23. What is ‘Domesday Book’? What was it written for?

The Domesday Book is one of Medieval England’s greatest treasures. Domesday Book is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William the Conqueror. It is closely linked with William’s attempt to dominate Medieval England, it was to give him huge authority in England. To further extend his grip on England, William I ordered that a book be made containing information on who owned what throughout the country. A sample of the questions asked: How many ploughs are there in the manor ?How many mills and fishponds ? How many freemen, villagers and slaves are there in the manor ?How much woodland, pasture, meadow ?What does each freeman owe in the manor ?How much is the manor worth ?

This book would also tell him who owed him what in tax, and because the information was on record, nobody could dispute or argue against a tax demand. This is why the book brought doom and gloom to the people of England – hence “Domesday Book”.

The Domesday Book forms a remarkable record of the state of England in 1085-1086. Though the Domesday Book gives historians a detailed ‘picture’ of what life was like in England, the book did miss out important cities such as Winchester (then a major English city) and London. In all, 13,418 places were visited and the final record was produced in Winchester by a monk.

24. What languages were spoken in Norman Britain?

Three different languages were in use in England after the Norman Conquest: OLD ENGLISH, ANGLO-NORMAN (a dialect of French) and LATIN. After the Conquest, the upper class of the English society was almost completely taken over by Normans, who were speaking Anglo-Norman French. This was the language of the king and the royal court for 300 years, until the end of 14th century; it was also the language of administration and justice. Latin was the preferred language for written documents, including royal charters; for example, Magna Carta of 1215 was written in Latin at first and later translated into Anglo-Norman. It was also the language of the Church, as the Bible and all the liturgical texts were in Latin. Normans were less than 2% of England's population, and William the Conqueror had no intention of replacing the language and culture of his Anglo-Saxon subjects, so Old English (rapidly changing under the influence of Anglo-Norman and Latin) was the language of the illiterate and powerless majority. By the end of Norman period, however, the aristocracy and the clergy had adopted English as their language as well.

25. What were the most important political, economic and cultural changes after the Norman Conquest?

The Norman conquest was the last invasion of England. Normans were a warlike people related to the Vikings, they lived in Normandy (the northern coast of France) under the rule of their powerful dukes. In the 11th century, William, duke of Normandy, became very powerful, conquered England in 1066 and became its king.The Normans brought about very important changes in the life of the Anglo-Saxons.

1. Estates of the Anglo-Saxons were confiscated, some lands were granted to the Norman noble men. At the same time William the Conqueror kept enough land for himself to be sure he was much stronger than his nobles.

2. The Church was granted some privileges as it helped William greatly in strengthening his power. It became one of the greatest landowners in the country. Also many new churches and cathedrals were built (Battle Abbey, built on the exact place of the Battle of Hastings to atone for the death of so many people). A lot of gold, silver and precious stones were sent to Rome as gifts. However, William refused to accept the Pope as his lord and it wasn’t clear whether the English bishops should obey the Church or the King.

3. The feudal system has begun to develop in the country. All lands belonged to the king, but they were held by vassals in return for military supports and goods. The greater nobles gave parts of their lands to freemen, who paid rent or hired by military service. Also there were serves, who couldn’t have their estates.

4. The King abolished the great earldoms (Northumbria, Sussex and Wessex) and divided the countries into shires (counties).Each shire was ruled by a sheriff, who was responsible for justice and gathering an army.

5. The Witan was replaced by the Great Council made up from Norman bishops and barons. The Council could discuss governmental process and give their advice to the king.

6. England was ruled by foreigners as nearly all royal officials were Norman.

7. The Domesday Book – the first registration book telling what property every inhabitant possessed and how much money it was worthed - was written. Then William could plan his economic policy properly.

8. 2000 castles were built all over the country to emphasize the Norman presence and to resist attacks. (Castle is a large fortified building, built as a safe place that could be easily defended against attacks). Famous Norman castles were Dover Castle, Edinburgh Castle, The Tower of London, Windsor Castle, Rochester Castle).

9. In England there were 2 different languages spoken at the same time: Norman French (the official language of England spoken by the Norman aristocracy) and English, the language of the Anglo-Saxons. A lot of words were borrowed in English from Norman French: words related to feudal relations (baron, to obey), to religion, administration and law, military terms, entertainment and food.

All in all, some stability came to the country and the nation slowly became unified. The Norman Conquest changed the course of English history. If they hadn’t conquered the land, it might have developed as the center of the Scandinavian Empire adopting a completely different language and culture.