History of Hertfordshire
Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:Use dmy dates Template:Good article
Hertfordshire is an English county, founded in the Norse–Saxon wars of the 9th century, and developed through commerce serving London. It is a land-locked county that was several times the seat of Parliament. From origins in brewing and papermaking, through aircraft manufacture, the county has developed a wider range of industry in which pharmaceuticals, financial services and film-making are prominent. Today, with a population slightly over 1 million, Hertfordshire services, industry and commerce dominate the economy, with fewer than 2000 people working in agriculture, forestry and fishing.
Hertfordshire is one of the historic counties of England first recorded in the early 10th century. Its development has been tied with that of London, which lies on its southern border. London is the largest city in Western Europe; it requires an enormous tonnage of supplies each day and Hertfordshire grew wealthy on the proceeds of trade because no less than three of the old Roman roads serving the capital run through it, as do the Grand Union Canal and other watercourses. In the 19th century, rail links sprang up in the county, linking London to the north. Hatfield in Hertfordshire has seen two rail crashes of international importance (in 1870 and 2000).
Though nowadays Hertfordshire tends to be politically conservative, historically it was the site of a number of uprisings against the Crown, particularly in the First Barons' War, the Peasants' Revolt, the Wars of the Roses and the English Civil War. The county has a rich intellectual history, and many writers of major importance, from Geoffrey Chaucer to Beatrix Potter, have connections there. Quite a number of prime ministers were born or grew up in Hertfordshire.
The county contains a curiously large number of abandoned settlements, which K. Rutherford Davis attributes to a mixture of poor harvests on soil hard to farm, and the Black Death which ravaged Hertfordshire starting in 1349.
Early history
The earliest evidence of human occupation in Hertfordshire come from a gravel pit in Rickmansworth. The finds (of flint tools) date back 350,000 years,<ref>Rook 1984, p. 20.</ref> long before Britain became an island.
.jpg){kind=link}
constructed at the end of the Iron Age
People have probably lived in the land now called Hertfordshire for about 12,000 years, since the Mesolithic period<ref>"The Early Mesolithic Period" Template:Webarchive, Hertfordshire County Council, retrieved 9 August 2009.</ref> in Ware (making Ware one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe).<ref>"Ware - The Story so Far " Template:Webarchive, Ware Online, retrieved 20 December 2012.</ref> Settlement continued through the Neolithic period, with evidence of occupation sites, enclosures, long barrows and even an unusual dog cemetery in the region.<ref>Williamson 2000, p. 23.</ref><ref>Castleden 1992, pp. 123-126</ref> Although occupied, the area had a relatively low population in the Neolithic and early Bronze Age, perhaps because of its heavy, relatively poorly drained soil.<ref>Williamson 2000, p. 24.</ref> Nevertheless, just south of present-day Ware and Hertford there is some evidence of an increase in the population, with typical round huts and farming activity having been found at a site called Foxholes Farm.<ref>Kiln & Partridge 1994, p. 18.</ref> There is no evidence of settlement at Hertford itself from this period,<ref>Kiln & Partridge 1994, p. 23.</ref> although Ware and perhaps Hertford seem to have been occupied during Roman times.<ref>Kiln & Partridge 1994, pp. 28-62.</ref>
In the Iron Age, a Celtic tribe called the Catuvellauni occupied Hertfordshire. Their main settlement (or oppidum) was Verlamion on the River Ver (near present-day St Albans). Other oppida in Hertfordshire include sites at Cow Roast near Tring, Wheathampstead, Welwyn, Braughing, and Baldock.<ref>Williamson 2000, p. 37.</ref> Hertfordshire contains several Iron Age hill forts, including the largest example in Eastern England at Ravensburgh Castle in Hexton.<ref name="hcci">"Tribes and Chieftains: The Iron Age" Template:Webarchive, Hertfordshire County Council, retrieved 9 August 2009.</ref>
There is a wealth of Iron Age burial sites in Hertfordshire, making it a place of international importance in Iron Age study.<ref name="hcci" /> The large number of sites of all types indicates dense and complex settlement patterns immediately prior to the Roman invasion.<ref>Cuncliffe 2005, p. 163.</ref>
The Roman Invasion of Britain
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Template:See also
In 55 BCE when the Romans first attempted to invade Britain, the Catuvellauni (which is Brythonic for "Expert Warrior") were the largest British tribe.<ref>Shields 2010, p. 13.</ref> Caesar's report to the Senate said that "Cassivellaun" (Cassivellaunus) was leader of the Britons, and Cassivellaunus' headquarters were near Wheathampstead in Hertfordshire.<ref>Shields 2010, p. 17.</ref> On Caesar's second invasion attempt in 54 BCE, Cassivellaunus led the British defensive forces. The Romans besieged him at Wheathampstead, and partly because of the defection of the Trinovantes (whose King Cassivellaunus had had murdered), the Catuvellauni were forced to surrender.<ref>Shields 2010, p. 18.</ref> However, after the siege of Wheathampstead, Caesar returned to Rome without leaving a garrison.
Cunobelinus became king of the Catuvellauni in 9 or 10 CE and ruled for about thirty years,<ref name="BBCa">"British History Timeline", BBC, retrieved 5 May 2010.</ref> conquering such a large area of Britain that the Roman writer Suetonius called him Britannorum Rex (Template:In lang "King of Britain").<ref name="BBCa" /> He built Beech Bottom Dyke, a defensive earthwork, at St Albans,<ref name="Cunliffe">Cunliffe 2005, p. 161.</ref> which may be related to another Iron Age defensive earthwork, the Devil's Dyke, at Cassivellaunus' headquarters in nearby Wheathampstead.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Romans defeated the Catuvellauni again in July 43 CE<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 3.</ref> and this time, garrisoned Britain. When the Romans took over, their settlement, laid out in 49 CE,<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 4.</ref> became known as Verulamium. Alban, a Roman army officer who became Britain's first Christian martyr after his arrest at Chantry Island, died in the 3rd or 4th century and gave his name to the modern town of St Albans. Verulamium became one of Roman Britain's major cities,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the third-largest and the only to be granted self-governing status.<ref name="Darvill262">Darvill et al. 2002, pp. 262-263</ref> Strong though Verulamium's defences may have been, they were not enough to stop Boudica, who burned the city in 61 CE.<ref>Williamson 2000, p. 48.</ref> Verulamium was rebuilt, with defences enclosing a site of some Template:Convert and was occupied into the 5th century.<ref name="Darvill262"/>
A number of Roman Roads run through Hertfordshire including Watling Street and Ermine Street. The ancient trackway, the Icknield Way also runs through Hertfordshire. These are three of the "four highways" of medieval England (the other being the Fosse Way, which does not run through Hertfordshire) which were still the main routes through the country more than a thousand years later. The first Roman Road to be built was the Military Way, constructed very early in the Roman conquest to speed the troops' access north. Later, Ermine Street would be built directly on top of it.<ref>Kiln & Partridge 1994, p. 41.</ref>
Hertfordshire in the Early Middle Ages
After the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain, the Hertfordshire area formed parts of the Kingdom of Mercia and the Kingdom of Essex.<ref name="Will.p85">Williamson 2000, p. 85.</ref> The main early Saxon tribes there seem to have been the Hicce, Brahhingas and Wæclingas.<ref>Williamson 2000, p. 64.</ref> Place names tend to derive from Celtic rather than Saxon, and there is a "singular lack of Early Saxon place names."<ref>Kiln & Partridge 1994, p. 63.</ref> The Synod of Hertford, which was the first national Synod of the English Church, took place on 26 September 672–3.<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 7.</ref><ref group="Notes">The date given varies from source to source; it is variously given as 24 September 673, 26 September 673, and sometimes 672. In the "26 September 672-3" phrasing, this article follows Robinson. While most sources indicate that "Herutford" meant Hertford, it is also quite possible that Hartford, Huntingdonshire was meant.<ref>Kiln & Partridge 1994, p. 116.</ref></ref> It was at this Synod that the "question of Easter" was settled, and the church agreed how to calculate the date of Easter. The Synod also marked the end of the conflict between the Celtic Church and the Romanised church introduced by Saint Augustine.<ref>Page 1959, p. 16.</ref>
King Offa of Mercia (died 796) built a church at Hitchin in Hertfordshire, but it burned down in 910 CE and the monks moved to St Albans.<ref>Shields 2010, p. 20.</ref> Offa defeated Beornred of Mercia at Pirton, near Hitchin and gave his name to the village of Offley ("Offa's Lea").<ref name="Lydd78">Lydekker 1909, p. 78.</ref> Some sources (including Matthew Paris, who was a monk at St Albans) suggest he died at Offley,<ref name="Lydd78" /> though he was buried fifteen miles away in Bedford.<ref>Keynes 1991, p. 133.</ref> One of Offa's last acts was to found St Albans Abbey.<ref>Shields 2010, p. 25.</ref>
Origins of the county
The word Hertfordshire (Saxon "Heorotfordscir" or "Heorotfordscír") is attested from 866.<ref name="Shields26">Shields 2010, p. 26.</ref> The first reference (as "Heoroford") in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is for 1011,<ref name=robinson-12>Robinson 1978, p. 12.</ref> but the county's true origins lie in the 10th century, when Edward the Elder established two burhs in Hertford in 912 and 913 respectively.<ref name="Will.p90">Williamson 2000, p. 90.</ref><ref group="Notes">Page (1959) gives these dates as 913 and 914 respectively. Williamson (2000) notes that it is unusual to have two burhs in one town, and offers various speculations about the possible reasons why.<ref name="Will.p90" /></ref> Hertfordshire did not exist in any practical sense in the late 9th century. In the war between Saxon and Norseman, Hertfordshire was on the front line. When, after the Saxon victory in the Battle of Ethandun in 878, the Saxon King Alfred the Great and Norse King Guthrum the Old agreed to partition England between them, the dividing line between their territories split what was to become Hertfordshire almost through the middle, along the line of the River Lea<ref name="Will.p85" /> and then along Watling Street. Their agreement survives in the Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum which establishes the Danelaw's extent. It seems the land now comprising Hertfordshire was then partly in the Kingdom of Essex (nominally under Norse control, though still populated by Saxons) and partly in the Kingdom of Mercia (which remained Saxon).<ref name="Will.p90" /><ref group="Notes">This is the conventional view. It is only fair to note that Dumville (1992) has a different and more complex view of the division. He sees the eastern side of Hertfordshire as Saxon and the western side as Norse; Williamson (2000) assesses this as persuasive because it solves questions involving place-names, but not without difficulties of its own.<ref name="Will.p90" /></ref>
Alfred was also responsible for building weirs on the River Lea at Hertford (Saxon "Heorotford", ford used by deer) and Ware (Saxon "Waras", weir), presumably to prevent Viking ships coming upriver.<ref name="Shields26" /> King Edgar the Peaceful is credited with making Hertford the capital of the surrounding shire,<ref>Page 1959, p. 19.</ref> presumably between 973 and 975 CE.
Early Middle Ages
Alfred died in 899, and his son Edward the Elder worked with Alfred's son-in-law, Æthelred, and daughter, Æthelflæd, to re-take parts of southern England from the Norse.<ref name="Will.p90" /> During these campaigns he built the two burhs of Hertford as already noted. Their sites have not been found, and probably lie beneath the streets of Hertford itself.<ref>Williamson 2000, p. 92.</ref> From Hertford, together with Stafford, Tamworth and Witham, Edward and Æthelflæd pushed the Danes back to Northumbria in a series of battles. Anglo-Saxon Hertford is an example of town planning as demonstrated by its organised rectangular grid street pattern.<ref name="HD1">"The Later Anglo-Saxon Period" Template:Webarchive, Hertfordshire County Council, retrieved 31 July 2009.</ref>
There is considerable evidence of a mint in Hertford at this period. Edward the Martyr (from 975 to 978), Æthelred the Unready (from 978 to 1016) and Knut the Great (from 1016 to 1035) all had coins struck there.<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 11.</ref> The mint itself has not been found, but many coins exist. Over 90% of these coins were found on the Continent or in Scandinavia, which may suggest they were used for payment of Danegeld.<ref>Kiln & Partridge 1994, appendices.</ref>
The St Brice's Day massacre of 1002 probably started at Welwyn in Hertfordshire.<ref name="robinson-12"/> The massacre was to be a slaughter of the Norse in England, including women and children. One of those executed was Gunhilde, the sister of King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark. He invaded England next year in retaliation.<ref>Stenton 1971, p. 380.</ref> Forkbeard's assault on England lasted ten years, until 1013, when Æthelred fled to the continent. Forkbeard was crowned King of England on Christmas Day, but only reigned for five weeks before dying. Æthelred returned briefly and unsuccessfully until 1016, at which time he was succeeded by Forkbeard's son Knut, who granted the Royal Manor of Hitchin to his second in command, Earl Tovi.<ref>Shields 2010, p. 29.</ref>
High Middle Ages
After the Norman Invasion, Edgar the Ætheling (the successor to Harold Godwinson) surrendered to William the Conqueror at Berkhamsted.<ref>Rook 1984, p. 33.</ref><ref group="Notes">Most Sources regard Berkhamsted as the place where this event took at, though a minority favour Little Berkhamsted, east of Hatfield.</ref> William created the manor of Berkhamsted, and bestowed it on Robert, Count of Mortain, who was his half-brother. From Robert's son William de Mortain it passed to King Henry I, and is still owned by the royal family.<ref>Shields 2010, p. 34.</ref> Henry held court there in 1123.<ref>Shields 2010, p. 36.</ref>
The Domesday Book, completed in 1086, lists 168 settlements in Hertfordshire.<ref>Rook 1984, p. 37.</ref><ref>http://opendomesday.org/county/hertfordshire/ Open Domesday Map: Hertfordshire</ref> Hertfordshire's population grew quickly from then until the Black Death reached the county in 1349.<ref name="HD2">"The Medieval Period" Template:Webarchive, Hertfordshire County Council, retrieved 31 July 2009.</ref> The Norman church at St Albans Abbey was finished in 1088.<ref>Perkins 1903, p. 8.</ref>
Hertfordshire had a conflicted relationship with the King during the High Middle Ages. Like most counties in the south-east,<ref name="Bar160">Bartlett 2000, p. 160.</ref> most of Hertfordshire was in private (i.e. non-royal) ownership during the High Middle Ages. Royal land comprised about 7% of the county's area.<ref name="Bar160" /> The first Earl of Hertford, Gilbert de Clare, was so titled in 1138. He bore one of the first two sets of heraldic arms in England:<ref>Bartlett 2000, p. 247.</ref> three gold chevrons on a red shield. His grandson Richard de Clare once offered King John £100 in respect of legal proceedings concerning his inheritance,<ref name="Bar169">Bartlett 2000, p. 169.</ref> but then during the First Barons War he sided with the Barons against the King. Richard became one of the twenty-five Barons sworn to enforce Magna Carta, for which he was excommunicated in 1215.<ref name="Bar169" />
Thomas Becket, who became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1161, held the honour of Berkhamsted Castle from 1155 until 1163. King Henry II celebrated Christmas there in 1163.<ref>Shields 2010, p. 38.</ref>
Around this time, motte-and-bailey castles were built in Great Wymondley, Pirton and Therfield.<ref name="NHDC" /> Watford was founded in the 12th century, probably as a result of a market and church set up there by the Abbot of St Albans.<ref>Slater & Goose 1992, p. 277.</ref> In 1130, the earliest Pipe Roll shows that King Henry I's Queen Consort Adeliza owned property in the county.<ref>Bartlett 2000, p. 43.</ref>
The first draft of Magna Carta was written at St Albans Abbey in 1213. It contained significant provisions still in force to this day, including the principle of habeas corpus (which was first invoked in court in 1305). Two years later, King John was in St Albans when he learned of the Archbishop of Canterbury's suspension.<ref name="R24">Robinson 1978, p. 24.</ref> Though John agreed to Magna Carta, he did not adhere to it, and Hertfordshire was the main battlefield in the civil war that followed.<ref>Rook 1984, p. 39.</ref> On 16 December 1216, during the First Barons' War, Hertford Castle surrendered after a siege from Dauphin Louis (later Louis VIII of France),<ref name="R24" /> whom the English barons had invited to England to replace John as King.<ref>Bartlett 2000, p. 66.</ref> Berkhamsted Castle surrendered around the same time.<ref name="L81">Lydekker 1909, p. 81.</ref>
In winter 1217, royalist forces plundered St Albans, took captives and extorted £100 from the Abbot, who feared the abbey would be burned.<ref>Bartlett 2000, p. 255.</ref>
In 1261 King Henry III held parliament in the county.<ref name="L81" /> In 1295, another parliament was held in St Albans,<ref name="R31">Robinson 1978, p. 31.</ref> and in 1299, King Edward I gave Hertford Castle to his wife Margaret of France on her wedding day.<ref name="R31" />
Hertfordshire is largely on a clay sub-soil, and much of its land, though rich, is "heavy" and not well-suited to crop cultivation with a medieval plough.<ref>Slater & Goose 1992, p. 81.</ref> However, the county did grow good barley which later became important for the brewing trade.<ref name="Slater & Goose 1992, p. 375">Slater & Goose 1992, p. 375.</ref> Hertfordshire developed more through commerce than through agriculture which drove most of England's economy during this period.
In the High Middle Ages, the county was relatively urbanised by medieval standards, but because towns follow roads and Hertfordshire had many small roads rather than a few large ones, there was no large conurbation.<ref>Slater & Goose 1992, p.103.</ref><ref group="Notes">St Albans is technically a city, but important though it was (and is), it has never been large.</ref>
Commerce grew in Hertfordshire from the start of the 12th century;<ref>Slater & Goose 1992, p. 48.</ref> the number of markets and fairs rose steadily from about 1100 until the Black Death.<ref group="Notes">Sixteen new markets were created between 1100 and 1200, and a further 19 appeared between 1200 and 1350. About a third of these had disappeared by 1500.<ref>Slater & Goose 1992, p. 57.</ref></ref> During the 13th century, Hertfordshire's commerce grew still further. The county traded in butter and cheese, and to a lesser extent meat, hides and leather. Much of this produce was bound for London.<ref>Slater & Goose 1992, p. 53.</ref> The county also developed its inns and other services for travellers to and from London.<ref>Slater & Goose 1992, p. 63.</ref>
The Knights Templar built Baldock, starting around 1140.<ref>Rook 1984, p. 60.</ref> In 1185, a survey of the Knights' holdings showed Baldock had 122 tenants on Template:Convert of land<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 20.</ref> and several skilled craftsmen. King John granted the Knights a fair and market at Baldock in 1199, to be held annually. It began on St Matthew's Day and lasted five days in all.<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 21-22.</ref> At around the same time, the leatherworking trade was prominent in Hitchin.<ref name="NHDC">"Later Middle Ages" Template:Webarchive, North Hertfordshire District Council, retrieved 3 May 2010.</ref>
An English pope
Nicholas Breakspear, the only Englishman ever to have been elected Pope, was born on a farm in Bedmond<ref name="Shields37">Shields 2010, p. 37.</ref> or Abbots Langley<ref>Rook 1984, p. 51.</ref> in Hertfordshire, probably around 1100. He was baptised in Abbots Langley. Nicholas was refused permission to become a monk at St Albans,<ref name="Shields37" /> but his career does not seem to have suffered for this, and he was unanimously elected Pope on 2 December 1154, taking the papal name Adrian IV. He died in 1159.<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 19.</ref> He was the Pope who placed Rome under an interdict, and is famous for his alleged Donation of Ireland to the English throne.<ref>Catholic Encyclopedia 1913, Pope Adrian IV</ref>
Late Middle Ages
In 1302, King Edward I granted Kings Langley to the Prince of Wales.<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 32.</ref> King Edward II's "favourite", Piers Gaveston, loved the palace at Kings Langley and he was buried there after his death in 1312.<ref name="L81" /> Edmund of Langley, the first Duke of York and founder of the House of York, was born in Kings Langley on 5 June 1341 and died there on 1 August 1402.
Richard of Wallingford, the mathematician and astronomer, became Abbot of St Albans in 1326.<ref name="CBD1127">Chambers Biographical Dictionary, "Robert of Wallingford", p. 1127.</ref> He is regarded as the father of modern trigonometry.<ref name="CBD1127" />
Hertford Castle was used as a gaol for a series of important captives during the Hundred Years' War. This was actually a series of separate wars that lasted a total of 116 years, between 1337 and 1453. The Plantagenet kings of England fought the Valois kings of France, almost entirely on French soil. Queen Isabella was imprisoned by her son, the King, in Hertford Castle in 1330,<ref name="Rob.p30">Robinson 1978, p. 34.</ref><ref group="Notes">She died at Hertford Castle in 1358.<ref name="Rob.p30" /></ref> as were King David II of Scotland and his queen in 1346, after the Battle of Neville's Cross. King John II of France was imprisoned there in 1359<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 38.</ref> in considerable luxury.
The Black Death midway through the 14th century massively reduced Hertfordshire's population. The number of residents probably fell by 30%–50%, and likely took until the 16th century to recover.<ref name="HD2" /> This meant many of the settlements in Hertfordshire were abandoned, particularly in the north and east of the county where farm yields were poor. Near Tring, a cluster of deserted medieval villages can still be seen.<ref name="HD2" /> However, the residents who survived grew richer.<ref>Slater & Goose 1992, p. 61.</ref> The reduced population meant workers could demand higher wages and better conditions, despite laws such as the Ordinance of Labourers of 1349 and the Statute of Labourers of 1351.<ref>Dr Mike Ibeji, "Black Death: Political and Social Changes", BBC, retrieved 3 August 2009.</ref> These changed economic conditions contributed to the Peasants' Revolt in 1381, in which Hertfordshire's people were deeply involved.<ref name="L82">Lydekker 1909, p. 82.</ref> (Perhaps confusingly, another man called Richard of Wallingford was one of revolt leader Wat Tyler's principal allies. This is not the same man as the Abbot of St Albans.)
After Wat Tyler had been caught and executed, King Richard II went to St Albans to quell the rebels.<ref name="L82" /> Richard's body was buried at Kings Langley church in Hertfordshire in 1400,<ref name="Rob41">Robinson 1978, p. 41.</ref> but he was moved to Westminster Abbey in 1413, next to his wife Anne. That same year, King Henry IV appointed his knight Hugh de Waterton to Berkhamsted Castle to supervise his children John and Philippa.<ref name="Rob41" />
.JPG){kind=link}
King Henry IV moved his government temporarily to St Albans early in his reign for fear of public opinion in London.<ref>Slater & Goose 1992, p. 56.</ref> He gave the castle and honour of Hertford to Edmund, Earl of Stafford, and his wife Anne.<ref name="Rob41" /> Edmund was killed at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403.<ref name="Rob41" /> King Henry V married Catherine of France on 2 June 1420, and gave Hertford Castle to her.<ref name="Rob43">Robinson 1978, p. 43.</ref>
In 1413, King Henry V kept Easter at Kings Langley. He gave the alm of a groat to the poor.<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 42.</ref> Henry Chichele, the Archbishop of Canterbury, visited Barnet in 1423.<ref name="Rob43" /> No bells rang, and the archbishop took offence at his poor welcome.<ref name="Rob43" /> When he returned in 1426, the church doors were sealed against him.<ref name="Rob43" />
Three important battles of the Wars of the Roses took place in Hertfordshire. At the First Battle of St Albans on 22 May 1455, which was the first major battle of the Wars of the Roses,<ref name="Rook 1984, p. 67">Rook 1984, p. 67.</ref> Richard of York and Neville the Kingmaker defeated the Lancastrians, killed their leader, Edmund Beaufort and captured King Henry VI. The Lancastrians recaptured the King at the Second Battle of St Albans on 12 February 1461.<ref name="RobP.45">Robinson 1978, p. 45.</ref> While he was a prisoner of the Yorkists, in 1459, Henry VI kept Easter at St Albans Abbey. He gave his best gown to the prior, but the gift seems to have been regretted and the treasurer later bought it back for fifty marks.<ref name="RobP.45" />
The Battle of Barnet took place on 14 April 1471. Neville the Kingmaker advanced on London. He camped on Hadley Green, and King Edward IV's army met him there. After confusion in the early morning mist, in which the Yorkists seem to have ended up fighting each other, the Lancastrians won the battle. The Kingmaker was captured and executed, and Edward's authority was never again seriously challenged.<ref>Rook 1984, p. 72.</ref>
England's oldest surviving pub is in Hertfordshire and dates to this period. Ye Olde Fighting Cocks,<ref group="Notes">That is to say, England's oldest pub according to the Guinness Book of Records. The matter is disputed.<ref>"Local History Trip to Jerusalem", BBC, retrieved 21 May 2010.</ref></ref> which is in St Albans, was rebuilt in 1485. Some of the foundation stones are even older, allegedly going back to the 8th century.
- First English paper and printing industry
One of the first three printing presses in England was in St Albans.<ref>Feiling 1950, p. 272.</ref> England's first paper mill, which was the property of John Tate, stood in Hertford opposite today's County Hospital from 1494; visited by Henry VII twice and producing a star and circle watermark on some versions of the papal bull recognising his right to reign over England.<ref name="Rook 1984, p. 67"/><ref name=winn>Template:Cite book</ref>
Renaissance
The long Elizabethan peace, and turmoil in Europe, conspired to raise English commercial power during the Renaissance.<ref name="Feil511">Feiling 1950, p. 511.</ref> European refugees also contributed to English wealth.<ref name="Feil511" /> London was the centre of this new power,<ref>Feiling 1950, p. 512.</ref> and Hertfordshire's commerce benefited accordingly.
In November 1524, Catherine of Aragon held court at Hertford Castle.<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 49.</ref> On 3 May 1547, King Edward VI granted his sister Mary the manor and castle of Hertford, tolls from the bridge at Ware, and the manor of Hertingfordbury.<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 53.</ref>
Under Mary, who as Queen earned the sobriquet "Bloody Mary", three "heretics" (that is, Protestants who refused to become catholic) were burnt at the stake in Hertfordshire. William Hale, Thomas Fust, and George Tankerville, were executed at Barnet, Ware, and St Albans respectively. In 1554, Queen Mary granted the town of Hertford its first charter for a fee of thirteen shillings and fourpence, due annually at Michaelmas.<ref>Turnor 1830, p. 71.</ref>
Queen Elizabeth I lived at Hatfield Palace near Hatfield as a girl. When plague ravaged London, she held parliaments at Hertford Castle<ref name="HD3">"The Post-Medieval and Modern Periods" Template:Webarchive, Hertfordshire County Council, retrieved 31 July 2009.</ref> in 1564 and 1581.<ref name="L84">Lydekker 1909, p. 84.</ref> The law courts moved to St Albans for the same reason.<ref name="L84" /> During her reign, Hertfordshire was specifically commended for its soldiers' efficiency.<ref name="Rook p.83">Rook 1984, p. 83.</ref> In the mobilisation of 1588 for the Anglo-Spanish War, the county sent twenty-five lances and sixty light horse to Brentwood, a thousand infantry to Tilbury, a thousand to Stratford-at-Bow, and five hundred to guard Her Majesty's person.<ref name="Rook p.83" /> The Arms of Hertfordshire were granted next year.<ref name="Rook p.84">Rook 1984, p. 84.</ref> In 1602 founder of Hartford (Connecticut), Samuel Stone was born in Fore Street, Hertford.<ref name=winn/>
King James I was often in Hertfordshire<ref>Jones-Baker 1991, p. 93.</ref> and had several works carried out in the county. He built Theobalds Park, enclosing a large tract of southern Hertfordshire in a wall.<ref group="Notes">By 1621, the estate included 117 acres of arable land, 99 of meadow, 86 of woodland and 82 of pasture. Over nine miles of brick wall were built around it all.<ref>Jones-Baker 1991, p. 95.</ref></ref> Parts of the wall still exist.<ref name="HD3" /> He also had a hand in creating the New River, which was the brainchild of Welsh entrepreneur, Hugh Myddelton: an artificial watercourse that predated the building of England's canal network by over a century.<ref name="HD3" />
James I, who was a confirmed dog-lover, also built a huge kennel (about Template:Convert long) and dog-yard (over half an acre in size) at Royston.<ref>Jones-Baker 1991, p. 98.</ref> He seems to have loved Royston and spent considerable time there, hunting and feasting and enjoying himself—so much so that his favourite dog, Jowler, returned one evening with a note tied to his collar. The note read: "Good Mr Jowler, we pray you to speak to the King (for he hears you every day and so he doth not us) that it will please His Majesty to go back to London, for else the country will be undone; all our provision is spent already and we are not able to entertain him longer."<ref>Quoted in Rook 1984, p. 79.</ref>
During the civil war, the county was mainly parliamentarian.<ref name="Rook p.84" /> St Albans was an especially staunch parliamentary stronghold.<ref name="Rook p.84" /> In the course of this war, deserters and mutineers among the various encamped armies ravaged the Chilterns, plundered Ashridge, rifled Little Gaddesden Church and broke open its tombs. In 1645, a dozen men of Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army were hanged for outrages against the people of the county.
In 1647, the parliamentary army, still unpaid after their victory in the First English Civil War, camped on Thriploe Heath near Royston. They wrote to Parliament demanding their pay.<ref name="Rook p.84" /> This led to a clash between Cromwell's army and the Levellers at Cockbush Field, near Ware, on 15 November 1647.<ref>Robinson 1992, p. 70.</ref> Cromwell captured and imprisoned the Levellers' "agitators" and a number were sentenced to death, though only one was actually executed.<ref name="Rk85">Rook 1984, p. 85.</ref>
After the Great Fire of London, many children were sent to Hertfordshire: 62 were sent to Ware, and 56 to Hertford.<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 75</ref> A few years later the mayor and people of Hertford petitioned King Charles II to confirm, amend and expand the town's charters.<ref name="JB175">Jones-Baker 1991, p. 175.</ref> Enquiries were made as to whether anyone would object, and three prominent men did, but the attorney general dismissed their objections on grounds of malice in 1680.<ref>Jones-Baker 1991, p. 178.</ref> The town henceforth had its own coroner, who doubled as the town clerk, and both the court-day and market-day were changed so as not to coincide with nearby markets at Ware, Hoddesdon or Hatfield.<ref name="JB175" />
In 1683, there was a plot to assassinate Charles II and his brother as he passed through Rye House in Hertfordshire. Unfortunately for the plotters, the royal party was early, so the opportunity was missed; when the plot was discovered, it became a pretext for a purge of the Whig leaders.<ref name="Rk85" />
Modern era
In the last two centuries, Hertfordshire's population has multiplied tenfold. Around the end of the 18th century, its population was around 95,000.<ref name="T24">Tomkins 1922, p. 24.</ref> In 1821, it was just under 130,000.<ref name="T24" /> In 1881 it was just over 203,000,<ref name="T24" /> and by 1921 it was just over 333,000.<ref name="T24" /> By the 2001 census, it was 1,033,977.<ref>2001 Office for National Statistics, retrieved 4 August 2009.</ref> During the 18th century brewing became an important industry in Hertfordshire.<ref name="Slater & Goose 1992, p. 375"/>
Smallpox broke out in Hertford gaol in 1729, and spread into the town. The next year, smallpox hit Hitchin, killing 158 people.<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 83.</ref> The River Lee Navigation Act 1738 (12 Geo. 2. c. 32) led to the river being improved, becoming navigable as far as Ware. Locks were built in Ware, Broxbourne, and "Stanstead"<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 84.</ref> (presumably Stanstead Abbotts rather than Stansted Mountfitchet, which is not on the Lea). By 1797, the Grand Junction Canal (now called the Grand Union Canal) was being cut. Its highest point is the Tring Summit in Hertfordshire, which was formed in 1799.<ref>Rook 1984, p. 87.</ref> Because a canal barge can hold so much more than a wagon, the waterways expansions increased the quantity of supplies that could reach London (and the amount of refuse and manure that could be carted away).
Mobilisation for the Seven Years' War affected Hertfordshire. In 1756, £350 was paid to the inns and public houses of Ware for the troops staying with them.<ref name="R86">Robinson 1978, p. 86.</ref> The next year, Pitt's army reforms made Hertfordshire liable to provide 560 officers and men.<ref name="R86" />
The county also contributed soldiers to the French Revolutionary Wars. On 7 May 1794, lists opened for the Hertfordshire Yeomanry Cavalry Regiment, which comprised five troops of cavalry.<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 92.</ref> The Loyal Hemel Hempstead Volunteers formed in 1797.<ref name="R93">Robinson 1978, p. 93.</ref> Two further troops of volunteers were raised in 1798, at Borehamwood and Sawbridgeworth,<ref name="R94">Robinson 1978, p. 94.</ref> and the same year, the Hitchin Volunteers were also raised, but their duty was only to defend land within Template:Convert of Hitchin.<ref name="R94" /><ref group="Notes">Of those who signed the muster roll for the Hitchin Volunteers between 1803 and 1809, 68% could sign their own name. The recruiting officer put a cross beside the names of those who could not.<ref>"Hertfordshire Archive" Template:Webarchive, Hertfordshire Archive, retrieved 4 August 2009.</ref></ref>
In 1795, a Dr Walker wrote a report on agriculture and forestry in the county. He said "Herts is justly deemed the first and best corn county in the kingdom",<ref name="R93" /> an assessment that may not be free from local bias. It nevertheless shows how more advanced farming techniques and soil improvement programmes had enabled farmers to work Hertfordshire's "heavier" soils to better effect since the Saxon–Norse wars.
Thanks to a rapidly increasing population and improved record-keeping practices, the volume of paper records for Hertfordshire in the 19th and 20th centuries is huge. Many of these documents are written or printed on paper made locally, at a time when paper-making joined brewing as another dominant industry in the county.<ref name="HD3" />
In 1809, John Dickinson purchased Apsley Mills in Hemel Hempstead for his newly patented paper-making machine.<ref name="R95">Robinson 1978, p. 95.</ref> In a dispute with the Society of Paper-Makers in 1821, he dismissed the men involved and trained replacements.<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 98.</ref> By 1825, Apsley and Nash Mills in Hemel Hempstead were using steam power to produce paper.<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 99.</ref> Dickinson patented his silk threadpaper in 1829, which was used, among other things, for Exchequer Bonds, and had to be made under supervision from two excise men.<ref name="R100">Robinson 1978, p. 100.</ref> He built Croxley Mills, near Rickmansworth, in 1830<ref name="R100" /> and Abbots Hill, Nash Mills, in 1836.<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 102.</ref>
In 1840, the Uniform Penny Post came in. Dickinson made paper for the stamps, and also for the Mulready envelopes.<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 104.</ref> He built a private gas works at Apsley in 1851.<ref name="Robinson 1978, p. 109">Robinson 1978, p. 109.</ref> In March 1886, John Dickinson & Co. Ltd. was incorporated with £500,000 in capital and Template:Convert of glass houses.<ref name="R116">Robinson 1978, p. 116.</ref> By 1900, the company had Template:Convert of glass houses in the Cheshunt area.<ref name="R116" />
Rothamsted Research, previously known as the Experimental Station and then the Institute of Arable Crops Research, is one of the oldest agricultural research institutions in the world, at its Harpenden site. It was founded by a fertiliser inventor in 1843.<ref name=winn/>
The 19th century was also a busy period for the military. Ten corps of Volunteer Infantry were formed in 1803.<ref name="R94"/> In 1804, the clock tower in St Albans signalled news of the Battle of Trafalgar by semaphore.<ref name="R95" /> The Duke of Wellington earned the freedom of the borough of St Albans after Napoleon's defeat in 1814.<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 97.</ref> The Hertfordshire Regiment became the fourth battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment in 1891,<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 118.</ref> and in March 1900, the 42nd (Hertfordshire) Company of the Imperial Yeomanry landed at Cape Town.<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 120.</ref> Cecil Rhodes, who founded De Beers and the state of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), was born in South Street, Bishops Stortford, in 1853. The house is still standing, and has been adapted into a museum.<ref name="Robinson 1978, p. 109"/> He spent much of his youth in South Africa, but returned to Bishops Stortford in 1873.<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 114.</ref>
The first branch railway line in England was the Aylesbury one, which opened in 1839. It had a station in Hertfordshire, at Marston Gate.<ref>Rook 1984, p. 102.</ref> Another rail line grew out from London towards Cambridge, reaching Broxbourne in 1840,<ref name="Rk103">Rook 1984, p. 103.</ref> Harlow in 1841,<ref name="Rk103" /> and Bishops Stortford in 1842.<ref name="Rk103" /> A branch to Hertford opened in 1843.<ref name="Rk103" /> The first Hatfield train crash took place on Boxing Day, 1870. The London Underground rail line reached Rickmansworth in 1887.<ref>Rook 1984, p. 104.</ref>
Twentieth century
Pre World War II
The two flagship garden cities of Letchworth and Welwyn were central to the development of town planning in England.<ref name="HD3" /> The first Garden City Company formed in 1903, with £300,000 of capital, and by 1914, Letchworth had a population of around 10,000.<ref name="Rk128">Rook 1984, p. 128.</ref> Ebenezer Howard bought nearly Template:Convert in 1919, and the first house in Welwyn Garden City was occupied in 1920.<ref name="Rk128" /> The town's official date of founding was 29 April.<ref>"Three Counties History", BBC, retrieved 5 May 2010.</ref>
In the First World War, the Hertfordshire Yeomanry mobilised in September 1914 and were almost immediately deployed to Egypt.<ref name="R124">Robinson 1978, p. 124.</ref> The 2nd London Division of the Territorial Force had their headquarters at St Albans,<ref name="R124" /> and the North Midland Territorial Division was billeted there as well.<ref name="R124" /> The 1/1st Hertfordshire Regiment landed at Le Havre in November, and saw action in the Ypres Salient that month.<ref name="R124" />
The Hertfordshire Volunteer regiment formed on 15 May 1915.<ref name="R125">Robinson 1978, p. 125.</ref> On 13 October of that year, a Zeppelin raid hit North Road in Hertford, destroying houses there.<ref name="R125" /> In 1916, the Hertfordshire Regiment was transferred to 39th Division and fought at St Julien.<ref name="R125" /> Two Victoria Crosses ("VC") were awarded to Hertfordshire men in 1916: one to Corporal Alfred Alexander Burt<ref name="R125" /> and one to Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson, who shot down the first German airship of WWI, a Schutte-Lanz over Cuffley.<ref name="R125" /> Second Lieutenant Wulfstan Tempest shot down a Zeppelin on 2 October of that year, and it came down in Potters Bar.<ref name="R125" /> The 1st Battalion of the Hertfordshire Regiment fought near Achiet-le-Grant in 1918, and then at the Battle of Havrincourt. It also fought in the advance to Ghissignies. Hertfordshire's last VC of the First World War was awarded in December 1918, after the war had finished: a posthumous VC for Lieutenant Frank Young of Hitchin,<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 126.</ref> who was killed on 18 September 1918, aged 23.<ref>"Young VC", Bedford Regiment, retrieved 1 May 2010.</ref>
With the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Hertfordshire Regiment were mobilised.<ref name="R130">Robinson 1978, p. 130.</ref> Together with the 6th Battalion of the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment, they made up 162nd Infantry Brigade of the East Anglian Division.<ref name="R130" /> Second Battalion would later be at Ver-sur-Mer in Normandy in support of the D-Day landings.
In May 1940, a public meeting at County Hall, Hertford (which was then newly built, having only opened in 1939)<ref name="R130" /> was held to consider forming the Hertfordshire Local Defence Volunteers. Nineteen companies formed at once.<ref name="R130" /> They became the Hertfordshire Home Guard in December of that year.
In 1942 the 191st (Hertfordshire and Essex Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery formed for an anticipated campaign in Northern Europe.<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 131.</ref> Hertfordshire was central to aircraft manufacture in the Second World War. De Havilland designed their Mosquito in Hatfield<ref group="Notes">They had moved to Hatfield from Edgware in 1933.<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 129.</ref></ref> and constructed them at Leavesden, together with Halifax bombers.<ref name="Rk130">Rook 1984, p. 130.</ref>
Many RAF pilots were trained at Panshanger.<ref name="Rk130"/> From 1940, No. 2 (AC) Squadron was stationed at RAF Sawbridgeworth, with the purpose of mounting tactical reconnaissance sorties over occupied Europe. Initially it operated the Westland Lysander, before re-equipping with the more capable Curtiss Tomahawk and North American Mustang aircraft.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> About 4000 bombs, 107 V-1 flying bombs, and 47 V-2 rockets fell on Hertfordshire during the Second World War.<ref name="Rk130" /> American Flying Fortresses bombers of the 398th Bombardment Group (Heavy) mounting 195 combat missions against targets on the Continent from RAF Nuthampstead. The United States Army Air Forces used RAF Bovingdon as a training station, while the US VIII Fighter Command Headquarters was at RAF Bushey Hall.<ref name="Rk130" />
Post-War
After the war, Stevenage was the first town to be redeveloped under the New Towns Act 1946. Hatfield remained closely connected with the aircraft industry, and about 10% of the aircraft workers in England worked in Hertfordshire in the 1960s.<ref name="Rk132">Rook 1984, p. 132.</ref> The de Havilland Comet was developed in the town.<ref>Michael Harrison, "Glorious Chapter of Aviation History", The Independent, retrieved 13 May 2010.</ref> The London Government Act 1963 created an enlarged Greater London in 1965 which took Barnet from Hertfordshire, but in exchange, the county gained Potters Bar and South Mimms from Middlesex. The county's boundaries were revised in the reforms accompanying the Local Government Act 1972, at which time Royston became fully a part of Hertfordshire. Camfield House, Hatfield, belonged to Barbara Cartland during this period, and Beatrix Potter lived there as well.<ref name="BBCxx" /> The county's boundaries were revised again in 1993, when Elstree became fully a part of Hertfordshire, gaining some land from Greater London (historically Middlesex).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
During the Second World War, sculptor Henry Moore moved to the village of Perry Green in Hertfordshire when his former home was bombed. The Henry Moore Foundation still operates from the village.<ref group="Notes">In 2005, one of Moore's statues—weighing 2.1 tonnes and worth in excess of £3 million—was stolen from there.<ref>"Henry Moore", BBC, retrieved 5 August 2009.</ref></ref>
The character of Hertfordshire changed in the later part of the 20th century. In 1992, it was resolved to close the aircraft manufacturing site in Hatfield.<ref name="Rk132" /> At the start of the 20th century, 83% of the workforce were involved in agriculture, but by the end, less than 1% remained so.<ref name="Rk132" /> Only one brewery, McMullens, is still open and there are no remaining commercial maltings or mills.<ref name="Rk132" /> Nowadays, Hertfordshire has become a service and administrative centre containing the head offices of several important companies (see here) and a dormitory for London. A growing trend is research and development, notably for Glaxo and at the University of Hertfordshire which, from relatively humble beginnings as Hatfield Polytechnic, now has over 23,000 students.
On 17 October 2000, a major rail crash took place in Hatfield.<ref>"Hatfield Rail Crash", BBC, retrieved 30 April 2010.</ref> Criticism of Railtrack after the accident was rife, and the company had to pay over £700 million in compensation. It ceased trading owing to insolvency in 2002.<ref>"Railtrack Goes Bankrupt", The Independent, retrieved 1 May 2010.</ref>
The fire of 11 December 2005 at Buncefield, Hemel Hempstead, was a major disaster. Hertfordshire's Chief Fire Officer, Roy Wilsher, said it was "possibly the largest in peacetime Europe."<ref name="Beeb">"Buncefield Fire", BBC, retrieved 6 August 2009.</ref> About sixty million gallons of petrol burned,<ref name="Beeb" /> the largest of the explosions measured just under 2.5 on the Richter scale, and the smoke darkened skies in neighbouring towns for two days before it could be extinguished.
In a long, gradual decline in agriculture, fishing and forestry, the 2011 census recorded 1,878 Hertfordshire workers employed in this sector.<ref name=ons>Key Statistics: Industry Template:Webarchive 2011 census</ref>
Conservation
Hertfordshire has a larger number of listed buildings and village greens pre-dating 1700 than Greater London, see for example Grade II* listed buildings in Hertfordshire which tend to be in this category. All 10 District (or Borough) Councils have designated conservation areas.
Crime and criminals
King Stephen held court at St Albans in 1143. He arrested Geoffrey de Mandeville, who held shrievalty of London, Middlesex and Hertfordshire from the pretender Empress Matilda. De Mandeville surrendered his castles, including the one he had recently built at South Mimms,<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 18.</ref> and went on to become a noted outlaw and bandit.
A seventeenth-century highwaywoman, called the "Wicked Lady", preyed on travellers on Nomansland Common along Watling Street to the far end of Wales. This may have been Lady Katherine Ferrers of Markyate Cell 1634-1660 who was married to a detached husband Thomas Fanshaw(e) and whose body was carried across the county to be buried at Ware. By the time of an 1840 fire at the large house, a folklore rhyme had arisen:<ref name=winn/>
Near the cell there is a well
Near the well there is a tree
Near the tree the treasure be
In one of the last witch trials recorded, Jane Wenham, of Walkern, was convicted of witchcraft in 1712. The accused was over the age of 70 at the time.<ref name="R81">Robinson 1978, p. 81.</ref> Queen Anne pardoned Wenham, who "lived on in a cottage at Gilston". In 1751, John and Ruth Osborne of Gubblecot, Tring, were accused of witchcraft. A mob dragged them through the village pond until Ruth drowned.<ref name="R85">Robinson 1978, p. 85.</ref> One Thomas Colley, a chimney sweep and apparently the ringleader, was hanged; but the people disapproved of the hanging and did not come to watch.<ref name="R85" />
There are records for Hitchin court from the 17th century. William Bogdani wrote in 1744: Template:Quotation In 1783 the vestry organised a watch to "put a stop to the daring robberies almost nightly committed in or near the town."<ref>Slater & Goose 1992, p. 213.</ref> The next year Vincenzo Lunardi's first balloon flight over Britain landed in Standon Green End where a stone commemorates the achievement.<ref name=winn/>
Also in the late 18th century, Hertford's branch of Woolworths (now closed) was formerly an inn called the Maiden Head.<ref name="BBCy">"Murderous Pieman", BBC, retrieved 8 November 2009.</ref> From this inn, Walter Clibborn, the "murderous pie man of Hertford", operated. He pretended to be deaf, so that people would talk freely while he moved among them selling pies, overhearing their destinations and the location of their valuables;<ref name="BBCy" /> and, with his sons who blackened their faces, would ambush them later that night.<ref name="BBCy" /> Clibborn was shot dead in 1782 by one George North on the Datchworth to Branfield road.<ref name="BBCy" />
In 1823, the murder of William Weare in Radlett became known as the first trial by newspaper.<ref name="BBCx">"Elstree Murder Feature", BBC, retrieved 8 November 2009.</ref> The murderer, who was the Mayor of Norwich's son John Thurtell, a notorious gambler,<ref name="BBCx" /> pleaded that the sensational newspaper coverage had prejudiced the court against him. It only took 20 minutes of deliberations for the jury to sentence him to death by hanging.<ref name="BBCx" /> The crowds that gathered for the trial were so large that the judge had trouble getting to the courthouse through the gridlocked streets, and about 15,000 people attended the hanging itself.<ref name="BBCx" />
The murder of Mercy Nicholls in Railway Street, Hertford, in 1899, ultimately led to a major re-organisation of Hertfordshire's police force.<ref>"Hertford Horror", BBC, retrieved 8 November 2009.</ref>
Authors of Hertfordshire
Jane Austen (1775–1817) wrote about Hertfordshire. Pride and Prejudice is set in a fictionalised Hertfordshire. Sir Francis Bacon (1561–1626), writer and Lord Chancellor, lived at Gorhambury near St Albans and is buried at St Michael's. J. M. Barrie (1860–1937) based his character Peter Pan on Peter Llewelyn Davies, his friend's son, after visiting their family in Berkhamsted. Dame Juliana Berners (1388-?) was the author of the Boke of St Albans, a guide to hunting, hawking and heraldry, which was printed by Abbey Press in 1486. John Bunyan (1628–1688) was linked to Hitchin, and although he was gaoled outside the county in Bedford, he was a member of the Baptist Church at Kensworth (at that time in Hertfordshire, though now in Bedfordshire). He preached extensively in Hertfordshire. George Chapman (c. 1559 – 1634), a poet and playwright remembered for his translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey, was born in Hitchin and lived there. Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343 – 1400) was Clerk of the Works at Berkhamsted Castle in 1389.<ref>Robinson 1978, p. 40.</ref>
Sir Henry Chauncy (1632–1719), known for his Historical Antiquities of Hertfordshire (pub. 1700), was made first Recorder of Hertford in 1680. Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) was educated at Christ's Hospital, Hitchin. William Cowper (1731–1800), poet, was born and lived in Berkhamsted.<ref>Chambers Biographical Dictionary, "Cowper, William", p. 340.</ref> He was later institutionalised in an asylum in St Albans. Charles Dickens (1812–1870) was often in Hertfordshire (not least to visit his friend Edward Bulwer Lytton, who is mentioned below), and significant elements of his novels are set there. Sir Richard Fanshawe (1608–1666) was born at Ware Park and his memorial tablet is in Ware. E. M. Forster (1879-?) lived at Rook's Nest House between Stevenage and Weston. William Godwin (1756–1836), an anarchist philosopher, was a Chapel Minister in Ware; his feminist wife Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797), author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, gave him a daughter, Mary Shelley (1797–1851), who wrote Frankenstein. Graham Greene (1904–1991) was educated at Berkhamsted Grammar School, where his father was headmaster.<ref name="BBCxx" /> Julian Grenfell (1888–1915), the First World War poet, lived in Panshanger. Lady Caroline Lamb (1785–1827) lived at Brocket Hall and wrote Glenarvon there after her unhappy love affair with Lord Byron. She is buried in Hatfield.
Nathaniel Lee (c. 1653 – 1692), poet and playwright, was born in Hatfield where his father was rector. Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803–1873) lived at the family seat of Knebworth House where he often entertained Charles Dickens and Benjamin Disraeli, among others. John Scott, the Quaker poet and writer, moved to Great Amwell in 1740. He gave Amwell its name (after Emma's Well, which is nearby and now dry; the well has part of John Scott's poem "Emma" inscribed near it.)<ref name="BBCxx">"Hertfordshire Literary Map Feature", BBC, retrieved 8 November 2009.</ref><ref group="Notes">Scott is now mainly remembered for Scott's Grotto which was restored in the 1990s and is the largest grotto in the United Kingdom. East Hertfordshire District Council own it and it is open to the public.<ref>"Grotto" Template:Webarchive, East Hertfordshire District Council, retrieved 5 August 2009.</ref></ref> Nobel prizewinning playwright George Bernard Shaw lived in Hertfordshire until his death in 1950.<ref name="BBCxx" /><ref name="R123">Robinson 1978, p. 123.</ref> Anthony Trollope (1815–1882) lived in Waltham Cross. Thomas Walsingham (?-1422), author of the Historia Anglicana and chronicler of the Peasants' Revolt, was a monk in St Albans Abbey in the early 15th century.<ref>Chambers Biographical Dictionary, "Walshingham, Thomas", p. 1393.</ref>
Film-making in Hertfordshire
.jpg){kind=link}
Template:See also Hertfordshire was the home of the pioneering British film maker Arthur Melbourne-Cooper, who was born in St Albans in 1874. He worked in Hertfordshire (but later what became the London Borough of Barnet), and witnessed the birth of the movies as an assistant/cameraman of Birt Acres (1854–1918). Acres, in 1895, co-developed the first British 35 mm moving picture camera under the guidance of British engineer R.W. Paul. Cooper, for the next 20 years, made contributions to the British moving picture industry. In 1908 Cooper set up the first permanent cinema in Hertfordshire, the Alpha Picture House in St Albans, and a cinema operated on this site for 87 years; the 1930s cinema building has recently been restored and re-opened as the Odyssey Cinema.<ref name="listed">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="odyssey-history">Template:Cite web</ref>
Elstree Studios nearby has risen to prominence; landmark films and television that have been produced there include the first and second Star Wars films (chronologically, i.e. Episodes IV and V), Indiana Jones, and Superman, The World's End and British television shows Dancing on Ice, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, and Big Brother.<ref>"Elstree Studios", Elstree Studios, retrieved 5 August 2009.</ref> Parts of the Harry Potter film series production took place at Leavesden Film Studios. Wild child was filmed in Balls park, Hertford.
Nobles and politicians of Hertfordshire
Æthelgifu was a Christian Saxon noblewoman who lived in the county in the late 980s, and her will is an important document for the study of the country as well as the county.<ref group="Notes">Æthelgifu's will is one of only seventeen extant wills in Old English, and it is by far the most extensive of them. It gives much more detail on slave- and land-ownership in this period than any other document, and shows that a woman could have considerable wealth. The will is written in vellum in a minuscule hand, and the original still exists; an American consortium bought it in 1969 and it is now in New Jersey.<ref>Whitlock 1968, preface.</ref></ref> It shows that Æthelgifu had three large estates in Hertfordshire. She left much of her land to the monks of St Albans, and her will shows the importance of Hitchin as a legal and administrative centre.<ref>Whitelock 1968, p. 14.</ref> Hitchin likely stayed in royal hands into the 10th century.<ref>Williamson 2000, p. 107.</ref>
Edward Seymour was appointed Earl of Hertford in 1559. He married Lady Catherine Grey, who was Lady Jane Grey's sister, in 1560. As Catherine was in line for the throne, she needed Queen Elizabeth's permission to wed, and because this was not sought, the marriage was held in secret with Edward's sister, Lady Jane Seymour, as the only witness. However, when Catherine became visibly pregnant, she had little option but to reveal her marriage and, at her request, Lord Robert Dudley told the Queen. An angry Elizabeth had the Earl and Countess of Hertford interned in the Tower of London and annulled their marriage.<ref>Susan Doran, "Seymour [Grey], Katherine, countess of Hertford (1540?–1568)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, January 2008 retrieved 15 May 2010 (subscription required).</ref>
Sarah Churchill, one of the most influential women in English history, was born as Sarah Jennings in St Albans in 1660.<ref>Page, William (editor) (1908). "The City of St. Alban" in: "A History of the County of Hertford: volume 2", Victoria County History pp. 469–477, retrieved 4 August 2009.</ref> She married the Duke of Marlborough, rose to high favour with Queen Anne, then fell out with the queen and was dismissed, but returned to court after the queen's death. She argued with many important people in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, grew very rich, toured the continent and built Blenheim Palace.<ref>"Biography of Sarah Jennings", Berkshire History, retrieved 5 August 2009.</ref> Winston Churchill and Diana, Princess of Wales, were both descended from her.
A new title, the Earl of St Albans, was created in 1628 with a short and undistinguished history, effectively wiped out in the civil war shortly thereafter. Rather than revive the Earldom, Charles Beauclerk, illegitimate son of King Charles II and Nell Gwyn, was made Duke of St Albans in 1684.<ref>Template:Cite DNB</ref> This peerage is as of 2026 on its fourteenth duke.
Robert Arthur Gascoyne Talbot Cecil, the Marquess of Salisbury, was born at Hatfield House on 3 February 1830.<ref>Cecil 1922, Vol. I., p. 8</ref> He also died there, 73 years later.<ref>Cecil 1922, Vol. III. p. viii.</ref> In a distinguished political career, he would go on to become the prime minister three times and foreign secretary four times.<ref name="R100" /> William Lamb, (Viscount) Melbourne and again prime minister, lived in Hertfordshire and at one stage was its co-member of Parliament. He died at Brocket Hall.<ref>Rook 1984, p. 124.</ref>
After the Local Government Act 1888, the first county councillors in Hertfordshire were elected on 17 January 1889.<ref>Rook 1984, p. 117.</ref>
Arthur Balfour, though born in Scotland, was educated in Hertfordshire before going to university at Cambridge. He served as MP for Hertford before being elected as prime minister in 1902.<ref name="No10">"Arthur James Balfour" Template:Webarchive, 10 Downing Street Website, retrieved 10 November 2009.</ref> He resigned as prime minister in 1905, at which time he was the first prime minister to own a car.<ref name="No10" /> He later served as foreign secretary, when his Balfour Declaration was an important episode in the leadup to the creation of Israel.
See also
Template:Commons category Template:Portal
References
- Footnotes
- Citations
- Bibliography
- Pope Adrian IV. The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York Encyclopedia Press Inc. 1913
- Bartlett, Robert. England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2000. Template:ISBN
- Burley, Elliott & Watson. The Battles of St Albans, Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2007. Template:ISBN
- Burne, A.H. The Battlefields of England, London: Classic Penguin, 2002. Template:ISBN
- Castleden, Rodney. Neolithic Britain: new stone age sites of England, Scotland, and Wales, Routledge, 1992. Template:ISBN
- Cecil, Lady G. Life of Robert, Marquis of Salisbury, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1922.
- Churchill, Winston. A History of the English Speaking Peoples, Vol. 1, London: Cassell and Co. 1956. Template:ISBN
- Cunliffe, Barry. Iron Age communities in Britain, Abingdon: Routledge 2005 (4th ed). Template:ISBN
- Darville, Timothy, Timby, Jane & Stamper, Paul. England: an Oxford archaeological guide to sites from earliest times to AD 1600. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. Template:ISBN
- Dumville, David. Wessex and England from Alfred to Edgar: Six Essays in Political, Cultural and Ecclesiastical Revival. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell & Brewer, 1992. Template:ISBN.
- Feiling, Keith. A History of England from the Coming of the English to 1918. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1950. Citations from the 1972 Book Club Associates reprint.
- Jones-Baker, Doris (ed.) Hertfordshire in History. Originally published by Hertfordshire Local History Council, 1991; citations from the 2004 edition by the Hatfield: University of Hertfordshire Press. Template:ISBN.
- Keynes, Simon in Lapidge, Michael. The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 1999. Template:ISBN.
- Kiln, Robert & Partridge, Clive. Ware and Hertford from Birth to Middle Age. Hertford: Castlemead Publications, 1994. Template:ISBN
- Lydekker, Richard. Hertfordshire. University Press, 1909; citations are from the 2008 scan on Google Books. Template:ISBN.
- Page, Dr Frances M. History of Hertford. Hertford: Hertford Town Council, 1959; citations from the second edition of 1993. Template:ISBN.
- Partington, Angela, ed. The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. Template:ISBN.
- Perkins, Thomas. Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Saint Albans, London: George Bell & Sons.
- Robinson, Gwennah. Barracuda Guide to County History, Vol III: Hertfordshire. Chesham: Barracuda Books Ltd., 1978. Template:ISBN.
- Rook, Tony. A History of Hertfordshire. London: Philmore & Co. Ltd., 1984. Template:ISBN.
- Slater, Terry & Goose, Nigel (eds.) A County of Small Towns. Hatfield: University of Hertfordshire Press, 1992. Template:ISBN.
- Shields, Pamela. Royal Hertfordshire: Murders and Misdemeanours. Stroud: Amberley Publishing Plc, 2010. Template:ISBN.
- Stenton, Sir Frank. Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971. Template:ISBN.
- Thorne, J. O. and Collocott, T. C. Chambers Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: W & R Chambers Ltd., 1984. Template:ISBN.
- Tomkins, Herbert. Hertfordshire. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1903, revised 1922; citations are from the scan on Project Gutenberg.
- Tomkins, Malcolm. So That Was Hertfordshire: Travellers' Jottings 1322–1887. Hertford: Hertfordshire Publications, 1998. Template:ISBN.
- Turnor, Lewis. History of the Ancient Town and Borough of Hertford. Hertford: St Austin and Sons, 1830.
- Whitelock, Dorothy. (ed.) The Will of Æthelgifu. Oxford: Roxburghe Club, Oxford, 1968.
- Williamson, Tom. The Origins of Hertfordshire. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000. Template:ISBN.
Template:Refend {{{{#if:yes|Navbox|Sidebar with collapsible lists}} |name = History of England |bodyclass = vcard |wraplinks = true |title = {{#if:yes
|History of England |Template:Region history sidebar title }}
| listtitlestyle = background:#eee; text-align:center; | state = collapsed
|{{#if:yes|group1|list1title}} = Timeline |list1class={{#if:yes|hlist}}
|list1 =
|{{#if:yes|group2|list2title}} = Topics |list2class={{#if:yes|hlist|plainlist}} |list2=
- English overseas possessions
- English society
- Government in medieval England
- History of education in England
- History of English
- History of monarchy in the United Kingdom
- History of the economy of England
- History of the politics of England
- Wars
- Riots
|{{#if:yes|group3|list3title}} = Polities |list3class={{#if:yes|hlist|plainlist}} |list3=
|{{#if:yes|group4|list4title}} = By county |list4class=hlist |list4 =
- Bedfordshire
- Berkshire
- City of Bristol
- Buckinghamshire
- Cambridgeshire
- Cheshire
- Cornwall
- Cumbria
- Derbyshire
- Devon
- Dorset
- Durham
- East Riding of Yorkshire
- East Sussex
- Essex
- Gloucestershire
- Greater London
- Greater Manchester
- Hampshire
- Herefordshire
- Hertfordshire
- Isle of Wight
- Kent
- Lancashire
- Leicestershire
- Lincolnshire
- City of London
- Merseyside
- Norfolk
- Northamptonshire
- Northumberland
- North Yorkshire
- Nottinghamshire
- Oxfordshire
- Rutland
- Shropshire
- Somerset
- South Yorkshire
- Staffordshire
- Suffolk
- Surrey
- Tyne and Wear
- Warwickshire
- West Midlands
- West Sussex
- West Yorkshire
- Wiltshire
- Worcestershire
|{{#if:yes|group5|list5title}} =By city or town |list5class=hlist |list5 =
- Birmingham
- Bournemouth
- Brighton
- Bristol
- Chester
- Christchurch
- Colchester
- Coventry
- Dover
- Folkestone
- Leeds
- Liverpool
- London
- Luton
- Maidstone
- Manchester
- Margate
- Milton Keynes
- Middlesbrough
- Newcastle
- Nottingham
- Oxford
- Plymouth
- Poole
- Portsmouth
- Reading
- Rochester
- Sheffield
- Shrewsbury
- Southampton
- St Albans
- Sunderland
- Torquay
- Wetherby
- Worcester
- Worthing
- York
|belowstyle = {{#if:yes|font-weight:bold}} |below = Template:Portal-inline