Norman Invasions

Norman conquest of England

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Landing in Pevensey on September 28, he moved directly to Hastings. Harold, hurrying southward with about 7, men, approached Hastings on October Surprised by William at dawn on October 14, Harold drew up his army on a ridge 10 miles 16 km to the northwest. But William, removing his helmet to show he was alive, rallied his troops, who turned and killed many English soldiers. As the battle continued, the English were gradually worn down; late in the afternoon, Harold was killed by an arrow in the eye, according to the Bayeux Tapestry , and by nightfall the remaining English had scattered and fled.

William then made a sweeping advance to isolate London, and at Berkhamstead the major English leaders submitted to him. He was crowned in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day, Sporadic indigenous revolts continued until ; the most serious, in Northumbria —70 , was suppressed by William himself, who then devastated vast tracts of the north. The subjection of the country was completed by the rapid building of a great number of castles.

The extent and desirability of the changes brought about by the conquest have long been disputed by historians. Inside England the most radical change was the introduction of land tenure and military service. While tenure of land in return for services had existed in England before the conquest, William revolutionized the upper ranks of English society by dividing the country among about Norman tenants-in-chief and innumerable mesne intermediate tenants, all holding their fiefs by knight service.

The result, the almost total replacement of the English aristocracy with a Norman one, was paralleled by similar changes of personnel among the upper clergy and administrative officers. Anglo-Saxon England had developed a highly organized central and local government and an effective judicial system see Anglo-Saxon law. All these were retained and utilized by William, whose coronation oath showed his intention of continuing in the English royal tradition.

The old administrative divisions were not superseded by the new fiefs, nor did feudal justice normally usurp the customary jurisdiction of shire and hundred courts. Increasing use was made of the inquest procedure—the sworn testimony of neighbours, both for administrative purposes and in judicial cases.

William also transformed the structure and character of the church in England. William also presided over a number of church councils, which were held far more frequently than under his predecessors, and introduced legislation against simony the selling of clerical offices and clerical marriage. A supporter of monastic reform while duke of Normandy, William introduced the latest reforming trends to England by replacing Anglo-Saxon abbots with Norman ones and by importing numerous monks. Probably the most regrettable effect of the conquest was the total eclipse of the English vernacular as the language of literature, law, and administration.

Superseded in official documents and other records by Latin and then increasingly in all areas by Anglo-Norman, written English hardly reappeared until the 13th century. We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles.

Robert immediately fortified the city and allied himself with the emir , Ibn at-Timnah , against his rival Ibn al-Hawas. Robert, Roger, and at-Timnah then marched into the centre of the island by way of Rometta , which had remained loyal to at-Timnah. Although the garrison was defeated the citadel did not fall, and with winter approaching Robert returned to Apulia. Roger returned in late and captured Troina.

In June he defeated a Muslim army at the Battle of Cerami , securing the Norman foothold on the island. Robert returned in , bypassing Castrogiovanni on his way to Palermo ; however, when his camp was infested by tarantulas the campaign was called off. He invaded Palermo again in , but only the city fell; its citadel did not fall until January In a partition of the island with his brother Robert retained Palermo, half of Messina, and the largely Christian Val Demone leaving the rest, including what was not yet conquered, to Roger. In Roger besieged Trapani , one of the two remaining Saracen strongholds in the west of the island.

His son, Jordan , led a sortie which surprised guards of the garrison's livestock. With its food supply cut off, the city soon surrendered. In Taormina was besieged, and in Jordan, Robert de Sourval and Elias Cartomi conquered Catania a holding of the emir of Syracuse in another surprise attack.

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Roger left Sicily in the summer of to assist his brother on the mainland; Jordan whom he had left in charge revolted, forcing him to return to Sicily and subjugate his son. In , he was finally able to undertake a systematic campaign. On 25 May, the navies of the count and the emir engaged in the harbour—where the latter was killed—while Jordan's forces besieged the city. The siege lasted throughout the summer, but when the city capitulated in March only Noto was still under Saracen dominion. In February Noto yielded as well, and the conquest of Sicily was complete. In , Roger invaded Malta and subdued the walled city of Mdina.

He imposed taxes on the islands, but allowed the Arab governors to continue their rule. Under Norman rule, the Arabic spoken by the Greek Christian islanders for centuries of Muslim domination became Maltese. Amalfi probably surrendered as a result of her negotiations, [31] and Salerno fell when she stopped petitioning her husband on behalf of her brother the prince of Salerno. The Amalfitans unsuccessfully subjected themselves to Prince Gisulf to avoid Norman suzerainty, but the states whose histories had been joined since the 9th century ultimately came under Norman control.

Although Gisulf ordered his citizens to store two years' worth of food, he confiscated enough of it to starve his subjects. On 13 December , the city submitted; the prince and his retainers retreated to the citadel, which fell in May Although Gisulf's lands and relics were confiscated, he remained at liberty. The Principality of Salerno had already been reduced to little more than the capital city and its environs by previous wars with William of the Principate , Roger of Sicily and Robert Guiscard.

However, the city was the most important in southern Italy and its capture was essential to the creation of a kingdom fifty years later.

Norman Conquest

Desiring protection in unstable times, the Amalfitans exiled the young duke and summoned Robert Guiscard that year. Robert's successor, Roger Borsa, took control of Amalfi in after expelling Gisulf the deposed Prince of Salerno, whom the citizens had installed with papal aid.

From to Amalfi did not recognise its Norman suzerain, apparently seeking Byzantine help; [31] Marinus Sebaste was installed as ruler in Robert's son Bohemond and his brother Roger of Sicily attacked Amalfi in , but were repulsed. During this siege, the Normans began to be drawn by the First Crusade. Marinus was defeated after Amalfitan noblemen defected to the Norman side and betrayed him in Amalfi revolted again in , when Roger II of Sicily demanded its loyalty.

It was finally subdued in when Admiral John marched on it by land and George of Antioch blockaded it by sea, establishing a base on Capri. While most of Apulia except the far south and Bari had capitulated to the Normans in campaigns by the fraternal counts William, Drogo and Humphrey, much of Calabria remained in Byzantine hands at Robert Guiscard's succession.

Calabria was first breached by William and Guaimar during the early s, and Drogo installed Guiscard there during the early s. However, Robert's early career in Calabria was spent in feudal infighting and robber baronage rather than organised subjugation of the Greek population. He began his tenure with a Calabrian campaign. Briefly interrupted for the Council of Melfi on 23 August where he was invested as duke , he returned to Calabria—and his army's siege of Cariati —later that year.

The town capitulated at the duke's arrival, and Rossano and Gerace also fell before the end of the season.

Of the peninsula's significant cities, only Reggio remained in Byzantine hands when Robert returned to Apulia that winter. In Apulia, he temporarily removed the Byzantine garrison from Taranto and Brindisi. The duke returned to Calabria in , primarily to launch a Sicilian expedition.

Although the conquest of Reggio required an arduous siege, Robert's brother Roger had siege engines prepared. After the fall of Reggio the Byzantine garrison fled to Reggio's island citadel of Scilla , where they were easily defeated. Roger's minor assault on Messina across the strait was repulsed, and Robert was called away by a large Byzantine force in Apulia sent by Constantine X late in By May, however, the two brothers had expelled the Byzantines and calmed Apulia.

Geoffrey , son of Peter I of Trani, conquered Otranto in and Taranto which he made his county seat in In he organised an army for a marine attack on "Romania" the Byzantine Balkans , but was halted near Bari by a recently landed army of Varangian auxiliaries under the catapan Mabrica. Mabrica briefly retook Brindisi and Taranto, establishing a garrison at the former under Nikephoros Karantenos an experienced Byzantine soldier from the Bulgar wars.

Although the catapan was successful against the Normans in Italy, it was the last significant Byzantine threat. Bari, the capital of the Byzantine catapanate, was besieged by the Normans beginning in August ; in April the city, the last Byzantine outpost in western Europe, fell. After expelling the Byzantines from Apulia and Calabria their theme of Langobardia , Robert Guiscard planned an attack on Byzantine possessions in Greece. The Byzantines had supported Robert's nephews, Abelard and Herman the dispossessed son of Count Humphrey , in their insurrection against Robert; they had also supported Henry, Count of Monte Sant'Angelo , who recognised Byzantine suzerainty in his county , against him.

Although Petar was ransomed by the Bishop of Cres , he died shortly afterwards and was buried in the church of Saint Stephen in the Fortress of Klis. Robert undertook his first Balkan expedition in May , leaving Brindisi with about 16, troops. Robert's son Mark Bohemond temporarily controlled Thessaly , unsuccessfully trying to retain the —82 conquests in Robert's absence.

The duke returned in to restore them, occupying Corfu and Kephalonia before his death from a fever on 15 July The village of Fiskardo on Cephalonia is named after Robert. Bohemond did not continue pursuing Greek conquests, returning to Italy to dispute Robert's succession with his half-brother Roger Borsa. The Duchy of Naples , nominally a Byzantine possession, was one of the last southern Italian states to be attacked by the Normans. Beginning in , the incorporation of Naples into the Hauteville state took sixty years to complete.

In summer , hostilities flared up between Richard of Capua and Robert Guiscard. Sergius V of Naples allied with the latter, making his city a supply centre for Guiscard's troops. Richard died during the siege in , after the deathbed lifting of his excommunication.

Consequences of the conquest

The siege was ended by his successor, Jordan, to insinuate himself with the papacy which had made peace with Duke Sergius. When they refused, Sergius VII of Naples initially prepared to aid them with a fleet; George of Antioch blockaded Naples' port with a large armada and Sergius, cowed by the suppression of the Amalfitans, submitted to Roger. According to the chronicler Alexander of Telese , Naples "which, since Roman times, had hardly ever been conquered by the sword now submitted to Roger on the strength of a mere report i.

On 24 April a Pisan fleet with 8, reinforcements, captained by Robert of Capua, anchored in Naples and the duchy was the centre of the revolt against Roger II for the next two years. Sergius, Robert and Ranulf were besieged in Naples until the spring of , by which time starvation was widespread.

According to historian and rebel sympathiser Falco of Benevento Sergius and the Neapolitans did not relent, "preferring to die of hunger than to bare their necks to the power of an evil king. Although the emperor left the following year, in return for a pardon Sergius re-submitted to Roger in Norman feudal homage. The defeat at Rignano enabled the Norman conquest of Naples, since Sergius died without heir and the Neapolitan nobility could not reach a succession agreement. However, it was two years between Sergius' death and Naples' incorporation by Sicily.

The nobility apparently ruled during the interim, which may have been the final period of Neapolitan independence from Norman rule. Although the conquest of Sicily was primarily military, Robert and Roger also signed treaties with the Muslims to obtain land. Hindered by Sicily's hilly terrain and a relatively small army, the brothers sought influential, worn-down Muslim leaders to sign the treaties offering peace and protection for land and titles.

Because Sicily was conquered by a unified command, Roger's authority was not challenged by other conquerors and he maintained power over his Greek, Arab, Lombard and Norman subjects. The Roman Catholic Church was introduced to the island, and its ecclesiastical organisation was overseen by Roger with papal approval. Sees were established at Palermo with metropolitan authority , Syracuse and Agrigento. After its elevation to a Kingdom of Sicily in , Sicily became the centre of Norman power with Palermo as capital. The Norman conquest of southern Italy began an infusion of Romanesque specifically Norman architecture.

Some castles were expanded on existing Lombard, Byzantine and Arab structures, while others were original constructions. William of Jumieges claimed that Harold was killed by the duke. The Bayeux Tapestry has been claimed to show Harold's death by an arrow to the eye, but this may be a later reworking of the tapestry to conform to 12th-century stories that Harold had died from an arrow wound to the head.

The day after the battle, Harold's body was identified, either by his armour or marks on his body. William ordered that Harold's body be thrown into the sea, but whether that took place is unclear. He defeated an English force that attacked him at Southwark , but being unable to storm London Bridge he sought to reach the capital by a more circuitous route. William moved up the Thames valley to cross the river at Wallingford , Berkshire; while there he received the submission of Stigand.

Invasion of England,

He then travelled north-east along the Chilterns , before advancing towards London from the north-west, fighting further engagements against forces from the city. Having failed to muster an effective military response, Edgar's leading supporters lost their nerve, and the English leaders surrendered to William at Berkhamsted , Hertfordshire. Despite the submission of the English nobles, resistance continued for several years. These rebellions rapidly collapsed as William moved against them, building castles and installing garrisons as he had already done in the south.

Early in the newly installed Norman Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Comines , and several hundred soldiers accompanying him were massacred at Durham; the Northumbrian rebellion was joined by Edgar, Gospatric, Siward Barn and other rebels who had taken refuge in Scotland. The castellan of York, Robert fitzRichard, was defeated and killed, and the rebels besieged the Norman castle at York. William hurried north with an army, defeated the rebels outside York and pursued them into the city, massacring the inhabitants and bringing the revolt to an end.

A subsequent local uprising was crushed by the garrison of York. After abortive raids in the south, the Danes joined forces with a new Northumbrian uprising, which was also joined by Edgar, Gospatric and the other exiles from Scotland as well as Waltheof.

The combined Danish and English forces defeated the Norman garrison at York, seized the castles and took control of Northumbria, although a raid into Lincolnshire led by Edgar was defeated by the Norman garrison of Lincoln. At the same time resistance flared up again in western Mercia, where the forces of Eadric the Wild, together with his Welsh allies and further rebel forces from Cheshire and Shropshire, attacked the castle at Shrewsbury.

In the south-west, rebels from Devon and Cornwall attacked the Norman garrison at Exeter but were repulsed by the defenders and scattered by a Norman relief force under Count Brian. Other rebels from Dorset , Somerset and neighbouring areas besieged Montacute Castle but were defeated by a Norman army gathered from London, Winchester and Salisbury under Geoffrey of Coutances. Leaving Robert of Mortain in charge of Lincolnshire, he turned west and defeated the Mercian rebels in battle at Stafford. When the Danes attempted to return to Lincolnshire, the Norman forces there again drove them back across the Humber.

William advanced into Northumbria, defeating an attempt to block his crossing of the swollen River Aire at Pontefract. The Danes fled at his approach, and he occupied York.

Invasion of England

He bought off the Danes, who agreed to leave England in the spring, and during the winter of —70 his forces systematically devastated Northumbria in the Harrying of the North , subduing all resistance. In early , having secured the submission of Waltheof and Gospatric, and driven Edgar and his remaining supporters back to Scotland, William returned to Mercia, where he based himself at Chester and crushed all remaining resistance in the area before returning to the south.

William also oversaw a purge of prelates from the Church, most notably Stigand, who was deposed from Canterbury. The papal legates also imposed penances on William and those of his supporters who had taken part in Hastings and the subsequent campaigns. Both sees were filled by men loyal to William: Lanfranc , abbot of William's foundation at Caen , received Canterbury while Thomas of Bayeux , one of William's chaplains, was installed at York.

Some other bishoprics and abbeys also received new bishops and abbots and William confiscated some of the wealth of the English monasteries, which had served as repositories for the assets of the native nobles. In Sweyn II of Denmark arrived to take personal command of his fleet and renounced the earlier agreement to withdraw, sending troops into the Fens to join forces with English rebels led by Hereward the Wake , [m] at that time based on the Isle of Ely.

Sweyn soon accepted a further payment of Danegeld from William, and returned home. Edwin and Morcar again turned against William, and although Edwin was quickly betrayed and killed, Morcar reached Ely , where he and Hereward were joined by exiled rebels who had sailed from Scotland. William arrived with an army and a fleet to finish off this last pocket of resistance. After some costly failures the Normans managed to construct a pontoon to reach the Isle of Ely, defeated the rebels at the bridgehead and stormed the island, marking the effective end of English resistance. William faced difficulties in his continental possessions in , [83] but in he returned to England and marched north to confront King Malcolm III of Scotland.

Whether this meant only for Cumbria and Lothian or for the whole Scottish kingdom was left ambiguous. Another earl, Waltheof, despite being one of William's favourites, was also involved, and some Breton lords were ready to offer support. Ralph also requested Danish aid. William remained in Normandy while his men in England subdued the revolt. Norwich was besieged and surrendered, and Ralph went into exile. Meanwhile, the Danish king's brother, Cnut , had finally arrived in England with a fleet of ships, but he was too late as Norwich had already surrendered.

The Danes then raided along the coast before returning home. By that time William had returned to the continent, where Ralph was continuing the rebellion from Brittany. Once England had been conquered, the Normans faced many challenges in maintaining control. To find the lands to compensate his Norman followers, William initially confiscated the estates of all the English lords who had fought and died with Harold and redistributed part of their lands.

A measure of William's success in taking control is that, from until the Capetian conquest of Normandy in , William and his successors were largely absentee rulers. For example, after , William spent more than 75 per cent of his time in France rather than England. While he needed to be personally present in Normandy to defend the realm from foreign invasion and put down internal revolts, he set up royal administrative structures that enabled him to rule England from a distance. A direct consequence of the invasion was the almost total elimination of the old English aristocracy and the loss of English control over the Catholic Church in England.

William systematically dispossessed English landowners and conferred their property on his continental followers. The Domesday Book meticulously documents the impact of this colossal programme of expropriation, revealing that by only about 5 per cent of land in England south of the Tees was left in English hands. Even this tiny residue was further diminished in the decades that followed, the elimination of native landholding being most complete in southern parts of the country.

Natives were also removed from high governmental and ecclesiastical office. After all earldoms were held by Normans, and Englishmen were only occasionally appointed as sheriffs. Likewise in the Church, senior English office-holders were either expelled from their positions or kept in place for their lifetimes and replaced by foreigners when they died.

By no bishopric was held by any Englishman, and English abbots became uncommon, especially in the larger monasteries. Following the conquest, many Anglo-Saxons, including groups of nobles, fled the country [] for Scotland, Ireland, or Scandinavia. Before the Normans arrived, Anglo-Saxon governmental systems were more sophisticated than their counterparts in Normandy.

English coinage was also superior to most of the other currency in use in northwestern Europe, and the ability to mint coins was a royal monopoly.

This sophisticated medieval form of government was handed over to the Normans and was the foundation of further developments. By the end of William's reign most of the officials of government and the royal household were Normans. The language of official documents also changed, from Old English to Latin.

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