The Norman Conquest of England

What’s important about 1066?

Marks the end of the Viking Age

Led to the development of a centralized, feudal

state in England

The beginning of a long conflict between the

English and the French

The Normans

The Normans were

the descendants of a

group of Viking

raiders

Attacked the Frankish

kingdom and settled

in northwestern

France

Their chief, Hrolf the

Ganger (or Rollo the

Walker) became first

duke of Normandy

Normans cont’d

The Normans

(Northmen) began

speaking French and

developed a powerful

feudal state

Ruled by the dukes

of Normandy

Officially vassals of

the kings of France; in

reality much more

powerful

Europe around 1000 A.D.

Normandy

Norman Expansion

Norman knights

attacked not just

England, but Sicily

under Robert

Guiscard

Many later joined the

crusades

Perfected the use of

heavy cavalry

Cathedral of Palermo, Sicily

Duke William of Normandy

Illegitimate son of the

old duke—fought his

way to the top

After the death of

King Edward of

England, William (a

distant relative)

claimed the throne of

England

King Harold Godwinsson of England

Harold, an Anglo-

Saxon noble, took the

throne after Edward’s

death

Faced rebellion from

powerful nobles

Barely defeated an

invasion by King

Harald Hadrada of

Norway in 1066

The Battle of Hastings—1066

William and his Norman army invaded

Recorded on the Bayeux Tapestry

Norman knights crushed the Anglo-Saxons and

killed King Harold

Duke William became King William the

Conqueror of England

Organizing England

The Normans set up a

centralized feudal

system in England

The king was in

charge—his nobles

owed their position to

him

Lords had to report

directly to the king

The Domesday

Book: complete

record of people and

property in England

Development of England (1066-

1215)

Centralized leadership under William’s

descendants, but lords also kept their traditional

rights

The Magna Carta (1215)—spelled out rights of

nobles which kings could not violate

Parliament (represented nobles and merchants)

advised king and had to approve new taxes

Introduction of French changed the English

language

Difference between Beowulf and The Canterbury

Tales

Conflict between English and French The Norman kings of

England still had control over Normandy and other territories in France

Gained even more when King Henry II married Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152

The English owned almost half of France—most of the rest was controlled by powerful nobles, not the French kings