Norman Conquest
England's 1066 takeover
The Norman Conquest is the 1066 invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy, following his victory at the Battle of Hastings.
It transformed English culture, language, law, and aristocracy, replacing the Anglo-Saxon ruling class with Norman lords and introducing French vocabulary into English.
The phrase typically needs no further specification—before the Norman Conquest, after the Norman Conquest. (Lowercase norman conquest could describe any Norman military takeover.)
1066 Norman-Saxon clash
- William the ConquerorNorman who invaded England
- 1066Norman invasion year
- Bayeux TapestryEmbroidered 1066 conquest chronicle
- Domesday Book1086 English land survey
Harold Godwinson · Stamford Bridge · shield wall · archers · cavalry · succession crisis · Edward the Confessor · beachhead
Pre-Conquest British Germanic peoples
- subjugationForcing into submission
- land redistributionReassigning property among populations
- church reformChanges within religious institutions
- motte-and-baileyEarthwork castle design
Subordination to a lord
- manorialismMedieval estate labor system
- serfdomFeudal bound labor
- fiefGranted feudal estate
- liegeFeudal superior or subject
homage · fealty · overlord · demesne · villeinage · baronies · military obligation · primogeniture
Language between 1100-1500
- Tower of LondonMedieval riverside fortress
- WestminsterLondon's political center
- Angevin EmpireHenry II's cross-Channel holdings
- heraldryStudy of armorial bearings
chivalry · knighthood · Magna Carta · Channel Islands · legal terminology · place names · surnames
Battle of Hastings
1066 Norman-Saxon clash
- William the ConquerorNorman who invaded England
- 1066Norman invasion year
- Bayeux TapestryEmbroidered 1066 conquest chronicle
Harold Godwinson · Domesday Book · Stamford Bridge · shield wall · archers · cavalry · succession crisis · Edward the Confessor · beachhead · occupation
Anglo-Saxon
Pre-Conquest British Germanic peoples
- subjugationForcing into submission
- land redistributionReassigning property among populations
- church reformChanges within religious institutions
motte-and-bailey · monasteries · sheriffs · hunting rights · resistance
vassalage
Subordination to a lord
- manorialismMedieval estate labor system
- serfdomFeudal bound labor
- fiefGranted feudal estate
liege · homage · fealty · overlord · demesne · villeinage · baronies · military obligation · primogeniture · relief
Middle English
Language between 1100-1500
- Tower of LondonMedieval riverside fortress
- WestminsterLondon's political center
- Angevin EmpireHenry II's cross-Channel holdings
heraldry · chivalry · knighthood · Magna Carta · Channel Islands · legal terminology · place names · surnames
- European WarsNapoleonic Wars, Hundred Years War, Thirty Years War, Franco-Prussian War, Crimean War
- historyancient civilizations, past events, historian, epochs, era
- BritainEngland, Wales, Scotland, London, Northern Ireland
- British historyWilliam the Conqueror, Victorian era, Elizabethan era, English Civil War, Tudor era
- European HistoryFrench Revolution, Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Holy Roman Empire, Industrial Revolution
- Medieval Eraknights, Middle Ages, castles, feudal lords, medieval period
conquer, conquest, conquering, Normans, conquests, Normandy, Norman, Anglo-Norman