Overview

In the mid-1290s one contemporary was moved to claim that Edward I (1239-1307) now held England, Scotland and Wales under his sway, and in so doing had ‘acquired the former monarchy of the whole of Britain’. Though later events would pour cold water on such dreams of an Arthurian-inspired English empire of Britain, the illusion is nevertheless instructive as a statement of the dominance which the king of England enjoyed in the British Isles by the end of the thirteenth century. Edward I’s reign brought the conquest of Wales, the occupation of Scotland, and a greater penetration of royal government in Ireland. This shift in the political make-up of the British Isles also overlapped with the expansion of royal government in England. These monumental changes were accompanied by a heightening of national awareness and a growing assertion of separate ethnic identities. In modern memory likewise the reputation of individuals such as William Wallace and Llywelyn Y Llyw Olaf (‘the Last Leader’) demonstrate the continuing significance of the period.

This module explores the following themes:

1. Power and Identities in Thirteenth-Century Britain
2. The English Crown and Political Community, c. 1225-1272
3. The Kingdom of Scotland in the Age of the Two Alexanders
4. Native Wales in the Age of the Two Llywelyns
5. The Aristocratic Nexus: Marcher and Trans-regional Lordships and Liberties
6. The King of England and the Prince of Wales, 1267-82
7. The Edwardian Conquest and Settlement of Wales, 1283-1307
8. Scotland: The Crisis of Kingship, 1286-95
9. Edward I’s Scottish Wars, 1296-1307
10. The First English Empire? The Making and Breaking of the Edwardian Empire

You will be given an opportunity to focus in-depth on these themes and on the underpinning primary sources in your seminars.

Assessment Strategy

Excellent students (A-, A, A+, A* [70s and above]) will show strong achievement across all the criteria combined with particularly impressive depths of knowledge and/or subtlety of analysis. In written work, they will support their arguments with a wealth of relevant detail/examples. They will also demonstrate an acute awareness of the relevant historiography and give an account of why the conclusions reached are important within a particular historical debate. They may show a particularly subtle approach to possible objections, nuancing their argument in the light of counter-examples, or producing an interesting synthesis of various contrasting positions. Overall, the standards of content, argument, analysis and standards of presentation will be high.

Good students (B-, B, B+ [60s]) will demonstrate a solid level of achievement and depth of knowledge in all the criteria in the C- to C+ range, and will in addition exhibit constructive engagement with different types of historical writing and historiographical interpretation. Ideas will be communicated effectively and written work will include a good range of sources/reading and demonstrate a clear understanding of the issues and of the existing interpretations expressed in a well-structured, relevant, and focused argument. Students at the top end of this band will engage with and critique the ideas that they come across, and synthesise the various interpretations they find to reach their own considered conclusions. Written work will be correctly presented with references and bibliography where appropriate.

Students in this band (C-, C, C+ [50s]) will demonstrate a solid and satisfactory range of achievement or depth of knowledge of most parts of the module, and will make successful, if occasionally inconsistent, attempts to develop those skills appropriate to the study of History at undergraduate level. In the case of the written assessments, the answers will attempt to focus on the question, although might drift into narrative, and will show some evidence of solid reading and research. The argument might lose direction and might not be adequately clear at the bottom of this category. Written work will be presented reasonably well with only limited errors in grammar, punctuation, and referencing, and not to the extent that they obscure meaning.

Threshold students (40%) will have done only a minimum of reading, and their work will often be based partly on lecture notes and/or basic textbooks. They will demonstrate in their written assessments some knowledge of at least parts of the relevant field, and will make at least partially-successful attempts to frame an argument which engages with historical controversies, but they will fail to discuss some large and vital aspects of a topic; and/or deploy only some relevant material but partly fail to combine it into a coherent whole; and/or deploy some evidence to support individual points but often fail to do so and/or show difficulty weighing evidence (thereby relying on unsuitable or irrelevant evidence when making a point). The work may lose focus and may have irrelevant or atypical evidence. Alternatively or additionally, the presentation of the work might also be poor, with bad grammar and/or punctuation, careless typos and spelling errors, and a lack of effective and correct referencing.

Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of some aspects of the topic.

• Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the political history of the British Isles during the Age of Edward I (1239-1307).

• Judge between competing historical interpretations of the period, including current historiographical positions.

• Present clear, evidence-based, and cogent historical arguments on aspects of the history of British Isles during the thirteenth century.