Conquest and colonisation

In 1066 William the Conqueror defeated the English army at Hastings by a slim margin, and the aftermath brought an incoming ruling class and its customs to England. Their influence reached well beyond England, into parts of Wales and Scotland.

Historians have long argued over how far the Conquest changed the country. Some see it as a shift of rulers that left existing systems of government and society largely intact, while others see a sweeping break with the past. Either way, the links it forged between Normandy and England shaped Anglo-French relations through the Middle Ages, and the new elite's culture showed up in politics at the highest level, in language and in architecture.

The settlement unfolded slowly and was far from finished by 1100. Even so, colonists and the native population were already mixing, and writers were promoting the idea of a unified Anglo-Norman realm. The book first examines the political background and how the conquest was carried out, then studies the Conquest from several angles. It looks at how colonisation worked and at the impact of Norman settlement on government, the military and the Church.