What Laws Did the Normans Introduce

Justice, prison, constable, agreement, fine, court, debts and evidence are all words introduced into the English legal system by the Normans. Although Anglo-Saxon England had a sophisticated legal system, the Normans began to introduce aspects of the French system that they knew about after 1070. The Norman conquest of England under William the Conqueror (r. 1066-1087 AD) was carried out over a five-year period from 1066 AD to 1071 AD. Fierce battles, castle building, land redistribution, and scorched-earth tactics allowed the Normans to stay here. The conquest saw the Norman elite replace that of the Anglo-Saxons and seize the lands of the country, the church was restructured, new architecture was introduced in the form of castles of the motte and bailey and Romanesque cathedrals, feudalism became much more widespread and the English language absorbed thousands of new French words, among a host of other lasting changes, all of which made the Norman invasion an important turning point. in English history. Most of the information historians have about England during this period tells us what life was like for the rich and educated. In these sources, it is clear that French became the main language at court and in government. What did those laws say? Below is a modern translation of what they introduced.

However, before I say goodbye to the Normans (for now), I just want to take a look back and look at what they have done for English law and the legal system. Forest law Otherwise, the legislative innovation that the English considered the worst was the Forest Act, which introduced outrageous penalties, particularly blindness for killing deer. William loved large deer as he did. was his father. Large tracts of land, especially the New Forest, were turned into game reserves, and villages and churches were devastated if they told in areas suitable for hunting by the Crown. Apparently, he greatly respected the laws promulgated by Edward the Confessor, and much of the administrative organization of the country remained largely unchanged. Anglo-Saxon law, the set of legal principles that prevailed in England from the 6th century to the Norman conquest (1066). In conjunction with Scandinavian law and the so-called barbarian laws (leges barbarorum) of continental Europe, it formed Germanic law. Anglo-Saxon law was written in the vernacular and was relatively free from the Roman influence found in continental laws written in Latin.

Roman influence on Anglo-Saxon law was indirect and exercised mainly by the Church. There was a clear Scandinavian influence on Anglo-Saxon law following the Viking invasions of the 8th and 9th centuries. It was not until the Norman conquest that Roman law, as embodied in Frankish law, was felt on the laws of England. The root of this was the fact that local church and state tycoons were completely expelled by foreigners. Almost all large landowners or clerics were foreigners who interpreted their position and power according to the ideas to which they were accustomed. They were also foreigners, whom the English regarded as a conquered and inferior population; And the conquered population had no practical means of reparation, no matter how brutal it was. The Normans introduced not only a new concept of using the castle, but also military architecture in the British Isles: the castle motte and the outer bailey. The motte was a high hill on which a fortified tower was built, and the outer courtyard was a courtyard surrounded by a wooden palisade occupying an area around part of the base of the hill. The entire structure was protected by a circumferential ditch. These castles were built in both rural and urban environments and in many cases were built in the early 12th century. J.-C. Converted to stone versions.

A good surviving example is the Castle Rising in Norfolk, but other more famous castles that still exist today and were originally Norman buildings are the Tower of London, Dover Castle in Kent and Clifford`s Tower in York. Norman Romanesque cathedrals were also built (e.g. in York, Durham, Canterbury, Winchester and Lincoln), with white stone from Caen being a particularly popular material, which was also used for the Tower of London. Anglo-Saxon law consisted of three components: laws and collections promulgated by the king, authoritative statements of habit found in the Norman Domesday Book, and private compilations of legal rules and decrees. The emphasis was on criminal law rather than private law, although some documents dealt with problems of public administration, public order, and ecclesiastical affairs. The Domesday Book was compiled on William`s orders in the years 1086-7 AD, probably to find out for fiscal reasons who owned what in England after the death of many Anglo-Saxon nobles during the conquest and the granting of new lands and titles by the king to his loyal supporters. In fact, the Domesday Book reveals Williams` complete transformation of land ownership and power in England. It was the most comprehensive survey ever conducted in a medieval kingdom and it is full of juicy statistics for modern historians, such as the revelation that 90% of the population lived in the countryside and that 75% of the people were serfs (non-free workers).

In order to ensure their influence over England, the Normans introduced many changes in people`s daily lives. England`s judicial and fiscal system was modified to ensure Norman power in England. Along with the construction of castles and the Domesday Book, these laws were part of how William controlled the English population. What William would have perceived as conciliatory behavior early in his reign, however, did not go as well as he would have liked. After the rebellion in the north of England, Norman rule became much harsher. The consequences of the Norman conquest were manifold. In addition, some effects lasted much longer than others. It is also true that English society developed on its own historical path even before the arrival of William the Conqueror, and so it is not always so clear which sometimes important political, social and economic changes of the Middle Ages had their roots in the Norman invasion and which may have developed under a continuous Anglo-Saxon regime. Nevertheless, the following list summarizes what most historians agree on as some of the most important changes brought about by the Norman conquest in England: For example, the country remained divided into counties or counties, and much of the judicial system remained the same. However, it is believed that he (or the Normans) introduced trials through combat, which joined the other, more traditional trials of fire and water.

At the same time, there were new laws to ensure that the Normans did not abuse their power, such as the crime of murder, which was applied to the unjust murder of non-rebels or for personal gain, and the introduction of a combat procedure to defend innocence. Essentially, citizens had to swear allegiance to the king, for whom they received legal protection in exchange for wrongdoing. Some of the new laws would be durable, such as favouring the firstborn in inheritance claims, while others were deeply unpopular, such as William`s withdrawal of hunting rights in some areas, particularly in the New Forest. Poachers were treated harshly and could expect to be blinded or mutilated if caught. Another important change due to new laws concerned slavery, which lasted until 1130 AD. Essentially eliminated from England, just like in Normandy. The laws introduced by William the Conqueror after his victory at Hastings in 1066 affected everyone in England. These laws were introduced by William to control the English. William gained a reputation for being nothing more than a tyrant in England.

However, these laws, designed to control a conquered nation, could have been much worse. At the beginning of his reign, William wanted to appeal to the English. He tried to learn the English language as an example. The Anglo-Saxon legal system was based on the fundamental opposition between popular law and privilege. People`s law is the set of rules, formulated or not, that can be invoked as an expression of the legal conscience of the people in general or of the communities that compose them. It is of tribal origin and is distinguished on highly localized bases. Thus, there was a popular law of the East and West Saxons, the Mercians, the Northumbrians, the Danes and the Welsh, and these main divisions of folk law persisted even after the disappearance of the tribal kingdoms in the 8th and 9th centuries. Responsibility for formulating and implementing popular law in the 10th and 11th centuries lay with the local Shire Moots (assemblies); The National Council of the Kingdom, or Witan, used the ideas of popular rights only occasionally.