Hardicanute, King of Denmark, had also been king of England in 1042. His short reign gave his descendents, who included Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, a claim to the English throne. When Harold Godwinson became king of England on the death of Edward the Confessor, Hardrada joined forces with Tostig, Harold's brother, and took an invasion fleet of approximately 300 ships to England to press his own claim. He raided the east coast, burning Scarborough, then sailed up the Humber river.
Hardicanute, King of Denmark, had also been king of England in 1042. His short reign gave his descendents, who included Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, a claim to the English throne. When Harold Godwinson became king of England on the death of Edward the Confessor, Hardrada joined forces with Tostig, Harold's brother, and took an invasion fleet of approximately 300 ships to England to press his own claim. He raided the east coast, burning Scarborough, then sailed up the Humber river.
The invasion force under Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, and Tostig (brother of Harold II of England) met an English army at Fulford and defeated it. The invaders then marched on York and took it four days later. This was a major crisis for Harold II, who marched north with his army to meet the threat.
Harold II of England met an invasion force under Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, and Tostig (brother of Harold) at Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire. Harold caught the invaders off guard and defeated them in detail, slaughtering many of them and killing both Tostig and Hardrada. Less than 30 of the invasion fleet of 300 ships returned to Norway.
William of Normandy was the second claimant to the English throne to challenge Harold II. William believed that Edward the Confessor had promised him the English throne, and that Harold had agreed to back his claim after he was shipwrecked in Normandy and taken prisoner by William in 1064. The invasion force landed unopposed because Harold was still marching south after defeating his rival, Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, at the Battle of Stamford Bridge.
Harold II met William of Normandy near Hastings. The two armies were evenly matched in numbers, but Harold's men were exhausted after a long march back from the hard-fought Battle of Stamford Bridge. Nonetheless, the battle lasted the whole day. The English defensive shield wall was finally broken by the Norman tactic of using feigned retreats to lure Harold's troops into charging then cutting them down with cavalry. The Norman triumph was total. Harold was killed along with many Saxon nobles.
Following his victory at the Battle of Hastings, William of Normandy progressed slowly towards London, his forces depleted by battle and hindered by disease. Some attempts were made to resist him, but he gradually received the submission of many Saxon nobles. He was crowned William I (although is more commonly referred to as William the Conqueror) in Westminster Abbey, the burial place of Edward the Confessor, the king from whom William derived his claim to the throne.
From his base in the south east of England, William imposed Norman rule on the south west, the Midlands and Yorkshire. In 1069, multiple revolts culminated in an invasion by Sven II, King of Denmark. William defeated the rebels and laid waste to the country between Nottingham and York, causing a widespread famine in 1070. In pacifying England, William transformed its social structure. About 4,000 English earls were dispossessed and replaced by about 200 Norman and compliant English barons.
The Normans quickly advanced into Wales, using castles to subdue the surrounding countryside. Most of the early castles were of the motte-and-bailey type, but around 1070 the earl of Hereford built a stone castle at Chepstow. In the 1090s, the Welsh successfully rose in revolt. Wales was then governed in regions still under native rule, but dominated by powerful Norman lordships known as the 'Marcher Lords'. All were obliged to recognise the overlordship of the king of England.
After the Battle of Hastings, Waltheof, a Saxon noble, had submitted to William the Conqueror and was made earl of Bamburgh and Northumbria, as well as being given William's niece, Judith, in marriage. But in 1075 he became implicated in the 'Revolt of the Earls' - an uprising planned by a group of nobles. He went to Normandy to expose the plot and seek mercy from William, but was brought back to England and beheaded near Winchester. The revolt was the last serious uprising against William.
The Bayeux Tapestry is the primary visual source for the Battle of Hastings and the most important pictorial document of the 11th century. Historically it is considered an unreliable account of events. It shows the prelude, the battle and the aftermath entirely from the Norman perspective. The tapestry was probably commissioned in the 1070s by William's half-brother, Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, and made in Canterbury. It was completed around 1077, and has been in Bayeux since the 15th century.
While at court in Gloucester, William decided to undertake a survey of his English realm. The country was divided into circuits, and groups of commissioners gathered information in the counties of individual circuits. Initial returns were probably completed by the summer of 1086. The information gathered came to be known as the Domesday Book (Domesday meaning 'day of judgement'). It was the most complete record of any country at that time and remains a legally valid document.
The power of the monarch in 11th century kingdoms rested heavily on the relations between a king and his great lords, and ties of loyalty with other influential individuals. At Salisbury in 1086, a large gathering saw not just William the Conqueror's tenants, but also the major landholders swear loyalty to him. William may also have received the returns to the Domesday survey at this occasion.
William spent most of the last decade of his life in Normandy. He fell ill while on campaign in the summer of 1087 and spent his final days at Rouen. His eldest son, Robert, succeeded to Normandy. No specific succession was determined for England, but it may simply have been assumed that William's second son, known as William Rufus, would succeed. His third son, Henry, received a large sum of money.
William Rufus, second son of William the Conqueror, left his father a day or two before he died. He had to move swiftly if he was to lay claim to the crown of England, to which he had not been specifically named as heir. Having arrived in England, he met with Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, who performed William's coronation at Westminster Abbey.
William II's succession was not accepted by all, in particular a group who wanted his brother, Robert, to rule England and Normandy. This group included several barons and William the Conqueror's half-brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux. Robert of Normandy sent troops to support the rising, but they were driven back by bad weather. William II showed deft political skill to win over supporters, and the rebels were defeated. William defeated another rebellion, led by the earl of Northumbria, in 1095.
Lanfranc, a Lombard, had been a close associate of William the Conqueror from the 1040s onwards. He was made archbishop of Canterbury in 1070, following the deposition of the Anglo-Saxon archbishop, Stigand. Throughout his archiepiscopate, Lanfranc was central to both the secular and the ecclesiastical affairs of England. He played a key role in detecting the 'Revolt of the Earls', helped maintain the independence of the Church of England and acting as a restraining influence on the monarch.
Malcolm Canmore (Malcolm III) launched a series of expeditions into northern England during his reign (1058-1093). His ambition was to redraw the border and show his independence from the English king. The expedition caused considerable destruction, reaching as far as Durham. He withdrew and acknowledged the overlordship of the king of England as William II prepared to campaign against him. Malcom was killed in an ambush by Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumbria, in 1093.
Following the death of Archbishop Lanfranc, William II kept the see of Canterbury vacant for four years, a situation that allowed him to make use of its revenues. In 1093, William fell ill and believing himself close to death, wished to atone for his sin. He chose Anselm, the Burgundian abbot of Bec, to be the new archbishop. Anselm was invested by the king on 6 March 1093. He was a highly influential theologian and philosopher who was later canonised.
The bishop of Durham, William of St Calais, demonstrated his power in the north of England by replacing his Anglo-Saxon church with a grander building in the Romanesque style. It is one of the finest examples of Norman cathedral-building in Europe.
Margaret was the daughter of Edward the Ætheling, an Anglo-Saxon claimant to the English throne in 1066. She fled to Scotland after the Norman conquest and married Malcolm Canmore (Malcolm III) of Scotland in about 1070. She had a considerable influence on politics, culture and religion in her new home and was later canonised.
The exact date of the university's foundation is unclear, but there is evidence of teaching at Oxford by 1096. When Henry II forbade English students to study at the University of Paris in 1167, Oxford began to expand rapidly. A university was established in Cambridge around 1209, probably by scholars fleeing unrest in Oxford.
Robert, Duke of Normandy, responded to Pope Urban II's call for a crusade in 1095. To support his expedition, and to ensure the protection of his lands during his absence, he gave his brother, William II, King of England, custody of the duchy in return for a loan of 10,000 marks.
Relations between William II and Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, soon deteriorated over several issues. Chief among these was William's refusal to recognise Urban II as the true pope, which in turn prevented Anselm from receiving the pope's endorsement of his archiepiscopate. The matter was resolved, but in 1097 there were fresh disagreements and Anselm departed for Rome to seek papal advice. William then seized all the revenues of the archbishop of Canterbury.
William II, like most medieval kings, was passionate about hunting. While out hunting in the New Forest, he was shot in the chest with an arrow, probably fired by his friend Walter Tirel, and died of his wounds. Despite various conspiracy theories, it seems most likely that it was an accident. William's brother had himself rapidly crowned Henry I.
Following the death of his brother, William II, Henry moved swiftly to establish his hold on the English throne. Within days he had seized control of the royal treasure at Winchester and had himself crowned king at Westminster. The coronation was performed by Maurice, Bishop of London, because the archbishop of Canterbury, Anselm, was out of the country as a result of a quarrel with William II.
Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, had fallen out with William II and left England in 1097 to seek advice from the pope. Soon after his accession, Henry I invited Anselm to return, but they were soon at loggerheads over a long-running dispute about the extent of the king's control of ecclesiastical appointments. Anselm returned to exile. It was not until 1107 that a reconciliation was finally arranged. Anselm spent the last few years of his life in England.
As in 1088, Robert, Duke of Normandy, again sought to assert his right to the English throne against that of a younger brother, this time Henry I. His expedition proved unsuccessful and the two brothers came to terms in the Treaty of Alton. Robert agreed to recognise Henry as king of England in return for Henry's territories in Normandy and a large annuity. The rapprochement did not last. In 1105, Henry invaded Normandy.
Muircheartach Ua Briain was one the most powerful figure in Ireland for much of his reign. One of his most serious reverses came in August 1103 when his Leinster and some Dublin followers were outnumbered and slaughtered by the MacLochlainns and allies in a conflict at Mag Coba, somewhere north of Newry.
Medieval agriculture was always under threat of natural disaster. The chronicles of the time are full of references to cattle plagues and other such devastating phenomena. The storm of 1103 was sufficiently large to have been recorded and was described as having done unprecedented damage to crops.
William the Conqueror had divided his lands between two of his sons, with Normandy going to Robert and England to William Rufus (William II). On William II's death, the third son, Henry, took the English throne. Robert had unsuccessfully attempted to overthrow him by invading in 1101, but in 1106 Henry turned the tables by defeating his brother at the Battle of Tinchebray, in Normandy. Robert was kept in captivity until his death in 1134. Thus Henry reunited his father's dominions.
In 1110, Henry I of England married his daughter to the German emperor, Henry V. She was only eight years old. The marriage was clearly was made for diplomatic reasons and conferred much prestige on the English king. Matilda continued to be called empress even after the death of the emperor in 1125. Her son, the future Henry II, would be referred to as 'Henry, son of the empress'.
Norman settlement had already extended considerably into Wales by the early 12th century. Much of the process was conducted by English nobles, but Henry I also led expeditions - most notably that of 1114. He forced the submission of the princes of Gwynedd and Powys.
Muircheartach Ua Briain was king of Munster between 1086 and 1119 and dominated Ireland for much of his reign. He was involved in the rebellion against Henry I in 1101, when Robert, Duke of Normandy, had attempted to invade England. Muirchertach had ambitions to wider power in Ireland, but was frustrated by internal politics and reverses like his defeat at Mag Coba.
Henry I's defeat of his brother, Robert, left him in control of both Normandy and England from 1106. Among the many threats and rebellions Henry faced in Normandy, the most serious was an invasion by Louis VI, King of France, (also known as 'Louis the Fat') in 1119. Henry secured a vital victory against him at the Battle of Brémule.
Henry I had only one legitimate son and heir, William. The succession was thrown into crisis when William was drowned while returning from Normandy to England on the 'White Ship'. Henry, a widower, married Adeliza, daughter of the duke of Louvain, a few months after the death of his son, but his new wife produced no children.
Following the death of his only son, William, Henry I was forced to seek an alternative successor. Just before Christmas in 1126, he required his nobles and the clergy, together with David, King of Scotland, to swear to accept his daughter Matilda as his heir. The following year, Matilda, widowed by the death of her husband the German emperor, Henry V, was married to Geoffrey of Anjou, nicknamed 'Plantagenet' (after the broom flower, which he adopted as his emblem). This match served to seal a peace between Anjou and Henry's realms of England and Normandy.
Henry I had forced his nobles to swear to recognise his daughter Matilda as his heir. But many considered a woman unfit to rule and further resentment was generated by her marriage into the Anjou family in 1127. Henry's nephew, Stephen of Blois, took advantage of the discord and secured support for his own succession from key political and administrative figures in England. He was crowned king by William of Corbel, Archbishop of Canterbury.
Anglo-Norman power in Wales had expanded considerably under Henry I, who had forced the politically powerful princes of Gwynedd and Powys to submit. In January 1136, the Welsh took advantage of the disputed English succession to rebel against Stephen with significant success, driving back the Anglo-Normans in south and west Wales. In September or October of the same year, Welsh forces inflicted a resounding defeat on a combined army of south Wales Marcher Lords at the Battle of Crug Mawr.
Stephen was already facing considerable problems in England when his main rival as claimant to the throne - Henry I's daughter the Empress Matilda - landed at Arundel, West Sussex, supported by her half-brother, Robert, Earl of Gloucester. A long civil war followed, but neither side was strong enough for outright victory. In 1148, Matilda withdrew to France, leaving Stephen as king but with only nominal control over a country where lawlessness was rife.
Malachy was a leading proponent of church reform in Ireland. He also had close connections with St Bernard of Clairvaux and his Cistercian Order. This led to the foundation of the first Cistercian monastery in Ireland, at Mellifont in 1142. Malachy was later canonised.
Henry of Anjou - the future Henry II of England - married Eleanor of Aquitaine. The marriage brought a vast area of France into Henry's possession.
When Stephen's son and heir Eustace died in August 1153, it removed the last obstacle to settlement of the dispute between Stephen and Matilda which had led to the long and costly civil war in England between 1139 and 1148. Henry of Anjou had a legitimate claim to the throne, through his mother, Empress Matilda. Henry's accession was confirmed by the so-called Treaty of Wallingford. Stephen died the following year and Henry was crowned Henry II without bloodshed.
Henry of Anjou arrived in England to pursue his claim to the throne, which he derived from his mother, the Empress Matilda. She was the chosen heir of Henry I, but her title had been usurped by Stephen, Henry I's nephew.
David I had succeeded to the throne of Scotland in 1124. He was brought up at the court of Henry I. Drawing on his experiences there, he had accelerated the process of introducing Norman practices to Scotland. He brought families such as the Bruces, Fitz-Allans and Comyns to Scotland, giving them lands and titles in return for providing knights to fight for the king. He also took advantage of the civil war between Stephen and Matilda by seizing territory in the north of England.
Nicholas Breakspear was a reforming monk who spent nearly his entire career on the Continent. He was elected in 1154 and took the name Hadrian IV. He remains the only Englishman ever to become pope.
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