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The Battle of Hastings, fought on October 14th 1066, is the most famous event in English medieval history, and its repercussions were felt for generations afterwards. Some, indeed, are still with us today. The victory of the Norman Duke William 'the Bastard' over England's King Harold II did much more than simply effect change at the top.

The success of William brought to England an alien military elite who were rewarded with estates and supplanted the native English 'Thegnly' class almost entirely. Many English thegns had died, either at Hastings or at Stamford Bridge a few weeks earlier. The survivors were not all instantly dispossessed by William, but in the course of his reign most of them lost their lands to incoming supporters of the Conqueror. The higher Offices of the Church, too, were given to Norman, Breton or other French persons. The native English found themselves dominated by foreigners who generally despised them, their language, customs and manners. Neighboring countries soon found their borders assaulted as ambitious Norman warriors probed the undefined frontier with Scotland, over-ran south Wales and penetrated into Ireland, ushering in centuries of feuding with England.

To maintain their safety and keep control of the English, the Normans peppered the land with castles at strategic points. From these strongholds they could dominate their lands and impose their will. The Normans were rapacious taxers, jealous of their 'rights' and cared little for the well-being of the English. The peasantry had little option but to stay put, but among the surviving thegns many fled to Scotland, others to Denmark and some as far as Constantinople where they took service under the Byzantine Emperor in the Varangian Guard.

Because Anglo-Saxon England was the most efficiently organized and administered Kingdom in Europe, William retained nearly all the machinery of government unaltered. It was well in advance of what he had in Normandy. English law was also largely retained. Trial by combat was introduced, but existed alongside the English practice of trial by oath-taking in front of a jury and trial by ordeal. 'Forest Law' was introduced over vast areas where Normans wished to hunt, severely limiting what the English were permitted to do and setting harsh penalties, such as mutilation, for infringements. The Normans also swept away most of the major Anglo-Saxon architecture. Churches, cathedrals and 'manor houses' were demolished and replaced with larger buildings

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