Impact of the Norman Conquest

There is still much historical debate over the impact of the Conquest: whether it led to an abrupt change in laws, policies and social customs, or merely continued established trends.

Change was most obvious in the extensive castle-building of the Normans. They introduced the 'motte and bailey' castle: the motte being the mound upon which the central fortification stood and the bailey being the large walled area around it. These castles symbolised the fact the England had been conquered: now the fortifications protected the lord, his family and soldiers, whereas previously the walls had protected the whole town.

Another dramatic change was that 4,000 English landowners were replaced by less than 200 Norman nobles. This change occurred within the social system established by the Normans known as 'feudalism', whereby a person's rank was determined by the amount of land he held. In theory the system worked as a pyramid, with the king at the top owning virtually all the land. Below him were a group of barons who were granted substantial area of land, and below them were the lesser noble or tenants. Each had a military commitment to the king. William I reckoned that England could support 6,000 knights, the heavily armed cavalry that formed the backbone of his army.

Norman French became the language of the court and upper-classes, while Anglo-Saxon survived among the peasantry. This often resulted in two words for the same object: for example, the Normans ate 'mutton' and 'poultry', whereas the Anglo-Saxons looked after and ate 'sheep' and 'chicken'.

This article is based on material taken from A Traveller's History of England (© Christopher Daniell), published by The Windrush Press, and is by kind permission of its author Christopher Daniell.

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