The Norman Footprint - The French Conquest of England

By Abdul-Karim Dapaah

 

How did it begin?

It’s January 1066. King Edward the Confessor, ruler of England, is dead. There is a huge uproar because of two things. One, he never had any children, and two, he never named his heir. There were many who wanted the throne, but only three were better suited than the rest.

As well as Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, another claimant was Duke William of Normandy. Part Norse and the bastard son of Duke Robert of Normandy, he inherited his Dukage at the age of seven. He claimed that around 1051, King Edward the Confessor had promised him the English throne if he died childless.

 

The final claimant was Harold Godwinson. He was originally proclaimed King by the Council of England. Before this, he returned from exile to reclaim his family’s land after they were banished by Edward for defying royal authority. Despite this Edward had assigned him king of England.

William held a ‘diplomatic card.’ In 1064, during a journey to France, Harold had fallen into William’s hands. William claimed that Harold promised him the throne. The Bayeux Tapestry shows Harold ‘lending a helping hand’ in a punitive raid against one of William’s enemies, but Harold claimed he had been tricked into helping William.
 
The Double Invasion

As spring came, William gathered his army for an invasion of Britain. He built vast amounts of ships and gathered hundreds of men. He was extremely confident that he could beat the English on their own land.

 

In July 1066, ships were ready. The English were also ready for battle. The invasion of the Normans would have started if the wind hadn’t changed, keeping the French in their harbours. This may have stopped the French, but these same winds brought in a new challenger, forcing Harold to turn and face Hardrada’s fleet sailing from the North Sea.

 

The year before, Harold’s violent and unreliable brother, Tosig, had been stripped of all his lands. After, he became a pirate, and now he joined Hardrada’s team.

 

Harold was convinced that the North Sea threat was the bigger of the two problems and so he gathered his troops and marched to Yorkshire, where they were based. Five days later, the English army fought the Norwegians at Stanford Bridge and, in the greatest battle of the 250 year Viking invasion, Harold was the victor.

 

The Battle of Hastings

After the battle, Harold had no time to rest mainly because of William’s invasion force. Now, he had just finished beating Hardrada and his brother, so he was feeling pretty confident. So he marched his worn out soldiers to battle William’s army.

 

While Hardrada had a hard time getting onto British soil, William’s army had no trouble getting there. As soon as he got there he literally set up shop.

 

Apparently, we actually know more about the Battle of Hastings than any other medieval battle. It took place on Saturday the 14th of October. The English had camped but were immediately aroused by the sight of the Normans. The Normans were first to attack.

 

They attacked them on their horses, trying to force them back, but the English held their ground. Then, after noon, the English ranks were breached and the Normans charged in, killing Harold Godwinson. After 500 years of Saxon rule, the Normans had taken over the land.

 

William was crowned King of England on Christmas Day 1066 in Westminster Abbey.

 

The White Tower

Twelve years after his Coronation, William built a stronghold on the north bank of the Thames, in 1078. It took twenty years to complete, though when it was, it was the biggest building in Britain. It is almost 100ft high, with two walls and different entrance gates for royalty and prisoners (Traitors Gate). It was truly a “symbol of his power, a fortress for his defence, and a prison for his enemies” (Fisher, 1987).

 

But there was a legend associated with the Tower. Bran the Giant was the first mythical ruler of England. When he died, his head was buried under the north bank of the Thames, where the White Tower now stands. This head was later taken by King Arthur who wanted to show that he was the greatest. The symbol of Bran is the raven. Because of this, ravens are kept in the Tower.

 

The legend says that as long as there are five ravens residing at the White Tower, England will not be taken. I believe that William knew this and so he built the White Tower there to emphasise the fact that the Normans were here, and that he was the King.

 

How the Normans Changed Britain

The Normans were rulers of Britain for a very long time. So it is only logic that they may have ‘rubbed off’ on our culture. They introduced the legal system to us Brits. We know this because they left us lots of legal words (‘crime’, ‘evidence’, ‘accuse’, ‘adultery’, ‘slander’, ‘arson’, ‘judge’, ‘jury’, ‘libel’ and ‘liberty’). They gave us lots of cookery words (‘bacon’, ‘venison’, ‘pork’, ‘mutton’, ‘beef’, mackerel, grease, haddock). They even gave us lots of military word (‘surrender’, ‘occupy’, ‘defeat’, ‘treaty’).

 

LINKS

The Tower of London, site of the second of ID1000 public performances, seems to crop up throughout our journey through Britain’s history. Also in this section, there is the story of the Tower Menagerie and the execution there of Lady Jane Grey and John Dudley in 1553-54. It also tells the tale of the Gunpowder plotters in 1605, as told in ‘The Bitter Divide’, in the Black Country section. Pocahontas is also reputed to have visited Sir Walter Raleigh there during her tour of London, see The Virginian Princess in this section.