The Norman Conquest
"Harold Rex interfectus est" - King Harold is killed (Bayeux Tapestry)
Around 1000 AD, some of the Vikings who had been raiding France got permission from the French king to settle down and live in France instead. They were supposed to help protect France against other Vikings (as the Visigoths had done before). As part of the deal, these Vikings also converted from their German gods to Catholicism. These settlers were called the Normans (which is short for North-Men, because they came from the North). The part of France where they lived is called Normandy, the land of the North-Men, even today.
After a while, though, the children and grandchildren of
these Vikings were tired of just living in Normandy and farming, and wanted
some adventure and a chance to get rich. In 1066 AD,
one of these men, William, decided to attack England and try to conquer
it from the Anglo-Saxons. William
was not a rich man himself, because his mother had not been married to his
father when he was born, and according to medieval law he could not inherit
his father's property. People called him William the Bastard (that means
that his parents were not married).
(Click here to find out about William's marriage to
Matilda.)
William thought if he conquered England he might become rich. A lot of his
friends agreed with him. So they sailed across the English Channel in a
lot of small boats, and when they got there they did beat the Anglo-Saxons
in the battle of Hastings. The Anglo-Saxon king, Harold, was shot in the
eye with an arrow and died.
William (who was now called William the Conqueror) became the new king of England. He was crowned in Westminster Abbey. He built the Tower of London to live in, to keep himself and his family safe. William and all his friends spoke French, but the English people spoke Saxon. So for a long time there were two languages spoken in England.
William and his wife Matilda
William's castle at Caen
William's abbey in Caen
Tower of London
Henry and Eleanor in England
The Capetians in France
Main medieval history page
Main Middle Ages page
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