The Middle Ages

The medieval section holds some of the best-known facts in the book: Magna Carta, the Black Death and the year the Wars of the Roses ended. The conflicts blur together easily, so it's worth fixing the dates before anything else.

From chapter 3 of the handbook: A long and illustrious history

Ways to remember it

Bannockburn (1314) and Agincourt (1415) are about a century apart. Scotland beat England at the first, England beat France at the second.

The Hundred Years War lasted 116 years. The name is a round number, the war wasn't.

What you need to know

Magna Carta was signed by King John in 1215 and limited the power of the monarch by law.
Magna Carta means 'the Great Charter' in Latin.
The Hundred Years War between England and France lasted 116 years, despite its name.
At the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 Henry V's much smaller army defeated the French.
The Black Death reached Britain in 1348 and killed around a third of the population of England.
The Black Death caused such a shortage of labour that surviving peasants could demand better pay, weakening the feudal system.
The Wars of the Roses were fought between the House of Lancaster and the House of York.
The Lancastrian emblem was a red rose and the Yorkist emblem a white rose.
The Wars of the Roses ended at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485.
Henry Tudor won at Bosworth, became Henry VII, and founded the House of Tudor.
The Tudor rose, red with a white centre, combined the two emblems after Henry VII married Elizabeth of York.
In 1284 Wales was annexed to England by the Statute of Rhuddlan.
Robert the Bruce defeated the English at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, and Scotland remained independent.
The first parliaments of this period were summoned by the king to help him govern, and were made up of nobles, bishops and later representatives of the towns.
Geoffrey Chaucer wrote the Canterbury Tales, a collection of poems about pilgrims travelling to Canterbury.

Our summary, in our own words. The test can ask about anything in the chapter, so read the official handbook too.

Practice questions on the Middle Ages

All 15 of our questions on this topic. Say your answer before you open it: trying to answer first helps you remember it.

In which year was Magna Carta signed?
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- 1215
King John signed Magna Carta in 1215, limiting the monarch's power by law.
What does 'Magna Carta' mean?
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- The Great Charter
Magna Carta is Latin for 'the Great Charter'.
Which king was forced to sign Magna Carta?
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- King John
King John signed it after his nobles rebelled against his demands for money and his treatment of them.
How long did the Hundred Years War between England and France actually last?
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- 116 years
Despite its name, the war lasted 116 years, from 1337 to 1453.
At which battle did Henry V's much smaller army defeat the French in 1415?
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- Agincourt
Henry V won at Agincourt in 1415 against a considerably larger French force.
In which year did the Black Death reach Britain?
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- 1348
The Black Death arrived in 1348 and killed around a third of the population of England.
What was one lasting effect of the Black Death?
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- A labour shortage that let surviving peasants demand better pay
So many people died that labour became scarce, which weakened the feudal system and improved the position of those who survived.
The Wars of the Roses were fought between which two houses?
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- Lancaster and York
The House of Lancaster and the House of York fought for the throne.
Which emblem belonged to the House of Lancaster?
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- A red rose
Lancaster used a red rose and York a white one. The Tudor rose afterwards combined the two.
At which battle did the Wars of the Roses end in 1485?
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- Bosworth Field
Henry Tudor won at Bosworth Field in 1485, became Henry VII, and founded the House of Tudor.
What does the Tudor rose, red with a white centre, represent?
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- The union of the houses of Lancaster and York
Henry VII married Elizabeth of York, and the combined rose symbolised the end of the conflict between the two houses.
Who defeated the English at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314?
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- Robert the Bruce
Robert the Bruce's victory at Bannockburn meant Scotland remained independent.
Who wrote the Canterbury Tales?
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- Geoffrey Chaucer
Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is a collection of poems about pilgrims travelling to Canterbury.
Who made up the earliest parliaments of the medieval period?
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- Nobles, bishops and later representatives of the towns
The king summoned nobles and bishops to help him govern, and representatives of the towns were added later.
After Bannockburn, Scotland remained an independent country.
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- True
Scotland stayed independent until the Act of Union joined the two kingdoms in 1707.

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Chapter 3 practice test: The Middle Ages · 15 questions · 28 minutes if you take it timed

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