Challenging the Feudal System (AQA GCSE History: Thematic Study (Paper 2: Section A)): Flashcards

The king's power did not extend to the Church because Church courts, not royal courts, tried priests, monks and nuns, and the wealthy Church became a rival to the king.

In theory, the power of medieval kings was absolute, meaning the decision-making of the entire country was concentrated in one person.

John became King of England in 1199, following the death of his brother Richard I.

John succeeded his brother Richard I, also known as 'the Lionheart', to the throne.

Unlike Richard, who was almost entirely absent from England, John spent almost his entire reign in England and took a great interest in the running of the country.

The four main reasons the barons were unhappy with King John were war, attitude, money and his conflict with the Pope (WAMP).

In 1204, John lost his lands in Normandy to the French king.

Because of his military failures, John was given the nicknames 'Softsword' and 'Lackland'.

Scutage was a tax barons could pay instead of fighting for the king.

Between 1199 and 1214, John demanded scutage 11 times.

After John arrested them, William de Briouze's wife and son both died while in John's custody.

The final humiliation that pushed many barons to plot against John in 1214 was his failure to win back Normandy.

Records state that 39 rebel barons raised an army and took control of Norfolk, Suffolk, Lincoln and London.

True.

The rebellion of the barons had escalated into the First Barons' War.

The Magna Carta was a famous legal document, signed by King John, that limited the power of the king.

King John signed the Magna Carta to stop a civil war, as he did not have enough money to fight a baron rebellion.

John had no option but to sign the Magna Carta because he did not have enough money to fight a baron rebellion.

The key purpose of the features of the Magna Carta was to limit the power of the king.

The two groups that gained more power from the Magna Carta were the barons and the Church.

False.

In the short term the terms only applied to freemen.

The large group in medieval society completely unaffected by the Magna Carta was the villeins and peasants, the biggest group in society.

Shortly after agreeing to the Magna Carta, King John quickly backed out of the agreement, with the Pope's support, claiming he had been forced to agree.

Many historians agree that the impacts of the Magna Carta were limited in the short term.

The Magna Carta is seen as so significant in the long term because it laid down rules and laws that applied to everyone, even kings.

Around the world, the Magna Carta is celebrated as an important step towards establishing freedom, democracy and the rule of law.

King John met the rebel barons and agreed to the Magna Carta in 1215.

Henry III was king of England from 1216 to 1272.

Henry III was King John's son.

Henry III was nine years old when he became king.

Henry III took over running the country from a regency of advisers in 1227.

Henry III's three main problems were his relations with the Pope, accusations of 'foreign' favourites, and a shortage of money.

Henry III's relationship with the Pope cost him money because the Pope demanded ever more money to finance his wars, threatening excommunication if unpaid.

True.

Barons feared England was being run by 'foreigners' or 'aliens'.

Excommunication was being formally excluded from the Church; the Pope threatened this against Henry III over unpaid money.

In response to his shortage of money, Henry III raised taxes and demanded more funds from his barons.

Henry III needed money for wars in France to win back the lands in France that his father, King John, had lost.

Simon de Montfort was the 6th Earl of Leicester, a French-born English nobleman who led the barons against Henry III.

De Montfort and Henry III fell out because Henry launched an enquiry into de Montfort's conduct in France and replaced him with Prince Edward, leaving him feeling betrayed.

The barons lost patience with Henry III by 1254 because they refused to fund his tax increases for the Pope's wars and his own, and resented foreign 'aliens'.

Henry III was finally forced to meet the barons' demands in 1258 because he was desperate to avoid excommunication by the Pope.

The barons' 1258 demands were called the Provisions of Oxford.

The Provisions of Oxford placed the king under the authority of the Council of Fifteen.

False.

They were divided; some thought the changes went too far, others feared losing influence.

Henry III got the Provisions of Oxford cancelled in 1261 by writing to the Pope, who agreed, and filling the Great Council with his own men.

The Second Barons' War was the 1264 war in which de Montfort led the barons' armies against Henry III.

One cause of the Second Barons' War was that Henry ignored the Provisions of Oxford (also: lost wars in France, rising taxes, French advisors).

At the Battle of Lewes in 1264, de Montfort routed the king's armies and took Henry and his son Edward prisoner.

A baron was a powerful noble who held land from the king; the barons repeatedly challenged Henry III's rule.

While Henry III and his son were prisoners, England was effectively ruled by Simon de Montfort.

The Parliament of 1265 is seen as so significant because for the first time commoners — knights and burgesses — were invited, giving them influence over how England was run.

Burgesses were wealthy merchants (commoners) invited to de Montfort's 1265 parliament.

Prince Edward became leader of the barons against de Montfort by escaping captivity while exercising his horse and rallying the angry barons.

The Battle of Evesham was fought on 4 August 1265.

At the Battle of Evesham, Simon de Montfort's outnumbered forces were defeated and he was hacked to pieces leading a cavalry charge.

False.

He never called another Great Council.

Edward I called parliaments after 1272 to discuss and approve new taxes rather than simply demand them.

The 1295 'Model Parliament' was Edward I's parliament of both lords and commoners, resembling today's parliament.

The 19th-century movement inspired by the 1265 parliament's idea of representation was the Chartists.

Parliament challenged and replaced the monarch in the Glorious Revolution of 1688.

The Parliament of 1265 helped establish the House of Commons alongside the House of Lords.

Richard II became king in 1377 aged just ten.

The three main causes of the Peasants' Revolt were the Black Death, new taxes, and the wealth of the Church.

The Black Death (1348) helped cause the revolt because it killed a third to a half of the population, so surviving peasants could demand higher wages.

The 1351 Statute of Labourers capped workers' wages at pre-Black Death levels, angering the peasants.

A poll tax was a tax charged at the same flat rate on every person regardless of wealth; three poll taxes (1377–1381) raised taxes by 75%.

The radical priest who preached against the wealth of the nobles and the Church was John Ball.

The event that triggered the revolt in Brentwood, Essex on 30 May 1381 was when the peasants, led by Thomas Baker, drove out the tax collector John Bampton.

The Kentish peasants appointed Wat Tyler as their leader.

True.

They burned it down on 13 June 1381.

At Mile End on 14 June, Richard II promised the rebels to pardon everyone involved and make all peasants freemen.

Wat Tyler was killed by the King's men during the meeting at Smithfield on 15 June.

After the revolt collapsed, between 1,500 and 7,000 rebels were killed as punishment.

Protesters against the 1989 Community Charge followed the peasants' 1381 route through London.