chnages in landownership Flashcards
date
1066-1087
changes
-over half of all the land was held by about 190 tenants in chief and only two were anglo saxons
- a quarter of the land was held by the church- normans held the most senior positions.
- less than 5% percent of the land was still held up by anglosaxon aristocrats - typicallly on small estates
what happened to the earls
he took their lands and granted them to his followers being careful not to give anyone - even his clsest followers to much land as land was power which was revenue and fighting men.
what happened to the thegns
in 1066 when william as crowned there were 4,00 thegns now in 1068 there were only 4 left
by 1087-
❖William took land from the thegns. By 1086 only four Anglo-Saxon thegns remained.
❖Thegns were dependant on the Normans for the small amounts of land that they still held.
❖The thegns’ way of life was destroyed. Many went to Europe as mercenaries.
❖the rebellion showed if an earl rebelled athegn would follow e.g. hereward the wake and eadric the wild.
two feature of the tenants in chief
One feature of a tenant-in-chief was their military requirements (1). The tenants-in-chief had to provide soldiers for William’s army when required (1).
a second feature was that William created approximately 190 tenants-in-chief -11 men held half of the tenants-in-chiefs’ land . The majority of the 11 men were William’s relatives or key Norman nobility like Odo of Bayeux or William FitzOsbern
third feature - William reduced the size of earldoms to ensure tenants-in-chief had limited wealth. Most Norman tenants-in-chief had more wealth than an Anglo-Saxon thegn, but not as much as an Anglo-Saxon earl.
how did the anglo saxon rebellion affect landownership
The Anglo-Saxon rebellions in 1068, 1069 and 1070-1071 showed that William could not trust Anglo-Saxon nobility
-The execution of Waltheof in 1076 removed the last powerful Anglo-Saxon earl
In Norman England, land equalled power and wealth. The rebellions of Anglo-Saxon earls motivated William to:
-Transfer a large amount of land from Anglo-Saxon nobility to Normans Consider how much land was too much to grant a loyal supporter
-He wanted to avoid how powerful earls had become under Edward the Confessor
William needed to limit the soldiers and resources each landholding Norman had access to -Some rebellions had started from the actions of Anglo-Saxon thegns.
how did the anglo saxon loose their land
landgrabs-William declared that all land in England belonged to him by right of conquest. This gave him the authority to redistribute land as he saw fit - anyone who acted against him. These land grabs were not limited to rebellious nobles; even Anglo-Saxons who remained loyal to William often had their land confiscated to make way for Norman settlers - he made his followers heirs of anglo saxon forfeited land .This process undermined the Anglo-Saxon elite and eroded their power base.For example, William gifted large estates to his most trusted allies like William FitzOsbern and Odo of Bayeux, ensuring Norman dominance. This process undermined the Anglo-Saxon elite and eroded their power base.
New Earldoms
William also introduced new earldoms, which helped to consolidate Norman control and diminish Anglo-Saxon influence. These earldoms, such as those created in the marcher regions (e.g., Hereford, Shrewsbury, and Chester), were designed to secure England’s borders and maintain order. They were often given to William’s most trusted followers, who had significant military power and autonomy within their regions. The creation of these new earldoms meant that the traditional Anglo-Saxon power structures, such as the older earldoms of Wessex and Mercia, were dismantled. This further marginalized Anglo-Saxon nobles and entrenched Norman authority. these were to defend trouble spots.
landgrabs- One of the more controversial ways Anglo-Saxons lost their land was through illegal land grabs by Normans. While William claimed all land in England by right of conquest, some Normans took advantage of the chaos to seize land unlawfully, often without formal permission from the king. These illegal land grabs and corrupt dealings were especially prevalent during the early years of William’s reign when Norman settlers aggressively sought to expand their holdings.
Norman lords and knights and sherifs were notorious for claiming land by force, evicting Anglo-Saxon landowners without legal justification. william turned a blind eye.
