Impact of the Norman Conquest 'a truckload of trouble'

Domesday Book
1. Not officially called 'Domesday book'
  1. Called that by the Saxons - shows attitude towards it
  2. 3 names - Book of Winchester, The King's Book or Book of the Treasury
2. 2 books
  1. Little Domesday
    1. Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk
  2. Great Domesday
    1. Everywhere else
3. What?
  1. A survey of all the manors in England
  2. Questions about
    1. How much land
    2. Type of land
    3. How many people
    4. Value
4. Why?
  1. Established who owned what
    1. If you couldn't prove ownership you might lose your land
  2. Legally established William's right to the land
  3. For collecting tax?
    1. Threat of invasion meant WIliam might need money
'The Norman Yoke' Interpretation
1. Yoke = wooden harness used to keep oxen under control
  1. This interp is base on the idea Norman rule was harsh and Saxons strictly controlled
2. Comes from idea before conquest was 'Golden Age'
  1. Most historians now disagree see it as too simplistic
    1. However some truth in it
      1. Normans were quite harsh, but life before 1066 brutal too.
    2. paintings, films and stories still use this portrayal.
Loss of land
1. After Hastings Norman knights given lands of dead English earls & thegns
2. English nobles who survived allowed to keep land at first
  1. William changed policy after rebellions, took most land away
    1. By time of Domesday book just 5% of land owned by English
    2. English forced to rent land from Normans
3. Norman lords
  1. Built castles on their lands
  2. Passed lands entirely to eldest sons, rather than divide it up
  3. Often added a place to their names to show they owned it
Earning a living
1. Life in the country
  1. England still rural - 90% work as farmers
    1. Little change
  2. Ceorls (peasants) used to be free. Now most forced to pay rent for land they once owned
  3. Vast majority English were poorer after 1066
    1. rents increase by 30-40%
      1. Poverty
2. Life in towns
  1. 10% live in towns
    1. Some new towns and existing towns grow in south
  2. Normans controlled markets
    1. Traders have to pay higher taxes
  3. During rebellions (1068-71) towns attacked and burned down by Normans
    1. Houses often cleared to make room for castles e.g. Exeter
  4. Increase in trade with Normandy
  5. Increase in taxes - William used to pay for army
Laws, language and Church
1. Laws
  1. Murdrum: If a Norman was murdered, whole community to pay fine
  2. Forest Law: William created royal forests. Poaching in these was punished by fingers cut off or eyes gouged out
2. Language
  1. Latin rather than English became language of govt, and church
  2. Those in power (Normans) spoke French, ordinary people spoke English
    1. Language was a symbol of their defeat
3. Church
  1. People
    1. Stigand replaced by Lanfranc as Archbishop of Canturbury
    2. By 1080 only 1 of 16 bishops was English.
  2. Buildings
    1. New cathedrals much larger/more beautiful
      1. e.g. Exeter, York, Durham
    2. Old monasteries repaired and new ones built
      1. Money/land from English monasteries gifted to Norman abbeys

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Impact of the Norman Conquest 'a truckload of trouble'

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	Created by Tom Lea about 6 years ago