Aristocracy

Chancellors

The chancellor did writs for William from 1069, normally before becoming a bishop.
Robert Flambard, Odo's priest, became keeper of the great seal then a bishop regent..
He became rich enough to buy the bishopric of Durham.
He would have visited shires, collected taxes and overseen justice as William II's regent.
1070, writs in English and Latin. After, just Latin.
English officials were phased out for Normans.
William 2 published around 15 writs a year- Henry 41.

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Edwin and Morcar kept thier earldoms and let Edwin marry his daughter.
Gospatric and Waltheof ruled in the North- if a thegn had not fought at Hastings they could keep thier land. Others had to buy it back.
England was safe enough for Mathilda to be crowned in 1068, attended by English and Normans such as Edwin, Morcar, fitz Osbern and Montgomery.
After rebellion in the North Wiliam was reluctant to restore English nobles.
13/1000 tenants in chief were Enlgish in the Doomsday book.
The 4-5k thegns had vanished.

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Described 13k towns, villages, hamlets and 30k manors.
Who owned the land under Edward, its value and property. Surveyed the public then checked by local shires between Christmas 1085 and August 1086.
Speed shows the efficiency of the English land system and the Norman fear.
No contemporaries explained why it took place.
It could have been to reform the geld system or help post-conquest redustribution.
It would also help administration for reallocating confiscated land or inheriting land.
Raised when a Scandinavian army was imminant, William needed to know where and what resources and men were available.

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Soliders were offered land- William owned the whole of England now.
Doomsday book describes subinfeudation and the terms of letting land.
Odo got Kent, fitz Osbern the Isle of Wight, Montgomery Shropshire.
More loyal lords got strategic territory, like the Sussex rapes divided to 5 magnates.
1/3 of England was redistributed, fiefs were given and changed.
Much land was taken illegally. Robert fitz Glbert took stole three manors.
Churches such as Ely monestary were plundered too, even by Odo.
William made them return property to the church- chaos from ownership probably helped cause the Doomsday book for legal judicial reasons and to stop disputes.
Everyone had to swear loyalty to William as the ultimate source of tenure.

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By 1086, half of all land was held by 200 Normans.
Earl Hugh of Chester had 300 manors and £800 a year.
Wessex, Mercia and Northumbria were divided up. East Anglia followed after the rebellion.
The new earldoms were smaller and focussed on defending vulnerable parts of the kingdom.
William's magnates had less power than Edward's.
William had twice as much land as all of his men put together and a £12.6k income
He could arrest Odo in 1082 (Unlike Godwine) who was imprisoned in Rouen.

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Odo was William's half brother, bishop of Bayeux.
He contributed 100 ships to the invasion and fought with a club at Hastings.
As earl of Kent he was tenant in chief adn earned £3k a year.
He wss hated for his ruthlesness in Kent and served as William's regent.
1082, he went on an unauthorised trip to Italy and was arrested.
He was released after William's death and joined a coalition trying to make Robert of Normandy king of England. William Rufus defeated him and exiled Odo.
Odo then went on the First Crusade with Robert but died on the way in 1097.

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Continuity between the Thegns and Knights- they had horses, armour, weapons and loyalty to a lord in a very similar manner. Land could still be granted for loyalty.
Knights had stronger bonds to thier lords than thegns and they could work in households.
Knights were more military orineted than thegns- housecarls had been thier euqivalent.
Edward's England was more peaceful so thegns had other duties to the community.
Thegns received thier land for life through gifts- they could be given land for 'three lives' through a charter and 'book land'.
Knights got land by hereditory means. Primogeniture started to be normal.

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Replaced the members of aristocracy, not the system.
William gained more loyalty than Cnut since he gave land, not gold.
Knights would marry the widows of thegns to secure power.
Much of William's laws codified existing Anglo Saxon customs.
Language, culture and law was shared between the groups.
The Scandinavian conquest introduced earls and housecarls- England became European.
All sheriffs were Norman- they presided shire courts, collected tax, repaired castles, gathered armies, taxes, transported treasure, enforced writes.
Hugh of Buckland, Norman sheriff of eight counties. Lords like Odo had their own courts.

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