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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]
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 local aristocracy controlled the court. The suitors of the court (bishops, earls, and thegns) declared the law and decided what proof of innocence or guilt to accept (such as ordeal or compurgation ).
In order to secure Norman loyalty during his conquest, William I rewarded his loyal followers by taking English land and redistributing it to his knights, officials, and the Norman aristocracy. In turn, the English hated him, but the king retaliated ruthlessly with his military force to subdue the rebellions and discontentment.
Anglo-Norman twelfth-century gaming piece, illustrating soldiers presenting a sheep to a figure seated on a throne. Within twenty years of the Norman conquest, the Anglo-Saxon elite had been replaced by a new class of Norman nobility. [76] The new earls (successors to the ealdermen), sheriffs and senior clergy were all drawn from their ranks. [77]
The "Saxon myth" claimed that the old Saxon witan was the representative assembly of English landholders until disbanded by the Norman invaders and that it reemerged as the Parliament of England. This idea was held across the Thirteen Colonies in North America in the years prior to the American Revolution (1776–1783).
The aristocracy was composed of a small group of Scandinavian men, while the majority of the Norman political leaders were of Frankish descent. At the start of the 11th century, the region was attacked by the Bretons from the West, the Germans from the East, and the people of Anjou from the South. All of the aristocrats' fidelity oaths to the ...
1st Norman count of Rouen r. 911–927 House of Normandy: William "Longsword" c. 893 –942 2nd Norman count of Rouen r. 927–942: Duke of Normandy, 942: Richard I "the Fearless" 932–996 1st Duke of Normandy r. 942–996: Richard II "the Good" d. 1026 2nd Duke of Normandy r. 996–1027: Robert Count of Évreux, Archbishop of Rouen: Mauger c ...