The Appease for more Lands and the Effects

The battle of Hastings of 1066 intertwined English history with that of Normandy and consequently with France. Once William of Normandy conquered England, the nature of medieval English state transformed drastically. In 1086, all land in England became a fief held by the “crown in return for service.” Norman presence under King William “diminished local particularism” by scattering and distributing land. Furthermore, as Hollister and Stacey indicate, Norman Conquest brought with it, its own form of feudalism distinct from its French counterpart— “more orderly and thoroughgoing”.” As a result, a tightening of the military occurred; fortresses could no longer be built without royal authority to prevent insurrections. In addition, other Norman elements such as the French language and culture manifested among the English elites, but in no way made their identity. William’s conquest did not eliminate Anglo-Saxon culture that predated him; instead, he adopted the Anglo-Saxon disposition and Carolingian forms of rulership, which continued under other Norman rulers of England. By the Norman Conquest, England had already become one of the most integrated and consolidated states in Europe with a highly structured system of royal administration, well-established laws, and a centralized economic system (with effective forms of taxation). At best, the Norman Conquest improved already existing political, economic and social structures. The battle of Hastings led to the switch in English monarchy and linked English fate to France for centuries to come both militarily and economically but it was not the making of England.

Norman rulers from 1066 onward focused more on territorial expansion than developing the English identity as a showcase o...

... middle of paper ...

...,” as transformations that occurred in England, legal, economic and ecclesiastical all emerged independent of France, mostly from internal pressure than outside push. As Hollister and Stacey illustrate, the distraction of England by its interaction with Franc is evident in the fact that “almost every English king since the Norman Conquest had campaigned against the French at one time or another.” While conquest and military expansion by the twelveth and thirteen century became a part of the English need to expand its empire it was not a necessary attribute to their “Englishness.”

Bibliography:

Halsall, Paul. “The Trial of Joan of Arc, 1431." New York: Fordham University, 1998. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1431joantrial.asp Hollister, C. Warren, Robert C. Stacy, and Robin Chapman Stacy. The making of England to 1399, 8th ed. Houghton Mifflin, 2001.