William the Conqueror(ruled 1066-1087), was a king in England. Before he was king he was the Duke of Normandy, but when Alfred the Great the king of England at the time died without leaving an heir this all changed. Of course a situation like this leads to fighting for the throne, which exactly did happen between William and a man named Harold, who was the Earl of Wessex. Both men had claimed the throne for different reasons, Harold had actually been elected as king, so the odds did seem rather in his favor. But William defeated Harold in the Battle of Hasting in 1066, and thus William was crowned King of England. But like every reign with a new king, what new changes were introduced in England by William the conqueror?
There were quite a few changes that William introduced to England, the first of which was the giving of substantial lands to Norman nobles, basically taking the land away from English nobles, he also kept a vast stretch of land for himself. But William stated also that those English nobles could buy their land back, which probably did not make the English nobles happy. He also ordered the commission of the Domesday book, which helped him assess the wealth of his citizens to raise taxes, which he exactly did. But one of the most important changes that William put in place was making himself a monarch.
Like most reign’s with a new king, new changes would be put in place by the King, this was no different when it came to William the conqueror’s reign. The changes that he put in place included, taking the lands of the English nobles and giving them to the Norman nobles, commissioning the Domesday book which helped him raise taxes for his citizens, and most importantly making himself a monarch.
1 Comment