The Norman
Conquest
(The Bayeux Tapestry)
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Reigned from 1042 to 1066.
Under his reign, Anglo-Saxon
Britain experienced a 20-yearlong peace.
Defended Malcom, son of the
Scottish king Duncan, murdered
by Macbeth.
Edward the
Confessor
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After his death he was
canonized.
BUT...
King Edward had no sons!
The right to the throne was claimed by:
☞ The King of Norway
Because of the many Danish kings
who had ruled over Britain.
☞ The King of Normandy
King Edward had spent his
childhood in Normandy.
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th
5
January 1066
Edward the Confessor dies.
Harold of Wessex
becomes the new king
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William Duke of Normandy
invades Britain
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14th October 1066
The English and Norman armies face
in the famous Battle of Hastings
The Normans win
William (later called the Conqueror)
is crowned King on Christmas Day
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Who were the Normans?
They were a Norse people (Scandinavian) who
had settled in Northern France and had adapted
themselves to the language and the religion of the
French.
They spoke French and they were Christian.
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The Norman conquest plays a special role within
the English culture, since it produced two
important changes within the society:
☝The birth of the feudal system.
✌ The introduction of the French language.
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The Feudal system in Britain
The Feudal society
has a clear hierarchic
organisation
King
↓
Barons
Hold their lands directly
from the King
↓
Hold their lands from
the Barons
Knights
↓
Peasants
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Bound to the land and to
the lord who owns it.
Such an organisation was mantained also in the
villages.
The villages
developed around
the lord’s house,
called manor house
Lord
Freemen
They could not leave
the village without the
lord’s permission
Villeins
Cottagers
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They held their land in free
tenure and owed only few
light services to the lord
They had less land to tend
than the Villeins; they had
to do extra work to live.
The changes in the Language
In this period, Britain is characterised by a situation of
quadrilinguism (four languages):
➠ French
Spoken by the Norman nobility
➠ Latin
Used for international relations
and the lithurgy
➠ Old English
Spoken by the Anglo-Saxon
people, now subdued.
➠ Gaelic
Still spoken in Wales and Scotland.
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The evolution of the English language:
from Old English to Middle English
From the late Vth century (when the first form of
English appeared) to the Norman conquest, the
language had undergone a series of changes and
simplifications
- Old English inflections strongly reduced and replaced by prepositions.
- Modern possessive case appears (‘s).
- After the Norman conquest great changes take place in vocabulary,
with the introduction of French words.
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➠
Old English (XI Cent.)
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Sumer is icumen in,
Lhude sing cuccu!
Groweth sed and bloweth med
and pringth the wde nu.
Sing cuccu!
Awe bleteh after lomb,
lhouth after calue cu;
Bulluc sterteth, bucke uerteth
Murie sing cuccu!
....
Middle English (XII Cent.)