The Norman Conquest and Its Effects The Norman Conquest presents one of those convenient landmarks for

the history of England. It brought out many changes in language, customs, culture, and generally, changes in the whole life of native people. How so that the name of the animal is a sheep- and its meat is mutton- , is the only one of many questions that can say a lot about the invasion itself and about the conditions of native people living in this period. The Norman conquest of England took place in 1066 with the invasion of the Kingdom of England by the troops of William, Duke of Normandy. His victory at the battle of Hastings resulted in French control over England, which was established during the next few years. The first problem that England had to face to was the death of its king Edward of England ( called The confessor because of his construction of Westminster Abbey ) who reigned for 23 years. By leaving no heirs he caused the problem of a divided state. Many wanted to take over the throne. The first one who claimed the right for the throne was Harold Godwinson, very rich and powerful man in England. His relationship with Edward and his high social position made him a logical successor to the throne. He also claimed that Edward commited him his Kingdom while he was dying. But, on the other side, across the English Channel ( or Lamanche, if you watch it from the French side ) William, Duke of Normandy, also laid claim to the throne justifying it with the fact that he was Edwards distant cousin. William also claimed that Edward sent him a letter where he designated William as his successor. Back in time, before 1066, Vikings were attacking Normandy. They got their own part of land in Northern France. They started intermarrying with the local population and establishing their own language and culture. According to William, Harold had sworn on the relics of a martyred saint that he would support Williams right to the throne. So from Williams perspective, when Harold took the crown he had violated a sacred oath and defied the wishes of Edward. William immediately wanted to invade England and destroy Harold. After a few battles William won at the battle of Hastings, he was acclaimed King of England and crowned by Ealdred on 25 December 1066, in Westminster Abbey. The French ruling cast began. A new king, William wanted to depict his victory and, in a way, justify his right to the throne. He did by ordering a work of a tapestry called The Bayeux

Tapestry, or in French Tapisserie de Bayeux. This tapestry was made to depict the events leading up to the Norman Conquest, as well as the events of the invasion itself. It was annotated in Latin. The tapestry was done in images, different scenes and they were showing particular events. William also included a superstition in it by showing the coronation of Harold on January 6 and the appearance of a comet four months later, which according to the beliefs of the Middle Ages warned of impending doom. He connected it to Harolds coronation and his blame for it. Whether the tapestry was only a political propaganda or not, and whether it showed historically accurate data or not, it is certainly a unique visual document of medieval arms, apparel, and other objects unlike any other artifact surviving from this period. As William was very tough and cunning ruler he organized the confiscating of lands, built castles and established law and order. The only large pieces of land he gave to barons who settled along the borders of Wales and Scotland. Even though many disturbances broke out in different parts of land he put them down. William also wanted the Church to be on his side in order to establish his ruling even more. Therefore he re-organized the Church. He deposed the old archbishops who were well educated men of good character. He gave the church large portions of land and made it a power in his kingdom. Even though William was an absentee ruler he wanted to know what are his possessions in England. He wanted to reckon the wealth of England, literally down to the last pig. It would help him to discover how much people of England could afford to pay in tax, it would help him to defend himself of the possible invaders and it would help him to make the right judgments when people were in dispute over land ownership. He created the unique Domesday Book which would provide him with every penny to which he was legally entitled. French rule over England brought out many changes in English language. The Norman Conquest imposed a French- speaking ruling cast on England with the result that Anglo-French developed as the literary language of the highest social classes and Anglo- Saxon was for a period relegated to the lower classes. Normans turned England and its people upside down. They changed almost everything in their life. Normans took over all the highest positions and kicked out Englishmen. The ruling class enjoyed many benefitions. One interesting example is in the name of the meat in England. Noble class was eating a meat of a sheep whose meat they called mutton ( In French mutton is a word for a sheep). But the meat of a chicken remained chicken because it was used in the lower class, the class of the native people. Even though after many years England won out over French, the influence of Normans remained it was immersed in language, customs and culture and is still visible today.