THE CONTRIBUTION OF WILLIAM, THE CONQUEROR TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BRITISH SOCIETY

William, the illegitimate son of the Duke of Normandy, spent his first six years with his mother and received the duchy of Normandy upon his father's death in 1035. A council consisting of noblemen and William's appointed guardians ruled Normandy but ducal authority became weaker under the Normans’ violent nature and the province was wracked with assassination and revolt for twelve years. In 1047, William reasserted himself in the eastern Norman regions and, with the aid of France’s King Henry I, crushed the rebelling barons. He spent the next several years consolidating his strength on the continent through marriage, diplomacy, war and savage intimidation. By 1066, Normandy was in a position of virtual independence from William’s feudal lord; Henry I of France and the disputed succession in England offered William an opportunity for invasion.

On October 14, the Normans defeated the English forces at the celebrated Battle of Hastings, in which Harold was slain. William then proceeded to London, crushing the resistance he encountered on the way. On Christmas Day 1066 Duke William of Normandy was acclaimed king in Westminster Abbey. It was an electrifying moment. Believing that inside the church something had gone horribly wrong, they set fire to the neighbouring houses.

The Normans had to live like an army of occupation, living, eating, and sleeping together in operational units. This is not to say that every single Englishman actively opposed the Normans. They meant that England received not just a new royal family but also a new ruling class, a new culture and language.

Since Normandy was a principality ruled by a duke who owed homage to the king of France this also meant that from now  ‘English’ politics became part of French politics. But the French connection went deeper still. The Normans, being Frenchmen, brought with them to England the French language and French culture. At this time it is the foreignness of English art that is most striking.

In ecclesiastical architecture, for example, the European terms ‘Romanesque’ and ‘Gothic’ describe the fashionable styles much better than ‘Norman’ and ‘Early English’.

Under his rule, the English learned Norman customs and the French language. The wealthy built castles, cathedrals, and monasteries in the French style. The people learned new skills from Norman weavers and other workers.

It was a French architect, William of Sens, who was called in to rebuild the choir of Canterbury Cathedral after the fire of 1174. Similarly Henry III’s Rebuilding of Westminster Abbey was heavily influenced by French models just as national language, a language spoken—and written—by anyone who wanted to consider himself civilized. Throughout most of the period a well-educated Englishman was trilingual. English would be his mother tongue; he would have some knowledge of Latin, and he would speak fluent French.

Almost everything that happened in late 11^th-century England has been discussed in terms of the influence of the Norman Conquest. But the second half of the 11^th century was a period of rapid development throughout Europe.

The arrival and conquest of William and the Normans radically altered the course of English history. Rather than attempt a wholesale replacement of Anglo-Saxon law, William united continental practices with native custom. By depriving Anglo-Saxon landowners of their rights, he introduced a brand of feudalism in England that strengthened the monarchy. William introduced feudalism into England. He confiscated the lands of English nobles and divided them among Norman nobles. In return for the lands, the nobles became William’s vassals. They promised to be loyal to the king and to provide him with soldiers. William maintained many English laws and government practices. Villages and manors were given a large degree of autonomy in local affairs in return for military service and monetary payments. The Anglo-Saxon office of sheriff was greatly enhanced: sheriffs arbitrated legal cases in the shire courts on behalf of the king, extracted tax payments and were generally responsible for keeping the peace. “The Doomsday Book” was authorized in 1085 as a survey of land ownership to estimate property and establish a tax base. Within the regions covered by the Doomsday survey, the dominance of the Norman king and his nobility are revealed: only two Anglo-Saxon barons that held lands before 1066 retained those lands twenty years later. All landowners were summoned to pay homage to William in 1086. William imported an Italian, Lanfranc, to take the position of Archbishop of Canterbury; Lanfranc reorganized the English Church, establishing separate Church courts to deal with infractions of Canon law. Although he began the invasion with papal support, William refused to let the church dictate policy within English and Norman borders.

He died as he had lived: an inveterate warrior. He died September 9, 1087 from complications of a wound he received in a siege on the town of Mantes.

“The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle” gave a favorable review of William’s twenty-one year reign, but added, “His anxiety for money is the only thing on which he can deservedly be blamed; ...he would say and do some things and indeed almost anything ...where the hope of money allured him.” He was certainly cruel by modern standards, and demanded a high toll from his subjects, but he laid the foundation for the economic and political success of England.