Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The English name "Normans" comes from the French words Normans/Normanz, plural of Normant, [17] modern French normand, which is itself borrowed from Old Low Franconian Nortmann "Northman" [18] or directly from Old Norse Norðmaðr, Latinized variously as Nortmannus, Normannus, or Nordmannus (recorded in Medieval Latin, 9th century) to mean "Norseman, Viking".
The Anglo-Normans (Norman: Anglo-Normaunds, Old English: Engel-Norðmandisca) were the medieval ruling class in the Kingdom of England following the Norman Conquest. They were primarily a combination of Normans , Bretons , Flemings , Frenchmen , Anglo-Saxons and Celtic Britons .
Since Norman kings spent most of their time in Normandy, appointing agents to govern England in their absence became necessary. [31] In 1109, Henry I appointed Roger of Salisbury the first chief justiciar. It remained the most powerful office under the king throughout the Norman and Angevin periods until it was abolished in 1234. [32]
Many of his subjects did not like this idea, and shortly before 988, Sweyn, his son, drove his father from the kingdom. [123] The rebels, dispossessed at home, probably formed the first waves of raids on the English coast. [123] The rebels did so well in their raiding that the Danish kings decided to take over the campaign themselves. [124]
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, French, Flemish, and Breton troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conqueror.
As in England, the Normans blended the continental European county with the English shire, where the king's chief law enforcer was the shire-reeve . Towns were perhaps the Normans' greatest contribution. Starting with Dublin in 1192, royal charters were issued to foster trade and to give extra rights to townspeople.
The term Old English (Irish: Seanghaill lit. ' old foreigners ') began to be applied by scholars for Norman-descended residents of The Pale and Irish towns after the mid-16th century, who became increasingly opposed to the New English who arrived in Ireland after the Tudor conquest of Ireland in the 16th and 17th centuries. [3]
Norman law continued to serve as the basis for court decisions. In 1315, faced with the constant encroachments of royal power on the liberties of Normandy, the barons and towns pressed the Norman Charter on the king. This document did not provide autonomy to the province but protected it against arbitrary royal acts.