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England in the 14 th century






By the 14th century the process of centralization of- the king's power was completing. The same methods of government were applied to all parts of England. The old contradictions between the Normans and Saxons were gradually disappearing.

 

The Norman kings made London their residence. It became the largest town in England. The London dialect of the English language became the central dialect and was understood throughout the country. It was the London dialect from which the national language developed.

Other towns were also growing. The townspeople, that is the craftsmen and tradesmen, who later formed the class of bourgeoisie, were becoming an important social force. They became rich by trading with Flanders (a country across the English Channel that now called Belgium). The English traders shipped wool to Flanders, where it was sold as raw material. Flanders had busy towns, and the weavers who lived and worked there, produced the finest cloth. Flemish ports were the world market of northern and commercial rivals of England. Flemish weavers were even invited to England to teach the English their trade.

 

The Hundred Years’ War

In the first half of the 14th century the king of England was Edward III. He was a powerful king, and he wanted to become King of France as well, because some of the French provinces, such as Normandy, had once belonged to England and others had been the property of Edward's mother, a French princess. Meanwhile the feudal lords in France were making plans to seize the free towns of Flanders. For England it would mean losing its wool market. Saying that he wished to defend English trade, Edward III declared war on France in 1337. This war is now called the Hundred Years' War because it lasted over a hundred years.

At first England was successful in the war. The English fleet defeated the French fleet in the English Channel. Then the English also won battles on land. The English had certain advantages over the French. They had cannons, which had just been invented and which the French army did not have. Besides, the English archers could soot their arrows from a distance, whereas the French knights, armed with swords, could only fight in hand-to-hand combats. When the thunder of the first cannons had scared the horses of the enemy, the arrows of the English archers reached the French knights before they could use their broad swords.

 

The peasant’s Revolt of 1381

The ruin of France and the famine that followed caused an epidemic of the plague. It was so infectious that there was no escape from it. People died within twenty-four hours. From France the epidemic was brought over to England. The English soldiers called it the Black Death. By the year 1348 one-third of England's population had perished.

The position of the peasants was very hard. They had to give part of their harvest to the lord. They also had to work on the lord's fields regularly. After the epidemic of the Black Death, when the population of England had diminished by one-third, there were not enough labourers to work on the lords' fields. So the surviving peasants were made to work on the lords' fields much more. They were paid for their work, but the payment was very little.

As years went by, the French feudals united against their enemy, and the English were beginning to lose their advantage. As the king needed money for the war, Parliament voted for extra taxes, which made the life of peasants still harder. In 1381 the peasants revolted. Sixty thousand people from the counties of Essex and Kent marched to London led by Wat Tyler and Jack Straws. In London they broke open the prisons, destroyed many buildings and killed many royal officials. They came to the royal palace and demanded to see the king. The king of England Richard II was then a l4-year-old boy. He boldly appeared before the crowd of rebels, listened to them and promised to fulfill their demands. But the king did not keep his promise. Wat Tyler was treacherously murdered and the rebellion was suppressed.

 


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