Edward the Confessor, king of England was dying. The dying king had many claimants to the throne of England, Harold, the earl of Wessex and Duke William of Normandy. This caused a problem for the people of England, since both men had been made heir to the throne by Edward. No event in English history has been more continually or fiercely debated than the Normand Conquest.(Clanchy)
Harold’s Claim
Harold was born in 1022, his father was, Godwin of Wessex. Harold became Earl of East Anglia in 1046. After his father’s death, Harold, became the earl of Wessex and at the time the most powerful man in England. He was a strong supporter of Edward the Confessor. When Edward died Harold was named as one of his heirs. Edward commended his wife, his retainers, and his kingdom to Harold, earl of Wessex. On 5 January 1066 Edward died; and on the next day he was buried and Harold chosen and crowned in his place(Bartow) There was only one problem, Edward promised the crown of England to the Duke of Normandy as well.
The Conqueror’s Claim
William, Duke of Normandy, earned his title when his father Robert died. Even though William’s parents were never legally married and William known as “the bastard”, his father still legitimized him and made him his heir. Duke William moreover came ostensibly not as a foreign conqueror, but as recognized heir of Edward the Confessor. William had been promised the kingdom by Edward the Confessor.
The Dilemma
Two men, both claimed that Edward the Confessor had promised them the kingdom of England, but who was the true heir? The truth may never be known. The only way to establish who the rightful heir to the kingdom was would be decided upon the battle field. On September 27 William crossed to England unopposed, with an army of 4,000 to 7,000 cavalry and infantry, disembarking at Pevensey in Sussex and moving eastward along the coast to Hastings. Harold learned of William’s landing on or about October 2 and hurried southward; by October 13 Harold was approaching Hastings with about 7,000 men, many of whom were half-armed, untrained peasants(Brittanica) The army of Harold was ill prepared for what was to come. Men who had never fought before in their lives battled against trained knights and mercenaries. Yet, what would have happened if Harold had won? Would England be where it is today as a country?
The Keep
If the Normand invasion had failed England would be lacking in many aspects such as architecture, government, and culture. With them the Norman invaders brought not only culture but new technologies such as the keep. Before the keep, Saxons lived in fortified towns. From 910 to924 Edward the Confessor built over twenty such fortified towns, including Hertford, Tamworth, Stafford, Warwick, and Towcester.(Toy) Saxon Manor homes that were far from these cities were of the left to their own defenses of earthen ditches and short walls made from wood. The keep was a solid stone structure often built as a tower. The keep was usually built upon a hill with a bailey built around the keep. There were also ditches dug and filled with water to create a moat. The only way into the bailey was a drawbridge that could be lowered for people to cross over and raised in times of war and siege.
Inventions and Integrations
Aside from the keep and the defenses they provided the Normans brought a new form of government to England, Feudalism. Feudalism is a system of micro managing lands that William could not visit all the time. William granted his most trusted men with large holdings that were held previously by Saxon nobles who either died at Hastings or lost their lands through what William thought was treason for supporting Harold. Many of these new land holders were married to surviving widows or daughters to make their possession over the land stronger. These land holders would have serfs who would work the land for them and when called for fight for their lord.
The Domesday Book
Another of William’s aspect of rule was the Domesday Book, a medieval census. William had every person in England report what they own and if they lied there was swift punishment. The Domesday Book was a way that William could monitor his vassals and how much they owed him in taxes. The Domesday survey is far more than just a physical record though. It is a detailed statement of lands held by the king and by his tenants and of the resources that went with those lands. It records which manors rightfully belonged to which estates, thus ending years of confusion resulting from the gradual and sometimes violent dispossession of the Anglo-Saxons by their Norman conquerors.(Domesdaybook)
In the End
In conclusion the Norman conquest of England gave the country more benefits over the decades after the Battle of Hastings. Without the Norman keeps and system of government, England may have fallen into the hands of the Danes, the Scots, or the Vikings. England and the world itself would be a very different place if it was not for William the Conqueror and his invasion of England.
Sources
M.T Clanchy. England and its Rulers 1066-1272. Malden. Blackwell Publishing , 1998
Barlow, Frank. The Feudal Kingdom of England 1042-1216 Edinburgh, Pearson Educational, 1999
Encyclopedia Britannica. "Battle-of-Hastings." britannica.com Accessed Jan 25 2010.
Toy, Sidney. Castles Their Constriction and History New York, Dover Publications, 1985
Domesday Book “Compiling the Domesday Book” Accessed Feb 1 2010
Molly Lyons - I am an experienced writer and college student. My areas of expertise are in history and anthropology. I have been previously published in ...
