1. How did the Norman Conquest effect the English Church?
Topic Summary
William I replaced Anglo-Saxon bishops and abbots with Normans.
The Church became more centralised with the creation or archdeaconries and deaneries.
A huge building programme took place. Anglo-Saxon cathedrals were replaced with new and grander buildings which were Romanesque in style.
New cathedrals were located in larger towns and cities.
Significant reform was pushed through by Church councils (synods). This included attacks in simony and marriage amongst the clergy.
Church law courts were established.
There was conflict with the Papacy, who wanted the Church to be more independent.
Relations between the Church and king fluctuated depending on the king. But the Church became more likely to challenge the king during this period.
William I had a good relationship with Archbishop Lanfranc.
William II (Rufus) was unpopular with the clergy because of his morals and because he used the Church to raise money.
Henry I had a better relationship with the Church, but there were still tensions.
How did the Norman Conquest effect the English Church?
Helped spread the message of reform
People listened to the priests about how to live their lives
Largest single landowner in England
Ended marriage amongst the clergy
Synods (church councils) were created
Met twice a year
Everyone had to pay a tithe to the Church
Lanfranc’s Reforms
Religious leaders were as powerful as kings
Wealth and Power
A new church hierarchy created
Cathedrals moved to areas of high population
More centralised with each level answerable to level about
Religion was a matter of life and death
Special taxes at certain times of year – ‘Easter Dues’
Increased the number of parish priests
Helped to centralise the Church
Every Anglo-Saxon cathedral was knocked down and rebuilt
Able to do this as England was a wealthy country
2,000 were recorded in Domesday Survey
Section 2.1
The Norman Church
Both the Pope and William wanted to reform the English Church
Pope gave papal banner to bless William’s invasion
Church rebuilding programme
Norman power and prestige
Rebuilt Cathedrals in Romanesque style
Pope Gregory VII
The Council of Rockingham, 1095
William stopped Anslem from travelling to Rome to get Papal approval for his appointment as archbishop.
As they could not agree about what to do the Council was called.
A truce was called – a messenger was sent to Rome to ask for Anslem’s pallium and the Pope promised to stay out of English affairs.
1097 – Anslem was exiled from England and fled to Rome.
William I
Show God favoured the new Norman rule
Church had more authority than Kings
Thick walls, round arches and large towers
Struggles with the Pope
William did not allow Bishops to travel to Rome regularly like the Pope wanted
Conflict with William of St Calais
William failed to provide Rufus with troops to squash a rebellion.
Rufus put him on trial for treason.
There was a dispute about what court to try William in.
Trail took place in 1088 in a secular court at Salisbury.
William pleaded guilty. He lost is bishopric and was exiled.
William returned to England later and was restored to his position as Bishop of Durham.
William II (Rufus)
William Rufus’ disagreements
Pope Gregory wanted to appoint his own Church leaders, but Rufus refused
Henry I
Conflict between Anselm and Rufus
Rufus appointed Anslem as the archbishop of Canterbury after Lanfranc’s death.
Anslem only accepted the post on the grounds that all lost lands were to be restored to the archbishopric and that the King recognised Urban II as Pope.
1094 Anslem was preaching about the lack of morality in the King’s Court.
Promised to end Rufus’ policy of plundering the Church
Banned marriage for the clergy and condemned Simony

2. Monasticism and Language after the Norman Conquest
Topic Summary
The Normans helped to bring about a revival of monasticism by supporting the Cluniac reform movement and Lanfranc’s reforms.
Many more monasteries were built after the Norman Conquest.
Normans replaced Anglo-Saxons in the most influential roles in monasteries.
Most monks started to follow the Benedictine rule.
Rules were more uniform across the country and more strictly applied due to Lanfranc’s reforms.
Monks lives revolved around church services.
The influence of the practices in the rest of Europe was important, especially with the arrival of Cluniac priories.
Monasteries grew in importance and helped the poor, provided employment, shelter and hospitals. They were also important centres of learning.
Schooling started to improve and the roots of Oxford University come from this time.
Latin became the official language of government, Church and trade.
Anglo-Norman became the spoken language of the elite.
Most people carried on speaking English but very little was written in English.
Monasticism and Language after the Norman Conquest
Area
Successes
Failures
Revival of monasticism
Between , the number of monks and nuns increased from 1,000 – 4,000.
The number of religious houses grew from
By 1135, 10 Cathedrals in England has a monastery attached to them.
New Monastic Orders were created – Cluniac order.
William built Battle Abbey to pay penance for the deaths he caused during his conquest of England.
By 1135 there were 24 Cluniac monasteries in England.
Lanfranc created a new hierarchy of a monastery/nunnery – each section was answerable to the one above.
Monasteries needed a patron to give the money and land needed to be built. This led to a secular influence over many monasteries.
Changes to monastic life
Benedictine and Cluniac monks’ daily routine was focused around prayer.
The strict rules were first used at Cluny Abbey – this was recognised by the Pope as a way to revive monasticism.
All Cluniac monasteries answered to the Abbot of Cluny which made the monasteries more efficient.
Strict structure of domestic life – as a result monks were seen to be more pious and the Church more respected as a whole.
All monks were encouraged to be self-sufficient which reflects one of the vows they had to make.
The Liturgy was changed to make it more like the services in Europe.
Lanfranc’s reforms made the monasteries more like those in the rest of Europe and introduced uniform practice.
Had a variety of other roles – farming, infirmaries (hospitals), looked after the poor (almonry) by giving them food and drink.
Cluny Abbey became very wealthy – this led to people criticising the order.
Some of Lanfranc’s reforms caused protests. Thurstan, the abbot of Glastonbury, tried to introduce a new chant. The monks refused and Thurstan sent in knights to enforce the change. This led to 3 deaths and 18 monks were injured.
Some monasteries grew rich from farming.
Fountains Abbey and Rievaulx became wealthy due to farming sheep and selling the wool.
Improvements to education
Built up libraries of ancient manuscripts.
Monks created illuminated manuscripts – books would be beautifully illustrated.
Monks wrote the History of their time.
Education was focused on training pupils to become monks or priests.
The Normans laid the foundations of university education – teaching started at Oxford University at 1096.
Education had to be paid for so it was out of reach of the peasants.
Attacked William Rufus in ‘History’ due to his bad relationship with the Church.
Girls were excluded from education.
Was not until 1382 that schools became independent of the Church.
Changes to the language
Latin became the most important language – government, Church and used by merchants across Europe.
English was no longer the language of government and became obsolete in written works.
Most people spoke either Norman-French or English in everyday life.
Norman-French became the language used in law courts, schools and university.
French gradually became the favoured language for teaching as Anglo-Saxon teachers were replaced by Normans.
William I struggled to learn English and therefore ordered all documents to be translated into Latin.
Peasants still spoke English and they were the majority of the population.
Section 2.1