Shifting Borders

 

  If you were transported to England in your sleep, you’d quickly catch on that you were in England once you woke up and got out on the street (after putting on some clothes). Same thing for Italy or France or Spain. But borders keep shifting over the centuries, even as recently as the collapse of the Soviet Union thirty years ago. That's when East and West Germany merged and Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia split into several new countries. 

  The Roman Empire had eliminated many borders under its one umbrella, but when that collapsed, things became fluid, with Germans and Celts grabbing what they could. Much of Britain had been under Roman control, but when Rome pulled out, the Angles and the Saxons from across the channel took over. They had to contend with the Vikings and by the time the Anglo-Saxons got the Vikings settled down, the Normans, who were Vikings in French clothes invaded and took over. 

  The Norman leader became William I of England. But he also wanted to keep all his lands back in Normandy and spent most his reign on the continent fighting to keep his holdings intact. On his death his oldest son Robert took over Normandy and the next son became William II of England. The nobles who owned land both in England and Normandy were unhappy with this arrangement and rebelled against William expecting Robert to take over both England and Normandy, but Robert let the nobles down and William stayed in power. 

  William was an effective king but he could be a jerk, and when he was killed in a hunting accident no one complained and his younger brother was quickly crowned Henry I. Henry and his brother Robert over in Normandy fought a series of wars which Henry won. Henry had no son so he named his daughter Matilda as his successor. But Henry's nephew Stephen crowned himself as king, leading to another series of wars known as the Anarchy.

  The Anarchy lasted 15 years with Stephen's nobles fighting Matilda's nobles. Finally the church brokered a peace between Stephen and Matilda's son Henry. Stephen died a year later and Henry became Henry II. During all the years of fighting, Henry had picked up the eastern half of France. He may have understood English, but his language was French. English at the time was in the phase of its development none of us except for scholars would understand.

  England had been devastated by the Anarchy and everyone cooperated with Henry's mission to put the pieces back together. Henry appointed his friend Thomas Becket as Archbishop of Canterbury so he would have support in his dealings with the church. Thomas had been a worldly man, but once he put on the robes he got religion. For eight years Thomas and Henry argued mostly over who got to try priests who committed crimes, until one day Henry was heard to mutter, "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?"

 Four knights overheard the king and rode to Canterbury to make the king's wish come true. On this day in 1170, Thomas was killed in his cathedral. Thomas was viewed as a martyr and was soon canonized a saint. Some disgruntled nobles used the murder of Thomas as a pretext for Henry's son to depose his father. Henry did penance for the murder of Thomas and was able to defeat his son's army.

  Henry spent his final years fighting another rebel son Richard who was to becorme Richard I. Richard spent most of his time on Crusade, leaving his younger brother John in charge in England. This is the bad King John of the Robin Hood stories. John managed to lose all his lands in France and France's boundaries began to take on their present shape. John at least knew how to speak the English of his day.

King John reluctantly signs the Magna Carta at the behest of the nobles.