«Norman Сonquest of England» Abrossimova L.S. Origins Edward

«Norman Сonquest of England» Abrossimova L.S.

Origins Edward the Confessor In 1002 King Æthelred II of England married Emma, the sister of Richard II, Duke of Normandy. Their son Edward the Confessor, who spent many years in exile in Normandy, France, succeeded to the English throne in 1042 after Canute’s death. Edward the Confessor

Edward the Confessor The new English king, Edward the Confessor (1042 (?) -1066), who had been brought up in France, brought over many Norman advisors and favourites; he distributed among them English lands and wealth and appointed them to important positions in the government and church hierarchy. He not only spoke French himself but insisted on it being spoken by the nobles at his court. William, Duke of Normandy, visited his court and it was rumoured that Edward appointed him his successor.

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. Edward's immediate successor was the Earl of Wessex, Harold Godwinson, the richest and most powerful of the English aristocracy, who was elected king by the Witen (the Ellders) of England and crowned by Archbishop of York. map content

Wlliam’s Army As soon as the news reached Normandy, William gathered an army by promise of land and plunder (one third of his soldiers were Normans, others were mercenaries (наемники) from allver Europe).

Battle at Hastings - 1066 William landed in the south of England and the battle between the Normans and the Anglo-Saxons took place on the 14-th of October 1066 at a little village near the town now, called Hastings. In the battle Harold was killed and the English were defeated.

Battle at Hastings

William - King of England William and his soldiers marched to London destroying everything on their way. William was crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey on 25 December 1066.

William’s Reforms English nobles were driven from their lands, new taxes were imposed, the new language and traditions were introduced. Most of the lands of the Anglo-Saxon lords passed into the hands of the Norman barons. William’s own possessions comprised about 1/3 of the country, Normans occupied the most important posts in the church, government and army.

Domesday Book In order to have a record of all his possessions and find out how much he could have through taxes, William ordered to compile the inventory of his assets known as Domesday book, which meticulously registers the impact of that expropriation, revealing that by 1086 only about 5% of land in England south of the Tees was left in English hands.

Domesday Book From Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: "While spending the Christmas time of 1085 in Gloucester, William had deep speech with his counsellors and sent men all over England to each shire to find out what or how much each landholder had in land and livestock, and what it was worth“ This book is now to be seen in the Public Record office. It gives a comprehensive picture of the social structure of England at that time. In 1986, memorial plaques were installed in settlements mentioned in the Domesday Book

Consequences of the Norman Invasion. One of the most obvious changes was the introduction of Anglo-Norman, a northern dialect of Old French, as the language of the ruling classes in England, displacing Old English. Another consequence was near-total elimination of the old English aristocracy and the loss of English control over the Catholic Church in England. Large numbers of English people, especially from the former landowning class, ultimately found Norman domination unbearable and emigrated.

Consequences of the Norman Invasion. Before the Normans arrived, Anglo-Saxon England had one of the most sophisticated governmental systems in Western Europe. This sophisticated medieval form of government was handed over to the Normans and grew stronger. The Normans centralized the autonomous shire system. The Domesday book was the first kingdom-wide census taken in Europe since the time of the Romans, and enabled more efficient taxation of the Normans' new realm.

Consequences of the Norman Invasion. For the Normans were great builders, William started building castles, fortresses (Tower of London, Westminster Hall).

Consequences of the Norman Invasion. The Norman conquest was accompanied by the introduction of Norman law and feudalism, and gave a medieval England a social structure very similar to the rest of Europe. Another significant consequence of the Norman Conquest was to make the Kings of England also rulers of parts of France. After the conquest, relations between the Anglo-Norman monarchy and the French crown became increasingly tense.

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