59
submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

The Norman Conquest of England (1066-71) was led by William the Conqueror who defeated King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The Anglo-Saxon elite lost power as William redistributed land to his fellow Normans. Crowned William I of England (r. 1066-1087) on Christmas Day, the new order would take five years to fully control England.

Following Harold’s death at Hastings, William was obliged to see off several major invasions and rebellions, but once established, Norman England would witness profound changes in all areas of society. These changes included a restructuring of the Church, innovations in military and religious architecture, the evolution of the English language, the spread of feudalism and a much greater contact with continental Europe, especially France.

The Claims On the English Crown

In 1066 when the Norman invasion began, the king of England was Harold II, formerly Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex. William, Duke of Normandy (r. from 1035), centred his claim on his relationship with Harold's predecessor, Edward the Confessor (r. 1042-1066) who was a distant relation. William also claimed that the English king, without children of his own, had once promised the Norman he would be Edward's successor.

Such was the scale of William's preparations in the summer of 1066, Harold knew full well what was coming and he gathered an army to await the Norman's dreaded arrival. the third claimant to the English throne then chose his moment to enter the complex political drama.

Harald Hardrada was the king of Norway. Like William, Hardrada was prepared to press his claim through force, and he amassed an invasion fleet which sailed to England in September 1066. Harold faced the impossible situation of two invasions in the opposite parts of his kingdom at exactly the same time.

Battle of Hastings

Hardrada's invasion was initially successful against an Anglo-Saxon army, led by two inexperienced English earls, at the Battle of Fulford Gate near York on 20 September. Then Harold marched a second army northwards and won a decisive victory at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, also near York, five days later, in which Hardrada was killed along with his ally, Harold's traitorous brother Tostig. Next, on 28 September, William and his invasion army landed at Pevensey in Sussex, southern England. Harold had little option but to march back to the south and do battle for a second time, speed being of the essence as the Normans had already begun torching pockets of south-east England.

The two armies, likely numbering around 5,000 men each, faced off at Hastings on 14 October. The Anglo-Saxon army was largely composed of infantry, with the elite being the king's housecarls (huscarls) who wore chain armour and wielded huge axes. The Normans and their French allies, in contrast, had a significant number of archers, probably a unit of crossbowmen, and at least 1,000 cavalry.

Eventually, the cavalry was successful in breaking up the Anglo-Saxon 'shield-wall' formation and, when Harold and his two brothers were killed, William's victory was assured. The English king, at least according to tradition, was felled by an arrow to his eye, and then he was hacked to pieces as he lay prone on the ground. It was a great victory for William, who rested his men and then prepared to continue his invasion by subduing the south-east of England and taking London.

William's March on London

The great city of London was one of William's priorities but it was protected both by the River Thames from the south and by the fact the only crossing point was an easily defended fortified bridge. In the event, William's successes elsewhere and the lack of a significant army after the loss at Hastings saw the remaining Anglo-Saxon nobles and their figurehead Edgar Ætheling, great-nephew of Edward the Confessor (r. 1042-1066), surrender the city and the kingdom without a fight.

The victorious Norman duke was crowned William I of England on Christmas Day 1066 in Westminster Abbey, bringing an end to 500 years of Anglo-Saxon rule.

Impact of the Conquest

The most immediate impact was seen in the almost total replacement of the Anglo-Saxon ruling and landowning elite by a much smaller number of Normans, all given estates and titles by William. This dramatic changeover of ownership is starkly revealed in William's 1086-7 Domesday Book. A knock-on effect of this policy was the further development of the system of feudalism, that is the giving of lands (fiefs) to a lord (vassal) who promised his king military service (either in person or by paying knights or both). With this policy, the system of manorialism also evolved to become much more widespread. That is free and unfree (serf or villein) labour was used to work the land for the owner's profit.

Although there was no great population movement from Normandy to England, ordinary people would have witnessed first hand this changeover of the elite, even if some Anglo-Saxon tools of governance like sheriffs did continue.

French was heard everywhere, and the language had a lasting influence on English syntax and vocabulary. Finally, as Norman lords, like William himself, often kept their own lands back home, the politics, economics, and cultures of the two countries became intertwined with sometimes drastic consequences in the coming centuries.

Norman Conquest of England england-cool

Megathreads and spaces to hang out:

reminders:

  • 💚 You nerds can join specific comms to see posts about all sorts of topics
  • 💙 Hexbear’s algorithm prioritizes comments over upbears
  • 💜 Sorting by new you nerd
  • 🌈 If you ever want to make your own megathread, you can reserve a spot here nerd
  • 🐶 Join the unofficial Hexbear-adjacent Mastodon instance toots.matapacos.dog

Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):

Aid:

Theory:

(page 5) 50 comments
sorted by: hot top new old
[-] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago

My life is like a video game

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago

#Tradle #571 3/6

🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟨

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

https://oec.world/en/tradle

spoilersoypoint-1

oof that first guess was bad. soybeans and rice made me think of east/south-east asia

load more comments (7 replies)
[-] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

If you wanna know why the French conquered England its because they were smart enough to show up 2nd. Norwegian punctuality is the only reason we have fiancé and attaché and Déjà vu in our lexicon

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Beyond the possibility of Republicans ultimately caving, there are other efforts lawmakers are working on to try to find a resolution to the shutdown. One is a discharge petition, which can be used to force a vote on a bill without the speaker’s permission. A majority of the House would need to back the petition for that to happen, however, and it takes time to move through the House.

Using a motion to the previous question is another possibility that’s been floated. This motion, if it passes, also allows the minority to force a vote, circumventing the speaker. It requires a simple majority in order to be enacted as well, creating the same concerns as a discharge petition for moderate Republicans contemplating working with Democrats to invoke it.

It's all just Calvinball. this entire country is such a stupid shitshow, in every way.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago

I will never not chuckle a little bit when I have to print out an SDS for water. You can tell they just copied and pasted from some generic SDS thinking that no one would ever need to read it.

In case of eye contact: Immediately flush eye(s) with plenty of water.

If swallowed: Rinse mouth with water.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago

@[email protected] I remembered to ask! He said he'll check it out party-blob

[-] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago

Oh boy, time for another episode of Blowback to make me mad right before I get to work

[-] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago

It's wild to see chuddy people that genuinely feel like they're being targeted and oppressed. Like, it's so easy to say they know they're not a minority, that they fully understand that it's their hateful words and dangerous deeds that get them so much hate from people, and that they're just trolling and love the chaos, but I think some of them genuinely aren't smart enough to get it. That's not an excuse obviously, but I've seen people that seriously do feel like they're the ones being attacked and say things like "I wish people had empathy for me and weren't so full of hate, the world would be so much better. :'C" right after they shared an ~opinion~ about minorities or said shitty things about queer people.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

NO! NO! How could you, Columbo?

fffffff

Fuckin ACAB, every time

[-] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

#Tradle #570 3/6
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
https://oec.world/en/tradle

spoilerUruguay -> Ecuador -> Paraguay

Uruguay wasn't the best first guess cause it's coastal, but I get that and Paraguay mixed up all the time. Also, South America is huge! Ecuador was a ridiculous second guess lol.

load more comments (4 replies)
[-] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

i thought it would be fun to double double cross the sith at the end of the korriban academy in KOTOR, show them how they like perfidious sith business... how the fuck was i supposed to know if you do that the whole map becomes a general battleground & i had to kill literally everyone in the temple. technically the most 'jedi' thing is to destroy their base but it feels a bit war crimes

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

Bro in this game is deadass named Gwalter

[-] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

Who is Norman and why didn't he sink the island into the sea?

[-] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

The media is blaming Republicans for the impending government shutdown, which yes, is mostly true. But the democrats being willing to shut down the government rather than stop sending money to Ukraine is absolutely nuts.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

Reading stone butch blues and kitty-cri-potato

load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›
this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2023
59 points (100.0% liked)

History

23650 readers
25 users here now

Welcome to c/history! History is written by the posters.

c/history is a comm for discussion about history so feel free to talk and post about articles, books, videos, events or historical figures you find interesting

Please read the Hexbear Code of Conduct and remember...we're all comrades here.

Do not post reactionary or imperialist takes (criticism is fine, but don't pull nonsense from whatever chud author is out there).

When sharing historical facts, remember to provide credible souces or citations.

Historical Disinformation will be removed

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS