As part of the “Treaty of Saint-Clair-Sur-Epte,” Charles the Simple, a Carolingian French monarch, permitted Vikings, led by the incredible Rollo, to invade and settle in Normandy as long as they abided by the provisions of the pact. In exchange for land, under the leadership of Rollo, the Norsemen were instructed to protect against the Vikings. Their alliance predicted a good end, and the Vikings who lived in the region came to be known as the “Norman,” which is derived from the name Northmen. The Norman Crusade was harsh, aggressive, and noble at the same time. There was hardly anything any clan or army could do to prevent them since they had such a large population inside their army and such a fierce commander. The deeds of William the Conqueror, the Norman leader, helped shape the course of European history. If it had not been for his authority, all kingdoms would not have been unified, and his decision would be remembered for the rest of history (Crompton, 2002).
In 1002, Richard II of England married Emma of Normandy, his half-sister. Their son Edward took the kingdom in 1042. For this, Edward relied on his allies, importing additional Norman troops, clergy and lords and ladies and enabling them to gain authority, mainly in the church, via establishing an established Norman interest in English affairs. There was a lot of competition for the throne after the demise of King Edward, as he had no heirs. Harold was crowned king by the Witenagemot, the English parliament. After being anointed king, Harold was instantly confronted by two of his most formidable neighbouring lords. Both Duke William and Harald Hardrada believed that King Edward had vowed to give them the kingdom if he died. He assembled troops at Saint-Valery-sur-Somme and invaded the English Channel to get support, but the succession choice had not been made. Some of William’s troops may have been recruited in unknown numbers, but it is widely accepted that he had between 14,000 and 15000 soldiers at his disposal. Troops, infantry, and archers would all be represented in this force. William was doing a great job of preparing for battle.
As a consequence of his overwhelming triumph at the Battle of Hastings (the 14th of October, 1066), Duke William of Normandy conquered England in 1066, which resulted in a series of governmental, social and administrative shifts in the British Isles. Finally, after years of tumultuous events that began with Edward the Confessor, the invasion was completed. His failure to get a child allowed Edward to utilize his title of king, pledging the kingdom to several individuals, such as the strong Earl of Wessex Harold Godwineson, who would eventually become Harold II of Wessex. There was also an invasion possibility from Harald III of Norway, Harold’s brother, and Tostig, who was banished from Norway. On the 5th of January, 1066, Edward, who was dying, nominated Harold as his replacement, and Harold was anointed king the next day. It is also said that Harold’s status was weakened by the Bayeux Tapestry and other Norman documents since Harold had agreed to fight for William, who was the rightful ruler of England in 1064, while they were both in the presence of William.
Throughout Harold’s reign, he encountered opposition to his power. In May, Tostig and Harald III started invading the southern and eastern shores of England, ultimately merging their forces. When Harold ran out of provisions, and his peasant warriors wanted to retire to their farms to harvest, he had to disband his battalion early in September. This left the south vulnerable to William’s assault. As a result of Harald III and Tostig’s invasion of the north before William’s arrival, Harold rushed to Yorkshire, where on the 25th of September, he scored a crushing battle where both Tostig and Harald III were killed.
The pope and the Norman nobility were on board with William’s plan to invade the Peninsula. However, poor weather delayed his shipments by eight weeks by August 1066, depleting his army’s workforce by 4,000–7,000 knights and infantry troops. Finally, the winds shifted on the 27th of September, while Harold was still in the north, and William was able to cross the Channel almost soon after that shift. On the 28th of September, he landed at Pevensey and immediately travelled to Hastings. On the 13th of October, Harold arrived at Hastings with his 7,000-strong army, rushing southward. Harold gathered his troops on a hill 10 miles (16 kilometres) to the northwest after being ambushed by William at daybreak on the 14th of October (Time-Life Books, 1988).
On the morning of the 14th of October, 1066, the conflict started and lasted almost the whole day. Both William’s and Harold’s armies had about the same number of men; William had cavalry and infantry, whereas Harold just had foot troops and a handful of archers. Normans prevailed in the fight, and it was said that Harold died from an arrow wound to the eye. Even though this was the Normans’ first combat together, it was far from their last. After this heroic conquest, William had anticipated being proclaimed king by the Witenagemot, but he was not. All of the communities around the Normans were demolished by William in his rage because they may be a danger. For the rest of his life, he ruled England as if it were his “slave.”
Even before he could govern as king, William Fitz Osborn, Odo’s half-brother and greatest ally, had subjugated England to his might and authority. 1067 saw a failed attempt by rebels to capture Dover Castle; this marked the beginning of a nationwide uprising to reclaim their land. After a devastating defeat, William assumed charge of the rebels and mediated the capitulation of the province. A short time later, the insurgents gained possession of York’s Norman castle and began slaughtering the city’s residents. When William arrived in York, he murdered the rebels and ended the uprising. William was a harsh ruler who was only concerned about invading, and there were numerous rebels in all of the countries under his power. William had the Danes subdued, and Robert of Mortain, a William commander, had slain the Mercian insurrectionists. William saved the lives of the Danes since they decided to leave England. William rein’s life finally ended after he had conquered the whole of Europe. The British Isles underwent fundamental political reform and reunification with continental Europe (Time-Life Books, 1988).
Historians have long debated the scope and value of the transformations ushered forth by the conquests. In terms of politics, William’s triumph broke England’s ties to Scandinavia and brought the kingdom closer to the mainland, mainly to France. The establishment of land ownership and serving in the military in England was perhaps the most significant shift. Before the Norman invasion, England had been possible to occupy the territory as a fief via knight duty, but William’s division of the nation among around 180 Norman tenants-in-chief and an untold number of mesne tenants marked a significant shift for the top classes in England. An English one almost entirely replaced a Norman nobility, which was true of the priests and authoritative authorities.
Anglo-Saxon England had a highly well-organized central and local government and a very effective judicial system. William retained and utilized them all, as shown by his coronation pledge. They did not replace the old administrative divisions, nor did feudal justice often take shire and hundred court jurisdiction. Together with the king’s court, they continued to enforce English common law. New “forest law” was created, and Norman trial by battle was used alongside Saxon’s ordeals in criminal trials. The inquest procedure—neighbours’ sworn testimony—was increasingly employed administratively and in court. William’s removal of religious issues from secular courts allowed for the eventual creation of canon law in England (Lace, 1995).
William also changed the structure and nature of the English church. Except for Wulfstan of Dorchester, he replaced all Anglo-Saxon bishops with Normans. William removed Canterbury’s archbishop Stigand and appointed one of his closest advisors, Lanfranc of Bec. The king sponsored Lanfranc’s bid for Canterbury precedence to arrange the English papal primacy. William also supervised more religious authorities than his predecessors and enacted laws against simony (clerical post-sales) and clerical matrimony. William’s principal reform attempts as Duke of Normandy was recruiting Norman clergy and displacing Anglo-Saxon abbots. William built just a few monasteries, but his activities increased the pace of monastic life in England. One of the most disastrous consequences of the invasion was the extinction of English as a literary, legal, and administrative language in many countries. It wasn’t until the 13th century that written English reappeared in official documents and other records, after Latin and then Anglo-Norman had supplanted it in the previous centuries (Britannica, Editors of Encyclopaedia, 2021).
In the end, William was a conqueror who accomplished positive deeds like bringing greater authority to the United Kingdom, expanding commerce across Europe, and joining two landmasses to make one continent. Even though he was a conqueror and, at times, a debauched individual, he significantly impacted how the European colonies interacted with one another in the feature. He is a world-renowned ruler, either due to his victories and intrusions on others or due to his abilities as a military leader and conqueror. The Norman Conquest, with all its faults, deserves to be recorded in history.
References
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2021, the 15th of December). Norman Conquest. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Norman-Conquest
Crompton, S. W. (2002). Hastings (Battles That Changed the World). Chelsea House Pub.
Lace, W. W. (1995). The Battle of Hastings (Battles of the Middle Ages). Lucent Books.
Time-Life Books. (1988). Light in the East: Time frame AD 1000-1100. Alexandria, Va: Time-Life Books.
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