The Norman Conquest of England


In the middle of the XI century. England attracted the attention of the Duchy of Normandy, formed on the territory of France. It was inhabited mainly by the Normans. They during their residence have turned from robbers-pagans to robbers-Christians – knights. In 1066, the Norman Duke William the Conqueror led a 15,000-strong force of Norman and French knights landed on the coast of England. He claimed that he wanted to free the Anglo-Saxons from the Danes, but he really wanted to take possession of England. This was blessed by his father, who dreamed of extending his power to the English church. William the Conqueror defeated the forces of the Anglo-Saxons under Hastings and proclaimed himself the English king.

To keep the country in subjection, the king and his Norman barons built it with locks. The local population resisted the power of strangers, but could not drive them out.

Wilhelm took care of strengthening his power in England. He appropriated many lands of

the Anglo-Saxon nobility, turned many forests into reserves, where only the king could hunt. The King replaced all Anglo-Saxon bishops with French. All the barons and knights ordered him to give him a vassal oath. Since then in England only the king had vassals. All of them were on military service. Sheriff Wilhelm appointed and dismissed at his discretion. He achieved that the royal power in England became the strongest in Europe. It was passed from father to son, the seniors could not influence the election or approval of the monarch.

William the Conqueror was the illegitimate son of the Norman Duke. As a child, he became an orphan and suffered enough from the Barons, but still managed to twist the noble rebels into a ram’s horn. Was very smart, ambitious, merciless and treacherous. He had an iron will.

To order the collection of “Danish money”, William ordered to rewrite all the land in the state. The parchment describing the lands in the people was called “The Last Judgment Book”, since the accountants demanded nothing to hide from them, as if at the Last Judgment. A lot of previously free peasants were turned into serfdom during this census.

The Baron is a major feudal lord, the non-hereditary vassal of the king.


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The Norman Conquest of England