The Normans
1066 - 1154
START: In 1066 William of Normandy invaded England and defeated the Anglo-Saxons.
END: In 1154 the Norman period ended in civil war with Matilda and Stephen, two grandchildren of William I fighting for the crown.
William I 1066-1087 William II 1087-1100
Henry I 1100-1135 Stephen 135-1154
See also Lord of the Manor, William Peverel, Lords of the Manor after William Peverel and Norman Castles.
On 14 October 1066 at the Battle of Hastings, Duke William of Normandy defeated Harold, the Anglo-Saxon King of England. In a short time William conquered the whole of England and became known as King William the Conqueror.
This was
the Norman Conquest.
William the Conqueror with his brothers
- Bayeux Tapestry
King William had the Bayeux Tapestry made to show how he conquered the Anglo-Saxons.
The Latin says: HIC HAROLD REX INTERFECTUS EST - Here Harold the King is killed.
1066 Diary of disaster - for Harold.
For William - a great victory.
Thursday 27 September 1066
In the evening Duke William's fleet of 700 ships set sail from Normandy carrying 10,000 men, 3,000 horses and all their supplies.
Friday 28 September In the morning the Norman army landed at Pevensey Bay in Sussex. They set up a temporary camp at Hastings and buit a wooden fort there.
Saturday 13 October The Normans marched to Senlac Hill near Hastings where King Harold's army was waiting and set up camp ready for battle the next day.
Sunday 14 October Fighting started at 9 o'clock in the morning. After a battle lasting 9 hours, the Anglo-Saxon army was defeated; King Harold and many of his Anglo-Saxon lords were killed.
Tuesday 25 December Duke William was crowned King of England on Christmas Day at Westminster Abbey in London.
To see the whole of the Bayeux Tapestry online, go to The Bayeux Tapestry: A Guide
or Bayeux Tapestry Scene by Scene. How about an Animated Bayeux tapestry!
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What happened
at Langar & Barnstone?
Godric out -
William in -
After his vistory at the Battle of Hastings, King William rewarded his followers by giving them lands in England. Most of the Anglo-Saxon lords had their land taken off them and new Norman lords took their place.
Most manors in England now had Norman lords, including Langar and Barnstone.
Before 1066, two lords owned land in Langar and Barnstone. They were Anglo-Saxons called Godric and Hemming of Branston.
Godric must have been a wealthy and powerful man: he was lord of 26 manors in this area. After the Norman Conquest, Godric had his lands taken off him by King William.
The Normans
The Norman period takes its name from the invasion of Anglo-Saxon England in 1066 by Duke William of Normandy. Normandy is part of France and was named after Viking invaders, the North-men.
Duke William's great-great-great-great-grandfather was a Viking. But by William's time, the Normans spoke French.
As well as Langar and Barnstone, Hemming of Branston also owned Cropwell Butler, Granby, Hickling, Kinoulton and Wiverton in Nottinghamshire and seven manors in Lincolnshire.
Both of Godric and Hemming lost their manors; their lands were given to one of King William's close followers, William Peverel who became the lord of 55 manors in the East Midlands.
Godric was one of the luckier Anglo-Saxon lords. Many lords had been killed at the Battle of Hastings or they were sent away and never heard of again. But King William gave Godric a small amount of land at Kingston-on-Soar; it was enough to live on, but Godric was no longer a wealthy lord.
Hemming, however, does not appear in the Domesday Book - he had no manors after 1086.
The Domesday Book
Weblinks
From the BBC
The History of
Britain
- The Domesday Book
King William and how the Domesday Book was made.
There's another BBC video explaining the Domesday Book intended for Key Stage 3 -
King William and the Domesday Book.
The video is one of six about 1066 and the Norman Conquest.
These weblinks take you out of this website.
The Domesday Book
By 1086 King William wanted to know how many people were in his kingdom and how much land they owned. He would know how much he could tax them.
He sent people to find out who owned the the land in every manor in England, how much land was farmed and how much it was worth.
Langar - in the Domesday Book
This is the entry for Langar in the Domesday Book. The year 1086 is the first time that the village appears in the historical record. The text of the Domesday Book is written in abbreviated Latin.
In 1086 two Norman lords owned the manor of Langar which included the village and all the farmland around it. William Peverel owned most of the manor; the rest was owned by Walter of Aincourt, another wealthy Norman lord who also owned many manors across the East Midlands.
There were about 250 people living here in 1086 - that is quite a large number for a small manor. And there was plenty of land available for ploughing and growing
crops. There were 18 ploughteams, some belonging to the lord. (A ploughteam consisted of 8 oxen.) There was meadow land for grazing the cattle along the river
but there was no woodland.
There were two watermills on Stroom Dyke for grinding the wheat.
There was a church.
(This may be St Andrew's or the lost of church of St Ethelberga.)
In 1066, when the Anglo-Saxon lords Godric and Hemming of Branston owned the manor, it was worth £5 : 10 shillings to them in rents.
In 1086, when the Norman lords, William Peverel and Walter of Aincourt owned the manor, it was worth £10 in rents.
Barnstone in the Domesday Book
Barnstone also appears in the Domesday Book in 1086.
In 1086 two Norman lords also owned the manor of Barnstone. Like Langar, this included the village and all the farmland around it. As with Langar, William Peverel owned more of the manor than the other lord, Walter of Aincourt.
Barnstone's population was half that of Langar and Barnstone had half the land for ploughing and growing crops. There was meadow for grazing the cattle but no there was no woodland. Barnstone did not have its own watermill – the villagers had to use the mills at Langar.
Before 1066 Barnstone was owned by three Anglo-Saxon lords Godric, Hemming of Branston and Azur and the manor was worth 10 shillings in rents.
In 1086 the Normans, William Peverel and Walter of Aincourt could expect to earn £4 from the villagers in rents.
So - who was William Peverel?
