King John Signs the Magna Carta
Ruling is never easy, but it gets even harder when a group of people decide they no longer want to be ruled by you. Since the Norman invasion of 1066, the kings and queens of England have had to find off rebellions into the 20th Century. The reasons for these rebellions vary from slighted nobles to the quest for freedom. Here is a look at the rebellions that rocked Britain, not counting civil wars, of course.
King William I was crowned December 25, 1066 after defeating Harold of Wessex at the Battle of Hastings and marching on London. However, neither of these events ended the attempts of the Anglo-Saxon nobles to resist him. Two years later, Morcar, Earl of Northumbria, and Edwin, Earl of Mercia, revolted against William. Edgar the Ӕtheling rebelled a year later, and the march of William’s forces during this period became known as the “Harrying of the North” as royal forces burned and destroyed much of the lands they marched through. Other rebellions would occur sporadically until 1076 when Ralph de Gael, the Earl of Norfolk, and Roger de Breteuil, Earl of Hereford were defeated in their attempt to overthrow William.
By the 12th Century, the crown had conquered much of Wales. What remained by that point ended up as the focus of a power struggle that was won by Llywelyn Fawr, the Great. Concerned by Llywelyn’s rise to power, King John I marched on Wales while Llywelyn managed to united Welsh forces against the King. Eventually, the two came to a peace treaty by which England kept itself out of Welsh governance.
The next major rebellion took place in 1215. King John, widely unpopular due to conflict with the Pope, unsuccessful wars, and increased taxes on the nobility to pay for those wars, experienced another revolt with the First Barons’ War beginning in that year. Some hope of peace was achieved when the barons forced John to sign the Magna Carta, but after John showed little interest in making good on his promises, the war reignited and didn’t end until 1217 when John’s son, King Henry III, repelled invading French forces and agreed to abide by the Magna Carta’s terms.
Yet as one fire was put out, in the next century, more would arise. Henry’s son, King Edward I, seemed to refight his grandfather John’s wars—and won them. He defeated the Second Barons’ War started by Simon de Montfort before he was crowned king. He then conquered Wales, whose army was led by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the grandson of Llywelyn the Great. Following a succession crisis in Scotland, Edward agreed to arbitrate the contest between John Balliol and Robert de Brus only if the new Scottish King would recognise Edward as his feudal Lord.
Over the years since the succession was resolved and John Balliol became king, Edward continued to exert influence over Scotland until a revolt broke out, led by Andrew de Moray and William Wallace. John eventually abdicated, then was captured and permitted to live out in exile in France. In the meantime, Robert feigned allegiance to Edward while secretly plotting against him, and after a brief period of defeat, he returned to Scotland in 1307 and led Scottish forces to the country’s independence from England. The Second War for Scottish Independence was fought after Robert’s death, with King Edward III invading to revenge England’s loss and place Edward Balliol, son of John, on the Scottish throne as a loyal vassal. Eventually the two sides came to an agreement where Scotland paid an annuity to England in exchange for independence.
Another century on, and the Welsh revolted again in the Glyndwr Rising, also known as the Welsh Revolt or the Last War of Independence. King Richard II had already been forced to deal with the Peasants Revolt in 1381 that he was forced to suppress, and less than twenty years later, Owain Glyndwr took advantage of Richard’s fall and the ensuing fallout of the Wars of the Roses to make a bid for Welsh independence. Owain was pronounced Prince of Wales and began his war for independence against King Henry IV. Owain’s capture led to the end of the revolt and after Henry IV’s death, his son, King Henry V, adopted a softer approach to the largely-defeated Welsh. He offered pardons to the rebel leaders, including Owain’s son, to help garner his forces to attack France. Eventually, Wales would become incorporated into England by the Laws of Wales Acts.
The last attempt by Scotland to rebel against England came with the Jacobite Risings, which attempted to return King James II to the throne after the Glorious Revolution. Scotland wasn’t too keen on accepting William of Orange as their new king and the Jacobites that supported James waged war against William and Mary that was ultimately unsuccessful. They attempted again in 1715 as King George I came from Hanover as the new monarch, which resulted in defeat and the subjugation of Scotland through the Disarming Act and the Clan Act. Charles Edward Stuart tried one last time in 1745, but his defeat led him to flee Britain for France. The Jacobite movement ultimately died with him, as his brother Henry had joined the Catholic Church and had no interest in attempting to retake the throne.
The last revolt is the most recent. For centuries, Ireland had been under the rule of England until the early 20th Century, when a period of Irish nationalism ultimately led to the Easter Rising of 1916. British forces quickly subdued the uprising and executed its leaders, only further inflaming the desire for Irish republicanism. Two years later, Senn Féin won resounding victories in the Irish Parliament and declared Ireland an independent nation in 1919. The Irish Republican Army formed and waged a guerrilla war against the British that ended in 1921 with the Anglo-Irish Treaty that split the island into the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, that latter of which remained with the United Kingdom.
The Monmouth Rebellion, also known as The Revolt of the West or The West Country rebellion, was an attempt to overthrow James II, who had become King of England, Scotland and Ireland upon the death of his elder brother Charles II on 6 February 1685. James II was a Roman Catholic, and some Protestants under his rule opposed his kingship. James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, an illegitimate son of Charles II, claimed to be rightful heir to the throne and attempted to displace James II.
Following the failure of the Rye House Plot to assassinate Charles II and James in 1683, plans for several different actions to overthrow the monarch were discussed while Monmouth was in self-imposed exile in the Dutch Republic. Archibald Campbell, the Earl of Argyll, landed with a small force in Scotland. Because Monmouth had previously been popular in the South West of England he planned to recruit troops locally and take control of the area before marching on London.
The Duke of Monmouth landed at Lyme Regis on 11 June 1685 and for the following few weeks his growing army of nonconformist, artisans and farm workers fought a series of skirmishes with local militias and regular soldiers commanded by Louis de Duras, 2nd Earl of Feversham and John Churchill who later became the Duke of Marlborough. Monmouth’s forces were unable to compete with the regular army and failed to capture the key city of Bristol. The rebellion ended with the defeat of Monmouth’s army at the Battle of Sedgemoor on 6 July 1685 by forces led by Feversham and Churchill.
Monmouth was executed for treason on 15 July 1685. Many of his supporters were tried during the Bloody Assizes led by Judge Jeffreys and condemned to death or transportation. James II was then able to consolidate his power and reigned until 1688 when he was overthrown in a coup d’état by William of Orange in the Glorious Revolution.
(The Glorious Revolution was the last significant revolution in England.) (Copied from Wikipedia.)
Why do you use the term “England” when you mean Britain when referring to Ireland? By 1707 there was a political union between England and Scotland. All the empire building after that was a joint venture.
In name it was Britain but in act it was England
What is England? or English ? Most of what you believe are the ‘English’ are actually still descended from ancient ‘Britons’ and aren’t truelu ‘English’. The English were later Germanic tribes that invaded some time later. There is a massive myth put about that the the Celts are a seperate entitiy to the peoples now living in England, mostly put about by Irish or Welsh to distinuish themselves from the ’emglish’. Most ‘english’ are celtic descendants through DNA. Peoples, particularly in northern England and the South West, are best described as Britons. In the south there will be a bigger mix of invader races. Its true that a lot of
I appreciate your post and take on board what you are saying, however I was making the point that England is a defined area. The people who live there are in a political union with Scotland and have been since 1707. It is a really lazy way of looking at things always to call England the oppressor and the imperial power, when in fact the Scottish were full and enthusiastic participants in the British Empire. Sometimes I think the Scots conveniently forget this when talking about their own history.
Actually that has been proven untrue. Most English descend from Roman and Germanic peoples.