1066–1485
Norman Rule
Duke of Normandy
Robert Curthose, elder son of William the Conqueror,
became Duke of Normandy in 1087. He was a weak
ruler who failed to unite his duchy with England.
B E F O R E
From the 12th century, the Anglo-Norman
government of England developed ever
more sophisticated instruments of
government to rule their disparate subjects.
BATTLE FOR THE CROWN
When William Rufus died suddenly in 1100
❮❮ 57 he was unmarried and childless. His
brother, Henry, was nearby when he died. He
seized the opportunity to take power, riding to
Winchester to claim the treasury and on to
London for the Crown. His older brother,
Robert, would later attempt to depose Henry.
DEVELOPMENT OF BUREAUCRACY
The Burghal Hidage, drawn up in the reign
of Alfred the Great’s son, Edward the Elder
❮❮ 52–53, around 914, was an assessment of
what each fortified burh needed to contribute
for its defense. Anglo-Saxon charters recorded
grants of land by the kings to their retainers and
to the Church. The Domesday Book of 1086
❮❮ 74–75 went further, revealing the scale of
the land held by the French elite. The reign of
Henry I would see further administrative reforms.
“ He was a good man, and
there was great awe of
him. In his day no man
dared harm another.”
THE PETERBOROUGH CHRONICLE, ON HENRY I’S CHARACTER,
12TH CENTURY
72
At the start of the reign of Henry I in 1100, the transformation of Anglo-Saxon
England into an Anglo-Norman realm was well underway. By its end, in 1135, a set
of bureaucratic mechanisms had been developed which gave institutional reality to
the Norman kings’ desire to dominate their new realm.
H
enry I, the fourth son of William refused to pay homage to Henry for Rochester Castle
the Conqueror, was the first his Canterbury lands. He also insisted Work on replacing the earlier
Norman king to be born in that the King give up his right to invest wooden motte and bailey
England. However, his elder brother bishops, a practice known as “lay castle at Rochester, Kent,
Robert Curthose reigned as Duke of investiture”, which had, in theory, began in 1128, with the
Normandy and most of Henry’s barons been outlawed by the Pope in 1059. encouragement of Henry I.
held lands on both sides of the English The dispute led to the collective This was one of the earliest
Channel, so the destinies of the two stone-fortified castles
territories remained firmly intertwined. in Britain.
At Henry’s accession he issued a solemn
charter promising to restore the laws of
his father William the Conqueror (see
pp.68–69) and those of Edward the
Confessor. Furthermore, his wife Edith
was a descendent of Edmund Ironside
(see p.57) and so their marriage
symbolically united the English
and Norman peoples of the realm.
Abortive coup
Henry’s attempt to portray the reign of
his brother William Rufus as a period
of unrestrained oppression and rapacity
backfired. One of William’s chief
advisers, Ranulf Flambard, persuaded
Robert Curthose that the
English barons would
support an attempt by the
Norman duke to depose
Henry. Robert duly landed
in England, but he was
easily bought off with the
promise of an annuity of
3,000 marks, leaving his
baronial supporters to face
Henry’s justice. Only the
ringleader, Robert of
Bellême, escaped.
The King and the Church
Henry’s relationship with
the Church was troubled,
too, as Archbishop Anselm
returned from exile and