The Normans PDF

THE NORMANS Edward the Confessor, is an Anglo-Saxon king who spends a lot of time in France, in Normandy because he was afraid of the attack of the Vikings and because in France he promised the English throne to a Norman duke, William, also called William the Bastard. When he died in 1066 the Anglo-...

THE NORMANS Edward the Confessor, is an Anglo-Saxon king who spends a lot of time in France, in Normandy because he was afraid of the attack of the Vikings and because in France he promised the English throne to a Norman duke, William, also called William the Bastard. When he died in 1066 the Anglo-Saxons, who still lived in the country, did not want to have a Norman king so the council of Anglo-Saxon lords called Witan, decided that the new king should be Harold Godwinson who was Edward's brother in law (no relatives of blood). Harold was the last Anglo-Saxon king. During his reign he received several attacks from populations who wanted to recall the throne. The Vikings attack because there had been three Viking kings before Edward. With King Harald the Vikings attack England at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. The battle was very alternating, then an ancient custom of hero against hero was introduced and the Anglo-Saxons won. From the south he attacks William of Normandy who wants the throne. The Battle of Hastings breaks out between the Normans and the Anglo-Saxons. The Normans won and conquered England and became the rulers. The Normans win for several reasons: - because the whole army was defending the territory from the Vikings, they also had to move on foot and the army didn't have the strength to walk for that long. - they had cavalry while the Anglo-Saxons only had infantry. - they had a long-range bow. It was not predictable to understand where the arrows fell because the Anglo-Saxons did not know that type of weapon. Harold died when Harald hit him in the eye. According to the rules of war, if the king died in battle, the army had to surrender. Thus William became the new ruler of England and took the name of William I and William the Conqueror from 1066. From 1066 history changed because the Normans brought different habits and customs, language (old France) and the feudal system. Bayeux Tapestry: branch-embroidered strip of fabric in which we can read the English history of England in which William's coronation starting from the "war" is explained. You can observe: the landing at Hastings, Harold being hit in the eye, the coronation of William. NB: The Normans were Vikings, they never had anything more Viking than those who attacked at Stamford Bridge (they even speak French). The Norman conquest The Norman conquest brought political, social and cultural changes. Many Anglo-Saxon nobles had died in battle, been exiled or lost their lands. The Anglo-Saxon aristocracy was replaced by William's followers, who built castles to maintain their power. Members of the English clergy were replaced by the French or the Italian one, and numerous new churches and cathedrals were built across the country. An important political change was the introduction of the feudal system. All the land belonged to the king. The king distributed it to the barons in exchange for goods and services. The barons distributed lands to knights in exchange for military service. Some Anglo-Saxons, in order not to lose everything, decide to submit and have to start speaking French. The one who didn't ask for this permission or obey could be trialled, judged and accused of being a traitor. William did not know the English territory then, to find out how much he could earn from it by imposing taxes, he had the Domesday Book written. The book contains the different types of land in the country and their uses, the number of people working on them, their status and animals. The English called the book Domesday because they felt it was as if their souls were being weighed on the "judgment day." This census is written in Anglo-Saxon, because it was the language of the people still living there. MEDIEVAL SOCIETY Before the feudal system there was another subdivision of society: - king - barons - knight → aristocracy, those who fought - clergy → those who prayed and collected taxes - peasants - servants → those who worked In the Middle Ages, society was divided into three orders, or ‘estates’. These were: - the nobles, those who fought. They were aristocratic lords and ladies who lived on manors. Higher nobles had vassals: lower nobles who swore fealty to them in exchange for protection. These vassals fought as knights for the lord and performed a certain number of days of military service per year. - the clergy, those who prayed; It was inferior to the nobles, but members of the clergy often came from noble families. Monasteries and churches had many lands, and they could collect taxes. - the peasants, those who worked. At the bottom of the society there were the peasants. They could cultivate the land and take some products for themselves. They were related to a lord as serfs and they needed to ask for his permission even to do the most basic things, like getting married. As serfdom they could be the object of a series of taxes. WILLIAM II - PLANTAGENET DYNASTY After William I (of Normandy, the conqueror - reigned 1066 to 1087), his son William II became king who reigned from 1087 to 1100. Then his brother Henry I reigned from 1100 to 1135. His heir should be his son but he dies in a shipwreck in the English Channel. Henry I had another daughter, Matilda, who by law could not ascend the throne, but Henry I asked the barons to sign a treaty accepting his daughter as the new sovereign. But Henry had not told the barons that Matilda would marry Godfrey of Anjou, a Frenchman from the Anjou region, who were enemies of the Normans. When after the wedding the barons realize that their future queen was married to a Norman, they decide not to accept Matilda, not to respect the pact. Thus, a nephew of Henry I, Stephen I crowns himself the new king of England supported by the barons. He reigned from 1135 to 1554. Matilda decides to wage war against Stephen together with the French and a civil war breaks out in a period in which there is no complete stability. This period is called the Anarchy. In 1153 they made a treaty called the treaty of Wallingford which established that the new king after Stephen's death should be Matilda's son. When Steven died, Matilda's son became king as Henry II. He is a member of the Angevin family. Steven was the last Norman king and Henry II was the first member of a new dynasty, the Plantagenet dynasty (Henry Plantagenet). THE NAME ‘PLANTAGENET’ The name ‘Plantagenet’ came from the word planta genista, which is Latin for ‘yellow broom flower’. Geoffrey, Count of Anjou, is the one who starts the Plantagenet dynasty. A legend says that during the arrival of his cavalry Geoffrey fell from his horse. He was about to fall down a ravine but clung to a broom to save his life. From that moment he decided to put a broom branch on his helmet. HENRY II The last Norman king, Stephen (1135–1154), was succeeded by the first Plantagenet king, Henry II (1154–1189). He reduces the power of the barons with the help of professional soldiers. Knights could now pay the king a sum of money, or “scutage,” in lieu of service. With this money the king was able to pay mercenaries. In this way the barons could be subject to revenge by the king, because he had an army that was not made up of barons. Henry wanted to establish a national law system in England. Before, people took revenge on themselves. He sent itinerant judges to hold courts in the larger cities of each county. The law they administered became known as Common Law, because it was used everywhere. The justice system is not based on a civil or criminal code but on comparisons of previous cases and decisions. Henry II also established a system for settling land disputes using a jury of twelve freemen appointed to arbitrate and helped in the trial. These twelve were citizens (someone important for the town). The king also wanted to reduce the power of the Church. This was very rich and had its own court, namely the ecclesiastical court (2 types of ecclesiastical courts (church) and secular/temporal court). The students of the religious university were called clerks. These students were tried by the church. Henry thought that the easiest way to control the Church would be to make Thomas Becket (1118–1170), his friend and chancellor, head of the Church in England. However, once appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, Becket became an adversary of the king. Their conflict lasted a long time and ended with the murder of Becket in Canterbury Cathedral on 29 December 1170. There was a reaction from society, they wanted Henry II to repent and he made a sort of pilgrimage to Canterbury. Thomas Becket was made a saint. In Canterbury they built a shrine (altar with tomb) which became a place for pilgrims. MEDIEVAL BUILDINGS - nave=navata centrale - stained-glass window=vetrata colorata - column=colonna - arch=arco, arcata - fan-vault=volta a ventaglio - steeple=campanile o guglia di torre - pinnacle=pinnacolo - spire=guglia - flying buttresses=archi rampanti Cathedrals - Canterbury Cathedral in Kent At the end of the 12th century in England there was a huge campaign to build cathedrals. For several reasons: - the construction of new roads and bridges made it easier to transport materials; - urban growth had created a diversity of labor and artisans; - ecclesiastical income had increased. A church was called a "cathedral" because it contained a "cathedra", or a throne for a bishop. Canterbury Cathedral in Kent has been the spiritual home of the church in England since 597, when Pope Gregory the Great sent the monk Augustine as a missionary to England. Augustine settled in Canterbury and built the first cathedral there, becoming the first Archbishop of Canterbury. The cathedral was completely rebuilt by the Normans in 1070 following a serious fire. In 1170 Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in the cathedral and a shrine in his honor was placed in the cathedral. The wealth and power of the cathedral increased significantly in the 12th century thanks to the offerings of the large number of pilgrims. The east end of the Cathedral contains exceptional stained glass windows such as that of Adam Delving, created around 1176. Adam Delving is digging (in fact, Adam who is digging=AdamDelving). This cathedral is one of the finest examples of Early Gothic architecture.