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English nationalism is a nationalism that asserts that the
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
are a
nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by those ...
and promotes the cultural unity of
English people The English people are an ethnic group and nation native to England, who speak the English language, a West Germanic language, and share a common history and culture. The English identity is of Anglo-Saxon origin, when they were known in ...
. In a general sense, it comprises political and social movements and sentiment inspired by a love for
English culture The culture of England is defined by the cultural norms of England and the English people. Owing to England's influential position within the United Kingdom it can sometimes be difficult to differentiate English culture from the culture of the U ...
,
language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...
and
history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
, and a sense of pride in England and the English people. English nationalists often see themselves as predominantly English rather than British. On the political level, some English nationalists have advocated
self-government __NOTOC__ Self-governance, self-government, or self-rule is the ability of a person or group to exercise all necessary functions of regulation without intervention from an external authority. It may refer to personal conduct or to any form of ...
for England such as the
English Democrats The English Democrats is a right-wing to far-right, English nationalist political party active in England. A minor party, it currently has no elected representatives at any level of UK government. The English Democrats were established in 20 ...
. This could take the form either of a
devolved English parliament A devolved English parliament is a proposed institution that would give separate decision-making powers to representatives for voters in England, similar to the representation given by the (Welsh Parliament), the Scottish Parliament and the Nort ...
within the United Kingdom or the re-establishment of an
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...
sovereign state of England outside of the United Kingdom.


History

The history of English nationalism is a contested area of scholarship. The historian
Adrian Hastings Adrian Hastings (23 June 1929 – 30 May 2001) was a Roman Catholic priest, historian and author. He wrote a book about the " Wiriyamu Massacre" during the Mozambican War of Independence and became an influential scholar of Christian history in ...
has written that: "One can find historians to date 'the dawn of English national consciousness' (or some such phrase) in almost every century from the eighth to the nineteenth".


Anglo-Saxon

Patrick Wormald Charles Patrick Wormald (9 July 1947 – 29 September 2004) was a British historian born in Neston, Cheshire, son of historian Brian Wormald. He attended Eton College as a King's Scholar. From 1966 to 1969 he read modern history at Balliol Colle ...
has claimed that England was a nation by the time of the
Venerable Bede Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...
, who wrote the ''
Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum The ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'' ( la, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum), written by Bede in about AD 731, is a history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the conflict ...
'' (''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'') around 730. Wormald attributes Bede with a decisive "role in defining English national identity and English national destiny". Bede uses the label "English" to describe the
Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and ear ...
who inhabited Britain:
Angles The Angles ( ang, Ængle, ; la, Angli) were one of the main Germanic peoples who settled in Great Britain in the post-Roman period. They founded several kingdoms of the Heptarchy in Anglo-Saxon England. Their name is the root of the name ' ...
,
Saxons The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
and
Jutes The Jutes (), Iuti, or Iutæ ( da, Jyder, non, Jótar, ang, Ēotas) were one of the Germanic tribes who settled in Great Britain after the departure of the Romans. According to Bede, they were one of the three most powerful Germanic nation ...
, and excluding
Britons British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs mod ...
, Scots and
Picts The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from ear ...
. In the final paragraph to the preface of the ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'' Bede departs from the usual word "''gens''" and instead uses the word "'' natio''" to describe the "''historia nostrae nationis''": the history of our own nation. This is the first verbal appearance of the
English nation The English people are an ethnic group and nation native to England, who speak the English language, a West Germanic language, and share a common history and culture. The English identity is of Anglo-Saxon origin, when they were known in ...
. The Anglo-Saxon poem ''
The Battle of Maldon "The Battle of Maldon" is the name given to an Old English poem of uncertain date celebrating the real Battle of Maldon of 991, at which an Anglo-Saxon army failed to repulse a Viking raid. Only 325 lines of the poem are extant; both the beginn ...
'' described the said battle between the
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...
forces of Ethelred the Unready against a
Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
invasion in 991. The poem praises the Anglo-Saxons defence of "their land, the land of Ethelred the King, the place and the people" and
Byrhtnoth Byrhtnoth ( ang, Byrhtnoð), Ealdorman of Essex ( 931 - 11 August 991), died at the Battle of Maldon. His name is composed of the Old English ''beorht'' (bright) and ''noþ'' (courage). He is the subject of ''The Battle of Maldon'', an Old Eng ...
,
Earl of Essex Earl of Essex is a title in the Peerage of England which was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title has been recreated eight times from its original inception, beginning with a new first Earl upon each new crea ...
, is attributed as saying: "Shall our people, our nation, bear you to go hence with our gold?" Both Hastings and James Campbell believe England was a
nation-state A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group. A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may inc ...
during late Anglo-Saxon times. Campbell writes that by the
Norman conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conqu ...
of 1066, "England was by then a nation-state".


Medieval

The
Norman conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conqu ...
introduced a ruling class over England who displaced English land owners and clergy, and who spoke only Anglo-Norman, though it is likely many if not most were conversant in English from the second generation onwards.
William of Malmesbury William of Malmesbury ( la, Willelmus Malmesbiriensis; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as "a ...
, a
chronicler A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...
of mixed Anglo-Norman descent writing in the twelfth century, described the
Battle of Hastings The Battle of Hastings nrf, Batâle dé Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman Conquest ...
as: "That fatal day for England, the sad destruction of our dear country 'dulcis patrie''. He also lamented: "England has become the habitation of outsiders and the dominion of foreigners. Today, no Englishman is
earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant " chieftain", particula ...
,
bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
, or
abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fe ...
, and newcomers gnaw away at the riches and very innards of England; nor is there any hope for an end of this misery". Another chronicler, Robert of Gloucester, speaking in part of earlier centuries, in the mid to late thirteenth century:
...the Norman could not speak anything then except their own speech, and they spoke French as they had done at home, and had their children taught it, too, so that important men in this country who come from their stock all keep to that same speech that they derived from them; because, unless a man knows French, he is thought little of. But humble men keep to English and their own speech still. I reckon there are no countries in the whole world that do not keep to their own speech, except England only.
King
Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal ...
, himself a
Norman-French Norman or Norman French (, french: Normand, Guernésiais: , Jèrriais: ) is a Romance language which can be classified as one of the Oïl languages along with French, Picard and Walloon. The name "Norman French" is sometimes used to descri ...
speaker, when issuing writs for summoning Parliament in 1295, claimed that the
King of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the fir ...
planned to invade England and extinguish
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...
, "a truly detestable plan which may God avert". In the ''
Cursor Mundi The ''Cursor Mundi'' (or ‘Over-runner of the World’) is an early 14th-century religious poem written in Northumbrian Middle English that presents an extensive retelling of the history of Christianity from the creation to the doomsday.Morris, ...
'', an anonymous religious poem in northern Middle English dating from approximately 1300, appears the words: "Of Ingland the nacion".Hastings, p. 15. The Prologue starts:
:Efter haly kyrces state :Þis ilke bok it es translate, :Into Inglis tong to rede, :For þe love of Inglis lede, :Inglis lede of Ingeland, :For þe commun at understand. :Frankis rimes here I redd :Comunlik in ilk a sted; :Mast es it wroght for Frankis man — :Quat is for him na Frankis can? :Of Ingeland þe nacioun, :Es Inglis man þar in commun. :Þe speche þat man with mast may spede, :Mast þarwith to speke war nede. :Selden was for ani chance :Praised Inglis tong in France; :Give we ilk an þar langage, :Me think we do þam non outrage. :To lauid Inglis man I spell...
This can be translated into modern English as:
This same book is translated, in accordance with the dignity of Holy Church, into the English tongue to be read, for love of the English people, the English people of England, for the common people to understand. I have normally read French verses everywhere here; it is mostly done for the Frenchman – what is there for him who knows no French? As for the nation of England, it is an Englishman who is usually there. It ought to be necessary to speak mostly the speech that one can best get on with. Seldom has the English tongue by any chance been praised in France; if we give everyone their own language, it seems to me we are doing them no injury. I am speaking to the English layman...
In 1323 Henry Lambard, a cleric, was brought before a court and asked how he wished to clear himself of charges of theft. Lambard said in English that he was a cleric and was then asked if he knew Latin or French. He replied that he was English, and English-born, and that to speak in his mother tongue was proper. He refused to speak any other language except English. Refusing to give any other answer to the court, he was committed to another court to suffer ''
peine forte et dure ' ( Law French for "hard and forceful punishment") was a method of torture formerly used in the common law legal system, in which a defendant who refused to plead ("stood mute") would be subjected to having heavier and heavier stones placed upon ...
''. During the later decades of the fourteenth century English started to come back into official use. The
Pleading in English Act 1362 The Pleading in English Act 1362 (''36 Edw. III c. 15''), often rendered Statute of Pleading, was an Act of the Parliament of England. The Act complained that because the Norman French language was largely unknown to the common people of England ...
sought to replace French with English for all pleas in courts. The Mercers' Petition to Parliament of 1386 is the oldest piece of parliamentary English; the earliest English wills at the London Court of Probate date from 1387; the earliest English returns of the ordinances, usages, holdings of the gilds are from 1389 and come from London,
Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of ...
and
King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...
.
John Trevisa 350px, John Trevisa (or John of Trevisa; la, Ioannes Trevisa; fl. 1342–1402 AD) was a Cornish writer and translator. Trevisa was born at Trevessa in the parish of St Enoder in mid-Cornwall, in Britain and was a native Cornish speaker. He ...
, writing in 1385, noted that: "...in all the grammar schools of England children are dropping French and construing and learning in English...Also gentlemen have now largely stopped teaching their children French". The
Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Planta ...
with France (1337–1453) aroused English nationalist feeling.
May McKisack May McKisack (1900–1981) was a British medieval historian. She was professor of history at Westfield College in London and later professor of historiography at the University of Oxford and an honorary fellow of Somerville College Oxford. ...
has claimed that "The most lasting and significant consequences of the war should be sought, perhaps, in the sphere of national psychology...For the victories were the victories, not only of the king and of the aristocracy, but of the nation". In 1346 was exhibited in Parliament for propaganda purposes a forged ordinance (in which the French King would have called for the elimination of the English nation) while Parliament was summoned to vote supplies to the king, who was engaged in the Siege of Calais. After the Siege of Calais of 1346, King
Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ro ...
expelled the inhabitants of that city because, in his words, "I wolde repeople agayne the towne with pure Englysshmen". When King
Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1 ...
conquered
Harfleur Harfleur () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It was the principal seaport in north-western France for six centuries, until Le Havre was built about five kilometres (three miles) downstream ...
in 1415, he ordered the inhabitants to leave and imported English immigrants to replace them. Edward III promoted
Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldie ...
during his wars against Scotland and France. Under Edward I and Edward II,
pennon A pennon, also known as a pennant or pendant, is a long narrow flag which is larger at the hoist than at the fly. It can have several shapes, such as triangular, tapering (square tail) or triangular swallowtail (forked tail), etc. In maritime ...
s bearing the
Cross of Saint George The Cross of Saint George (russian: Георгиевский крест, Georgiyevskiy krest) is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was initially established by Imperial Russia where it was officially known as the Decoration of t ...
were carried, along with those of Saint Edmund the Martyr and Saint
Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066. Edward was the son of Æthe ...
. However Edward III promoted St George over the previous national saints of St Edmund, St Edward the Confessor and
Saint Gregory the Great Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregoria ...
. On 13 August 1351 St George was celebrated as "the blessed George, the most invincible athlete of Christ, whose name and protection the English race invoke as that of their patron, in war especially".Summerson. In
Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only c ...
in 1368 a guild was founded "to the honour of the holy Trinity and of its glorious martyr George, protector and patron of England". The Cross of St George was used by Edward III as banners on his ships and carried by his armies. St George became the patron saint of England and his cross eventually became the flag of England. Laurence Minot, writing in the early fourteenth century, wrote patriotic poems celebrating Edward III's military victories against the Scots, French, Bohemians, Spaniards, Flemings and the Genoese. After the English victory at Cressy in 1346, a cleric wrote a Latin poem criticising the French and extolling the English:
:Francia, foeminea, pharisaea, vigoris idea :Lynxea, viperea, vulpina, lupina, Medea... :Anglia regna, mundi rosa, flos sine spina :Mel sine sentina, vicisti bella marina.
In English, this is:
:France, womanish, pharisaic, embodiment of might :Lynx-like, viperish, foxy, wolfish, a
Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason and ...
... :Realm of England, rose of the world, flower without thorn, :Honey without dregs; you have won the war at sea.
Shortly after Henry V's victory over the French at Agincourt in 1415, a song was written to celebrate the victory. It started:
:Deo gratias Anglia redde pro victoria! :Owre Kynge went forth to Normandy :With grace and myght of chyvalry :Ther God for hym wrought mervelusly; :Wherefore Englonde may call and cry :Deo gratias: :Deo gratias Anglia redde pro victoria.
John Wycliffe John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, biblical translator, reformer, Catholic priest, and a seminary professor at the University of O ...
(1320s–1384), the founder of the reformist
Lollard Lollardy, also known as Lollardism or the Lollard movement, was a proto-Protestant Christian religious movement that existed from the mid-14th century until the 16th-century English Reformation. It was initially led by John Wycliffe, a Catholi ...
movement, argued against the power of the Pope over England: "Already a third and more of England is in the hands of the Pope. There cannot be two temporal sovereigns in one country; either Edward is king or Urban is king. We make our choice. We accept Edward of England and refuse Urban of Rome". Wycliffe justified his translating the Bible into English: "The gospels of Crist written in Englische, to moost lernyng of our nacioun". The historian
Robert Colls Robert Colls is Professor of Cultural History at De Montfort University, Leicester. Before that he was Professor of English History at Leicester University. He is married with two adult children. Personal History He was born in 1949 in South Shie ...
has argued that "by the middle of the fourteenth-century nearly all the requirements for an English national identity were in place", including a "distinctive sense of territory and ethnicity, an English church, a set of national fables, and a clear common language". Scholar of nationalism Anthony D. Smith agrees to an extent, as from his ethnosymbolist perspective the ethnic core necessary for the development of modern nations had begun to crystallise during the fourteenth-century. That would not be to claim however that 'an English nation had come into existence, only that some of the processes that help to form nations had become discernible'.


Tudor

The historian of the Tudor period,
Geoffrey Elton Sir Geoffrey Rudolph Elton (born Gottfried Rudolf Otto Ehrenberg; 17 August 1921 – 4 December 1994) was a German-born British political and constitutional historian, specialising in the Tudor period. He taught at Clare College, Cambridge, and w ...
, has asserted that the "Tudor revolution in government" under King
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagr ...
and his chief minister
Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charges ...
has as its chief ingredient a concept of "national sovereignty". The
Act in Restraint of Appeals The Ecclesiastical Appeals Act 1532 (24 Hen 8 c 12), also called the Statute in Restraint of Appeals, the Act of Appeals and The Act of Restraints in Appeals, was an Act of the Parliament of England. It was passed in the first week of April 1533 ...
1533 famous preamble summarised this theory:
Where by divers sundry old authentic histories and chronicles it is manifestly declared and expressed that this realm of England is an empire...governed by one supreme head and king having the dignity and royal estate of the imperial crown of the same, unto whom a body politic, compact of all sorts and degrees of people divided in terms and by names of spiritualty and temporalty, be bounden and owe to bear next to God a natural and humble obedience.
By declaring England to be an "empire" this meant that England was a state entirely independent of "the authority of any foreign potentates". Elton claimed that "We call this sort of thing a sovereign national state". The Act outlawed appeals from courts within the realm to courts outside the realm. The
English Reformation The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and p ...
destroyed the jurisdiction of the Pope over England. England was now completely independent. For this reason Sir
Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord ...
went to his death, because in his words: "This realm, being but one member and small part of the Church, might not make a particular law dischargeable with the general law of Christ's holy Catholic Church, no more than the City of London being but one poor member in respect of the whole realm, might make a law against an act of Parliament". He later said: "I am not bounden...to conform my conscience to the Council of one realm against the General Council of Christendom. For of the foresaid holy bishops I have...above one hundred; and for one Council or Parliament...I have all the Councils made these thousand years. And for this one kingdom, I have all other Christian realms". When
Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...
(daughter of Henry and Catherine of Aragon) became Queen in 1553, she married
Philip II of Spain Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...
and sought to return England to Roman Catholicism. Elton has written that "In the place of the Tudor secular temper, cool political sense, and firm identification with England and the English, she put a passionate devotion to the catholic religion and to Rome, absence of political guile, and pride in being Spanish". Mary wanted to marry a Spaniard and
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) f ...
, chose Philip II (also his son and heir). With this marriage, England would become a Habsburg dominion and it did for a short time (arranged marriages such as these in the sixteenth century had built up the Habsburg empire). England "played barely the part of a pawn" in the diplomatic battle between the great European powers (France opposed the match) and the marriage was widely unpopular in England, even with Mary's own supporters such as
Stephen Gardiner Stephen Gardiner (27 July 1483 – 12 November 1555) was an English Catholic bishop and politician during the English Reformation period who served as Lord Chancellor during the reign of Queen Mary I and King Philip. Early life Gardiner was b ...
, who opposed reducing England to "a Spanish colony". Ian Archer has argued that "the possibility that England might become another Habsburg milch cow was very real". A courtier, Sir Thomas Wyatt, headed a rebellion to try to stop the marriage, motivated by a "nationalist resentment at the proposed foreign king". Supporters of the insurgency urged Londoners to join to stop the English becoming "slaves and vilaynes", which was met with the response that "we are Englishmen".Archer. The uprising was defeated, and Wyatt at his trial justified his actions by saying: "Myne hole intent and styrre was agaynst the comyng in of strangers and Spanyerds and to abolyshe theym out of this realme". Mary vigorously persecuted Protestants, recorded by
John Foxe John Foxe (1516/1517 – 18 April 1587), an English historian and martyrologist, was the author of '' Actes and Monuments'' (otherwise ''Foxe's Book of Martyrs''), telling of Christian martyrs throughout Western history, but particularly the s ...
in his ''
Book of Martyrs The ''Actes and Monuments'' (full title: ''Actes and Monuments of these Latter and Perillous Days, Touching Matters of the Church''), popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, is a work of Protestant history and martyrology by Protestant Engli ...
'', which were unprecedented in English history and resulted in an "undying hatred of the pope and of Roman Catholicism which became one of the most marked characteristics of the English for some 350 years". Elizabeth I (who succeeded Mary I in 1558) made a speech to Parliament on 5 November 1566, emphasising her Englishness:
"Was I not born in this realm? Were my parents born in any foreign country? Is there any cause I should alienate myself from being careful over this country? Is not my kingdom here?"
The excommunication of Elizabeth by
Pope Pius V Pope Pius V ( it, Pio V; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri, O.P.), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1566 to his death in May 1572. He is ...
's papal bull (''
Regnans in Excelsis ''Regnans in Excelsis'' ("Reigning on High") is a papal bull that Pope Pius V issued on 25 February 1570. It excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I of England, referring to her as "the pretended Queen of England and the servant of crime", declared h ...
'') of 1570; the
St. Bartholomew's Day massacre The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (french: Massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy) in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations and a wave of Catholic mob violence, directed against the Huguenots (French Calvinist Protestants) during the French Wa ...
of 1572; the publication of Foxe's ''Book of Martyrs''; the
Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aris ...
of 1588; and the
Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby who sought ...
of 1605 all contributed to an English nationalism which was "thoroughly militant and Protestant". An example of this nationalism can be seen in Lord Chancellor Sir
Christopher Hatton Sir Christopher Hatton KG (1540 – 20 November 1591) was an English politician, Lord Chancellor of England and a favourite of Elizabeth I of England. He was one of the judges who found Mary, Queen of Scots guilty of treason. Early years Si ...
's opening speech to Parliament in 1589 in the aftermath of the defeat of the Armada. It has been described as "an appeal designed to rouse both patriotic and ideological responses". It was fiercely anti-Catholic (the Pope was a "wolfish bloodsucker"), execrated Englishmen who turned against their native country, and appealed for England's defence: "Shall we now suffer ourselves with all dishonour to be conquered? England hath been accounted hitherto the most renowned kingdom for valour and manhood in all Christendom, and shall we now lose our old reputation?". In 1591 a John Phillips published ''A Commemoration on the life and death of the right Honourable, Sir Christopher Hatton...'', which included the lines:
:You noble peeres, my native Countrimen, :I need not shew to you my bloud nor birth ... :Was not his hart bent for his Countries weale? ... :Take courage then, maintaine your Countries right, ... :To straungers Yoakes, your neckes doe never bow. ... :Our gratious Queene, of curtesie the flowre, :Faire Englands Gem: of lasting blisse and joye: ...
Sir
Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion ...
, in his ''A Discourse of War'', wrote that "if our King ''Edward'' III. had prospered in his ''French'' Wars, and peopled with ''English'' the Towns which he won, as he began at '' Calais'', driving out the ''French''; the Kings (as his Successors) holding the same Course, would by this Time have filled all France with our Nation, without any notable emptying of this Island". Hastings has claimed that this usage of the word "nation" (used by Dr. Johnson in his ''Dictionary'') is the same as the modern definition. Strong support exists among historians and students of nations and nationalism for the idea that England became a nation in or no later than the Tudor period. Liah Greenfeld argues that England was "the first nation in the world". Others, including
Patrick Collinson Patrick "Pat" Collinson, (10 August 1929 – 28 September 2011) was an English historian, known as a writer on the Elizabethan era, particularly Elizabethan Puritanism. He was emeritus Regius Professor of Modern History, University of Cambridg ...
and Diana Muir Appelbaum argue strongly for Tudor-era English nationhood. Others including Krishan Kumar, argue that nations arose only in the modern period and that England cannot be described as a nation until the late nineteenth century.


Stuart

The idea of the
Norman yoke The Norman yoke is a term denoting the oppressive aspects of feudalism in England, attributed to the impositions of William the Conqueror, the first Norman king of England, his retainers and their descendants. The term was used in English nationa ...
became increasingly popular amongst English radicals in the seventeenth century. They believed that Anglo-Saxon England was a land of liberty but that this liberty was extinguished by the Norman conquest and the imposition of
feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structu ...
.
John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and politi ...
, writing in the 1640s, used nationalist rhetoric: "Lords and Commons of England, consider what nation it is whereoff ye are" and on another occasion: "Methinks I see in my mind a noble and puissant nation raising herself like a strong man after sleep". It has also been demonstrated by projects such as the Locating the Hidden Diaspora by Northumbria University that English communities in America and Canada had a clear sense of English ethnicity especially in the 19th century and set up many societies and organisations and celebrated English culture and traditions, such as the Sons of St George etc. In her widely cited book, Britons: Forging the Nation 1707-1837,
Linda Colley Dame Linda Jane Colley, (born 13 September 1949 in Chester, England) is an expert on British, imperial and global history from 1700. She is Shelby M. C. Davis 1958 Professor of History at Princeton University and a long-term fellow in history ...
argues for the formation of an English nation in the Stuart era.


Modern

The English nationalist movement has its roots in a perception amongst many people in England that they are primarily or exclusively
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
rather than
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
, which mirrors the view in the other constituent countries. The perceived rise in English identity in recent years, as evidenced by the increased display of the
English flag The flag of England is the national flag of England, a constituent country of the United Kingdom. It is derived from Saint George's Cross (heraldic blazon: ''Argent, a cross gules''). The association of the red cross as an emblem of Engla ...
(particularly during international sporting competitions i.e.
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...
and
UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...
), is sometimes attributed in the media to the increased devolution of political power to
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...
,
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in 2 ...
and
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. One possible incentive for supporting the establishment of self-governing English political institutions has been the
West Lothian question The West Lothian question, also known as the English question, is a political issue in the United Kingdom. It concerns the question of whether MPs from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales who sit in the House of Commons should be able to vote ...
: the constitutional inconsistency whereby Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish MPs in the UK Parliament have been able to cast votes on bills which will apply only to England while English MPs have had fewer such rights in relation to Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish legislation, which is in many cases handled by the devolved legislatures. This anomaly was addressed in 2015 using the
English votes for English laws English votes for English laws (EVEL) was a set of procedures of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom whereby legislation that affected only England required the support of a majority of MPs representing English constit ...
procedures to ensure that legislation affecting only England requires a majority vote of MPs representing English constituencies. Many contemporary English nationalist movements are associated with support for right-of-centre economic and social policies, but nationalists elsewhere in the UK tend towards a
social democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soc ...
political stance, as evidenced by the policies of the
Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from t ...
,
Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid was ...
, and
SDLP The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) ( ga, Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Irelan ...
. English nationalism is also often linked with
Euroscepticism Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek refor ...
. While there is in principle no conflict between the objectives of English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish nationalism, there is an inherent incompatibility between many forms of English nationalism and
Cornish nationalism Cornish nationalism is a cultural, political and social movement that seeks the recognition of Cornwall – the south-westernmost part of the island of Great Britain – as a nation distinct from England. It is usually based on three gene ...
, since Cornwall is administratively an integral part of England. Also, to the extent that English nationalism advocates the political separation of England from the remainder of the UK, it is not compatible with Welsh,
Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
or
Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...
Unionism.
Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...
has been described as a symptom of English nationalism, .


Opinion polls

A MORI opinion poll in 2006 commissioned by the
Campaign for an English Parliament Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...
indicated that support for the creation of an
English Parliament The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised ...
with the same powers as the existing Scottish Parliament had risen, with 41% of those questioned favouring such a move. In the same month an ICM Omnibus poll commissioned by the Progressive Partnership (a Scottish research organisation) showed that support for full English Independence had reached 31% of those questioned. In November 2006, another ICM poll, commissioned by the ''Sunday Telegraph'', showed that support for an English Parliament had reached 68% and support for full English Independence had reached 48% of those questioned. A study conducted for the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) in 2005 found that, in England, the majority of ethnic minority participants born there identified primarily as being British, whereas white English participants identified as being English first and British second. A YouGov survey for the BBC in 2018 found young people are less likely to feel proud to be English than older generations and the further someone lives from London, the more likely they are to identify with a particular part of England.


Separatist organisations

* English Independence Party * England First Party (
political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or po ...
de-registered on 14 June 2012) * English People's Liberation Army (minor
Maoist Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Chi ...
terrorist organisation A number of national governments and two international organizations have created lists of organizations that they designate as terrorist. The following list of designated terrorist groups lists groups designated as terrorist by current and fo ...
founded in the 1980s)


List of English parliamentary groups

*
English Democrats The English Democrats is a right-wing to far-right, English nationalist political party active in England. A minor party, it currently has no elected representatives at any level of UK government. The English Democrats were established in 20 ...
*
Campaign for an English Parliament Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...


See also

* Pegida UK *
English Defence League The English Defence League (EDL) is a far-right, Islamophobic organisation in the United Kingdom. A social movement and pressure group that employs street demonstrations as its main tactic, the EDL presents itself as a single-issue movement ...
*
English national identity A national identity of the English people, English as the people or ethnic group dominant in England dates to the History of Anglo-Saxon England, Anglo-Saxon period. The establishing of a single English ethnic identity dates to at least AD 731, a ...
*
St George's Day in England Saint George is the patron saint of England in a tradition established in the Tudor period, based in the saint's popularity during the times of the Crusades and the Hundred Years' War. Veneration of the saint in folk religion declined in t ...
*
Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised ...
and
Devolved English Parliament A devolved English parliament is a proposed institution that would give separate decision-making powers to representatives for voters in England, similar to the representation given by the (Welsh Parliament), the Scottish Parliament and the Nort ...
*
West Lothian question The West Lothian question, also known as the English question, is a political issue in the United Kingdom. It concerns the question of whether MPs from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales who sit in the House of Commons should be able to vote ...
*
Merry England "Merry England", or in more jocular, archaic spelling "Merrie England", refers to a utopian conception of English society and culture based on an idyllic pastoral way of life that was allegedly prevalent in Early Modern Britain at some time b ...
– Nostalgic English
romantic nationalism Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...
*
English independence English independence is a political stance advocating secession of England from the United Kingdom. Support for secession of England (the UK's largest and most populated country) has been influenced by the increasing devolution of political po ...


Notes


References

* Ian W. Archer, �
Wyatt, Sir Thomas (b. in or before 1521, d. 1554)
��, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Oct 2006, accessed 6 September 2008. * Thomas Birch (ed.), ''The Works of Sir Walter Ralegh, Kt.'', ii, (London: 1751). * W. G. Boswell, ''Shakespeare's Holinshed. The Chronicle and the Historical Plays Compared'' (Chatto and Windus, 1907). * James Campbell, 'The United Kingdom of England: The Anglo-Saxon Achievement', Alexander Grant and Keith J. Stringer (eds.), ''Uniting the Kingdom? The Making of British History'' (London: Routledge, 1995). * M. T. Clanchy, ''England and Its Rulers: 1066–1272'' (Blackwell, 1998). * Basil Cottle, ''The Triumph of English 1350–1400'' (London: Blandford Press, 1969). * A. G. Dickens, ''Thomas Cromwell and the English Reformation'' (London: The English Universities Press, 1959). * G. R. Elton (ed.), ''The Tudor Constitution. Documents and Commentary. Second Edition'' (London: Cambridge University Press, 1982). * G. R. Elton, ''England under the Tudors. Third Edition'' (London: Routledge, 1991). * Douglas Gray, �
Minot, Laurence (fl. early 14th cent.)
��, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 13 September 2008. * Adrian Hastings, ''The Construction of Nationhood. Ethnicity, Religion and Nationalism'' (Cambridge University Press, 1997). * Thomas Beaumont James and John Simons (eds.), ''The Poems of Laurence Minot 1333–1352'' (University of Exeter Press, 1989). * William Paton Ker (ed.), ''The Chronicle of Froissart. Translated out of French by Sir John Bourchier, Lord Berners'', i, (London: David Nutt, 1901–3). * Wallace T. MacCaffrey, �
Hatton, Sir Christopher (c.1540–1591)
��, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 6 September 2008. * L. S. Marcus, J. Mueller, and M. B. Rose (eds.), ''Elizabeth I: Collected Works'' (University of Chicago Press, 2002). * May McKisack, ''The Fourteenth Century 1307–1399'' (Oxford University Press, 1959). * Ian Mortimer, ''The Perfect King. The Life of Edward III, Father of the English Nation'' (Vintage, 2008). * J. E. Neale, ''Queen Elizabeth'' (London: The Reprint Society, 1942). * Henry Summerson, �
George (d. c.303?)’
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Oct 2007, accessed 3 October 2008. * William Stubbs, ''Select Charters'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946). * Hugh M. Thomas, ''The English and the Normans: Ethnic Hostility, Assimilation and Identity 1066–c.1220'' (Oxford University Press, 2003). * Patrick Wormald, 'The Venerable Bede and the "Church of the English"', Geoffrey Rowell (ed.), ''The English Religious Tradition and the Genius of Anglicanism'' (Wantage: Ikon, 1992). * Rev. James Aitken Wylie, ''The History of Protestantism. Volume I'' (London: Cassell, 1878) * 3.22 of English Democrats 2016 manifesto �

''English Parliament within a UK'', English Democrat Website; online edn, Sep 2016, accessed 17 September 2017. * �

''Batley and Spen By-Election Result and Analysis – English Democrats, English Independence'', Election Polling, online edn, Oct 2016, accessed 17 September 2017.


External links


The Campaign for an English Parliament

The English Democrats

England First Party

We Are The English

Anglo-Saxon Foundation

English Nationalist Blog
{{Ethnic nationalism English nationalism, Separatism in the United Kingdom