" Stuart"

House of Stuart:

The House of Stuart is a European royal house. Founded by Robert II, the House of Stuart—also spelled Stewart in Scottish contexts—first became monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland during the late 14th century before inheriting ( ereditato) the kingdoms of England (including Wales) and Kingdom of Ireland in the 17th century. The dynasty's patrilineal Breton ancestors had held the office of High Steward of Scotland since the 12th century, after arriving by way of Norman England. In 1707, Queen Anne became the first monarch of the newly merged Kingdom of Great Britain. The family also maintained the traditional English claims to the Kingdom of France.




In total, nine Stuart monarchs ruled Scotland from 1371 until 1603. James VI then inherited the realms of ElizabethTudor, becoming James I of England and of Ireland in the Union of the Crowns. In all, four Stuart kings ruled the British Isles, with an interregnum of Parliamentary rule lasting from 1649 to 1660 as a result of the English Civil War. Following the Glorious Revolution in 1688, two Stuart queens ruled the isles: Mary II and Anne. Both were the daughters of James II.




During the reign of the Stuarts, Scotland developed from a relatively poor and feudal country into a prosperous, modern and centralised state. They ruled during a time in European history of transition from the Middle Ages, through the Renaissance, to the midpoint of the Early modern period. Monarchs such as James IV were known for sponsoring exponents of the Northern Renaissance such as the poet Robert Henryson, and others. After the Stuarts gained control of all of Great Britain, the arts and sciences continued to develop; many of William Shakespeare's best known plays were authored during the Jacobean era, while institutions such as the Royal Society and Royal Mail were established during the reign of Charles II.

Origin:

The name "Stewart" derives from the political position  of office similar to a governor, known as a steward. It was originally adopted as the family surname by Walter Stewart, 3rd High Steward of Scotland, who was the third member of the family to hold the position. Prior to this, family names were not used, but instead they had patronyms defined through the father. During the 16th century, the French spelling Stuart was adopted by Mary, Queen of Scots, when she was living in France. She sanctioned the change to ensure the correct pronunciation of the Scots version of the name Stewart, because retaining the letter 'w' would have made it difficult for French speakers, who followed the Germans in usually rendering "w" as /v/. The spelling Stuart was also used by her second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley; he was the father of James VI and I, so the official spelling Stuart for the British royal family derives from him.


The ancestral origins of the Stuart family are quite obscure—what is known for certain is that they can trace their ancestry back to Alan FitzFlaad, a Breton who came over to Great Britain not long after the Norman conquest. Alan had been the hereditary steward of the Bishop of Dol in the Duchy of Brittany; Alan had a good relationship with the ruling Norman monarch Henry I of England who awarded him with lands in Shropshire.The FitzAlan family quickly established themselves as a prominent Anglo-Norman noble house, with some of its members serving as High Sheriff of Shropshire. It was the great-grandson of Alan named Walter FitzAlanwho became the first hereditary High Steward of Scotland, while his brother William's family would go on to become Earls of Arundel.

When the civil war in the Kingdom of England, known as The Anarchy, broke out between legitimist claimant Matilda, Lady of the English and her cousin who had usurped her, King Stephen, Walter had sided with Matilda.Another supporter of Matilda was her uncle David I of Scotland from the House of Dunkeld.After Matilda was pushed out of England into the County of Anjou, essentially failing in her legitimist attempt for the throne, many of her supporters in England fled also. It was then that Walter followed David up to the Kingdom of Scotland, where he was granted lands in Renfrewshire and the title for life of Lord High Steward. The next monarch of Scotland, Malcolm IV made the High Steward title a hereditary arrangement. While High Stewards, the family were based at Dundonald, Ayrshire between the 12th and 13th centuries.

The Story:

The sixth High Steward of Scotland, Walter Stewart (1293–1326), married  Marjorie, daughter of Robert the Bruce, and also played an important part in the Battle of Bannockburn gaining further favour. Their son Robert was heir to the House of Bruce, the Lordship of Cunningham and the Bruce lands of Bourtreehill; he eventually inherited the Scottish throne when his uncle David II died childless in 1371.


In 1503, James IV attempted to secure peace with England by marrying King Henry VII's daughter, Margaret Tudor. The birth of their son, later James V, brought the House of Stewart into the line of descent of the House of Tudor, and the English throne. Margaret Tudor later married Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, and their daughter, Margaret Douglas, was the mother of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. In 1565, Darnley married his half-cousin Mary, Queen of Scots, the daughter of James V. Darnley's father was Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox, a member of the Stewart of Darnley branch of the House. Lennox was a descendant of Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland, also descended from James II, being Mary's heir presumptive. Thus Darnley was also related to Mary on his father's side and because of this connection, Mary's heirs remained part of the House of Stuart. Following John Stewart of Darnley's ennoblement for his part at the Battle of Baugé in 1421 and the grant of lands to him at Aubigny andConcressault, the Darnley Stewarts' surname was gallicised to Stuart.



Both Mary, Queen of Scots, and Lord Darnley had strong claims on the English throne, through their mutual grandmother, Margaret Tudor. This eventually led to the accession of the couple's only child James as King of Scotland, England, and Ireland in 1603. However, this was a Personal Union, as the three Kingdoms shared a monarch, but had separate governments, churches, and institutions. Indeed the personal union did not prevent an armed conflict, known as the Bishops' Wars, breaking out between England and Scotland in 1639. This was to become part of the cycle of political and military conflict that marked the reign of Charles I of England, Scotland & Ireland, culminating in a series of conflicts known as the War of the Three Kingdoms. The trial and execution of Charles I by the English Parliament in 1649 began 11 years of republican government known as the English Interregnum. Scotland initially recognised the late King's son, also called Charles, as their monarch, before being subjugated and forced to enter Cromwell's Commonwealth by General Monck's occupying army. During this period, the principal members of the House of Stuart lived in exile in mainland Europe. The younger Charles returned to Britain to assume his three thrones in 1660 as "Charles II of England, Scotland & Ireland", but would date his reign from his father's death eleven years before.




In feudal and dynastic terms, the Scottish reliance on French support was revived during the reign of Charles II, whose own mother was French. His sister Henriettamarried into the French Royal family. Charles II left no legitimate children, but his numerous illegitimate descendants included the Dukes of Buccleuch, the Dukes of Grafton, the Dukes of Saint Albans and the Dukes of Richmond.

Monarchs of Scotland

Portrait	Name	From	Until	Relationship with predecessor
	Robert II of Scotland	22 February 1371	19 April 1390	nephew of David II of Scotland who died without issue. Robert's mother Marjorie Bruce was daughter of Robert I of Scotland.
	Robert III of Scotland	19 April 1390	4 April 1406	son of Robert II of Scotland.
	James I of Scotland	4 April 1406	21 February 1437	son of Robert III of Scotland.
	James II of Scotland	21 February 1437	3 August 1460	son of James I of Scotland.
	James III of Scotland	3 August 1460	11 June 1488	son of James II of Scotland.
	James IV of Scotland	11 June 1488	9 September 1513	son of James III of Scotland.
	James V of Scotland	9 September 1513	14 December 1542	son of James IV of Scotland.
	Mary I of Scotland	14 December 1542	24 July 1567	daughter of James V of Scotland.

Portrait	Name	From	Until	Relationship with predecessor
	James VI of Scotland and James I of England	24 July 1567 and 24 March 1603	27 March 1625	son of Mary, Queen of Scots and Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. King of Scotland alone, 1567–1603, until inheriting the titles King of England and Ireland, including claim to France from the extinct Tudors.
	Charles I of England, Scotland & Ireland	27 March 1625	30 January 1649 (executed)	son of James VI of Scotland & I of England & Ireland.
	Charles II of England, Scotland & Ireland	30 January 1649 (de jure); 2 May 1660 (de facto)	6 February 1685	son of Charles I of England, Scotland & Ireland. Prohibited by Parliament from assuming the throne during a republican period of government known as theCommonwealth of England, but then accepted retroactively as king.
	James VII of Scotland and James II of England and Ireland	6 February 1685	13 February 1689	brother of Charles II of England, Scotland & Ireland, who died with without legitimate issue. Son of Charles I. Overthrown at theRevolution of 1688.
	Mary II of England, Scotland and Ireland	13 February 1689	28 December 1694	daughter of James II of England and Ireland & VII of Scotland, who was still alive and pretending to the throne. Co-monarch wasWilliam III & II who outlived his wife.
	Anne of Great Britain and Ireland	8 March 1702	1 August 1714	sister of Mary II. daughter of James II of England and Ireland & VII of Scotland. Name of state changed to Great Britain with the political Acts of Union 1707, though family has used title since James I & VI. Died issueless, rights pass to House of Hanover.

The Puritans

The Puritans:

The ideology of Puritanism is not a simple one. There were many different ways of being a Puritan and they changed often during the 100 years of their existence in England. These differences were exported to New England with the early settlers,where discussions and argument over the use of authority took place.Roger Williams was expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony because he thought the government still had too much control.He went on to found Providence, Rhode Island, a haven for religious freedom. There is a certain irony in the fact that while England the basic tenets of Puritanism eventually lost out to the Church of England, in America their impact has remained strong.

The concepts of freedom, religion, expression and congregaionalism, as well as salvation and the related Calvinist movement, took hold in the New World. Whereas the Church of England has never taken a strong foothold ( punto d'appoggio) in America, the Puritan heritage ( patrimonio) is part of their everyday life. Many of the American thoughts and belief today are an indirect result of the Puritan beliefs of the " Pilgrims".

" The Civil War"

The Civil War:

During the 17th century, Britain went throught a republican experiment that was to be reversed in 1660.

A- Who became king when James I died?

- Charles I (1600-1649) secceeded his father, James I, in 1625.

B- What did Charles I have to face (affrontare) when he bacame king?

-He could not avoid (evitare) direct confrontation with the Purtitan party ( partito), which had given rise ( dato luogo) to a social and political movement holding a considerable majority in Parliament, and whose members mainly belonged to the middle classes.

C- Who were the Puritans?

- Puritan was the name given to the more extreme Protestants within the Church of England who thought the English Reformation had not done enought to reform the doctrines and structure of the Church by eliminating every trace of Catholic influence. The Puritans eventually went on to attempt purification  of the self and society as well.(tentativo di purificazione di se stessi e della società).

D- Why did the Civil War break out?

-Puritans wanted a true balance of power between the king and Parliament, but Charles I firmly believed he was king by divine right (re per diritto divino). His reign was therefore troubled (perciò turbato) by a continuous clash with Parliament. In 1642 the king was asked to give up ( abbandonare) his command of the armed forces: he refused and the Civil War broke out.

E- What factions were involved in the war?

- The forces were divided into Royalists, who sided with the king, and supporters of Parliament, called Parliamentarians, led by Oliver Cromwell ( 1599-1658). The former let their hair grow long and were also known as " Cavaliers". They included the lords, the gentry ( piccola nobiltà) and officials of the Church of England. The latter were called " Roundheads" (teste rotonde) because they cosidered long hair sinful ( peccaminoso) and cut theirs short. London, the ports, the navy, the nwe gentry and small landowners, artisans and Puritans sided with Parliament.

F- How did the war end?

-The king was taken prisoner in 1647.

Cromwell took control of London and expelled or arrested more than 100 members of the house of lords. The remaining members voted for the execution of the king on 30th January 1649. After Charles I's execution, the monarchy was abolished and the country was ruled as a republic, known as " the Commonwealth" ( La Republica).

Insights:

(The British and the monarchy today)

In 21th century Britain there is a lively debate about whether it is in the country's interest to retain the monarchy. ( per interesse del paese= mantenere la monarchia). The monarchy's popularity has been declining in recent decades, and some of the younger generation have little regard for the royal family, raising questions over  how long it can exist in a rapidly changing world.( sta decadendo, le nuove generazioni hanno poco rispetto e si pongono domande su quanto possa resistere).

However, support for the monarchy is still very strong. In fact nearly 80% of those questioned in a telephone poll for the BBC said Britain should retain its monarchy. A separete poll (sondaggio)also suggested that most young people would keep the monarchy, despite more than in a referendum almost 70% of 18 to 24 years olds would vote to keep the royal family and only 16% would vote for a republic. The survey of 1004 people, commissioned by the BBC's Discovery Channel, found that over 80% thought that Prince William's wife, Catherine, has been a positive addition to the royal family.

"King by divine right"

King by divine right:

With the death of Elizabeth I in 1603, tu Tudor line died out and James VI ( 1566-1625) of Scotland became the first Stuart king in England, with the title of James I.

• He was a protestant
• He believed that ,as a monarch, he was the representative of God on earth.
• He summoned Parliament only to ask for money, but its members refused to levy any taxes unless the money was needed for war.
• He was interested in witchcraft and the supernatural
• He belief in black magic.

As in the early days of Elizabeth I, Catholics were barred from public life and were fined if they refused to attend the Church of England.

Extreme Protestants, called Puritans, disapproved of both the rites and the bishops of the Church of England.

• They had a high sense of duty and morality
• They did not want to live in a country which they believed was going to fall into moral decline.
• The Pilgrim Fathers in 1620 left England for America on the Mayflower and founded New Plymouth.

King James authorised a new translation of the Bible in 1604. Fifty scholars, influenced by Humanists using the original Hebrew and Greek and worked on the translation for seven years. This new version would be heard and read by laymen.

The Protestant religion encouraged personal knowledge of the Bible and this version would be used by the Church of England for more than 3 hundred years, greatly influencing the spread of literacy and writing.

In 1605, some radical Catholics plotted to blow up( far saltare) the king in the Houses of Parliament. The failure of the " Gunpowder Plot"is still commemorated in England on 5th November.

The English Language

The development of the English

Language:

English is an Indo-European language.The Indo-European languages, spoken today on very continent and by fully half the world's population. All descend from one common ancestor known as Proto-Indo-European. 

The oldest written remnants of any Indo-European language are in Hittite and date from the 17 (th) century B.C.. Indo-European languages are Italian, Greek, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Albanian, Armenian. German, and many others. English belongs to the Germanic branch of Indo-European, together with German, Dutch and the Scandinavian languages. English is the result of the linguistic contributions made during a number of invasions and mass migrations over the centuries.

English was preceded by Celtic and then, to some extent, by Latin and finally by the dialects and languages of Germanic tribes from across the North Sea.

Within the development of the language it is possible to distinguish three main periods:

• Old English ( 449-1100)
• Middle English ( 1100-1500)
• Modern English - Early Modern English ( 1500-1700) and Modern English ( since 1700)

1. Old English or Anglo-Saxon ( 449-1100)

Old English derived from the gradual fusion of the languages spoken by the Saxons, the Angles and the Jutes, three Germanic tribes that invaded Britain in the 5( th) century.

Old English had:

• Inflection
• cases for nouns and adjectives
• the -an- ending for infinitives
• a spelling and pronunciation so different
• a particular type of alphabet which consisted of a series of mysterious characters called "runes". ( Christianity condemned as a pagan symbols and replaced by the Latin alphabet).

1. Middle English:

At first there was great linguistic confusion, however, gradual changes took place.

When Middle English finally emerged as a literary language, it was quite different from the Anglo-Saxon of the previous period.

Middle English had:

• Mercian replaced West Saxon.
• words were accented in a different way, the stress tending to shift to the first syllabe, while the final vowels were all changed into the vowel /e /
• inflections were strongly reduced
• adjectives were no longer inflected, except for final -e, which remained to mark the plural.
• the plural of nouns and the genitive singular were marked by the -es ending
• the definite article - the
• infinitives - an- began -to
• introduction of French words in food ,religion,law contexts

The new form of English were spoken by all classes

1. Modern English:

• Early Modern English:

Marked by changes in the pronunciation of a vowel sounds. The final -e became silent as we can see in Shakespeare. The spelling became more uniform and the were the introduction of new words from Greek and Latin, as well as from Italian and French.

• Modern English ( since 1700)

The language became subject to greater control and organization. Dictionaries began to appear, as well as grammar books based on Latin syntax. Following the growth of the British Empire and trading exchanges with distant colonies, the vocabulary of English became a cosmopolitan language.The progress in science and technology also contributed.

Modern English  had:

• The relative simplicity of grammatical structure, without extensive inflections
• the wealth of synonyms
• The flexibility of verbs which, combined with a variety of prepositions and particles, can convey different meanings

Canterbury Tales: Character List

Character List:

(Canterbury Tales)

The Pilgrims:

• The Host (Harry Bailey).
• The Knight.
• The Miller.
• The Reeve.
• The man of Law or Sergeant of Law.
• The Cook (Roger).
• The Wife of Bath (Alisoun).
• The Friar ( Hubert).
• The Summoner.
• The Clerk.
• The Merchant.
• The Squire.
• The Franklin.
• The Shipman.
• The Prioress (Madame Eglantine).
• The Physician.
• The Pardoner.
• The Monk.
• The Nun's Priest.
• The Second  Nun.
• The Cannon and the Cannon's Yeoman.
• The Manciple.
• The Parson.

Canterbury Tales: The Knight's Tale

The Knight's Tale:

The Knight rides at the front of the procession described in the General Prologue,and his story is the first in the sequence. 

The Host admires the Knight,as the narrator. Chaucer seems to remember:

Four main qualities of the Knight:

• The first is the Knight's love of ideals: Like prowees,fidelity,reputation or generosity.
• The second is the Knight's impressive military career: He has fought in the Crusades, wars in which Europeans traveled by sea to non-Christian lands and attempted to convert whole cultures by the force of their swords. The Knight has battled the Muslims in Egypt and the Russian Orthodox in Russia. He also fought in formal duels.
• The third quality is his meek,gentle, manner.
• The fourth is his "array" or dress: The Knight wears a tunic made of coarse cloth, and his coat of mail is rust-stained, because he has recently returned from an expedition.

In the Prologue he calls out to hear something more lighthearted,saying that it deeply upsets him to hear stories about tragic falls. He wold rather hear about " joye", about men who start off in poverty climbing in fortune and attaining wealth.

The Host agrees with him, which is not surprising, since the Host has mentioned that whoever tells the tale of " best sentence and moost solaas" will win the storytelling contest. And, at the end of the Pardoner's Tale, the Knight breaks in to stop the squabbling between the Host and the Pardoner,ordering them to kiss and make up. Ironically, though a soldier, the romantic,idealistic Knight clearly has an aversion to conflict or unhappiness of any sort.