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Summary English Government and The Church
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March 2023 Full Revision – English Government and The ChurchGovernment
WILLIAM I
Crown
- Regular crown- wearing at Easter, Michaelmas, and Christmas- divinely sanctioned kingship, similar to
how William Rufus reigns ‘by the grace of God and his seals’
- Had the side of the papacy in the Conquest in August 1066
Household –
Norman minority of 4000 out of the Saxon population of 2 million- a influence of the king in every
shire/hundred – motte and bailey castles.
Tax levied at 2 shillings per hide, Danegeld , 2-6 shillings per hide, Anglo-Saxon carucage continued – sheriffs
still expected to collect royal taxes, manage royal estates, etc.
Derived from the Saxon ‘Witan’’ ‘wise men’, leading nobles/churchmen
Making personnel gradually more Norman, e.g. Roger Bigod as Steward, Ralph Tancarville as chamberlain,
Hugh Ivry as Butler
The household took up a ‘main’ role in central government as William The Conqueror predates the
departmentalisation of government
e.g. some commissioners from the royal household were sent to preside over shire courts
Although some royal Saxon personnel remained the same, such as the chancellor Regenbald until 1069
Finance- no Exchequer, king obtained finance through the levying of tax/ geld across the country – Danegeld
Administered locally by the sheriff as a tax collector, and usually collected at two shillings per hide as a
continuation of Edward I’s reign and the Anglo- Saxon period.
Chancery - William I – William kept the group of royal clerks who wrote documents- known as the scriptorium/
chancery, yet no such system was known in Normandy.
1069- Chancellor Regenbald, scriptorium , Regenbald had the king’s seal and was aided by Royal Scribes
Medieval writing house pre- 1066 there was a master of the king’s seal (Regenbald) aided by royal scribes
Writs, etc, written by royal clerks carrying the king’s commands
Anglo-Saxon witan/ wise men, geld, 6 eyres, subregulus (Regenbald), thegns (wiped out land-owning class),
sheriffs and itinerant justice
1069--> Herfast became the first Anglo-Norman Chancellor, followed by Osmund, Maurice and Gerard
- No such system was yet known in Normandy, no writs or charters
Justiciar did not yet exist under William, but there were regents such as Odo of Bayeux and Lanfranc who were
important when William spent 130 of 170 months in Normandy fter 1072
- Like the Exchequer, the chancery was more so a group of royal clerks who had other duties within central
government alongside record-keeping and revenue management
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,Kingship continued to be itinerant and personal, managing the interests of the nobles through the creation of
lands and titles
- Ensuring that those with titles such as earldoms were loyal to the king- this was a continuation of Anglo-
Saxon law
Important for the king to be itinerant the Domesday book revealed the extent of Godwin lands concentrated in
the South-East of England, the Godwin family estates were valued at about £7000 whereas the king’s lands were
valued at about £5000, important for the king to find dominance in this as the Norman race was a minority in
England since the conquest
King still had to be very strong personality-wise to lead army in battle
- Important after 1072 when William spent 130 out of 170 months in Normandy
- (regents and a strong centralised system was important)
Odo od Bayeux and Lanfranc acting as regent may be similar to the latter years of Edward’s reign when Harold
acted as sub-regulus
previous belief that the king was divinely-sanctioned, William needed support of the English elite post-conquest
Important of William to be itinerant
William developed the idea of hereditary right and ruling ‘by the grace of God’
Crown wearing on Easter, Whitsun and Christmas
Ceremonial hymns aka Laudes Regiae – ‘victoru and long life to the most serene William, crowned by God,
greate and pacific king’
The role and power of the nobility
- The earls had been the king’s advisors and the most powerful men in the kingdom
- Derived from the witan/ ‘wise men’ – king had to rule by the consent of these people
Thegns continued existing from the Anglo-Saxon period, as territorial nobility and substantial landholders with
at least 5 hides of land
Gave judgement at shire courts, some served in the king’s household, and all formed a substantial contribution
to the king’s armies
About five thousand of them in 1066
- They supervised the collection of royal taxes, administered the king’ lands in the shire and collected their
revenues
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,Role and power of Administrative Officials in Central Government
- William I – regents such as Lanfranc and Odo of Bayeux were integral
- Regenbald, chancellor until 1069, then replaced by first Anglo-Norman chancellor Herefast
- Idea of ‘subregulus’/ viceroy was continuative throughout the entire period and usually stemmed from
the administrative areas of government such as the Chancery and the Exchequer
Links between central and local government
- As the period progressed William instated there was a policy of replacing the anglo-Saxon sheriffs with
Normans
Power of sheriffs increased as the power of earldoms decreased
Sheriffs had harsher rule because they had a military fortress
William appointed lowly men so they were dependent on him
Policy prevented them from becoming too powerful
Role of the sheriffs did not change the use of sheriffs implementing the king’s will
- Collect royal taxes
- Manage royal estates
- Supervise royal justice
Law
– first part of the conquest saw no new law codes, traditional English customs such as Trial by Ordeal continues
- However the use of juries became more common, as well as introduction of the murdrum fine, and forest
law
Geld continued to contribute around £20 000 to royal income per year, levied at 2-6 shillings per hide
- William did not levy geld on demesne lands being held by barons
- He ensured more mints such as in Durham
Local-Level Law:
Shire and hundred courts- William made an effort to establish hundred courts in the North
Adults over 12 vowed to uphold the king’s mund, fragmented pieces of evidence to suggest local-level law
enforcement + examples of justices in cases of rape, murder and arson
Rebellion
Welsh Borders- 1067
Caused by baronial opportunism, william was out of Normandy in Dec 1067, and the regent at this time was
William fitz Osbern, rebellion raised by Eadric ‘The Wild’ who was angry over disinheritance and Taxation
Norman minority- 4000/5000 out of 2 million
Consequence was murdrum fines
South West and Exeter – 1068
-south-west and Exeter had trouble ‘bending the knee’ to William- e.g. Bristol, Somerset, Dorset and Exeter
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, - resulted in castle-building by Robert of Mortain, William’s brother, who built a castle upon Exeter’s highest
ground
The North 1069-70
Against William and oppressive government e.g. sheriff Robert of Commines and the building of castles/
oppressive government
The North largely identified with Danish/ Celtic heritage, but William bribed king Swein of Denmark with
Bribes hence conquering that threat
North rebels- Edwin, Morcar, and Edgar Aethling, who flee to the Nirth
Resulted in the Harrying of the North- record of York as 33% ‘waste’
East Anglia 1070-71
-Guerrilla- style raids in East-Anglia and the looting of Peterborough Abbey, allied with Danish King- King
Swein, William bribes him away with ‘significant booty’
1075 Norman rebellion
- Caused by baronial (Norman) selfishness, Roger de Breteuil had not been given his inheritance after his dad
(William fitz Osbern) died in 1071
- Earldoms suppressed, Waltheof’s earldoms not restored
WILLIAM RUFUS
Household
William II (Rufus) –
Continued to employ NORMANS – such as William Saint Calais (bishop of Durham), Walkelin bishop of
Winchester, Roger Bigod and Urse Sheriff of Worcester
In addition to Ranulf Flambard, who served as a Norman priest and was at the heart of regency councils during
William’s absences in Normandy
Escaped Tower of London in 1101, developed the role of justiciar and purchased bishoprics in DURHAM
Foreshadowed bureaucracy
Justiciar
- Ranulf Flambard, president, regency council
- Norman priest
- Had employed a small group of ministers comprising of Ranulf Flambard, Urse d’Abetot the constable and
Rober Bloer
-
Crown
Rules ‘by the grace of God’ after the 1088 rebellion
For two weeks before his coronation Lanfranc is considered the most powerful man in England
His death in the New Forest (shot with an arrow on accident) is seen as providential
Probably homosexual
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