The early Middle Ages

4 Conquest and feudal rule

The Norman Conquest · Feudalism · Kingship: a famil y business·
Magna Carta and the decline of feudalism

The Norman Conquest and only two bishops were Saxon , Willi am gave th e
Saxon land s to his Norman nobles, A fter eac h
William the Conqueror's coro na t ion did not go as
English rebellion there was more land to give away.
planned. W he n the peop le shouted "God Save th e
His army included Norman and o the r French land
King" the nervous Norman guards at W estminster
seekers. Ov er 4.000 Saxon landl ords were replaced
Abbey rhought th ey were going to attack William. by 200 Norman ones.
In their fear th ey set fire to nearby houses and rhe
coronation ce remony ended in disorder.
Although Will iam was now crowned king. his
Feudalism
conquest had on ly just begun. and the fight ing W illiam was careful in the way he gave land to his
lasted for ano ther five years. T he re was an A nglo- nobles. T he king of France was less powerful than
Saxon rebellion again st th e No rrnans every year man y of the great landlords. of whom W ilIiam was
unt il 1070. The small Norman army march ed from the outsta nding example. In England. as each new
village to village , destroying places it co uld not area of land was ca ptured . Wi lliam gave parts of it
cont rol. and building forts to guard others. It was a as a reward to his captains. This meant th at th ey
true army of occupation for at least twenty years. held separate small pieces of land in different parts
The north was parti cu larly hard to control. and th e of th e co unt ry so th at no noble co uld easily or
Norman army had no mercy. When the Saxons quickly gathe r his fightin g men to rebel. Willi am
fought back. the Normans burnt. destro yed and on ly gave some of his nobles larger esta tes along th e
killed. Between Durh am and York not a single troublesome borde rs with Wales and Scotland. At
house was left standing. and it took a century for the same t ime he kept en ough land for him self to
the north to recover. make sure he was much stronger than his nobles,
Of all the farmland of England he gave ha lf to the
Few Saxon lords kept the ir lan ds and th ose who did
Norman nobles, a quarter to the C h urch, an d kep t
were the very sma ll num ber who had acce pted
a fifth him self. He kept th e Saxon system of
William immed iately. A ll the o thers lost
she riffs, and used th ese as a balance to local nob les.
everything. By 1086. twenty years after th e arriv al
As a result England was different from the rest of
of the Normans , on ly two of th e greater landlo rds
Europe because it had one powerful fam ily, instead
An (ITgu mt.'JI1 beru't't'n King Henry' 11 L1nJ his archbishop, Thomas Bt"ckt't. of a large number of powerful nobles. W illiam , and
Behind Beeker send am knighrs, probr.lbl)' those who killed him 10 pkast'
Henry . The pie/ure iUustrafes the stnj~ll." berueen Church and sWle Juring
the kings after him . th ough t of England as th eir
the early Middle Ages. The Church controlled mone:,. land (including roo m personal property.
lIndfelu.l.u este res}, and men. As a resl.lr , the kings of England had 10 be
wry careful in their dealings u'irh cht' ChIITCh. Th.>:o Irlt'd 10 pre ten r tiny William organ ised his English kin gdom according
mcrecse in Church power, and tried to ,If>poinl bishops u·ho U'OlI/J hi: m OTe
ln~'al lfl lhe kinR rhan 10 [he Ch l~rch. Becket died because he [rit.'J w pr ew nr
to the feudal system which had already begun to
[he kinR from gaininRmore control 0/ C hllKh affairs. de velop in England before his arrival. The word
23
An Illustrated Hisrorv of Britain

Casrle Rising in Norfolk, a fine exo.mple of !he s!One,built keeps the No-mens built in rhe ear(~ The greas hall in Casrle Headingham, built in 1140. gil'f!S an
tU'ft/fth cenrury. These replaced !he earlier Ncmnan "mcne and bailey" cudes. u:hich were earrh idea of !he inside ofa Norman casde. The floor was covered
mounds SUTTOtmded by a wooden fena or paIfuade. A s!One·lrnilr keep of !he IU'U' kind Wd5 wirh rushes or reeds, cur from a nearby marsh or u.!edand
extremel)' difficult to capture, except by surprise . Keeps of this kindhad a weU, p-ro~.'iJ ing fTe5h area. The walls were decorated with U!OlIt't1 woollen
water far a long siege. embroidered hangi"Ks. for which England ucs famou.s. !he
fumilUre is of a much larer dare. 1n Norman times there U'a5
probably a large btd simple table and chair ffTf rhe lord of rhe
"feudalism" co mes from th e Frenc h word [eu, which castle. Others Sflf on benches, or mighr haw stood for meals.
th e Normans used to refer to lan d held in return fo r
duty or service to a lord. The basis of feuda l soc iety
was the holding of lan d , and its ma in purpose was
eco no mic. T he cen tral idea was that all lan d was
owned by the king but it was held by others . ca lled
"vassa ls", in retu rn for services and goods. T he king
gave large estates to h is main nobles in return for a
promise to serve him in war for up to forty days.
T he nobles also had to give hi m part of the prod uce
of th e land . T he grea ter nob les gave part of the ir
lan ds to lesser nob les, kn ight s. and o the r
"freemen". So me freemen paid for the land by
doin g milirary service . wh ile othe rs paid rent. The
nob le kept "serfs" to work on his own land. T hese
were not free to leave the estate, and were often
little better tha n slaves.
T he re were two basic princip les to feuda lism: eve ry
man had a lord. and every lord had land, T he king
was connected through thi s "chain" of people to
the lowest man in th e co untry. At each level a man A thirreenth~cenlu ry knighr pays homllge. The
no bilil) of Britain srill pay homlIge UJ lhe
had to promise loyalty and service to his lord. Th is sOl'tTeign during lhe coronation ceremony, ElItT
promise was usually made with the lord sitting on since rheMiddle Ages, wesr European Chrisrians
halOf' wed !hefeudal homage pcsmon u,hen
his chair and h is vassal kneel ing before him, h is praying. a reminder of their relatiaruhip UJ God,
han ds placed between those of his lord. This was rheir lord and prceectc-.

24
 4 Conquest and feudal rule

called " homage" , and h as rem ained parr of the Kingship: a famil y business
coron ation ce re mo ny of British kings and queen s
T o under stand the idea of kin gship a nd lordsh ip in
until now. O n the othe r h an d , ea ch lord had
the early Midd le A ges it is important to rea lise th at
respo nsibilities to h is vassals. He had to give them
at th is time ther e was little or no idea of
land and protec tion.
nation alism. W illiam controlled two large areas:
W he n a nobl e d ied his son usua lly roo k o ver h is N or ma ndy, whi ch he h ad been give n by hi s fa th er ,
estate. But first he had to receiv e permission from and Englan d, wh ich h e h ad won in war. Bot h were
the king and make a spec ial pay me nt. If h e was still personal possession s, and it did not matter to the
a ch ild the king wou ld often ta ke the pro duce of rul ers th at the ordinary peop le of o ne p lace were
th e esta te un ti l th e boy was o ld eno ugh to look Eng lish wh ile those of anot her were French . To
afte r the estate himself. In th is way the kin g could W illiam the im port an t diffe rence betwee n
bene fi t from the death of a noble. If a ll the nob le's N or ma ndy and Eng lan d was tha t as duke of
family died th e land went back to the king, wh o Norma ndy h e h ad to recogn ise the k ing of Fran ce
would be expected to give it to ano the r deservin g as hi s lord, wh er eas in England he was kin g wit h no
noble. But the ki ng often kep t th e land for so me lord abo ve him .
years. usin g its wea lth. befo re giv ing it to anot he r
When Wi lliam d ied , in 1087, he left the Duchy of
noble.
No rma ndy to h is cid er son , Ro be rt. He gave
If the king di ll n ot give the no bles land th ey would England to hi s second son , W illiam, known as
not fig h t for him . Be tween 1066 and the mid - "Rufus" (Lat in for red) because of hi s red hai r and
fourteenth ce ntury there were on ly thirty years of red face. W hen Roberr went to fight th e Muslims in
complete peace . So feuda l duties were extreme ly th e Hol y Lan d, he left W illiam 11 (Ru fus) in c harge
important. T he king had to make sure he had of Norma ndy. Afte r a ll, th e manage me n t of
enough satisfied nobl es who would be will ing to N ormandy and England was a family busine ss.
tigh r for h im.
Wi ll iam Ru fus d ied in a hunting acc ide n t in 1100 ,
W illiam gave o ur land a ll over Englan d to his shot dead hI' an arrow . He had not marri ed , and
nob les, By 1086 h e wanted to kn ow exac tly who the refore had no son to take the crown . At the
owned whic h piece of land . and how much it was t ime of William 's death , Roberr was on hi s way
worth. He needed th is information so rhar he could hom e to Normandy fro m the Hol y Lan d . The ir
plan h is eco no my. find our how muc h was produced younge r brothe r. Henry. kne w that if he wanted
and how much he co uld ask in tax. He therefore the Eng lish c rown h e wou ld h ave to act very
sent a team of peop le all through England to make quick ly. He had been wi th W illiam at the time of
a co mplete econo mic survey. His men asked all the acc ident . He rod e to Winchester and took
kinds of question s at eac h set tlemen t: How much c harge of the king's treasury. He the n rode to
land was there ? \'(fho own ed it ? How much was it We stminster. where he was crow ned king three
worth ? How many famil ies, ploughs and she ep we re da ys later. Roberr was very an gry and prepa red to
the re? A nd so on . T his survey was the on ly on e of invade . Blit it rook him a year to organ ise an army.
its kind in Europe. N ot surprising ly, it was most
The Norma n nohles in England had to c ho ose
unp opu lar wit h the people, because th ey fe lt th ey
between Hen ry and Roh er r. T h is was not easy
could not escape from its findings. It so re minded
beca use most of the m held land in Normandy too .
them of the paint ings of the Day of Judgement, or
In the end they c hose Hen ry beca use he was in
"doo m". o n the walls of thei r churches that they
Lon don, with the c rown already o n his head .
ca lled it the "Domesday" Book. T he na me stuc k.
Robcrr's invasion was a failure and he acce pted
The Do mesday Book still ex ists, and gives us an
payment to return to Normandy . But Henry wante d
exrraordina rv amoun t of info rrna rio n about England
more. He knew tha t many of h is nobles would
at this rime.
willingly follow h im to Normandy so that they

25
A n Illustrated Histo ry of Britain

A t th e t ime both the possible heirs to Henry were

on their own esta tes. Maril da was with her hu sban d
in A njo u and Hen ry's neph ew. Srephen of Blois,
was in Boulogne , only a day's jou rney by sea from
England . As Henry had done before him , Ste phe n
raced to England to cl aim the c rown. Al so as
before, the nobles in England had to choose
between Stcphe n, who was in England, and
Mari lda. who had quarrelled with her fathe r and
who was st ill in France. Most chose Srephc n, who
inherited rrom his
D tands
father, Geotlrey
Plantagenet. count
seems to ha ve been good at fighti ng but littl e else.
ot AnJOu
lands inherited from jus
He was described at the time as "of outstanding
• mother, Queen Matllda
01England skill in arms, but in othe r things almost an idiot,
except that he was more incl ined towards evil. "
O landsgaIned by his
marriage to Eleanor
01AqUlta,ne O n ly a few nob les supported Mat ilda 's claim.
gained by hIS son
O lands
Geollrey's marriage to
constarce 01 Bnttany Mar ilda invaded England four years later . Her fight
with Ste phe n led to a te rrible civil war in wh ich
O lands belongIngto, and
dlrecltyruled by, the
French king vill ages were destroyed and many peop le we re
O lands which recognised
the French kIng
as overlord
killed. N eit he r side co uld win, and finally in 11 53
Marilda and Sre phc n agreed tha t St ephen could
- bound ary or Henry u's
French lands keep the throne but o nly if Marilda's son , Henry,
could succee d him . Fortunatel v for Englan d,
Hemy 1/ '$ clllpire. Srephen died the following year, and th e family
possessions of England and the lands in France were
united und er a king acce pted by eve ryone. It took
could win back thei r Nor man land s. In 11 06 Henry years for Englan d to recover from th e civil war. As
inv aded Norma ndy and captured Rober r. someo ne wrote at the time, "For nin eteen long
Nor mandy and England were reunited und er one wint ers, God and his ang els slept. " This kind of
ruler. disorder and destruction was co mmon in Europe,
Henry l's most important aim was to pass on bo th but it was shocking in England beca use people were
Nor mandy and England to his successor. He spent used to the rule of law and order.
th e rest of his life fight ing tn keep Normandy from Henry 1I was the fi rst unquestion ed ruler of th e
o ther Fren ch nobles who tr ied to take it. But in English throne for a hu ndred years. He destro yed
1120 Henry 's on ly son was drowned at sea. the castles wh ich many nob les had built withou t
During the next fifteen years Henry hoped for royal permission durin g Srephen's reign , and made
ano the r son but fi nally accep ted tha t his daughter, sure that they lived in manor houses that were
Marilda, would follow him . Henry had married und efend ed. The manor again became th e centre of
Marilda to anot her great noble in France, Geoffrey loca l life and admin istra t ion .
Plan tagen et , Ge offrey was heir to A njou, a large Henr y 1I was ruler of far more land than any
and important area southwest of N ormandy. Hen ry previous king . As lord of A njou he adde d h is
hoped tha t the family lands wou ld be made larger fat he r's land s to th e fami ly empire. Afte r his
by th is marr iage. He made all the nobles promise to marriage to Elean or of Aqu itaine he also ruled the
acce pt Matilda when he died. But th en Henry lands south of A njo u. Henry ll 's empi re stretched
him self qua rrelled publicly with Mari lda's hu sband , from th e Scott ish border to th e Pyren ees.
and died soon after. This left th e succession in
question .
26
 4 Conquest and feudal rule

Four kJnRs of the early Middle

Ages: (top row) Henry fI, Richard
1, (bonorn TOW) John mul Henry
111. Richard's shieldcarries the
beulge of the English kings. The
fhree gold lilms (called "leupards"
in heraldic language) on a red field
stillform fWO of fhe four
"qlUlrrers" of the Royal Standard
or shield wJay.

England prov ided most of Henry' s wealth , but th e popular kings, altho ugh he spent hardly any t ime in
heart of his emp ire lay in Anjou . And altho ugh England . He was brave, and a good soldier, but his
Henry recognised the king of Franc e as the overlord nickn ame Coeur de Lion, " lionheart ", sho ws tha t
of all his Fren ch lands, he actually con trolled a his culture, like th at of the kin gs before him , was
greater area tha n th e kin g of France. Man y of Fren ch . Rich ard was ever yone's idea of th e perfect
Henry's nob les held land on both sides of th e feuda l king. He went to th e Holy Land to make war
English cha nnel. on the Muslims and he fought with skill, courage
and honour.
However, Henr y quarrelled with his beautifu l and
powerful wife, and h is sons, Richa rd and John , took On his way back from the Ho ly Land Rich ard was
Eleanor's side. It may seem surprising that Richard captured by th e duke of Au str ia, with whom he had
and Joh n fought against their own father. But in quarrelled in Jerusalem. The duke dem anded money
fact th ey were doi ng th eir dut y to th e kin g of before he would let him go, and it took two years
France, their feudal ove rlord, in payment for th e for England to pay. Shortly afte r, in 1199, Rich ard
lands they held from him . In 11 89 Henry died a was killed in Fran ce . He had spent no more tha n
broken man, disappointed and defeated by his sons four or five years in th e co unt ry of which he was
and by th e Fren ch kin g. king. W hen he died th e Fren ch kin g too k over
parts of Rich ard's Fren ch lands to rule him self.
Hen ry was followed by his rebell ious son, Rich ard .
Rich ard I has always been one of England's most

27
An Illustrated History of Britain

Rich ard had no son, and he was followed by his Magna Carta and the decline of
brother, John. John had already made him self
unpopu lar with the three most important groups of
feudalism
peop le , the nobles, the mercha nt s and the C hurch. This new agreemen t was known as "Magna Carta" ,
the G reat C harte r, and was an important symbol of
John was unpopular mainl y beca use he was greed y. poli tical freedom. The king promi sed all "freemen"
The feudal lords in England had always run rheir protect ion from his officers, and the right to a fair
own law courts and profited from th e fines paid by and legal trial. At the time perhaps less th an one
th ose brought to court. But John too k many cases quarter of the English were "free rne n". Most were
out of thei r courts and tried the m in th e king's not free, and were serfs or littl e better. Hundreds of
co urts , taking th e mone y for him self. years lat er, Magna C arta was used by Parl iament to
It was nor mal for a feuda l lord to make a payment protect itself from a powerful kin g. In fact Magna
to the king whe n his daughter was marri ed , but Ca rta gave no real freedo m to the majori ty of
John asked for more than was the custom . In the people in England . The nobles who wrote it and
same way, whe n a noble died , h is son had to pay forced King John to sign it had no such th ing in
money before he co uld in he rit h is fathe r's land. In mind . They had one main aim: to make sure John
order to en large his own income, John inc reased did not go beyond h is rights as feuda l lord.
the amount they had to pay. In othe r cases when a
Magna Carta marks a clear stage in the co llapse of
nob le died with ou t a son, it was norm al for the land
English feudalism. Feudal soc iety was based on links
to be passed on ro.ano rher nob le fam ily. Joh n kept
bet ween lord and vassal. A t Runn vmede the nobles
the land for a long time , to benefit from its wealth .
we re not acting as vassals but as a class. T hey
He did the same with the bishoprics. As for th e
established a committee of twenty-four lords to
merch ants and towns, he taxed them at a higher
make sure John kept his promises. T hat was not a
level tha n ever before .
"feuda l" th ing to do. In addit ion , th e nob les were
In 1204 King Joh n beca me even more unp opular acting in co-operation with the merch ant cl ass of
with his nob les. T he French king invaded towns.
Normandy and th e English nobles lost their land s
T he nobles did not allow John's successors to forget
there. John had failed to ca rry out his duty to the m
th is c harter and its promises. Every king recognised
as duke of Norma ndy. He had taken their money
Magna Carta, until the Middle Ages ended in
but he had not protect ed the ir land.
disorder and a ne w kind of mon arch y came into
In 1209 John quarrelled with th e pope ove r who being in the sixtee nth century.
sho uld be Arc hbisho p of Can terbury. John was in a There were othe r small signs th at feudalism was
weak posit ion in England and the pope kn ew it. chang ing. W hen the kin g went to war he had th e
T he pope ca lled on the king of Fran ce to invade righ t to forty days' fighting service from each of his
England , and closed every church in th e co untry. lords. But forty days were not lon g eno ugh for
A t a time when most people believed th at without fighting a war in Fran ce. T he nob les refused to fight
the C hurch th ey would go to hell , thi s was a very for lon ger , so th e kin g was forced to pay soldiers to
serious matt er. In 1214 John gave in , and accepted fight for him . (T he y were called "paid fighters" ,
the pope's choice of archbisho p.
snUdari"s, a Latin word from which the word
In 1215 John hoped to recapture Normandy. He "soldier" co mes. ) A t th e same time many lords
ca lled o n his lords to fi ght for him, but they no preferred the ir vassals to pay th em in money rather
lon ger truste d hi m. They march ed to London , than in services. Vassals we re gradually beg inn ing
where they were joined by angry merch ant s. to change into tenants . Feudalism. the use of land
Outside Londo n at Runn ymede, a few miles up the in return for service. was beginn ing to weaken . But
river. John was forced to sign a new agree me n t. it too k anot he r three hundred years before it
disappeared comp letely.
28