Day (24 Aug.), when TITHES were payable. The eviction of so‐called ‘Bartholomew men’ strengthened NONCONFORMITY. See also CLARENDON CODE.BASTARD FEUDALISM
Term invented in 1885 by the English historian Charles Plummer to describe lordship and political society in late‐medieval England (14th–15th centuries). It described a situation in which lords obtained services and military support by recruiting and retaining followers mainly with money payments (instead of with land, as in a ‘traditional’ feudal system; see MILITARY SERVICE, ENGLAND 1066 TO MID 17TH CENTURY). Payments were made as either annual fees (annuities) or daily wages, and were sometimes agreed by contract (or indenture). Lords also provided uniforms or other insignia and food (so‐called ‘livery and maintenance’). Uniforms and insignia indicated allegiance. The ‘retaining’ of GENTRY and others provided magnates with ‘retinues’ (effectively private armies) which they could use for feuding, influencing legal proceedings and warfare. A lord’s total body of followers was called an ‘affinity’.
Bastard feudalism has a longer and wider history than Plummer envisaged, and political society was arguably more fluid, and less contractual. Retaining existed by the mid 12th century though it grew during the 14th century. The House of Commons complained about its effects (e.g., lawlessness) from the 1370s onwards, and bastard feudalism facilitated the YORKIST–LANCASTRIAN CONFLICT (1450s–80s). Similar developments occurred in Wales and parts of Ireland, and to a lesser extent in Scotland (see MANRENT).
From the late 13th century, English rulers relied on retinues recruited by noblemen to provide military forces, but in the late 15th and 16th centuries they sought to control retaining. It remained a means of raising armed forces for the Crown until the CIVIL WARS (1640s), although its importance declined in the later 16th century with the revival and development of the MILITIA. See also PATRONAGE.
BATH
A city in SW England, by the R. Avon; centre of Bath and North East Somerset (unitary authority). Site of natural hot springs.
Bath flourished as a spa under the Romans (1st–4th centuries; called Aquae Sulis, meaning ‘Springs of Sulis’), then declined in the 5th century. The site was taken by the Gewisse in the late 6th century (see WESSEX), and named after the ruins of Roman baths. A MINSTER was founded in the late 7th century, and a small town later developed. Bath was a bishop’s see 1088–1206 and a joint see thereafter (with Wells, Somerset).
In the 18th century Bath became England’s premier spa and pleasure capital, over which Beau Nash (1674–1762) presided. Splendid houses, streets, squares, crescents and facilities (e.g., pump house) were built. After bombing in WORLD WAR II, buildings were subsequently restored. Bath gained two universities: Bath University of Technology (chartered 1966), Bath Spa University (upgraded college, 2005). See also EDGAR; TOWN PLANNING; CONSUMER REVOLUTION; HIGHER EDUCATION, EXPANSION OF.
Est. popn: 1086, 1500; 1300, 1500; 1600, 2000; 1800, 35,000; 1900, 52,000; 2000, 83,000.
BATH, EARL OFsee PULTENEY, WILLIAMBAXTER, RICHARD
(b. 12 Nov. 1615 at Rowton, Shropshire, England; d. 8 Dec. 1691 at London, England, aged 76). A Church of ENGLAND clergyman from 1638, with PURITAN sympathies, Baxter served as a preacher in Kidderminster (Worcestershire) 1641–2, and as a chaplain in Parliament’s NEW MODEL ARMY 1645–7. He returned to Kidderminster in 1648 as vicar. He became well known in the 1650s for his writings (notably The Saint’s Everlasting Rest, 1650), and in 1652 founded the Worcestershire Voluntary Association of Ministers to encourage unity.
After the RESTORATION (1660), Baxter declined the offer of a bishopric from King CHARLES II. He participated in discussions towards a Church settlement encompassing a broad range of Protestants (see WORCESTER HOUSE DECLARATION; SAVOY CONFERENCE). When these failed, he left his living (1662). Thereafter he devoted himself to writing and preaching.
BAYEUX TAPESTRYAn embroidery, at Bayeux Cathedral (in Normandy, N France), depicting the Norman invasion of England (1066). The surviving work measures 223 ft by about 20 in (68 m by about 50 cm). The end is lost. Its early history is unrecorded. It was probably made in England for ODO OF BAYEUX before 1082. See also NORMAN CONQUEST OF ENGLAND.BAYLY, LEWIS(b. in 1570s, probably at Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Wales; d. 26 Oct. 1631, probably in Wales, aged around 65). A combative personality and adherent of PURITANISM who wrote the popular devotional work The Practice of Piety (1611). The Welsh translation, Yr Ymarfer o Dduwioldeb (1630), was influential into the 19th century. Bayly held Church posts in England, and was bishop of BANGOR 1616–31 and patron of John DAVIES.BBCsee BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATIONBBC WORLD SERVICEName used from 1965 for the international radio transmissions (or ‘external services’) of the BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION. An ‘Empire Service’ in English was started in 1932, followed by an Arabic service in Jan. 1938 and French, German and Italian services during the MUNICH CRISIS (Sept.). By the end of 1940, during WORLD WAR II, the BBC broadcast in 34 languages, rising to 45 in 1945. The Empire Service was renamed the Overseas Service (Nov. 1939), General Overseas Service (1943), and World Service (1965). Though the BBC’s overseas broadcasts were supported financially by the British government, they were considered trustworthy around the world, and sustained British influence following the decline of the BRITISH EMPIRE. In 2015 over 300 million people listened to BBC services in 29 languages. A television service was started in 1991.BEAGHMORE STONE CIRCLESA complex of STONE CIRCLES, rows and cairns in Co. Tyrone, N Ireland. The exposed part consists of seven circles, including three pairs. The circles consist of many small, closely spaced stones, and are associated with pre‐existing small cairns. The long rows lead tangentially onto the circles. Use of the site centres on c.1600 in the early Middle BRONZE AGE.BEAKER CULTURE, BRITAINA prehistoric culture defined by the appearance in the very late NEOLITHIC of ceramic vessels with an ‘S’‐shaped profile and incised decoration; made and used over the period c.2700 BC–1000 BC (including most of the BRONZE AGE). Beaker culture is often associated with the first metals. Although Beaker culture has traditionally been taken as evidence for the immigration of an ethnic group or ‘culture’, it is now thought to reflect more complex networks of contact and exchange and the use of Beakers in new ceremonial and sacred events.BEAKER CULTURE, IRELANDBeaker pots, dating from c.2500– c.1700 BC (CHALCOLITHIC PERIOD and Early BRONZE AGE), occur in settlements, ritual sites and in burials sometimes accompanied by copper daggers and an archer’s equipment. They were once regarded as evidence of an intrusive ‘Beaker Folk’, but their generally indigenous contexts imply no significant population influx.BEATLES, THEA pop music group from LIVERPOOL (NW England), consisting from 1962 of John Lennon (1940–80), Paul McCartney (b. 1942), George Harrison (1943–2001) and Ringo Starr (b. 1940). They dominated popular music in Great Britain from 1963 until their break‐up in 1970, performing many songs by Lennon and McCartney. They achieved immense success in the USA. The Beatles’ music energized 1960s YOUTH CULTURE, and remained popular worldwide.BEATON, DAVID
(b. c.1494 at Markinch, Fife, E Scotland; d. 29 May 1546 at St Andrews, Fife, aged about 52). Clergyman; appointed bishop of Mirepoix, France (1537), cardinal (1538), and archbishop of ST ANDREWS (1539). As an adviser of King JAMES V from 1528, Beaton negotiated his French marriages and in 1541 persuaded him to avoid a meeting arranged by King HENRY VIII, provoking the English invasion of 1452.
On 10 Jan. 1543, following James's death, the regent, the earl of ARRAN, appointed Beaton as CHANCELLOR (replacing Gavin DUNBAR), only to arrest and remove him (27 Jan.). Arran then arranged peace and marriage treaties with England (agreed Aug. 1543). Beaton meanwhile constructed a large opposition. In Sept. Arran capitulated to Beaton; in Dec. Parliament cancelled the treaties and Beaton was reappointed chancellor. He was also a PAPAL LEGATE from 1544. As a fervent opponent of Church reform, Beaton had George WISHART burnt for heresy (1 March 1546), provoking his murder by Wishart's supporters.
