At the end of the 10th century the Danish invasions were resumed. The Anglo-Saxon kings were unable to organize any effective resistance and they tried to buy off the Danes. The Anglo-Saxon kings gave them money to leave them in peace. The result was that they came again in greater numbers the following year to […]
The Danish invasions during the 9th and 10th centuries hastened the process of the development of feudal relations in England. The peasantry which made up the bulk of the population suffered very much from the raids of the Danes.
During the Early Middle Ages (the 5th-11th centuries) feudal relations were developing in England like in all the other countries of Western Europe. A serf class was gradually appearing. Most of the serfs of the Early Middle Ages were descendants of the slaves and of the peasants who had once been free members of the […]
As you already know four different peoples invaded England. First came the Celts in the 6th century В. C.; then the Romans in the 1st century A. D.; they were followed by the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century; after them came the Danes at the end of the 8th century.
In 1066 William, the Duke of Normandy, began to gather an army to invade Britain. The pretext for the invasion was William’s claims to the English throne. He was related to the king who died in 1066.
The Normans outnumbered the Anglo-Saxon forces and were greatly superior in quality. They were all men for whom fighting was the main occupation in life. They were well armed and the chance of being killed was not so great, since they all wore armour and there were no fire-arms at that time. The superior military […]
The victory at Hastings was only the beginning of the Conquest. It took several years for William and his barons to subdue the whole of England. Soon after the victory at Hastings the Normans encircled London and the Witenagemot had to acknowledge William as the lawful king of England. Thus the Norman duke became king of England […]
In the Norman town of Bayeux, in the museum, one can see a strip of canvas about 70 metres long and half a metre wide embroidered with very well-defined pictures which tell the whole story of the Norman Conquest. That is the famous Bayeux Tapestry. It is said that William’s wife and the ladies of the […]
The Norman Conquest brought about very important changes in the life of the Anglo-Saxons. We have seen what little power King Harold had over the great lords. The Anglo-Saxon earls did not even join their king at Hastings. After the Conquest the royal power in England strengthened greatly.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says: “In 1086 William the Conqueror sent his men all over England, into every shire to find out what property every inhabitant of all England possessed in land, or in cattle and how much money this was worth … and then all these writings were brought to him.” That was the first […]
