Life in 1065: society, religion, and culture

OCR GCSE (9-1) History B (Schools History Project) The Norman Conquest 1065 - 1087

Society

The people and how they lived

Stories about King Edward and his nation were exaggerated. People wrote about England on the eve of the Norman Conquest as a land of free people who enjoyed their fair share of considerable wealth and an early form of democracy.

Land was divided into shires which contained burhs. These were weak in the north-east but burhs developed, markets grew, and trade prospered. This was supported by setting up royal mints producing coins by the king whose purity and value was trusted. Taxation was efficient and the system worked well.

There were fines for sexual harassment of women. Women ran double monasteries and owned land and property. Divorces were rare. In 1066, women lost their rights to own land and property. Sermons from the time accused men of buying women as slaves, sexually assaulting them, and selling them. Women did a lot of manual work.

Thegns ran local courts, paid taxes, and fought for the king. The earls were the king's chief advisors, held shire courts, formed the Witan, and gathered fyrd. Ceorls who had special skills worked on land and were tightly bound to serve their thegn. The king owned more land than anyone else, raised taxes for the nation's defence, burhs, roads, and bridges encouraging trade; issued new laws, and was responsible for the justice in law courts and the work of the church.

Every person had a cash value called 'wergild', depending on social group. A person responsible for a murder would not be executed if they paid the 'wergild' which was paid to the victim's family. A woman's value was the same as a man of the same status, but if the woman was pregnant, the value was increased.

Religion

The Church and people's beliefs

At the start of the 11th century, the Church's leadership and blend of styles and traditions had given it a good quality. The Roman Catholic Church was brought to England in AD 597 and the Anglo-Saxons became Christians. The Church had developed its own ways of working and styles of art with an emphasis on saints and angels. They had many saints who were respected posthumously.

The gospels were wealthy and well-educated and the Church was proud of its traditions. People gathered to worship in rural simple shelters because there was no permanent building.…