Anglo Saxon and Norman England: 3.3

Question 1

Recite a brief timeline of the key points in Bishop Odo’s career, from his birth in 1036 to his death in 1097

Answer 1

• 1036
  [] born
• 1049
  [] made Bishop of Bayeux by William
• 1066
  [] fought in Battle of Hastings
• 1067
  [] made the earl of Kent by William (very rich area)
  [] made co-regent by William
• 1076
  [] tried for illegal land acquisition and found massively guilty
• 1082
  [] in disgrace with William and imprisoned
• 1087
  [] William pardons him on his deathbed
• 1088
  [] leads rebellion against William Rufus with Robert Curthose
• 1097
  [] dies in Palermo, Italy

Question 2

Describe the role that Bishop Odo played in the Battle of Hastings

Answer 2

• contributed many ships to the Norman fleet
• funded a lot of the campaign
• fought in the battle
• was rewarded richly with Kent and other properties (became the biggest landholder after William)

Question 3

Describe the power that William had given to Odo

Answer 3

• co-regent in 1067 with FitzOsbern
  [] settled land disputes unfairly and by himself
  [] raped Anglo-Saxon women
  [] built castles
  [] terrorised the locals
  [] GREATLY damaged William’s attempts to win over the English and greatly contributed to the following rebellions
• able to dispense power like a “second king”
• favoured by William despite his bad reputation because he was family and extremely loyal

Question 4

Explain why/how Odo fell into William’s disgraces

Answer 4

• the Domesday Book revealed just how many lands he had illegally seized from the Anglo-Saxons and even some Normans
• in 1079, laid waste to Northumberland and pillaged it
• in 1082, levied knights without William’s permission and took them to Rome in a failed Papal campaign
  [] this massively went against William’s centralisation of power
  [] final straw that caused William to imprison Odo; showed how seriously William took the idea that power is his and his alone truly, and also showed that William was willing to enforce the law on favourites if they went too far
  [] the Pope criticised William for imprisoning one of his bishops; angered William as didn’t want to be told what to do in his own country

Question 5

How did Norman aristocrats affect England’s architecture ?

Answer 5

• all English religious buildings demolished by 1116 and rebuilt in the Norman style
  [] Norman aristocrats often commissioned stonemasons and architects to build cathedrals etc. that experimented with size and shape
  [] many of these fell down or collapsed due to the lack of skilled stonemasons due to the sudden rise in demand from the aristocrats
  [] large, intricate designs were popular

Question 6

How did Norman aristocrats affect England’s culture generally ?

Answer 6

• centred around showing off their wealth
  [] shaved the backs of their heads (difficult to do alone; had to employ someone, and took time and luxury)
  [] had ceremonial ways of butchering hunted animals that took the luxury of time and special expensive tools
• chivalry (code of honour for warriors) dictated that one must be kind to their enemies
  [] William tended to simply imprison people rather than kill them as Anglo-Saxons may have done

Question 7

How did Norman aristocrats affect England’s language ?

Answer 7

• written English generally disappeared across the country (only conserved in a select few places)
  [] this stripping of culture forced the English to be more “Norman”
  [] English was still spoken as a vernacular language by most locals, and nobles’ children who were mothered or taken care of by Anglo-Saxon women could often speak both French and English
• French became the main language in the country, though Latin was used for Church services and writs
  [] aristocrats often had translators to read them these documents as well as to translate English
• written documents fell out of popularity due to Norman aristocrats preferring to memorise texts instead of read them (many were illiterate)
  [] fathers often whipped their children at crucial parts of a text to help them remember it

Question 8

How did Norman aristocrats affect England’s religion ?

Answer 8

• lots of money was given to the English Church
• Norman Christianity for soldiers had a code of conduct in terms of penitence for sins committed in battle:
  [] 40 days’ penance for every man injured
  [] 1 year penance for every man killed
  [] if unsure how many wounded/killed, build a Church
• religion became another way to show off wealth
  [] the fact that a lot of Anglo-Saxons weren’t accustomed to this highly monetary-based way of religion made them seem like savages to Norman nobles who were used to these customs

Question 9

Describe the attitudes of the Norman aristocracy towards the English

Answer 9

• extremely disparaging
  [] called defecating “doing an English”
  [] destroyed the relics of English saints and tombs of bishops/abbots as they didn’t view them as legitimate or truly ‘holy’ people, instead as savages or idiots
  [] viewed their own heritage as far superior to the English
  [] called them ‘yokels’ and ‘idiots’

Question 10

How did Norman aristocrats react to England’s system of landholding under William ?

Answer 10

• were used to building up power and status then passing it on to their children
  [] family names and power were very closely tied to their lands
• feudal system unpopular and new to them because of this reduction of ability to hoard power