Which Of These Changes Did William The Conqueror Make After Taking Power In England?

The Norman conquest of England, led by William the Conqueror (r. 1066-1087 CE) was achieved over a five-year period from 1066 CE to 1071 CE. Hard-fought battles, castle building, land redistribution, and scorched earth tactics ensured that the Normans were here to stay. The conquest saw the Norman elite replace that of the Anglo-Saxons and accept over the country's lands, the Church was restructured, a new architecture was introduced in the grade of motte and bailey castles and Romanesque cathedrals, feudalism became much more widespread, and the English language absorbed thousands of new French words, amidst a host of many other lasting changes which all combine to make the Norman invasion a momentous watershed in English history.

Conquest: Hastings to Ely

The conquest of England by the Normans started with the 1066 CE Battle of Hastings when King Harold Godwinson (aka Harold Two, r. Jan-October 1066 CE) was killed and ended with William the Conqueror'south defeat of Anglo-Saxon rebels at Ely Abbey in East Anglia in 1071 CE. In between, William had to more or less constantly defend his borders with Wales and Scotland, repel two invasions from Ireland by Harold's sons, and put downwardly three rebellions at York.

Old Sarum, Wiltshire — Sometime Sarum, Wiltshire

Mark Edwards (CC By-SA)

The consequences of the Norman conquest were many and varied. Further, some furnishings were much longer-lasting than others. It is besides true that society in England was already developing forth its own path of history earlier William the Conqueror arrived and and then it is not always so clear-cut which of the sometimes momentous political, social, and economic changes of the Eye Ages had their roots in the Norman invasion and which may well take developed under a continued Anglo-Saxon regime. Still, the following list summarises what most historians agree on as some of the most important changes the Norman conquest brought in England:

the Anglo-Saxon landowning elite was almost totally replaced by Normans.
the ruling apparatus was made much more centralised with power and wealth being held in much fewer easily.
the majority of Anglo-Saxon bishops were replaced with Norman ones and many dioceses' headquarters were relocated to urban centres.
Norman motte and bailey castles were introduced which reshaped warfare in England, reducing the necessity for and risk of large-scale field engagements.
the system of feudalism developed as William gave out lands in return for armed services service (either in person or a force of knights paid for by the landowner).
manorialism developed and spread further where labourers worked on their lord'due south estate for his benefit.
the north of England was devastated for a long time following William's harrying of 1069-70 CE.
Domesday Book, a detailed and systematic catalogue of the land and wealth in England was compiled in 1086-vii CE.
the contact and particularly trade betwixt England and Continental Europe profoundly increased.
the two countries of French republic and England became historically intertwined, initially due to the crossover of state ownership, i.due east. Norman nobles holding lands in both countries.
the syntax and vocabulary of the Anglo-Saxon Germanic language were significantly influenced by the French language.

The Ruling Elite

The Norman conquest of England was non a example of ane population invading the lands of some other but rather the wresting of ability from 1 ruling elite past another. At that place was no meaning population movement of Norman peasants crossing the channel to resettle in England, then a country with a population of 1.5-2 one thousand thousand people. Although, in the other direction, many Anglo-Saxon warriors fled to Scandinavia after Hastings, and some even ended up in the elite Varangian Guard of the Byzantine emperors.

William the Conqueror, Bayeux Tapestry

Myrabella (Public Domain)

The lack of an influx of tens of thousands of Normans was no alleviation for the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy, of class, as 20 years afterward Hastings there were just two powerful Anglo-Saxon landowners in England. Some 200 Norman nobles and 100 bishops and monasteries were given estates which had been distributed amongst 4,000 Anglo-Saxon landowners prior to 1066 CE. To ensure the Norman nobles did not abuse their power (and then threaten William himself), many of the sometime Anglo-Saxon tools of governance were kept in place, notably the sheriffs who governed in the rex's name the districts or shires into which England had traditionally been divided. The sheriffs were as well replaced with Normans but they did provide a residuum to Norman landowners in their jurisdiction.

The royal court & government became more centralised - more then than in any other kingdom in Europe, thanks to the holding of country & resources by merely a relatively few Norman families.

The Church was similarly restructured with the date of Norman bishops - including in 1070 CE, the key archbishops of Canterbury (to Lanfranc) and York (to Thomas) - so that past 1087 CE at that place were just ii Anglo-Saxon bishops left. Another significant change was the move of many dioceses' headquarters - the chief church or cathedral - to urban locations (Dorchester to Lincoln, Lichfield to Chester, and Sherborne to Salisbury beingness simply some examples). This motility gave William much greater authoritative and military control of the Church across England but also benefitted the Church itself by bringing bishops closer to the relatively new urban populations.

Dearest History?

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The imperial court and government became more than centralised, indeed, more then than in any other kingdom in Europe thanks to the property of country and resources past only a relatively few Norman families. Although William distributed state to loyal supporters, they did not typically receive whatsoever political power with their country. In a concrete sense, the regime was not centralised because William still did not accept a permanent residence, preferring to motility effectually his kingdom and regularly visit Normandy. The Treasury did, though, remain at Winchester and it was filled as a consequence of William imposing heavy taxes throughout his reign.

Motte & Bailey Castles

The Normans were hugely successful warriors and the importance they gave to cavalry and archers would touch on English language armies thereafter. Perhaps even more significant was the construction of garrisoned forts and castles beyond England. Castles were not entirely unknown in England prior to the conquest but they were and then used just every bit defensive redoubts rather than a tool to control a geographical area. William embarked on a castle-building spree immediately after Hastings every bit he well knew that a protected garrison of cavalry could exist the most constructive method of armed forces and administrative command over his new kingdom. From Cornwall to Northumbria, the Normans would build over 65 major castles and some other 500 lesser ones in the decades later Hastings.

The Normans not only introduced a new concept of castle utilise simply as well war machine architecture to the British Isles: the motte and bailey castle. The motte was a raised mound upon which a fortified belfry was congenital and the bailey was a courtyard surrounded by a wooden palisade which occupied an expanse around part of the base of the mound. The whole construction was further protected by an encircling ditch or moat. These castles were built in both rural and urban settings and, in many cases, would exist converted into stone versions in the early 12th century CE. A adept surviving example is the Castle Ascent in Norfolk, but other, more famous castles still standing today which were originally Norman constructions include the Tower of London, Dover Castle in Kent, and Clifford'due south Tower in York. Norman Romanesque cathedrals were also built (for example, at York, Durham, Canterbury, Winchester, and Lincoln), with the white stone of Caen existence an particularly popular selection of textile, one used, likewise, for the Tower of London.

Motte and Bailey Castle Diagram

Duncan Grey (CC BY-SA)

Domesday, Feudalism & the Peasantry

There was no particular feeling of outraged nationalism post-obit the conquest - the concept is a much more modern construct - and so peasants would not take felt their country had somehow been lost. Neither was there any specific hatred of the Normans equally the English language grouped all William'south allies together every bit a single grouping - Bretons and Angevins were simply 'French speakers'. In the Middle Ages, visitors to an area that came from a distant town were regarded just every bit 'foreign' as someone from another country. Peasants really just felt loyalty to their own local communities and lords, although this may well have resulted in some sick-feeling when a lord was replaced by a Norman noble in cases where the Anglo-Saxon lord was held with whatsoever affection. The Normans would certainly take seemed like outsiders, a feeling merely strengthened by linguistic communication barriers, and the rex, at least initially, did ensure loyalties past imposing harsh penalties on any dissent. For case, if a Norman were found murdered, then the nearest village was burnt - a policy hardly likely to win over any affection.

At the aforementioned fourth dimension, there were new laws to ensure the Normans did not abuse their ability, such as the law-breaking of murder being applied to the unjustified killing of not-rebels or for personal proceeds and the introduction of trial by battle to defend one'due south innocence. In essence, citizens were required to swear an oath of loyalty to the king, in return for which they received legal protection if they were wronged. Some of the new laws would exist long-lasting, such as the favouring of the firstborn in inheritance claims, while others were securely unpopular, such as William's withdrawal of hunting rights in certain areas, notably the New Woods. Poachers were severely dealt with and could await to exist blinded or mutilated if caught. Another important change due to new laws regarded slavery, which was substantially eliminated from England past 1130 CE, just as it had been in Normandy.

Map of Domesday Book Circuits — Map of Domesday Volume Circuits

XrysD (CC By-SA)

Possibly one area where hatred of all-things Norman was prevalent was the north of England. Following the rebellions against William's rule there in 1067 and 1068 CE, the male monarch spent the winter of 1069-seventy CE 'harrying' the entire northern part of his kingdom from the w to east declension. This involved hunting down rebels, murders and mutilations amid the peasantry, and the burning of crops, livestock, and farming equipment, which resulted in a devastating dearth. As Domesday Book (come across beneath) revealed, much of the northern lands were devastated and catalogued as worthless. It would take over a century for the region to recover.

Domesday Book was compiled on William'southward orders in 1086-7 CE, probably to find out for revenue enhancement purposes exactly who owned what in England following the deaths of many Anglo-Saxon nobles over the course of the conquest and the giving out of new estates and titles by the king to his loyal followers. Indeed, Domesday Book reveals William'southward total reshaping of land ownership and power in England. It was the nigh comprehensive survey ever undertaken in any medieval kingdom and is full of juicy statistics for modern historians to study such as the revelation that 90% of the population lived in the countryside and 75% of the people were serfs (unfree labourers).

A consequence of William'southward country policies was the development (but not the origin of) feudalism. That is, William, who considered all the land in England his own personal property, gave out parcels of land (fiefs) to nobles (vassals) who in return had to give armed forces service when required, such as during a war or to garrison castles and forts. Not necessarily giving service in person, a noble had to provide a number of knights depending on the size of the fief. The noble could take complimentary peasants or serfs (aka villeins) work his lands, and he kept the gain of that labour. If a noble had a large estate, he could rent it out to a bottom noble who, in plough, had peasants work that land for him, thus creating an elaborate bureaucracy of land ownership. Under the Normans, ecclesiastical landowners such as monasteries were similarly required to provide knights for armed forces service.

Castle Rising Castle

Elliot Brown (CC By)

The manorial organization developed from its early Anglo-Saxon form under the Normans. Manorialism derives its proper noun from the 'estate', the smallest piece of country which could back up a unmarried family. For administrative purposes, estates were divided into these units. Naturally, a powerful lord could own many hundreds of manors, either in the same place or in different locations. Each manor had gratuitous and/or unfree labour which worked on the land. The profits of that labour went to the landowner while the labourers sustained themselves past also working a pocket-sized plot of country loaned to them past their lord. Following William's policy of carving up estates and redistributing them, manorialism became much more widespread in England.

Trade & International Relations

The histories and even the cultures to some extent of France and England became much more than intertwined in the decades later on the conquest. Fifty-fifty equally the Rex of England, William remained the Knuckles of Normandy (and and then he had to pay homage to the King of France). The royal houses became even more interconnected following the reigns of William's two sons (William Two Rufus, r. 1087-1100 CE and Henry I, r. 1100-1135 CE) and the ceremonious wars which broke out between rivals for the English language throne from 1135 CE onwards. A side outcome of this close contact was the significant modification over time of the Anglo-Saxon Germanic linguistic communication, both the syntax and vocabulary being influenced by the French language. That this change occurred fifty-fifty amidst the illiterate peasantry is testimony to the fact that French was commonly heard spoken everywhere.

One specific area of international relations which greatly increased was trade. Before the conquest, England had had express trade with Scandinavia, but as this region went into decline from the 11th century CE and because the Normans had extensive contacts across Europe (England was non the simply place they conquered), then trade with the Continent profoundly increased. Traders also relocated from the Continent, notably to places where they were given favourable community arrangements. Thus places similar London, Southampton, and Nottingham attracted many French merchant settlers, and this movement included other groups such as Jewish merchants from Rouen. Goods thus came and went beyond the English language Channel, for case, huge quantities of English language wool were exported to Flanders and wine was imported from France (although in that location is evidence it was not the best wine that country had to offering).

Conclusion

The Norman conquest of England, and then, resulted in long-lasting and significant changes for both the conquered and the conquerors. The fate of the two countries of England and France would become inexorably linked over the following centuries equally England became a much stronger and united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland within the British Isles and an influential participant in European politics and warfare thereafter. Even today, names of people and places throughout England remind of the lasting influence the Normans brought with them from 1066 CE onwards.

This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication.