United Kingdom - Richard II, Monarchy, Parliament

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data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom">United Kingdom</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="js-sections-close-button btn-link btn-sm btn d-lg-none position-absolute top-0 p-10 right-0" > <em class="material-icons font-26" data-icon="close"></em> </button> </div> <div class="section-content pl-10 pr-20 pl-sm-50 pr-sm-60 pl-lg-5 pr-lg-10 pt-10 pt-lg-0 bg-gray-50 clear-catfish-ad"> <div class="toc mb-20"> <div class="font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-15 mb-15 mt-20"> Table of Contents </div> <ul class="list-unstyled my-0" data-level="h1"><li data-target="#ref1"><div class="pl-25"><a class="link-gray-900 w-100" href="/place/United-Kingdom">Introduction & Quick Facts</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref44671"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom#ref44671">Land</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44672"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom#ref44672">Relief</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44673"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-highland-zone">The highland zone</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44674"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-lowland-zone">The lowland zone</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44675"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-lowland-zone#ref44675">Drainage</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44676"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-lowland-zone#ref44676">Soils</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44677"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-lowland-zone#ref44677">Climate</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44678"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Plant-and-animal-life">Plant and animal life</a></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref44682"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Plant-and-animal-life#ref44682">People</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44683"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Plant-and-animal-life#ref44683">Ethnic groups</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44684"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Plant-and-animal-life#ref44684">Languages</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44685"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Religion">Religion</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref225229"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Religion#ref225229">Settlement patterns</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref225230"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Religion#ref225230">Rural settlement</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref225231"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Urban-settlement">Urban settlement</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44686"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Urban-settlement#ref44686">Demographic trends</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44687"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Urban-settlement#ref44687">Population growth</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44688"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Urban-settlement#ref44688">Migration patterns</a></li></ul></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref44689"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy">Economy</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44691"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44691">Agriculture, forestry, and fishing</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44692"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44692">Agriculture</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44693"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44693">Forestry</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44694"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44694">Fishing</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44690"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44690">Resources and power</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref225232"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref225232">Minerals</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref225233"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref225233">Energy</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44695"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44695">Manufacturing</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44699"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Economy#ref44699">Finance</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44700"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Trade">Trade</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref215040"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Trade#ref215040">Services</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref225234"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Trade#ref225234">Labour and taxation</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44701"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Trade#ref44701">Transportation and telecommunications</a></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref44702"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Trade#ref44702">Government and society</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref225235"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Trade#ref225235">Constitutional framework</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref215041"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Trade#ref215041">Regional government</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44705"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Local-government">Local government</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44709"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Local-government#ref44709">Justice</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44706"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Local-government#ref44706">Political process</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44710"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Local-government#ref44710">Security</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44716"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare">Health and welfare</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44717"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare#ref44717">The National Health Service</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44718"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare#ref44718">Cash benefits</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44719"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare#ref44719">Housing</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44712"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare#ref44712">Education</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44713"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare#ref44713">Primary and secondary education</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44714"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Health-and-welfare#ref44714">Private schools</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44715"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Higher-education">Higher education</a></li></ul></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref44720"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Higher-education#ref44720">Cultural life</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref225236"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Higher-education#ref225236">Daily life and social customs</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref225237"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Higher-education#ref225237">The arts</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref225238"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Higher-education#ref225238">Cultural institutions</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref215039"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Sports-and-recreation">Sports and recreation</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44722"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Sports-and-recreation#ref44722">Media and publishing</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44723"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Sports-and-recreation#ref44723">Newspapers</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44724"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Sports-and-recreation#ref44724">Broadcasting</a></li></ul></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref214519"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Sports-and-recreation#ref214519">History</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44730"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Ancient-Britain">Ancient Britain</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44731" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Ancient-Britain#ref44731">Pre-Roman Britain</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44732"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Ancient-Britain#ref44732">Neolithic Period</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44733"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Ancient-Britain#ref44733">Bronze Age</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44734"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Ancient-Britain#ref44734">Iron Age</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44735" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-Britain">Roman Britain</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44736"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-Britain#ref44736">The conquest</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44737"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-Britain#ref44737">Condition of the province</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44738"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-Britain#ref44738">Army and frontier</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44739"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-Britain#ref44739">Administration</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44740"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-society">Roman society</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44741"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-society#ref44741">Economy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44742"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-society#ref44742">Towns</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44743"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-society#ref44743">Villas</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44744"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-society#ref44744">Religion and culture</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44745"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Roman-society#ref44745">The decline of Roman rule</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44746"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Anglo-Saxon-England">Anglo-Saxon England</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44747" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Anglo-Saxon-England#ref44747">The invaders and their early settlements</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44748"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Anglo-Saxon-England#ref44748">The social system</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44749"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Anglo-Saxon-England#ref44749">The conversion to Christianity</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44750"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Anglo-Saxon-England#ref44750">The golden age of Bede</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44751" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-heptarchy">The heptarchy</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44752"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-heptarchy#ref44752">The supremacy of Northumbria and the rise of Mercia</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44753"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-heptarchy#ref44753">The great age of Mercia</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44754"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-heptarchy#ref44754">The church and scholarship in Offa’s time</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44755"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-heptarchy#ref44755">The decline of Mercia and the rise of Wessex</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44756" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions">The period of the Scandinavian invasions</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44757"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions#ref44757">Viking invasions and settlements</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44758"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions#ref44758">Alfred’s government and his revival of learning</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44759" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions#ref44759">The achievement of political unity</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44760"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions#ref44760">The reconquest of the Danelaw</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44761"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-period-of-the-Scandinavian-invasions#ref44761">The kingdom of England</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44762"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-church-and-the-monastic-revival">The church and the monastic revival</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44763" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-church-and-the-monastic-revival#ref44763">The Anglo-Danish state</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44764"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-church-and-the-monastic-revival#ref44764">The Danish conquest and the reigns of the Danish kings</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44765"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-church-and-the-monastic-revival#ref44765">The reign of Edward the Confessor and the Norman Conquest</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44766"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154">The Normans (1066–1154)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44767" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44767">William I (1066–87)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44768"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44768">Resistance and rebellion</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44769"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44769">The introduction of feudalism</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44770"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44770">Government and justice</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44771"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44771">Church–state relations</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44772"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Normans-1066-1154#ref44772">William’s accomplishments</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44773" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I">The sons of William I</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44774"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44774">William II Rufus (1087–1100)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44775"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44775">Henry I (1100–35)</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44776" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44776">The period of anarchy (1135–54)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44777"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44777">Matilda and Stephen</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44778"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44778">Civil war</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44779"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-sons-of-William-I#ref44779">England in the Norman period</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44780"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Plantagenets">The early Plantagenets</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44781" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Plantagenets#ref44781">Henry II (1154–89)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44782"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Plantagenets#ref44782">Government of England</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44783"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Plantagenets#ref44783">Struggle with Thomas Becket</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44784"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Plantagenets#ref44784">Rebellion of Henry’s sons and Eleanor of Aquitaine</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44785"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Plantagenets#ref44785">Richard I (1189–99)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44786" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/John-1199-1216">John (1199–1216)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44787"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/John-1199-1216#ref44787">Loss of French possessions</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44788"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/John-1199-1216#ref44788">Struggle with the papacy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44789"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/John-1199-1216#ref44789">Revolt of the barons and Magna Carta</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44790"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/John-1199-1216#ref44790">Economy and society</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44791"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/John-1199-1216#ref44791">The 13th century</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44792" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-III-1216-72">Henry III (1216–72)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44793"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-III-1216-72#ref44793">Minority</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44794"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-III-1216-72#ref44794">Early reign</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44795"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-III-1216-72#ref44795">The county communities</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44796"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-III-1216-72#ref44796">Simon de Montfort and the Barons’ War</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44797"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-III-1216-72#ref44797">Later reign</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44798" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-I-1272-1307">Edward I (1272–1307)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44799"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-I-1272-1307#ref44799">Law and government</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44800"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-I-1272-1307#ref44800">Finance</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44801"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-I-1272-1307#ref44801">The growth of Parliament</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44802"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-I-1272-1307#ref44802">Edward’s wars</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44803"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-I-1272-1307#ref44803">Domestic difficulties</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44804"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Social-economic-and-cultural-change">Social, economic, and cultural change</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44805"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Social-economic-and-cultural-change#ref44805">The 14th century</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44806"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Social-economic-and-cultural-change#ref44806">Edward II (1307–27)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44807" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-III-1327-77">Edward III (1327–77)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44808"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-III-1327-77#ref44808">The Hundred Years’ War to 1360</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44809"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-III-1327-77#ref44809">Domestic achievements</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44810"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-III-1327-77#ref44810">Law and order</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44811"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-III-1327-77#ref44811">The crises of Edward’s later years</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44812" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Richard-II-1377-99">Richard II (1377–99)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44813"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Richard-II-1377-99#ref44813">The Peasants’ Revolt (1381)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44814"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Richard-II-1377-99#ref44814">John Wycliffe</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44815"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Richard-II-1377-99#ref44815">Political struggles and Richard’s deposition</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44816"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Richard-II-1377-99#ref44816">Economic crisis and cultural change</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44817"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York">Lancaster and York</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44818" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44818">Henry IV (1399–1413)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44819"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44819">The rebellions</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44820"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44820">Henry and Parliament</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44821" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44821">Henry V (1413–22)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44822"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44822">The French war</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44823"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44823">Domestic affairs</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44824" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44824">Henry VI (1422–61 and 1470–71)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44825"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44825">Domestic rivalries and the loss of France</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44826"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Lancaster-and-York#ref44826">Cade’s rebellion</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44827"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-beginning-of-the-Wars-of-the-Roses">The beginning of the Wars of the Roses</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44828"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-beginning-of-the-Wars-of-the-Roses#ref44828">Edward IV (1461–70 and 1471–83)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44829"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-beginning-of-the-Wars-of-the-Roses#ref44829">Richard III (1483–85)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44830"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/England-in-the-15th-century">England in the 15th century</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44831"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/England-in-the-15th-century#ref44831">England under the Tudors</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44832" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/England-in-the-15th-century#ref44832">Henry VII (1485–1509)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44833"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/England-in-the-15th-century#ref44833">Economy and society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44834"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Dynastic-threats">Dynastic threats</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44835"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Dynastic-threats#ref44835">Financial policy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44836"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Dynastic-threats#ref44836">The administration of justice</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44837" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-VIII-1509-47">Henry VIII (1509–47)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44838"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-VIII-1509-47#ref44838">Cardinal Wolsey</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44839"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-VIII-1509-47#ref44839">The king’s “Great Matter”</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44840"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Henry-VIII-1509-47#ref44840">The Reformation background</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44841"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-break-with-Rome">The break with Rome</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44842"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-break-with-Rome#ref44842">The consolidation of the Reformation</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref275884"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-break-with-Rome#ref275884">The expansion of the English state</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44843"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-break-with-Rome#ref44843">Henry’s last years</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44844"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-VI-1547-53">Edward VI (1547–53)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44845"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-VI-1547-53#ref44845">Mary I (1553–58)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44846" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-VI-1547-53#ref44846">Elizabeth I (1558–1603)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44847"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Edward-VI-1547-53#ref44847">The Tudor ideal of government</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44848"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Elizabethan-society">Elizabethan society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44849"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Elizabethan-society#ref44849">Mary, Queen of Scots</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44850"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-clash-with-Spain">The clash with Spain</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44851"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-clash-with-Spain#ref44851">Internal discontent</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44852"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Stuarts-and-the-Commonwealth">The early Stuarts and the Commonwealth</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44853" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Stuarts-and-the-Commonwealth#ref44853">England in 1603</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44854"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Stuarts-and-the-Commonwealth#ref44854">Economy and society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44855"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-early-Stuarts-and-the-Commonwealth#ref44855">Government and society</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44856" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/James-I-1603-25">James I (1603–25)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref275885"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/James-I-1603-25#ref275885">Triple monarchy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44857"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/James-I-1603-25#ref44857">Religious policy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44858"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/James-I-1603-25#ref44858">Finance and politics</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44859"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/James-I-1603-25#ref44859">Factions and favourites</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44860" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Charles-I-1625-49">Charles I (1625–49)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44861"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Charles-I-1625-49#ref44861">The politics of war</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44862"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Charles-I-1625-49#ref44862">Peace and reform</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44863"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Charles-I-1625-49#ref44863">Religious reform</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44864"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Long-Parliament">The Long Parliament</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44865"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Long-Parliament#ref44865">Civil war and revolution</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44866"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Commonwealth-and-Protectorate">Commonwealth and Protectorate</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44867"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts">The later Stuarts</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44868" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44868">Charles II (1660–85)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44869"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44869">The Restoration</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44870"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44870">War and government</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44871"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44871">The Popish Plot</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44872"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44872">The exclusion crisis and the Tory reaction</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44873" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44873">James II (1685–88)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44874"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-later-Stuarts#ref44874">Church and king</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44875"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Revolution-of-1688">The Revolution of 1688</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44876" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Revolution-of-1688#ref44876">William III (1689–1702) and Mary II (1689–94)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44877"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Revolution-of-1688#ref44877">The revolution settlement</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref275886"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Revolution-of-1688#ref275886">A new society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44878"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Revolution-of-1688#ref44878">The sinews of war</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44879" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Anne-1702-14">Anne (1702–14)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44880"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Anne-1702-14#ref44880">Whigs and Tories</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44881"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Anne-1702-14#ref44881">Tories and Jacobites</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44882"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815">18th-century Britain, 1714–1815</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44883"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44883">The state of Britain in 1714</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44884" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44884">Britain from 1715 to 1742</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44885"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44885">The supremacy of the Whigs</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44886"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44886">Robert Walpole</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44887"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44887">George II and Walpole</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44888"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44888">Foreign policy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44889"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44889">Religious policy</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref44890"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44890">Economic policies</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44891"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/18th-century-Britain-1714-1815#ref44891">The electoral system</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44892"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Walpoles-loss-of-power">Walpole’s loss of power</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44893" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Walpoles-loss-of-power#ref44893">Britain from 1742 to 1754</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44894"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Walpoles-loss-of-power#ref44894">The Jacobite rebellion</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44895"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Walpoles-loss-of-power#ref44895">The rule of the Pelhams</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44896"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Walpoles-loss-of-power#ref44896">Domestic reforms</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44897" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/British-society-by-the-mid-18th-century">British society by the mid-18th century</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44898"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/British-society-by-the-mid-18th-century#ref44898">Joseph Massie’s categories</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44899"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/British-society-by-the-mid-18th-century#ref44899">Urban development</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44900"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/British-society-by-the-mid-18th-century#ref44900">Change and continuity</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44901"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/British-society-by-the-mid-18th-century#ref44901">The revolution in communications</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44902" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1754-to-1783">Britain from 1754 to 1783</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44903"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1754-to-1783#ref44903">Conflict abroad</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44904"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1754-to-1783#ref44904">Political instability in Britain</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44905"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1754-to-1783#ref44905">The American Revolution</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44906"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1754-to-1783#ref44906">Domestic responses to the American Revolution</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44907" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1754-to-1783#ref44907">Britain from 1783 to 1815</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44908"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/William-Pitt-the-Younger">William Pitt the Younger</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44909"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/William-Pitt-the-Younger#ref44909">Economic growth and prosperity</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44910"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/William-Pitt-the-Younger#ref44910">The Industrial Revolution</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44911"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/William-Pitt-the-Younger#ref44911">Britain during the French Revolution</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44912"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Napoleonic-Wars">The Napoleonic Wars</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44913"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Napoleonic-Wars#ref44913">Imperial expansion</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44914"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Napoleonic-Wars#ref44914">Great Britain, 1815–1914</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44915" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Napoleonic-Wars#ref44915">Britain after the Napoleonic Wars</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274567"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Napoleonic-Wars#ref274567">State and society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274568"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Napoleonic-Wars#ref274568">The political situation</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref44919" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain">Early and mid-Victorian Britain</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274569"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274569">State and society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274570"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274570">The political situation</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274571"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274571">Whig reforms</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274572"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274572">Chartism and the Anti-Corn Law League</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274573"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274573">Peel and the Peelite heritage</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274574"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Early-and-mid-Victorian-Britain#ref274574">Palmerston</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274575"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Gladstone-and-Disraeli">Gladstone and Disraeli</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44926"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Gladstone-and-Disraeli#ref44926">Economy and society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref44928"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Cultural-change">Cultural change</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274576"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Cultural-change#ref274576">The development of private life</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274577"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Cultural-change#ref274577">Religion</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274578"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Cultural-change#ref274578">Leisure</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref274579" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain">Late Victorian Britain</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274580"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274580">State and society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274581"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274581">The political situation</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274582"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274582">Gladstone and Chamberlain</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274583"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274583">The Irish question</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274584"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274584">Split of the Liberal Party</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274585"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Late-Victorian-Britain#ref274585">Imperialism and British politics</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274586"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-return-of-the-Liberals">The return of the Liberals</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274587"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-return-of-the-Liberals#ref274587">The international crisis</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274588"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-return-of-the-Liberals#ref274588">Economy and society</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274589"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-return-of-the-Liberals#ref274589">Family and gender</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274590"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-return-of-the-Liberals#ref274590">Mass culture</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref44948"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present">Britain from 1914 to the present</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref274520" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274520">The political situation</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274521"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274521">World War I</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274522"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274522">The Asquith coalition</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274523"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274523">Lloyd George</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274524"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274524">Between the wars</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274525"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274525">The election of 1918</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274526"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274526">Harsh peace and hard times</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274527"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274527">Ireland and the return of the Conservatives</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274528"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-from-1914-to-the-present#ref274528">The Baldwin era</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274529"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Baldwin-and-the-abdication-crisis">Baldwin and the abdication crisis</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274530"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Baldwin-and-the-abdication-crisis#ref274530">Foreign policy and appeasement</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274531"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Baldwin-and-the-abdication-crisis#ref274531">World War II</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274532"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Baldwin-and-the-abdication-crisis#ref274532">The phases of war</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274533"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Baldwin-and-the-abdication-crisis#ref274533">Political developments</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref274534"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945">Britain since 1945</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274535"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274535">Labour and the welfare state (1945–51)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274536"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274536">Economic crisis and relief (1947)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274537"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274537">Withdrawal from the empire</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274538"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274538">Conservative government (1951–64)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274539"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274539">Labour interlude (1964–70)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274540"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274540">The return of the Conservatives (1970–74)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274541"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945#ref274541">Labour back in power (1974–79)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274542"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90">The Margaret Thatcher government (1979–90)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342384"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342384">The Falkland Islands War, the 1983 election, and privatization</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342385"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342385">Racial discrimination and the 1981 England riots</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342386"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342386">The 2001 England riots</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342387"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342387">The “Troubles” in Northern Ireland</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342388"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342388">“Thatcherism”</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274543"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref274543">The government of John Major (1990–97)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342389"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342389">“Black Wednesday,” epidemic scandals, and Major’s “Citizens Charter”</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342390"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Margaret-Thatcher-government-1979-90#ref342390">“Mad cow disease”</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref342391"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007">The Tony Blair government (1997–2007)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342392"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342392">The struggle for control of Labour</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342393"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342393">New Labour, the repeal of Clause IV, and the “third way”</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342394"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342394">Navigating the European monetary system and the EU Social Chapter</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342395"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342395">The Good Friday Agreement</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342396"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342396">London’s local government, House of Lords reform, and devolution for Scotland and Wales</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342397"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342397">The royal family’s “annus horribilis,” the death of Princess Diana, and the Millennium Dome</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342398"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342398">The battle for the soul of the Conservative Party</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342399"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342399">Response to the September 11 attacks</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342400"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref342400">Weapons of mass destruction and the Iraq War</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref274544"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Tony-Blair-government-1997-2007#ref274544">The Gordon Brown government (2007–10)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref332804"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15">Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition rule (2010–15)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342401"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342401">The U.K. general election of 2010</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342402"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342402">First-past-the-post referendum</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342403"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342403">Intervention in Libya</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342404"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342404"><em>News of the World</em> hacking scandal</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342405"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342405">The 2011 riots, the European sovereign debt crisis, and Cameron’s veto of changes to the Lisbon Treaty</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342406"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342406">The 2012 London Olympics, Julian Assange’s embassy refuge, and the emergence of UKIP</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342407"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342407">The birth of George, rejection of intervention in Syria, and regulation of GCHQ</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342408"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342408">Euroskepticism</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342409"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342409">Scottish independence referendum</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342410"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342410">Economic recovery</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref332805"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref332805">David Cameron on his own (2015–16)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342411"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Conservative-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-rule-2010-15#ref342411">The U.K. general election of 2015</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342412"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum">The “Brexit” referendum</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref337649"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref337649">The premiership of Theresa May (2016–19)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342413"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342413">The resignation of Cameron, the rise of May, and a challenge to Corbyn’s leadership of Labour</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342414"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342414">Triggering Article 50</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342415"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342415">The Manchester arena bombing and London bridge attacks</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342416"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342416">The snap election campaign</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342417"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342417">The 2017 U.K. general election</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342418"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342418">The Grenfell Tower fire, a novichok attack in Salisbury, and air strikes on Syria</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342419"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342419">The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Chequers plan, and Boris Johnson’s resignation</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342420"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342420">EU agreement and Parliamentary opposition to May’s Brexit plan</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342421"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342421">Objections to the Irish backstop and a challenge to May’s leadership</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342422"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342422">Parliamentary rejection of May’s plan, May’s survival of a confidence vote, and the Independent Group of breakaway MPs</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342423"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342423">Parliament rejects May’s plan again</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref342486"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref342486">“Indicative votes,” May’s pledge to resign, a third defeat for her plan, and a new deadline</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref350369"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref350369">The Boris Johnson government</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref344342"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref344342">Boris Johnson’s ascent, the December 2019 snap election, and Brexit</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref347309"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref347309">The coronavirus pandemic</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref350370"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref350370">“Partygate”</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref351071"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref351071">Further scandal and Johnson’s resignation</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref351684"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref351684">The premiership of Liz Truss</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref352183"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref352183">Ascent to office</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref352184"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref352184">The death of Elizabeth II</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h6"><li data-target="#ref352772"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref352772">Abrupt resignation</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref352803"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/The-Brexit-referendum#ref352803">The premiership of Rishi Sunak</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref274545" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/place/United-Kingdom/Society-state-and-economy">Society, state, and economy</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li 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Ritzma Professor Emeritus of Humanities, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. Author of <i>Treason in Tudor England </i>and others.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> Lacey Baldwin Smith</span><span class="text-gray-700 mx-5">•</span><a class="see-all border-gray-700 gtm-byline" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/additional-info#contributors">All</a> </div> <div class="font-serif font-12 text-gray-700"> <span class="qa-fact-checked-by">Fact-checked by</span> <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 font-12" href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 text-black">Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link font-12 "> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <span class="text-gray-700"> Last Updated: <time datetime="2024-11-25T00:00:00CST" >Nov 25, 2024</time> •</span> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button js-sections-inline-button module-spacing"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 ai-ask-button btn border-2 module-spacing btn-sm js-inline-ai-ask-button btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 p-10 ml-5"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <div class="bg-gray-50 p-15 rounded module-spacing recent-news d-flex flex-column float-false"> <div> <h2 class="font-weight-bold font-14 m-0 d-inline"> News <span class="text-gray-600">•</span> </h2> <div class="recent-news-item first-recent-news-item d-inline"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/615557/0b4733c43d9628fd925d058799463b15" rel="nofollow">Germany's Merkel recalls Putin's 'power games' and contrasting US presidents in her memoirs</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 25, 2024, 6:02 PM ET (AP) <button class="btn btn-link d-inline p-0 font-12 js-toggle-recent-news"> <span class="text-gray-500">...</span><span>(Show more)</span> </button> </span> </div> </div> <div class="rest-of-recent-news-items"> <div class="recent-news-item mt-5"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/615557/f955134de835d1ff591c6be29325e656" rel="nofollow">Britain on alert after 2nd major storm of the season batters country, leaving at least 2 dead</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 25, 2024, 2:46 PM ET (AP) </span> </div> <div class="recent-news-item mt-5"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/615557/fd81bf5b67aa438d0da37aa9078d5bdb" rel="nofollow">Britain targets Russia's 'shadow fleet' with new sanctions package</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 25, 2024, 9:30 AM ET (AP) </span> </div> <div class="recent-news-item mt-5"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/615557/c734d3cf9cc04171a2ebc9f8a8509e83" rel="nofollow">Barbara Taylor Bradford, million-selling novelist known for 'A Woman of Substance,' has died at 91</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 25, 2024, 6:40 AM ET (AP) </span> </div> <div class="recent-news-item mt-5"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/615557/e7fd8790cd151ff3b73a5edcc5e00bf5" rel="nofollow">Russia captures UK national fighting alongside Ukraine in the Kursk region, report says</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 25, 2024, 4:20 AM ET (AP) </span> </div> <button class="js-toggle-recent-news d-flex btn btn-unstyled font-14 pr-10 rounded-sm mt-10" aria-label="Toggle additional news items"> Show less <em class="material-icons" data-icon="expand_less"></em> </button> </div> </div><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="2"><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="3" id="ref44812">  <span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Richard II’s reign was fraught with crises—economic, social, political, and <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="constitutional" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constitutional" data-type="MW">constitutional</a>. He was 10 years old when his grandfather died, and the first problem the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/nation-state" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">country</a> faced was having to deal with his <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/minority" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">minority</a>. A “continual council” was set up to “govern the king and his kingdom.” Although John of Gaunt was still the dominant figure in the royal family, neither he nor his brothers were included.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span> <section data-level="4" id="ref44813"> <h2 class="h4">The <span id="ref482853"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Peasants-Revolt" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Peasants’ Revolt</a> (1381)</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Financing the increasingly expensive and unsuccessful war with <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/France" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">France</a> was a major preoccupation. At the end of Edward III’s reign a new device, a <span id="ref482854"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/poll-tax" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">poll tax</a> of four pence a head, had been introduced. A similar but graduated tax followed in 1379, and in 1380 another set at one shilling a head was granted. It proved inequitable and impractical, and, when the government tried to speed up collection in the spring of 1381, a popular rebellion—the Peasants’ Revolt—ensued. Although the poll tax was the spark that set it off, there were also deeper causes related to changes in the economy and to political developments. The government, in particular, engendered hostility to the legal system by its policies of expanding the powers of the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="justices" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/justices" data-type="MW">justices</a> of the peace at the expense of local and manorial courts. In addition, popular poor preachers spread subversive ideas with slogans such as: “When Adam delved and Eve span / Who was then the gentleman?” The Peasants’ Revolt began in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Essex-county-England" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Essex</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Kent-county-England" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Kent</a>. Widespread outbreaks occurred through the southeast of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/England" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">England</a>, taking the form of assaults on tax collectors, attacks on landlords and their manor houses, destruction of documentary evidence of villein status, and attacks on lawyers. Attacks on religious houses, such as that at St. Albans, were particularly severe, perhaps because they had been among the most <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="conservative" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conservative" data-type="MW">conservative</a> of landlords in commuting labour services.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The men of Essex and Kent moved on <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/London" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">London</a> to attack the king’s councillors. Admitted to the city by sympathizers, they attacked John of Gaunt’s palace of the Savoy as well as the Fleet prison. On June 14 the young king made them various promises at Mile End; on the same day they broke into the Tower and killed <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Sudbury-Suffolk-England" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Sudbury</a>, the chancellor, Hales, the treasurer, and other officials. On the next day Richard met the rebels again at <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Smithfield-London" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Smithfield</a>, and their main leader, <span id="ref482855"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wat-Tyler" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Wat Tyler</a>, presented their demands. But during the negotiations Tyler was attacked and slain by the mayor of London. The young king rode forward and reassured the rebels, asking them to follow him to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Clerkenwell" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Clerkenwell</a>. This proved to be a turning point, and the rebels, their supplies exhausted, began to make their way home. Richard went back on the promises he had made, saying, “Villeins ye are and villeins ye shall remain.” In October Parliament confirmed the king’s revocation of charters but demanded amnesty save for a few special offenders.</p><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The events of the Peasants’ Revolt may have given Richard an exalted idea of his own powers and <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="prerogative" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prerogative" data-type="MW">prerogative</a> as a result of his success at Smithfield, but for the rebels the gains of the rising amounted to no more than the abolition of the poll taxes. Improvements in the social position of the peasantry did occur, but not so much as a consequence of the revolt as of changes in the economy that would have occurred anyhow.</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span> </section> <section data-level="4" id="ref44814"> <h2 class="h4"><span id="ref482856"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Wycliffe" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">John Wycliffe</a></h2> <span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Religious unrest was another subversive factor under Richard II. England had been virtually free from heresy until John Wycliffe, a priest and an <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Oxford-England" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Oxford</a> scholar, began his career as a religious reformer with two <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="treatises" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/treatises" data-type="MW">treatises</a> in 1375–76. He argued that the exercise of lordship depended on <span id="ref482857"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/grace-religion" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">grace</a> and that, therefore, a sinful man had no right to authority. Priests and even the pope himself, Wycliffe went on to argue, might not necessarily be in a state of grace and thus would lack authority. Such doctrines appealed to anticlerical <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="sentiments" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sentiments" data-type="MW">sentiments</a> and brought Wycliffe into direct conflict with the church <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="hierarchy" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hierarchy" data-type="MW">hierarchy</a>, although he received protection from John of Gaunt. The beginning of the <span id="ref482858"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Western-Schism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Great Schism</a> in 1378 gave Wycliffe fresh opportunities to attack the papacy, and in a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="treatise" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/treatise" data-type="MW">treatise</a> of 1379 on the <span id="ref482859"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eucharist" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Eucharist</a> he openly denied the doctrine of <span id="ref482860"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/transubstantiation" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">transubstantiation</a>. He was ordered before a church court at <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Lambeth" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Lambeth</a> in 1378. In 1380 his views were condemned by a commission of theologians at Oxford, and he was forced to leave the university. At Lutterworth he continued to write voluminously until his death in 1384. The movement he inspired was known as <span id="ref482861"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lollards" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Lollardy</a>. Two of his followers translated the Bible into English, and others went out to spread Wycliffe’s doctrines, which soon became debased and popularized. The movement continued to expand despite the death of its founder and the government’s attempts to destroy it.</p><div class="module-spacing"> </div><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span> </section> <section data-level="4" id="ref44815"> <h2 class="h4">Political struggles and Richard’s deposition</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD6 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Soon after putting down the Peasants’ Revolt, Richard began to build up a court party, partly in opposition to Gaunt. A crisis was <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="precipitated" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/precipitated" data-type="EB">precipitated</a> in 1386 when the king asked Parliament for a grant to meet the French threat. Parliament responded by demanding the dismissal of the king’s favourites, but Richard insisted that he would not dismiss so much as a scullion in his kitchen at the request of Parliament. In the end he was forced by the impeachment of the chancellor, Michael de la Pole, to agree to the appointment of a reforming commission. Richard withdrew from London and went on a “gyration” of the country. He called the judges before him at <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Shrewsbury-England" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Shrewsbury</a> and asked them to pronounce the actions of Parliament illegal. An engagement at Radcot Bridge, at which Richard’s favourite, Robert de Vere, 9th Earl of Oxford, was defeated, settled the matter of ascendancy. In the <span id="ref482862"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Merciless-Parliament" class="md-crosslink ">Merciless Parliament</a> of 1388 five lords accused the king’s friends of treason under an expansive definition of the crime.</p><span class="marker MOD6 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD7 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Richard was chastened, but he began to recover his authority as early as the autumn of 1388 at the Cambridge Parliament. Declaring himself to be of age in 1389, Richard announced that he was taking over the government. He pardoned the Lords Appellant and ruled with some moderation until 1394, when his queen, Anne of Bohemia, died. After putting down a rebellion in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Ireland" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Ireland</a>, he was, for a time, almost popular. He began to <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="implement" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/implement" data-type="MW">implement</a> his personal policy once more and rebuilt a royal party with the help of a group of young nobles. He made a 28-year truce with France and married the French king’s seven-year-old daughter. He built up a household of faithful servants, including the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="notorious" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/notorious" data-type="MW">notorious</a> Sir John Bushy, Sir William Bagot, and Sir <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Green" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Henry Green</a>. He enlisted household troops and built a wide network of “king’s knights” in the counties, distributing to them his personal badge, the White Hart.</p><span class="marker MOD7 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD8 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The first sign of renewed crisis emerged in January 1397, when complaints were put forward in Parliament and their author, <span id="ref482863"></span>Thomas Haxey, was adjudged a traitor. Richard’s rule, based on fear rather than consent, became increasingly tyrannical. Three of the Lords Appellant of 1388 were arrested in July and tried in Parliament. The Earl of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Arundel-England" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Arundel</a> was executed and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Warwick-district-England" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Warwick</a> <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="exiled" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/exiled" data-type="EB">exiled</a>. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Gloucester-England" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Gloucester</a>, whose death was reported to Parliament, had probably been murdered. The acts of the 1388 Parliament were repealed. Richard was granted the customs revenues for life, and the powers of Parliament were delegated to a committee after the assembly was dissolved. Richard also built up a power base in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Cheshire-county-England" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Cheshire</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD8 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD9 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Events leading to Richard’s downfall followed quickly. The Duke of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Norfolk-county-England" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Norfolk</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-IV-king-of-England" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Henry Bolingbroke</a>, John of Gaunt’s son, accused each other of treason and were banished, the former for life, the latter for 10 years. When Gaunt himself died early in 1399, Richard confiscated his estates instead of allowing his son to claim them. Richard, seemingly secure, went off to Ireland. Henry, however, landed at Ravenspur in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Yorkshire-former-county-England" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Yorkshire</a> to claim, as he said, his father’s estates and the hereditary <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="stewardship" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stewardship" data-type="MW">stewardship</a>. The Percys, the chief lords in the north, welcomed him. Popular support was widespread, and when Richard returned from Ireland his cause was lost.</p><span class="marker MOD9 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD10 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The precise course of events is hard to reconstruct, in view of subsequent alterations to the records. A Parliament was called in Richard’s name, but before it was fully assembled at the end of September, its members were presented with Richard’s <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="alleged" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/alleged" data-type="MW">alleged</a> abdication and Henry’s claim to the throne as <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="legitimate" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/legitimate" data-type="MW">legitimate</a> descendant of Henry III as well as by right of conquest. Thirty-three articles of <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="deposition" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deposition" data-type="MW">deposition</a> were set forth against Richard, and his abdication and deposition were duly accepted. Richard died at Pontefract Castle, either of self-starvation or by smothering. Thus ended the last attempt of a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="medieval" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/medieval" data-type="MW">medieval</a> king to exercise arbitrary power. Whether or not Richard had been motivated by new theories about the nature of monarchy, as some have claimed, he had failed in the practical measures necessary to sustain his power. He had tried to rule through fear and mistrust in his final years, but he had neither gained sufficient support among the magnates by means of patronage nor created a popular basis of support in the shires.</p><span class="marker MOD10 mod-inline"></span> </section> </section> <section data-level="3" id="ref44816"> <h2 class="h3">Economic crisis and cultural change</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD11 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Although the outbreak of the <span id="ref482864"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Black-Death" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Black Death</a> in 1348 dominated the economy of the 14th century, a number of <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="adversities" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/adversities" data-type="EB">adversities</a> had already occurred in the preceding decades. Severe rains in 1315 and 1316 caused famine, which led to the spread of disease. Animal <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="epidemics" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epidemics" data-type="MW">epidemics</a> in succeeding years added to the problems, as did an increasing shortage of currency in the 1330s. Economic expansion, which had been characteristic of the 13th century, had slowed to a halt. The Black Death, possibly a combination of bubonic and pneumonic plagues, carried off from one-third to one-half of the population. In some respects it took time for its effects to become <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="detrimental" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/detrimental" data-type="MW">detrimental</a> to the economy, but with subsequent outbreaks, as in 1361 and 1369, the population declined further, causing a severe labour shortage. By the 1370s wages had risen dramatically and prices of foodstuffs fallen. Hired labourers, being fewer, asked for higher wages and better food, and peasant tenants, also fewer, asked for better conditions of <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="tenure" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tenure" data-type="MW">tenure</a> when they took up land. Some landlords responded by trying to reassert labour services where they had been commuted. The Ordinance (1349) and Statute (1351) of Labourers tried to set maximum wages at the levels of the pre-Black Death years, but strict enforcement proved impossible. The <span id="ref482865"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Peasants-Revolt" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Peasants’ Revolt</a> of 1381 was one result of the social tension caused by the adjustments needed after the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="epidemic" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epidemic" data-type="MW">epidemic</a>. Great landlords saw their revenues fall as a result of the Black Death, although probably by only about 10 percent, whereas for the lower orders of society real wages rose sharply by the last quarter of the 14th century because of low grain prices and high wages.</p><span class="marker MOD11 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD12 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Edward III ruined the major Italian banking companies in England by failing to repay loans early in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Hundred-Years-War" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Hundred Years’ War</a>. This provided openings for English merchants, who were given monopolies of <span id="ref482866"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/wool" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">wool</a> exports by the crown in return for their support. The most notable was William de la Pole of Hull, whose family rose to noble status. Heavy taxation of wool exports was one reason for the growth of the cloth industry and cloth exports in the 14th century. The wine trade from Gascony was also important. In contrast to the 13th century, no new towns were founded, but London in particular continued to prosper despite the ravages of plague.</p><span class="marker MOD12 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD13 mod-inline"></span><div class="assemblies"><div class="w-100"><figure class="md-assembly m-0 mb-md-0 card card-borderless print-false" data-assembly-id="100169" data-asm-type="image"><div class="md-assembly-wrapper card-media " data-type="image"><a href="https://cdn.britannica.com/91/100091-050-EAB7BA65/oxen-illustration-Luttrell-Psalter.jpg" class="gtm-assembly-link position-relative d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center media-overlay-link card-media" data-href="/media/1/615557/100169"><picture><source media="(min-width: 680px)" srcset="https://cdn.britannica.com/91/100091-050-EAB7BA65/oxen-illustration-Luttrell-Psalter.jpg?w=300"><img src="https://cdn.britannica.com/91/100091-050-EAB7BA65/oxen-illustration-Luttrell-Psalter.jpg?w=300" alt="Luttrell Psalter" data-width="1600" data-height="483" loading="eager"></picture><button class="magnifying-glass btn btn-circle position-absolute shadow btn-white top-10 right-10" aria-label="Zoom in"><em class="material-icons link-blue" data-icon="zoom_in"></em></button></a></div><figcaption class="card-body"><div class="md-assembly-caption text-muted font-14 font-serif line-clamp"><span><a class="gtm-assembly-link md-assembly-title font-weight-bold d-inline font-sans-serif mr-5 media-overlay-link" href="https://cdn.britannica.com/91/100091-050-EAB7BA65/oxen-illustration-Luttrell-Psalter.jpg" data-href="/media/1/615557/100169">Luttrell Psalter</a><span>Plowing with oxen, illustration from the Luttrell Psalter, 14th century.</span><button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-white js-content" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"><span class="link-blue">(more)</span></button></span></div></figcaption></figure></div></div><p class="topic-paragraph">In cultural terms, a striking change in the 14th century was the increasing use of English. Although an attempt to make the use of English mandatory in the law courts failed because lawyers claimed that they could not plead accurately in the language, the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="vernacular" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vernacular" data-type="MW">vernacular</a> began to creep into public documents and records. Henry of Lancaster even used English when he claimed the throne in 1399. Chaucer wrote in both French and English, but his important poetry is in the latter. The early 14th century was an impressive age for <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/illuminated-manuscript" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">manuscript illumination</a> in England, with the so-called East Anglian school, of which the celebrated Luttrell Psalter represents a late example. In <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="ecclesiastical" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ecclesiastical" data-type="MW">ecclesiastical</a> architecture the development of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Perpendicular-style" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Perpendicular style</a>, largely in the second half of the 14th century, was particularly notable.</p><span class="marker MOD13 mod-inline"></span> </section> </section> <span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":28,"pagesTotal":66,"pageId":615557,"pageLength":2072,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"C","adLeg":"C","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"COUNTRY_PAGINATED","gisted":false,"pageNumber":28,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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United Kingdom - Richard II, Monarchy, Parliament | Britannica