England Before 1066

Small log houses, home to Anglo-Saxon peasants, speaking in ‘Old English’, scattered the English countryside forming individual towns, each ruled by a different lord under the feudal system. The feudal system, a form of government and social structure where lords controlled patches of lands and the peasants working them, offering them protection and land for labour, constructed a strict social hierarchy and caused individuals to recognize solely as part of their fiefs. This description of England before 1066 shows the lifestyle of most of the population during that time. However, after the death of the English King Edward, two successors, Duke William of Normandy and Earl Harold of Goldwinston, both promised the throne by Edward, fought …show more content…
For example, due to William’s close relation to the Christian Church, he promoted religious figures, such as Priests and Bishops, to enforce religious laws. In fact, in one of William’s doctrines, he writes “By virtue of my authority I also forbid any sheriff or reeve or official of the king or any layman to interfere with the laws which pertains to the bishops.” Bishops and Priests not only gained the ability to convict people who disobeyed religious laws, but William elevated their position over the regular secular law. Moreover, William created the first national census, the Domesday, over his land. The Domesday, containing information about who owned land, how much land, and how wealthy they were, enabled William to gather an accurate idea of how much to tax each person, thus increasing the government’s treasury size. The Domesday also allowed for William to establish sizes for each property, ending disputes on where the borders were. Furthermore, William, still enforcing the feudal system, replaced all of the Anglo-Saxon lords with more loyal Normans. With this replacement, William lowered the chance of a rebellious lord, rising up against his control. Using this reassurance of safety and quiet, the government could turn its resources on other wars and projects. With the shift in government, the Normans gained power and altered the social …show more content…
The replacement of the Anglo-Saxon lords and aristocracy with Normans left loyal followers to William in power. This process happened over a short period of time, and by the 1080s the Anglo-Saxons only held 5% of the total land. With these fiefs loyal to the English flag, the independent sense of each different fief was diminished, being replaced by a national pride and unity. Moreover, the countries moral standards, like that on the slavery, changed with regulations passed by the government and church. Slavery, though not officially illegal until years later, dwindled due to the strong opposition from the higher powers. These views influenced the nation’s society and how the economy functioned, shifting from slave labour to indentured servants. Furthermore, the Norman invasion also brought in many lower and middle class Normans to populate England. Strategically, due to the rebellious nature of the Anglo-Saxon classes, William sent these plebeians to troublesome towns; in hope, that intermarriage between the two groups would cast a more favourable shadow on the Normans, thus ending the various skirmishes. Intermarriage and assimilation of the two nationalities worked for the most part, improving William and the later Norman King’s public images. The introduction of Normans to England altered the social structure, leading to the Norman influences on Anglo-Saxon