The Leading Facts of English History

The Leading Facts of English
History

The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Leading Facts of English History,
by D.H. Montgomery
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Title: The Leading Facts of English History
Author: D.H. Montgomery

Release Date: December 25, 2005 [eBook #17386]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
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LEADING FACTS OF ENGLISH HISTORY***
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The Leading Facts of History Series

The Leading Facts of English History
by D. H. Montgomery
"Nothing in the past is dead to the man who would learn how the
present came to be what it is." -- Stubbs, "Constitutional History of
England"
Revised Edition
Ginn and Company Boston - New York - Chicago - London
Copyright, 1887, 1889, 1898, 1901, 1912, by D.H. Montgomery
Entered at Stationers' Hall All Rights Reserved 313.8
The Athenaeum Press Ginn and Company - Proprietors - Boston -
U.S.A.
I dedicate this book to the memory of my friend J.J.M. who generously
gave time, labor and valuable suggestions toward the preparation of the
first edition for the press
Preface
Most of the materials for this book were gathered by the writer during
several years' residence in England.
The attempt is here made to present them in a manner that shall
illustrate the law of national growth, in the light thrown upon it by the
foremost English historians. The present edition has been carefully
revised throughout, and, to a considerable extent, rewritten.
The authorities for the different periods will be found in the Classified
List of Books in the Appendix; but the author desires to particularly
acknowledge his indebtedness to the works of Bright, Brewer, Gardiner,
Guest, Green, Lingard, Oman, and Traill; to the source books of Lee
and of Kendall; and to the constitutional histories of Stubbs, Hallam,
May, and Taswell-Langmead.

The author's hearty thanks are due to the late Professor W. F. Allen, of
The University of Wisconsin; Professor Philip Van Ness Myers, of
College Hill, Ohio; Professor George W. Knight, of Ohio State
University; and to a number of teachers and friends for many valuable
suggestions which they have kindly made.
David H. Montgomery
Contents
Leading Dates xviii Period I. Britain before Written History began II.
The Geography of England in Relation to its History III. Roman Britain;
A Civilization which did not civilize IV. The Coming of the Saxons[1];
the Coming of the Normans V. The Norman Sovereigns[1] VI. The
Angevins, or Plantagenets; Rise of the English Nation[1] VII. The
Self-Destruction of Feudalism VIII. Absolutism of the Crown; the
Reformation; the New Learning[1] IX. The Stuart Period; the Divine
Right of Kings versus the Divine Right of the People X. India gained;
America lost--Parliamentary Reform--Government by the People A
General Summary of English Constitutional History Constitutional
Documents Genealogical Descent of the English Sovereigns[2] A
Classified List of Books Special Reading References on Topics of
English History
[1] Each of these six Periods is followed by a General Reference
Summary of that period. See pp. 43, 71, 141, 174, 230, 316 [2] For
special Genealogical Tables see pp. 124, 140, 161, 172, 179, 207, 323
Suggestions to Teachers
The writer of this brief manual is convinced that no hard-and-fast rules
can be laid down for the use of a textbook in history. He believes that
every teacher will naturally pursue a system of his own, and that by so
doing he will get better results than if he attempt to follow a rigid
mechanical course which makes no allowance for individual judgment
and gives no scope to originality of method.
The author would simply suggest that where time is limited it might be

well to omit the General Reference Summaries (see, for instance, p. 43)
and to read the text as a continuous narrative. Then the important points
in each day's lesson might be talked over at the end of the recitation or
on the following day.
On the other hand, where time permits a thorough course of study, all
of the topics might be taken up and carefully examined, and the
General Reference Summaries may be consulted by way of review and
for additional information. The pupil can also be referred to one or
more books (see the Classified List of Books in the Appendix) on the
subjects under consideration.
Instead of the teacher's asking a prescribed set of routine questions, the
pupil may be encouraged to ask his on. Thus in undertaking the
examination of a given topic--say, the Battle of Hastings (SS69-75), the
issue of the Great Charter (SS195-202), or "The Industrial