England had a diverse geography in the medieval period, from the Fenlands of East Anglia or the heavily wooded Weald, through to the upland moors of Yorkshire. [161] The resulting society still prized wider French cultural values, however, and French remained the language of the court, business and international affairs, even if Parisians mocked the English for their poor pronunciation. [359] Less is known about the houses of peasants during this period, although many peasants appear to have lived in relatively substantial, timber-framed long-houses; the quality of these houses improved in the prosperous years following the Black Death, often being built by professional craftsmen. Despite this, medieval England broadly formed two zones, roughly divided by the rivers Exe and Tees: the south and east of England had lighter, richer soils, able to support both arable and pastoralagriculture, while the poorer soils and colder climate of the north and west produced a predominantly pastoral economy. As ties to Normandy waned, the French Cluniac order became fashionable and their houses were introduced in England. It looks like a giant peninsula. Spain and Portugal had about 35 by 1000 AD. The Temporality and Geography of the Middle Ages. Carpenter, pp. [81] The royal household included officials, thegns and a secretariat of clergy which travelled with the king, conducting the affairs of government as it went. [205] The early English church was racked with disagreement on doctrine, which was addressed by the Synod of Whitby in 664; some issues were resolved, but arguments between the archbishops of Canterbury and York as to which had primacy across Britain began shortly afterwards and continued throughout most of the medieval period. Life in the middle ages were dominated by the feudal system. [274] Windmills began to be built in the late 12th century and slowly became more common. The First 8 Plantagenet Kings of England in Order. [131] By the 1430s and 1440s the English government was in major financial difficulties, leading to the crisis of 1450 and a popular revolt under the leadership of Jack Cade. [22], In 1066, William, the Duke of Normandy, took advantage of the English succession crisis to invade. 106–107. [9], By the time that Richard II was deposed in 1399, the power of the major noble magnates had grown considerably; powerful rulers such as Henry IV would contain them, but during the minority of Henry VI they controlled the country. The process was largely complete by the early 10th century and enabled England's leading Churchmen to negotiate with the warlords. [8], In the 7th century, the Kingdom of Mercia rose to prominence under the leadership of King Penda. [186] As the Norse in mainland Scandinavia started to convert, many mainland rulers recruited missionaries from England to assist in the process. 134–136. [271] Prominent historical and science texts began to be translated into English for the first time in the second half of the 14th century, including the Polychronicon and The Travels of Sir John Mandeville. [108] Successive kings, though, still needed more resources to pay for military campaigns, conduct building programmes or to reward their followers, and this meant exercising their feudal rights to interfere in the land-holdings of nobles. 244–264. [53][nb 2] Isabella and Mortimer's regime lasted only a few years before falling to a coup, led by Isabella's son Edward III, in 1330. William the Conqueror and his successors took over the existing state system, repressing local revolts and controlling the population through a network of castles. England's environment continued to be shaped throughout the period, through the building of dykes to drain marshes, tree clearance and the large-scale extraction of peat. [150] Some women became full-time ale brewers, until they were pushed out of business by the male-dominated beer industry in the 15th century. Geography > History > > Set Work The Geography of Medieval Europe. 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