Norman Britain
In 1066 the ‘Norsemen’ or ‘Vikings‘, returned to Britain in the guise of the Normans from France, where they had seized the region adjacent to the English Channel ~ ‘Normandy’. Their subsequent conquest of the British Isles brought drastic change, starting with a wholesale confiscation of 95% of the land in favour of Norman-French nobility.
They displayed their power by building numerous churches, abbeys and castles in a solid block style, designed to last and quite a departure from Anglo-Saxon timber constructions. This set off the proliferation of parish churches nationwide. The Normans had converted to Catholicism and brought their religious fervour with them. Norman-French, being the court language, was absorbed and resulted in the transition to Middle English.
However, the main interest of the four successive Norman kings, apart from hunting in Britain’s lush forests, was the maintenance of their French territories back home and so the period of Norman rule lasted only 88 years. These four warmongering kings, some of whom even fought each other, were:-
- William I (c.1028-87)
- William II (c.1056-1100)
- Henry I (c.1068-1135)
- Stephen (c.1096-1154)
Part of a charter written by William I is preserved in the City of London and is one of the oldest existing guarantees of rights.
(Image of the Tower of London, best-kept Norman building: Colin Smith at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)