Editing Kingdom of England (927–1707)

{{Infobox country|name=Kingdom of England|image_flag=Flag of England.svg|image_coat=Medieval coat of arms of England.svg|capital=London|mode_of_production=[[Feudalism]] (10th–17th century)<br>[[Capitalism]] (17th–18th century)|government_type=Monarchy|life_span=927–1707|image_map=England and Wales.svg|map_width=260}}

The '''Kingdom of England''' was a medieval and early modern state located on the island of [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|Great Britain]] until it officially annexed the [[Kingdom of Scotland]] in 1707 to become the Kingdom of Great Britain. It limited the power of feudal barons by largely relying on mercenaries rather than knights, which gave it a military advantage against [[Kingdom of France (987–1792)|France]] and other countries.<ref name=":0222">{{Citation|author=Neil Faulkner|year=2013|title=A Marxist History of the World: From Neanderthals to Neoliberals|chapter=European Feudalism|page=86–88|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedljwr5izotdclz23o3c5p4di4t3ero3ncbfytip55slhiz4otuls?filename=Neil%20Faulkner%20-%20A%20Marxist%20History%20of%20the%20World_%20From%20Neanderthals%20to%20Neoliberals-Pluto%20Press%20%282013%29.pdf|publisher=Pluto Press|isbn=9781849648639|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=91CA6C708BFE15444FE27899217FBA8E}}</ref>

== History ==

=== Norman invasion ===
[[William the Conqueror]] invaded England in 1066 and invited [[Merchant|merchants]] into the country to commercialize its economy and improve trade.<ref>{{Web citation|date=2023-05-05|title=Origins of debt: Michael Hudson reveals how financial oligarchies in Greece & Rome shaped our world|url=https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/05/24/debt-michael-hudson-oligarchies-greece-rome/|newspaper=[[Geopolitical Economy Report]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528041512/https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2023/05/24/debt-michael-hudson-oligarchies-greece-rome/|archive-date=2023-05-28|author=[[Ben Norton]], [[Michael Hudson]]}}</ref> Using forced labour, the Normans built 500 castles within twenty years to put down rebellions.<ref>{{Citation|author=David Vine|year=2020|title=The United States of War|isbn=9780520972070|city=Oakland|publisher=University of California Press|lg=http://library.lol/main/191568BFAC73F009132DB00ECD0F0F05|page=74|chapter=Conquest}}</ref>

During the 12th century, [[Henry Plantagenet]] increased the power of royal courts while weakening local courts controlled by feudal barons. He established a single set of commercial laws to expand international trade.<ref name=":0">{{Web citation|newspaper=[[Proletarian (newspaper)|Proletarian]]|title=Celebrating Shakespeare: a Marxist-Leninist perspective|date=2016-06-01|url=https://thecommunists.org/2016/06/01/news/culture/celebrating-shakespeare-marxist-leninist-perspective/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208011255/https://thecommunists.org/2016/06/01/news/culture/celebrating-shakespeare-marxist-leninist-perspective/|archive-date=2023-02-08}}</ref>

The [[Black Death]] spread to Europe in 1348 and killed a third of the total population. [[Peasantry|Peasants]] led by [[Wat Tyler]] rebelled in 1381, made an alliance with sections of the urban population, and confronted the King.<ref name=":0222" />

=== Wars of the Roses ===
From 1445 to 1485, descendants of [[Edward III|Edward Plantagenet]], representing the houses of Lancaster and York, battled for the throne. At the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, [[Henry VII|Henry Tudor]] of Lancaster defeated and killed [[Richard III|Richard]] of York (King Richard III). Henry was then crowned King Henry VII starting the Tudor Dynasty, he then married Richard's niece [[Margaret Tudor|Margaret]] to unite the two dynasties.<ref name=":0" />

The Tudor dynasty centralized power while strengthening Parliament and decreasing the power of the feudal lords.<ref name=":0222" /> Henry also created treaties with France and [[Kingdom of the Netherlands|Holland]] to increase the wool trade and evade the Pope's monopoly.<ref name=":0" />

Henry Tudor was the first of several monarchs to implement laws against the early [[proletariat]], starting in the late 15th century.<ref name=":1">{{Citation|author=[[Karl Marx]]|year=1867|title=Capital, vol. 1|chapter=Bloody Legislation Against the Expropriated, from the End of the 15th Century. Forcing Down of Wages by Acts of Parliament|chapter-url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch28.htm|quote=|mia=https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/index.htm}}</ref>

=== Protestant Reformation ===
Under the influence of the early [[bourgeoisie]], [[Henry VIII]] broke away from the [[Catholic Church]] in the 1530s, establishing the [[Church of England]], a branch of [[Protestantism]] with the English monarch as its head. With their preferred religion now in place the early bourgeoise expanded in strength benefitting from a stronger base of support and the selling of monastery lands to the gentry.<ref name=":022222" /> In 1530, Henry passed a law that punished able-bodied vagabonds with whipping and imprisonment and executed them for the third offence.<ref name=":1" /> 

In 1547, the first year of his reign, [[Edward VI]] ordered that anyone who refused to work would become a [[Slavery|slave]] of the person who reported them. His successor, [[Mary Tudor|Mary I]], along with her husband [[Philip II|Philip II of Spain]], tried to restore Catholicism but failed, and Protestantism became the official religion of England. Queen [[Elizabeth Tudor|Elizabeth I]] ordered any unlicensed beggars above the age of 18 to be executed unless they will work for someone for two years.<ref name=":1" /> In 1588, Elizabeth defeated the [[Monarchy of Spain (1516–1700)|Spanish]] armada which was attacking the [[Netherlands]] during its [[bourgeois revolution]].<ref name=":022222">{{Citation|author=Neil Faulkner|year=2013|title=A Marxist History of the World: From Neanderthals to Neoliberals|chapter=The First Wave of Bourgeois Revolutions|page=100–115|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacedljwr5izotdclz23o3c5p4di4t3ero3ncbfytip55slhiz4otuls?filename=Neil%20Faulkner%20-%20A%20Marxist%20History%20of%20the%20World_%20From%20Neanderthals%20to%20Neoliberals-Pluto%20Press%20%282013%29.pdf|publisher=Pluto Press|isbn=9781849648639|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=91CA6C708BFE15444FE27899217FBA8E}}</ref>

Following the death of Elizabeth I in 1603 without an heir, the Tudor dynasty ended and the throne passed to her closest living relative, [[James Stuart]] (James VI of Scotland) making him King James I, uniting the crowns of Scotland and England. Although the two Kingdoms would be still officially independent from each other for another 100 years they were effectively united under the Stuart monarchy with Scotland being the junior partner.<ref name=":022222" />

=== Civil war ===
The English Revolution consisted of four groups: [[Absolutism|conservative royalists]] who wanted to undo the civil war, Presbyterians who wanted to create a compromise with the king and uphold big land ownership, independents like [[Oliver Cromwell|Cromwell]], and radical Levellers.

In 1629, King [[James Stuart]] dissolved the Parliament and aligned with Catholic powers.<ref name=":022222" /> He passed laws against beggars that remained in effect until the early 18th century.<ref name=":1" /> His successor, [[Charles Stuart|Charles I]], attempted to impose Anglican Protestantism on [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]], which caused a war from 1637 to 1639. Charles resurrected Parliament to try to get funds for the war, but they refused to support him. In 1641, a fight broke out in Westminster between monarchists and progressive protestors. The [[House of Commons]] then impeached and arrested twelve leading bishops.

In January 1642, Charles entered the House of Commons and attempted to organize a coup before fleeing to set up a rival capital at Oxford. Royalists still controlled one-third of the House of Commons and two-thirds of the [[House of Lords]]. In 1645, Parliament banned its members from holding military commands. Oliver Cromwell emerged as a leading revolutionary and defeated all monarchist resistance by 1646. Charles later escaped from captivity and resumed the civil war, forming an alliance with Presbyterians from Scotland and Wales. The Independents then captured and executed King Charles in 1649 but also crushed the Levellers.

Cromwell became a military dictator in 1653 and divided England into military districts ruled by generals. He died in 1658, and General [[George Monck]] of Scotland launched a coup in 1660 to restore the monarchy under James's son Charles.<ref name=":022222" /> The bourgeoisie made a truce with the aristocracy, and the Great Settlement of 1668 specified the power of the parliament and crown.<ref name=":02">{{Web citation|newspaper=[[Proletarian (newspaper)|Proletarian]]|title=Charles Dickens, champion of the poor|date=2012-06-01|url=https://thecommunists.org/2012/06/01/news/culture/charles-dickens-champion-of-the-poor/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230205233142/https://thecommunists.org/2012/06/01/news/culture/charles-dickens-champion-of-the-poor/|archive-date=2023-02-05}}</ref>

=== Glorious Revolution ===
[[James II of England|James the 2nd]] became King of England in 1685 and was Catholic and pro-French. He wanted to rule as an absolute monarch. [[James Scott]], the Duke of Monmouth and James's son, attempted to claim the throne but was defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor. The Parliament organized a coup against the King and installed [[William of Orange|William]] and [[Mary of Orange]] as the new rulers of England, Scotland, and [[Kingdom of Ireland|Ireland]]. The army mutinied in favor of William and forced James to flee to France. James's supporters attempted to overthrow the Protestant monarchy in 1689, 1715, and 1745 with French backing.<ref name=":022222" />

Following the Glorious Revolution, the new [[Dictatorship of the bourgeoisie|bourgeois government]] established the death penalty for more than 150 crimes, most of which were minor property crimes such as theft. Until 1803, attempted murder was only a misdemeanor, but stealing a single shilling was a capital crime. Many peasants lost their land as common land was enclosed.<ref>{{Citation|author=[[Domenico Losurdo]]|year=2011|title=Liberalism: A Counter-History|chapter=White Servants|page=77–78|publisher=Verso|isbn=9781844676934|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=5BB3406BC2E64972831A1C00D5D4BFE4|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacebhsj2yxuoudkhkjp6lzgr5jvgyhu76zxe4gw3d65gpg32a6nded4?filename=Domenico%20Losurdo%2C%20Gregory%20Elliott%20-%20Liberalism_%20A%20Counter-History-Verso%20%282011%29.pdf}}</ref>

== References ==
[[Category:Medieval history]]
[[Category:History of England]]
@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 == History ==
-=== Anglo-Saxon period ===
-Following the departure of the [[Roman Empire (27 BCE–395 CE)|Romans]] from Britain in the 5th century, North German tribes, commonly known as the Anglo-Saxons, began conquering the island. By the end of the 6th century, a number of early [[Feudalism|feudal]] kingdoms had been created with the native [[Celtic]] peoples having been exterminated, enslaved, or driven out of England into [[Scotland]], [[Wales]], [[Cornwall]] and [[Brittany]]. Kingdoms such as [[Wessex]], [[Mercia]] and [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]] fought with each other for dominance over England with them slowly uniting over time, but the structure of England was also affected by the arrival of the Norsemen in the 8th century, who seized the northeast for their own as [[Danelaw]].<ref name=":2">{{Citation|author=Levitskii|year=1979|title=The Great Soviet Encyclopedia|title-url=https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Great+Britain|chapter=Great Britain|section=Anglo-Saxon period}}</ref>
-Early England was dominated by Earls who became large landowners with the [[aristocracy]] sharing power with the [[Christianity|Christian]] church and the [[Monarchism|monarchy]]. Feudalism became entrenched and due to fear of the Norse invaders the peasantry slowly became dependent on the landowners become serfs.<ref name=":2" /> The slowly uniting kingdoms would finally become fully united under [[Æthelstan]], King of Wessex, who at Eamont Bridge on 12 July 927 accepted the fealty of several minor Kings and became King of the English. Although now a single entity, the Kingdom was very decentralized and would fragment several more times and suffer foreign invasions before becoming stable.<ref>{{Citation|author=Frank Stenton|year=1971|title=The Oxford history of England|title-url=https://annas-archive.org/md5/fa1faec9d056ca70d4e3bcf22012af51|chapter=Anglo-Saxon England}}</ref>
 === Norman invasion ===
@@ Line 41: / Line 36: @@
 === Glorious Revolution ===
-[[James II of England|James II]] became King of England in 1685 and was Catholic and pro-French. He wanted to rule as an absolute monarch. [[James Scott]], the Duke of Monmouth and James's son, attempted to claim the throne but was defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor. The Parliament organized a coup against the King and installed [[William of Orange|William]] and [[Mary of Orange]] as the new rulers of England, Scotland, and [[Kingdom of Ireland|Ireland]]. The army mutinied in favor of William and forced James to flee to France. James's supporters attempted to overthrow the Protestant monarchy in 1689, 1715, and 1745 with French backing.<ref name=":022222" />
+[[James II of England|James the 2nd]] became King of England in 1685 and was Catholic and pro-French. He wanted to rule as an absolute monarch. [[James Scott]], the Duke of Monmouth and James's son, attempted to claim the throne but was defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor. The Parliament organized a coup against the King and installed [[William of Orange|William]] and [[Mary of Orange]] as the new rulers of England, Scotland, and [[Kingdom of Ireland|Ireland]]. The army mutinied in favor of William and forced James to flee to France. James's supporters attempted to overthrow the Protestant monarchy in 1689, 1715, and 1745 with French backing.<ref name=":022222" />
 Following the Glorious Revolution, the new [[Dictatorship of the bourgeoisie|bourgeois government]] established the death penalty for more than 150 crimes, most of which were minor property crimes such as theft. Until 1803, attempted murder was only a misdemeanor, but stealing a single shilling was a capital crime. Many peasants lost their land as common land was enclosed.<ref>{{Citation|author=[[Domenico Losurdo]]|year=2011|title=Liberalism: A Counter-History|chapter=White Servants|page=77–78|publisher=Verso|isbn=9781844676934|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=5BB3406BC2E64972831A1C00D5D4BFE4|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzacebhsj2yxuoudkhkjp6lzgr5jvgyhu76zxe4gw3d65gpg32a6nded4?filename=Domenico%20Losurdo%2C%20Gregory%20Elliott%20-%20Liberalism_%20A%20Counter-History-Verso%20%282011%29.pdf}}</ref>