Dr. Vess's World Civilization Virtual Library

Norman England




objectives





1.  Be able to discuss the origins of the English monarchy in the


eleventh century and the Norman treatment of the feudal system.





2.  Be able to discuss the achievement of Henry II and his failure


with Thomas a Becket.








FOOD FOR THOUGHT





Why did the English appear to manage the feudal system more


efficiently than their continental counterparts?





How can the Bayeaux Tapestry be said to be an historical source?





Did the concerns of Thomas a Becket differ from those of Gregory


the Great?





WAS Becket your image of the ideal martyr?





     Who will free me from this turbulent priest?


          attributed to Henry II








     When William, Duke of Normandy, defeated Harold of England and


so became King of the English, he created a series of conflicts


within the feudal order that would later erupt in the Hundred


Years' War.  As vassal of the king of France, he ultimately


exceeded him in power and authority, forging one of the strongest


feudal monarchies in the medieval period.  His descendants, like


their continental counterparts, would fight out the issue of lay


investiture, with a similar outcome.  The career of Thomas Becket 
displays the resilience of the church, even when led by one with 
political interests.  Despite the strength of the English 
monarchs, even they could not contain the reform movement 
of the Central Middle Ages.





 OUTLINE





I.  The English Monarchy:


     A.   The Normans 


          i.  William the Conqueror


          ii.  the Norman Invasion: The Battle of Hastings (1066)


               a) The Bayeux Tapestry


          iii.  the Domesday Book


          iv.  the centralized feudal system


          v.  William's construction projects: Take a virtual tour of
           
           The Tower of London
           
           The Tower of London.


     B.   Henry II and conquest:


          i.  his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine


          ii.  his treatment of the Church:


               a) the Constitutions of Clarendon


               b) Thomas Ö Becket: 


               c)Take a virtual tour of 
               Canterbury Cathedral, site of Becket's martyrdom





     C.   King John:


          i.  The Magna Carta 
          This link takes you to the British Library site, where you 
          will need to click on the Digital Library link, and 
          then on Magna Carta. 

          ii.  his loss of territories on the continent to Philip


               II of France