HIST202: Norman England 1066-1154

Week 11: What was the reign of Harold II like before the Norman conquest?

• had basically been the ruler of the kingdom from mid-1050s

  • effective military leader - 1063 successful invasion of Wales

• Edward appears to have chosen him as his successor

  • was more most people the recognised ruler - coins issued by 40 mints

• challenged by the Norwegians under Hardrada who was allied with Harold’s brother Tostig

  • York made peace with the invaders but were defeated

• Norman invasion successful

  • English had a strong capacity to defend themselves even against the military technology of the Normans but couldn’t fight two major battles

  • William able to draw upon trained knights from Northern France as France largely peaceful

Week 11: What problems did William face after the conquest?

• native population unenthusiastic

  • rebellions in Dorset, Cornwall and Northumbria

    • response by William was to build castles in these regions

• dispossession of lands from English landholders who had died e.g. Harold (Carpenter, The Struggle for Mastery)

  • disinheritance of many English families and other had to buy back their lands

• external raids by Scandinavian kings such as Swein who attempted to support northern rebellions

  • Edgar the Aethling had revived his claim and received support from York, was then joined by the Danish invasion to seize the city

• rebellion of Norman followers out of dissatisfaction - wanted all land for themselves by dispossessing all English landholders

Week 11: How was the kingdom pacified?

• when he returned to Normandy for the first time after the conquest in 1067 there remained many English sheriffs and earls (Carpenter, The Struggle for Mastery)

  • this co-operation ended with the rebellions

• Harrying of the North in response to Danish invasion in 1070 of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire

  • famine, deaths and economic destruction

  • Orderic Vitalis condemned William for his actions

  • went far beyond the norm for putting down an uprising

• establishment of a network of over 1000 castles to intimidate population

• Sussex ‘rapes’: almost all the county seized and subdivided into 5 districts to support new castles

  • didn’t want vassals to have all the land

  • controlled important ports

• Mororum fine: collective punishment for hundreds where French settlers and soldiers killed

  • preserves ethnic boundaries

Week 12: what did dynastic and high politics look like?

• high politics and dynastic politics the same - political and family life at the highest levels intertwining (Bartlett)

  • kings needed to manage their families as tensions between kings and their sons made England vulnerable

  • the son’s chance of success depended on their ability to build up a network of allies and followers

    • would need to be rewarded so royal sons needed resources

    • reason for Robert’s Curthose’s failure to inherit the whole kingdom - William prevented him from accessing resources to build up his own followers

• Inheritance did not pass to the eldest son of the king - either their wasn’t a legitimate living male heir or they were bypassed in favour of another family member (Bartlett, England under the Norman and Angevin Kings)

• integration of England and Normandy complicated politics and succession - had to be run as separate domains due to different customs and histories

Week 12: What did succession look like under William I?

• William revised his succession plans on his deathbed, depriving his eldest son Robert of both kingdoms and instead giving England to William Rufus

  • upon the King’s death Robert remained with Philip whereas Rufus attends his father

  • Vitalis suggests William had no fixed plans but wanted Rufus to be crowned

    • writes in the voice of William I that the ‘country which is subject to [Robert’s] dominion will be truly wretched’

  • some suggestion that William had wanted all titles to go to Rufus but was convinced by his advisors to divide up the kingdom (English, William the Conqueror and the Anglo-Norman Succession)

  • a modern theory suggests that it was custom in Normandy for the eldest son to inherit his father’s patrimony (his father’s inherited lands) and conquered lands would be divided up

    • some evidence of this being practised but not a general rule

• Robert had rebelled against his father in 1077 and taken refuge in King Philip I’s court

Week 12: What was the impact of diving the kingdom?

• division unacceptable to the leading magnates who held land in Normandy and England

  • afraid they may lose lands in one territory - deeply attached to their Norman holdings even if they generated less money

• led to rebellion against William II in favour of Robert to hold both kingdoms

  • organised by Bishop Odo with 6/10 greatest landholders joined e.g. Hugh of Avranches

  • preferred Robert as he was seen as easier to manipulate

  • rebellion was defeated with a series of sieges

    • under of Robert of Belleme the conspirators fortified castles in Kent and Sussex

    • awaited Robert’s invasion that never came

    • William besieged castles including Rochester and captured the rebel leaders

• William needed to conquer Normandy to ensure long-term success

  • Henry had used some of the money left to him to buy Avranchin and Cotetin from Robert to become count

  • 1091 Robert forced to recognise William’s gains and the two agreed on an inheritance pact - that if Robert died without an heir William would inherit

    • agreed to help Robert against Henry

  • 1096 Robert went on crusade and mortgaged Normandy to William - so gained de facto possession

• Death of William II suspicious?

  • Henry hurried to to seize the royal treasury and had himself crowned in 3 days

    • some think he was complicit but Henry did not take control of Normandy as Robert arrived back

    • no contemporary author accuses Henry

Week 12: How did Henry secure the throne and Normandy?

• Issued a Coronation Charter - denounced his brother’s misrule and promised good government

  • needed to gather support against Robert

  • recalled Anselm who had been driven into exile

• married Edith daughter of the king of Scotland and Queen Margaret (Edgar Aethling’s sister)

  • gain English support and establish strong dynasty

• Treaty of Elton 1101 - Robert invaded and was joined by magnates including Robert of Belleme

  • negotiated a treaty under which Henry was to keep England and pay Robert a pension

    • when Robert went back to Normandy Henry eliminated his supporters

• 1104 Henry campaigned in Normandy and lured Robert into battle at Tinchebrai in 1106

  • Robert imprisoned until his death

• between 1106-35 Henry spent 60% of his time in Normandy

  • during 1110s/20s built or refortified 15 castles on the frontiers

• Robert’s son William Clito had been in custody but escaped

  • travelled throughout the various courts lookign for support

• Henry establishing alliances through marriage

  • had 6 of his illegitimate daughters married to rulers on Normandy’s border lands

  • Matilda’s marriage to Emperor Henry V

  • alliances with his nephew Theobald count of Blois-Chartres

    • gave honours to his brothers Stephen and Henry - 1113 gave Stephen Mortain and married him to Matilda of Boulogne, 1129 Henry given Winchester Bishopric

Week 12: What succession problems faced Henry I?

• death of his only legitimate son William Adelin in the White Ship disaster 1120

  • ‘What a disaster it had been for the country that fortune had deprived him of his son’ William of Malmesbury

  • some observers suggest that God was punishing the victims for sexual transgressions (Henry of Huntingdon) whilst others alleged drunkenness and ‘youthful [frolicking]’ (William of Malmesbury)

• next in line would be William Clito so henry had to create a new succession plan to deprive his nephew of the throne

  • married Adeliza of Louvain but they never had any children

  • his illegitimate sons such as Robert earl of Gloucester were not considered despite their prominence in the kingdom

    • Christian teaching against adultery resulted in a general intolerance towards illegitimate children - an idea firmly established by 11th century (McDougall, Royal Bastards)

    • didn’t want conflict with his other sons

• Henry summoned Matilda after the death of Henry V and forced the magnates to recognise her as his heir

  • arranged for her to marry Geoffrey Plantagenet son of the count of Anjou

    • traditional enemies of Normandy

    • many who later switched their allegiance to Stephen cited the marriage as their reason for rejecting Matilda

• the sudden marriage is perhaps best explained by the resurgence of William Clito when he was made count of Flanders

  • ASC suggests ‘the king did it to have peace with the count of Anjou and to have help against his nephew William’

  • Clito died fighting another claimant to Flanders

  • but Clito did receive some favourable coverage in Norman sources confirming the existence of widespread doubts about Matilda’s viability

    • Huntingdon called him the ‘most noble of youths’

• In the years before his death Henry failed to suitably establish Matilda as his successor

  • Henry did not present Matilda to court and she did not remain in England upon her marriage so did not establish support (Green, Henry I and the Origins of the Civil War)

    • Henry was too reliant on the magnates to continue to support his plans - as he knew Matilda would not be in or near the country he needed the magnates to not endorse another candidate on his death

  • in 1135 Henry became estranged from his daughter - Geoffrey wanted castles on the Norman frontier from Matilda’s dowry (Hollister and Frost, Henry I)

  • Matilda was not in Normandy when her father died and so not near to secure the throne

Week 12: How did Stephen seize the throne?

• Stephen potentially considered for the succession as Henry’s nephew before the death of Matilda’s husband made her a viable candidate (Hollister and Frost, Henry I)

  • had arranged Stephen’s marriage and given him land in Normandy and England

  • but appears to have been setting Stephen up as the ruler of a strategic location

• Stephen in Boulogne when Henry died and so travelled to England quickly

  • first secured the support of London and then rode to Winchester to obtain the treasury

    • Henry of Blois as bishop aided his brother’s claim

• Stephen’s position was first strong but soon entrapped in a bidding war for baronial support

  • like Henry he promised to reverse his predecessor’s financial policies and tried to gain support by granting barons tax exemption or new titles

  • made more than 1 new earls between 1136-40

• Did not secure Normandy soon enough and the kingdom was secured by Geoffrey by 1144

  • for the magnates to obtain their lands they wanted the succession of Matilda or her son

• arrest of the bishops 1139

• Death of Eustace in 1153 part of what lead for Stephen’s desire for peace as was continuing the fighting to try to secure his succession (King, King Stephen)

Week 15: What were different chronicler’s views of Kings and church?

• history writing provides a commentary on the rulers and gives a perspective of what those living under the kings expected from their ruler (Weiler, William of Malmesbury on Kingship)

• William of Malmesbury’s histories were largely centred around kings - their deeds, relationships with barons and bishops, problems facing their reign (Weiler, William of Malmesbury on Kingship)

  • one of his aims to provide rulers with guidance to learn from their predecessors - prologues to Empress Matilda and Robert of Gloucester

  • his ideas on good kingship were traditional - focus on upholding religiosity, chivalry and protection

• Eadmer’s histories have long shaped views of church-state relationship

  • monk on English descent based in Canterbury, raised under Stigand and Lanfranc

  • according to him Norman kings were guilty of imposing on the Church practices that had not existed pre-Conquest

    • this resulted in difficulties between Rufus and Anselm that broke down church-state relationships

• Orderic Vitalis made similar claims about Flambard’s time as Rufus’ chief minister

  • pre-Conquest evidence disproves his idea about how vacancies were administered pre-1066

  • his history is shaped by the new values of the papal reform movement as well as deep resentment at oppressive taxation

Week 15: What Monastic reforms occurred in 10th century?

• Anglo-Saxon period hardly any separation between church and state

  • duty of rulers to improve the moral condition of the nation so it could win God’s approval

• monastic reforms takes off in reign of King Edgar 955

  • reforms directed at monastic institutions to reconstruct religious life in southern England

    • older monastic communities had failed or evolved into communities where monks had been replaced by secular clerics (canons)

  • debate over why this happened

    • by early to mid-10th century few monasteries remained

    • reforms wanted to re-establish communities in Benedictine tradition

    • reform of some 30-40 religious houses between 950-1020

  • reforms carried out in the king’s name but probably initiated by bishop Aethelwold of Winchester

  • condemns secular ownership of monastic houses

    • when many resisted the reforms royal agents brought in to deal with them

  • ‘anti-monastic’ reaction shows these reforms relied on royal validation

  • More monasteries established under Aethelred II

    • many of these foundations justified by the need to atone for the nation’s sins

Week 15: What was the English church like under Danish rule?

• Under Swein Forkbeard and Cnut the reforms were scarcely affected

  • Cnut raised Christian

• Cnut’s Oxford Law Code 1018

  • wanted to preserve the same close alliance with the Church

  • ‘let us turn zealously from sin and earnestly atone for our misdeeds’

• Cnut’s proclamation 1020

  • drafted by Wulfstan II of York

  • collapses the distinction between secular and religious law

Week 15: What was the importance of the papacy in 11th century?

• Papal revolution 1046-85

  • William I wanted to continue with the Danish system of authority over the church but new papal developments made this difficult

  • rise of papal reform movement - revival in authority of papacy beginning 1046

• purification of the church by abolishing simony and nicolaitism (clerical marriage)

  • e.g. abbot Leofric of Peterborough held 4 other monasteries (Harper-Bill, Companion to the Anglo-Norman world)

  • problematic to laity as many who succeeded to their father’s offices were unsuitable and believed God would withhold his grace from the sacraments

• with rise of Gregory VII the eradication of secular lordship over the church - including royal

  • Gregory believed that lay lordship was an obstacle to the reformer’s goal to return the church to its original state

  • Lords and kings were exploiting their role as protectors of the church to remove too much of their income

  • kings were blocking the reformers efforts to eradicate simony

• Norman Kings might have evaded attention of papal reforms for a few decades but William I took the decision to seek papal approval for his invasion

  • was this made up by chroniclers to justify the conquest?

  • Pope Alexander provided William with means to remove Stigand whose loyalty was suspect

    • Stigand was a pluralist and had received his pallium from Benedict IX who was considered a simonaic

    • pope sent 3 legates to depose him in 1070

  • William I indebted to the papal reformers and dependent on them for the ongoing legitimisation of the conquest

    • William needed to be more discrete in church management

• Archbishop Lanfranc elected - a traditional churchman who believed that bishops should promote the cause of strong kingship for the sake of stability

  • Pope Alexander potentially encouraging the choosing of Lanfranc (Barlow, The English Church)

  • trusted to manage the church in ways that would limit papal impact in England and preserve William’s lordship as far as possible

  • establishment of a separate system of ecclesiastical courts

    • allowed the bishops to establish their own courts in line with standard practise on the continent

Week 15: What was Lanfranc’s pontificate like?

• Pursuit of the primacy - claim that the bishops of Canterbury enjoyed jurisdiction over all archbishoprics and bishoprics in Britain

  • mainly due to patriarchal authority involving delegation of papal authority

    • archbishop was permanent papal legate - allowed him to mediate papal directives that would’ve gone to Rome

  • Lanfranc would’ve severely reduced papal authority

• flaws in his plan to create a Pan-Britannic ‘Patriarchate’

  • papacy opposed to his introduction of extra layers of jurisdiction that would reduce the amount of judicial business coming to its own court

  • Canons of York regarded this scheme as a challenge to their status as Canterbury’s equal

  • Pope Alexander delayed any decision on what Lanfranc wanted

  • Thomas of York forced to acknowledge Canterbury’s claim to the primacy - but the papacy continued to refuse a papal privilege

• Lanfranc held 6 general councils

  • English abbots and bishops tried and deposed to be replaced by Normans

    • took steps to find genuine grounds to depose them

• monastic reforms under Lanfranc implied that the English church was in a deep moral crisis

  • intention to preserve the purity of the monks, especially young boys given to the monasteries

• another significant reform was the relocation of several sees in major cities

  • in Anglo-Saxon England there were no cities so bishoprics set up in small villages - so 5 had to move to larger towns

  • e.g. Selsey to Chichester, Elham to Thetford then Norwich

• reforms demonstrated that the church had been in need of reform and that the papal reformers could be assured that the church was now in safe hands

  • helped legitimise the conquest as made the Normans look more righteous than Anglo-Saxons

Week 15: What was the Norman church building programme?

• Normans removed physical fabric of every pre-conquest church apart from Westminster

  • either kept it because they simply liked the architecture or because it was built by Edward whose heir William claimed to be (Richard Plant, A Companion to the Anglo-Norman world)

  • William of M notes how this style of church was new in England and those that followed were built to emulate it

• New structures built quickly - most completed within 20-30 years

• e.g. Canterbury 1072, St Albans 1077, Durham 1093

• their construction involved the erasure of pre-conquest culture

• some rebuilt out of necessity such as a fire at Canterbury, some initiated by English prelates such as at Durham

Week 15: What was the church like under William II and Henry I?

• Lanfranc’s policies helped to legitimise the conquest and largely succeeded in preventing the papacy from taking major interest

  • helped by Gregory VII’s failure when he was driven from Rome and died in exile

  • mid-1080s Lanfranc was exchanging letters with the antipope as if they were considering accepting him

• Rufus was forced to increase his financial exploitation of the church

  • decline of papal reform movement allowed him to be more lax

  • suspended Lanfranc’s programme

• Lanfranc died 1089 but was not replaced

  • when Rufus thought he was going to die he appointed Anselm as archbishop in 1093

    • had a reputation for holiness and learning

  • Anselm was in the country and called when Rufus fell ill, initially rejected the position but forced by the bishops who saw it as the only way to end the vacancy

• Anselm fought to revive Lanfranc’s reforms

  • 1094 king refused to allow him to hold a council for the bishops

  • 1097 was driven into exile by the king’s financial oppression and refusal to hold councils

• Henry recalled Anselm in 1100

  • Henry needed to gather support and so offered all bishoprics that were vacant

  • Anselm refused to do homage to Henry - issue of investiture brought over

  • Henry does allow Anselm to hold the primatial council in 1102

    • uses councils to promote papal reform movement - supported move to separate clerical and secular spheres

  • Anselm and henry wanted a way to work together after he went into exile again 1103

    • Henry refused to compromise on investitures but concedes after Anselm plans to excommunicate him

    • Anselm returned and king agreed to no longer nominate bishops and instead have free election

  • during Anselm’s exile the crown also took over enforcement of the canons against clerical marriage

    • political manoeuvre designed to prevent full implementation of the canons

• Clerical marriage

  • papal reform for celibacy from 1000s and brought to England by the conquest (Thomas, The Secular Clergy in England)

    • 1076 council wanted to gradually eliminated marriages - priests could remain married but unmarried priests could not marry

    • Anselm’s stricter attempts to enforce these rules were ignored when he went into exile with priests retaking their wives

  • Reform councils by 1130 asserted that clergy should not be married (Partner, Henry of Huntingdon: Clerical Celibacy and Writing of History)

    • Huntingdon was the son of an archdeacon and had a son

Week 16: What was Medieval monasticism?

• Normans usually seen as great supporters of monastic institutions - substantial increase in number of religious houses between 1066-1154

  • for the established religious houses the period was a time of crisis and upheaval as they became targets for reforms and attempts to appropriate their assets

  • conquest transformed character of monasticism in England - introduced many new bishops who used or exploited the anomalous features of English monasticism to introduce change

• from 4th century onwards ascetics regulated their way of life

  • covered all aspects of organisation - how abbots were appointed, structure of the day, introducing new monks

  • adapted for use of the secular clergy - colleges of regular canons (clergy who lived halfway between secular clergy and monks)

    • serve the laity but have a monastic homelife

• monastic houses also began to attract aristocratic support

  • ulterior motives from their patrons - by associating themselves with these communities kings could enhance their popularity

  • inviting religious leaders to establish monastic houses could improve the economy

• by 10th century most monasteries in the west were set up chiefly in order to provide ‘liturgical prayer’ for wealthy benefactors

  • in addition to celebrating 6 daily masses small teams of monks would devote the intervening masses and prayers to redeem the souls of benefactors

Week 16: What was the Anglo-Saxon legacy of monasticism?

• the conversion of the English kings founded many large monasteries as power-houses of prayer

• enthusiasm for prayer meant religious houses accumulated large amounts of land

  • on eve of conquest 37 Benedictine houses - top 10 enjoyed incomes of over £200 a year

  • Peterborough had an annual income of over £320 generated by 25 manors

    • supported population of 50-60 servants

• relative poverty of the cathedrals - poorly provided with incomes and estates

  • it was not uncommon for kings to allow bishops to hold more than one see in plurality in addition to bishoprics

• earlier monasteries failed in 9th century but many reformed as Benedictine houses but communities were established at 5 cathedrals

  • headed by a prior their communities were know as ‘cathedral priories’

  • most of the bishops were people who had trained as monks not secular clerics

• from 960s onwards monastic values were dominant in the church

  • shifts from 1020s onwards when Cnut began appointing secular clerics trained on the continent

Week 16: what is the impact of the Conquest on the monasteries?

• immediate impact on the established monasteries - some of the monasteries, especially those associated with the West Saxon regime or those ruled by someone whose loyalty was suspect, suffered heavily

• some largely English communities of monks suffered brutal treatment at the hands of Norman abbots

  • at Glastonbury they refused to chant the offices in Norman fashion - abbot Thurstan called his knights who killed 3 monks

• Abingdon abbey prospered under Henry I because it was ruled by Faricius who served as his physician

  • Henry rewarded him with 23 grants if property - no other abbey received as many grants

  • but building and expansion were a common cause of strife especially when money was taken from the food budget

• New bishops were secular clerks and tried to appropriate the monasteries in their diocese

  • some bishops preferred to get rid of monastic priorities altogether replacing them with secular chapters

• Anselm opposed to secularisation and established new monastic priories at Durham and Norwich

  • but Lincoln and Old Sarum became major cathedrals with secular chapters

• New Norman lords also used their wealth to found many new monasteries as daughter-houses of continental monasteries such as Cluny

  • abbey at St Pancras founded 1077 by William de Warenne populated with French monks

  • between 1077 and middle of 12th century 20-25 Cluniac monasteries established

  • between late 11th century and 1154 over 90 houses of Augustinian canons were established

Week 16: How did Lanfranc deal with saints’ cults?

• Eadmer writes in 1109 about how Anselm prevented the cult of St Aelfheah being suppressed along with many other English customs in Lanfranc’s reform programme

  • when Lanfranc questioned the merits of the reasons that the English had given for Aelfheah’s sainthood, Anselm defended the cult

    • Lanfranc convinced and ordered the commission of a historia in the saint’s honour

  • reason to believe that Eadmer is misleading us about the extent of Lanfranc’s conversion

    • Eadmer writing at a time when some monks at Canterbury wished to revive religious observances

    • Lanfranc seems to have undertaken a purge of the cathedral’s calendar and removed pre-Conquest observances

• shrines containing relics of Anglo-Saxon relics that had been in pivotal positions in Canterbury cathedrals

  • in Lanfranc’s new cathedral completed 1077 relics were placed in boxes in the gallery inaccessible to pilgrims

  • marginalisation of pre-conquest cults in the cathedral

Week 16: What are examples of treatment of saints’ cults post-conquest?

• two accounts by Dominic of Evesham tells of Walter the first Norman abbot of Evesham subjected some of the the relics of the English saints (Wigstan) to an ordeal by fire

  • Dominic doesn’t say that all the relics were tested by ordeal

    • other sources show that Walter sent the relics of the principal saints on tours to raise funds

  • relics of Credan and Wigstan survived but doesn’t say all the relics tested survived

  • Dominic says Walter carried out this ordeal as he was dismayed at the number of English saints’ cults

  • Walter’s actions can be seen as a response to the problem that the English had many saints they could claim from their own race than their Norman rulers

• first Norman abbot at St Albans removed the tombs of his English predecessors and the bones of King Offa of Mercia who supposedly refounded the abbey

• the Norman abbot Warin of Lyre supposed to have organised an inspection of the body of St Aldhelm at Malmesbury

  • but two accounts of this event

  • William of Malmesbury says Warin not only questioning whether the body was incorrupt but whether Aldhelm was actually a saint

    • William then stresses Warin’s conversion to St Aldhelm

• inspection of the body of St Cuthbert at Durham cathedral in 1104

  • from Book of the Translation and Miracles of St Cuthbert

  • monks of the cathedral believed the body to remain uncorrupted but were not believed and so, led by the prior Turgot, they decided to open the coffin

  • discovered that the body remained intact with many relics e.g. St Oswald’s head, bones of bishops of Lindisfarne and Bede

  • body later inspected by other abbots but not Flambard who was bishop at the time

  • account is critical of Flambard - God was unhappy with his preaching over the body and caused rain so the body could be taken inside again

• other examples of Normans accepting some English cults e.g. Cuthbert, Edmund in Suffolk and Etheldreda at Ely (Harper-Bill, A Companion to the Anglo-Norman World)

Week 16: What can we understand from the actions towards saints cults?

• some argue that this conflict was caused by differences in religious culture between Normandy and England

  • but on both sides of the channel saints’ cults were sanctified in almost identical ways

  • in both societies saints’ cults had great political significance because they were understood as expressions of divine approval

• significance of cults for medieval Christians lay in the fact that God made a person sanctified for their achievements

• Normans were vulnerable to unfavourable comparisons with the English because they had a stronger track record for acquiring saints

  • early 11th century of Anglo-Saxon England covers 51 cult centres and 89 saints venerated

  • Norman saints were from earlier periods

Week 17: What was the castle building programme under the Norman like?

• During Henry I’s reign the magnates began replacing motte and bailey castles with stone - built for comfort and display rather than defence

• Bishop Roger of Salisbury built at least 4 castles - Devizes, Malmesbury, Old Sarum and Sherborne

  • at Sherborne defences such as gatehouses and curtain wall were superficial - besieged by Stephen

• Roger’s nephew Alexander was bishop of Lincoln and built 3 castles at Newark, Sleaford and Banbury

  • Sleaford built on flat land emphasising aesthetic rather than defence

• Henry of Blois built at least 6 castles despite being a monk

  • Wolvesley Hall was a fortified house and had second largest hall in the kingdom

• many magnates reorganised the surrounding landscapes to enhance the owners’ status

  • took over or founded monasteries in vicinity of their castles to add religious prestige

Week 17: What was the significance of hunting and animals for the Normans?

• Bishop Roger had a park at Sherborne

  • charter shows evidence for significant alteration to the landscape and the course of the river to create fishponds

  • gave a mill to the abbey to compensate them

• deer that were hunted were not native and brought over from Persia - practise that had died out with Roman withdrawal from Britain reintroduced by Normans

• hunting animals became a privilege through creation of private forests and parks

  • was established 1000 - evidence of restrictions on hunting king’s animals under Cnut

  • 1086 25 forests - 21 royal and 4 belonged to earl of Chester

    • by 1200 more than 150 - 90 belonged to the king

  • forests created by driving people from their homes

  • new laws protected the king’s game and allowed the animals privileged rights over grazing of other animals

• growing fascination with exotic animals - Henry I had ‘lions, leopards, lynxes, camels’ at his zoo at Woodstock according to William of M

  • elaborately illustrated books (bestiaries) appeared about exotic and mythical animals

  • Philip de Thaon’s Bestiarie written in Anglo-Norman verse and dedicated to Henry’s second wife

  • rulers adopted animals as symbols for their families especially lions

Week 17: How did the Normans change diet and food?

• practise of holding a single large meal a day and the amount of food provided caused criticism

  • apparently introduced by Robert Beaumont

• William of M highly critical and accuses the secular bishops of eating to excess

  • William just as critical of the English for excessive drinking and implies Normans took their gluttony from the English

Week 17: what intellectual changes took place under the Normans?

• aristocracy were highly literate - letters show high level of usage of Latin

  • evidence for book collecting especially among secular bishops

  • Anglo-Norman literature by authors such as Philip de Thaon

    • wrote a didactic poem about the calculating of dates in around 1113

    • royal court crucial for promoting Anglo-Norman as a literary language

• developed an educational hierarchy - access to literacy supported by appearance of grammar schools (lowest level of educational hierarchy)

  • educational centres and schools were located in cathedral cities such as Lincoln but mainly on the continent - schools of Laon regarded as the best

    • Henry of Huntingdon sent there and William of Corbeil

    • Henry I known to have attempted to gain control over the city by securing the election of his chancellor as bishop to secure access to the schools

• revival of ancient astrology

  • William of M alleges Gerard of York read an astrological manual

  • tables produced by Arab astrologers arrived in England around this time

  • evidence of use of astrology to predict the outcome of political events - horoscope about the contenders of the throne in the anarchy

Week 19: How did Stephen succeed in his coup?

• crossed to Dover immediately and made to London - secured their support and proceeded to Winchester

• little hostility by the magnates

  • King David of Scotland invaded Cumbria and Northumbria but his support was bought - allowed to become ruler of Cumbria

  • recognised as king at meeting at York attended by almost all magnates

• Earl Robert (Henry’s illegitimate son) performed homage April 1136

  • William of M attributes this to Stephen’s massive inheritance and the lack of support for a resistance

• Normandy keen to have a male monarch who could be relied upon to resist the Angevins

  • had first opted for Theobald but abandoned him for Stephen upon his coronation

Week 19: What early difficulties did Stephen face?

• Stephen was not good at taking advantage of his successes

  • Anglo-Saxon Chronicle complained he was too mild

  • often let down by his supporters

• Rebellion of Baldwin de Redvers - opposition not immediately out of loyalty to Matilda but due to Stephen’s refusal to grant him an honour

  • Stephen besieged Exeter which had been taken by Baldwin

  • took so long he had to postpone visit to Normandy and cost lots of money

• many parts of South and West of Normandy ravaged by Angevin raids and Stephen couldn’t stop them - had to make a truce with Geoffrey

• David invaded again 1138 which undermined Stephen’s reputation

  • Stephen tried to ravage Scotland but ran out of supplies

  • eventually defeated the Scots in battle of the standard

• risings in Hereford and Dunster that Stephen was unable to entirely suppress

  • Robert of Gloucester publicly renounced his homage and became the Empress’ leading supporter

Week 19: How did the civil war begin?

• arrest of the bishops (Roger of Salisbury and his nephews) 1139

  • reserves of money had almost run out and encouraged to seize their castles under claims they lived a lavish lifestyle

  • Roger and Alexander arrested (Nigel escaped) and forced to surrender their castles and money

  • Alexander eventually restored to favour but Roger died in prison

  • allowed Stephen to replenish his revenues but alienated a core groups of supporters

• Henry of Blois dismayed at Stephen’s possession of the castles as said they belonged to the Church

  • appointed papal legate and convened a council to investigate arrest of the bishops - conceded the king could take possession of the castles but found fault in the way they were arrested

• Empress landed in England at Arundel castle and Stephen laid siege on the castle 1139

  • he allowed her to depart and re-join Robert at Bristol rather than take her prisoner

• barons and territories defected in West and South West - established themselves in Bristol and Gloucester

• Battle of Lincoln 1141 first great turning point

  • castle had been captured by two of Empress’ leading supporters - Earl Ranulf and earl of Lincoln

  • Stephen refused to flee when his followers fled and was captured and imprisoned

• Matilda could’ve established herself as queen but failed to win over the Londoners

  • finally won their recognition but soon alienated them again over for large feudal relief

  • Londoners decide to join forces with Queen Matilda (Stephen’s wife) and forced the Empress to flee

• Queen Matilda and Henry had assembled an army and besieged Winchester where Empress had fled

  • Empress abandons the city and flees

  • Robert captured and Empress agrees to an exchange of the King for Robert’s release

  • Henry of Blois holds a council that restores Stephen and excommunicates Empress’ followers

• Geoffrey of Anjou attempted to conquer Normandy through sieges

  • invested with title as Duke of Rouen

Week 19: How did the civil war develop from 1141?

• by 1142 multiple sieges against castles

• 1145 Stephen suppresses the rebellion of Hugh Bigod of East Anglia

• 1146 Ranulf II of Chester defected to Stephen and helped him besiege Bedford and Oxford

  • arrested for treasonable behaviour by his enemies among Stephen’s followers

  • turned Ranulf into an opponent rather than a powerful supporter

• according to the chroniclers this period witnessed a complete breakdown of law and order throughout the entire kingdom

  • some grounds for doubt - fighting confined to key regions and Stephen’s regime was in control of large parts of the country

    • mints in south and east continued to make coins for him

  • rise of the earls at the expense of the sheriffs in the counties

    • 23 new earldoms created 1138-41

    • no sign of regular meetings with sheriffs occurring at Westminster

Week 19: Why did the conflict decline?

• significant steps towards a decisive resolution occurred 1147when both sides began to hand over the fighting to the next generation

  • Stephen knights his eldest son Eustace

  • Matilda handed over struggle to teenage son Henry

    • death of Robert 1147 and Matilda’s return to Normandy 1148

• Henry forges an alliance with King David and attempts a raid on York but this was abandoned when Stephen arrives with knights

• Stephen unable to take advantage of his success and supporters reluctant to risk more men

• Henry became count of Anjou 1151 and married Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152

  • gave him access to more resources

  • in response Louis VII of France (Eleanor’s first husband) allied himself to Eustace

• August 1153 Eustace died - Stephen only fighting to ensure Eustace’s inheritance

  • treaty of Winchester 1153 - Stephen would recognise Henry as his heir and Stephen would rule alone until his death

  • Stephen’s other son William did homage to Henry

• Stephen dies 1154