Peasants Revolt

Task 4. Supplementary reading. Read the following information, and say what facts were not mentioned in the film.

Medieval England experienced few revolts but the most serious was the Peasants’ Revolt which took place in June 1381. A violent system of punishments for offenders was usually enough to put off peasants from causing trouble. Most areas in England also had castles in which soldiers were garrisoned, and these were usually enough to guarantee reasonable behaviour among medieval peasants. An army of peasants from Kent and Essex marched on London. They did something no-one had done before or since - they captured the Tower of London. The Archbishop of Canterbury and the King’s Treasurer were killed. The king, Richard II, was only 14 at the time but despite his youth, he agreed to meet the peasants at a place called Mile End.

What were the peasants angry about and why had they come to London?

1. After the Black Death, many manors were left short of workers. To encourage those who had survived to stay on their manor, many lords had given the peasants on their estates their freedom and paid them to work on their land. Now, nearly 35 years after the Black Death, many peasants feared that the lords would take back these privileges and they were prepared to fight for them.

2. Many peasants had to work for free on church land, sometimes up to two days in the week. This meant that they could not work on their own land which made it difficult to grow enough food for their families. Peasants wanted to be free of this burden that made the church rich but them poor. They were supported in what they wanted by a priest called John Ball from Kent.

3. There had been a long war with France. Wars cost money and that money usually came from the peasants through the taxes that they paid. In 1380, Richard II introduced a new tax called the Poll Tax. This made everyone who was on the tax register pay 5p. It was the third time in four years that such a tax had been used. By 1381, the peasants had had enough. 5p to them was a great deal of money. If they could not pay in cash, they could pay in kind, such as seeds, tools etc., anything that could be vital to survival in the coming year. In May 1381, a tax collector arrived at the Essex village of Fobbing to find out why the people there had not paid their poll tax. He was thrown out by the villagers. In June, soldiers arrived to establish law and order. They too were thrown out as the villagers of Fobbing had now organised themselves and many other local villages in Essex had joined them. After doing this, the villagers marched on London to plead with the young king to hear their complaints. One man had emerged as the leader of the peasants - Wat Tyler from Kent. As the peasants from Kent had marched to London, they had destroyed tax records and tax registers. The buildings which housed government records were burned down. They got into the city of London because the people there had opened the gates to them.

By mid-June the discipline of the peasants was starting to go. Many got drunk in London and looting took place. It is known that foreigners were murdered by the peasants. Wat Tyler had asked for discipline amongst those who looked up to him as their leader. He did not get it.

On June 14th, the king met the rebels at Mile End. At this meeting, Richard II gave the peasants all that they asked for and asked that they go home in peace. Some did. Others returned to the city and murdered the archbishop and Treasurer - their heads were cut off on Tower Hill by the Tower of London. Richard II spent the night in hiding in fear of his life.

On June 15th, he met the rebels again at Smithfield outside of the city’s walls. It is said that this was the idea of the Lord Mayor (Sir William Walworthe) who wanted to get the rebels out of the city. Medieval London was wooden and the streets were cramped. Any attempt to put down the rebels in the city could have ended in a fire or the rebels would have found it easy to vanish into the city once they knew that soldiers were after them. At this meeting, the Lord Mayor killed Wat Tyler. We are not sure what happened at this meeting as the only people who could write about it were on the side of the king and their evidence might not be accurate. The death of Tyler and another promise by Richard to give the peasants what they asked for, was enough to send them home.

Walworth, bottom left hand corner, killing Tyler. Richard II is just behind Tyler and also addressing the peasants after Tyler's death

By the summer of 1381, the revolt was over. John Ball was hanged. Richard did not keep any of his promises claiming that they were made under threat and were therefore not valid in law. Other leaders from both Kent and Essex were hanged. The poll tax was withdrawn but the peasants were forced back into their old way of life - under the control of the lord of the manor.

However, the lords did not have it their own way. The Black Death had caused a shortage of labour and over the next 100 years many peasants found that they could earn more (by their standards) as the lords needed a harvest in and the only people who could do it were the peasants. They asked for more money and the lords had to give it. www.historylearningsite.co.uk › Medieval England

VI "Burning convictions"

1500–58. The upheaval was caused as a country renowned for its piety, whose king styled himself Defender of the Faith, turns into one of the most aggressive proponents of the new Protestant faith.

Task 1. Before watching the film, look through the timeline of the period:

1509 - Henry VIII becomes King. Marriage of Henry to Catherine of Aragon.

1516 – Birth of Princess Mary.

1533 – Henry divorces Catherine of Aragon. Marriage of Henry to Ann Boleyn. Birth of Princess Elizabeth.

1536 – Ann Boleyn beheaded. Marriage of Henry to Jane Seymour.

1537 – Birth of Prince Edward. Death of Jane Seymour.

1540 – Marriage of Henry to Anne of Cleves. Henry divorces Anne of Cleves. Marriage of Henry to Catherine Howard.

1542 – Catherine Howard beheaded.

1543 – Marriage of Henry to Catherine Parr.

1547 - Death of Henry VIII. Edward VI becomes King.

1553 – Death of Edward VI, aged 15. Mary I crowned.

1554 – Marriage of Marry I to Philip of Spain.

1558 – Death of Mary I. Elizabeth I becomes Queen.

Task 2. Watch the film and find answers to the following questions, using the key words in brackets:

· Why are Walsingham (Norfolk) and the Holly Trinity Church (Suffolk) mentioned in the introduction? What was the position of Catholicism in England on the brink of the Reformation? (regular and developed piligrims, to walk barefoot to the shrine (=tomb, chapel where a saint is buried), to dedicate a candle in thanks for smth., to be a dutiful son of the church, ceremonies and rituals involving the whole community, Christ Crucified would be there in flesh and blood, hand written Bibles etc.)

· What were the main steps of the Reformation in England? (Tyndale’s translation and mass publication of the English Bible, prosecutions and burnings, Henry VIII’s ascension to the throne (восхождение на престол), Thomas Wolsey, Ann Boleyn, Henry’s divorce case, Wolsey’s fall, the idea of Royal supremacy, submission of the clergy, break from Rome, Thomas Cranmer and Thomas Cromwell, anti-Roman propaganda, dissolution of the monasteries, Ann Boleyn’s execution, Cromwell’s protestant reforms, restrictions in Bible reading, Cromwell’s fall, counter-reform six articles, radical reforms of Edward VI’s reign, Mary I counter-Reformation, her marriage to Philip II of Spain, Protestants’ burnings, Elizabeth ’s ascension, re-establishment of Protestantism).

· When did Tyndale comlete his New Testament? What gruesome ( мрачные,ужасные ) events followed? Why were these events called “an English version of the inquisition”? (book burnings, short trials, to be condemned as a heretic, to lit fires).

· Describe Henry VIII when he ascended to the throne (to be supposed to become a king, to acquire smb’s brother’s wife, marriage alliance between England and Spain, Catherine of Aragon, a splashy debut, glamorous outfits, the Battle of the Spurs, meeting with the young French king Francis I in 1520 at the Field of the Cloth of Gold)

· How is Thomas Wolsey described in the film? What events are associated with Thomas Wolsey?

· Why is Ann Boleyn called “a historical prime cause” of English Reformation? (maid of honour, aristocratic flirtation, a sophisticated, ambitious young woman with a mind of her own, to exploit natural vivaciousness, to play the game of courtly love, to begin to recoil (=move backwards) from wife, to have no legitimate heir, the marriage had been divinely cursed, passion for smb., to refuse to be a mistress, seize on divorce as an answer to all the problems, to make the Pope a virtual prisoner, Wolsey’s fall, the book “On the obedience of a Christian Man and how Christian rulers ought to govern” by Tyndale, to learn about supreme power, submission of the clergy, the church would be governed by the will of the king, break from Rome)

· What historical events is the name of Thomas Cromwell connected with? (Thomas Cromwell – Secretary of State, Cromwell’s protestantism, Thomas Cranmer secretely married a German, to commit oneself to Luther’s ideas, to break with Rome, the country had to be aroused to a new sense of a sovereignty, the oath had to be sworn recognising the royal supremacy and the legitimacy of heirs, visitations to the monasteries, uprooting of nearly 10 thousand monks and nuns, dissolution of the monasteries (роспуск монастырей), execution of innocent people, execution of Ann Boleyn, a law restricting the reading of the Bible in English to churchmen, noble people, deprivation (лишения, нищета) for ordinary people, 1540 – Cromwell executed)

· Why was Ann Boleyn executed? What do you get to know about Jane Seymour and Anne of Cleves? (Catherine was dead, to think of reconciliation (примирение) between Charles V and Henry VIII, Ann miscarried (потеряла ребенка из-за выкидыша), to seduce smb through witchcraft (колдовство), to be doomed, to celebrate the birth of a son, scheme of alliance with Anne of Cleves for diplomatic reasons collapsed)

· What was Henry VIII final position on the matters of religion: a) a national church divorced from Rome but married to an English throne or a) a national church married to Rome. What facts prove your choice?

· Describe the main events of the reign of Edward I. (to be led by Thomas Cranmer, to be educated by a protestant, to destroy idolatry, all the customs and ceremonies of the old church were banned, the blessing of candles and candle mass and palms on Palm Sunday were banned, the cults of saints were forbidden, images, statues, stained glass paintings were attached with chisels and limewash, no more stone altar but a user-friendly communion chair, to abolish distance between a priest and his flock, the familiarity of address to the congregation)

· What happened during the reign of Mary I? (to return England to its obedience to Rome, to produce a Catholic male heir, to ask forgiveness from the Pope’s legate, orders went out for the repainting of churches, restoration of masses, to be forgiven by mother Rome, the Catholic Philip II of Spain, a Spanish consort, to love another real better than this, to cleanse her realm of the protestant heresy, to undo Edward’s reformation by fire, 2020 men and 60 women were burnt, to die childless)

· What events marked the reign of Elizabeth I? (a middle way between the courses chosen by her half brother and half sister, to outlaw the mass, to bring back the book of common prayer, to be in no hurry to abolish the Catholic calendar of saints days, to put out the fires of religious fanaticism, a truly English way, Englishness was discovered, to offer a bless to anyone who would assassinate Elizabeth, to be forced to choose between their church and their queen, what was once a national church would become a faith on the run)

Task 3. Who of the following people are the words of the film about:

William Tyndale, Henry VIII, Thomas Wolsey, Thomas Cromwell, Thomas Cranmer, Ann Boleyn, Mary I, Philip II of Spain, Elizabeth I

· Fanatical, clear in his convictions (убеждения)

· An inexhaustible (неутомимый) hunter

· A psychologist in a cardinal’s head

· Defender of the Faith (защитник веры)

· A manipulator of patronage, honours, bribes and threats

· Could bang heads - even very aristocratic ones

· Represented everything that Catherine was not: 10 years younger, merry, spirited…

· They were like two pillows: theological on the left and political on the right and the king triumphant in the middle

· The least sentimental man ever to run a country

· The author of the bloody drama

· He tried to put the genie back in its bottle

· To have a martyr (мученик) complex

· English first female ruler since queen Matilda

· A bad match

· To cast herself as a healer

Task 4. What role did the following people play in turning Catholic England into a Protestant country: a)William Tyndale, b)Henry VIII, c)Thomas Wolsey, d)Thomas Cromwell, e)Thomas Cranmer, f)Catherine of Aragon, g)Ann Boleyn, h)Edward VI, i)John Dudley, j) Mary I, k) Philip II of Spain, l) Elizabeth I?

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