known as the "Harrying of the North", and was over by April 1070, when William wore his crown ceremonially for Easter at Winchester.

Church affairs

While at Winchester in 1070, William met with three papal legates – John Minutus, Peter, and Ermenfrid of Sion, who had been sent by Pope Alexander. It was the legates who ceremonially crowned William during the Easter court. The historian David Bates sees this coronation as the ceremonial papal "seal of approval" for William's conquest. Then the legates and the king proceeded to hold a series of ecclesiastical councils dedicated to reforming and reorganising the English church. Stigand and his brother, Æthelmær, the Bishop of Elmham were deposed from their bishoprics. Some of the native abbots were also deposed, both at the council held near Easter and at a further one near Whitsun. The Whitsun council saw the appointment of Lanfranc as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, and Thomas of Bayeux, as the new Archbishop of York, to replace Ealdred, who had died in September 1069. Norman clergy were appointed to replace the deposed bishops and abbots, and at the end of the process, only two native English bishops remained in office, along with a number of continental prelates appointed by Edward the Confessor. In 1070, William also founded Battle Abbey, a new monastery at the site of the Battle of Hastings, partly as a penance for the deaths in the battle and partly as a memorial to those dead.

Troubles in England and the Continent

Danish raids and rebellion in the north

Although Sweyn had promised to leave England, he returned in the spring of 1070, raiding along the Humber and East Anglia toward the Isle of Ely, where he joined up with Hereward the Wake, a local thegn. Hereward's forces attacked Peterborough Abbey and captured and looted it. But, William was able to secure the departure of Sweyn, who left England in 1070 with his fleet. This enabled William to return to the continent to deal with troubles in Maine, where the town of Le Mans had revolted in 1069. Another concern was the death of Count Baldwin VI of Flanders, who died in July 1070. This left Flanders in the grip of a succession crisis, with widow of Baldwin VI ruling for her two young sons, but her rule was contested by Robert, Baldwin's brother. The widow proposed marriage to William fitzOsbern, who was in Normandy, and fitzOsbern accepted but was killed in February 1071 at the Battle of Cassel which resulted in Robert becoming count. Robert was opposed to King William's power on the continent, so the Battle of Cassel not only lost the king an important supporter, but also upset the continental balance of power in northern France.

In 1071, William defeated the last rebellion of the north. Earl Edwin was betrayed by his own men and killed, while William built a causeway to subdue the Isle of Ely, where Hereward the Wake and Morcar were hiding. Hereward escaped, but Morcar was captured, deprived of his earldom and imprisoned. In 1072, William invaded Scotland, defeating Malcolm, who had recently invaded the north of England. William and Malcolm agreed to a peace by signing the Treaty of Abernethy and Malcolm probably gave up his son Duncan as a hostage for the peace. Another possible requirement for the peace was the expulsion of Edgar the Ætheling from Malcolm's court. William then turned his attentions to the continent, returning to Normandy in early 1073 to deal with the invasion of Maine by Fulk le Rechin, the Count of Anjou. With a swift campaign, William seized Le Mans from Fulk's forces, and had finished his campaign by 30 March 1073. This made William's power more secure in northern France, but the new count of Flanders accepted Edgar the Ætheling into his court. Robert also married his half-sister Bertha to the king of France, Philip I, who was opposed to Norman power.

William returned to England to release his army from service in 1073, but was back in Normandy where he spent the entire year of 1074. William left England in the hands of a number of his supporters, including Richard fitzGilbert and William de Warenne, as well as Lanfranc. William's ability to leave England for an entire year was a sign that he was feeling that his control of the kingdom was secure. While William was in Normandy, Edgar the Ætheling returned to Scotland from Flanders, and the French king, seeking a focus for persons opposed to William's power, proposed that the Ætheling be given the castle of Montreuil-sur-Mer on the English Channel, which would have given Edgar a strategic advantage against William. William managed to diffuse this threat by once more agreeing to allow Edgar at William's court, although the fact that Edgar was unable to take up the castle when the Ætheling's ships were wrecked contributed to Edgar's decision to submit to William. Philip, although thwarted in this attempt, then turned his attentions to Brittany, and this led to a revolt in 1075.

Revolt of the Earls

In 1075, during William's absence, Ralph de Gael, the Earl of Norfolk and Roger de Breteuil, the Earl of Hereford conspired to overthrow William in the "Revolt of the Earls". Ralph was originally from Brittany and still held lands there. The exact reason for the rebellion is unclear, but it was launched at the wedding of Ralph to a relative of Roger's, held at Exning. Another earl, Waltheof, although one of William's favourites, was also involved, and there were a number of Breton lords who were ready to rebel in support of Ralph and Roger's efforts. Danish aid was also requested by Ralph. William remained in Normandy while his men in England subdued the revolt. Roger was unable to leave his stronghold in Herefordshire because of efforts by Wulfstan, the Bishop of Worcester and Æthelwig, the Abbot of Evesham. Ralph was bottled up in Norwich Castle by the combined efforts of Odo of Bayeux, Geoffrey de Montbray, Richard fitzGilbert, and William de Warenne. Ralph eventually left Norwich in the hands of his wife and left England, finally ending up in Brittany. Norwich was besieged and surrendered, with the garrison allowed to go to Brittany. Meanwhile, the Danish king, Sweyn, had finally arrived in England with a fleet of 200 ships, but he was too late as Norwich had already surrendered. The Danes then raided along the coast before returning home. William only returned to England in autumn of 1075, to deal with the Danish threat, leaving his wife Matilda in charge of Normandy. William then celebrated Christmas at Winchester and dealt with the aftermath of the rebellion. Roger and Waltheof were kept in prison, with Waltheof being executed in May 1076. Before this, however, William had returned to the continent, where Ralph had continued the rebellion from Brittany.

Troubles at home and abroad

Earl Ralph had secured control of the castle at Dol, and in September 1076 William advanced into Brittany and laid siege to the castle. King Philip of France later relieved the siege and defeated William at Dol, forcing him to retreat back to Normandy. But, although this was William's first defeat in battle, it did little to change things. An Angevin attack on Maine was defeated in late 1076 or 1077, with Count Fulk le Rechin wounded in the unsuccessful attack. More serious was the retirement of Simon de Crépy, the Count of Amiens to a monastery. Before he became a monk, Simon handed his county of the Vexin over to King Philip. The Vexin was a buffer state between Normandy and the French king's lands, and Simon had been a supporter of William's. William was able to make peace with Philip in 1077, and secured a truce with Count Fulk in late 1077 or early 1078.

In late 1077 or early 1078, trouble began between William and his eldest son, Robert. Although Orderic Vitalis describes it as starting with a quarrel between Robert and his two younger brothers, William and Henry, including a story that the quarrel was started when William and Henry threw water at Robert, it is much more likely that Robert was feeling powerless. Orderic relates that Robert had previously demanded control of Maine and Normandy and been rebuffed. The trouble in 1077 or 1078 resulted in Robert leaving Normandy accompanied by a band of young men, many of them the sons of William's supporters. Included amongst them was Robert of Belleme, William de Breteuil, and Roger, the son of Richard fitzGilbert. This band of young men went to the castle at Remalard, where they proceeded to raid into Normandy. The raiders were supported by many of William's continental enemies. William immediately attacked the rebels and drove them from Remalard, but King Philip gave them the castle at Gerberoi, where they were joined by a number of new supporters. William then laid siege to Gerberoi in January 1079. After three weeks, the besieged forces sallied from the castle and managed to take the besiegers by surprise. William was unhorsed by Robert, and was only saved from death by an Englishman. William's forces were forced to lift the siege and the king returned to Rouen. By 12 April 1080, William and Robert had reached an accommodation, with William once more affirming that Robert would receive Normandy when William died.

Word of William's defeat at Gerberoi stirred up difficulties in northern England. In August and September 1079, King Malcolm of Scots raided south of the River Tweed, devastating the land between the River Tees and the Tweed in a raid that lasted almost a month. The lack of Norman response appears to have caused the Northumbrians to grow restive, and in the spring of 1080 they rebelled against the rule of Walcher, the Bishop of Durham and Earl of Northumbria. The bishop was killed on 14 May 1080, and William dispatched his half-brother Odo to deal with the rebellion. William departed Normandy in July 1080, and in the fall William's son Robert was sent on a campaign against the Scots. Robert raided into Lothian and forced Malcolm to agree to terms, and built a fortification at Newcastle-on-Tyne while returning to England. The king was at Gloucester for Christmas 1080 and at Winchester for Whitsun in 1081, ceremonially wearing his crown on both occasions. A papal embassy arrived in England during this period, asking that William do fealty for England to the papacy, a request that William rejected. William also visited Wales during 1081, although the English and the Welsh sources differ on exactly what the visit was for. The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' states that it was a military campaign, but Welsh sources record it as a pilgrimage to St Davids in honour of Saint David. By the end of 1081, William was back on the continent, dealing with disturbances in Maine. Although he led an expedition into Maine, the result was instead a negotiated settlement arranged by a papal legate.

Last years

Sources for William's actions between 1082 and 1084 are meagre. According to the historian David Bates, this probably means that little happened of note, and that because William was on the continent, there was nothing for the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' to record. In 1082 William ordered the arrest of Odo. The exact reasons are unclear, as no contemporary author recorded what caused the quarrel between the half-brothers. Orderic Vitalis later recorded that Odo had aspirations to become pope. Orderic also related that Odo had attempted to persuade some of William's vassals to join Odo on an invasion of southern Italy. This would have been considered tampering with the king's authority over his vassals, and was not something that William would have tolerated. Although Odo remained in confinement for the rest of William's reign, his lands were not confiscated. More struck in 1083, when his eldest son Robert rebelled once more with support from the French king. A further blow was the death of Matilda, William's wife, on 2 November 1083. William was always described as close to his wife, and her death would have added to his difficulties.

Maine continued to be difficult, with a rebellion by Hubert de Beaumont-au-Maine, probably in 1084. Hubert was besieged in his castle at Sainte-Suzanne by William's forces for at least two years, but eventually made his peace with the king and was restored to favour. William's movements during 1084 and 1085 are unclear – he was in Normandy at Easter 1084, but may have been in England before that, in order to collect the danegeld that was assessed that year for the defence of England against an invasion by King Cnut IV of Denmark. Although English and Norman forces remained on alert throughout 1085 and into 1086, the invasion threat was ended by Cnut's death in July 1086.

William as king

Changes in England – castles, forests, and nobles

As part of his efforts to secure England, William ordered many castles, keeps, and mottes built – among them the Tower of London's foundation (the White Tower). These fortifications allowed Normans to retreat into safety when threatened with rebellion and allowed garrisons to be protected while they occupied the countryside. The early castles were simple earth and timber constructions which later were replaced with stone structures. Alongside the castles went a process of military reorganisation. At first, most of the newly settled Normans kept household knights and did not settle their retainers with fiefs of their own, but gradually these household knights came to be granted lands of their own, a process known as subinfeudation. William also required his newly created magnates to contribute fixed quotas of knights towards not only military campaigns but also towards garrisoning castles. This method of organising the military forces was a departure from the pre-Conquest English practice of basing military service on territorial units such as the hide.

By William's death, after weathering a series of rebellions, most of the native Anglo-Saxon aristocracy had been replaced by Norman and other continental magnates. Not all of the Normans who accompanied William in the initial conquest acquired large amounts of land in England. Some appear to have been reluctant to take up lands in a kingdom that did not always appear pacified. Although a number of the newly rich Normans in England came from William's close family or from the upper Norman nobility, others were from relatively humble backgrounds. William granted lands to his continental followers in two differing methods. One method was to grant to the new landholder the holding or holdings of one or more specific Englishmen. At other times, William granted a compact grouping of lands, previously held by many different Englishmen, to one Norman follower. Often, this was to allow for the consolidation of lands around a strategically placed castle.

The medieval chronicler William of Malmesbury says that the king also seized and depopulated many miles of land (36 parishes), turning it into the royal New Forest region to support his enthusiastic enjoyment of hunting. Modern historians, however, have come to the conclusion that the New Forest depopulation was greatly exaggerated. Most of the lands of the New Forest are poor agricultural lands, and archaeological and geographic studies have shown that the New Forest was likely sparsely settled when it was turned into a royal forest. William was known for his love of hunting, and he introduced the forest law into areas of the country which regulated who could hunt and what could be hunted.

Administration

After 1066, William did not attempt to integrate his separate domains into one unified realm with one set of laws. His seal, of which 6 impressions still survive, stressed his role as king but separately mentioned his role as Duke, and was made for him after he conquered England. When in Normandy, William acknowledged that he owed fealty to the French king, but in England no such acknowledgement was made – further evidence that the various parts of William's lands were considered separate. The administrative machinery of Normandy, England, and Maine continued to exist separate from the other lands, with each one retaining its own forms. For example, England continued the use of writs which were not known on the continent. Also, the charters and documents produced for the government in Normandy differed in formulas from those produced in England.

William took over an English government that was more complex than the Norman system. England was divided into shires or counties, which were further divided into either hundreds or wapentakes. Each shire was administered by a royal official called a sheriff, who roughly had the same status as a Norman viscount. A sheriff was responsible for royal justice and collecting royal revenue. To oversee his expanded domain, William was forced to travel even more than he had as duke. He crossed back and forth between the continent and England at least 19 times between 1067 and his death. Between the Battle of Hastings and 1072, William spent most of his time actually in England, but after 1072, he spent the majority of his time in Normandy. Government was still centred around William's household, and when he was in one part of his realms, decisions would be made for other parts of his domains and transmitted through a communication system that utilised letters and other documents. William also appointed deputies that could make decisions while he was absent, especially if the absence was expected to be lengthy. Usually, this was a member of William's close family – usually his half-brother Odo or his wife Matilda. Sometimes deputies were appointed to deal with specific issues.

William continued the collection of danegeld, a land tax. This was an advantage for William, as it was the only universal tax collected by western European rulers during this time period. It was an annual tax based on the value of landholdings, and could be collected at differing rates. Most years saw the rate of 2 shillings per hide, but in crises, it could be increased to as much as 6 shillings per hide. Coinage between the various parts of his domains continued to be minted in different cycles and styles. English coins were generally of high silver content, with high artistic standards, and were required to be re-minted every three years. Norman coins, however, had a much lower silver content, were often of poor quality artistically, and were rarely re-minted. Also, in England no other coinage was allowed, while on the continent other coinage was considered legal tender. Nor is there evidence that many English pennies were circulating in Normandy, which shows little attempt to integrate the monetary systems between England and Normandy.

Besides taxation, William's rule was strengthened by his large landholdings throughout England. As King Edward's heir, he controlled all of the former royal lands. He also retained control of much of the lands of Harold and his family, which made the king the largest secular landowner in England by a large margin.

Domesday Book

At Christmas 1085, William ordered the compilation of a survey of the landholdings of himself and his vassals throughout the kingdom, organised by counties, a work now known as the Domesday Book. Each county's listing gave the holdings of each landholder – grouped by owners. The listings describe the holding, who owned the land before the Conquest, the value of the land, what the tax assement was, and usually lists the number of peasants, ploughs, and any other resources the holding had. Towns were listed separately. All the English counties south of the River Tees and River Ribble are included. The whole work seems to have been mostly completed by 1 August 1086, when the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' records that he received the results and that all the chief magnates swore the Salisbury Oath, a renewal of their oaths of allegiance. William's exact purpose in ordering the compilation of ''Domesday Book'' are unclear – likely it had several purposes including allowing increased taxation as well as record of feudal obligations.

Death and aftermath

William left England in the autumn of 1086, and after his arrival on the continent he married his daughter Constance to Alan Fergant, the Count of Brittany. This was a furtherance of his policy of seeking allies against the French kings. William's son Robert, still allied with the French King Philip I, appears to have been active in stirring up trouble, enough so that William led an expedition against the French Vexin in July 1087. While seizing Mantes, William either fell ill or was injured by the pommel or his saddle. He was taken to Rouen and the priory of St Gervase near the city, where he died on 9 September 1087. Knowledge of what happened before his death is confused by the fact that there are two different accounts. Orderic Vitalis preserves a lengthy account, complete with speeches made by many of the principals, but his account is likely more of an account of how a king should die than an account of what actually happened. The other account, the ''De Obitu Willelmi'', or ''On the Death of William'', has been shown to be a copy of two 9th century accounts with names changed.

William left Normandy to Robert, and the custody of England was given to William, the second surviving son, with the assumption being that he would become king. The youngest son, Henry, received money. After entrusting England to his second son, the elder William sent the younger William back to England on 7 or 8 September, along with a letter to Lanfranc that ordered the archbishop to aid the new king. Other bequests included gifts to the church, money to be distributed to the poor. He also ordered that all of his prisoners be released, including his half-brother Odo.

Disorder followed William's death, with all of people who had been at his deathbed leaving the body at Rouen and hurrying off on their own affairs. Eventually, the clergy of Rouen arranged to have the body sent to Caen, where William had desired to be buried in his foundation of St Etienne. The funeral, attended by the bishops and abbots of Normandy as well as his son Henry, was disturbed by the assertion of a citizen of Caen who alleged that his family had been illegally despoiled of the land on which the church was built. After hurried consultations, the allegation was shown to be true, and the man was compensated. A further indignity occurred when the corpse was lowered into the tomb and the tomb burst and spread a disgusting odor throughout the church.

William's grave is currently marked by a marble slab with a Latin inscription dating from the early 19th century. The tomb has been disturbed a number of times since 1087, the first time in 1522 when the grave was opened on orders from the papacy. The body was restored to the tomb intact at that time, but in 1562 during the French Wars of Religion the grave was opened and the bones were scattered and lost with the exception of one thigh bone. This lone relic was reburied in 1642 with a new marker, which was replaced a 100 years later with a more elaborate monument. This tomb was again destroyed during the French Revolution, but was eventually replaced with the current marker.

Legacy

William's conquest of England brought the kingdom into closer contact with France and forged ties between France and England which were to last throughout the rest of the Middle Ages. Another consequence of William's invasion was the sundering of the formerly close ties between England and Scandinavia. The impact of the Conquest on England was profound – with changes in the church, aristocracy, culture, and language of the island that lasted into modern times. William's government blended parts of both the English and the Norman systems into a new system which laid the foundations of the later medieval English kingdom. How abrupt and far-reaching the changes were are still a matter of debate amongst historians, with some historians such as Richard Southern claiming that the Conquest was the single most radical change in European history between the Fall of Rome and the 20th century. Other historians, such as H. G. Richardson and G. O. Sayles, see the changes brought about by the Conquest as much less radical than Southern's view. The historian Eleanor Searle describes William's invasion as "a plan that no ruler but a Scandinavian would have considered".

William's reign has caused historical controversy before his death. William of Poitiers wrote glowingly of William's reign and its benefits, but the obituary notice for William in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' condemns William in harsh terms. Throughout the years since the Conquest, politicians and other leaders have used William and the events of his reign to illustrate political events throughout English history. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England, Archbishop Matthew Parker saw the Conquest as corrupting a purer English Church that Parker then attempted to restore. In the 17th and 18th century, some historians and lawyers saw the William's reign as imposing a "Norman yoke" on the native Anglo-Saxons. In the 19th century, this argument continued, with further elaborations along nationalistic lines. These various controversies have led to William being seen as alternatively one of the creators of England's greatness or as causing one of the greatest defeats in English history. Other views have William as either an enemy of the English Constitution or as its creator.

Family and children

William married Matilda of Flanders and had at least nine children. The birth order of the boys is clear, but no source gives the relative order of birth of the daughters.

# Robert Born between 1051–1054, died 10 February 1134. Duke of Normandy, married Sybil of Conversano, daughter of Geoffrey of Conversano. # Richard Born before 1056, died around 1075. # William Born between 1056 and 1060, died 2 August 1100. King of England, killed in the New Forest. # Henry Born late 1068, died 1 December 1135. King of England, married Edith of Scotland, daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland. His second wife was Adeliza of Louvain. # Adeliza (or Adelida, Adelaide) Died before 1113, reportedly betrothed to Harold II of England, probably a nun of St Léger at Préaux. # Cecilia (or Cecily) Born before 1066, died 1127, Abbess of Holy Trinity, Caen. # Matilda Born around 1061, died perhaps about 1086. Mentioned in Domesday Book as a daughter of William. # Constance Died 1090, married Alan IV Fergent, Duke of Brittany. # Adela Died 1137, married Stephen, Count of Blois.

Another daughter, Agatha, who was reportedly betrothed to Alfonso VI of Castile, is often ascribed to William and Matilda, but her existence is doubtful, and may be a simple confusion with Adeliza. There is no evidence of any illegitimate children born to William.

Ancestors

{{ahnentafel-compact5 |style=font-size: 90%; line-height: 110%; |border=1 |boxstyle=padding-top: 0; padding-bottom: 0; |boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc; |boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9; |boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc; |boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc; |boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe; |1= 1. William the Conqueror |2= 2. Robert I, Duke of Normandy |3= 3. Herleva |4= 4. Richard II, Duke of Normandy |5= 5. Judith of Brittany |6= 6. Fulbert of Falaise |8= 8. Richard I, Duke of Normandy |9= 9. Gunnora, Duchess of Normandy |10= 10. Conan I of Rennes |11= 11. Ermengarde of Anjou |16= 16. William I, Duke of Normandy |17= 17. Sprota |20= 20. Judicael Berengar |21= 21. Gerberge |22= 22. Geoffrey I of Anjou |23= 23. Adele of Meaux }}

Notes

Citations

References

| year = 2004 | url = http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29448?docPos=2 | accessdate=26 March 2012 |doi= 10.1093/ref:odnb/29448 }} |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23715 |accessdate=3 April 2012 |doi= 10.1093/ref:odnb/23715}} | year = 2004 | url = http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/164 | accessdate=26 March 2012 |doi= 10.1093/ref:odnb/164 }}

External links

Category:1020s births Category:1087 deaths Category:English people of French descent Category:People from Falaise, Calvados 107 *201 Category:Roman Catholic monarchs Category:English Roman Catholics Category:French Roman Catholics Category:Deaths by horse-riding accident Category:Norman conquest of England Category:Anglo-Normans Category:British Monarchs buried abroad Category:Medieval child rulers Category:Tower of London Category:Accidental deaths in France

af:Willem I van Engeland ang:Willelm I Engla Cyning ar:ويليام الفاتح bn:প্রথম উইলিয়াম (ইংল্যান্ড) be:Вільгельм Заваёўнік be-x-old:Вільгельм I Заваёўнік bg:Уилям Завоевателя bs:Vilim I, kralj Engleske br:Gwilherm II (dug Normandi) ca:Guillem I d'Anglaterra cs:Vilém I. Dobyvatel cy:Wiliam I, brenin Lloegr da:Vilhelm Erobreren de:Wilhelm I. (England) et:William Vallutaja el:Γουλιέλμος Α' της Αγγλίας es:Guillermo I de Inglaterra eo:Vilhelmo la 1-a (Anglio) eu:Gilen I.a Ingalaterrakoa fa:ویلیام اول انگلستان fr:Guillaume le Conquérant fy:Willem de Oermasterder ga:Liam I Shasana gl:Guillerme I de Inglaterra ko:윌리엄 1세 (잉글랜드) hy:Վիլհելմ I Նվաճող hi:विलियम विजयी hr:Vilim I. Osvajač io:William la Konquestero id:William sang Penakluk is:Vilhjálmur 1. Englandskonungur it:Guglielmo I d'Inghilterra he:ויליאם הראשון, מלך אנגליה ka:უილიამ I (ინგლისი) sw:William I wa Uingereza ku:William I la:Gulielmus I (rex Angliae) lv:Viljams I Iekarotājs lb:William I. vun England lt:Vilhelmas I Užkariautojas lmo:Guglielmo I d'Inghiltèra hu:I. Vilmos angol király mk:Вилијам I arz:ويليام الأول ملك إنجلترا ms:William I dari England mn:Английн I Вильгельм my:ဝီလီယံ, အောင်နိုင်သူ nl:Willem de Veroveraar ja:ウィリアム1世 (イングランド王) no:Vilhelm I av England nn:Vilhelm I av England nrm:Gllâome lé Counqùéreus oc:Guilhèm Ièr d'Anglatèrra pcd:Djiyôme ch'contchèrint pl:Wilhelm Zdobywca pt:Guilherme I de Inglaterra ro:Wilhelm Cuceritorul ru:Вильгельм I Завоеватель sco:William the Conqueror scn:Gugghiermu lu Cunquistaturi simple:William I of England sk:Viliam I. (Anglicko) sl:Viljem Osvajalec sr:Вилијам I Освајач sh:William I Osvajač fi:Vilhelm Valloittaja sv:Vilhelm Erövraren tl:William na Mananakop ta:கியோம் த நோர்மாந்தி th:สมเด็จพระเจ้าวิลเลียมที่ 1 แห่งอังกฤษ tr:I. William uk:Вільгельм I Завойовник vi:William I của Anh fiu-vro:William I vls:Willem de Veroveroare war:William nga mananakop bat-smg:Vėljams Ožkariautuos zh:威廉一世 (英格兰)