norman conquest
In 1066, a conflict over the throne of England ended in victory for the Duke of Normandy, William, at the battle of Hastings. He became William I of England and brought with him 200 barons who replaced the 4,000 English earls who were dispossessed. It was not a mass invasion: about 10,000 Normans conquered a land of around a million inhabitants; although it clearly was an imposition of a continental governing class which also imposed a new culture and a new language on the English people. In the years 1066-1300, the Norman nobles saw themselves as part of the French aristocracy. They owned feudal possessions both in France and in Britain. The latter were acquired by royal grants in exchange of service to the king. These nobles played an important role in medieval society because their strength or discontent could result in royal weakness and the break-up of political control, this is why throughout this period kings of England, theoretically absolute monarchs, could only govern with their barons’ consent.