Читать книгу Anglo-American Cultural Studies - Jody Skinner - Страница 75

William the ConquerorWilliam the Conqueror: French and feudalFrom the only king with the title “the Great” to the only King with the title “the Conqueror” and a foreigner – there’ll be many others later – who assumed the throne. And the one date that practically everyone who has ever heard anything about English history knows and all readers who digested the first history appetizer now also know how to pronounce: ten sixty-six. In the century and a half between AlfredAlfred and William there were many monarchs with short reigns and all with similar-sounding names like Edward and Edmund and Edgar. There were a couple of Danish kings who ruled EnglandEngland named Sven and Canute although Alfred had done his best a century before to rid the island of all Danes. The last and most important of the Edwards, named the Confessor, had WestminsterWestminster AbbeyWestminster Abbey completed in time for his burial. Unfortunately Edward didn’t leave any clear choice of heirs to the throne. The result of all the confusion was William’s victory near HastingsHastings in 1066 and his coronation shortly thereafter as the first king of England of the Norman dynastyNorman dynasty. The effects of William’s conquest were enormous. He severed England’s ties with Scandinavia in favor of close ties with his homeland FranceFrance, he promoted church reform, strengthening the powerpower of the monarch. French became the language of the nobles, the government became hierarchical and feudal. His effective and efficient taxation was based on the information about property given in the Domesday BookDomesday Book, a detailed description of property and livestock, which provided William with information he could use for taxation and which still provides valuable details about life at the beginning of the Norman dynasty.