Norman Conquest

The Norman Conquest (or the

Conquest) was the 11th-century
invasion and occupation of England
by an army made up of Normans,
Bretons, Flemish, and men from other
French provinces, all led by the Duke
of Normandy later styled William the
Conqueror.

William's claim to the English throne

derived from his familial relationship
with the childless Anglo-Saxon king
Edward the Confessor, who may have
encouraged William's hopes for the
throne. Edward died in January 1066
and was succeeded by his brother-in-
law Harold Godwinson. The
Norwegian king Harald Hardrada
invaded northern England in
September 1066 and was victorious at
the Battle of Fulford, but
Godwinson's army defeated and killed Location of major events during the Norman Conquest in 1066
Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford
Bridge on 25 September. Within days,
William landed in southern England. Harold marched south to oppose him, leaving a significant portion of his
army in the north. Harold's army confronted William's invaders on 14 October at the Battle of Hastings;
William's force defeated Harold, who was killed in the engagement.

Although William's main rivals were gone, he still faced rebellions over the following years and was not
secure on his throne until after 1072. The lands of the resisting English elite were confiscated; some of the elite
fled into exile. To control his new kingdom, William granted lands to his followers and built castles
commanding military strongpoints throughout the land with the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of the
"Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales being completed by 1086. Other effects of the
conquest included the court and government, the introduction of the Norman language as the language of the
elites, and changes in the composition of the upper classes, as William enfeoffed lands to be held directly from
the king. More gradual changes affected the agricultural classes and village life: the main change appears to
have been the formal elimination of slavery, which may or may not have been linked to the invasion. There
was little alteration in the structure of government, as the new Norman administrators took over many of the
forms of Anglo-Saxon government.

Contents
Origins
Tostig's raids and the Norwegian invasion
Norman invasion
Norman preparations and forces
Landing and Harold's march south
Hastings
Aftermath of Hastings
English resistance
First rebellions
Revolts of 1069
Danish troubles
Last resistance
Control of England
Consequences
Elite replacement
English emigration
Governmental systems
Language
Immigration and intermarriage
Society
Historiography
See also
Notes
Citations
References
External links

Origins
In 911, the Carolingian French ruler Charles the Simple allowed a group of Vikings under their leader Rollo to
settle in Normandy as part of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte. In exchange for the land, the Norsemen under
Rollo were expected to provide protection along the coast against further Viking invaders.[1] Their settlement
proved successful, and the Vikings in the region became known as the "Northmen" from which "Normandy"
and "Normans" are derived.[2] The Normans quickly adopted the indigenous culture as they became
assimilated by the French, renouncing paganism and converting to Christianity.[3] They adopted the langue
d'oïl of their new home and added features from their own Norse language, transforming it into the Norman
language. They intermarried with the local population[4] and used the territory granted to them as a base to
extend the frontiers of the duchy westward, annexing territory including the Bessin, the Cotentin Peninsula
and Avranches.[5]

In 1002 English king Æthelred the Unready married Emma of Normandy, the sister of Richard II, Duke of
Normandy.[6] Their son Edward the Confessor, who spent many years in exile in Normandy, succeeded to the
English throne in 1042.[7] This led to the establishment of a powerful Norman interest in English politics, as
Edward drew heavily on his former hosts for support, bringing in Norman courtiers, soldiers, and clerics and
appointing them to positions of power, particularly in the Church. Childless and embroiled in conflict with the
formidable Godwin, Earl of Wessex and his sons, Edward may also have encouraged Duke William of
Normandy's ambitions for the English throne.[8]
When King Edward died at the beginning of 1066, the lack of a clear heir led
to a disputed succession in which several contenders laid claim to the throne
of England.[9] Edward's immediate successor was the Earl of Wessex, Harold
Godwinson, the richest and most powerful of the English aristocrats. Harold
was elected king by the Witenagemot of England and crowned by the
Archbishop of York, Ealdred, although Norman propaganda claimed the
ceremony was performed by Stigand, the uncanonically elected Archbishop
of Canterbury.[9][10] Harold was immediately challenged by two powerful
neighbouring rulers. Duke William claimed that he had been promised the
throne by King Edward and that Harold had sworn agreement to this;[11]
King Harald III of Norway, commonly known as Harald Hardrada, also
contested the succession. His claim to the throne was based on an agreement
between his predecessor, Magnus the Good, and the earlier English king,
Harthacnut, whereby if either died without heir, the other would inherit both
England and Norway.[12][a] William and Harald at once set about assembling
troops and ships to invade England.[16][b]

Tostig's raids and the Norwegian invasion

In early 1066, Harold's exiled brother, Tostig Godwinson, raided southeastern
England with a fleet he had recruited in Flanders, later joined by other ships
from Orkney.[c] Threatened by Harold's fleet, Tostig moved north and raided
in East Anglia and Lincolnshire, but he was driven back to his ships by the
brothers Edwin, Earl of Mercia, and Morcar, Earl of Northumbria. Deserted 13th-century depiction of
by most of his followers, Tostig withdrew to Scotland, where he spent the Rollo (top) and his
summer recruiting fresh forces.[23][d] King Harold spent the summer on the descendants William I
south coast with a large army and fleet waiting for William to invade, but the Longsword and Richard I of
bulk of his forces were militia who needed to harvest their crops, so on 8 Normandy
September Harold dismissed them.[24]

Hardrada invaded northern England in early September, leading a fleet of more than 300 ships carrying
perhaps 15,000 men. Harald's army was further augmented by the forces of Tostig, who threw his support
behind the Norwegian king's bid for the throne. Advancing on York, the Norwegians defeated a northern
English army under Edwin and Morcar on 20 September at the Battle of Fulford.[25] The two earls had rushed
to engage the Norwegian forces before Harold could arrive from the south. Although Harold Godwinson had
married Edwin and Morcar's sister Ealdgyth, the two earls may have distrusted Harold and feared that the king
would replace Morcar with Tostig. The end result was that their forces were devastated and unable to
participate in the rest of the campaigns of 1066, although the two earls survived the battle.[26]

Hardrada moved on to York, which surrendered to him. After taking hostages from the leading men of the city,
on 24 September the Norwegians moved east to the tiny village of Stamford Bridge.[27] King Harold probably
learned of the Norwegian invasion in mid-September and rushed north, gathering forces as he went.[28] The
royal forces probably took nine days to cover the distance from London to York, averaging almost 25 miles
(40 kilometres) per day. At dawn on 25 September Harold's forces reached York, where he learned the
location of the Norwegians.[29] The English then marched on the invaders and took them by surprise,
defeating them in the Battle of Stamford Bridge. Harald of Norway and Tostig were killed, and the
Norwegians suffered such horrific losses that only 24 of the original 300 ships were required to carry away the
survivors. The English victory was costly, however, as Harold's army was left in a battered and weakened
state, and far from the English Channel.[28]
Norman invasion

Norman preparations and forces

William assembled a large invasion fleet and an army gathered from Normandy and all over France, including
large contingents from Brittany and Flanders.[30] He mustered his forces at Saint-Valery-sur-Somme and was
ready to cross the Channel by about 12 August.[31] The exact numbers and composition of William's force are
unknown.[32] A contemporary document claims that William had 726 ships, but this may be an inflated
figure.[33] Figures given by contemporary writers are highly exaggerated, varying from 14,000 to 150,000
men.[34] Modern historians have offered a range of estimates for the size of William's forces: 7000–8000 men,
1000–2000 of them cavalry;[35] 10,000–12,000 men;[34] 10,000 men, 3000 of them cavalry;[36] or 7500
men.[32] The army would have consisted of a mix of cavalry, infantry, and archers or crossbowmen, with
about equal numbers of cavalry and archers and the foot soldiers equal in number to the other two types
combined.[37] Although later lists of companions of William the Conqueror are extant, most are padded with
extra names; only about 35 individuals can be reliably claimed to have been with William at Hastings.[32][38][e]

William of Poitiers states that William obtained Pope Alexander II's consent for the invasion, signified by a
papal banner, along with diplomatic support from other European rulers. Although Alexander did give papal
approval to the conquest after it succeeded, no other source claims papal support before the invasion.[f]
William's army assembled during the summer while an invasion fleet in Normandy was constructed. Although
the army and fleet were ready by early August, adverse winds kept the ships in Normandy until late
September. There were probably other reasons for William's delay, including intelligence reports from England
revealing that Harold's forces were deployed along the coast. William would have preferred to delay the
invasion until he could make an unopposed landing.[40]

Landing and Harold's march south

The Normans crossed to England a few days after Harold's

victory over the Norwegians at Stamford Bridge on 25
September, following the dispersal of Harold's naval force.
They landed at Pevensey in Sussex on 28 September and
erected a wooden castle at Hastings, from which they
raided the surrounding area.[30] This ensured supplies for
Landing in England scene from the Bayeux the army, and as Harold and his family held many of the
Tapestry, depicting ships coming in and horses
lands in the area, it weakened William's opponent and
landing
made him more likely to attack to put an end to the
raiding.[41]

Harold, after defeating his brother Tostig and Harald Hardrada in the north, left much of his force there,
including Morcar and Edwin, and marched the rest of his army south to deal with the threatened Norman
invasion.[42] It is unclear when Harold learned of William's landing, but it was probably while he was
travelling south. Harold stopped in London for about a week before reaching Hastings, so it is likely that he
took a second week to march south, averaging about 27 miles (43 kilometres) per day,[43] for the nearly 200
miles (320 kilometres) to London.[44] Although Harold attempted to surprise the Normans, William's scouts
reported the English arrival to the duke. The exact events preceding the battle remain obscure, with
contradictory accounts in the sources, but all agree that William led his army from his castle and advanced
towards the enemy.[45] Harold had taken up a defensive position at the top of Senlac Hill (present-day Battle,
East Sussex), about 6 miles (10 kilometres) from William's castle at Hastings.[46]
Contemporary sources do not give reliable data on the size and composition of Harold's army, although two
Norman sources give figures of 1.2 million or 400,000 men.[47] Recent historians have suggested figures of
between 5000 and 13,000 for Harold's army at Hastings,[48] but most agree on a range of between 7000 and
8000 English troops.[49][50] These men would have comprised a mix of the fyrd (militia mainly composed of
foot soldiers) and the housecarls, or nobleman's personal troops, who usually also fought on foot. The main
difference between the two types was in their armour; the housecarls used better protecting armour than that of
the fyrd. The English army does not appear to have had many archers, although some were present.[49] The
identities of few of the Englishmen at Hastings are known; the most important were Harold's brothers Gyrth
and Leofwine.[32] About 18 other named individuals can reasonably be assumed to have fought with Harold
at Hastings, including two other relatives.[39][g]

Hastings

The battle began at about 9 am on 14 October 1066 and lasted all day,
but while a broad outline is known, the exact events are obscured by
contradictory accounts in the sources.[51] Although the numbers on
each side were probably about equal, William had both cavalry and
infantry, including many archers, while Harold had only foot soldiers
and few archers.[52] The English soldiers formed up as a shield wall
along the ridge, and were at first so effective that William's army was
thrown back with heavy casualties. Some of William's Breton troops
panicked and fled, and some of the English troops appear to have
pursued the fleeing Bretons. Norman cavalry then attacked and killed
the pursuing troops. While the Bretons were fleeing, rumours swept
the Norman forces that the duke had been killed, but William rallied
his troops. Twice more the Normans made feigned withdrawals, Likely depiction of Harold's death
tempting the English into pursuit, and allowing the Norman cavalry to from the Bayeux Tapestry
attack them repeatedly.[53] The available sources are more confused
about events in the afternoon, but it appears that the decisive event
was the death of Harold, about which different stories are told. William of Jumieges claimed that Harold was
killed by the duke. The Bayeux Tapestry has been claimed to show Harold's death by an arrow to the eye, but
this may be a later reworking of the tapestry to conform to 12th-century stories that Harold had died from an
arrow wound to the head.[54] Other sources stated that no one knew how Harold died because the press of
battle was so tight around the king that the soldiers could not see who struck the fatal blow.[55] William of
Poitiers gives no details at all about Harold's death.[56]

Aftermath of Hastings

The day after the battle, Harold's body was identified, either by his armour or marks on his body.[h] The bodies
of the English dead, who included some of Harold's brothers and his housecarls, were left on the
battlefield,[58] although some were removed by relatives later.[59] Gytha, Harold's mother, offered the
victorious duke the weight of her son's body in gold for its custody, but her offer was refused. William ordered
that Harold's body be thrown into the sea, but whether that took place is unclear.[58] Another story relates that
Harold was buried at the top of a cliff.[60] Waltham Abbey, which had been founded by Harold, later claimed
that his body had been buried there secretly.[58] Later legends claimed that Harold did not die at Hastings, but
escaped and became a hermit at Chester.[59]

After his victory at Hastings, William expected to receive the submission of the surviving English leaders, but
instead Edgar the Ætheling[i] was proclaimed king by the Witenagemot, with the support of Earls Edwin and
Morcar, Stigand, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Ealdred, the Archbishop of York.[62] William therefore
advanced, marching around the coast of Kent to London. He defeated an English force that attacked him at
Southwark, but being unable to storm London Bridge he sought to reach the capital by a more circuitous
route.[63]

William moved up the Thames valley to cross the river at Wallingford, Berkshire; while there he received the
submission of Stigand. He then travelled north-east along the Chilterns, before advancing towards London
from the north-west, fighting further engagements against forces from the city. Having failed to muster an
effective military response, Edgar's leading supporters lost their nerve, and the English leaders surrendered to
William at Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. William was acclaimed King of England and crowned by Ealdred on
25 December 1066, in Westminster Abbey.[63][j] The new king attempted to conciliate the remaining English
nobility by confirming Morcar, Edwin and Waltheof, the Earl of Northumbria, in their lands as well as giving
some land to Edgar the Ætheling. William remained in England until March 1067, when he returned to
Normandy with English prisoners, including Stigand, Morcar, Edwin, Edgar the Ætheling, and Waltheof.[65]

English resistance

First rebellions

Despite the submission of the English nobles, resistance continued for several years.[66] William left control of
England in the hands of his half-brother Odo and one of his closest supporters, William fitzOsbern.[65] In 1067
rebels in Kent launched an unsuccessful attack on Dover Castle in combination with Eustace II of
Boulogne.[66] The Shropshire landowner Eadric the Wild,[k] in alliance with the Welsh rulers of Gwynedd and
Powys, raised a revolt in western Mercia, fighting Norman forces based in Hereford.[66] These events forced
William to return to England at the end of 1067.[65] In 1068 William besieged rebels in Exeter, including
Harold's mother Gytha, and after suffering heavy losses managed to negotiate the town's surrender.[68] In May,
William's wife Matilda was crowned queen at Westminster, an important symbol of William's growing
international stature.[69] Later in the year Edwin and Morcar raised a revolt in Mercia with Welsh assistance,
while Gospatric, the newly appointed Earl of Northumbria,[l] led a rising in Northumbria, which had not yet
been occupied by the Normans. These rebellions rapidly collapsed as William moved against them, building
castles and installing garrisons as he had already done in the south.[71] Edwin and Morcar again submitted,
while Gospatric fled to Scotland, as did Edgar the Ætheling and his family, who may have been involved in
these revolts.[72] Meanwhile, Harold's sons, who had taken refuge in Ireland, raided Somerset, Devon and
Cornwall from the sea.[73]

Revolts of 1069

Early in 1069 the newly installed Norman Earl of Northumbria,

Robert de Comines, and several hundred soldiers accompanying him
were massacred at Durham; the Northumbrian rebellion was joined by
Edgar, Gospatric, Siward Barn and other rebels who had taken refuge
in Scotland. The castellan of York, Robert fitzRichard, was defeated
and killed, and the rebels besieged the Norman castle at York. William
The remains of Baile Hill, the second hurried north with an army, defeated the rebels outside York and
motte-and-bailey castle built by pursued them into the city, massacring the inhabitants and bringing the
William in York
revolt to an end.[74] He built a second castle at York, strengthened
Norman forces in Northumbria and then returned south. A subsequent
local uprising was crushed by the garrison of York.[74] Harold's sons
launched a second raid from Ireland and were defeated at the Battle of Northam in Devon by Norman forces
under Count Brian, a son of Eudes, Count of Penthièvre.[75] In August or September 1069 a large fleet sent by
Sweyn II of Denmark arrived off the coast of England, sparking a new wave of rebellions across the country.
After abortive raids in the south, the Danes joined forces with a new Northumbrian uprising, which was also
joined by Edgar, Gospatric and the other exiles from Scotland as well as Waltheof. The combined Danish and
English forces defeated the Norman garrison at York, seized the castles and took control of Northumbria,
although a raid into Lincolnshire led by Edgar was defeated by the Norman garrison of Lincoln.[76]

At the same time resistance flared up again in western Mercia, where the forces of Eadric the Wild, together
with his Welsh allies and further rebel forces from Cheshire and Shropshire, attacked the castle at Shrewsbury.
In the south-west, rebels from Devon and Cornwall attacked the Norman garrison at Exeter but were repulsed
by the defenders and scattered by a Norman relief force under Count Brian. Other rebels from Dorset,
Somerset and neighbouring areas besieged Montacute Castle but were defeated by a Norman army gathered
from London, Winchester and Salisbury under Geoffrey of Coutances.[76] Meanwhile, William attacked the
Danes, who had moored for the winter south of the Humber in Lincolnshire, and drove them back to the north
bank. Leaving Robert of Mortain in charge of Lincolnshire, he turned west and defeated the Mercian rebels in
battle at Stafford. When the Danes attempted to return to Lincolnshire, the Norman forces there again drove
them back across the Humber. William advanced into Northumbria, defeating an attempt to block his crossing
of the swollen River Aire at Pontefract. The Danes fled at his approach, and he occupied York. He bought off
the Danes, who agreed to leave England in the spring, and during the winter of 1069–70 his forces
systematically devastated Northumbria in the Harrying of the North, subduing all resistance.[76] As a symbol
of his renewed authority over the north, William ceremonially wore his crown at York on Christmas Day
1069.[70]

In early 1070, having secured the submission of Waltheof and Gospatric, and driven Edgar and his remaining
supporters back to Scotland, William returned to Mercia, where he based himself at Chester and crushed all
remaining resistance in the area before returning to the south.[76] Papal legates arrived and at Easter re-
crowned William, which would have symbolically reasserted his right to the kingdom. William also oversaw a
purge of prelates from the Church, most notably Stigand, who was deposed from Canterbury. The papal
legates also imposed penances on William and those of his supporters who had taken part in Hastings and the
subsequent campaigns.[77] As well as Canterbury, the see of York had become vacant following the death of
Ealdred in September 1069. Both sees were filled by men loyal to William: Lanfranc, abbot of William's
foundation at Caen, received Canterbury while Thomas of Bayeux, one of William's chaplains, was installed at
York. Some other bishoprics and abbeys also received new bishops and abbots and William confiscated some
of the wealth of the English monasteries, which had served as repositories for the assets of the native
nobles.[78]

Danish troubles

In 1070 Sweyn II of Denmark arrived to take personal command of

his fleet and renounced the earlier agreement to withdraw, sending
troops into the Fens to join forces with English rebels led by
Hereward the Wake,[m] at that time based on the Isle of Ely. Sweyn
soon accepted a further payment of Danegeld from William, and
returned home.[80] After the departure of the Danes the Fenland
rebels remained at large, protected by the marshes, and early in 1071
there was a final outbreak of rebel activity in the area. Edwin and
Morcar again turned against William, and although Edwin was
quickly betrayed and killed, Morcar reached Ely, where he and
Hereward were joined by exiled rebels who had sailed from Scotland.
William arrived with an army and a fleet to finish off this last pocket Coin of Sweyn II of Denmark
of resistance. After some costly failures the Normans managed to
construct a pontoon to reach the Isle of Ely, defeated the rebels at the bridgehead and stormed the island,
marking the effective end of English resistance.[81] Morcar was imprisoned for the rest of his life; Hereward
was pardoned and had his lands returned to him.[82]

Last resistance

William faced difficulties in his continental possessions in 1071,[83] but in 1072 he returned to England and
marched north to confront King Malcolm III of Scotland.[n] This campaign, which included a land army
supported by a fleet, resulted in the Treaty of Abernethy in which Malcolm expelled Edgar the Ætheling from
Scotland and agreed to some degree of subordination to William.[82] The exact status of this subordination was
unclear – the treaty merely stated that Malcolm became William's man. Whether this meant only for Cumbria
and Lothian or for the whole Scottish kingdom was left ambiguous.[84]

In 1075, during William's absence, Ralph de Gael, the Earl of Norfolk, and Roger de Breteuil the Earl of
Hereford, conspired to overthrow him in the Revolt of the Earls.[85] The exact reason for the rebellion is
unclear, but it was launched at the wedding of Ralph to a relative of Roger's, held at Exning. Another earl,
Waltheof, despite being one of William's favourites, was also involved, and some Breton lords were ready to
offer support. Ralph also requested Danish aid. William remained in Normandy while his men in England
subdued the revolt. Roger was unable to leave his stronghold in Herefordshire because of efforts by Wulfstan,
the Bishop of Worcester, and Æthelwig, the Abbot of Evesham. Ralph was bottled up in Norwich Castle by
the combined efforts of Odo of Bayeux, Geoffrey of Coutances, Richard fitzGilbert, and William de Warenne.
Norwich was besieged and surrendered, and Ralph went into exile. Meanwhile, the Danish king's brother,
Cnut, had finally arrived in England with a fleet of 200 ships, but he was too late as Norwich had already
surrendered. The Danes then raided along the coast before returning home.[85] William did not return to
England until later in 1075, to deal with the Danish threat and the aftermath of the rebellion, celebrating
Christmas at Winchester.[86] Roger and Waltheof were kept in prison, where Waltheof was executed in May
1076. By that time William had returned to the continent, where Ralph was continuing the rebellion from
Brittany.[85]

Control of England
Once England had been conquered, the Normans faced many challenges in
maintaining control.[88] They were few in number compared to the native
English population; including those from other parts of France, historians
estimate the number of Norman landholders at around 8000.[89] William's
followers expected and received lands and titles in return for their service in
the invasion,[90] but William claimed ultimate possession of the land in
England over which his armies had given him de facto control, and asserted
the right to dispose of it as he saw fit.[91] Henceforth, all land was "held"
directly from the king in feudal tenure in return for military service.[91] A
Norman lord typically had properties scattered piecemeal throughout England
and Normandy, and not in a single geographic block.[92]
The Tower of London,
originally begun by William To find the lands to compensate his Norman followers, William initially
the Conqueror to control
confiscated the estates of all the English lords who had fought and died with
London[87]
Harold and redistributed part of their lands.[93] These confiscations led to
revolts, which resulted in more confiscations, a cycle that continued for five
years after the Battle of Hastings.[90] To put down and prevent further
rebellions the Normans constructed castles and fortifications in unprecedented numbers,[94] initially mostly on
the motte-and-bailey pattern.[95] Historian Robert Liddiard remarks that "to glance at the urban landscape of
Norwich, Durham or Lincoln is to be forcibly reminded of the impact of the Norman invasion".[96] William
and his barons also exercised tighter control over inheritance of property by widows and daughters, often
forcing marriages to Normans.[97]

A measure of William's success in taking control is that, from 1072 until the Capetian conquest of Normandy
in 1204, William and his successors were largely absentee rulers. For example, after 1072, William spent more
than 75 per cent of his time in France rather than England. While he needed to be personally present in
Normandy to defend the realm from foreign invasion and put down internal revolts, he set up royal
administrative structures that enabled him to rule England from a distance.[98]

Consequences

Elite replacement

A direct consequence of the invasion was the almost total elimination of the old English aristocracy and the
loss of English control over the Catholic Church in England. William systematically dispossessed English
landowners and conferred their property on his continental followers. The Domesday Book meticulously
documents the impact of this colossal programme of expropriation, revealing that by 1086 only about 5 percent
of land in England south of the Tees was left in English hands. Even this tiny residue was further diminished
in the decades that followed, the elimination of native landholding being most complete in southern parts of the
country.[99][100]

Natives were also removed from high governmental and ecclesiastical office. After 1075 all earldoms were
held by Normans, and Englishmen were only occasionally appointed as sheriffs. Likewise in the Church,
senior English office-holders were either expelled from their positions or kept in place for their lifetimes and
replaced by foreigners when they died. By 1096 no bishopric was held by any Englishman, and English
abbots became uncommon, especially in the larger monasteries.[101]

English emigration

Following the conquest, many Anglo-Saxons, including groups of

nobles, fled the country[102] for Scotland, Ireland, or
Scandinavia.[103] Members of King Harold Godwinson's family
sought refuge in Ireland and used their bases in that country for
unsuccessful invasions of England.[69] The largest single exodus
occurred in the 1070s, when a group of Anglo-Saxons in a fleet of
235 ships sailed for the Byzantine Empire.[103] The empire became a Depiction of the Varangian Guard
popular destination for many English nobles and soldiers, as the from the 12th-century Madrid
Byzantines were in need of mercenaries. [102] The English became the Skylitzes
predominant element in the elite Varangian Guard, until then a largely
Scandinavian unit, from which the emperor's bodyguard was
drawn.[104] Some of the English migrants were settled in Byzantine frontier regions on the Black Sea coast,
and established towns with names such as New London and New York.[102]

Governmental systems

Before the Normans arrived, Anglo-Saxon governmental systems were more sophisticated than their
counterparts in Normandy.[105][106] All of England was divided into administrative units called shires, with
subdivisions; the royal court was the centre of government, and a justice system based on local and regional
tribunals existed to secure the rights of free men.[107] Shires were run by
officials known as shire reeves or sheriffs.[108] Most medieval governments
were always on the move, holding court wherever the weather and food or
other matters were best at the moment;[109] England had a permanent treasury
at Winchester before William's conquest.[110] One major reason for the
strength of the English monarchy was the wealth of the kingdom, built on the
English system of taxation that included a land tax, or the geld. English
coinage was also superior to most of the other currency in use in northwestern
Europe, and the ability to mint coins was a royal monopoly.[111] The English
kings had also developed the system of issuing writs to their officials, in
addition to the normal medieval practice of issuing charters.[112] Writs were
either instructions to an official or group of officials, or notifications of royal
English counties in 1086
actions such as appointments to office or a grant of some sort.[113]

This sophisticated medieval form of

government was handed over to the Normans and was the foundation
of further developments.[107] They kept the framework of
government but made changes in the personnel, although at first the
new king attempted to keep some natives in office. By the end of
William's reign most of the officials of government and the royal
household were Normans. The language of official documents also
changed, from Old English to Latin. The forest laws were introduced,
leading to the setting aside of large sections of England as royal
forest.[108] The Domesday survey was an administrative catalogue of
the landholdings of the kingdom, and was unique to medieval Europe.
It was divided into sections based on the shires, and listed all the
landholdings of each tenant-in-chief of the king as well as who had
held the land before the conquest.[114]

Page from the Warwickshire

Language
Domesday survey
One of the most obvious effects of the conquest was the introduction
of Anglo-Norman, a northern dialect of Old French with limited
Nordic influences, as the language of the ruling classes in England, displacing Old English. Norman French
words entered the English language, and a further sign of the shift was the usage of names common in France
instead of Anglo-Saxon names. Male names such as William, Robert and Richard soon became common;
female names changed more slowly. The Norman invasion had little impact on placenames, which had
changed significantly after earlier Scandinavian invasions. It is not known precisely how much English the
Norman invaders learned, nor how much the knowledge of Norman French spread among the lower classes,
but the demands of trade and basic communication probably meant that at least some of the Normans and
native English were bilingual.[115] Nevertheless, William the Conqueror never developed a working
knowledge of English and for centuries afterwards English was not well understood by the nobility.[116]

Immigration and intermarriage

An estimated 8000 Normans and other continentals settled in England as a result of the conquest, although
exact figures cannot be established. Some of these new residents intermarried with the native English, but the
extent of this practice in the years immediately after Hastings is unclear. Several marriages are attested between
Norman men and English women during the years before 1100, but such marriages were uncommon. Most
Normans continued to contract marriages with other Normans or other continental families rather than with the
English.[117] Within a century of the invasion, intermarriage between the native English and the Norman
immigrants had become common. By the early 1160s, Ailred of Rievaulx was writing that intermarriage was
common in all levels of society.[118]

Society

The impact of the conquest on the lower levels of English society is

difficult to assess. The major change was the elimination of slavery in
England, which had disappeared by the middle of the 12th
century.[119] There were about 28,000 slaves listed in Domesday
Book in 1086, fewer than had been enumerated for 1066. In some
places, such as Essex, the decline in slaves was 20 per cent for the 20
years.[120] The main reasons for the decline in slaveholding appear to
have been the disapproval of the Church and the cost of supporting
slaves, who unlike serfs, had to be maintained entirely by their
Modern-day reconstruction of an
owners.[121] The practice of slavery was not outlawed, and the Leges Anglo-Saxon village at West Stow
Henrici Primi from the reign of King Henry I continue to mention
slaveholding as legal.[120]

Many of the free peasants of Anglo-Saxon society appear to have lost status and become indistinguishable
from the non-free serfs. Whether this change was due entirely to the conquest is unclear, but the invasion and
its after-effects probably accelerated a process already under way. The spread of towns and increase in
nucleated settlements in the countryside, rather than scattered farms, was probably accelerated by the coming
of the Normans to England.[119] The lifestyle of the peasantry probably did not greatly change in the decades
after 1066.[122] Although earlier historians argued that women became less free and lost rights with the
conquest, current scholarship has mostly rejected this view. Little is known about women other than those in
the landholding class, so no conclusions can be drawn about peasant women's status after 1066. Noblewomen
appear to have continued to influence political life mainly through their kinship relationships. Both before and
after 1066 aristocratic women could own land, and some women continued to have the ability to dispose of
their property as they wished.[123]

Historiography
Debate over the conquest started almost immediately. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, when discussing the death
of William the Conqueror, denounced him and the conquest in verse, but the king's obituary notice from
William of Poitiers, a Frenchman, was full of praise. Historians since then have argued over the facts of the
matter and how to interpret them, with little agreement.[124] The theory or myth of the "Norman yoke" arose
in the 17th century,[125] the idea that Anglo-Saxon society had been freer and more equal than the society that
emerged after the conquest.[126] This theory owes more to the period in which it was developed than to
historical facts, but it continues to be used to the present day in both political and popular thought.[127]

In the 20th and 21st centuries historians have focused less on the rightness or wrongness of the conquest itself,
instead concentrating on the effects of the invasion. Some, such as Richard Southern, have seen the conquest
as a critical turning point in history.[124] Southern stated that "no country in Europe, between the rise of the
barbarian kingdoms and the 20th century, has undergone so radical a change in so short a time as England
experienced after 1066".[128] Other historians, such as H. G. Richardson and G. O. Sayles, believe that the
transformation was less radical.[124] In more general terms, Singman has called the conquest "the last echo of
the national migrations that characterized the early Middle Ages".[129] The debate over the impact of the
conquest depends on how change after 1066 is measured. If Anglo-Saxon England was already evolving
before the invasion, with the introduction of feudalism, castles or other changes in society, then the conquest,
while important, did not represent radical reform. But the change was dramatic if measured by the elimination
of the English nobility or the loss of Old English as a literary language. Nationalistic arguments have been
made on both sides of the debate, with the Normans cast as either the persecutors of the English or the rescuers
of the country from a decadent Anglo-Saxon nobility.[124]

See also
Norman invasion of Ireland
Norman invasion of Wales
Norman conquest of southern Italy

Notes
a. Harthacnut was the son of King Cnut the Great and Emma of Normandy, and thus was the half-
brother of Edward the Confessor. He reigned from 1040 to 1042, and died without children.[13]
Harthacnut's father Cnut had defeated Æthelred's son Edmund Ironside in 1016 to claim the
English throne and marry Æthelred's widow, Emma.[14] After Harthacnut's death in 1042,
Magnus began preparations for an invasion of England, which was only stopped by his own
death in 1047.[15]
b. Other contenders later came to the fore. The first was Edgar Ætheling, Edward the Confessor's
great nephew who was a patrilineal descendant of King Edmund Ironside. He was the son of
Edward the Exile, son of Edmund Ironside, and was born in Hungary, where his father had fled
after the conquest of England by Cnut. After his family's eventual return to England and his
father's death in 1057,[17] Edgar had by far the strongest hereditary claim to the throne, but he
was only about thirteen or fourteen at the time of Edward the Confessor's death, and with little
family to support him, his claim was passed over by the Witenagemot.[18] Another contender
was Sweyn II of Denmark, who had a claim to the throne as the grandson of Sweyn Forkbeard
and nephew of Cnut,[19] but he did not make his bid for the throne until 1069.[20] Tostig
Godwinson's attacks in early 1066 may have been the beginning of a bid for the throne, but
after defeat at the hands of Edwin and Morcar and the desertion of most of his followers he
threw his lot in with Harald Hardrada.[21]
c. Tostig, who had been Earl of Northumbria, was expelled from that office by a Northumbrian
rebellion in late 1065. After King Edward sided with the rebels, Tostig went into exile in
Flanders.[22]
d. The King of Scotland, Malcolm III, is said to have been Tostig's sworn brother.[22]
e. Of those 35, 5 are known to have died in the battle – Robert of Vitot, Engenulf of Laigle, Robert
fitzErneis, Roger son of Turold, and Taillefer.[39]
f. The Bayeux Tapestry may possibly depict a papal banner carried by William's forces, but this is
not named as such in the tapestry.[40]
g. Of these named persons, eight died in the battle – Harold, Gyrth, Leofwine, Godric the sheriff,
Thurkill of Berkshire, Breme, and someone known only as "son of Helloc".[39]
h. A 12th-century tradition stated that Harold's face could not be recognised and Edith the Fair,
Harold's common-law wife, was brought to the battlefield to identify his body from marks that
only she knew.[57]
i. Ætheling is the Anglo-Saxon term for a royal prince with some claim to the throne.[61]
j. The coronation was marred when the Norman troops stationed outside the abbey heard the
sounds of those inside acclaiming the king and began burning nearby houses, thinking the
noises were signs of a riot.[64]
k. Eadric's by-name "the Wild" is relatively common, so despite suggestions that it arose from
Eadric's participation in the northern uprisings of 1069, this is not certain.[67]
l. Gospatric had bought the office from William after the death of Copsi, whom William had
appointed in 1067. Copsi was murdered in 1068 by Osulf, his rival for power in Northumbria.[70]
m. Although the epithet "the Wake" has been claimed to be derived from "the wakeful one", the
first use of the epithet is from the mid-13th century, and is thus unlikely to have been
contemporary.[79]
n. Malcolm, in 1069 or 1070, had married Margaret, sister of Edgar the Ætheling.[70]

Citations
1. Bates Normandy Before 1066 pp. 8–10
2. Crouch Normans pp. 15–16
3. Bates Normandy Before 1066 p. 12
4. Bates Normandy Before 1066 pp. 20–21
5. Hallam and Everard Capetian France p. 53
6. Williams Æthelred the Unready p. 54
7. Huscroft Ruling England p. 3
8. Stafford Unification and Conquest pp. 86–99
9. Higham Death of Anglo-Saxon England pp. 167–181
10. Walker Harold pp. 136–138
11. Bates William the Conqueror pp. 73–77
12. Higham Death of Anglo-Saxon England pp. 188–190
13. Keynes "Harthacnut" Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England
14. Huscroft Norman Conquest p. 84
15. Stenton Anglo-Saxon England pp. 423–424
16. Huscroft Ruling England pp. 12–14
17. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 96–97
18. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 132–133
19. Stafford Unification and Conquest pp. 86–87
20. Bates William the Conqueror pp. 103–104
21. Thomas Norman Conquest pp. 33–34
22. Stenton Anglo-Saxon England pp. 578–580
23. Walker Harold pp. 144–145
24. Walker Harold pp. 144–150
25. Walker Harold pp. 154–158
26. Marren 1066 pp. 65–71
27. Marren 1066 p. 73
28. Walker Harold pp. 158–165
29. Marren 1066 pp. 74–75
30. Bates William the Conqueror pp. 79–89
31. Douglas William the Conqueror p. 192
32. Gravett Hastings pp. 20–21
33. Bennett Campaigns of the Norman Conquest p. 25
34. Lawson Battle of Hastings pp. 163–164
35. Bennett Campaigns of the Norman Conquest p. 26
36. Marren 1066 pp. 89–90
37. Gravett Hastings p. 27
38. Marren 1066 pp. 108–109
39. Marren 1066 pp. 107–108
40. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 120–123
41. Marren 1066 p. 98
42. Carpenter Struggle for Mastery p. 72
43. Marren 1066 p. 93
44. Huscroft Norman Conquest p. 124
45. Lawson Battle of Hastings pp. 180–182
46. Marren 1066 pp. 99–100
47. Lawson Battle of Hastings p. 128
48. Lawson Battle of Hastings pp. 130–133
49. Gravett Hastings pp. 28–34
50. Marren 1066 p. 105
51. Huscroft Norman Conquest p. 126
52. Carpenter Struggle for Mastery p. 73
53. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 127–128
54. Huscroft Norman Conquest p. 129
55. Marren 1066 p. 137
56. Gravett Hastings p. 77
57. Gravett Hastings p. 80
58. Huscroft Norman Conquest p. 131
59. Gravett Hastings p. 81
60. Marren 1066 p. 146
61. Bennett Campaigns of the Norman Conquest p. 91
62. Douglas William the Conqueror pp. 204–205
63. Douglas William the Conqueror pp. 205–206
64. Gravett Hastings p. 84
65. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 138–139
66. Douglas William the Conqueror p. 212
67. Williams "Eadric the Wild" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
68. Walker Harold pp. 186–190
69. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 140–141
70. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 142–144
71. Douglas William the Conqueror pp. 214–215
72. Williams English and the Norman Conquest pp. 24–27
73. Williams English and the Norman Conquest pp. 20–21
74. Williams English and the Norman Conquest pp. 27–34
75. Williams English and the Norman Conquest p. 35
76. Williams English and the Norman Conquest pp. 35–41
77. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 145–146
78. Bennett Campaigns of the Norman Conquest p. 56
79. Roffe "Hereward" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
80. Douglas William the Conqueror pp. 221–222
81. Williams English and the Norman Conquest pp. 49–57
82. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 146–147
83. Douglas William the Conqueror pp. 225–226
84. Douglas William the Conqueror p. 227
85. Douglas William the Conqueror pp. 231–233
86. Bates William the Conqueror pp. 181–182
87. Douglas William the Conqueror p. 216 and footnote 4
88. Stafford Unification and Conquest pp. 102–105
89. Carpenter Struggle for Mastery pp. 82–83
90. Carpenter Struggle for Mastery pp. 79–80
91. Carpenter Struggle for Mastery p. 84
92. Carpenter Struggle for Mastery pp. 83–84
93. Carpenter Struggle for Mastery pp. 75–76
94. Chibnall Anglo-Norman England pp. 11–13
95. Kaufman and Kaufman Medieval Fortress p. 110
96. Liddiard Castles in Context p. 36
97. Carpenter Struggle for Mastery p. 89
98. Carpenter Struggle for Mastery p. 91
99. Thomas English and Normans pp. 105–137
00. Thomas "Significance" English Historical Review pp. 303–333
01. Thomas English and Normans pp. 202–208
02. Ciggaar Western Travellers pp. 140–141
03. Daniell From Norman Conquest to Magna Carta pp. 13–14
04. Heath Byzantine Armies p. 23
05. Thomas Norman Conquest p. 59
06. Huscroft Norman Conquest p. 187
07. Loyn Governance of Anglo-Saxon England p. 176
08. Thomas Norman Conquest p. 60
09. Huscroft Norman Conquest p. 31
10. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 194–195
11. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 36–37
12. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 198–199
13. Keynes "Charters and Writs" Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England p. 100
14. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 200–201
15. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 323–324
16. Crystal "Story of Middle English" English Language
17. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 321–322
18. Thomas Norman Conquest pp. 107–109
19. Huscroft Norman Conquest p. 327
20. Clanchy England and its Rulers p. 93
21. Huscroft Ruling England p. 94
22. Huscroft Norman Conquest p. 329
23. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 281–283
24. Clanchy England and its Rulers pp. 31–35
25. Chibnall Debate p. 6
26. Chibnall Debate p. 38
27. Huscroft Norman Conquest pp. 318–319
28. Quoted in Clanchy England and its Rulers p. 32
29. Singman Daily Life p. xv

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Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-4913-2.
Ciggaar, Krijna Nelly (1996). Western Travellers to Constantinople: the West and Byzantium,
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ISBN 978-1-85285-595-6.
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Douglas, David C. (1964). William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact Upon England.
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UK: Osprey. ISBN 978-1-84176-133-6.
Hallam, Elizabeth M.; Everard, Judith (2001). Capetian France 987–1328 (Second ed.). New
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7509-2469-6.
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External links
Bibliographies for undergraduate students at the University of Sheffield, UK (http://turbulentprie
sts.group.shef.ac.uk/the-norman-conquest-bibliographies/)
Essential Norman Conquest (https://web.archive.org/web/20070304102625/http://www.essenti
alnormanconquest.com/) from Osprey Publishing
Normans – a background to the Conquest (https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/normans/backg
round_01.shtml) from the BBC

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