England in the XII - XIII centuries.

Feudal relations in England developed at a somewhat slower pace than in France.

In England, by the middle of the 11th century. in the main, the feudal order already dominated, but the process of feudalization was far from over, and a significant part of the peasants remained free.

The feudal estate and the system of the feudal hierarchy by this time also did not take on a finished form.

The completion of the process of feudalization in England was associated with the Norman Conquest in the second half of the 11th century.

At the head of the conquerors was the Duke of Normandy Wilhelm, one of the most powerful feudal lords of France.

Not only Norman barons took part in the campaign to England, but also many knights from other regions of France and even from Italy. They were attracted by military booty, the opportunity to seize land and acquire new estates and serfs.

The pretext for the campaign was the claim of the Duke of Normandy to the English throne, based on William's kinship with the English king Edward the Confessor, who died at the beginning of 1066.

But according to the laws of the Anglo-Saxons, the issue of taking the royal throne in the event of the death of the king was decided by Witenagemot. The Witenagemot chose not William as king, but the Anglo-Saxon Harold.

Crossing the English Channel in large sailing boats, William's army landed in September 1066 on the south coast of England. It was more numerous and better armed than the army of the Anglo-Saxon king.

In addition, Duke William had firm power over his vassals - the Norman barons who came with him from France, and the power of the English king over large landowners was very weak.

The Earls of Middle and North-East England did not provide military assistance to Harold.

In the decisive battle near Hastings on October 14, 1066, despite stubborn and courageous resistance, the Anglo-Saxons were defeated, King Harold fell in battle, and William, having captured London, became king of England (1066-1087).

They called him William the Conqueror.

It still took William and his barons several years to subjugate all of England.

In response to the mass confiscations of land from, which were accompanied by the enslavement of the peasants who still retained their freedom, a series of uprisings broke out.

It was mainly the peasant masses who opposed the conquerors. The largest uprisings took place in 1069 and 1071. in the north and northeast of the country, where, unlike other regions, there was a large free peasantry. The conquerors brutally cracked down on the rebellious peasants: they burned entire villages and killed their inhabitants.

The land confiscations, which began with the arrival of the Norman feudal lords in England, continued on an enormous scale after the final conquest of the country. Almost all of its lands were taken from the Anglo-Saxon nobility and given to the Norman barons.

Since the distribution of land was carried out gradually, as it was confiscated, land and estates located in various regions of England fell into the hands of the Norman barons. As a result of this, the possessions of many barons were scattered in different counties, which prevented the formation of territorial principalities independent of royal power.

About one-seventh of all cultivated land Wilhelm kept for himself. The composition of the royal possessions included a significant part of the forests, turned into hunting reserves.

Peasants who dared to hunt in the royal forest were threatened with a terrible punishment - their eyes were gouged out.

Extremely importance in strengthening the feudal order in England, William had an extensive land census carried out throughout England. This census contained data on the amount of land, livestock, household equipment, information on the number of vassals of each baron, on the number of peasants on the estates, and on the income generated by each estate.

It was popularly called the "Book of the Last Judgment". The census was named so, apparently, because those who gave information were obliged, under pain of severe punishment, to say everything, hiding nothing, as at the Last Judgment, which, according to church teaching, was to end the existence of the world.

This census was carried out in 1086. Special commissioners of the king went to the counties and hundreds, where they made a census on the basis of testimony given under oath by the sheriffs of the county, barons, elders, priests and a certain number of peasants from each village.

The census pursued mainly two goals: first, the king wanted to know exactly the size of land ownership, material resources and income of each of his vassals in order to demand feudal service from them accordingly; secondly, the king sought to obtain accurate information for imposing a property tax on the population.

Not surprisingly, the census was greeted by the masses with fear and hatred. “It’s a shame to talk about this, but he [Wilhelm] was not ashamed to do it,” a modern chronicler wrote indignantly, he left not a single bull, not a single cow and not a single pig without including them in his census ... ".

The census hastened the enslavement of the peasants, since many of the free peasants or only to a small extent dependent on the feudal landowners were listed in the Domesday Book as villans.

So called in England (unlike France) not personally free, but serfs. The Norman Conquest thus led to a deterioration in the position of the peasants and contributed to the final formation of the feudal order in England.

New large feudal landowners - barons, receiving land in the course of conquest directly from the king, were his direct vassals. They were indebted to the king for military service and significant monetary payments. Wilhelm demanded vassalage not only from the barons, but also from the knights who were vassals of the barons.

With the introduction of direct vassal dependence of all feudal landowners on the king, the system of vassalage received in England a more complete and more centralized character than on the Continent, where the rule was usually: "The vassal of my vassal is not my vassal." The system of vassalage established in England played a significant role in strengthening royal power.

In organizing local government, the royal government used the ancient collections of hundreds and counties. Moreover, William not only retained all the taxes introduced in the Anglo-Saxon period, but also increased them.

In the highest church positions, as well as in the secular administration, they were replaced by Normans, immigrants from France, which also strengthened the position of William and his barons.

The Norman barons, with the advent of which the feudal oppression in the country intensified, were surrounded by a hostile Anglo-Saxon population and were forced, at least at first, to support royal power.

In the future, as their own position strengthened, they changed their attitude towards royal power and began to enter into open conflicts with it.

Norman conquest of England and its aftermath

Norman conquest

Normandy was in the middle of the XI century. a country that reached the full flowering of feudal relations. This was primarily reflected in its military superiority: the duke was the head of the heavily armed knightly cavalry of his vassals, and the large incomes received by the sovereign of Normandy from his possessions, and in particular from cities, allowed him to have his own excellent military detachments.

The duchy had a better internal organization than England and a strong central government, which controlled both the feudal lords and the church.

Upon hearing of the death of Edward the Confessor, William sent ambassadors to Harold in England demanding a vassal oath, and at the same time announced everywhere that Harold was a usurper and perjurer. Wilhelm turned to Pope Alexander II, accusing Harold of breaking his oath and asking the pope to bless William's invasion of England. 50-60s of the XI century. - an era of great change in history catholic church in Western Europe. The Cluniacs, supporters of the reform, achieved a victory that marked the internal strengthening of the church (the prohibition of simony - receiving church positions from secular sovereigns, the celibacy of the clergy, the election of the pope by the college of cardinals). This victory meant at the same time the assertion of the independence of the papacy from secular power and the beginning of the struggle of the popes for strengthening their political influence in Europe, and ultimately for the subordination of secular sovereigns to the authority of the papal throne. In this situation, the Pope, believing that the English Church needed reform, sent William a consecrated banner, thereby authorizing a campaign against England. Wilhelm began to prepare for the invasion. Since William could not demand military service from his vassals outside Normandy, he called the barons to a council to get their consent to the campaign. In addition, the duke began recruiting volunteers outside of Normandy. He built many transport ships, collected weapons and food. Wilhelm's first assistant was the seneschal William fitz Osbern, whose brother had estates in England.

Knights flocked to William's camp from everywhere. In addition to the Normans, there were knights from Brittany, Flanders, Picardy, Artois, etc. It is difficult to establish the number of William's troops. Historians believe that Normandy could field 1200 knights, and the rest of France less. Such a peculiar source of the time as the Bayeux Tapestry gives many images concerning the preparation of the campaign and the events associated with the conquest. According to this source, the largest ships were open barges with one square sail, which could accommodate about 12 horses. Most of the ships depicted were smaller. Historians believe that there were no more than seven hundred ships in total and that they could transport about 5 thousand people (according to Delbrück's calculations, about 7 thousand people). Only 2 thousand soldiers were heavily armed knights with trained horses (1200 people from Normandy and 800 people from other areas). The remaining 3 thousand people are infantry, archers and ship crews. Crossing the English Channel was a risky and new business. However, Wilhelm managed to persuade the barons.

While this preparation was going on, the English king Harold, knowing full well about everything that was happening in Normandy, gathered people and ships in the south of England. Suddenly and completely unexpectedly for him, northern England, in agreement with William, was attacked by the Norwegian king Harald Gardroda and Tosti, who was expelled from England. September 20 they entered, with a large fleet, in the Gulf of the Humber. The English king had to hurry, leaving everything, north to York. In a desperate battle at Stamfordbridge, Harold defeated the attackers on England, the Norwegian king and Tosti were killed (September 25, 1066). But on September 28, in the south of England, the army of William, Duke of Normandy landed in Pivensey.

Harold, having learned about the landing of the enemy, hastened to the south. His troops were weakened both as a result of the battle with the Norwegians and as a result of the campaign. When Harold entered London on October 6, the militia of the southern districts had not yet gathered, and the main force of Harold's troops were the housecarls, nobles and peasants of the southeast. They were foot troops. Harold went to meet the conquerors and began to expect an enemy army, stopping 10 kilometers from Hastings. The meeting took place on October 14, 1066.

Two troops, Anglo-Saxon and Norman (French in composition and language), were, as it were, two stages in the development of military art, personifying the difference in the socio-political system of Normandy and England. The Anglo-Saxon army is basically a peasant foot militia, armed with clubs and, at best, battle axes. Huskerls and Earls had swords, Danish battle-axes and shields, but also fought on foot. Harold had no cavalry or archers. The Norman army is a beautiful, heavily armed knightly cavalry. The knights fought from the saddle. There were also units of archers.

The defeat of the Anglo-Saxon army was a foregone conclusion. In the battle, Harold and many Tens and Earls perished, the defeat was complete and final. Wilhelm was in no hurry with further actions; only five days later he went to Dover and Canterbury.

Meanwhile, in London, the prelates announced that Edgar Ætheling, the Anglo-Saxon heir to the throne, was announced, but the northern counts did not support him.

London townspeople decided not to resist William, apparently fearing the defeat of the city. Earls, lords, bishops and sheriffs vied with each other to reconcile with William and declare their loyalty. On the whole, southern England offered no noticeable resistance to the conquerors.

On Christmas Day 1066 William (1066-1087) was anointed king in Westminstroy. The ceremony took place in a peculiar setting: Wilhelm's retinue, on a false rumor of betrayal, set fire to the houses around the cathedral and began to beat everyone who came to hand; everyone except Wilhelm and the priests ran out of the church, a struggle ensued. But the ceremony was still completed properly.

Wanting to win the support of the population, William promised to "observe the good laws of Edward." However, the robberies and violence of the Norman barons continued for quite some time. for a long time. In general, by the end of 1068, not only southern, but also northern England recognized William. In order to guarantee the obedience of the citizens of London, the construction of a royal fortress, the Tower, began directly at its city wall.

In 1069, the northern regions of England rebelled against the new king, and William organized a punitive expedition there. As a result, not a single house and not a single living person remained in the entire space between York and Durham. The valley of York became a desert, which had to be re-populated already in the 12th century.

The last uprising against William was undertaken by the small landowner Hereward on the island of Ely in 1071.

 From the book History of England. From ice age before the Magna Carta author Asimov Isaac

Chapter 8 The Norman Conquest The Battle of Stamford Bridge Edward the Confessor died on January 5, 1066, and that year was the most significant in the history of England. Edward ruled for twenty-four years. For most of this period, he was just a man sitting on a throne, while

From The Birth of Britain author Churchill Winston Spencer

Chapter IX. Norman invasion England, distracted by strife and internal rivalry, had long attracted the attention of neighboring countries. The Scandinavians hoped to revive the empire of Canute. The Normans claimed that King Edward had promised to hand over the throne to their duke. Reward

From the book Europe in the era of imperialism 1871-1919. author Tarle Evgeny Viktorovich

6. Immediate consequences of England's entry into the war. Japan speech. The position of Italy The consequences of this fact were colossal, it was truly decisive. Long before the war, the German ambassador, Prince Likhnovsky, told the British that they did not consider

From the book History of the Middle Ages. Volume 1 [In two volumes. Under general edition S. D. Skazkina] author Skazkin Sergey Danilovich

Norman conquest By the middle of the XI century. in England, in the main, feudal orders already dominated, but the process of feudalization was not yet completed. A significant part of the peasants, especially in the north-east of the country, in the area of ​​\u200b\u200b"Danish law" ("Denlo"), remained free, and

author

New Danish conquest of England The Danish kingdom arose at the beginning of the 9th century. and reached power under Harald Sinezub (950–986), who conquered southern Scandinavia and waged wars with the Pomeranian Slavs and Prussians. Denmark especially strengthened during the reign of Canute the Great

From the book History of England in the Middle Ages author Shtokmar Valentina Vladimirovna

Norman conquest Normandy was in the middle of the XI century. a country that reached the full flowering of feudal relations. This was reflected primarily in its military superiority: the duke was the head of the heavily armed knightly cavalry of his vassals, and large incomes,

From the book Grandfather's stories. A History of Scotland from the Earliest Times to the Battle of Flodden in 1513. [with illustrations] by Scott Walter

CHAPTER III THE FEUDAL SYSTEM AND THE NORMAN CONQUEST In the story of Macbeth, the English king Edward the Confessor behaved very magnanimously and nobly. He sent a large army against Macbeth and his commander Siward, in order to help depose the tyrant and elevate him to the throne.

From the book William I and the Norman Conquest of England by Frank Barlow

From the book Baptism of Rus' [Paganism and Christianity. Baptism of the Empire. Constantine the Great - Dmitry Donskoy. Battle of Kulikovo in the Bible. Sergius of Radonezh - pic author

CHAPTER 1 THE ASTRONOMICAL DATING OF THE HOROSCOPE WE DISCOVERED ON THE FAMOUS BAIE CARPET, ostensibly XI CENTURY, SHOWS THAT IT IS DONE NOT BEFORE THE XV CENTURY A.D. THE BENING OF CHRIST 1. WHAT IS "CARPET FROM

From the book History of State and Law of Foreign Countries. Part 1 author Krasheninnikova Nina Alexandrovna

§ 2. Norman conquest and its consequences. Features of the seigneurial monarchy The Norman conquest of England led to a deepening of the feudalization of English society. The basis of the feudal economy in Norman England was the manor - a set of land

From the book William the Conqueror. Viking on the English throne by Douglas David

Chapter 8 The Conquest of England Edward the Confessor died childless on January 5, 1066. The question of the English inheritance, which had been discussed for so long in Europe, moved from a theoretical to a practical plane. It was obvious that it would not be possible to solve it without a war. Actors who

author

1013 Conquest of England by the Viking Danes November 13, 1002, on the day of St. Bryce, by secret order of the King of England, Ethelred II the Unreasonable, a massacre of the Danes living in England was arranged. This ruthless massacre brought on England the revenge of the King of Denmark and Norway, Svein.

From the book Chronology of Russian History. Russia and the world author Anisimov Evgeny Viktorovich

1066 Norman conquest of England major event in the history of Europe was due to the actions of the Duke of Normandy William II the Conqueror - an outstanding ruler and commander. Becoming a duke in 1035 at the age of seven, he, growing up, learned to manage

From the book General History in Questions and Answers author Tkachenko Irina Valerievna

3. What were the essence and consequences of the industrial revolution in England? As a result of the victory of the revolution of the seventeenth century. in England, the capitalist structure in agriculture began to develop rapidly, a revolution began in industrial production. Ideas were developed in the country

From the book Ancient Zodiacs of Egypt and Europe. Dating 2003-2004 [New Egyptian Chronology Part 2] author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

4.2.2. According to the Scaligerian version, the Bayeux carpet depicts the conquest of England in 1066. It is believed that the images on the Bayeux carpet are associated with the events that led to the Norman (or Norman, as it is also called) invasion of England. decisive battle,

From the book 50 great dates in world history author Shuler Jules

The Battle of Hastings and the Conquest of England by the Normans October 14, 1066 The Duke of Normandy William, nicknamed the Conqueror, in June 1066 gathered an army of 14,000 horsemen, 45,000 infantry and 1,400 ships to move to conquer England under the circumstances of which we

The Norman conquest of England is the process of establishing a Norman state on the territory of England and the destruction of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, which began with the invasion of the Norman Duke William in 1066 and ended in 1072 with the complete subjugation of England.

Background of the Norman invasion of England

It is known that England suffered greatly from the constant invasions of the Vikings. The Anglo-Saxon king Ethelred was looking for someone who would help him fight against the Vikings, he saw such an ally in the Normans, and in order to conclude an alliance with them, he married the sister of the Norman duke, Emma. But he did not receive the promised help, which is why he left the country and took refuge in Normandy in 1013.
Three years later, all of England was conquered by the Vikings, and Canute the Great became their king. He united under his rule all of England, Norway and Denmark. Meanwhile, the sons of Æthelred were thirty years in exile at the court of the Normans.
In 1042, one of Ethelred's sons, Edward, regained the English throne. Edward himself was childless and there was no direct heir to the throne, then he proclaimed the Norman Duke William as his heir. In 1052, power returned to the hands of the Anglo-Saxons. In 1066, Edward dies, which means that William should become his heir, but the Anglo-Saxons, for their part, appoint Harold II as king.
Duke William, of course, challenged this election and presented his claims to the throne of England. This was the beginning of the Norman conquest of England.

Side forces

Anglo-Saxons
Their army was quite large, perhaps the largest army in all of Western Europe, but its problem was that it was poorly organized. Harold didn't even have a fleet at his disposal.
The core of Harold's army were the elite warriors of the Huscarls, their number grew to three thousand. In addition to them, there were great amount thegns (serving to know) and even more the number of firds (militia).
The big problem of the Anglo-Saxons was the almost complete absence of archers and cavalry, which later played, perhaps, a key role in their defeat.
Normandy
The backbone of Wilhelm's army was heavily armed and well-trained mounted knights. Also in the army there was a considerable number of archers. More than half of William's army are mercenaries, there were not so many Normans themselves.
In addition, it should be noted that Wilhelm himself was a brilliant tactician and had great knowledge in the art of war, and was also famous in the ranks of his army as a brave knight.
The total number of soldiers, according to historians, did not exceed 7-8 thousand. Harold's army was much larger, at least 20 thousand soldiers.
Norman invasion
The official start of the Norman invasion of England is the Battle of Hastings, which was also a key moment in this campaign.
On October 14, 1066, the two armies clashed at Hastings. Harold had a larger army at his disposal than William. But a brilliant tactical talent, Harold's mistakes, the attacks of the Norman cavalry and the death of Harold himself in battle enabled William to win a brilliant victory.
After the battle, it became clear that there was no person left in the country who was to lead the country in the fight against Wilhelm, since everyone who could do this remained lying on the battlefield of Hastings.
In the same year, we will catch a few Anglo-Saxon resistance, which means that on December 25, William was the first to be proclaimed king of England, the coronation took place in Westminster Abbey. At first, the power of the Normans in England was strengthened only military force, the people have not yet recognized the new king. In 1067, his position in the country became stronger, which allowed him to make a short trip to his native Normandy.
Until now, only the southeastern lands of the country were under the complete control of William, the rest of the lands rebelled when he left for Normandy. A particularly large performance occurred in the southwestern lands. In 1068, another uprising began - in the north of the country. Wilhelm had to act quickly and decisively, which he did. By quickly taking York and building a number of castles in the north of England, he managed to stop the rebellion.
In 1069, another uprising began, this time the nobles were supported by the villagers. The rebels recaptured York, but William and his army brutally cracked down on the rebels and recaptured York.
In the autumn of the same year, the Danish army landed on the coast of England and declared their claims to the throne. At the same time, uprisings of the last major Anglo-Saxon nobles broke out throughout northern and central England. This uprising was supported by France. Thus, Wilhelm found himself in a difficult situation, surrounded by three enemies. But Wilhelm had a very powerful cavalry army and already at the end of the same year he again returned Northern England under his control, and the Danish army returned to the ships.
In order not to repeat the possibility of uprisings, William ravaged the north of England. His troops burned villages, crops and the inhabitants were forced to leave Northern England. After that, all the nobility submitted to him.
After William bought the Danes in 1070, the resistance of the Anglo-Saxons was under great threat. Wilhelm destroyed the last forces of the rebels on the island of Ili. He surrounded them and starved them out.
It was the fall of the last Anglo-Saxon nobles that brought the Norman conquest of England to an end. After that, the Anglo-Saxons no longer had a single aristocrat who could lead them to fight.

Consequences

The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were destroyed, and power passed to the Normans. Wilhelm founded a powerful country with a strong centralized power of the king - England. Very soon, his newly created state will become the strongest in Europe for a long time, with the military strength of which, it was foolish to ignore. And the whole world knew that the English cavalry was now the decisive force on the battlefield.

England faced a massive wave of Scandinavian Viking raids on its territory. The Anglo-Saxon king Æthelred II, wanting to secure support against the Vikings, married Emma, ​​the sister of Duke Richard II of Normandy, in 1002. However, Ethelred II did not receive help from the Normans and in 1013 he was forced to flee with his family to Normandy.

Harold's election was challenged by William of Normandy. Based on the will of King Edward, as well as on the oath of allegiance to Harold, probably taken during his trip to Normandy in / 1065, and appealing to the need to protect the English church from usurpation and tyranny, William put forward his claims to the crown of England and began preparations to an armed invasion. At the same time, Harald the Severe, King of Norway, claimed the English throne, whose predecessor in 1038 concluded an agreement with the son of Canute the Great on the mutual succession of kingdoms in the event of the childlessness of one of the monarchs. The Norwegian king, having entered into an alliance with the brother of Harold II, exiled from England, Tostig Godwinson, also began to prepare for the conquest of England.

Preparation

Side forces

The Normans had extensive experience in military operations with small detachments of cavalry from fortress castles, which were quickly erected in the occupied territory, as strongholds, in order to further control it. The wars with the kings of France and the counts of Anjou allowed the Normans to improve their tactics against large enemy formations and establish clear interaction between the branches of the military. William's army consisted of a feudal militia of Norman barons and knights, cavalry and infantry contingents from Brittany, Picardy and other northern French regions, as well as mercenary troops. On the eve of the invasion of England, William organized a mass building of ships.

Footman of King Harold Norman archer Norman mounted knights

Preparing for an invasion

Norwegian invasion of England in 1066. Dotted lines indicate the boundaries of the possessions of the house of Godwin

In early 1066, William began preparations for an invasion of England. Although he received approval for this enterprise from the assembly of the barons of his duchy, however, the forces allocated by them were clearly not enough for such a large-scale and prolonged military operation outside Normandy. William's reputation ensured an influx of knights from Flanders, Aquitaine, Brittany, Maine and the Norman principalities of Southern Italy into his army. As a result, the Norman contingent proper comprised less than half of the troops. William also won the support of the emperor and, more importantly, of Pope Alexander II, who hoped to strengthen the position of the papacy in England and remove the apostate archbishop Stigand. The Pope not only supported the claims of the Duke of Normandy to the English throne, but also, handing over his consecrated banner, blessed the participants in the invasion. This allowed Wilhelm to give his event the character of a "holy war". Preparations were completed by August 1066, however, a head north wind for a long time did not allow the Channel crossing to begin. On September 12, Wilhelm moved his army from the mouth of the Dives River to the mouth of the Somme, to the town of Saint-Valery, where the width of the strait was much smaller. The total number of the Norman army, according to modern researchers, numbered 7-8 thousand people, for the transport of which a fleet of 600 ships was prepared.

The English king was also preparing to repel the Norman invasion. He convened a national militia from the south-eastern regions of England and deployed troops along the south coast. A new fleet was formed at a rapid pace, headed by the king. In May, Harold managed to repel the raid of his rebellious brother Tostig on the eastern regions of the country. However, in September the Anglo-Saxon naval defense system collapsed: food shortages forced the king to disband the militia and navy. In mid-September, the army of the Norwegian king Harald the Severe landed in northeast England. Linking up with Tostig's supporters, the Norwegians defeated the northern counties militia at the Battle of Fulford on 20 September and subdued Yorkshire. The king of England was forced to leave his position on the south coast and move rapidly north. Having united his army with the remnants of the militia, on September 25, in the battle of Stamford Bridge, Harold utterly defeated the Vikings, Harald the Severe and Tostig were killed, and the remnants of the Norwegian army sailed to Scandinavia. However, the significant losses suffered by the British at the battles of Fulford and Stamford Bridge, especially among the royal housecarls, undermined the combat effectiveness of Harold's army.

conquest

Battle of Hastings

William the Conqueror and Harold during the Battle of Hastings

Two days after the Battle of Stamford Bridge, the direction of the winds in the English Channel changed. The loading of the Norman army onto ships immediately began, and late in the evening of September 27, William's fleet sailed from Saint-Valery. The crossing took all night, and there was a moment when the duke's ship, having strongly separated from the main forces, was left alone, but there were no English ships in the strait, and the transportation of the army was successfully completed on the morning of September 28 in the bay near the city of Pevensey. The Norman army did not stay in Pevensey, surrounded by marshes, but moved to Hastings, a more convenient port from a strategic point of view. Here William built a castle and began to wait for the approach of the English troops, sending small units deep into Wessex for exploration and production of provisions and fodder.

Coronation of William I

After the battle of Hastings, England was open to the conquerors. During October - November 1066, Kent and Sussex were captured by the Norman army. Queen Edith, widow of Edward the Confessor and full sister of Harold II, recognized William's claims, placing him under control ancient capital Anglo-Saxon rulers - Winchester. London remained the main center of resistance, where Edgar Ætheling, the last representative of the ancient Wessex dynasty, was proclaimed the new king. But William's troops surrounded London, devastating its environs. The leaders of the national party—Archbishop Stigand, Earls Edwin and Morcar, young Edgar Ætheling himself—were forced to submit. At Wallingford and Berkhamsted they took an oath of allegiance to William and recognized him as King of England. Moreover, they insisted on the immediate coronation of the duke. Soon Norman troops entered London. On December 25, 1066, William was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.

Although the coronation of William I took place in accordance with the Anglo-Saxon tradition, which was supposed to convince the population of the legitimacy of the rights of the new king to the English throne, the power of the Normans relied at first exclusively on military force. Already in 1067, the construction of the Tower of London began, and then Norman castles grew throughout the southern and middle England. The lands of the Anglo-Saxons who participated in the Battle of Hastings were confiscated and distributed to the soldiers of the invading army. By the end of March 1067, the position of William the Conqueror had somewhat strengthened, and he was able to make a long trip to Normandy. He was accompanied by the leaders of the Anglo-Saxon party - Prince Edgar, Archbishop Stigand, Earls Morcar, Edwin and Waltaf, as well as hostages from other noble families. During the absence of the king, the government of England was carried out by his closest associates: the earl of Hereford, William Fitz-Osburn, and William's half-brother, Bishop Odo.

The situation in England was quite tense. The Norman administration controlled only the southeastern regions of the country. The rest of the kingdom was ruled only thanks to the great Anglo-Saxon magnates who expressed their loyalty to William. Immediately after his departure, a wave of riots swept, especially large - in southwestern England. The sons of Harold Godwinson, having found shelter in Ireland, began to gather their supporters. Opponents of the new government sought support at the courts of the rulers of Scandinavia, Scotland and Flanders. The situation demanded the speedy return of William to England. At the end of 1067, after spending the summer and autumn in Normandy, he returned to the conquered kingdom. The southwest of England was pacified, then an attempt by the sons of Harold to land at Bristol was repulsed. In the summer of 1068, William's wife Matilda was crowned Queen of England.

Subjugation of Northern England

The Norman conquest of England in 1066 and the Anglo-Saxon uprisings of 1067-1070

In 1068, the situation of William the Conqueror escalated: Edgar Ætheling fled to Scotland, where he received the support of King Malcolm III, and an uprising broke out in the north of England. Wilhelm acted decisively. After building a castle at Warwick, he marched into the north English counties and occupied York without opposition. The local nobility took an oath of allegiance to the king. On the way back, castles were erected at Lincoln, Nottingham, Huntingdon and Cambridge, which allowed control of the route to northern England. But already at the beginning of 1069, a new uprising broke out in the north, in which not only feudal lords, but also peasants took part. On January 28, 1069, Anglo-Saxon detachments broke into Durham, which destroyed the squad of the Norman Earl of Northumbria Robert de Comyn, and he himself was burned alive. Then the rebellion against the conquerors spread to Yorkshire, and York itself was captured by the supporters of the Ætheling. The second campaign of William to the north made it possible to occupy York and suppress the uprising, brutally cracking down on the rebels. Until the autumn of 1069, the Normans managed to liquidate pockets of resistance relatively easily, since the rebels in different parts England did not have common goals, a single leadership and did not coordinate actions with each other.

In the autumn of 1069 the situation changed radically. The English coast was attacked by a huge fleet (250-300 ships) under the command of the sons Danish king Sven II Estridsen, heir to the house of Canute the Great, who also claimed the English throne. King Malcolm of Scotland married Edgar's sister Margaret and recognized the rights of the Ætheling to the English throne. Edgar himself made an alliance with Sven. At the same time, an anti-Norman uprising broke out in the County of Maine, supported by the Counts of Anjou and King Philip I of France. William's opponents entered into relations with each other, thereby forming a coalition. Taking advantage of the Danish invasion, the Anglo-Saxons again rebelled in Northumbria. A new army was formed, led by Edgar Ætheling, Kospatrick and Waltheof, the last representatives of the major Anglo-Saxon nobility. Together with the Danes, they captured York, defeating its Norman garrison. The uprising swept northern and central England. The support of the rebels was expressed by the Archbishop of York. The opportunity arose to have Edgar's coronation in York, which would have cast doubt on William's legitimacy. However, the approach of the Anglo-Norman army forced the rebels to retreat from York. The king was soon forced to leave the north again, facing uprisings in western Mercia, Somerset and Dorset. Only after the suppression of these speeches was William able to take decisive action against the North English rebels.

At the end of 1069, the troops of William the Conqueror re-entered northern England. The Danish army retreated to the ships and abandoned the area. This time, the Normans engaged in the systematic destruction of the lands, the destruction of the buildings and property of the Anglo-Saxons, trying to eliminate the very possibility of a repetition of the uprising. Villages were burned en masse, and their inhabitants fled south or to Scotland. By the summer of 1070, Yorkshire had been ruthlessly ravaged. County Durham was largely depopulated as the surviving villagers fled from the burned villages. William's troops reached the Tees, where Kospatrick, Waltheof and other Anglo-Saxon leaders submitted to the king. The Normans then marched quickly across the Pennines and fell upon Cheshire, where the devastation continued. The ruin also reached Staffordshire. Further, an attempt was made to destroy what allowed the inhabitants to exist. Famine and plague gripped the north of England. By Easter 1070, the campaign that went down in history as the "Desolation of the North" (Eng. Harrying of the North) has been completed. The consequences of this ruin were still vividly felt in Yorkshire, Cheshire, Shropshire and the "five burgh area" decades after the conquest.

In the spring of 1070, the Danish fleet, now led by King Sven himself, remained in English waters, settling on the Isle of Ely. The last representatives of the unconquered Anglo-Saxon nobility also flocked here. The leader of the resistance was the poor then Hereward. Among the participants in the uprising were not only the nobility, but also the peasants. Anglo-Danish bands made harassing raids along the coasts of East Anglia, destroying Norman formations and ravaging Norman possessions. However, in the summer of 1070, William managed to conclude an agreement with the Danes on their evacuation for a huge ransom. After the departure of the Danish fleet, the defense of Ili was led by Hereward, which was joined by more and more detachments from other regions of the country. So, one of the most influential Anglo-Saxon aristocrats arrived on the island of Or - Morcar, the former Earl of Northumbria. It was the last stronghold of the Anglo-Saxon resistance. In the spring of 1071, William's troops surrounded the island and blocked its supply. The defenders were forced to capitulate. Hereward managed to escape, but Morcar was captured and soon died in prison.

The fall of Ely marked the end of the Norman conquest of England. Resistance to the new government has ceased. Only skirmishes continued on the border with Scotland, where Edgar Ætheling again found refuge, but in August 1072, William's army, supported by large fleet forces, invaded Scotland and reached Thay without hindrance. The Scottish king Malcolm III concluded a truce with William in Abernethy, brought him homage and pledged not to support the Anglo-Saxons. Edgar was forced to leave Scotland. The conquest of England was over.

Organization

General principles

The main principle of organizing the control system of conquered England was the desire of King William to look like the rightful successor to Edward the Confessor. The constitutional basis of the Anglo-Saxon state was completely preserved: the Witenagemot was transformed into the Grand Royal Council, the prerogatives of the Anglo-Saxon kings were transferred in full to the Anglo-Norman monarchs (including the right to tax and single-handedly publish laws), the system of counties headed by royal sheriffs was preserved. The scope of landowners' rights was determined as of the time of King Edward. The very concept of the monarchy was of an Anglo-Saxon nature and contrasted sharply with the state of royal power in modern France, where the sovereign fought desperately for his recognition by the largest barons of the state. The principle of succession to the Anglo-Saxon period was especially clearly manifested in the first years after the conquest (before the uprising in Northern England in 1069), when a significant part of the Anglo-Saxon magnates retained their positions at court and influence in the regions.

However, despite all the appearance of a return to the "good times" of King Edward (after the usurpation of Harold), the power of the Normans in England relied mainly on military force. Already in December 1066, the redistribution of land began in favor of the Norman knights, which, after the "Devastation of the North" 1069-1070. has become universal. By the 1080s, the Anglo-Saxon nobility was completely destroyed as a social stratum (with a few exceptions) and replaced by northern French chivalry. A small group of the most noble Norman families - William's closest associates - received more than half of all land allotments, and the king himself took possession of about a fifth of the lands of England. The nature of land holdings has completely changed, which has acquired classical feudal features: land was now granted to barons under the condition of setting up a certain number of knights, if necessary, to the king. The whole country was covered with a network of royal or baronial castles, which became military bases providing control over the district, and the residences of the barons or officials of the king. A number of areas of England (Herefordshire, Cheshire, Shropshire, Kent, Sussex) were organized as militarized territories responsible for the defense of the borders. Of particular importance in this regard were the Cheshire and Shropshire marks created by Hugh d'Avranches and Roger de Montgomery on the border with Wales.

Land ownership and social structure

Model of an Anglo-Norman castle

Having captured England, William divided its territory into 60,215 land fiefs, dividing them among his vassals. The specifics of the distribution of land holdings in England after the conquest was that almost all new barons received land in separate plots scattered throughout the country, which, with rare exceptions, did not form compact territories. Although it is probably impossible to argue that the fragmentation of land holdings granted to the feud was a deliberate policy of King William, this feature of the organization of land ownership in Norman England did not allow the emergence of feudal principalities like French or German, which played a huge role in the subsequent history of the country, and ensured the preponderance king over barons.

The conquest created a new ruling class, the knights and barons of Norman origin. The new nobility owed their position to the king and performed whole complex duties towards the monarch. The main of these duties were military service, participation three times a year in the Grand Royal Council, as well as filling various positions in the public administration (primarily sheriffs). After the conquest and destruction of the Anglo-Saxon tradition of vast earls, the role of sheriffs sharply increased: they turned into a key element of the royal administration on the ground, and in terms of their possessions and social status they were not inferior to the Anglo-Norman earls.

church authority

The Norman influence was especially strong in church circles. All of Wilhelm's actions in the ecclesiastical sphere were carried out with the full support of the Holy See. One of the first decisions was the renewal of the annual payment to Rome of "St. Peter's mite". A few years after the conquest of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stigand, was removed, and the closest adviser to the king, Lanfranc, became his successor. All vacant seats were given not to the Anglo-Saxons, but to foreigners, primarily immigrants from France. Already in 1087, Wulfstan of Worcester remained the only bishop of Anglo-Saxon origin. At the beginning of the 13th century, as a result of the appearance of mendicant monastic brotherhoods, consisting almost entirely of foreigners, the influence of foreigners in church circles increased even more. Many schools were opened in which, unlike on the Continent, where instruction was in Latin, instruction was in French. The influence of the church authorities increased. A separation of secular and ecclesiastical jurisdiction was carried out. As a result of unified integration, inter-church influence was strengthened. Wilhelm's decree, stating that all ecclesiastical proceedings should be heard by bishops and archbishops in their own courts "in accordance with the canons and episcopal laws", made it possible to further implement the adoption of canon law. The Normans transferred the diocesan thrones to those cities where they still exist. The episcopal structure of the church in England established by the Normans remained almost unchanged until the period of the Reformation.

At the same time, Wilhelm very firmly defended his sovereignty in relations with Rome. Without his knowledge, not a single feudal lord, including church lords, could correspond with the Pope. Any visit of papal legates to England was subject to agreement with the king. Decisions of church councils were possible only with his approval. In the confrontation between Emperor Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII, William maintained a strict neutrality, and in 1080 he refused to offer homage to the Pope on behalf of his English kingdom.

Central administration, fiscal and judicial systems

With regard to the organization of the central administration of the conquered country, King Wilhelm basically followed the Anglo-Saxon traditions. Although at his court there were positions of steward, butler, chamberlain, borrowed from the French administration, they had mainly honorary functions. An important innovation was the establishment of the post of chancellor in the city, responsible for organizing the king's office work. The Grand Royal Council, in which all the barons of the country took part, was the successor to the Anglo-Saxon Witenagemot. In the early Norman period, it began to meet regularly (three times a year), but lost much of its influence on the development of political decisions, giving way to the royal curia (lat. Curia regis). The last institute was a collection of barons and officials closest to the king, helping the monarch with advice on the current problems of the state. The Curia became the centerpiece of the royal administration, although its meetings were often informal.

The basic foundations of the fiscal system did not change after the Norman Conquest. The financing of the royal administration continued to be based on income from domain lands (annual income from which amounted to more than 11 thousand pounds sterling), payments from cities and income from legal proceedings. These sources were joined by income of a feudal nature (relief, guardianship, formarage). The practice of imposing a general tax on the population (“Danish money”) was continued, and the consent of the population to levy this tax was not required. The principles of distribution of taxes by counties, hundreds and guides have also been preserved from Anglo-Saxon times. To bring traditional tax rates in line with the current state of the economy and new system land holdings in the city, a general assessment of the lands was carried out, the results of which were presented in the Doomsday Book.

After the Norman Conquest, which was accompanied by massive abuses and illegal seizures of land, the importance of legal proceedings increased sharply, which became an instrument of royal power in streamlining land and social relations in the country. In the reorganization of the judiciary, Geoffroy, Bishop of Coutances, and Archbishop Lanfranc played an important role. Separation of secular and ecclesiastical jurisdiction was carried out, a coherent system of judicial bodies was created, and baronial courts arose. An important innovation was the widespread use of trial by jury, whose origins can be traced to both Norman practice and the traditions of the Danelaw.

Meaning

IN socially The Norman Conquest led to the destruction of the Anglo-Saxon military service nobility (then) and the formation of a new dominant layer of feudal chivalry, built on the principles of vassal-fief relations and having judicial and administrative power over the peasant population. The semi-independent earls of the Anglo-Saxon era were replaced by the Norman barons, highly dependent on the king and obliged to him for their possessions by knighthood (by posting a certain number of armed knights). The higher clergy were also included in the feudal system. The process of enslavement of the peasantry, which began back in the Anglo-Saxon period, accelerated sharply and led to the dominance of feudal-dependent categories of the peasantry in medieval England, which led to even greater enslavement. At the same time, the almost complete disappearance of slavery in England should be noted.

The most important consequence of the Norman conquest in the social sphere was the introduction in England of classical feudal relations and a vassal-feudal system along the lines of the French model. The genesis of feudalism in England began in - centuries, however, the emergence of a social system based on land holding, which is determined by the holder's performance of strictly defined military duties, whose volume did not depend on the size of the plot, but on an agreement with the overlord, is an unconditional innovation of the Norman conquest. The pronounced military character of the landed holdings was also one of the main consequences of the Norman Conquest. In general, the social structure of society has become more strict, rigid and hierarchical.

IN organizational plan The Norman Conquest led to a sharp strengthening of royal power and the formation of one of the most stable and centralized monarchies in Europe during the High Middle Ages. The power of royal power is clearly evidenced by the conduct of a general census of land holdings, the results of which were included in the Book of the Last Judgment, an enterprise unprecedented and absolutely impossible in other modern European states. New state system, although based on Anglo-Saxon management traditions, quickly acquired a high degree of specialization and the formation of functional government bodies, such as the Chamber of the Chessboard, the Treasury, the Chancellery and others.

IN culturally The Norman Conquest introduced a feudal culture of chivalry into England based on its French models. Old English was ousted from the sphere of government, and the Norman dialect of French became the language of administration and communication of the dominant social strata. For about three hundred years, the Anglo-Norman dialect dominated the country and had a great influence on the formation of modern English.

IN politically the self-isolation of the country, which was in the Anglo-Saxon era, was over. England turned out to be closely included in the system of international relations of Western Europe and began to play one of the critical roles on the European political scene. Moreover, William the Conqueror, who linked the Kingdom of England with the Duchy of Normandy by personal union, became a powerful ruler of Northwestern Europe, completely changing the balance of power in this region. At the same time, the fact that Normandy was a vassal of the King of France, and that many of the new English barons and knights held lands across the Channel, made Anglo-French relations much more difficult. As dukes of Normandy, the Anglo-Norman monarchs recognized the suzerainty of the king of France, and as kings of England they had an equal social status with him. In the XII century, with the creation of the Angevin Empire of the Plantagenets, the English king owned almost half of the territory of France, while remaining legally a vassal of the French monarch. This duality became one of the reasons for the long Anglo-French confrontation, which was one of the central moments of the European politics of the Middle Ages and culminated in the course of the Hundred Years War.

see also

Comments

Notes

  1. All the wars of world history. Book 2. 1000-1500 - M .: AST, 2004. - S. 15-22.
  2. Douglas D. Wilgelm the conqueror. - S. 417.
  3. Epoch crusades/ edited by E. Lavisse and A. Rambo. - M .: AST, 2005. - S. 683-690.
  4. Jones G. Vikings. Descendants of Odin and Thor. - M .: Tsentrpoligraf, 2004. - S. 377-379, 387-389.
  5. Douglas D. Ch. Normans from conquests to achievements. - St. Petersburg. : Eurasia, 2003. - S. 55-56.
  6. Douglas D. Wilgelm the conqueror. - S. 206-210, 220.
  7. Jewett S. O. Norman Conquest. - Minsk: Harvest, 2003. - S. 230.
  8. Jones G. Vikings. Descendants of Odin and Thor. - M .: Tsentrpoligraf, 2004. - S. 437-438.
  9. Norman A.V.B. Medieval warrior. Armament of the times of Charlemagne and the Crusades. - M .: Tsentrpoligraf, 2008. - S. 104-105.
  10. Saxons, Vikings, Normans. - Artemovsk: Soldier, 2002. - S. 9.
  11. Norman A.V.B. Medieval warrior. Armament of the times of Charlemagne and the Crusades. - M .: Tsentrpoligraf, 2008. - S. 106-112, 115.
  12. Almanac "New Soldier" No. 88. Saxons, Vikings, Normans. - Artemovsk: Soldier, 2002. - S. 31-32.
  13. Jewett S. O. Norman Conquest. - Minsk: Harvest, 2003. - S. 234.
  14. Devris K. Great battles of the Middle Ages. 1000-1500. - M .: Eksmo, 2007. - S. 23-26.
  15. Douglas D. Ch. Normans from conquests to achievements. - St. Petersburg. : Eurasia, 2003. - S. 126-129.
  16. Douglas D. Wilgelm the conqueror. - S. 154-155, 159-161.
  17. Douglas D. Wilgelm the conqueror. - S. 232.
  18. The Greatest Battles of the Middle Ages. Collection. - M .: Eksmo, 2009. - S. 163, 168-171.
  19. Douglas D. Wilgelm the conqueror. - S. 235-240.
  20. Douglas D. Ch. Normans from conquests to achievements. - St. Petersburg. : Eurasia, 2003. - S. 77-79.
  21. The Greatest Battles of the Middle Ages. Collection. - M .: Eksmo, 2009. - S. 168-171.
  22. Douglas D. Wilgelm the conqueror. - S. 247-249.
  23. Jewett S. O. Norman Conquest. - Minsk: Harvest, 2003. - S. 257-258.
  24. Douglas D. Wilgelm the conqueror. - S. 251-252.
  25. Jewett S. O. Norman Conquest. - Minsk: Harvest, 2003. - S. 265-267.
  26. Douglas D. Ch. Normans from conquests to achievements. - St. Petersburg. : Eurasia, 2003. - S. 81-83.
  27. Douglas D. Wilgelm the conqueror. - S. 259-261.
  28. Jones G. Vikings. Descendants of Odin and Thor. - M .: Tsentrpoligraf, 2004. - S. 442.
  29. Douglas D. Wilgelm the conqueror. - S. 266-269.
  30. Douglas D. Ch. Normans from conquests to achievements. - St. Petersburg. : Eurasia, 2003. - S. 110-111.
  31. History of the Middle Ages / edited by N. F. Kolesnitsky. - M .: Education, 1986.
  32. Douglas D. Wilgelm the conqueror. - S. 270-271.
  33. Douglas D. Ch. Normans from conquests to achievements. - St. Petersburg. : Eurasia, 2003. - S. 129.
  34. Douglas D. Wilgelm the conqueror. - S. 305.
  35. Jewett S. O. Norman Conquest. - Minsk: Harvest, 2003. - S. 259-260.
  36. Douglas D. Ch. Normans from conquests to achievements. - St. Petersburg. : Eurasia, 2003. - S. 168.
  37. Douglas D. Ch. Normans from conquests to achievements. - St. Petersburg. : Eurasia, 2003. - S. 249-251.
  38. Douglas D. Wilgelm the conqueror. - S. 365.
  39. Stringholm A. Viking expeditions. - M .: AST, 2002. - S. 181.
  40. The Age of the Crusades / edited by E. Lavisse and A. Rambaud. - M .: AST, 2005. - S. 745-746.
  41. Harper Encyclopedia military history Dupuy R. E. and Dupuy T. N. All the wars of world history. Book 2. 1000-1500 - M .: AST, 2004. - S. 24.
  42. Douglas D. Wilgelm the conqueror. - S. 338-339.
  43. Douglas D. Ch. Normans from conquests to achievements. - St. Petersburg. : Eurasia, 2003. - S. 155.
  44. Douglas D. Ch. Normans from conquests to achievements. - St. Petersburg. : Eurasia, 2003. - S. 203-206.
  45. The Age of the Crusades / edited by E. Lavisse and A. Rambaud. - M .: AST, 2005. - S. 741-743.

England in the middle of the 11th century. Few events in the history of England can be compared in importance with those that took place in the second half of the 11th century, and the most striking, dramatic and catastrophic episode of which was the Battle of Hastings. “In order to punish the people of the Angles,” writes one pious author of the twelfth century, “God planned a double attack against them: on the one hand, he arranged an invasion of the Danes, on the other, he initiated the intrigues of the Normans, so that the Angles, even if they got rid of the Danes, did not might have eluded the Normans."

It is worth recalling that the British Isles turned out to be a tasty morsel for many conquerors: in the middle of the 5th century, as soon as the last legions of the Romans left them, the Germanic tribes of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes began to move there in waves from the coast of the North Sea and Jutland. For two or three centuries, they properly settled there, slowly, but began to understand the importance of uniting into one kingdom. But here from the northeast, most of all from Denmark, new conquerors and robbers fell - they were called "people of the north", the Normans. From the end of the 8th century until the middle of the 11th century. they haunted all of Europe, and most of all - Britain. Our pious author is just talking about the last stage of the struggle for it in the early medieval period.

Duchy of Normandy. And the knights of the duchy of Normandy took advantage of these circumstances, i.e. Normans, descendants of the same "people of the north". Sometime, at the beginning of the 10th century, they landed from their fighting robber boats at the mouth of the Seine River, in northwestern France. And they began to rob the whole of France and set fire to fire. They did not spare temples, villages, cities. They shed a lot of blood because, among other things, they were still pagans.

The king of France realized that they could not be defeated by war, entered into negotiations, ceded lands to them in the northwest. They became known as Normandy. Having mixed with the local population, the ferocious Normans quickly adopted Christianity, mastered the French language and customs, culture, and after several generations turned into real Frenchmen. They built castles in the country, introduced feudal orders, became proud of their nobility, and were reborn. But at the same time they remained the best warriors in Europe.

William. The Normans started relations with England as early as the 10th century, when they began to serve the Anglo-Saxon kings at their invitation. In the middle of the XI century. Wilhelm became Duke of Normandy. He embodied the typical features of the Norman. The duke was of a heroic build and strength, so that no one but him could pull his bow. He was considered best fighter in your own army. And at the same time - a skilled commander, cold-blooded, prudent, courageous. The circumstances of his life - that he was the natural son of the Duke of Normandy, hardened his character. He had known Harold, the future King of England, for a long time.

Anglo-Saxon dwelling
noble person

Childless Edward the Confessor. At that time, Edward the Confessor ruled in England. He had no children, and even during his lifetime it became clear that it was not just a matter of a candidate for the royal throne. In England of his time, it was customary that in such cases the name of the successor be called by the king himself or by his Council of the Wise, which included the most noble and authoritative persons of the state.

Many believed that the king would name his wife's brother Harold, Earl of Wessex, as heir. He was a brave and experienced warrior, strong man, quite capable of great state activity. But another possible contender for the royal crown was also identified - the aforementioned Duke of Normandy, William. He belonged to not very close, but blood relatives of King Edward through his mother, was the second cousin of the king. True as illegitimate son Duke of Normandy, Wilhelm did not have, in terms of medieval society, and by virtue of tradition, the same full rights as heirs born in wedlock. But Edward, according to the Norman chronicles, promised the crown to William 15 years before his death.

Harold's oath to William. Harold and Wilhelm themselves have further confused the circumstances for historians. The fact is that Harold, for unknown reasons, went to Normandy, his ship was wrecked, and he was captured by one of the noble feudal lords. Wilhelm immediately rescued him from captivity. Moreover, he invited me to stay in Normandy and show chivalrous prowess in the next campaign against neighboring Brittany. They lived soul to soul, slept in the same tent, did not part for days on end.

One of his contemporary chroniclers tells that once William turned to Harold with such a speech: “Once I and King Edward of England lived under the same roof and he promised to make me his successor. I want you to help me in this, Harold, and then I will do for you whatever you ask."


Harold was taken by surprise. Wilhelm persuaded him to give up one of the castles in England, marry his sister, William, and leave a hostage. Harold was forced to agree.

After this conversation, they returned to William's castle, in the city of Bayeux. There Wilhelm ordered to collect all the holy relics that were in churches and monasteries, and hid them under a table covered with a brocade tablecloth. And on the table he put the Gospel, on which all the oaths were then given. Then he ordered to gather all his barons, as the vassals were then called, for a meeting. In front of everyone, he again turned to Harold and asked him to confirm with an oath a promise to help in obtaining the crown of England. He repeated his words, holding out his hands to the Gospel. After that, Wilhelm threw back the tablecloth and showed that Harold swore at the same time on the holy relics, that is, he gave the most terrible oath that could not be broken in any way. Harold's face changed as he saw this, and he trembled with terror.

Edward names Harold as the new king. When he returned to England and told everything to King Edward, he sadly bowed his head. His life was quickly coming to an end. In January 1066, he fell ill, his tongue refused to obey, everyone was afraid that he would not be able to name a successor. But he managed to point at Harold and say his name.

According to tradition, the general meeting, for its part, was to point to the new king. Almost everyone was for the same Harold, but two northern regions - Mercia and Northumberland - refused to recognize him. The country was divided into parts. And that was the beginning of great troubles.


William in Normandy declared that Harold's treason grieved him.

Wilhelm addresses the Pope. He had thought long and hard about his actions. And he immediately turned to the pope, began to ask him which of them - he or Harold - has the right to become king, if King Edward bequeathed the crown to him, and Harold swore an oath to help. The pope issued a bull in which he declared Harold an illegitimate king, and blessed William to fight. Together with the bull, he was sent from Rome a consecrated banner and an expensive ring, under the diamond stone of which a precious relic was placed - the hair of the Apostle Peter himself, the founder of the Roman church.

Wilhelm gathers an army. After that, Wilhelm sends out invitations to his vassals. In Normandy, every major feudal lord was obliged, in the event of a call, to provide the king with a certain number of knights - most often from 20 to 30 - to serve for 40 days a year. But ... only within Normandy. It was not so easy to convince them to give people for a dangerous overseas campaign. Wilhelm had to promise a decent reward, land, booty. Moreover, he begged nobles, and merchants, and the clergy to equip ships or give money for the expedition.

He recorded all donations in a special list. This document has been preserved. Among the names there are, for example, Comte d'Evreux, who built more than 80 ships with his own money, or Roger de Montgomery, who equipped 60. These were stable launch boats with one sail. Almost 3 thousand horses and at least 7 thousand soldiers were placed on them.

At the same time, Wilhelm turned to the ordinary nobility and nobility of France. And he began to gather an army. The Norman chivalry was joined by the duke's vassals from Maine and Anjou, volunteers from Brittany, Poitou, Aquitaine and Burgundy, Flanders, Champagne and even from Italy. Many wanted to have lands in England, as well as castles, cities, monetary salaries.

In the spring and summer, ships were built and equipped in all the harbors of Normandy. Norman peasants and artisans worked tirelessly. Blacksmiths and gunsmiths made spears, swords, chain mail, axes.

Finally on a hike! The estuary of the Diva River was declared a prefabricated place, from where it was most convenient to cross the English Channel. Researchers believe that there were from 400 to 700 ships and 7 thousand people, of which half were knights, half were foot soldiers. For almost a month, a nasty wind made it impossible to sail. But on September 27, 1066, the sun appeared, and all the ships moved into the sea. "A whole forest of masts" moved behind Wilhelm's ship.

The longest campaign since Roman times began, which lasted 7 months and became the most significant military operation since the same Roman times. Three lions were painted on the sails of Wilhelm's ship, i.e. coat of arms of Normandy.

Harold prepares for war. Harold in England knew that William would not leave him alone. The spies informed him of the danger. Moreover, at the end of April, a comet with a long tail appeared, which seemed to superstitious warriors a bad omen. He was preparing for war. But his army was worse organized than the knights of the continent. In addition, it consisted of many foot militias from peasants who yearned for home and household and were not as prepared as the knights. And Harold did not have very many combatants, although each of them was a first-class and seasoned warrior.

Harold defeats the Norwegians. Against Harold there was another circumstance: his own brother agreed with the king of Norway to help in the war with his brother.

Harold found himself between two fires. Wilhelm threatened from the south, his brother and the Norwegians threatened from the north. Harold decided to conduct a lightning operation against the Norwegians and return to the south. He managed to defeat the Norwegians. Brother fell on the battlefield. The remnants of the defeated Norwegian army sailed back.

William lands in the south of England. Harold was celebrating his victory with friends when a messenger appeared on October 1 with terrible news: William had landed in the south of England. No one prevented his landing three days earlier - September 28th. Warriors unloaded from ships and boats. First, the arrows. Then the riders. They were wearing armor and helmets. The Normans even brought with them the log cabins of three wooden castles.


Wilhelm jumped to the ground one of the last and slipped and fell. The superstitious warriors whispered. But Wilhelm, with his usual resourcefulness, joyfully cried out: "What are you afraid of? With both hands I now hold the land of England!"

Without shedding a single drop of blood from his soldiers, William went along the old Roman road to the town of Hastings, where his soldiers began to quickly set up tents, tents and fortify their camp. They also put locks in which they put supplies.

To intimidate the population, Wilhelm ordered the soldiers to collect supplies, rob, ruin houses, and burn villages. Soon word came to him of Harold and his victory in the north. Wilhelm sent a monk to him to remind him of the oath. But Harold did not listen to the monk. Then the monk, on the orders of Wilhelm, said: "The Duke declares you a perjurer and a liar. Know that everyone who supports you is excommunicated from the church, about which there is a bull from the pope."

Harold prepares to fight Wilhelm. Harold hoped to finish off the Normans as quickly as he did the Norwegians. He led his army to the hill, located 7 kilometers from Wilhelm's camp. Harold's army could have had about the same number of soldiers as Wilhelm's, or maybe less - from 4 to 7 thousand people.

The main difference between the armies was that the English consisted exclusively of foot soldiers, and the Norman - part of the foot, and part of the cavalry. As a consequence, Harold could not choose level ground for battle. And so he chose a wide hill that covered his densely lined up detachments. The place also had the advantage that there were rather steep slopes behind, and in the middle - a narrow hollow that led into the forest. In the event of a defeat, Harold's warriors could descend from the slopes and flee into the forest, and it would not be so easy for the Norman horsemen to pursue them.

Harold puts up a "shield wall". Harold chose his position skillfully. He fortified it with a moat. On the central part of the hill was himself and the best warriors. He managed to form the famous Saxon "shield wall" - a military formation in which the combatants occupied a circular defense, standing shoulder to shoulder and tightly closing their shields. In the center of this wall stood about 2,000 selected warriors and bodyguards of Harold and there were two standard banners. One depicted a Dragon, the other depicted a Warrior.

The battle plan was clearly drawn: Harold blocked the road to William and his army had to stand motionless, like a rock against which the waves are breaking.

October 14. On the day of St. Callixtus, October 14, a battle broke out. At 9 am, the Normans moved to the first attack. Wilhelm's court poet rode forward and began to belligerently sing the lines of the "Song of Roland", throwing up and catching a heavy sword in the air. And the Normans in time picked up: "God, help us, God, help us." Approaching Harold's warriors, he knocked down two of them and immediately fell under the blows of others. Thus the fight began. The Normans advanced on the hill in a wide front, having all three types of warriors: horsemen, spearmen and shooters. On the first line were archers and crossbowmen, in the next - heavily armed infantry and behind it - mounted knights. Wilhelm was in the center and next to him - the papal banner as a sign that the campaign is pleasing to God.


The Norman riflemen fired a hail of arrows, and under their cover, heavily armed foot soldiers climbed the hills, trying to break through the line of Harold's warriors. The advantage of the archers was their numbers and the range of their arrows. But the Anglo-Saxons were on the top of the hill and fired from above, and those from below. Mounted warriors, mixed with foot soldiers, began to storm the hill. A terrible fight boiled over the hills. But the advantage of the position of Harold's warriors was so great, and the strength of the cavalry was so weakened by the slopes, that Harold's warriors held firm, fought back with axes, spears, arrows. Nobody flinched, nobody retreated.

Some of the Normans were driven down the hill, while others, not being able to break through, retreated down themselves. The battle seemed lost. But Wilhelm and his companions were preparing for the next attack. Wilhelm personally led the soldiers. The attack was even more fierce. Wilhelm himself fought in the front ranks; two horses were killed under it. When the first horse fell, he jumped on another and shouted: "Look at me! I am alive and by the grace of God I will be the winner." It is believed that with his hand he struck one of Harold's brothers. Then his second brother fell. But the Anglo-Saxon warriors stood firm.

Then Wilhelm came up with a cunning plan: to lure the enemies out of the fortification and collapse from all sides. The third attack has begun. According to the chroniclers, again the whole mass of his army hit the fence, and after a short battle, the left wing, as Wilhelm had planned, retreated strongly back. Harold's warriors could not stand it. Carried away by success, they rushed after the enemy. Instantly, part of William's army surrounded them below, while the other rushed up and broke through the fence left unprotected.

On the hill where Harold was, a terrible battle began again. Without a break, the warriors fought for almost a whole day. And they were already starting to get tired. And Wilhelm came up with a new trick: he ordered his soldiers to shoot arrows up, a hail of arrows fell on Harold's soldiers from the sky, chipped helmets, wounded their heads, necks, hands.

Someone's arrow hit right in the face of Harold himself, and he fell to the foot of the banner. A terrible massacre unfolded around the fallen king. Four Normans, in the rapture of battle, mocked the dead body. After the battle, the mutilated body was buried in an unknown place. Wilhelm apparently did everything to ensure that there were no memories of Harold left.


End of the battle. According to one of the most famous researchers of medieval battles, the German historian Hans Delbrück, the strength of the Anglo-Saxons consisted in defense, but battles cannot be won by defense alone. Harold's warriors were supposed to go on the offensive, but they did not have enough strength for this.

The battle was lost. But the fight went on; Harold's warriors fought one by one. No one ran, no one asked for mercy, and every one was cut down by the swords of William's knights. They pursued their opponents even in the dark. Only deep night put an end to the slaughter. The place itself still bears the laconic name "place of battle".

William is crowned on Christmas Day. Wilhelm did not soon lay down his arms, more than once he met with heroic resistance. But he achieved the main thing: four months later, on December 25, 1066, on Christmas Day, a coronation was held. William became the rightful king of England. Thus began a new, Norman period in its history.

English history does not have many such dramatic pages as Harold's nine-month reign. But there are even fewer such battles as the battle of Hastings, which, indeed, became a turning point in the history of the country. Some call these events "the last invasion". Wilhelm rewarded his followers as promised. Every four out of five villages went to the Normans and their allies. All who settled in England were considered vassals of the king and had to serve him faithfully. About 250 of the largest and noblest associates of the king swore allegiance to him and were ready to lead their troops, as they did during the conquest of England.

Wilhelm accelerated England's steps towards feudalism, which allowed her to catch up with France, and then overtake her. Wilhelm made the state strong, subjugated the barons, made a census of lands and farms, streamlined taxes. England was rapidly entering a new era. The reign of William was called the time of "Norman slavery". But time ground everything, the Normans mixed with the Anglo-Saxons, two centuries later a parliament was born, English freedom, many English traditions associated with the recognition and protection of individual rights.

Bayeux carpet. William's half-brother, Bishop of the city of Bayeux, a participant in the campaign, rewarded as generously as others, decided to perpetuate William's victory: by his order, craftsmen and craftswomen, most likely from Kent, embroidered a carpet with scenes of preparing a campaign, crossing soldiers, fighting on hills, which allows you to very vividly present ships, weapons, details of battles, is a unique artistic source. A wonderful embroidery 70 meters long, made with colored woolen threads, has been preserved, now it is in a special room, which has become a museum of one carpet - a tapestry from Bayeux.

The series of embroidered scenes begins with the image of the conversation of the sad old Edward with Harold on the eve of his departure for Normandy, and ends with the image of his motionless body lying near the banner. The last "pictures" are torn off near the carpet. It is possible that Wilhelm was represented at them, kneeling on the same hill and thanking God for the victory. You can't say anything, he stumbled on a low bank in order to forever establish himself in a high place of royal power.

After the battle, William founded the monastery of Battle (literally - "battle"), the main altar of which was erected on the very spot where Harold died. And four years later, by the decision of the council of bishops, the requirement of mandatory repentance of the cities was imposed on the soldiers.