State, church and society, 1066-1106

The king's household and the chancery

Change:

Land distribution to unprecedented amounts due to increased patronage.

Domesday book to increase power; monarch power reached new heights.

Feudal system created.

Used regents when absent e.g. FitzOsbern and Odo Bishop of Bayeux.

Royal household had to adapt to his absences, post 1072 spent 3/4 outside England.

Brought A-N nobility into the decision-making progress.

Continuity:

Retained systems (coinage system) as they were ensuring stability.

Writs continued as before because they were superior to Norman gov processes.

Royal household remained largely unchanged, designed to support itinerant king.

The geld and the silver penny

Change

Less lucrative taxation- exempted many religious institutions from payment.

Opened new mints as royal authority extended into more regions (Durham, Cardiff).

Continuity

Continued A-S precedent of levying taxes through geld in times of crisis.

Kept most of English moneyers who operated from the same 60 mints as before.

Royal control over currency was absolute- foreign coins still forbidden and coins exchanged.

9 mill pennies in circulation by 1086.

Chancery

Change

Replaced chancellor in 1069 with Herefast, reflecting wider change in royal household of removing A-S and replacing w/Norman nobility.

Use of writs extended/adapted- before they were only in English, now in Latin too.

Continuity

Retained Regenbald as chancellor initially to avoid making sudden changes.

The office of sheriff

Change

Replaced sheriffs with Norman aristocrats- dismantled earldoms so sheriff authority increased to fill the power vacuum, controlled shire and only answered to the King.

Changes to feudal hierarchy made King more powerful and society more dependent on him.

Continuity

Continued role of supervising tax collection/fines, overseeing justice and raising an army.

Writs to issue royal will, sheriffs enforced them in the same system of shires/hundreds.

Codes of law and the local courts

Change

Feudalism- manorial courts where lord of manor maintained law and order between men.

Forest law- covered areas defined as 'royal forest' to protect wildlife/had own courts.

Ecclesiastical cases only to be heard in Church courts- separation of Church and State.

No longer used compensatory justice (changed to death/physical mutilation).

Continuity

Preserved shire/hundred courts- King remained chief arbiter of justice.

No new law codes implemented.

New murdrum fine built on AS principle of communal responsibility (like tithing system).

Changes in land tenure

1. Will granted land to supporters

Normans dominated land, Will granted land to supporters who then passed it on to theirs.

Orderic Vitalis- Will offered knights estates for fighting at the Battle of Hastings.

2. Different way of carving land up and tenurial variation

Granted consolidated lands to loyal supporters (Odo given Kent, FitzOsbern Isle of Wight).

Created rapes under control of a magnate to ensure control/safety (1/3 of Eng was rapes).

Changes to earldoms

1. Giving Normans land

Gave most loyal supporters enough land to make them rich- assert dominance.

Domesday- 1/2 land in Eng held by just 200 Normans, 1/2 of which belonged to 10 magnates.

2. Changes in earldoms

New earldoms of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Cheshire: smaller than A-S predecessors.

Magnates enjoyed less wealth than preceding English earls.

Even a coalition of the top 10 magnates couldn't equal Will's resources: 2x as much land as all of them with income of £12,600.

Could deal with the most powerful magnates:1082- ordered arrest of Odo, Ralph and Roger).

Will's son Rufus became King in 1087 and defeated threat of Odo and his coalition of magnates who tried to install Robert as King.

A Norman aristocracy based on military and political service

Knights replaced thegns; not a homogenous group e.g. common/noble. New social group.

Knights supported by landed income: land came from Lord's demesne, low social status.

Knights supported by household position: professionals served in baron's household.

1. Similarities of knights and thegns

Both went to war equipped with saddled horse, armour, sword, spear and shield.

Both had strong bonds of loyalty to their lord.

2. Differences of knights and thegns

For enfeoffed knight land formed basis of military service; became lord's vassal.

Thegns military service stemmed from rank not land; their service filled part of wider duties, role of the knight was to guard castle, campaign and quash rebellions.

Thegn had to possess 5 hides or more whereas knight's estates varied in size.

Towns and trading patterns

Change

Population loss in towns due to castle building programme.

Towns faced heavy taxation due to economy contracts.

New French trading- were exempt from some trade laws.

Increased exports: English wool became hugely exported (home in Flemish textile industry).

Economic trade w/Scandinavia reduced (impacted North) and trade w/Normandy increased to boost South- Southern ports thus flourished.

Short-term negative economic impact but long-term development

Helped rebuild- castles and 21 new towns.

Jews come to Rouen- trade in silver increases/exchange of foreign coins for English ones.

Continuity

Protection of traditional rights in towns e.g. in London, castles provided economic security.

A-S nobles had equally luxurious liking of expensive goods and cross-channel trade increased.

Villages

Change

Plunder, brutality and murder displaced whole communities.

Population loss but immigration from France; assimilation of 2 cultures.

Domesday: Yorkshire dropped by 60%, value of manors in Sussex fell by 40%.

Demanded higher rent/increased obligations so peasants had to work harder.

Downward movement of landowner to tenant; decline in high-status peasants and subsequent rise in landless labourers.

New planned, nucleated villages

Advantage for Lord; greater control, dispersed settlements more common in North and East.

Continuity

No change in fundamental structure of agriculture- no new innovations.

Norman lords may have worked peasants harder but not a major change.

Consisted of a nucleated village and manor house for lord/sheriff and church.

Greatest continuity- precariousness of life, A-S chronicle lists bad harvests, disease.

Royal forests

Changes

No one but royalty allowed to hunt there; New Forest Hampshire, Sherwood Forest.

Destroyed villages and farms (20 villages, 12 hamlets, containing 20,000 destroyed).

Made land grabs of other Normans seem more legitimate.

Source of royal revenue through fines paid/sale of hunting rights to other nobles.

Continuity

Hated symbol of Norman oppression but Ed hunted, William had formalised hunting more so.

Some people stayed on the outskirts; created legal problems, have to obey separate law code.

The gradual disappearance of slavery

Change

Around 10% slaves under Ed, slavers sold in markets or to Ireland/Scandinavia for agricultural work/domestic work/concubines.

1120s- virtually gone, not economically worth it and concubines created illegitimate offspring.

Number of slaves in Essex fell by 25%.

Initially reluctant to abolish as he profited but was advocated at the highest levels by Lanfranc.

The deposition of Stigand

1. English church rich/powerful: held 25% of land + church leaders played important political roles advising kings

2. Initially William moved cautiously - needed Archbishop of York Ealdred's support for coronation

3. 1070: church council gathered - papal legate ousted Stigand, Archbishop of Canterbury

4. William installed Norman bishops - Lanfranc as Archbishop of Canterbury + Thomas of Bayeux as Archbishop of York

5. By 1087: one Anglo-Saxon bishop + three Anglo-Saxon abbots remained

Lanfranc's reforms

1. 10 Church Councils during William's reign (London 1075, Lanfranc attacked simony; Winchester in 1076 attacked clerical marriage)

2. Moved bishops from rural to urban seats, divided bishoprics into smaller units including parishes

3. Established primacy of Archbishopric of Canterbury over York + Wales/Scotland

4. Creation of church courts to deal with clergy presided over by bishops

Anselm's conflict with William II

1. William II left archbishopric empty so he could collect rents until 1093 when he appointed Anselm, a deeply religious man who couldn't be undermined

2. Issue arose over which pope to recognise: Anselm had already recognised Urban II + refused to take it back.

3. Conference held in 1095 to decide what to do - ended in gridlock - William agreed to recognise Urban II secretly in return for Urban staying out of his business

4. William blocked Anselm's request for a reforming council - Anselm went directly to Rome knowing he would be exiled from England by king

5. Difficult situation between Anselm + William resolved when both Urban + William died

Henry I, Anselm and the investiture controversy

1. Anselm returned from Rome to enforce new rules banning kings investing individuals with church positions + churchmen paying homage to laymen- undermined Henry I

2. Pope urged king in 1101 to give up lay investiture, but no comment about bishops paying homage to lay lords

3. Anselm held reforming council but then was exiled in 1103 after Henry resisted

4. Pope threatened to excommunicate Henry so in 1106 Henry + Anselm reconciled with each other - lay investiture banned but bishops still had to pay homage to king = compromise