Norman Rule of England

Norman Rule Meaning

Norman Rule, which is also known as the Norman Conquest, can be defined in the following manner:

Causes of Norman Invasion in England

When thinking about the causes of the Norman invasion of England, 5th January 1066 must be acknowledged as a significant date. This is the date Edward the Confessor, who was the King of England at the time, passed away. Edward had no direct heirs to inherit the throne, and therefore question marks over who would become the next King of England fueled political and military tensions.

The last Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror, had invaded England in order to obtain the role of King and gain the throne from Harold Godwinson, The primary motivation behind this action was the promise that Edward the Confessor, who was William the Conqueror's cousin, had made to him. Edward promised to give the title of king and grant his entire kingdom to William. However, on his death bed he had changed his mind and gave the entire kingdom to Harold Godwinson. Thus, the Norman invasion of England took place.

Norman invasion of England

As you can imagine, England resisted the Norman invaders and subsequently, many difficult battles broke out throughout 1066. At the end of each battle, land was redistributed and defensive positions and castles were constructed by the victors.

The Battle of Gate Fulford

The Battle of Gate Fulford started on 20th September 1066. It involved a combination of the Viking army belonging to Hardrada and the rebels being led by Tostig, went north to York. However, they got stopped at Riccall, which was approximately 10 miles south of York.

They had been stopped by Edwin and Morcar who were the Earls of Mercia and Northumbria. Their English army had come south from York had fought a battle south of Gate Fulford, which was a village in the North of England. This was a significant victory, but the army had faced losses, in terms of archers and cross-bow men. Thus, there were ill-prepared by the time they had to face William the Conqueror and participate in the Battle of Hastings.

The Battle of Stamford Bridge

The battle of Stamford Bridge took place in 1066, between the Anglo Saxons and Vikings. It was the Viking's attempted invasion of northern England, it happened at Stamford Bridge Yorkshire. Both Harald Hardrada, who was the King of Norway and Tostig had been killed in the battle. Harold Godwinson's army had won the battle and Harold remained King Harold II.

The Battle of Hastings

On 28th September 1066, William had reached Pevensey in England. He had reached there with a large number of cavalry and troops. He had manage to take over Pevensey and decided that the next move to undertake would be to invade Hastings.

On 13th October 1066, King Harold II came to Hastings along with his army and on 14th October William began the battle, in the end he won!

Someone had shot Harold in the eye, using an arrow and he died. This allowed for William to destroy Harold's forces and later on become William the Conqueror.

Fig. 3 Battle Abbey, Harold Memorial

Period of Norman Rule in England

The period of Norman conquest of England lasted five years from 1066 CE to 1071 CE. Ultimately, the Normans conquered England and ruled between 1071 CE and 1154 CE.

During this period, four Norman kings ruled over England. These were:

1. King William I (1066-1087 CE)

2. King William II (1087-1100 CE)

3. King Henry I (1100-1135 CE)

4. King Stephen (1135-1154 CE)

Changes in England under the Norman Rule

Under Norman rule, there were a number of key changes for inhabitants in England, these included:

• Political changes
• Religious changes
• Cultural changes

Political changes

The establishment of Norman rule changed the political ruling class of England and replaced the previously Anglo Saxon political structures. For instance, William the Conqueror introduced feudalism and land was distributed into the care of William's most trusted advisors and supporters.

Those who had the role of a labourer on the estate of their lord were no longer working for their own or their family's benefit. However they were working for the benefit of their lord. Thus, their lord was gaining the profits from the hard work of the labourer.

Lastly, a record of land and property owned by prominent members had been created, this was known as: "The Domesday Book."

Religious changes

The Normans had been the successors of the Anglo Saxons. With this occurring, there had been a change of religion from paganism to Catholicism. As the Anglo Saxons were predominantly Pagan, whereas the Normans were Catholic. This led to more cathedrals that were Romanesque being built and bishops being of Norman origin as opposed to Anglo Saxon.

Cultural changes

In terms of linguistics, there were several changes made to English. As many French words and phrases had been introduced to the English language. In modern-day society, many of these words and phrases are still being used.

Fig. 5 Anglo-Saxon Homelands and Settlements

End of the Norman Rule in England

All good things come to end, they say. Well, let's take a look and see what ended the Norman rule in England in 1154.

Causes of Norman rule in England

Before looking at the end of the Norman rule in England, one has to acknowledge that the end could be attributed to King William himself. As he had ensured that most of the Normans did not receive vast amounts of land via feudalism, only those who were close to him did. This occurred because William the Conqueror did not trust many individuals.There were only two individuals who were close to him:1) Odo of Bayeux who was William the Conqueror's half-brother

He was given the title of Earl of Kent and gained plenty of wealth from taking as much land as possible in England.

2) William FitzOsbern who became the Earl of Hereford, Gloucester, Oxfordshire and Worcester and he was also a close advisor to William the Conqueror. He was also the strategist of the Battle of Hastings, after William Conquered England, he gave advice on how to maintain power in central and western England.

Both Odo of Bayeux and William FitzOsbern, took on the role of being the King, when William the Conqueror was fighting battles abroad.

End of Norman rule in England

The official end to the Norman rule in England occurred after 1154. The end of Norman rule in England was initiated through the outbreak of a civil war between 1135-1154, often referred to as the "period of anarchy". The civil war resulted in a new English monarch, King Henry II, which marked an end to Norman rule in England.

The civil war can be accounted for by many causes, including:

• Weak leadership of King Stephen

• Tensions related to succession

• Desire to recover land lost and unfairly distributed by William the Conqueror

Overall, the Norman Rule of England began in 1066, when William Duke of Normandy conquered England and his army had killed King Harold II who was the last Anglo-Saxon king. A lot of profound changes were made, in the political, cultural and religious realms. Catholicism became a prominent religion and many more Romanesque cathedrals were built. In terms of linguistics, the English language gained a lot of French influence.