Letteratura Inglese

William I (1066 - 1087) William I (1066 - 1087) When William became king he introduced the feudal system into England, that was divided among the nobles called Barons. They swore loyalty to the King and helped him i war for forty days a year. Moreover the Barons gave part of their land to lesser nobles called Knights and the land was tilled by paesants called serfs who were bound to the soil and to their Lord.When William died he hand down his Duchy to his helder son Robert and England to William Rufus, his second son.Then while Robert was fighting the Muslims William Rufus died and his younger brother Henry take control of the whole kingdom in spite of Robert's claim. Henry I (1100 - 1135) Henry defeated Robert and united the reign under his rule. Henry tried to hand down his reign to his son but unfortunatly he died and so the two possible heirs were Matilda, his daughter and Stephen, his nephew that became King.This led to a civil war that finished when Stephen died and Matilda's son, Henry II, became king . Henry II (1154 - 1189) Henry II was the son of Jeoffrey of Anjou and he was, married with Eleanor ofr Aquitania so his reign ranged from the Scottish to the Spanish border. He asked the lords to pay taxes instead of sending soldiers to provide money for a professional soldier army to protect his land.Moreover he introduced a new law system. But his reign was spoilt by the opposition of the archbishop of Canterbury Thomas à Becket because both the church and the king wanted to judge the clerks. In the end the Archbishop was killed. Richard "Lionheart" (1189 - 1199) Richard was called "Lionheart" for his courage. He left England to join the crusade and when he came back from the Holy Land, he was imprisoned by his brother John who tried to take his place. After his freedom , Richard was killed in France and John became King. John "Lackland" (1199 - 1216) John was unpopular for his greed in fact he set heavy taxes to enlarge his revenue. When the king of France invaded Normandy, John was called Lackland so he imposed new taxes to provide money for a new army. For this new taxes the lords rebelled and compelled John to sign the Magna Carta, a document that granted, to freemen, legal trials and no taxation whitout the approvation of the council. Henry III (1216 - 1272) Henry III, a young King, was advided to accept the document by his advisers. When he became an adult he surrounded himself by foreign friends and waged expensive wars to support the Pope. The lords, headed by Simon de Monfort, took over the governement and created an elected council called parliament. Edward I (1272 - 1307) Edward I needed money so he had to rely on the rich people who could be taxed. Moreover he created the house of commons (made up of knights, freemen, and merchants) to reinforce the principle of no taxation without representation. Edward II (1307 - 1327) Edward II wasn't a brave soldier, in fact he lost some of his lands and he was defeated by the Scots. So t