D.H. Montgomery - The Leading Facts of English History

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The Leading Facts of History Series

The Leading Facts of English History

by D. H. Montgomery

"Nothing in the past is dead to the man who would learn how the
present came to be what it is." -- Stubbs, "Constitutional History of
England"

Revised Edition

Ginn and Company
Boston - New York - Chicago - London

Copyright, 1887, 1889, 1898, 1901, 1912, by D.H. Montgomery
Entered at Stationers' Hall
All Rights Reserved
313.8

The Athenaeum Press
Ginn and Company - Proprietors - Boston - U.S.A.

I dedicate this book
to the memory of my friend
J.J.M.
who generously gave time, labor
and valuable suggestions
toward the preparation of the first edition
for the press

Preface

Most of the materials for this book were gathered by the writer during
several years' residence in England.

The attempt is here made to present them in a manner that shall
illustrate the law of national growth, in the light thrown upon it by
the foremost English historians. The present edition has been
carefully revised throughout, and, to a considerable extent,
rewritten.

The authorities for the different periods will be found in the
Classified List of Books in the Appendix; but the author desires to
particularly acknowledge his indebtedness to the works of Bright,
Brewer, Gardiner, Guest, Green, Lingard, Oman, and Traill; to the
source books of Lee and of Kendall; and to the constitutional
histories of Stubbs, Hallam, May, and Taswell-Langmead.

The author's hearty thanks are due to the late Professor W. F. Allen,
of The University of Wisconsin; Professor Philip Van Ness Myers, of
College Hill, Ohio; Professor George W. Knight, of Ohio State
University; and to a number of teachers and friends for many valuable
suggestions which they have kindly made.

David H. Montgomery

Contents

Leading Dates xviii
Period
I. Britain before Written History began
II. The Geography of England in Relation to its History
III. Roman Britain; A Civilization which did not civilize
IV. The Coming of the Saxons[1]; the Coming of the Normans
V. The Norman Sovereigns[1]
VI. The Angevins, or Plantagenets; Rise of the English Nation[1]
VII. The Self-Destruction of Feudalism
VIII. Absolutism of the Crown; the Reformation; the New Learning[1]
IX. The Stuart Period; the Divine Right of Kings versus the Divine
Right of the People
X. India gained; America lost--Parliamentary Reform--Government by the
People
A General Summary of English Constitutional History
Constitutional Documents
Genealogical Descent of the English Sovereigns[2]
A Classified List of Books
Special Reading References on Topics of English History

[1] Each of these six Periods is followed by a General Reference
Summary of that period. See pp. 43, 71, 141, 174, 230, 316
[2] For special Genealogical Tables see pp. 124, 140, 161, 172, 179,
207, 323

Suggestions to Teachers

The writer of this brief manual is convinced that no hard-and-fast
rules can be laid down for the use of a textbook in history. He
believes that every teacher will naturally pursue a system of his own,
and that by so doing he will get better results than if he attempt to
follow a rigid mechanical course which makes no allowance for
individual judgment and gives no scope to originality of method.

The author would simply suggest that where time is limited it might be
well to omit the General Reference Summaries (see, for instance,
p. 43) and to read the text as a continuous narrative. Then the
important points in each day's lesson might be talked over at the end
of the recitation or on the following day.

On the other hand, where time permits a thorough course of study, all
of the topics might be taken up and carefully examined, and the
General Reference Summaries may be consulted by way of review and for
additional information. The pupil can also be referred to one or more
books (see the Classified List of Books in the Appendix) on the
subjects under consideration.

Instead of the teacher's asking a prescribed set of routine questions,
the pupil may be encouraged to ask his on. Thus in undertaking the
examination of a given topic--say, the Battle of Hastings (SS69-75),
the issue of the Great Charter (SS195-202), or "The Industrial
Revolution" and Watt's invention of an improved Steam Engine
(S563)--there are five inquiries which naturally arise and which
practically cover the whole ground.

These are: 1. When did the event occur? 2. Where did it occur?
3. How did it occur? 4. What caused it? 5. What came of it? It will
soon be seen that these five questions call attention first to the
chronology of he event, secondly to its geography, thirdly to the
narrative describing it, fourthly to its relations to preceding
events, and fifthly to its relations to subsequent events.

The pupil will find that while in some instances he can readily obtain
answers for all of these inquiries,--for example, in the case of the
Great Charter,--in other instances he will have to content himself
with the answer to only a part of the questions, perhaps, in fact, to
only a single one; nevertheless the search will always prove
instructive and stimulating. Such a method of study, or one akin to
it, will teach the pupil to think and to examine for himself. It will
lead him to see the inevitable limitations and the apparent
contradictions of history. It will make him realize, as pehaps
nothing else can, that the testimony of different writers must be
taken like that of witnesses in a court of justice. He will see that
while authorities seldem entirely agree respecting details, they will
generally agree in regard to the main features of important events.
Last of all, and best as well as last, these five questions will be
found to open up new and broader fields of inquiry, and they may
perhaps encourage the pupil to continue his work on some subject in
which he becomes interested, beyond the limits of the textbook and the
classroom.

Pursued in this way, the study of history will cease to be a dry
delving for dead facts in the dust of a dead past. It will rouse
thought, it will quicken the pulse of an intellectual life, and it
will end by making the pupil feel the full force of the great truth:
that the present is an outgrowth of the past, and that it is only when
we know what men have done, that we can hope to understnad what they
are now doing.
D. H. M.

Leading Dates

(The most important constitutional dates are marked by an asterisk)

55. B.C. Caesar lands in Britain (S18)
449. A.D. Coming of the Saxons (S36)
878. Alfred's Treaty of Wedmore (S56)
1066. Battle of Hastings (S74)
*1100. Henry I's Charter of Liberties (S135)
*1164. Constitutions of Clarendon (S165)
*1190. Rise of Free Towns (S183)
1204. John's Loss of Normandy (S191)
*1215. John grants Magna Carta (SS198, 199)
*1265. De Montfort's Parliament (S213)
*1279. Statute of Mortmain (S226)
1282. Conquest of Wales (S218)
*1295. First Complete Parliament (S217)
*1297. Confirmation of the Charters (S220)
1336. Rise of Wool Manufacture (S236)
1338. The Hundred Years' War (S237)
1346. Batty of Cr'ecy; Cannon (S238)
*1350. Origin of Trial by Jury (S176)
1378. Wycliffe's Bible; Lollards (S254)
1381. Revolt of the Labor Class (S251)
1390. Chaucer writes (S253)
*1393. Great Act of Praemunire (S243)
1455. Wars of the Roses (SS299, 316)
1477. Caxton introduces Printing (S306)
1485. Battle of Bosworth Field (S315)
1497. Cabot discovers America (S335)
1509. The New Learning (S339)
*1534. The Act of Supremacy (S349)
1536. The Monasteries destroyed (S352)
*1549. Protestantism established (S362)
*1554. Mary restores Catholicism (S370)
1558. Rise of the Puritans (S378)
1559. Act of Uniformity (S382)
1582, 1605. Bacon's New Philosophy (S393)
1587. Mary Queen of Scots executed (S397)
1588. Destruction of the Armada (S400)
1588. Rise of the English Navy (SS401, 408)
1589(?). Shakespeare's First Play (S392)
1601. The First Poor Law (SS403, 607)
1604. The "Divine Right of Kings" (S419)
1607. Virginia permanently settled (S421)
1611. The "King James Bible" (S418)
1622. First Regular Newspaper (S422)
*1628. The Petition of Right (S433)
1642. The Great Civil War (S441)
*1649. Charles I beheaded; the Commonwealth established (SS448, 450)
1651. Navigation Act (S459)
1660. Restoration of Monarchy (S467)
*1660. Abolition of Feudal Dues (S482)
1665. The Plague in London (S474)
1666. Great Fire in London (S474)
1670. Secret Treaty of Dover (S476)
1673. The Test Act (S477)
1678. The Disabling Act (S478)
*1678. Rise of Political Parties (S479)
*1679. Habeas Corpus Act (S482)
1684. Newton's Law of Gravitation (S481)
1685. Monmouth's Rebellion (S486)
1687. Declaration of Indulgence (S488)
1688. The Great Revolution (S491)
*1689. The Bill of Rights (S497)
*1689. Mutiny Act, Toleration Act (S496)
1690. Battle of the Boyne (S500)
1694. National Debt; Bank of England (S503)
*1695. Liberty of the Press (SS498, 556)
1697. Peace of Ryswick (S502)
*1701. Act of Settlement (S497)
*1707. England and Scotland united (S513)
1713. Peace of Utrecht (S512)
1720. The South Sea Bubble (S536)
*1721. Rise of Cabinet Government (S534)
1738. Rise of the Methodists (S546)
1748. Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (S542)
1751-1757. English Conquests in India (S544)
*1759. The English take Quebec (S545)
*1776. American Independence (S552)
*1782. American Independence acknowledged (S553)
1784. Mail Coaches begin to run (S566)
1785. "Industrial Revolution"; Canals; Watt's Steam Engine (S563)
1796. Vaccination introduced (S537)
1799. First Savings Bank (S621)
*1800. Great Britain and Ireland united (S562)
1805. Battle of Trafalgar (S557)
1807. Steam Navigation begins (S565)
1812. War with America (S558)
1815. Battle of Waterloo (S559)
1819. The Six Acts (S571)
1829. Catholic Emancipation (S573)
1830. First Passenger Railway (S584)
*1832. Great Suffrage Reform (S582)
*1835. Municipal Reform (S599)
1837-1911. Colonial Expansion (S618)
*1838-1848. Rise of Chartrists (S591)
1839. Postage Reform (S590)
1845. First Telegraph (S614)
1845. Irish Famine (S593)
1846. Repeal of the Corn Laws (S594)
1857. Rebellion in India (S597)
1858. Jews enter Parliament (S599)
1859. Darwin's Evolution (S606)
1861. The Trent Affair (S598)
1866. Permanent Atlantic Cable (S595)
1867. Second Suffrage Reform (S600)
1869. Partial Woman Suffrage (S599)
1869. Free Trade established (S594)
1870. The Education Act (S602)
*1870. Civil Service Reform (S609)
1870. Irish Land Act (S603)
1871-1906. Trades Unions Acts (S616)
1884. Third Suffrage Reform (S600)
*1888, 1894. Local Government Acts (S608)
1899. The Boer War (S623)
*1906. Labor enters Parliament (S628)
1908. Old-Age Pensions (S628)
1910. Imperial Federation (S625)
*1911. Parliament Act; Salary Act (S631)

THE LEADING FACTS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

FIRST PERIOD[1]

"This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of ewar;
This happy breed of men this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands;
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England."
Shakespeare, "Richard II"

BRITAIN BEFORE WRITTEN HISTORY BEGAN

1. The Earliest Inhabitants of England.

England was inhabited for many centuries before its written history
began. The earliest races that possessed the country were stunted,
brutal savages. They used pieces of rough flint for tools and
weapons. From flint too they produced fire. They lived by hunting
and fishing, and often had no homes but caves and rock shelters.

Following the Cave-Men came a race that had learned how to grind and
polish the stone of which they made their hatchets, knives, and
spears. This race cleared and cultivated the soil to some extent, and
kept cattle and other domestic animals.

[1] Reference Books on this Period will be found in the Classified
List of Books in the Appendix. The pronunciation of names will be
found in the Index. The Leading Dates stand unenclosed; all others
are in parentheses.

2. The Britons

Finally, a large-limbed, fair-haired, fierce-eyed people invaded and
conquered the island. They came from the west of Europe. They made
their axes, swords, and spears of bronze,--a metal obtained by melting
and mingling copper and tin. These implements were far superior to
any made of stone.

The new people were good farmers; they exported grain, cattle, and
hides to Gaul (France), and mined and sold tin ore to merchants who
came by sea from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean.

This strong and energetic race, known as Celts, eventually called
themselves Britons. By the time they had adopted that name they had
made a great step forward, for they had learned how to mine and
manufacture iron,--the most useful metal known to man; from it they
forged scythes, swords, and spears.

Such were the people Caesar met when he invaded Britain, fifty-five
years before the beginning of the Christian era. The great Roman
general called the Britons "barbarians"; but they compelled him to
respect them, for they were a race of hard fighters, who fearlessly
faced even his veteran troops.

3. The Religion of the Britons; the Druids.

The Britons held some dim faith in an overruling Power and in a life
beyond the grave. They offered human sacrifices to that Power, and
when they buried one of their warriors, they buried his spear with him
so that he might fight as good a battle in the next world as he had
fought in this one.

Furthermore, the Britons had a class of priests called Druids, who
seem to have worshiped the heavenly bodies. These priests also acted
as prophets, judges, and teachers. Caesar tells us that the Druids
instructed the youth about the stars and their motions, about the
magnitude of the earth, the nature of things, and "the might and power
of the immortal gods."

More than this, the Druids probably erected the massive stone columns
of that strange stucture, open to the sky, whose ruins may still be
seen on the lonely expanse of Salisbury Plain. There, on one of the
fallen blocks, Carlyle and Emerson sat, when they made their
pilgrimage to Stonehenge[1] many years ago, and discussed the life
after death, with other questions of Druid philosophy.

[1] Stonehenge: This remarkable structure is believed to be the
remains of a pre-historic monument to the dead, which was, perhaps,
used also as a place of worship. It stands on Salisbury Plain about
nine miles northeast of the city of Salisbury. (See map facing
p. 38.) It consists of a broken circle of huge upright stones, some
of which are still connected at the top by blocks of flat stones.
Within this circle, which is about one hundred feet in circumference,
is a circle of smaller stones. The structure has no roof. The recent
discover of stains of bronze or copper on one of the great stones,
seven feet below the surface, strengthens the theory that Stonehenge
was constructed by the race who used bronze implements and who were
later known as Britons (S2). Consult Professor C. Oman's "England
before the Norman Conquest"; see also R. W. Emerson's "English
Traits," and O. W. Holmes's fine poem on the "Broken Circle,"
suggested by a visit to Stonehenge.

4. What we owe to Prehistoric Man.

We have seen that the Romans called the Britons "barbarians" (S2).
But we should bear in mind that all the progress which civilization
has since made is built on the foundations which those primitive races
slowly and painfully laid during unnumbered centuries of toil and
strife.

To them we owe man's wonderful discovery of the power to produce
fire. To them we are indebted for the invention of the first tools,
the first weapons, and the first attempts at architecture and
pictorial art. They too tamed the dog, the horse, and our other
domestic animals. They also discovered how to till the soil and how
to mine and manufacture metals. In fact those "barbarians" who lived
in "the childhood of the world," and who never wrote a line of
history, did some things equal to any which history records, for out
of wild plants and trees they developed the grains and fruits which
now form an indispensable part of "our daily bread."

Finally, through their incessant struggles with nature, and incessant
wars among themselves, those rude tribes learned to establish forms of
self-government for towns or larger districts. Many of their salutary
customs--their unwritten laws--still make themselves felt in the
world.[1] They help bind the English nation together. They do even
more than that, for their influence can be traced in the history of
newer nations, which, like the American republic, have descended from
the great mother-countries of Europe.

[1] For example, parts of the "Common Law" can be traced back, through
English "dooms" (decisions or laws), to prehistoric times. See
E. A. Freeman in the Encyclopaedia Britannica (10th edition, VIII,
276). The New England "Town Meeting" can be likewise traced back to
the German ancestors of the Anglo-Saxons.

[Figures: Carved bone, flint dagger, and bronze spearhead]

SECOND PERIOD[1]

"Father Neptune one day to Dame Freedom did say,
`If ever I lived upon dry land,
The spot I should hit on would be little Britain.'
Says Freedom, `Why that's my own island.'
O, 't is a snug little island,
A right little, tight little island!
Search the world round, none can be found
So happy as this little island."
T. Dibdin

THE GEOGRAPHY OF ENGLAND IN RELATION TO ITS HISTORY[2]

5. Geographical Names given by the Britons and the Romans

The steps of English history may be traced to a considerable extent by
geographical names. Thus the names of most of the prominent natural
features, the hills, and especially the streams, originated with the
Britons. They carry us back to the Bronze Age (S2) and perhaps
earlier. Familiar examples of this are found in the name Malvern
Hills, and in the word Avon ("the water"), which occurs in
Stratford-on-Avon, and is repeated many times in England and Wales.

The Roman occupation of Britain is shown by the names ending in
"cester" or "chester" (a corrupton of castra, a military camp). Thus
Leicester, Worcester, Dorchester, Colchester, Chester, indicate that
these places were walled towns and military stations.

[1] Reference Books on this Period will be found in the Classified
List of Books in the Appendix. The pronunciation of names will be
found in the Index.
[2] As this Period necessarily contains references to certain events
which occurred in later history, it may be advantageously reviewed by
the pupil after he has reached an advanced stage in his course of
study.

6. Saxon and Danish Names.

On the other hand, the names of many of the great political divisions,
especially in the south and east of England, mark the Saxon
settlements, such as Essex (the East Saxons), Sussex (the South
Saxons), Middlesex (the Middle or Central Saxons). In the same way
the settlement of the two divisions of the Angles on the coast is
indicated by the names Norfolk (the North folk) and Suffolk (the South
folk). (See map facing p. 24.)

The conquests and settlements of the Danes are readily traced by the
Danish termination "by" (an abode or town), as in Derby, Rugby,
Grimsby. They occur with scarcely an exception north of London. They
date back to the time when King Alfred made the Treaty of Wedmore
(S56), A.D. 878, by which the Danes agreed to confine themselves to
the northern half of the country. (See map facing p. 32.)

7. Norman Names.

The conquest of England by the Normans created but few new names.
These, as in the case of Richmond and Beaumont, generally show where
the invading race built a castle or an abbey, or where, as in
Montgomeryshire, they conquered and held a district in Wales.

While each new invasion left its mark on the country, it will be seen
that the greater part of the names of counties and towns are of Roman,
Saxon, or Danish origin. With some few and comparatively unimportant
exceptions, the map of England remains to-day in this respect what
those races made it more than a thousand years ago.

8. Climate.

With regard to the climate of England,--its insular form, geographical
position, and its exposure to the warm currents of the Gulf Stream
give it a temperature generally free from great extremes of heat or
cold. On this account, it is favorable to the full and healthy
development of both animal and vegetable life.

Nowhere is greater vigor or longevity found. Charles II said that he
was convinced that there was not a country in the world so far as he
knew, where one could spend so much time out of doors comfortably as
in England.

9. Industrial Division of England.

From an industrial and historical point of view, the country falls
into two divisions. Let a line be drawn from Hull, on the northeast
coast, to Leicester, in the Midlands, and thence to Exmouth, on the
southwest coast. (See map on p. 10.) On the upper or northwest side
of that line will lie the coal and iron which constitute the greater
part of the mineral wealth and form the basis of the manufacturing
industry of England; here too are all the largest towns except London.

On the lower or southeast side of the line there will be a
comparatively level surface of rich agricultural land, and most of the
fine old cathedral cities with their historic associations; in a
world, the England of the past as contrasted with modern and
democratic England, that part which has grown up since the
introduction of steam.

10. Eastern and Western Britain compared.

As the southern and eastern coasts of Britain were in most direct
communication with the Continent, and were first settled, they
continued until modern times to be the wealthiest, most civilized, and
progressive part of the island. Much of the western portion is a
rough, wild country. To it the East Britons retreated, keeping their
primitive customs and language, as in Wales and Cornwall.

In all the great movements of religious or political reform, up to the
middle of the seventeenth century, we find that the people of the
eastern half of the island were usually on the side of a larger
measure of liberty; while those of the western half were generally in
favor of increasing the power of the King and the Church.

11. Influence of the Island Form on the Roman Invasion

Geologists tell us that Great Britain was once connected with the
mainland of western Europe. It was fortunate for Britain that this
connection was severed and that it became an island. We see an
illustration of this advantage in the case of the Roman invasion. It
was easy for the Romans to march great armies into Gaul and take
complete possession of that country, but it was with no little
difficulty that they sent fleets across the tempestuous waters of the
Channel. This may have been one reason why they never succeeded in
permanently establishing their language and their laws in the island
of Britain. It is true that they conquered and held it for several
centuries, but they never destroyed its individuality,--they never
Latinized it as they did France and Spain.

12. Influence of the Island Form on the Saxon Invasion.

In like manner, when the northern tribes of Europe overran the Roman
Empire, they found themselves, in some measure, shut out from Britain
by its wall of sea. The Jutes, Saxons, and Angles could not enter it
in countless hordes, but only in small numbers and by occasional
attacks. Because of this, the invaders could only drive back the
Britons by slow degrees, and they never entirely crushed them.

Again, the conquerers could not build up a strong, united kinigdom,
but they had to content themselves with establishing a number of petty
kingdoms which were constantly at war with each other. Later, the
whole of England became subject to a sing sovereign. But the chief
men of the separate kingdoms, which had now become simply shires or
counties, retained a certain degree of control over the government.
This prevented the royal power from becoming the unchecked will of an
arbitrary ruler. Finally, it may be said that the isolation of
England had much to do with the development of the strong individual
character of its people.

13. Influence of the Island Form on the Danes and Normans.

In the course of the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries the Danes
invaded England, but the sea prevented their coming all at once and
with overwhelming force. They got possession of the throne (S63) and
permanently established themselves in the northern half of the
country. The English, however, held their own so well that the Danes
were eventually compelled to unite with them. Even when the Normans
invaded England and conquered it (SS74, 107), they felt obliged to
make many concessions to both the English and the Danes. The result
was that every invasion of the island ended in a compromise, so that
no one race ever got complete predominance. In time all the elements
mingled and became one people.