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The English and the Norman Conquest
Applies a critical and scholarly approach to a topic that has long commanded attention... Williams's book represents a remarkable scholarly achievement. THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
Most books on the Norman conquest concentrate on the conquerors, the Norman settlers who became the ancestors of the medieval English baronage. This book is different, setting out to examine the experience of the lesser English lords and landowners, which has been largely ignored. Ann Williams shows how they survived the conquest and settlement, adapted to foreign customs, and in the process preserved native tradition and culture. Though the great earls and magnates fell with Harold, some of their dependents secured a place in the entourages of their supplanters, or were too useful to the royal administration (based largely on English procedure) to be completely displaced; in the Church, too, a reservoir of English sentiment survived. The testimony of the Anglo-Norman historians who chronicled the Conquest, together with other evidence, including the Domesday Book (based on the English system of local government), are an important source for our knowledge of how the lesser aristocracy and the free landholders felt about, and reacted to, their new masters.
Dr ANN WILLIAMS was until her retirement Senior Lecturer in medieval history at the Polytechnic of North London.
Most books on the Norman conquest concentrate on the conquerors, the Norman settlers who became the ancestors of the medieval English baronage. This book is different, setting out to examine the experience of the lesser English lords and landowners, which has been largely ignored. Ann Williams shows how they survived the conquest and settlement, adapted to foreign customs, and in the process preserved native tradition and culture. Though the great earls and magnates fell with Harold, some of their dependents secured a place in the entourages of their supplanters, or were too useful to the royal administration (based largely on English procedure) to be completely displaced; in the Church, too, a reservoir of English sentiment survived. The testimony of the Anglo-Norman historians who chronicled the Conquest, together with other evidence, including the Domesday Book (based on the English system of local government), are an important source for our knowledge of how the lesser aristocracy and the free landholders felt about, and reacted to, their new masters.
Dr ANN WILLIAMS was until her retirement Senior Lecturer in medieval history at the Polytechnic of North London.
280 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
39 people want to read
About the author
Ann Williams
170 books9 followersA specialist in the history of Anglo-Saxon England, Ann Williams is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a research fellow at the University of East Anglia. From 1965 until 1988 she was a lecturer in history at the Polytechnic of North London.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 30, 2020
The English and the Norman Conquest by Ann Williams, 2000, 219 pages
This is an essential book for anyone wishing to study the effect that the conquest had on the English. It's not an account of where William went and what he did there. Instead, it is much more interesting, being a history of the English experience of the Norman conquest and so it is presented from that point of view as opposed to that of the Conqueror.
Although there are a lot of names and locations given within the text, it is written in a very accessible style and this makes what could be an involved read a lot easier on the brain. It's an incredibly thorough work, with some very detailed footnotes and Williams fully shows her sources in these.
One of the first things that strikes you is how initially William's rule was less onerous than Cnut's in many ways. There were lots of pardons and accommodations reached in the early years, even in surprising cases such as in 1069 with Waltheof (whom he married to his niece) and Gospatrick. It seems that after the very serious northern rising that William appeared to have lost confidence in the loyalty of the English and replaced those in important posts with Normans. However, there was a lot of continuity at shire level and this kept up English customs and traditions such as in the use of English law and English law men. Williams demonstrates that internal politics wasn't just a straight English-Norman fight, but was far more nuanced and local issues were hugely significant in how things actually played out in most areas. This is a far deeper work in every sense of the word than anything by Peter Rex who has written at some length on the post Conquest years.
Williams shows that the situation in the secular world was mirrored by that in the spiritual, with most major religious types replaced at the top, but with the English actually running the show in the shires. I was pleased to see that Bishop Wulfstan's reputation as a sharp operator was reinforced. I find it hard not to picture him as the Sgt Bilko of Bishops. The final chapter, Living in the Present is a fascinating example of how life continued. It deals with marriage, the effect on towns, language, and names – it's a superb mini-essay in its own right.
This book provides a wonderful epilogue to our period.
This is an essential book for anyone wishing to study the effect that the conquest had on the English. It's not an account of where William went and what he did there. Instead, it is much more interesting, being a history of the English experience of the Norman conquest and so it is presented from that point of view as opposed to that of the Conqueror.
Although there are a lot of names and locations given within the text, it is written in a very accessible style and this makes what could be an involved read a lot easier on the brain. It's an incredibly thorough work, with some very detailed footnotes and Williams fully shows her sources in these.
One of the first things that strikes you is how initially William's rule was less onerous than Cnut's in many ways. There were lots of pardons and accommodations reached in the early years, even in surprising cases such as in 1069 with Waltheof (whom he married to his niece) and Gospatrick. It seems that after the very serious northern rising that William appeared to have lost confidence in the loyalty of the English and replaced those in important posts with Normans. However, there was a lot of continuity at shire level and this kept up English customs and traditions such as in the use of English law and English law men. Williams demonstrates that internal politics wasn't just a straight English-Norman fight, but was far more nuanced and local issues were hugely significant in how things actually played out in most areas. This is a far deeper work in every sense of the word than anything by Peter Rex who has written at some length on the post Conquest years.
Williams shows that the situation in the secular world was mirrored by that in the spiritual, with most major religious types replaced at the top, but with the English actually running the show in the shires. I was pleased to see that Bishop Wulfstan's reputation as a sharp operator was reinforced. I find it hard not to picture him as the Sgt Bilko of Bishops. The final chapter, Living in the Present is a fascinating example of how life continued. It deals with marriage, the effect on towns, language, and names – it's a superb mini-essay in its own right.
This book provides a wonderful epilogue to our period.
February 2, 2023
Thoroughly enjoyed this and read it at a gallop. In places it is rather dense in its dissection of the evidence, but it is a fascinating subject and the accessible style carries it through. I have always tended to regard the Norman era as black box, or rather a chrysalis, into which the Anglo-Saxon era went and from which the High Middle Ages emerged, but Williams does a lot to make sense of the process.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews