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186-647: The castle was built c.  1060 by William the Conqueror (William of Normandy), who successfully conquered England in 1066. His son Henry I then built the Saint George's church, a keep (1123) and a large hall for the ducal Court. On Christmas 1182, a royal court celebration for Christmas in the Aula of Caen Castle brought together Henry II and his sons, Richard the Lionheart and John Lackland , receiving more than

372-685: A Christian stronghold until the fall of Famagusta in 1571. Between 1402 and 1405, the expedition led by the Norman noble Jean de Bethencourt and the Poitevine Gadifer de la Salle conquered the Canarian islands of Lanzarote , Fuerteventura and El Hierro off the Atlantic coast of Africa. Their troops were gathered in Normandy, Gascony and were later reinforced by Castilian colonists. Bethencourt took

558-433: A band of young men, many of them the sons of William's supporters. Included among them were Robert of Belleme , William de Breteuil , and Roger, the son of Richard fitzGilbert. This band went to the castle at Remalard , where they proceeded to raid into Normandy. The raiders were supported by many of William's continental enemies. William immediately attacked the rebels and drove them from Remalard, but King Philip gave them

744-482: A broad outline is known, the exact events are obscured by contradictory accounts. Although the numbers on each side were about equal, William had both cavalry and infantry, including many archers, while Harold had only foot soldiers and few, if any, archers. The English soldiers formed up as a shield wall along the ridge and were at first so effective that William's army was thrown back with heavy casualties. Some of William's Breton troops panicked and fled, and some of

930-420: A burly and robust appearance, with a guttural voice. He enjoyed excellent health until old age, although he became quite fat in later life. He was strong enough to draw bows that others were unable to pull and had great stamina. Geoffrey Martel described him as without equal as a fighter and horseman. Examination of William's femur , the only bone to survive when the rest of his remains were destroyed, showed he

1116-901: A campaign that remains obscure in its details. Its effect, though, was to destabilise Brittany, forcing the duke, Conan II , to focus on internal problems rather than on expansion. Conan's death in 1066 further secured William's borders in Normandy. William also benefited from his campaign in Brittany by securing the support of some Breton nobles who went on to support the invasion of England in 1066. Earl Godwin died in 1053. Harold succeeded to his father's earldom, and another son, Tostig , became Earl of Northumbria . Other sons were granted earldoms later: Gyrth as Earl of East Anglia in 1057 and Leofwine as Earl of Kent sometime between 1055 and 1057. Some sources claim that Harold took part in William's Breton campaign of 1064 and swore to uphold William's claim to

1302-427: A circuit for walkers. The top of the ramparts offers a splendid view of Caen. Some parts of the curtain walls were built during the 12th century, but most of them date from the 15th century. The castle has two main entrances: the porte sur la ville ('gateway to the town') and the porte des champs ('gateway to the fields'); they are reinforced by two barbicans . Since March 2004, the town of Caen has undertaken

1488-614: A continental revolt in Maine, and symbolically wore his crown in the ruins of York on Christmas Day 1069. He then bought off the Danes. He marched to the River Tees , ravaging the countryside as he went. Edgar, having lost much of his support, fled to Scotland, where King Malcolm III was married to Edgar's sister Margaret. Waltheof, who had joined the revolt, submitted, along with Gospatric, and both were allowed to retain their lands. William marched over

1674-409: A crisis in 1051 that led to the exile of Godwin and his family from England. During this exile, Edward offered the throne to William. Godwin returned from exile in 1052 with armed forces, and a settlement was reached between the king and the earl, restoring the earl and his family to their lands and replacing Robert of Jumièges , a Norman whom Edward had named Archbishop of Canterbury , with Stigand ,

1860-418: A daughter whose name is unknown. One of Herleva's brothers, Walter, became a supporter and protector of William during his minority. Robert I also had a daughter, Adelaide , by another mistress. Robert I succeeded his elder brother Richard III as duke on 6 August 1027. The brothers had been at odds over the succession, and Richard's death was sudden. Robert was accused by some writers of killing Richard,

2046-456: A family member. Another reason for the appointment may have been pressure from the papacy to appoint Lanfranc. Norman clergy were appointed to replace the deposed bishops and abbots, and at the end of the process, only native English bishops remained in office, along with several continental prelates appointed by Edward the Confessor. In 1070 William also founded Battle Abbey , a new monastery at

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2232-562: A force to capture Winchester , where the royal treasury was. These captures secured William's rear areas and his line of retreat to Normandy, if that was needed. William then marched to Southwark , across the Thames from London, which he reached in late November. Next, he led his forces around the south and west of London, burning along the way. He finally crossed the Thames at Wallingford in early December. Stigand submitted to William there, and when

2418-479: A forge of the 14th century. Traces of the stables have also been found. The base of the keep has been cleared, and people are still working on excavations around it. 49°11′11″N 0°21′46″W  /  49.18639°N 0.36278°W  / 49.18639; -0.36278 William the Conqueror William the Conqueror ( c.  1028   – 9 September 1087), sometimes called William

2604-622: A hostage, beginning a series of arguments as to whether the Scottish Crown owed allegiance to the King of England. Normans went into Scotland, building castles and founding noble families that would provide some future kings, such as Robert the Bruce , as well as founding a considerable number of the Scottish clans . King David I of Scotland , whose elder brother Alexander I had married Sybilla of Normandy ,

2790-625: A key strategic position on the maritime lanes to the Holy Land, whose occupation by the Christians could not continue without support from the sea. Shortly after the conquest, Cyprus was sold to the Knights Templar and it was subsequently acquired, in 1192, by Guy de Lusignan and became a stable feudal kingdom . It was only in 1489 that the Venetians acquired full control of the island, which remained

2976-715: A long period of slow conquest during which almost all of Wales was at some point subject to Norman interference. Norman words, such as baron ( barwn ), first entered Welsh at that time. The legendary religious zeal of the Normans was exercised in religious wars long before the First Crusade carved out a Norman principality in Antioch . They were major foreign combatants in the Reconquista in Iberia . In 1018, Roger de Tosny travelled to

3162-486: A planned operation, the conquest had much more permanent results than initially expected. In April 1191, Richard the Lion-hearted left Messina with a large fleet in order to reach Acre . But a storm dispersed the fleet. After some searching, it was discovered that the boat carrying his sister and his fiancée Berengaria was anchored on the south coast of Cyprus, together with the wrecks of several other ships, including

3348-479: A plausible but now unprovable charge. Conditions in Normandy were unsettled, as noble families despoiled the Church and Alan III of Brittany waged war against the duchy, possibly in an attempt to take control. By 1031 Robert had gathered considerable support from noblemen many of whom would become prominent during William's life. They included the duke's uncle Robert , the archbishop of Rouen , who had originally opposed

3534-418: A powerful ally in the neighbouring county of Flanders . By the time of his marriage, William was able to arrange the appointment of his supporters as bishops and abbots in the Norman church. His consolidation of power allowed him to expand his horizons, and he secured control of the neighbouring county of Maine by 1062. In the 1050s and early 1060s, William became a contender for the throne of England held by

3720-452: A quarrel between Robert and his younger brothers William and Henry , including a story that the quarrel was started when William and Henry threw water at Robert, it is much more likely that Robert was feeling powerless. Orderic relates that he had previously demanded control of Maine and Normandy and had been rebuffed. The trouble in 1077 or 1078 resulted in Robert leaving Normandy accompanied by

3906-399: A race skillful in flattery, given to the study of eloquence, so that the very boys were orators, a race altogether unbridled unless held firmly down by the yoke of justice. They were enduring of toil, hunger, and cold whenever fortune laid it on them, given to hunting and hawking, delighting in the pleasure of horses, and of all the weapons and garb of war. In the course of the 10th century,

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4092-767: A role in founding the Kingdom of Sicily under Roger II after briefly conquering southern Italy and Malta from the Saracens and Byzantines , and an expedition on behalf of their duke, William the Conqueror , led to the Norman conquest of England at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Norman and Anglo-Norman forces contributed to the Iberian Reconquista from the early eleventh to the mid-thirteenth centuries. Norman cultural and military influence spread from these new European centres to

4278-454: A series of raids on the French northern coast mainly from what is now Denmark, although some also sailed from Norway and Sweden. These settlements were finally legitimized when Rollo , a Scandinavian Viking leader, agreed to swear fealty to King Charles III of West Francia following the siege of Chartres in 911. The intermixing in Normandy produced an ethnic and cultural "Norman" identity in

4464-549: A son, Edgar the Ætheling . In 1065 Northumbria revolted against Tostig , and the rebels chose Morcar , the younger brother of Edwin, Earl of Mercia , as earl. Harold, perhaps to secure the support of Edwin and Morcar in his bid for the throne, supported the rebels and persuaded King Edward to replace Tostig with Morcar. Tostig went into exile in Flanders with his wife Judith , who was the daughter of Baldwin IV, Count of Flanders . Edward

4650-545: A substantial number of Anglo-Normans, was invited by the count of Barcelona, Ramon Berenguer IV , to participate in the siege of Tortosa (1148) . Again the Normans were rewarded with lands in the newly conquered frontier city. Between 1135 and 1160, the Norman Kingdom of Sicily conquered and kept as vassals several cities on the Ifriqiya coast, corresponding to Tunisia and parts of Algeria and Libya today. They were lost to

4836-502: A third attack in 1185, when a large Norman army invaded Dyrrachium , owing to the betrayal of high Byzantine officials. Some time later, Dyrrachium—one of the most important naval bases of the Adriatic —fell again to Byzantine hands. The Normans were in contact with England from an early date. Not only were their original Viking brethren still ravaging the English coasts, they occupied most of

5022-648: A thousand knights. Caen Castle, along with all of Normandy, was recaptured by the French Crown in 1204 . Philip II reinforced the fortifications . The castle saw several engagements during the Hundred Years' War ( 1346 , 1417 , 1450 ). The keep was pulled down in 1793 during the French Revolution , by order of the National Convention . The castle, which was used as a barracks during World War II ,

5208-427: A turning point in William's control of the duchy, it was not the end of his struggle to gain the upper hand over the nobility. The period from 1047 to 1054 saw almost continuous warfare, with lesser crises continuing until 1060. William's next efforts were against Guy of Burgundy, who retreated to his castle at Brionne , which William besieged. After a long effort, the duke succeeded in exiling Guy in 1050. To address

5394-454: Is still spoken today in parts of mainland Normandy ( Cotentinais and Cauchois dialects) and the nearby Channel Islands ( Jèrriais and Guernésiais ). The Duchy of Normandy , which arose from the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte , was a great fief of medieval France. The Norman dukes exercised independent control of their holdings in Normandy, while at the same time being vassals owing fealty to

5580-448: Is unclear. Waltham Abbey , which Harold founded, later claimed that his body had been secretly buried there. William may have hoped the English would surrender following his victory, but they did not. Instead, some of the English clergy and magnates nominated Edgar the Ætheling as king, though their support for Edgar was only lukewarm. After waiting a short while, William secured Dover , parts of Kent, and Canterbury , while also sending

5766-463: The Battle of Dol in 1076, forcing him to retreat to Normandy. Although this was William's first defeat in battle, it did little to change things. An Angevin attack on Maine was defeated in late 1076 or 1077, with Count Fulk le Rechin wounded in the unsuccessful attack. More serious was the retirement of Simon de Crépy , the Count of Amiens , to a monastery. Before he became a monk, Simon handed his county of

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5952-546: The Battle of Hastings , and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest . The rest of his life was marked by struggles to consolidate his hold over England and his continental lands, and by difficulties with his eldest son, Robert Curthose . William was the son of the unmarried Duke Robert I of Normandy and his mistress Herleva . His illegitimate status and youth caused some difficulties for him after he succeeded his father, as did

6138-536: The Battle of Stamford Bridge . The Norman fleet finally set sail two days later, landing in England at Pevensey Bay on 28 September. William then moved to Hastings , a few miles to the east, where he built a castle as a base of operations. From there, he ravaged the interior and waited for Harold's return from the north, refusing to venture far from the sea, his line of communication with Normandy. After defeating Harald Hardrada and Tostig, Harold left much of his army in

6324-486: The Battle of Varaville . This was the last invasion of Normandy during William's lifetime. In 1058, William invaded the County of Dreux and took Tillières-sur-Avre and Thimert . Henry attempted to dislodge William, but the siege of Thimert dragged on for two years until Henry's death. The deaths of Count Geoffrey and the king in 1060 cemented the shift in the balance of power towards William. One factor in William's favour

6510-493: The Bishop of Winchester . No English source mentions a supposed embassy by Archbishop Robert to William conveying the promise of the succession, and the two Norman sources that mention it, William of Jumièges and William of Poitiers , are not precise in their chronology of when this visit took place. Count Herbert II of Maine died in 1062, and William, who had betrothed his eldest son Robert to Herbert's sister Margaret, claimed

6696-465: The Carolingian dynasty from the days of Charlemagne in the 9th century. By intermarrying with the local aristocracy and adopting the growing feudal doctrines of the rest of France, the Normans would progressively work these principles into a functional hierarchical system in their own duchy , and later export it to Norman dominated England . As the proliferation of aristocratic families throughout

6882-701: The Channel Islands and parts of mainland Normandy, as well as the historical Anglo-Norman language in England. Old Norman was also an important language of the Principality of Antioch during Crusader rule in the Levant . Old Norman and Anglo-Norman literature was quite extensive during the Middle Ages, with records existing from notable Norman poets such as Wace , who was born on the island of Jersey and raised in mainland Normandy. The customary law of Normandy

7068-753: The Crusader states of the Near East, where their prince Bohemond I founded the Principality of Antioch in the Levant , to Scotland and Wales in Great Britain, to Ireland, and to the coasts of north Africa and the Canary Islands . The legacy of the Normans persists today through the regional languages and dialects of France, England, Spain, Quebec and Sicily, and also through the various cultural, judicial, and political arrangements they introduced in their conquered territories. The English name "Normans" comes from

7254-615: The Danes . In 1086, he ordered the compilation of the Domesday Book , a survey listing all of the land-holdings in England along with their pre-Conquest and current holders. He died in September 1087 while leading a campaign in northern France, and was buried in Caen . His reign in England was marked by the construction of castles, settling a new Norman nobility on the land, and change in the composition of

7440-690: The Drengot family . A group of Normans with at least five brothers from the Drengot family fought the Byzantines in Apulia under the command of Melus of Bari . Between 1016 and 1024, in a fragmented political context, the County of Ariano  [ it ] was founded by another group of Norman knights headed by Gilbert Buatère and hired by Melus of Bari. Defeated at Cannae , Melus of Bari escaped to Bamberg , Germany , where he died in 1022. The county, which replaced

7626-503: The Earl of Hereford , conspired to overthrow William in the "Revolt of the Earls". Ralph was at least part Breton and had spent most of his life prior to 1066 in Brittany, where he still had lands. Roger was a Norman, son of William fitzOsbern, but had inherited less authority than his father held. Ralph's authority seems also to have been less than his predecessors in the earldom, and this was likely

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7812-538: The English Channel for most of the summer. William of Poitiers describes a council called by Duke William, in which the writer gives an account of a debate between William's nobles and supporters over whether to risk an invasion of England. Although some sort of formal assembly probably was held, it is unlikely that any debate took place: the duke had by then established control over his nobles, and most of those assembled would have been anxious to secure their share of

7998-539: The French words Normans / Normanz , plural of Normant , modern French normand , which is itself borrowed from Old Low Franconian Nortmann "Northman" or directly from Old Norse Norðmaðr , Latinized variously as Nortmannus , Normannus , or Nordmannus (recorded in Medieval Latin , 9th century) to mean "Norseman, Viking ". The 11th century Benedictine monk and historian , Goffredo Malaterra , characterised

8184-464: The Humber met with no more success, so he retreated to Scotland. According to the Norman writer William of Jumièges, William had meanwhile sent an embassy to King Harold Godwinson to remind Harold of his oath to support William's claim, although whether this embassy actually occurred is unclear. Harold assembled an army and a fleet to repel William's anticipated invasion force, deploying troops and ships along

8370-552: The Latin of the Romans . The Norman language (Norman French) was forged by the adoption of the indigenous langue d'oïl branch of Romance by a Norse-speaking ruling class, and it developed into the French regional languages that survive today. The new Norman rulers were culturally and ethnically distinct from the old French aristocracy , most of whom traced their lineage to the Franks of

8556-672: The Near East . The Normans were historically famed for their martial spirit, and eventually for their Catholic piety as adherents of the Catholic orthodoxy of the Romance community. The original Norse settlers adopted the Gallo-Romance language of the Frankish land they settled, with their Old Norman dialect becoming known as Norman, Normaund or Norman French , an important literary language which

8742-470: The Norse language of the earlier Anglo-Norse settlers and the Latin used by the church) in the development of Middle English , which, in turn, evolved into Modern English . The Normans had a profound effect on Irish culture and history after their invasion at Bannow Bay in 1169. Initially, the Normans maintained a distinct culture and ethnicity. Yet, with time, they came to be subsumed into Irish culture to

8928-646: The Pennines during the winter and defeated the remaining rebels at Shrewsbury before building Chester and Stafford Castles . This campaign, which included the burning and destruction of part of the countryside that the royal forces marched through, is usually known as the " Harrying of the North "; it was over by April 1070, when William wore his crown ceremonially for Easter at Winchester. While at Winchester in 1070, William met with three papal legates  – John Minutus, Peter, and Ermenfrid of Sion – who had been sent by

9114-622: The River Tweed , devastating the land between the River Tees and the Tweed in a raid that lasted almost a month. The lack of Norman response appears to have caused the Northumbrians to grow restive, and in the spring of 1080 they rebelled against the rule of Walcher , the Bishop of Durham and Earl of Northumbria. Walcher was killed on 14 May 1080, and the king dispatched his half-brother Odo to deal with

9300-448: The Treaty of Abernethy , and Malcolm probably gave up his son Duncan as a hostage for the peace. Perhaps another stipulation of the treaty was the expulsion of Edgar the Ætheling from Malcolm's court. William then turned his attention to the continent, returning to Normandy in early 1073 to deal with the invasion of Maine by Fulk le Rechin , the Count of Anjou . With a swift campaign, William seized Le Mans from Fulk's forces, completing

9486-461: The Vexin over to King Philip. The Vexin was a buffer state between Normandy and the lands of the French king, and Simon had been a supporter of William. William was able to make peace with Philip in 1077 and secured a truce with Count Fulk in late 1077 or early 1078. In late 1077 or early 1078 trouble began between William and his eldest son, Robert. Although Orderic Vitalis describes it as starting with

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9672-411: The crusade , and offering his daughter in marriage to the person named by Richard. But Isaac changed his mind and tried to escape. Richard then proceeded to conquer the whole island, his troops being led by Guy de Lusignan. Isaac surrendered and was confined with silver chains, because Richard had promised that he would not place him in irons. By 1 June, Richard had conquered the whole island. His exploit

9858-541: The crusader states in the Levant . One of the great geographical treatises of the Middle Ages , the " Tabula Rogeriana ", was written by al-Idrisi for King Roger II of Sicily, and entitled " Kitab Rudjdjar " (" The Book of Roger "). The Normans began appearing in the military confrontations between Christians and Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula since the early eleventh century. The first Norman who appears in

10044-675: The prefix Fitz- include Fitzgerald , FitzGibbons (Gibbons) as well as Fitzmaurice . Families bearing such surnames as Barry ( de Barra ) and De Búrca ( Burke ) are also of Norman extraction. One of the claimants of the English throne opposing William the Conqueror , Edgar Atheling , eventually fled to Scotland. King Malcolm III of Scotland married Edgar's sister Margaret , and came into opposition to William who had already disputed Scotland's southern borders. William invaded Scotland in 1072, riding as far as Abernethy where he met up with his fleet of ships. Malcolm submitted, paid homage to William and surrendered his son Duncan as

10230-536: The Île-de-France , which were considered "Frankish". Earlier Viking settlers had begun arriving in the 880s, but were divided between colonies in the east ( Roumois and Pays de Caux ) around the low Seine valley and in the west in the Cotentin Peninsula , and were separated by traditional pagii , where the population remained about the same with almost no foreign settlers. Rollo's contingents from Scandinavia who raided and ultimately settled Normandy and parts of

10416-457: The 1050s were generally good, and Norman clergy were able to visit Rome in 1050 without incident, it was probably secured earlier. Papal sanction of the marriage appears to have required the founding of two monasteries in Caen ;– one by William and one by Matilda. The marriage was important in bolstering William's status, as Flanders was one of the more powerful French territories, with ties to

10602-905: The Almohads. Soon after the Normans began to enter Italy, they entered the Byzantine Empire and then Armenia , fighting against the Pechenegs , the Bulgarians , and especially the Seljuk Turks . Norman mercenaries were first encouraged to come to the south by the Lombards to act against the Byzantines, but they soon fought in Byzantine service in Sicily. They were prominent alongside Varangian and Lombard contingents in

10788-467: The Armenian vassal-states of Sassoun and Taron in far eastern Anatolia . Later, many took up service with the Armenian state further south in Cilicia and the Taurus Mountains . A Norman named Oursel led a force of "Franks" into the upper Euphrates valley in northern Syria . From 1073 to 1074, 8,000 of the 20,000 troops of the Armenian general Philaretus Brachamius were Normans—formerly of Oursel—led by Raimbaud . They even lent their ethnicity to

10974-443: The Bastard , was the first Norman king of England (as William I ), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo , he was Duke of Normandy (as William II ) from 1035 onward. By 1060, following a long struggle, his hold on Normandy was secure. In 1066, following the death of Edward the Confessor , William invaded England, leading an army of Normans to victory over the Anglo-Saxon forces of Harold Godwinson at

11160-557: The Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066. After further military efforts, William was crowned king on Christmas Day, 1066 , in London. He made arrangements for the governance of England in early 1067 before returning to Normandy. Several unsuccessful rebellions followed, but William's hold was mostly secure on England by 1075, allowing him to spend the greater part of his reign in continental Europe . William's final years were marked by difficulties in his continental domains, troubles with his son, Robert, and threatened invasions of England by

11346-415: The Byzantine duke of Antioch , Isaac Komnenos . In the 1060s, Robert Crispin led the Normans of Edessa against the Turks. Roussel de Bailleul even tried to carve out an independent state in Asia Minor with support from the local population in 1073, but he was stopped in 1075 by the Byzantine general and future emperor Alexius Komnenos . Some Normans joined Turkish forces to aid in the destruction of

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11532-468: The Confessor had set up the aforementioned Ralph as Earl of Hereford and charged him with defending the Marches and warring with the Welsh. In these original ventures, the Normans failed to make any headway into Wales. After the Conquest, however, the Marches came completely under the dominance of William's most trusted Norman barons, including Bernard de Neufmarché , Roger of Montgomery in Shropshire and Hugh Lupus in Cheshire . These Normans began

11718-430: The Cotentin, and Ranulf, Viscount of the Bessin. According to stories that may have legendary elements, an attempt was made to seize William at Valognes, but he escaped under cover of darkness, seeking refuge with King Henry. In early 1047 Henry and William returned to Normandy and were victorious at the Battle of Val-ès-Dunes near Caen , although few details of the fighting are recorded. William of Poitiers claimed that

11904-434: The Ebro Valley to aid Alfonso I of Aragon in his campaigns of conquest. Robert Burdet managed to acquire the position of Alcide of Tudela by 1123 and later that of Prince of the city Tarragona in 1129. The conquest of Cyprus by the Anglo-Norman forces of the Third Crusade opened a new chapter in the history of the island, which would be under Western European domination for the following 380 years. Although not part of

12090-483: The Ebro frontier. By 1129 Robert Burdet had been granted a semi-independent principality in the city of Tarragona by the then Archbishop of this see, Oleguer Bonestruga. Several others of Rotrou's Norman followers were rewarded with lands in the Ebro valley by King Alfonso I of Aragon for their services. With the rising popularity of the sea route to the Holy Land, Norman and Anglo-Norman crusaders also started to be encouraged locally by Iberian prelates to participate in

12276-413: The English clergy. He did not try to integrate his domains into one empire but continued to administer each part separately. His lands were divided after his death: Normandy went to Robert, and England went to his second surviving son, William Rufus . Norsemen first began raiding in what became Normandy in the late 8th century. Permanent Scandinavian settlement occurred before 911, when Rollo , one of

12462-568: The English sovereign ceded his claim to the Duchy, except for the Channel Islands . In the present day, the Channel Islands (the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey ) are considered to be officially the last remnants of the Duchy of Normandy, and are not part of the United Kingdom but are instead self-governing Crown Dependencies . The Normans are noted both for their culture, such as their unique Romanesque architecture and musical traditions, and for their significant military accomplishments and innovations. Norman adventurers played

12648-521: The English throne fell to Harold Harefoot , his son by his first wife, while Harthacnut , his son by Emma, became king in Denmark. England remained unstable. Alfred returned to England in 1036 to visit his mother and perhaps to challenge Harold as king. One story implicates Earl Godwin of Wessex in Alfred's subsequent death, but others blame Harold. Emma went into exile in Flanders until Harthacnut became king following Harold's death in 1040, and his half-brother Edward followed Harthacnut to England; Edward

12834-537: The English throne, but no English source reports this trip, and it is unclear if it actually occurred. It may have been Norman propaganda designed to discredit Harold, who had emerged as the main contender to succeed King Edward. Meanwhile, another contender for the throne had emerged – Edward the Exile , son of Edmund Ironside and a grandson of Æthelred II, returned to England in 1057. Although he died shortly after his return, he brought with him his family, which included two daughters, Margaret and Christina , and

13020-466: The English troops appear to have pursued the fleeing Bretons until they themselves were attacked and destroyed by Norman cavalry. During the Bretons' flight, rumours swept through the Norman forces that the duke had been killed, but William succeeded in rallying his troops. Two further Norman retreats were feigned, to draw the English into pursuit and expose them to repeated attacks by the Norman cavalry. The available sources are more confused about events in

13206-408: The European Atlantic coast included Danes , Norwegians , Norse–Gaels , Orkney Vikings , possibly Swedes , and Anglo-Danes from the English Danelaw territory which earlier came under Norse control in the late 9th century. The descendants of Vikings replaced the Norse religion and Old Norse language with Catholicism ( Christianity ) and the Langue d'oil of the local people, descending from

13392-457: The Frankish or Gallic population among whom they lived". Between 1066 and 1204, as a result of the Norman conquest of England , most of the kings of England were also dukes of Normandy . In 1204, Philip II of France seized mainland Normandy by force of arms, having earlier declared the Duchy of Normandy to be forfeit to him. It remained a disputed territory until the Treaty of Paris of 1259 , when

13578-563: The French kingdom limited the prospects of most heirs, young knights were encouraged to seek land and riches beyond their homeland, with Normandy becoming a major source of such adventurers. Many Normans of Italy, France and England eventually served as avid Crusaders soldiers under the Italo-Norman prince Bohemund I of Antioch and the Angevin-Norman king Richard the Lion-Heart , one of

13764-518: The French royal house and to the German emperors. Contemporary writers considered the marriage, which produced four sons and five or six daughters, to be a success. No authentic portrait of William has been found; the contemporary depictions of him on the Bayeux Tapestry and on his seals and coins are conventional representations designed to assert his authority. There are some written descriptions of

13950-530: The Great 's conquest of the isle. When Edward the Confessor finally returned from his father's refuge in 1041, at the invitation of his half-brother Harthacnut , he brought with him a Norman-educated mind. He also brought many Norman counsellors and fighters, some of whom established an English cavalry force. This concept never really took root, but it is a typical example of Edward's attitude. He appointed Robert of Jumièges Archbishop of Canterbury and made Ralph

14136-526: The Iberian Peninsula to carve out a state for himself from Moorish lands, but failed. In 1064, during the War of Barbastro , William of Montreuil , Roger Crispin and probably Walter Guiffard led an army under the papal hanner which took a huge booty as they captured the city from its Andelusi rulers. Later a group of Normans led by certain William (some have suggested this was William the Carpenter ) participated in

14322-553: The King of France, and under Richard I of Normandy (byname "Richard sans Peur" meaning "Richard the Fearless") the duchy was forged into a cohesive and formidable principality in feudal tenure. By the end of his reign in 996, the descendants of the Norse settlers "had become not only Christians but in all essentials Frenchmen. They had adopted the French language, French legal ideas, and French social customs, and had practically merged with

14508-556: The Lion . The Norman-derived feudal system was applied in varying degrees to most of Scotland. Scottish families of the names Bruce , Gray , Ramsay, Fraser, Rose, Ogilvie, Montgomery, Sinclair, Pollock, Burnard, Douglas and Gordon to name but a few, and including the later royal House of Stewart , can all be traced back to Norman ancestry. Even before the Norman Conquest of England, the Normans had come into contact with Wales . Edward

14694-720: The Muslims, under the leadership of the famous Robert Guiscard , a Hauteville, and his younger brother Roger the Great Count . Roger's son, Roger II of Sicily , was crowned king in 1130 (exactly one century after Rainulf was "crowned" count) by Antipope Anacletus II . The Kingdom of Sicily lasted until 1194, when it was transferred to the House of Hohenstaufen through marriage. The Normans left their legacy in many castles, such as William Iron Arm 's citadel at Squillace , and cathedrals, such as Roger II's Cappella Palatina at Palermo , which dot

14880-458: The Norman conquest of England in 1066, the Normans continued to participate in ventures in the peninsula. After the Frankish conquest of the Holy Land during the First Crusade, the Normans began to be encouraged to participate in ventures of conquest in the northeast of the peninsula. The most significant example of this was the incursion of Rotrou II of Perche and Robert Burdet in the 1120s in

15066-411: The Norman nobles engaged in their own private wars and feuds during William's minority, the viscounts still acknowledged the ducal government, and the ecclesiastical hierarchy was supportive of William. King Henry continued to support the young duke, but in late 1046 opponents of William came together in a rebellion centred in lower Normandy, led by Guy of Burgundy with support from Nigel, Viscount of

15252-426: The Normans thus: Specially marked by cunning, despising their own inheritance in the hope of winning a greater, eager after both gain and dominion, given to imitation of all kinds, holding a certain mean between lavishness and greediness, that is, perhaps uniting, as they certainly did, these two seemingly opposite qualities. Their chief men were specially lavish through their desire of good report. They were, moreover,

15438-501: The Normans, William's scouts reported the English arrival to the duke. The exact events preceding the battle are obscure, with contradictory accounts in the sources, but all agree that William led his army from his castle and advanced towards the enemy. Harold had taken a defensive position at the top of Senlac Hill (present-day Battle, East Sussex ), about 6 miles (9.7 kilometres) from William's castle at Hastings. The battle began at about 9 am on 14 October and lasted all day. While

15624-459: The Normans, dissatisfied by the heavy taxes the Byzantines had imposed upon them. With their help, the Normans secured the Arbanon passes and opened their way to Dibra. The lack of supplies, disease and Byzantine resistance forced Bohemond to retreat from his campaign and sign a peace treaty with the Byzantines in the city of Deabolis. The further decline of Byzantine state-of-affairs paved the road to

15810-460: The Norwegian king, so these claims should be treated with caution. Although Alexander gave papal approval to the conquest after it succeeded, no other source claims papal support prior to the invasion. Events after the invasion, which included the penance William performed and statements by later popes, lend circumstantial support to the claim of papal approval. To deal with Norman affairs, William put

15996-584: The Petraliphae were descended from a Pierre d'Aulps, and that group of Albanian clans known as the Maniakates were descended from Normans who served under George Maniaces in the Sicilian expedition of 1038. Robert Guiscard , another Norman adventurer previously elevated to the dignity of count of Apulia as the result of his military successes, ultimately drove the Byzantines out of southern Italy. Having obtained

16182-677: The Portuguese incursions into the western areas of the Peninsula. The first of these incursions occurred when a fleet of these Crusaders was invited by the Portuguese king Afonso I Henriques to conquer the city of Lisbon in 1142. Although this Siege of Lisbon (1142) was a failure it created a precedent for their involvement in Portugal. So in 1147 when another group of Norman and other groups of crusaders from Northern Europe arrived in Porto on their way to join

16368-639: The Prince's request. William of Apulia tells that, in 1016, Norman pilgrims to the shrine of the Archangel Michael at Monte Gargano were met by Melus of Bari , a Lombard nobleman and rebel, who persuaded them to return with more warriors to help throw off the Byzantine rule, which they did. The two most prominent Norman families to arrive in the Mediterranean were descendants of Tancred of Hauteville and

16554-605: The Sicilian campaign of George Maniaces in 1038–40. There is debate whether the Normans in Greek service actually were from Norman Italy, and it now seems likely only a few came from there. It is also unknown how many of the "Franks", as the Byzantines called them, were Normans and not other Frenchmen. One of the first Norman mercenaries to serve as a Byzantine general was Hervé in the 1050s. By then, however, there were already Norman mercenaries serving as far away as Trebizond and Georgia . They were based at Malatya and Edessa , under

16740-596: The Timid Earl of Hereford . On 14 October 1066, William the Conqueror gained a decisive victory at the Battle of Hastings , which led to the conquest of England three years later; this can be seen on the Bayeux tapestry . The invading Normans and their descendants largely replaced the Anglo-Saxons as the ruling class of England. The nobility of England were part of a single Norman culture and many had lands on both sides of

16926-672: The Unready took Emma , sister of Richard II, Duke of Normandy , as his second wife in 1002. Danish raids on England continued, and Æthelred sought help from Richard, taking refuge in Normandy in 1013 when King Swein I of Denmark drove Æthelred and his family from England. Swein's death in 1014 allowed Æthelred to return home, but Swein's son Cnut contested Æthelred's return. Æthelred died unexpectedly in 1016, and Cnut became king of England. Æthelred and Emma's two sons, Edward and Alfred , went into exile in Normandy while their mother, Emma, became Cnut's second wife. After Cnut's death in 1035,

17112-524: The Viking leaders, and King Charles the Simple of France reached an agreement ceding the county of Rouen to Rollo. The lands around Rouen became the core of the later duchy of Normandy. Normandy may have been used as a base when Scandinavian attacks on England were renewed at the end of the 10th century, which would have worsened relations between England and Normandy. In an effort to improve matters, King Æthelred

17298-559: The Wake , a local thegn . Hereward's forces captured and looted Peterborough Abbey . William was able to secure the departure of Sweyn and his fleet in 1070, allowing him to return to the continent to deal with troubles in Maine, where the town of Le Mans had revolted in 1069. Another concern was the death of Count Baldwin VI of Flanders in July 1070, which led to a succession crisis as his widow, Richilde ,

17484-478: The aftermath of the rebellion. Roger and Waltheof were kept in prison, where Waltheof was executed in May 1076. Before this, William had returned to the continent, where Ralph had continued the rebellion from Brittany. Earl Ralph had secured control of the castle at Dol , and in September 1076 William advanced into Brittany and laid siege to the castle. King Philip of France later relieved the siege and defeated William at

17670-420: The afternoon, but it appears that the decisive event was Harold's death, about which differing stories are told. William of Jumièges 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 that may be a later reworking of the tapestry to conform to 12th-century stories in which Harold was slain by an arrow wound to the head. Harold's body

17856-417: The anarchy which plagued the first years of his rule. During his childhood and adolescence, members of the Norman aristocracy battled each other, both for control of the child duke, and for their own ends. In 1047, William quashed a rebellion and began to establish his authority over the duchy , a process that was not complete until about 1060. His marriage in the 1050s to Matilda of Flanders provided him with

18042-407: The army and fleet were ready by early August, adverse winds kept the ships in Normandy until late September. There were probably other reasons for William's delay, including intelligence reports from England revealing that Harold's forces were deployed along the coast. William would have preferred to delay the invasion until he could make an unopposed landing. Harold kept his forces on alert throughout

18228-517: The battle was won mainly through William's efforts, but earlier accounts claim that King Henry's men and leadership also played an important part. William assumed power in Normandy, and shortly after the battle promulgated the Truce of God throughout his duchy, in an effort to limit warfare and violence by restricting the days of the year on which fighting was permitted. Although the Battle of Val-ès-Dunes marked

18414-523: The battle, the Venetian fleet had secured a victory in the coast surrounding the city. Forced to retreat, Alexios ceded the city of Dyrrachium to the Count of the Tent (or Byzantine provincial administrators) mobilizing from Arbanon (i.e., ἐξ Ἀρβάνων ὁρμωμένω Κομισκόρτη; the term Κομισκόρτη is short for κόμης της κόρτης meaning "Count of the Tent"). The city's garrison resisted until February 1082, when Dyrrachium

18600-424: The campaign by 30 March 1073. This made William's power more secure in northern France, but the new count of Flanders accepted Edgar the Ætheling into his court. Robert also married his half-sister Bertha to King Philip I of France , who was opposed to Norman power. William returned to England to release his army from service in 1073 but quickly returned to Normandy, where he spent all of 1074. He left England in

18786-777: The castle at Gerberoi , where they were joined by new supporters. William then laid siege to Gerberoi in January 1079. After three weeks, the besieged forces sallied from the castle and took the besiegers by surprise. William was unhorsed by Robert and was only saved from death by an Englishman, Toki son of Wigod , who was himself killed. William's forces were forced to lift the siege, and the king returned to Rouen. By 12 April 1080, William and Robert had reached an accommodation, with William once more affirming that Robert would receive Normandy when he died. Word of William's defeat at Gerberoi stirred up difficulties in northern England. In August and September 1079 King Malcolm of Scots raided south of

18972-483: The castle of Montreuil-sur-Mer on the Channel, which would have given Edgar a strategic advantage against William. However, Edgar was forced to submit to William shortly thereafter, and he returned to William's court. Philip, although thwarted in this attempt, turned his attentions to Brittany, leading to a revolt in 1075. In 1075, during William's absence, Ralph de Gael , the Earl of Norfolk , and Roger de Breteuil ,

19158-491: The cause of his involvement in the revolt. The exact reason for the rebellion is unclear. It was launched at the wedding of Ralph to a relative of Roger, held at Exning in Suffolk. Waltheof, the earl of Northumbria, although one of William's favourites, was involved, and some Breton lords were ready to rebel in support of Ralph and Roger. Ralph also requested Danish aid. William remained in Normandy while his men in England subdued

19344-440: The channel. Early Norman kings of England, as Dukes of Normandy, owed homage to the King of France for their land on the continent. They considered England to be their most important holding (it brought with it the title of King—an important status symbol). Eventually, the Normans merged with the natives, combining languages and traditions, so much so that Marjorie Chibnall says "writers still referred to Normans and English; but

19530-438: The childless Edward the Confessor, his first cousin once removed. There were other potential claimants, including the powerful English earl Harold Godwinson, whom Edward named as king on his deathbed in January 1066. Arguing that Edward had previously promised the throne to him and that Harold had sworn to support his claim, William built a large fleet and invaded England in September 1066. He decisively defeated and killed Harold at

19716-460: The childless King Edward of England appears to have chosen William as his successor. William was the grandson of Edward's maternal uncle, Richard II of Normandy. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , in the "D" version, states that William visited England in the later part of 1051, perhaps to secure confirmation of the succession, or perhaps to secure aid for his troubles in Normandy. The trip is unlikely given William's absorption in warfare with Anjou at

19902-451: The clergy for advice, including Lanfranc , a non-Norman who rose to become one of William's prominent ecclesiastical advisors from the late 1040s through the 1060s. William gave generously to the church; from 1035 to 1066, the Norman aristocracy founded at least twenty new monastic houses, including William's two monasteries in Caen, a remarkable expansion of religious life in the duchy. In 1051

20088-572: The consent of Pope Gregory VII and acting as his vassal, Robert continued his campaign conquering the Balkan peninsula as a foothold for western feudal lords and the Catholic Church. After allying himself with Croatia and the Catholic cities of Dalmatia, in 1081 he led an army of 30,000 men in 300 ships landing on the southern shores of Albania , capturing Valona , Kanina , Jericho ( Orikumi ), and reaching Butrint after numerous pillages. They joined

20274-444: The coronation was performed by Stigand, who was considered a non-canonical archbishop by the papacy. Harold's claim to the throne was not entirely secure, as there were other claimants, perhaps including his exiled brother Tostig. King Harald Hardrada of Norway also had a claim to the throne as the uncle and heir of King Magnus I , who had made a pact with Harthacnut around 1040 that if either Magnus or Harthacnut died without heirs,

20460-476: The county through his son. Local nobles resisted the claim, but William invaded and by 1064 had secured control of the area. William appointed a Norman to the bishopric of Le Mans in 1065. He also allowed his son Robert Curthose to do homage to the new Count of Anjou, Geoffrey the Bearded . William's western border was thus secured, but his border with Brittany remained insecure. In 1064 William invaded Brittany in

20646-512: The crusading forces of the Second Crusade , the Bishop of Porto and later Afonso Henriques according to De expugnatione Lyxbonensi convinced them to help with the siege of Lisbon . This time the city was captured and according to the arrangement agreed upon with the Portuguese monarch many of them settled in the newly sacked city. The following year the remainder of the crusading fleet, including

20832-518: The death of Robert. A few years after the First Crusade , in 1107, the Normans under the command of Bohemond, Robert's son, landed in Valona and besieged Dyrrachium using the most sophisticated military equipment of the time, but to no avail. Meanwhile, they occupied Petrela , the citadel of Mili at the banks of the river Deabolis , Gllavenica (Ballsh), Kanina and Jericho. This time, the Albanians sided with

21018-663: The ducal succession if Robert had had a legitimate son. Earlier dukes had been illegitimate , and William's association with his father on ducal charters appears to indicate that William was considered Robert's most likely heir. In 1034 the duke decided to go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem . Although some of his supporters tried to dissuade him, he convened a council in January 1035 and had the assembled Norman magnates swear fealty to William as his heir before leaving for Jerusalem. He died in early July at Nicea , on his way back to Normandy. William faced several challenges on becoming duke, including his illegitimate birth and his youth: he

21204-417: The duchy lasted until 1047, and control of the young duke was one of the priorities of those contending for power. At first, Alan of Brittany had custody of the duke, but when Alan died in either late 1039 or October 1040, Gilbert of Brionne took charge of William. Gilbert was killed within months, and another guardian, Turchetil, was also killed around the time of Gilbert's death. Yet another guardian, Osbern,

21390-493: The duke moved on to Berkhamsted soon afterwards, Edgar the Ætheling, Morcar, Edwin, and Ealdred also submitted. William then sent forces into London to construct a castle; he was crowned at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066. William remained in England after his coronation and tried to reconcile the native magnates. The remaining earls – Edwin (of Mercia), Morcar (of Northumbria), and Waltheof (of Northampton) – were confirmed in their lands and titles. Waltheof

21576-415: The duke; Osbern , a nephew of Gunnor the wife of Richard I ; and Gilbert of Brionne , a grandson of Richard I. After his accession, Robert continued Norman support for the English princes Edward and Alfred, who were still in exile in northern France. Robert may have been briefly betrothed to a daughter of King Cnut, but no marriage took place. It is unclear whether William would have been supplanted in

21762-576: The end of 1081, William was back on the continent, dealing with disturbances in Maine. Although he led an expedition into Maine, the result was instead a negotiated settlement arranged by a papal legate. Normans The Normans ( Norman : Normaunds ; French : Normands ; Latin : Nortmanni/Normanni ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia . The Norse settlements in West Francia followed

21948-454: The failed siege of Tudela of 1087. In 1096, Crusaders passing by the siege of Amalfi were joined by Bohemond of Taranto and his nephew Tancred with an army of Italo-Normans. Bohemond was the de facto leader of the Crusade during its passage through Asia Minor . After the successful Siege of Antioch in 1097, Bohemond began carving out an independent principality around that city. Tancred

22134-603: The first Duke of Normandy and Count of Rouen. The area corresponded to the northern part of present-day Upper Normandy down to the river Seine , but the Duchy would eventually extend west beyond the Seine. The territory was roughly equivalent to the old province of Rouen , and reproduced the old Roman Empire 's administrative structure of Gallia Lugdunensis II (part of the former Gallia Lugdunensis in Gaul ). Before Rollo's arrival, Normandy's populations did not differ from Picardy or

22320-442: The first half of the 10th century, an identity which continued to evolve over the centuries. The Normans adopted the culture and language of the French, while they continued the martial tradition of their Viking ancestors as mercenaries and adventurers. In the 11th century, Normans from the duchy conquered England and southern Italy . The Norman dynasty had a major political, cultural and military impact on medieval Europe and

22506-409: The fleet that had previously conquered Corfu and attacked Dyrrachium from land and sea, devastating everything along the way. Under these harsh circumstances, the locals accepted the call of Emperor Alexios I Comnenos to join forces with the Byzantines against the Normans. The Byzantine forces could not take part in the ensuing battle because it had started before their arrival. Immediately before

22692-574: The fleet was built – Poitiers states it was constructed at the mouth of the River Dives , while Jumièges states it was built at Saint-Valery-sur-Somme  – both agree that it eventually sailed from Valery-sur-Somme. The fleet carried an invasion force that included, in addition to troops from William's territories of Normandy and Maine, large numbers of mercenaries, allies, and volunteers from Brittany , northeastern France, and Flanders, together with smaller numbers from other parts of Europe. Although

22878-610: The former Frankish kingdom of Neustria . The treaty offered Rollo and his men the French coastal lands along the English Channel between the river Epte and the Atlantic Ocean coast in exchange for their protection against further Viking incursions. As well as promising to protect the area of Rouen from Viking invasion, Rollo swore not to invade further Frankish lands himself, accepted baptism and conversion to Christianity and swore fealty to King Charles III. Robert I of France stood as godfather during Rollo's baptism. He became

23064-408: The government of Normandy into the hands of his wife for the duration of the invasion. Throughout the summer, William assembled an army and an invasion fleet in Normandy. Although William of Jumièges's claim that the ducal fleet numbered 3,000 ships is clearly an exaggeration, it was probably large and mostly built from scratch. Although William of Poitiers and William of Jumièges disagree about where

23250-457: The growing power of the Count of Anjou , Geoffrey Martel , William joined with King Henry in a campaign against him, the last known cooperation between the two. They succeeded in capturing an Angevin fortress but accomplished little else. Geoffrey attempted to expand his authority into the county of Maine , especially after the death of Hugh IV of Maine in 1051. Central to the control of Maine were

23436-416: The hands of his supporters, including Richard fitzGilbert and William de Warenne, as well as Lanfranc. William's ability to leave England for an entire year was a sign that he felt that his control of the kingdom was secure. While William was in Normandy, Edgar the Ætheling returned to Scotland from Flanders. The French king, seeking a focus for those opposed to William's power, proposed that Edgar be given

23622-484: The holdings of the Bellême family , who held Bellême on the border of Maine and Normandy, as well as the fortresses at Alençon and Domfront . Bellême's overlord was the king of France, but Domfront was under the overlordship of Geoffrey Martel and Duke William was Alençon's overlord. The Bellême family, whose lands were quite strategically placed between their three different overlords, were able to play each of them against

23808-452: The important ports opposite England across the English Channel . This relationship eventually produced closer ties of blood through the marriage of Emma , sister of Duke Richard II of Normandy , and King Ethelred II of England . Because of this, Ethelred fled to Normandy in 1013, when he was forced from his kingdom by Sweyn Forkbeard . His stay in Normandy (until 1016) influenced him and his sons by Emma, who stayed in Normandy after Cnut

23994-674: The increasing power of fitzOsbern in Herefordshire, which affected Edwin's power within his own earldom. The king marched through Edwin's lands and built Warwick Castle . Edwin and Morcar submitted, but William continued on to York, building York and Nottingham Castles before returning south. On his southbound journey, he began constructing Lincoln , Huntingdon , and Cambridge Castles . William placed supporters in charge of these new fortifications – among them William Peverel at Nottingham and Henry de Beaumont at Warwick – then returned to Normandy late in 1068. Early in 1069, Edgar

24180-662: The initially destructive incursions of Norse war bands going upstream into the rivers of France penetrated further into interior Europe , and evolved into more permanent encampments that included local French women and personal property. From 885 to 886, Odo of Paris (Eudes de Paris) succeeded in defending Paris against Viking raiders (one of the leaders was Sigfred ) with his fighting skills, fortification of Paris and tactical shrewdness. In 911, Robert I of France , brother of Odo, again defeated another band of Viking warriors in Chartres with his well-trained horsemen. This victory paved

24366-443: The king and Geoffrey Martel made common cause against William as some Norman nobles began to contest William's increasing power. Henry's about-face was probably motivated by a desire to retain dominance over Normandy, which was now threatened by William's growing mastery of his duchy. William was engaged in military actions against his own nobles throughout 1053, as well as with the new Archbishop of Rouen, Mauger . In February 1054

24552-481: The king and the Norman rebels launched a double invasion of the duchy. Henry led the main thrust through the county of Évreux , while the other wing, under the king's half-brother Odo, invaded eastern Normandy. William met the invasion by dividing his forces into two. The first, which he led, faced Henry. The second, which included some who became William's firm supporters, such as Robert, Count of Eu , Walter Giffard , Roger of Mortemer , and William de Warenne , faced

24738-735: The landscape and give a distinct architectural flavor to accompany its unique history. Institutionally, the Normans combined the administrative machinery of the Byzantines, Arabs, and Lombards with their own conceptions of feudal law and order to forge a unique government. Under this state, there was great religious freedom, and alongside the Norman nobles existed a meritocratic bureaucracy of Jews, Muslims and Christians, both Catholic and Eastern Orthodox . The Kingdom of Sicily thus became characterized by Norman, Byzantine, Greek, Arab, Lombard and "native" Sicilian populations living in harmony, and its Norman rulers fostered plans of establishing an empire that would have encompassed Fatimid Egypt as well as

24924-467: The last rebellion of the north. Earl Edwin was betrayed by his own men and killed, while William built a causeway to subdue the Isle of Ely, where Hereward the Wake and Morcar were hiding. Hereward escaped, but Morcar was captured, deprived of his earldom, and imprisoned. In 1072 William invaded Scotland, defeating Malcolm, who had recently invaded the north of England. William and Malcolm agreed to peace by signing

25110-461: The local Gallo-Romance -speaking population, with the two communities converging to the point that the original Norsemen largely assimilated and adopted the local dialect of Old French while contributing some elements from the Old Norse language. This Norse-influenced dialect which then arose was known as Old Norman , and it is the ancestor of both the modern Norman language still spoken today in

25296-564: The more famous and illustrious Kings of England. Opportunistic bands of Normans successfully established a foothold in southern Italy . Probably as the result of returning pilgrims' stories, the Normans entered southern Italy as warriors in 1017 at the latest. In 999, according to Amatus of Montecassino , Norman pilgrims returning from Jerusalem called in at the port of Salerno when a Muslim attack occurred. The Normans fought so valiantly that Prince Guaimar III begged them to stay, but they refused and instead offered to tell others back home of

25482-609: The name of their castle: Afranji, meaning "Franks". The known trade between Amalfi and Antioch and between Bari and Tarsus may be related to the presence of Italo-Normans in those cities while Amalfi and Bari were under Norman rule in Italy. Several families of Byzantine Greece were of Norman mercenary origin during the period of the Comnenian Restoration , when Byzantine emperors were seeking out western European warriors. The Raoulii were descended from an Italo-Norman named Raoul,

25668-531: The narrative sources was Roger I of Tosny who according to Ademar of Chabannes and the later Chronicle of St Pierre le Vif went to aid the Barcelonese in a series of raids against the Andalusi Muslims c.  1018 . Later in the eleventh century, other Norman adventurers such as Robert Crispin and Walter Giffard participated in the probably papal organised siege of Barbastro of 1064. Even after

25854-537: The native English sheriffs . Once in Normandy the new English king went to Rouen and the Abbey of Fecamp , and then attended the consecration of new churches at two Norman monasteries. While William was in Normandy, a former ally, Eustace , the Count of Boulogne , invaded at Dover but was repulsed. English resistance had also begun, with Eadric the Wild attacking Hereford and revolts at Exeter , where Harold's mother Gytha

26040-442: The native abbots were also deposed, both at the council held near Easter and at a further one near Whitsun . The Whitsun council saw the appointment of Lanfranc as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, and Thomas of Bayeux as the new Archbishop of York, to replace Ealdred, who had died in September 1069. William's half-brother Odo perhaps expected to be appointed to Canterbury, but William probably did not wish to give that much power to

26226-518: The north, including Morcar and Edwin, and marched the rest south to deal with the threatened Norman invasion. He probably learned of William's landing while he was travelling south. Harold stopped in London for about a week before marching to Hastings, so it is likely that he spent about a week on his march south, averaging about 27 miles (43 kilometres) per day, for the distance of approximately 200 miles (320 kilometres). Although Harold attempted to surprise

26412-532: The other and secure virtual independence for themselves. On the death of Hugh of Maine, Geoffrey Martel occupied Maine in a move contested by William and King Henry; eventually, they succeeded in driving Geoffrey from the county, and in the process, William secured the Bellême family strongholds at Alençon and Domfront for himself. He was thus able to assert his overlordship over the Bellême family and compel them to act consistently with Norman interests. However, in 1052

26598-485: The other invading force. This second force defeated the invaders at the Battle of Mortemer . In addition to ending both invasions, the battle allowed the duke's ecclesiastical supporters to depose Archbishop Mauger. Mortemer thus marked another turning point in William's growing control of the duchy, although his conflict with the French king and the Count of Anjou continued until 1060. Henry and Geoffrey led another invasion of Normandy in 1057 but were defeated by William at

26784-478: The other would succeed. The last claimant was William of Normandy, against whose anticipated invasion King Harold Godwinson made most of his preparations. Harold's brother Tostig made probing attacks along the southern coast of England in May 1066, landing at the Isle of Wight using a fleet supplied by Baldwin of Flanders. Tostig appears to have received little local support, and further raids into Lincolnshire and near

26970-624: The papacy, a request that he rejected. William also visited Wales in 1081, although the English and the Welsh sources differ on the purpose of the visit. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that it was a military campaign, but Welsh sources record it as a pilgrimage to St Davids in honour of Saint David . William's biographer David Bates argues that the former explanation is more likely: the balance of power had recently shifted in Wales and William would have wished to take advantage of this to extend Norman power. By

27156-638: The point that it has been said that they became " more Irish than the Irish themselves ". The Normans settled mostly in an area in the east of Ireland , later known as the Pale , and also built many fine castles and settlements, including Trim Castle and Dublin Castle . The cultures intermixed, borrowing from each other's language, culture and outlook. Norman surnames still exist today. Names such as French , (De) Roche , Devereux , D'Arcy and Lacy are particularly common in

27342-478: The pope. The legates ceremonially crowned William during the Easter court. The historian David Bates sees this coronation as the ceremonial papal "seal of approval" for William's conquest. The legates and the king then held a series of ecclesiastical councils dedicated to reforming and reorganising the English church. Stigand and his brother, Æthelmær , the Bishop of Elmham , were deposed from their bishoprics. Some of

27528-447: The pre-existing chamberlainship, is considered to be the first political body established by the Normans in the south of Italy. Then Rainulf Drengot , from the same family, received the county of Aversa from Duke Sergius IV of Naples in 1030. The Hauteville family achieved princely rank by proclaiming Prince Guaimar IV of Salerno "Duke of Apulia and Calabria ". He promptly awarded their elected leader, William Iron Arm , with

27714-559: The rebellion. William departed Normandy in July 1080, and in the autumn his son Robert was sent on a campaign against the Scots. Robert raided into Lothian and forced Malcolm to agree to terms, building the 'new castle' at Newcastle upon Tyne while returning to England. The king was at Gloucester for Christmas 1080 and at Winchester for Whitsun in 1081, ceremonially wearing his crown on both occasions. A papal embassy arrived in England during this period, asking that William do fealty for England to

27900-450: The restoration of the ramparts, with the financial help of the ERDF (consolidation, opening of arrow slits walled-up during the 19th century) . 6,000 m³ of earth are being removed, in order to give a better view of the north-west wall of the 12th century. This operation has revealed the cellar of a private house of the 15th century which still has its firehouse, a powder magazine and two walls of

28086-531: The revolt. Roger was unable to leave his stronghold in Herefordshire because of efforts by Wulfstan , the Bishop of Worcester , and Æthelwig , the Abbot of Evesham . Ralph was bottled up in Norwich Castle by the combined efforts of Odo of Bayeux, Geoffrey de Montbray , Richard fitzGilbert, and William de Warenne. Ralph eventually left Norwich in the control of his wife and left England, ending up in Brittany. Norwich

28272-420: The rewards from the conquest of England. William of Poitiers also relates that the duke obtained the consent of Pope Alexander II for the invasion, along with a papal banner. The chronicler also claimed that the duke secured the support of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor , and King Sweyn II of Denmark . Henry was still a minor, however, and Sweyn was more likely to support Harold, who could then help Sweyn against

28458-526: The site of the Battle of Hastings, partly as a penance for the deaths in the battle and partly as a memorial to the dead. At an ecclesiastical council held in Lillebonne in 1080, he was confirmed in his ultimate authority over the Norman church. Although Sweyn had promised to leave England, he returned in early 1070, raiding along the Humber and East Anglia toward the Isle of Ely , where he joined up with Hereward

28644-468: The southeast of Ireland, especially in the southern part of Wexford County, where the first Norman settlements were established. Other Norman names, such as Furlong , predominate there. Another common Norman-Irish name was Morell (Murrell), derived from the French Norman name Morel . Names beginning with Fitz- (from the Norman for "son") usually indicate Norman ancestry. Hiberno -Norman surnames with

28830-562: The southwest of England from a base in Ireland. Their forces landed near Bristol but were defeated by Eadnoth . By Easter, William was at Winchester, where he was soon joined by his wife Matilda, who was crowned in May 1068. In 1068 Edwin and Morcar rose in revolt, supported by Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria . Orderic Vitalis states that Edwin's reason for revolting was that the proposed marriage between himself and one of William's daughters had not taken place, but another reason probably included

29016-402: The summer, but with the arrival of the harvest season he disbanded his army on 8 September. Tostig Godwinson and Harald Hardrada invaded Northumbria in September 1066 and defeated the local forces under Morcar and Edwin at the Battle of Fulford near York . King Harold received word of their invasion and marched north, defeating the invaders and killing Tostig and Hardrada on 25 September at

29202-591: The terms no longer meant the same as in the immediate aftermath of 1066." In the course of the Hundred Years' War , the Norman aristocracy often identified themselves as English. The Anglo-Norman language became distinct from the French spoken in Paris, something that was the subject of some humour by Geoffrey Chaucer . The Anglo-Norman language was eventually absorbed into the Anglo-Saxon language of their subjects (see Old English ) and influenced it, helping (along with

29388-535: The throne could not be changed on Edward's deathbed. Later English sources stated that Harold had been elected as king by the clergy and magnates of England. Harold was crowned on 6 January 1066 in Edward's new Norman-style Westminster Abbey , although some controversy surrounds who performed the ceremony. English sources claim that Ealdred , the Archbishop of York , performed the ceremony, while Norman sources state that

29574-405: The time. Whatever Edward's wishes, it was likely that any claim by William would be opposed by Godwin, Earl of Wessex , a member of the most powerful family in England. Edward had married Edith , Godwin's daughter, in 1043, and Godwin appears to have been one of the main supporters of Edward's claim to the throne. By 1050, however, relations between the king and the earl had soured, culminating in

29760-503: The title of King of the Canary Islands , as vassal to Henry III of Castile . In 1418, Jean's nephew Maciot de Bethencourt sold the rights to the islands to Enrique Pérez de Guzmán, 2nd Count de Niebla . When Norse Vikings from Scandinavia arrived in the then-province of Neustria and settled the land that became known as Normandy, they originally spoke Old Norse , a North Germanic language . Over time, they came to live among

29946-490: The title of count in his capital of Melfi . The Drengot family thereafter attained the principality of Capua , and Emperor Henry III legally ennobled the Hauteville leader, Drogo , as " dux et magister Italiae comesque Normannorum totius Apuliae et Calabriae " (" Duke and Master of Italy and Count of the Normans of all Apulia and Calabria ") in 1047. From these bases, the Normans eventually captured Sicily and Malta from

30132-669: The treasure ship. Survivors of the wrecks had been taken prisoner by the island's despot Isaac Komnenos . On 1 May 1191, Richard's fleet arrived in the port of Limassol on Cyprus. He ordered Isaac to release the prisoners and the treasure. Isaac refused, so Richard landed his troops and took Limassol. Various princes of the Holy Land arrived in Limassol at the same time, in particular Guy de Lusignan . All declared their support for Richard provided that he support Guy against his rival Conrad of Montferrat . The local barons abandoned Isaac, who considered making peace with Richard, joining him on

30318-510: The way for Rollo 's baptism and settlement in Normandy . The Duchy of Normandy , which began in 911 as a fiefdom , was established by the treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between King Charles III (Charles the Simple) (879–929, ruled 893–929) of West Francia and the famed Viking ruler Rollo also known as Gaange Rolf ( c.  846 – c.  929 ), from Scandinavia , and was situated in

30504-423: The Ætheling revolted and attacked York. Although William returned to York and built another castle, Edgar remained free, and in the autumn he joined up with King Sweyn. The Danish king had brought a large fleet to England and attacked not only York but Exeter and Shrewsbury . York was captured by the combined forces of Edgar and Sweyn. Edgar was proclaimed king by his supporters. William responded swiftly, ignoring

30690-404: Was a focus of resistance. FitzOsbern and Odo found it difficult to control the native population and undertook a programme of castle-building to maintain their hold on the kingdom. William returned to England in December 1067 and marched on Exeter, which he besieged. The town held out for 18 days. After it fell to William he built a castle to secure his control. Harold's sons were meanwhile raiding

30876-461: Was ailing, and he died on 5 January 1066. It is unclear what exactly happened at Edward's deathbed. One story, deriving from the Vita Ædwardi , a biography of Edward, claims that he was attended by his wife Edith, Harold, Archbishop Stigand, and Robert FitzWimarc , and that the king named Harold as his successor. The Norman sources do not dispute that Harold was named as the next king, but they declare that Harold's oath and Edward's earlier promise of

31062-428: Was approximately 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) tall. There are records of two tutors for William during the late 1030s and early 1040s, but the extent of his literary education is unclear. He was not known as a patron of authors, and there is little evidence that he sponsored scholarships or intellectual activities. Orderic Vitalis records that William tried to learn to read Old English late in life, but he

31248-447: Was besieged and surrendered, with the garrison allowed to go to Brittany. Meanwhile, the Danish king's brother, Cnut , had finally arrived in England with a fleet of 200 ships, but Norwich had already surrendered. The Danes raided along the coast before returning home. William returned to England later in 1075 to deal with the Danish threat, leaving his wife Matilda in charge of Normandy. He celebrated Christmas at Winchester and dealt with

31434-411: Was betrayed to the Normans by the Venetian and Amalfitan merchants who had settled there. The Normans were now free to penetrate into the hinterland; they took Ioannina and some minor cities in southwestern Macedonia and Thessaly before appearing at the gates of Thessalonica. Dissension among the high ranks coerced the Normans to retreat to Italy. They lost Dyrrachium, Valona, and Butrint in 1085, after

31620-403: Was bombed in 1944 and seriously damaged. In 1946, Michel de Boüard, an archeologist from Caen, decided to start excavations in the area of the castle to bring to the light medieval traces. The Musée des Beaux-Arts , which was installed in 1967, opened in 1971. Now, you can gain access to a pass and tour the large castle, and visit the university located in the centre of the area. The castle

31806-414: Was collected by the chamber, one of the household departments. William cultivated close relations with the church in his duchy. He took part in church councils and made several appointments to the Norman episcopate, including the appointment of Maurilius as Archbishop of Rouen. Another important appointment was that of William's half-brother, Odo, as Bishop of Bayeux in 1049 or 1050. He also relied on

31992-430: Was constructed on a hillock and is now in the middle of the city. With an area of 5.5 hectares, it is one of the largest castles in Western Europe. It remained an essential feature of Norman strategy and policy. Today, the castle serves as a museum that houses The keep , now razed, had a large square section with round towers at each corner. As the castle, it was also surrounded by a moat . The dry moat still provides

32178-515: Was either seven or eight years old. He enjoyed the support of his great-uncle, Archbishop Robert, as well as King Henry I of France , enabling him to succeed to his father's duchy. The support given to the exiled English princes in their attempt to return to England in 1036 shows that the new duke's guardians were attempting to continue his father's policies, but Archbishop Robert's death in March 1037 removed one of William's main supporters, and Normandy quickly descended into chaos. The anarchy in

32364-456: Was held on 12 May 1191 at the Chapel of St. George and it was attended by Richard's sister Joan , whom he had brought from Sicily . The marriage was celebrated with great pomp and splendor. Among other grand ceremonies was a double coronation: Richard caused himself to be crowned King of Cyprus , and Berengaria Queen of England and Queen of Cyprus as well. The rapid Anglo-Norman conquest proved more important than it seemed. The island occupied

32550-443: Was his marriage to Matilda of Flanders , the daughter of Count Baldwin V of Flanders . The union was arranged in 1049, but Pope Leo IX forbade the marriage at the Council of Rheims in October 1049. The marriage nevertheless went ahead in the early 1050s, possibly unsanctioned by the pope. According to a late source not generally considered to be reliable, papal sanction was not secured until 1059, but as papal-Norman relations in

32736-401: Was identified the day after the battle, either through his armour or marks on his body. The English dead, including some of Harold's brothers and his housecarls , were left on the battlefield. Gytha Thorkelsdóttir , Harold's mother, offered the duke the weight of her son's body in gold for it, but her offer was refused. William ordered the body thrown into the sea, but whether that took place

32922-462: Was instrumental in introducing Normans and Norman culture to Scotland , part of the process some scholars call the " Davidian Revolution ". Having spent time at the court of Henry I of England (married to David's sister Maud of Scotland ), and needing them to wrestle the kingdom from his half-brother Máel Coluim mac Alaxandair , David had to reward many with lands. The process was continued under David's successors, most intensely of all under William

33108-419: Was instrumental in the conquest of Jerusalem and he worked for the expansion of the Crusader kingdom in Transjordan and the region of Galilee . . After the First Crusade to the Levant, the Normans continued with their involvement in Iberia as well as other areas of the Mediterranean. Among them was Rotrou of Perche and his followers Robert Burdet and William Giffard who joined multiple expeditions into

33294-477: Was married to William's niece Judith, daughter of his half-sister Adelaide, and a marriage between Edwin and one of William's daughters was proposed. Edgar the Ætheling also appears to have been given lands. Ecclesiastical offices continued to be held by the same bishops as before the invasion, including the uncanonical Stigand. But the families of Harold and his brothers lost their lands, as did some others who had fought against William at Hastings. By March, William

33480-542: Was proclaimed king after Harthacnut's death in June 1042. William was born in 1027 or 1028 at Falaise , Duchy of Normandy, most likely towards the end of 1028. He was the only son of Robert I , son of Richard II. His mother, Herleva , was a daughter of Fulbert of Falaise , who may have been a tanner or embalmer. Herleva was possibly a member of the ducal household, but did not marry Robert. She later married Herluin de Conteville , with whom she had two sons – Odo of Bayeux and Count Robert of Mortain  – and

33666-498: Was ruling for their two young sons, Arnulf and Baldwin . Her rule was contested by Robert , Baldwin's brother. Richilde proposed marriage to William fitzOsbern, who was in Normandy, and fitzOsbern accepted. But after he was killed in February 1071 at the Battle of Cassel , Robert became count. He was opposed to King William's power on the continent, thus the Battle of Cassel upset the balance of power in northern France and cost William an important supporter. In 1071 William defeated

33852-440: Was secure enough to return to Normandy, but he took with him Stigand, Morcar, Edwin, Edgar, and Waltheof. He left his half-brother Odo, the Bishop of Bayeux, in charge of England along with another influential supporter, William fitzOsbern , the son of his former guardian. Both men were also named to earldoms – fitzOsbern to Hereford (or Wessex) and Odo to Kent. Although he put two Normans in overall charge, he retained many of

34038-411: Was similar to the government that had existed under earlier dukes. It was a fairly simple administrative system, built around the ducal household, a group of officers including stewards , butlers , and marshals . The duke travelled constantly around the duchy, confirming charters and collecting revenues. Most of the income came from the ducal lands, as well as from tolls and a few taxes. This income

34224-486: Was slain in the early 1040s in William's chamber while the duke slept. It was said that Walter, William's maternal uncle, was occasionally forced to hide the young duke in the houses of peasants, although this story may be an embellishment by Orderic Vitalis . The historian Eleanor Searle speculates that William was raised with the three cousins who later became important in his career – William fitzOsbern , Roger de Beaumont , and Roger of Montgomery . Although many of

34410-443: Was unable to devote sufficient time to the effort and quickly gave up. William's main hobby appears to have been hunting. His marriage to Matilda appears to have been quite affectionate, and there are no signs that he was unfaithful to her – unusual in a medieval monarch. Medieval writers criticised William for his greed and cruelty, but his personal piety was universally praised by contemporaries. Norman government under William

34596-457: Was well publicized and contributed to his reputation; he also derived significant financial gains from the conquest of the island. Richard left for Acre on 5 June, with his allies. Before his departure, he named two of his Norman generals, Richard de Camville and Robert de Thornham , as governors of Cyprus. While in Limassol, Richard the Lion-Heart married Berengaria of Navarre , first-born daughter of King Sancho VI of Navarre . The wedding

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