文档介绍：The Norman Conquest - 1066
What is the Norman conquest
The Norman conquest of England began in 1066 with the invasion of the Kingdom of England by the troops of William, Duke of Normandy, and his victory at the Battle of Hastings. This resulted in Norman control of England, which was firmly established during the next few years.
England was united under the leadership of Alfred the Great. He managed to defeat most of the Viking raiders. By the 1000s England was one united country with one single set of laws.
Having defeated the vikings Anglo Saxons were soon given a new challenge. In 1066 a duke from Normandy in France invaded and killed Harold Godwinson the Saxon King. His name was William the Conqueror.
Origins
In 1002 King Æthelred II of England married Emma, the sister of Richard II, Duke of son Edward the Confessor, who spent many years in exile in Normandy, eeded to the English throne in led to the establishment of a powerful Norman interest in English politics, as Edward drew heavily on his former hosts for support, bringing in Norman courtiers, soldiers, and clerics and appointing them to positions of power, particularly in the Church. Childless and embroiled in conflict with the formidable Godwin, Earl of Wessex and his sons, Edward may also have encouraged Duke William of Normandy's ambitions for the English throne.
When King Edward died at the beginning of 1066, the lack of a clear heir led to a disputed ession in which several contenders laid claim to the throne of England. Edward's immediate essor was the Earl of Wessex, Harold Godwinson, the richest and most powerful of the English aristocracy, who was elected king by the Witenagemot of England and crowned by Archbishop Ealdred of York, although Norman propaganda claimed he was consecrated by Stigand, the uncanonically elected Archbishop of CanterburyHowever, he was at once challenged by two powerful neighbouring rulers. Duke William claimed that he had been promised the