The History of England

from Celts through 20th century

Archives for the ‘11th century’ Category

The Domesday Book

Category: 11th century

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  […]



The King’s Supporters

Category: 11th century

A  monk  wrote  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle:  “The  King  William  was  severe  beyond  all  measure  to  those  people  who  resisted  his  will.  The  earls  who  resisted  him  were  kept  in  chains.  He  deprived  bishops  of  their  power  and  lands,  and  abbots  of  their  abbacies,  and  cast  earls  into  prison  ….  There  is  no  doubt  that  […]



THE NORMAN CONQUEST AND ITS EFFECTS

Category: 11th century

The rule of Danish kings over England came to an end soon after Canute’s death in 1035, for neither of his two sons reigned long, and both died childless. In these circumstances the Witan, or council of chief nobles and clergy, invited Ed­ward, the son of Ethelred the Unready, to be king. During the period […]



ENGLISH HISTORY IN ENGLISH WORDS. THE EFFECTS OF THE NORMAN CONQUEST ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LANGUAGE

Category: 11th century

In the words of every language, there is much of the his­tory of the people that speak it: the very fact that English is much less pure than (say) Greek or Italian explains why it is, at the same time, much more revelatory of the influ­ences that have affected it, hence of the influences to […]