Download The Norman Conquest of England: A Historical Overview and more Study Guides, Projects, Research United Kingdom History in PDF only on Docsity!
The Norman Conquest (1066)
To understand who the Normans were, we have to go back a little to 911. In this year a rather large Viking chief (reckoned to be so big that a horse could not carry him!) called Rollo accepted the 'kind' offer of a large area of Northern France from the then king of France, Charles II ('The Simple‟) as part of a peace treaty. Rollo and his 'North Men' settled in this area of northern France now known as Normandy. Rollo became the first Duke of Normandy and over the next hundred years or so the Normans adopted the French language and culture. On 5th January 1066, Edward the Confessor , King of England, died. The next day the Anglo-Saxon Witan (a council of high ranking men) elected Harold Godwin , Earl of Essex (and Edward's brother-in-law) to succeed him. The crown had scarcely been put on his head when King Harold's problems started. In Normandy Duke William did not agree with the voting of the Witan. William claimed that years earlier, Edward had promised the crown of England to him. In addition, he believed that he had strengthened his claim still further when in 1063 he had tricked Harold into swearing to support his claim to the English throne. More than a little annoyed, William prepared to invade. King Harold also had problems to the north of England - sibling rivalry. Harold's brother Tostig had joined forces with Harold Hardrada , King of Norway, and had landed with an army in Yorkshire. Harold marched his own English army north from London to repel the invaders. Arriving at Tadcaster on 24th September, he seized the opportunity to catch the enemy off guard. His army was exhausted after the forced march from London, but after a bitter, bloody battle to capture the bridge at Stamford , Harold won a decisive victory on 25th September. Harold Hardrada and Tostig were both killed. On October 1st Harold and his depleted army then marched the three hundred kilometers south to do battle with Duke William of Normandy who had landed at Pevensey , Kent on the 28th September. Harold's sick, exhausted Saxon army met William's fresh, rested Norman troops on October 14th at Battle near Hastings , and the great battle began. At first, the two-handed Saxon battleaxes sliced through the armour of the Norman knights, but slowly the Normans began to gain control. King Harold was struck in the eye by a chance Norman arrow and was killed, but the battle raged on until all of Harold's loyal bodyguard was slain. William could truly now be called ' The Conqueror'! On Christmas Day 1066 Archbishop Ealdred of York crowned William King of England.
1/ A Brief History
Level : 1st year Bachelor Module : History Student : Mr. HANNACHI
When he was crowned, William I, the Conqueror, promised to govern according to the laws of Edward the Confessor. The Witan survived in his great council of advisers, the curia regis , which was attended by earls, barons, bishops, and abbots, but the council no longer had the power to choose the king. For five years William I was busy putting down revolts in his new kingdom. He seized the land of all Saxons who fought against him and distributed it among his Norman followers except for vast tracts that he kept for himself as crown lands. On his own estates and on those of favored barons he ordered strong fortified castles built. The early years of William's English rule were a little insecure. He built castles across England to convince everyone who was the boss, meeting force with even greater force as rebellious regions like Yorkshire were laid waste (the harrowing of the North). The date of the Norman Conquest 1066 is one of the most important dates in English history. The Conquest cut England‟s ties with Scandinavia and connected England with France. French, the language if the Normand rulers, became blended with the Anglo-Saxon speech of the common people, enriching the native language with many new words and ideas. In return for the grant of land called a fief each lord had to swear loyalty to the king, furnish knights for the king‟s army, attend the king‟s court, and aid the king with money on certain occasions. Farmers were reduced to the class serfs, or villeins, as the Norman called them. A villain could not leave the manor on which he was born. This system of land tenure was the basis of feudalism , which held sway all over Europe in the Middle Ages. "Feudalism" comes from the French word feu, which the Normans used to refer to land held in return for duty or service to a lord. The basis of feudal society was the holding of land, and its main purpose was economic. The efficiency of William‟s rule is shown by the survey he had made of all the property in England. His agents visited every manor, found out who owned it, how many people lived there, and reported what the feudal lord ought to pay the king in taxes and feudal service. The findings were recorded in the famous Domesday Book. It was called Domesday (day of doom) because no one could escape its judgments. a. The Bayeux Tapestry Strictly speaking, of course, the Bayeux Tapestry isn‟t really a tapestry: It‟s a very long (70- meters) piece of embroidered linen. The tapestry is also a very long piece of propaganda; it tells the story of the Battle of Hastings from the Norman perspective. William‟s brother, Odo, bishop of Bayeux, was probably the one who had the tapestry made, and it probably hung on the wall in his palace b. The Domesday Book A written record of the ownership and value of land in England in 1086. It was made for William the Conqueror in order to calculate the size and value of the king‟s property and the tax value of other land in the country. The book is of great historical importance because it tells us a lot about England at that time. It can be seen at the Public Record Office in London.
2/ Feudal System under William I
examples of Norman buildings in England. William was also responsible for building the White Tower in London (pictured), with the primary function of defending his supply ships sailing up the Thames River. It was an immense structure using specially imported stone from Normandy. The building work was supervised by Gundulf, the Norman Bishop of Rochester, but the labour was provided by English men of the shires. The country had never seen anything like it. c. Language and Culture: The English language suffered as a result of the Norman Invasion as French and Latin became the new languages of the government, Church and the nobility. English was now associated with the uncivilized and uneducated. The Normans also brought their drinking habits with them; gone were the days of the famous Anglo-Saxon mead-hall, eclipsed by the new French fashion of wine-drinking. One of the most enduring cultural changes was the adoption of French names, at the expense of the more traditional Anglo-Saxon ones. In an attempt to imitate their new conquerors, many English chose to abandon the traditional names like „Godwin‟, „Harold‟, or „Ethelred‟, in favour of names French names like „William‟, „Henry‟ or „Robert‟. Even in the last decade, William still features in the top 10 baby names for boys in England and Wales. These are just a few of the changes brought about by the new regime. But it was changes like these which left an indelible scar on the country and would ultimately ensure that England and her people would never be conquered. As feudal overlord of the whole country, William bequeathed England to his second son, William II. He left Normandy to his eldest son, Robert. William II (called William Refus), the King came to the throne in 1087. He was a harsh ruler and few mourned him when he was killed by an arrow shot by unknown hand while he was hunting. Robert had gone off on the firs Crusade, to recover the Holy Land from the Turks. A third sons Henry I, was therefore able to become King without a struggle, 1100. When Robert returned, Henry crossed the Channel, defeated him, and granted Normandy also. He gave both England and western France a peaceful orderly rule. Henry I exacted a promise from the barons to recognize his daughter Matilda as their ruler. However, when he died, some of the barons broke their promise and instead chose Stephen , a grandson of William the Conqueror. Stephen was a gallant knight but a weak King. Throughout his reign lawless barons fought private wars, each seeking to increase his power. Twice he was challenged by Matilda and her supporters, who nearly defeated him in 1141. When Stephen died (1154), the people were ready to welcome a strong ruler who would restore order.
4/William II, Henry I, and Stephen
Normans The Normans, a people descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France after being given land by the French king, conquered other lands and protected the French coast from foreign attacks. Edward the Confessor One of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066. William the Conqueror The first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. Battle of Hastings The decisive battle in the Norman Conquest of England fought on October 14, 1066, between the Norman- French army of Duke William I of Normandy and the English army under Anglo-Saxon King Harold II. Feudalism A system within which society was organized in Europe during the Middle Ages, it was based on series of relationship between the lord ad those subject to him (his vassals). A noble man would be the king‟s vassal and would receive land from him in return for fighting for the king. A vassal A person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support by knights in exchange for certain privileges, usually including land held as a tenant or fief. The Curia Regis Origins of Cabinet Government in England which dates back to the Middle Ages, meaning the King‟s Court. It was made up house hold officials and anyone else the king looked for advice. Bishop A bishop is a clergyman of high rank in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox churches. Archbishop In the Roman Catholic , Orthodox , and Anglican Churches , an archbishop is a bishop of the highest rank, who is in charge of all the bishops and priests in a particular country or region.
The Norman Conquest of 1066 (Key Terms Definition)
