HIST 103-01, Introduction to Historical Investigation: The Impact of the Norman Conquest, Spring 1999

Abstract

The events immediately following the Norman invasion of England in 1066 still arouse strong feelings among historians. To those who admire William the Conqueror and his Norman followers, the invasion was a revolution that dragged a backward area kicking and screaming into the mainstream of feudal Europe; the result was a transformation of English cultural, military, and economic institutions. For Anglo-Saxon supporters, however, the invasion was a relatively short-lived catastrophe, after which English patterns of land tenure and military organization continued along a wellestablished path. This course will examine the arguments on both sides of the question and then turn to a unique record of eleventh-century feudal tenures and obligations — Domesday Book—to help resolve the issues.