Ancient Britain

The British Iron Age is a conventional name used inthe archaeology of Great Britain, referring tothe prehistoric and proto historic phases of the Iron- Age culture ofthe main island and the smaller islands, typicallyexcluding prehistoric Ireland, which had an independent Iron Ageculture of its own. The British Iron Age lasted in theory from thefirst significant use of iron for tools and weapons in Britain tothe Romanization of the southern half of the island. The Romanizedculture is termed Roman Britain and is considered to supplant theBritish Iron Age. The tribes populating the island belonged to abroadly Celtic culture.

Earliest Iron Age 800-600 BC

Early Iron Age 600-400 BC

Middle Iron Age 400-100 BC

Late Iron Age 100-50 BC

Latest Iron Age 50 BC - AD 100

Inhabitant of Britain

Britons were the Celtic people culturally dominating Great Britainfrom the British Iron Age until the early middle ages. They spoke theCeltic language known as British or Brythonic. Celtic language is adaughter language of Indo-European language family.

Britain had long been known to the classical world as a source of tin(the very name "Britain" is derived from the Phoenician name"Baratanac", meaning "Land of Tin"), and had been explored by

the Greek geographer Pytheas in the 4th century BC, and possibly bythe Carthaginian sailor Himilco in the 5th. But its position on theedge of the known world, beyond the Ocean, made it a land of greatmystery.

In Iron Age culture, the island's population has been estimated atanywhere between one and four million during this period.Economically, archaeology shows a broad division into lowland andhighland zones. In the lowland south-east, large areas of fertile soilled to extensive arable farming, and communication developedalong track ways such as theIcknield Way, the Pilgrims' Way andthe Jurassic Way, and navigable rivers like the Thames. In thehighlands, north of a line between Gloucester and Lincoln, arable landexisted in more isolated pockets, so pastoralism, supported by gardencultivation, was more common than settled farming, and communicationmore difficult. Settlement was generally based around fortified siteson high ground, but in the south-east, oppida were beginning to beestablished on lower ground, often at river crossings, suggesting theincreasing importance of trade. Commercial contact with the continenthad increased since the Roman conquest of Transalpine Gaul in 124 BC,and Italian wine was being imported via the Armorican peninsula, muchof it arriving at Hengistbury Head in Dorset.

Caesar's account tells us that the Belgae of north-eastern Gaul hadearlier travelled to Britain to raid, later establishing settlementsin coastal areas, and that in living memory Diviciacus, king ofthe Suessiones, had held power in Britain as well asGaul. Their coinage shows a complicated pattern of settlement. Theearliest Gallo-Belgic coins found in Britain were struck in Gaul andare dateable to before 100 BC, perhaps as early as 150 BC, and arefound mainly in Kent. Later coins of a similar type were struck inBritain and are found all along the south coast as far west as Dorset.It appears that Belgic settlement was concentrated on the south-eastcoast, although their influence spread further west and inland,perhaps through chieftains establishing political control over thenative population.

Caesar’s Invasion of Britain

Gaius Julius Caesar (July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Romangeneral and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. Heplayed a critical role in the gradual transformation of the RomanRepublic into the Roman Empire. Much of Caesar's life is known fromhis own accounts of his military campaigns, and from othercontemporary sources, mainly the letters and speeches of Cicero andthe historical writings of Sallust.

In his Gallic Wars, Julius Caesar invaded Britain twice, in 55 and 54BC. The first invasion, made late in summer, was either intended as afull invasion (in which case it was unsuccessful - it gained abeachhead on the coast of Kent but achieved little else) or areconnaissance-in-force expedition. The second was more successful,setting up a friendly king, Mandubracius, and forcing the submissionof his rival, Cassivellaunus, although no territory was conquered andheld for Rome, but was restored to the allied Trinovantes, along withpromised tribute of other tribes in what is now eastern England.

Between 55 BC and the 40s AD, the status quo of tribute, hostages,and client states without direct military occupation, begunby Caesar's invasions of Britain, largely remainedintact. Augustus prepared invasions in 34 BC, 27 BC and 25 BC. Thefirst and third were called off due to revolts elsewhere in theempire, the second because the Britons seemed ready to come toterms. According to Augustus's Res Gestae, two Britishkings, Dumnovellaunus and Tincomarus, fled to Rome as suppliantsduring his reign, and Strabo's Geography, written during this period,says that Britain paid more in customs and duties than could be raisedby taxation if the island were conquered.

By the 40s AD, the political situation within Britain wasapparently in ferment. The Catuvellauni had displacedthe Trinovantes as the most powerful kingdom in south-eastern Britain,taking over the former Trinovantian capitalof Camulodunum (Colchester), and were pressing their neighborsthe Atrebates, ruled by the descendants of Julius Caesar's formerally Commius.

Roman Conquest of Britain

Roman Britain, referred to by the Romans as Britannia, was the part ofthe island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43until AD 410. The Roman conquest of Britain was a gradual process,beginning effectively in AD 43 under Emperor Claudius, whosegeneral Aulus Plautius served as first governor of Britannia. GreatBritain had already frequently been the target of invasions, plannedand actual, by forces of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire. Incommon with other regions on the edge of the empire, Britain hadenjoyed diplomatic and trading links with the Romans in the centurysince Julius Caesar's expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, and Roman economicand cultural influence was a significant part of the British late pre-Roman Iron Age, especially in the south.

This Roman imperial province eventually comprised all of the island ofGreat Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia (Scotland).Before the Roman invasion, begun in 43, Iron Age Britain already hadestablished cultural and economic links with Continental Europe, butthe Roman invaders introduced new developmentsin agriculture, urbanization, industry and architecture. Beyond thefirst few decades after the initial invasion, Roman historiansgenerally mention Britannia only in passing. Thus, most knowledge ofRoman Britain has derived from archaeological investigations, and theepigraphic evidence lauding the Britannic achievements of an Emperorof Rome, such as Hadrian (r. 117–38) and Antonius Pius (r. 138–61),whose walls demarcated the northern borders of Roman Britain.

The first extensive Roman campaigns in Britain were by the armiesof Julius Caesar in 55 and in 54 BC, but the first significantcampaign of conquest did not begin until AD 43, in the reign of theEmperor Claudius. Following the conquest of the native Britons, adistinctive Romano-British culture emerged under provincialgovernment, which, despite steadily extended territorial controlnorthwards, was never able to exert definite control over Caledonia.The Romans demarcated the northern border of Britannia with Hadrian'sWall, completed around the year 128. Fourteen years later, in 142, the

Romans extended the Britannic frontier northwards, to the Forth-Clyde line, where they constructed the Antonine Wall, but, afterapproximately twenty years, they then retreated to the border ofHadrian's Wall. Around the year 197, Rome divided Britannia into twoprovinces, Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. Sometime after305, Britannia was further divided, and made into animperial diocese. For much of the later period of the Romanoccupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and oftencame under the control of imperial usurpers and pretenders tothe Roman Emperorship. Most Romans departed from Britain around theyear 410, which began the sub-Roman period (5th–6th centuries), butthe legacy of the Roman Empire was felt for centuries in Britain.

End of Roman Empire in Britain

The end of Roman rule in Britain is the period during which the RomanEmpire ended its relationship with Roman Britain, thus making thetransition from Roman Britain to post-Roman Britain. No single date is correctwithout qualification, as Roman rule ended for different parts of Britain at different times, andunder different circumstances.

The Crisis of the Third Century (also "Military Anarchy" or "ImperialCrisis") (A.D. 235–284) was a period in which the Roman Empire nearlycollapsed under the combined pressures of invasion, civil war, plague,and economic depression. The situation of the Roman Empire became direin A.D. 235. Many Roman legions had been defeated during a campaignagainst Germanic peoples raiding across the borders, while the emperorwas focused primarily on the dangers from the Sassanid Persian Empire.The Crisis began with the assassination of Emperor Alexander Severus at the hands ofhis own troops, initiating a fifty-year period in which 20–25 claimants to the title ofEmperor, mostly prominent Roman army generals, assumed imperial power over all orpart of the Empire. In the years following the emperor's death, generalsof the Roman army fought each other for control of the Empire andneglected their duties in preventing invasions from foreigners.

Provincials became victims of frequent raids by foreign tribes, suchas the Carpians, Goths, Vandals, and Alamanni, along the Rhine andDanube Rivers in the western part of the Empire, as well as attacksfrom Sassanids in the eastern part of the Empire. Additionally, in251, the Plague of Cyprian (possibly smallpox), broke out, causinglarge-scale mortality which may have seriously affected the ability ofthe Empire to defend itself. By 258, the Roman Empire broke up intothree competing states. The Romanprovinces of Gaul, Britain and Hispania broke off to form the GallicEmpire and, two years later in 260, the eastern provincesof Syria, Palestine and Aegyptus became independent as the PalmyreneEmpire, leaving the remaining Italian-centered Roman Empire-proper inthe middle.

Sub roman Britain

Sub-Roman Britain is a term derived from an archaeological label forthe material culture of Britain in Late Antiquity. At the start of the5th century Britannia formed part of the Western RomanEmpire under Honorius. However, signs of decline were alreadyappearing and some Saxons may already have been in Englandas mercenaries. Roman troops were withdrawn by Stilicho in 402, andbulk coin payments ceased around this time. In 406 the army in Britainrevolted, electing three successive "tyrants" the last of whom tookthe remaining troops to Gaul. He established himself brieflyas Constantine III but was defeated and subsequently executed in 411.Meanwhile there were barbarian raids on Britain in 408 but these seemto have been defeated. After 410 Honorius apparently sent letters tothe cities of Britain telling them to fend for themselves, though thisis sometimes disputed. The withdrawal of Roman legions did not put anend to the Roman culture of the "lost province", which still remainedpart of the Roman cultural world, with inhabitants who identifiedthemselves as Roman.

From the middle of the fifth century the Germanic raiders alteredtheir intentions towards the island and began to settle in the easternriver valleys. Later civil wars seem to have broken out, which have

been interpreted either as being between pro-Roman and independencegroups or between "Established Church" and Pelagian parties (Myres1965, Morris 1965), a class struggle between peasants and land owners(Thompson 1977, Wood 1984) and a coup by an urban elite (Snyder 1988).A recent view explored by Laycock sees Britain violently fragmentingat this time into kingdoms based on British tribal identities.However, life seems to have continued as before in the countryside andon a reduced scale in the towns as evidenced by the descriptionsof Germanus visits.

Anglo Saxon Settlement of Britain

The Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain was the invasion and migrationof Germanic peoples from continental Europe to Great Britain duringthe Early Middle Ages, specifically the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons inBritain after the demise of Roman rule in the 5th century.

Historical and archaeological research in the early 20th century hasshown that a wider range of Germanic peoples from the coastsof Frisia, Lower Saxony, and Sweden also moved to Britain in thisera. The Anglo-Saxons supplanted Celtic culture and society in much ofsouthern and central Britain and contributed to the creation of Anglo-Saxon England and the use of the Old English language.

Extent of the migrationsIt has long been held that the Anglo-Saxons invaded Sub-RomanBritain – mostly later England – in large numbers in the 5th and 6thcenturies during the Germanic Migration Period, substantiallydisplacing the British people. According to the 12th century Anglo-Norman chronicler Henry of Huntingdon, the first Germanic polity to becreated was Kingdom of Kent in the 6th century, followedby Sussex, Wessex, Essex, East Anglia, Mercia and Northumbria.Meanwhile, many groups of native Britons resettled on the Continent,principally in Armorica (Brittany)in France and Britonia in Spanish Galicia, the homes of pre-existingCeltic communities.

Establishment of Anglo-Saxon England 

Anglo-Saxon England refers to the period of the history of the part ofBritain that became known as England, lasting from the end of Romanoccupation and establishment of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the 5thcentury until the Norman conquest of England in 1066 by William theConqueror. Anglo-Saxon is a general term referring to the Germanicpeoples who came to Britain during the 5th and 6th centuries,including Angles, Saxons, Frisii and Jutes. The term also refers tothe language spoken at the time in England, which is now called OldEnglish, and to the culture of the era, which has long attractedpopular and scholarly attention.

Until the 9th century Anglo-Saxon England was dominated bythe Heptarchy, the kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia, EastAnglia, Essex, Kent, Sussex and Wessex. In terms of religion thekingdoms followed Anglo-Saxon paganism during the early period,but converted to Christianity during the 7th century. Paganism had afinal stronghold in a period of Mercian hegemony during the 640s,ending with the death of Penda of Mercia in 655.

Facing the threat of Viking invasions, the House of Wessex becamedominant during the 9th century, under the rule of Alfred the Great.During the 10th century, the individual kingdoms unified under therule of Wessex into the Kingdom of England, which stood opposed tothe Danelaw, the Viking kingdoms established from the 9th century inthe north and east of England. The Kingdom of England fell in theViking invasion from Denmark in 1013 and was ruled by the House ofDenmark until 1042, when the Anglo-Saxon House of Wessex was restored.The last Anglo-Saxon king, Harold Godwinson, was killed in 1066 atthe Battle of Hastings.

Wessex of Kingdom of West SaxonThe Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in south-west England, from the 6th century until theemergence of a unified English state in the 10th century. South WestEngland is one of nine official regions of England. It is the largestsuch region in area. The region includes the area often known asthe West Country and much of the ancient kingdom of Wessex.According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Wessex was foundedby Cerdic and Cynric, chieftains of a clan known as the Gewisse, whowere said to have landed on the Hampshire coast and conquered thesurrounding area, including the Isle of Wight. The centre of gravityof Wessex in the late 6th and early 7th century seems to have lainfarther to the north than in later periods, following successfulexpansion to the south and west. The Chronicle gives 495 as the date forCerdic's arrival in Britain, "495. There came two eaorlmen to Britain,Cerdic and Cynric his son, with five ships, to a place called

Cerdicesora, on the same day they fought the Welsh", but thehistorian F. M. Stenton gave evidence of doubled entries inthe Chronicle, which suggests an early 6th century date for the arrivalof the ancestor of the Wessex ruling kinship. After makinga beachhead and consolidating their position, the invaders next foughtthe Britons at the Battle of Natanleod, the location of which has beenplaced at Netley Marsh, "508. This year Cerdic and Cynric killed aBritish king named Natanleod, and five thousand men with him.

Wessex or South West England

Nine regions of England

Christian Wessax or Christianization of the Anglo-SaxonKingdoms

Christianization of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms began in AD 597,influenced by Celtic Christianity from the north-west and by the Romanchurch from the south-east, gradually replacing Anglo-Saxonpolytheism which had been introduced to what is now England over thecourse of the 5th and 6th centuries with the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons. The first Archbishop of Canterbury, Augustine took office in597 AD. In 601, he baptized the first Christian Anglo-Saxonking, Æthelberht of Kent. The last pagan Anglo-Saxon/Jutishking, Arwald, died in 686.

Æthelberht of Kent's wife Bertha, daughter of Charibert, one ofthe Merovingian kings of the Franks, had brought a chaplain (Liudhard)with her. Bertha had restored a church from Roman times to the east ofCanterbury and dedicated it to Saint Martin of Tours, the patronalsaint for the Merovingian royal family. Æthelberht himself, though apagan, allowed his wife to worship God her own way. Probably underinfluence of his wife, Æthelberht asked Pope Gregory I to sendmissionaries, and in 596 the Pope dispatched Augustine, together witha party of monks.

Æthelberht permitted the missionaries to settle and preach in histown of Canterbury. By the end of the year he himself had converted,and Augustine received consecration as a bishop at Arles. At Christmas10,000 of the king's subjects underwent baptism.

It is in Cynegils' reign that the first event in West Saxon historythat can be dated with reasonable certainty occurs: the baptism ofCynegils by Birinus, which happened at the end of the 630s, perhaps in640. Birinus was then established as bishop of the West Saxons, withhis seat at Dorchester-on-Thames. This was thefirst conversion to Christianity by a West Saxon king, but it was notaccompanied by the immediate conversion of all the West Saxons:Cynegils' successor (and probably his son), Cenwealh, who came to thethrone in about 642, was a pagan at his accession. However, he too was

baptized only a few years later and Wessex became firmly establishedas a Christian kingdom. Cynegils's godfather was King Oswald ofNorthumbria and his conversion may have been connected with analliance against King Penda of Mercia, who had previously attackedWessex.

These attacks marked the beginning of sustained pressure from theexpanding kingdom of Mercia. In time this would deprive Wessex of itsterritories north of the Thames and the Avon, encouraging thekingdom's reorientation southwards. Cenwealh married Penda's daughter,and when he repudiated her, Penda again invaded and drove him intoexile for some time, perhaps three years.

The Viking Raids

In 802 the fortunes of Wessex were transformed by the accessionof Egbert who came from a cadet branch of the ruling dynasty thatclaimed descent from Ine's brother Ingild. With his accession thethrone became firmly established in the hands of a single lineage.Early in his reign he conducted two campaigns against the "WestWelsh", first in 813 and then again at Gafulford in 825. During thecourse of these campaigns he conquered the western Britons still inDevon and reduced those beyond the River Tamar, now Cornwall, to thestatus of a vassal. In 825 or 826 he overturned the political order ofEngland by decisively defeating King Beornwulf ofMercia at Ellendun and seizing control of Surrey, Sussex, Kentand Essex from the Mercians, while with his help East Anglia brokeaway from Mercian control. In 829 he conquered Mercia, driving itsKing Wiglaf into exile, and secured acknowledgment of his overlordship from the king of Northumbria. He thereby becamethe Bretwalda, or high king of Britain. This position of dominance wasshort-lived, as Wiglaf returned and restored Mercian independence in830, but the expansion of Wessex across south-eastern England provedpermanent.

Egbert's later years saw the beginning of Danish Viking raids onWessex, which occurred frequently from 835 onwards. In 851 a hugeDanish army, said to have been carried on 350 ships, arrived in theThames estuary. Having defeated King Beorhtwulf of Mercia in battle,the Danes moved on to invade Wessex, but were decisively crushed byEgbert's son and successor King Aethelwulf in the exceptionallybloody Battle of Aclea. This victory postponed Danish conquests inEngland for fifteen years, but raids on Wessex continued.

The last English KingdomIn 865, another enormous Danish army arrived in England. Over thefollowing years, this army overwhelmed the kingdoms of Northumbria andEast Anglia. Wessex was invaded in 871, and although Aethelred andAlfred won some victories and succeeded in preventing the conquest oftheir kingdom, a number of defeats, heavy losses of men and thearrival of a fresh Danish army in England compelled Alfred to pay theDanes to leave Wessex. The Danes spent the next few yearssubduing Mercia and some of them settled in Northumbria, but the restreturned to Wessex in 876. Alfred responded effectively and was ablewith little fighting to bring about their withdrawal in 877. A portionof the Danish army settled in Mercia, but at the beginning of 878 theremaining Danes mounted a winter invasion of Wessex, taking Alfred bysurprise and overrunning much of the kingdom. Alfred was reduced totaking refuge with a small band of followers in the marshes ofthe Somerset Levels, but after a few months he was able to gather anarmy and defeated the Danes at the Battle of Edington, bringing abouttheir final withdrawal from Wessex to settle in East Anglia.

Over the following years Alfred carried out a dramatic reorganizationof the government and defenses of Wessex, building warships,organizing the army into two shifts which served alternately andestablishing a system of fortified burhs across the kingdom. In the890s these reforms helped him to repulse the invasion of another hugeDanish army – which was aided by the Danes settled in England – withminimal losses.

“Alfred also reformed the administration of justice issued a new law code and championed arevival of scholarship and education. He gathered scholars from around England and elsewherein Europe to his court and with their help translated a range of  Latin texts into English, doingmuch of the work in person, and orchestrated the composition of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Asa result of these literary efforts and the political dominance of Wessex, the West Saxon dialect ofthis period became the standard written form of Old English for the rest of the Anglo-Saxon period and beyond.”

The Danish conquests had destroyed the kingdoms of Northumbria andEast Anglia and divided Mercia in half, with the Danes settling in thenorth-east while the south-west was left to the English king Ceolwulf,allegedly a Danish puppet. When Ceolwulf's rule came to an end he wassucceeded as ruler of "English Mercia" not by another king but by amere ealdorman named Aethelred, who acknowledged Alfred's overlordship and married his daughter Ethelfleda. The process by whichthis transformation of the status of Mercia took place is unknown, butit left Alfred as the only remaining English king.

The Unification of EnglandAfter the invasions of the 890s, Wessex and English Mercia continuedto be attacked by the Danish settlers in England, and by small Danishraiding forces from overseas, but these incursions were usuallydefeated, while there were no further major invasions from thecontinent. The balance of power tipped steadily in favor of theEnglish. In 911 Ealdorman Aethelred died, leaving his widow, Alfred's daughter Aethelflaed,in charge of Mercia. Alfred's son and successor Edward the Elder, then annexedLondon, Oxford and the surrounding area, probablyincluding Middlesex,Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, from Mercia to Wessex.Between 913 and 918 a series of English offensives overwhelmed the Danes of Mercia and EastAnglia, bringing all of England south of the Humber under Edward's power. In 918 Aethelflaeddied and Edward took over direct control of Mercia, extinguishing what remained of itsindependence and ensuring that henceforth there would be only one Kingdom of the English. In927 Edward's successor Athelstan conquered Northumbria, bringing the whole of England

under one ruler for the first time. The Kingdom of Wessex had thus been transformed intothe Kingdom of England.

Norman Conquest of EnglandThe Norman conquest of England was the invasion and subsequentoccupation of England by an army of Normans and French led byDuke William II of Normandy. William, popularly known as William The Conqueror,who defeated King Harold II of England on 14 October 1066, at the Battle of Hastings, wascrowned king at London on Christmas Day, 1066. He then consolidated his controland settled many of his followers in England, introducing a number ofgovernmental and societal changes.

William's claim to the English throne derived from his familialrelationship with the childless King Edward the Confessor, who mayhave encouraged William's hopes for the throne. However, when Edwarddied in January 1066, he was succeeded by his brother-in-law Harold,who not only faced challenges from William but also another claim bythe Norwegian king, Harald Hardrada. Hardrada invaded northern Englandin September 1066 and was victorious at the Battle of Fulford beforebeing defeated and killed by King Harold at the Battle of StamfordBridge on 25 September 1066. William, however, had landed in southernEngland, and Harold quickly marched south to confront William, leavingmany of his forces behind in the north. On 14 October Harold's armyconfronted William's invaders near Hastings and after an all-daybattle, was defeated and Harold was killed.

Although William's main rivals were gone, he still faced a number ofrebellions over the following years, and it was not until after 1072that he was secure on his throne. Native resistance led to a number ofthe English elite having their lands confiscated, and some of themwent into exile. In order to control his new kingdom, William gavelands to his followers and built castles throughout the land tocommand military strong points. Other changes included theintroduction of Norman French as the language of the noble elite,the court and government, and changes in the composition of the upper

classes, as William enfeoffed lands to be held directly of the king.More slowly the conquest eventually changed the agricultural classesand village life: the main immediate change appears to have been theformal elimination of slavery, which may or may not have been linkedto the invasion. There was little change in the structure ofgovernment, with the new Norman administrators taking over many of theforms of Anglo-Saxon government.

Control of England

Once England had been conquered, the Normans faced many challenges inmaintaining control. The Normans were few in number compared to thenative English population. Historians estimate the number of Normansettlers at around 8,000, but Norman in this instance includes notjust natives of Normandy, but settlers from other parts of France. Oneconsequence of the invasion was that William's followers expected andreceived lands and titles in return for their service in theinvasion. However, William claimed ultimate possession of virtuallyall the land in England over which his armies had given him defacto control, and asserted the right to dispose of it as he sawfit. Henceforth, all land was "held" from the King. The distributionof land was normally in a piecemeal fashion spread out over the entirekingdom, rather than in contiguous blocks. A Norman lord typically hadproperties located all throughout England and Normandy, and not in asingle geographic block.

To find the lands to compensate his Norman followers, Williaminitially confiscated the lands of all the English lords who hadfought and died with Harold and redistributed part of theselands. These confiscations led to revolts, which resulted in moreconfiscations, in a cycle that continued virtually unbroken for fiveyears after the Battle of Hastings. To put down and prevent furtherrebellions the Normans constructed castles and fortifications inunprecedented numbers, initially mostly on the motte-and-bailey pattern. Historian Robert Liddiard remarks, "to glance at theurban landscape of Norwich, Durham or Lincoln is to be forciblyreminded of the impact of the Norman invasion". William and his baronsalso exercised tighter control over inheritance of property by widowsand daughters, often forcing marriages to Normans.

A measure of William's success in taking control is that, from 1072until the Captain conquest of Normandy in 1204, William and hissuccessors were largely absentee rulers. For example, after 1072,William spent more than 75% of his time in France rather than inEngland. While he needed to be personally present in Normandy todefend the realm from foreign invasion and put down internal revolts,he set up royal administrative structures that enabled him to ruleEngland from a distance.

Consequences

Elite replacementA direct consequence of the invasion was the near-total elimination ofthe old English aristocracy and the loss of English control overthe Catholic Church in England. William systematically dispossessedEnglish landowners and conferred their property on his continentalfollowers. The Domes day Book meticulously documents the impact of thiscolossal programme of expropriation, revealing that by 1086 only about5% of land in England south of the Tees was left in English hands.Even this tiny residue was further diminished in the decades thatfollowed, the elimination of native landholding being most complete insouthern parts of the country.

Natives were also removed from high governmental and ecclesiasticaloffice. After 1075 all earldoms were held by Normans, while Englishmenwere only occasionally appointed as sheriffs. Likewise in the Churchsenior English office-holders were either expelled from theirpositions or kept in place for their lifetimes but replaced byforeigners when they died. By 1096 any Englishman held no bishopric,while English abbots became uncommon, especially in the largermonasteries.

English Emigration

Following the conquest, large numbers of Anglo-Saxons, includinggroups of nobles, fled the country. Many fled to Scotland, Ireland,

and Scandinavia. Members of King Harold Godwinson's family soughtrefuge in Ireland and used those bases for unsuccessful invasions ofEngland. The largest single exodus occurred in the 1070s when a groupof Anglo-Saxons in a fleet of 235 ships sailed for the ByzantineEmpire. The empire became a popular destination for many Englishnobles and soldiers as it would have been known that the Byzantineswere in need of mercenaries. The English became the predominantelement in the elite Varangian Guard, hitherto a largely Scandinavianunit, from which the emperor's bodyguard was drawn. Some of theEnglish migrants were settled in Byzantine frontier regions onthe Black Sea coast and established towns with names such as "NewLondon" and "New York".

Women's rightsWomen had some rights before the Norman Conquest that were not presentin England by circa 1100. The Germanic practice of the Fore-mother wasbrought by the Anglo-Saxons. Women would begin to lose some rightsafter the Danish invasion of the early 11th century, in particular,through King Cnut's revision of laws. Women may have lost the right toconsent to marriage, for example, widows lost the right to remarry.The Norman Conquest gradually influenced the legal position of womenin England. The Norman kings distinguished between aristocrats andcommoners, and a woman's place in her life-cycle, in general, broughtchanges in opportunities. Widows could remarry and, in general,control property in ways that married women and maidens could not. Thegreatest rights were generally available to women having access toland.

Government System

Before the Normans arrived, Anglo-Saxon governmental systems were moresophisticated than their counterparts in Normandy were. All of Englandwas divided into administrative units called shires with subdivisions,the royal court was the centre of government and royal courts existed

which worked to secure the rights of free men. Shires were run byofficials known as "shire reeve" or "sheriff". Most medievalgovernments were always on the move, holding court wherever theweather and food or other matters were best now. England, however, hada permanent treasury at Winchester, before William's conquest. Onemajor reason for the strength of the English monarchy was the wealthof the kingdom, which was built on the English system of taxation,which included a land tax, or the geld. English coinage was alsosuperior to most of the other currency in use in northwestern Europe,and the ability to mint coins was a royal monopoly. The English kingshad also developed the system of issuing writs to their officials, inaddition to the normal medieval practice of issuing charters. Writswere instructions to either an official or group of officials, ornotifications of royal actions such as appointments to office or of agrant of some sort.

This sophisticated medieval form of government was handed over to theNormans and was the foundation of further developments. Although theykept the framework of the government, they made changes in thepersonnel, although at first the new king attempted to keep somenatives in the government. By the end of William's reign, most of theofficials of government and the royal household were Normans, notEnglish. The language of official documents also changed, from OldEnglish to Latin. One innovation was the introduction of the forestlaws and the setting aside of large sections of England as royalforest subject to the newly introduced forest law. The Domes daysurvey was an administrative survey of the landholdings of thekingdom, and was unique to medieval Europe. This document was dividedinto sections based on the shires, and listed all the landholdings ofeach tenant-in-chief of the king as well as who had held the landbefore the conquest.

LanguageOne of the most obvious changes was the introduction of Anglo-Norman,a northern dialect of Old French, as the language of the rulingclasses in England, displacing Old English. French words entered theEnglish language, and a further sign of the shift was the usage of

French names instead of English ones. Male names changed first, withnames such as William, Robert, Richard, becoming common quickly.Female names changed more slowly. One area where the Norman invasiondid not change naming practices was in place names, which unlike theearlier invasions by the Vikings and Cnut, did not significantlychange after the Norman Conquest. It is unknown how much English theNorman invaders learned, nor how much the knowledge of French spreadamongst the lower classes, but the demands of trade and simplecommunication probably meant that bilingualism was not unknown amongstboth the Normans and the native English.

Immigration and intermarriageApproximately 8000 Normans and other continental persons settled inEngland as a result of the Conquest, although this is an estimate andexact figures cannot be established. Some of these new residentsintermarried with the native English, but the extent of this practicein the years immediately after Hastings is unclear. A number ofmarriages are attested between Norman men and English women during theyears before 1100, but these marriages were not common, with mostNormans continuing to contract marriages with other Normans or othercontinental families rather than with the English. Within a century ofthe invasion, intermarriage between the native English and the Normanimmigrants had become common. By the early 1160s, Ailred ofRievaulx was writing that intermarriage was common among all levels ofsociety.

Society

The impact of the conquest on the lower levels of English society isdifficult to assess. The major change was the elimination of slaveryin England, which had disappeared by the middle of the 12thcentury. There were about 28,000 of them listed in Domes day Book in1086, less than had been enumerated for 1066. In some places, such asEssex, the decline in slaves was as much as 20% for the 20 years. Themain reasons for the decline in slaveholding appear to have been thedisapproval of the Church and the cost of supporting slaves, which

unlike serfs, had to be supported entirely by their owners. But thepractice of slavery was never outlawed, and the Leges Henrici Primi fromthe reign of King Henry I continue to mention slaveholding as legal.

Many of the free peasants of Anglo-Saxon society appear to have loststatus and become indistinguishable from the non-free serfs. Whetherthis change was due entirely to the conquest is unclear, but theinvasion and its after effects likely accelerated a process alreadyunderway. Likewise, the coming of the Normans likely accelerated thespread of towns and increase in nucleated settlements in thecountryside, rather than scattered farms, to England. However, theactual lifestyle of the peasantry probably did not greatly change inthe decades after 1066.