Normanisation
They quickly set about putting their stamp on them, and nowhere was this more apparent than in the places where people gathered to worship - the churches.
Normandy in the 11th century was an aggressive and competitive place, where the aristocracy went to great lengths to build bigger and better monasteries, abbeys and churches than their rivals. This was in addition to what was happening in western Europe in general, where there had already been a widespread surge in church building, as apocalyptic millennial fears, spurred by biblical prophesy of the end of the world, gripped the people in 1000 and again in 1032. The French chronicler Ralph Glaber described parts of France being rapidly covered in a 'white mantle' of churches in 1032.
'The Anglo-Saxon Church was dismantled and rebuilt from scratch.'
In comparison to those in Normandy and parts of France, the Anglo-Saxon churches were small, and the method of worship was depicted as increasingly backward and old-fashioned. Indeed, one of the reasons put forward by Duke William in 1066 for his campaign against Harold Godwinson, King of the English, was the reform of the English Church.
As a result he received papal blessing for his enterprise. Thus the outcome of the Battle of Hastings was portrayed not only as a verdict on William's claim to the throne, but also as a licence for reform.
The Anglo-Saxon Church was dismantled and rebuilt from scratch. Within 50 years of the conquest, all English cathedrals and most of the monasteries were rebuilt, and only a few smaller churches remained as they once were. Men trained in Norman monasteries replaced Anglo-Saxon bishops and abbots, and the liturgy employed in continental Europe was introduced throughout the country.
Published: 2005-02-02
