THE NORMAN PERIOD.--1087 TO 1154.
[Illustration: DEATH OF WILLIAM RUFUS.]
1. The Normans were a cleverer people than the English, and lived
in a superior manner. They were better acquainted with the arts of
agriculture and architecture, and they knew a great deal more about
useful gardening; for all the convents in Normandy had good gardens,
planted with vegetables and herbs; and the monks brought over plenty
of seeds and roots to sow or plant in gardens here.
2. The Normans built stone castles, and strong houses of timber,
with upper stories, so that their dwellings, in general, were
higher and more substantial than those of the Saxons; and one great
improvement was that they had chimneys; but their furniture was as
rough and clumsy as the furniture used in the Saxon times, and their
way of living was almost the same, except that they did not care so
much about feasting, but preferred spending their time in hunting,
hawking, and fighting in sport, for pastime.
3. I should here tell you that William the Conqueror made the first
game laws, and very severe they were, and very hard upon the poor
people, who used to be at liberty to kill game in the forests; but,
after these new laws, they dared not so much as take even a hare or
partridge in their own fields.
4. It was not only the English, who were forbidden to hunt on the
royal domains, but the Normans also, unless they had special leave to
do so; and, if any one was bold enough to kill a deer in the king’s
forests, he was punished in the most cruel manner, by having his eyes
put out, or his hands cut off.
5. The king’s palace was at Winchester, and he wanted to have a
forest close by for hunting, so he ordered that all the towns and
villages should be pulled down for about thirty miles, and the land
planted with trees; and, what was worse, he gave nothing to the poor
people for turning them out of their homes; and this is still called
the New Forest.
6. In imitation of this bad example, many of the nobles began to make
large parks, enclosed with walls to keep deer, and they cared no more
than William had done about taking away the fields and pasture lands
of the poor cottagers, who dared not complain, and were even obliged
to run to their doors with refreshments to offer to the Norman lords
and their followers when they were out hunting, although they often
saw them riding over their corn, and breaking through their hedges.
7. It was not till after several reigns that the descendants of the
Norman Conquerors began to consider themselves Englishmen, and to
treat their vassals more like fellow countrymen.
8. The first hundred years after the conquest is therefore usually
called the Norman period, and includes the reigns of William the
Conqueror, William Rufus, Henry the First, and Stephen.
9. I have already told you that the Feudal system was brought into
England by the Saxons, and I explained what it was; but I must now
mention that this system was carried much farther by the Normans,
that is, their feudal laws were stricter, and the nobles themselves
were bound by them as well as the common people.
10. I should wish you to understand this as clearly as possible,
because the manners and customs of the age were governed entirely by
those laws.
11. First, then, the king was lord of the land, and kept a great
portion of it for himself, which made what were called crown lands;
and all the people, who lived on the crown lands, whether in burgh,
town, or country, were his tenants, and paid him rent, or taxes,
both in money and produce, besides being obliged to furnish him with
soldiers at their own expense.
12. For example, if a town had to find two or more horse-soldiers,
the inhabitants were, besides, obliged to pay the expenses of their
arms, horses and maintenance, for the time they were on service.
13. The Manors and Abbey lands were held of the king on the same
conditions; and every man, who had a certain quantity of land, was
bound either to serve as a soldier himself, or send a substitute.
14. The rest of the country was divided by the king amongst the great
barons, who agreed, in return, that whenever he went to war they
would go with him, and take with them so many men, properly armed
and trained for warfare, perhaps fifty or a hundred, or even more,
according to the extent of lands they held.
15. These great Baronies were called Feods, and the king was the
feodal or feudal lord of the barons, who were called crowned vassals;
and, when any one of them died, the king took the lands again until
the heir paid him a large sum of money to redeem them.
16. Some of the kings behaved very ill in this, in making the heirs
pay a great deal more than was just; and, if a baron died, and left
a daughter only, she was obliged to marry any one the king chose, or
he would not let her have her inheritance at all.
17. The feudal laws were therefore very bad, because they gave men
the power of being tyrants to each other; for the nobles had the same
power of oppressing their vassals that the king had of oppressing
them.
18. You must understand that the great Barons, who held very
extensive domains, gave small estates out of them to men who were
not so high in rank as themselves, on the same conditions as the king
had given the large baronies to them, so that the lesser nobles were
the vassals of the great ones, and were bound to aid them with men
and money when required.
19. Then all the nobles, from the highest to the lowest degree, were
the absolute lords of all the common people that dwelt on their
lands, and could make them do just whatever they pleased, as I told
you they could in the Saxon times; but then the Norman lords treated
them, at first, a great deal more harshly than the Saxon lords did,
and took a great deal more from them.
20. After the Norman conquest they were called villeins, which meant
villagers, and they lived in the same manner, and had the same kind
of duties to perform for their lords, as in the Saxon times; but
there were many new feudal customs brought here by the Normans; as
for example, a mill was set up on every estate, to which all the
poor people were obliged to take their corn to be ground, instead of
grinding it at home with hand-mills, as they used to do; and, out of
each measure, a part was taken for the baron, which was a very hard
tax upon them, especially if they had large families.
21. Another feudal custom was this; a duty was laid on every thing
sold at the fairs and markets; that is, if a man went to the market
to buy a sheep, he must pay so much for the sheep, and so much for
duty, the duty being for the baron, or lord of the manor.
22. There were a great many other customs which I have not room to
mention, but I think I have said enough to show you what the feudal
system was in the first ages after the Norman conquest; so now I will
tell you something about the first Norman sovereigns.
23. William the Conqueror died in 1087, and was succeeded by his
eldest son, Robert, in Normandy, and by his second son, William
Rufus, in England; but after a time Duke Robert wanted money to
go to the Holy Wars, which I will tell you about presently, so he
mortgaged his duchy of Normandy to his brother William, who thus
became sovereign of both countries, as his father had been. He was a
sad tyrant, and so rude in his manners that nobody liked him.
24. I told you what strict game laws were made by the Conqueror,
but William Rufus made them more severe still, and so displeased
the noblemen, by forbidding them to hunt without his leave, that
some of them formed a conspiracy to dethrone him; but the plot was
discovered, and the Earl of Northumberland, who was at the head of
it, was taken prisoner, and confined in Windsor Castle all the rest
of his life.
25. There was another great lord, the Count d’Eu, who was accused
of being engaged in this plot, by a knight called Geoffrey Bainard,
so the king had him arrested. The Count, however, denied having any
thing to do with it, and said he defied his accuser, and was ready to
fight with him, and that God would give the victory to whichever of
them was in the right.
26. So they fought with swords, in the presence of the king and
court, when Bainard was victorious, and the Count being thus
convicted, was condemned to have his eyes torn out.
27. This was a strange way for a man to prove his innocence of any
crime, but it became a common custom in England, and was called
“Wager of battle.” Even law-suits, respecting right of property, were
often thus decided; and, if a lady had a quarrel or a lawsuit, she
might get a man to do battle for her, and he was called her champion.
28. It was the fashion for many ages, not only in England, but all
over Europe, for young men of noble birth to roam about the world in
search of adventures; and, as they were generally poor and depended
chiefly on their swords for subsistence, they would engage in
anybody’s quarrels; fight in the cause of women or children who were
either injured or oppressed, and enlist in the service of princes and
barons who were at war.
29. This was called chivalry, and these knights errant, or wandering
knights, were made welcome wherever they went, and treated with
hospitality at the castles of the great.
30. Numbers of them went to the Holy Wars, but, as I suppose you do
not know what the Holy Wars were, I will tell you about them.
31. Many pious Christians in those days thought it a duty to make a
journey, or pilgrimage as it was called, to Jerusalem, once in their
lives, to say their prayers at our Saviour’s tomb; but Jerusalem
had been conquered by the Mahomedans, who hated the Christians, and
behaved very cruelly to the pilgrims; so the Pope, who you know is
the great Bishop of Rome, and at that time had more authority over
all the countries of Europe than the kings had, said that it was the
duty of all Christian warriors to go to Palestine, or the Holy Land,
to fight against the Saracens, and try to drive them from Jerusalem.
32. Then a religious man, called Peter the Hermit, went about
preaching a crusade, that is, exhorting the princes and nobles in
France, Germany, and Italy, to undertake this war, which was called
a crusade, or _croisade_, because the ensign on their banners was to
be the Cross.
33. Robert, Duke of Normandy, was among the first crusaders, and, as
he wanted money to keep himself and all the fighting men he took with
him, he pledged his duchy to his brother, William Rufus, for a very
large sum.
34. The English did not join in these wars, at first, but after a
time there was scarcely a knight or noble in the land that did not
go to the Crusades, for they were continued, in all, more than two
hundred years; and, during two hundred years; and, during that time,
great numbers of the lower order of people in England were freed from
bondage, in consequence of being allowed to purchase their liberty to
supply their lords with money for these wars.
35. William Rufus, who was killed by accident as he was hunting
in the New Forest, was succeeded by his brother, Henry the First,
surnamed Beauclerk, because he was a learned man, who behaved much
better to the Saxon English than the two former kings had done,
and restored to some of the old families a part of their ancient
possessions.
36. He likewise altered the forest laws, which had given so much
discontent, and gave the citizens of London leave to hunt in Epping
Forest, which then reached very nearly to the walls of the city.
37. Winchester was then the capital of England, but London was one
of the best cities and the richest, as many of its inhabitants were
merchants who traded with foreign countries; yet the houses were only
mean wooden buildings, with no glass in the windows, and thatched
with straw.
38. Westminster was quite a separate city, and divided from London
by country houses, fields and a village. The king had a palace at
Westminster, and William Rufus built Westminster hall adjoining it,
for his Christmas feasts.
39. A curious privilege was granted by Henry the First to the
citizens of London, which will serve to show you what grievances the
people were subject to in those times.
40. There were a great number of persons who were employed in various
ways about the court, and who followed the king wherever he went; for
great men, when they travelled, were obliged to take every thing they
wanted with them, there being no public accommodation to be had any
where; so they carried with them waggon loads of furniture, plate,
wine, cooking utensils, and I do not know what besides; with their
domestics and retainers of all descriptions, who formed a numerous
retinue.
41. Now, the inhabitants of any city, where the king happened to be
holding his court, were obliged to give board and lodging, at free
cost, to all these people, who generally behaved very ill; for they
would insist upon having the best rooms, order whatever they chose,
and treat the family just as if they were their servants.
42. It was, therefore, a very good thing for the Londoners when king
Henry released them from this heavy burthen, but all other towns had
to bear it for a very long period.
43. In this reign the first manufactory for woollen cloth was
established in this country, by some weavers from Flanders, where the
best cloth was made from English wool, which was the staple commodity
of England at that period; I mean, the thing of which they had most
to sell; for quantities of sheep were reared on every estate.
44. England had no manufactures then, so there were no employments
for the lower classes but agriculture, and the few useful arts, that
were but very imperfectly understood.
45. Henry the First died in the year 1135. He left the crown to his
daughter Matilda, who had been twice married; first, to the Emperor
of Germany, and again to Geoffrey Plantagenet, Earl of Anjou, who was
dead also, therefore she was again a widow.
46. But there was a nephew of the late king, named Stephen, who was
rather a favorite among the Barons, and was quite willing to take
advantage of their good will; so, before Matilda could reach England,
her cousin Stephen had mounted the throne.
47. Then there was a civil war in this country, which was carried on,
at times, for fifteen years, for a great many French noblemen came
here with Matilda to fight for her; and some of the English Barons,
who had become dissatisfied with Stephen, because he had not done
all they expected he would do, joined the other party, and there was
fighting all over the country.
48. Wherever there is civil war, there is sure to be famine and
misery of all kinds, and there never was more misery in England than
during the reign of king Stephen; for, in order to keep as many of
the Barons on his side as he could, he let them do just as they
pleased; and he gave titles and estates to a great many bold and bad
men, who built castles and kept bands of ruffians, who went at night
to rob and plunder the towns and villages; so that the people, when
they shut up their houses at night, used to kneel down and pray that
God would protect them from robbers and murderers.
49. At last, it was settled that Stephen should keep the crown as
long as he lived; but that Matilda’s son, Henry Plantagenet, should
succeed him; and, soon after this arrangement, he died, having
reigned nineteen years.
QUESTIONS.
1. How did the Normans improve the country?
3. What is the origin of the game laws?
5. How was the New Forest made?
8. Which reigns are called the Norman period?
15. When a baron died, how were his lands disposed of?
18. How did the lesser barons become vassals of the great ones?
21. What new feudal customs were brought here by the Normans?
23. Who succeeded William the Conqueror?
28. What was chivalry?
31. Give some account of the Crusades.
35. Who succeeded William Rufus?
36. How did he gain popularity?
43. What was the first manufacture in England?
45. To whom did Henry leave the crown?
46. Who usurped the throne?