1. Changes/consequences of Norman control of England
Government and Land Ownership
By the end of William’s reign, both the type of people ruling England and the way England was ruled had changed in some areas. Government just refers to whoever controls a country. In the 11th century, if you controlled the land you were part of the government.
Evidence you could use:
William began his reign with a large number of English thegns and earls but by 1070, in the aftermath of the many rebellions from , many had lost their positions. This removal of English magnates in favour of usually Norman men continued until by 1086 there were just a handful of English minor nobles left.
William spent the vast majority of his reign in Normandy and can therefore be described as an absentee monarch. He left trusted regents in charge such as Bishop Odo or Archbishop Lanfranc. Edward the Confessor had always been in England.
Writs and the role of chancellor became more important under William. The role of chancellor was to oversee the writing and copying of writs which were then sent to the sheriffs so that the king’s wishes could be carried out in the shires. Due to William’s absenteeism writs became significantly more crucial to the governance of England than they were during Edward’s reign.
Sheriffs existed pre-1066 but their power was nothing like on the scale enjoyed by sheriffs post The removal of the great earls was the reason that most historians give for this but undoubtedly the importance of writs during the reign of William also made a significant contribution. The sheriffs sat on the hundred courts and shire courts alongside barons. Sheriffs were responsible for collecting taxes. They were also responsible for ensuring that the king’s wishes were carried out when they received writs.
Changes/consequences of Norman control of England
Church
William got support from the Pope for his invasion of 1066, partly because the Pope did not approve of some aspects of the English church. In particular the Pope did not approve of Archbishop Stigand who was Archbishop of Canterbury AND Bishop of Winchester – being on control of two positions in the church is known as pluralism and was not allowed by the Pope.
Evidence you could use:
William replaced Englishmen with Norman bishops to strengthen his control over the church.
William was present at Church councils which meant he got his own way in most cases.
William was able to appoint his own choice to Archbishop of Canterbury (Lanfranc) and Lanfranc proved to be a willing supporter of William as he excommunicated rebels and even acted as regent when William was not in the country. Lanfranc replaced Stigand in William probably kept Stigand for 4 years as he submitted first to William and a was useful man to have on your side whilst the English were still rebellious, especially in such a religious age.
In 1075, Lanfranc ordered that priests in important positions were no longer allowed to be married. This would stop nepotism in the church, which was the term given when positions were passed from one family member to another – usually father to son.
Before 1066, the Archbishop of York and the Archbishop of Canterbury were roughly equal in terms of the power they held. The Normans changed things so that the Archbishop of Canterbury was a more powerful position. A top student could say ‘The Normans established the primacy of the archbishopric of Canterbury, over York,’
Social Structure
How people lived changed in some respects.
Evidence you could use:
Before 1066, women had almost equal rights to men. A Norman law wrote ‘Women’s authority nil. Let her in all things be subject to the rule of men.’
Before 1066 earls/thegns owned land outright, but William declared all land was owned by him except 25% which the church was allowed to keep. People who controlled land, only did so on behalf of William as ‘tenants in chief’.
If a ‘tenant-in-chief’ died, the land did not automatically pass to his son, the family had to pay a tax known as a ‘feudal incident’ to William before a son could inherit.
Everybody owed military service to William in return for holding land.
The structure went: King – Tenants-in-Chief – Knights – Villeins. The Normans got rid of slavery in England.
Economic
The economy in the north was damaged by the Harrying of the North.
England did more trade with northern France/Normandy and less with Scandinavian countries. Meaning some towns on the south coast prospered from trade(Southampton), whilst some on or near the east coast suffered (York).
William taxed far more heavily than Edward ever did and much of the money was spent on building cathedrals in Normandy or fighting wars on mainland Europe, so a lot of wealth was taken out of England for the benefit of the Normans.
But for most people their main concerns were just the same; they were usually subsistence farmers and worried about bad harvest. There was still a subsistence economy in the countryside and more of an exchange economy in the towns.