18. The Norman Conquest. The reasons and military actions

The main reason was William the Conqueror's claim to the English crown.

•5th January 1066 - Edward the Confessor, King of England, died.

•The next day the Anglo-Saxon Witan elected Harold Godwin, Earl of Essex to succeed him.

•In Normandy Duke William did not agree with the voting of the Witan. He claimed that years earlier, Edward had promised the crown of England to him.

•28 September 1066 - William of Normandy lands at Pevensey on the south coast of England

•October 1st Harold and his depleted army then marched the three hundred kilometres south to do battle with Duke William of Normandy

•14 October – The Battle of Hastings

•William of Normandy won; King Harold was struck in the eye by a chance Norman arrow and was killed

• 25 December: William of Normandy is crowned king William I of England

19. The Norman Conquest. Culture, language and architecture

Conquest Legacy

• the introduction of feudalism; Norman yoke

•the Normans destroyed the Saxon golden age by allowing the nobility and gents to reign over the English land

• a more centralised government

•1078 – work on the Tower of London starts

Doomsday book

Norman Castles

•1070 – First Norman castle was built in Wales

• military-style castles are used to subdue the surrounding countryside

Norman Castle

•A courtyard (the bailey) was built next to the mound and was linked to the mound by a bridge. The bailey was enclosed by a fence of wooden stakes called a palisade. The enclosed area would provide a site for houses and stables. The ditch surrounded the castle. When filled with water, this ditch became known as a moat.

Language

•Viking wars – simplification of language

•The Normans brought with them an alien culture and language

•The ruling classes spoke French, as did the many merchants that flocked to England following the Conquest

•The Anglo-Norman dialect had a great influence on the formation of modern English

20. The Doomsday Book

The Doomsday Book is a legally valid document and the most complete record of any country at that time( in 1085). It is the land census and also unprecedented administrative achievement, composed carefully and orderly. As in the Doomsday, everyone reported in detail about their lives to the scribes.

The purpose of the General census was to determine the economic resources available to the king of England.

The total value of the land recorded in the book was about £73,000.

21. History of British universities

University of Oxford founded in 1096. It is the oldest in Britain and second in the world. Teaching existed at Oxford in some form in 1096 and developed rapidly from 1167, when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris (a quarrel between Henry II and Thomas Becket) .then the students moved to Oxford and began to study there. Royalty and foreign scholars often visited Oxford. 50 scholars gathered in Oxford.

University of Cambridge established in 1209. It is the second-oldest university in Britain and fourth survived in the world. University grew out from the scholars that left Oxford after a criminal case: two Oxford scholars were hanged without any judgment by the town authorities for the death of a woman. There are 31 constituent colleges and over 100 academic departments in Cambridge.