How far do you agree that the building of castles was the main reason why the English were unable to mount a successful challenge to William I’s rule?
After William’s victory at Hastings in 1066, he introduced Motte and Bailey castles, which showed the Norman’s power, when faced with rebellions from 1068. Nevertheless, not only did he use castles to prevent the English from mounting a challenge to Williams rule, he also introduced the feudal system, as well as the Doomsday book and harrying of the north.
To begin with, William was a Norman, where he lived in a country full of castles which showed of wealth. On top of this, French kings had gained a reputation for building castles, as a way of coping with the constant attacks by Vikings from Scandinavia. After the victory of William at Hastings in 1066, he acted swiftly to solidify his victory, where he began to build motte and bailey castles, which was newly introduced as before the conquest there was only one apparent castle in Hereford. Although William was a powerful man, he was unpopular in the English kingdom, where he was faced with rebellions from 1067, with the first rebellion in Dover. William managed to respond by re-asserting his authority as he captured villages, towns and road crossings in places where rebellions took place and building a castle. This was then a visible sign of the Norman’s power over the English. The castles provided his troops with strong defensive structures to guard against any upstart Saxons bold enough to try to prevent William's rule. Castles were built in Exeter, Warwick, Nottingham, Lincoln, Huntingdon, Cambridge and York. As a result of the castle building, the English were unable to mount a successful challenge to Williams I rule. Despite this, the series of castle building did not make the problem disappear. Those who rebelled against William’s power gathered together in 1069 where they attacked the most obvious sign of William’s authority; the castle of York. The castle there was burnt, and the Norman soldiers were beaten, due to the lack of defense at castle. In other words, the building of castles was not the main reason why the English were unable to mount a successful challenge to William I’s rule.
Furthermore, due to the rebellion in York, William took action, known as the ‘harrying of the north’ to control England. This was the mass devastation and destruction as punishment for resistance to William. Norman soldiers destroyed anything that might have been of use to those who lived in the North. For instance, he burnt their crops so the people would starve, he killed the animals. As well as this, William began to take away the land of the Anglo Saxon nobles and gave them to his own nobility. There was starvation and famine so that the Saxons resistance was crushed, preventing them from doing it again. Still, the building of castles did not stop. Each nobleman that was given land was expected to build a castle there. Therefore suggesting that the build of castles was the main reason why the English were unable to mount a successful challenge to William’s I’s rule. Having said that, the Anglo Saxons would have been terrified by the actions of William as many people had died and lost everything they owned. In addition to this, nothing could survive on the bare land, which would have caused fear to people all around England. In this case, the Anglo Saxons would not rebel against William’s rule, suggesting that the build of castles was not the main reason why the English were unable to mount a successful challenge to William’s rule. After the harrying of the north there was little resistance shown.
Now to consider how else William was able to control the land. As a result of the Norman Conquest, William had to find a way of governing the country, as well as rewarding those whom had helped him. Therefore he introduced the Feudal system. This is where a vassal held land by reason of his duty to render military service to the lord by whom the land was granted and by reason of an oath of fealty. On top of this, William kept Norman tradition, by making barons or bishops that were given land to swear on an oath to him, which was called ‘Homage’. Just as before the conquest, the peasants were still at the bottom of the hierarchy, with the newly introduced Knights above them in this hierarchy. People would respect their superior in order to keep their land and survival. In other words, William used this as a way of stopping the Anglo Saxons from rebelling, which implies that the feudal system was one of the main reasons why the English were unable to mount a successful challenge to Williams rule.
Not only was the feudal system introduced, the doomsday book was put into place to control the kingdom. This book told the king how much land each person owns, who paid taxes and how much, as well as it kept a record of everything on the English land. In other words this was a book that provided extensive records of many different things. The book provided him with a great deal of information which would help him control England and the people. On top of this the book demonstrated the power of the government which would have stopped the Anglo Saxons from rebelling. As well as this, the book enabled William the ability to ensure that all landholders and tenants swore an alliance to him (Feudal system). As a result of the rebellions, Anglo Saxons land was given to Normans, which was made very clear in the doomsday. In general, the doomsday book shows that castles were not the main reason why the English were not successful in overthrowing the King, as this helped him to keep track of his control.
Another reason why the English were not able to mount a successful challenge to William was down to the way he controlled Anglo Saxon women. Although some historians would claim that nothing had changed others would say that it was a ‘golden age’ for the women. In 1066 women owed 5% of the land, where 80-85% of the land was in the hands of only 9 women which were mainly royalty or Godwin’s. Due to the battles in 1066, many Anglo Saxon men had died therefore their land and possessions were handed over to the women. However, although they became wealthy widows, they were forced to marry Norman men. The marriage was used a form of patronage by William. The king was able to stop the English from challenging him through controlling the women, by giving everything that she owed to her ‘new’ husband. Life in Anglo Norman times were worst for women. It can be argued that this would lead them to mount a successful challenge to William. However, Williams control over their lives showed his power, suggesting that women would be afraid to mount a successful challenge to the kings rule. This implies that the building of castles was only one of the reasons why this challenge towards the king did not take place.
Finally, William introduced the new forest laws in 1072, which was based on not the common law but on the law of the king. Williams’s conversion of the new forest law was a massive Royal deer reserve. Although the law may have been a way of showing his power, which frightened the English people, it was also seen as a symbol of his greed. The new forest law helped to stop the English from mounting a successful challenge towards the King, as villages had been knocked so that they could build churches. On top of this, villagers that had previously went into these forests were not allowed anymore. If anyone did enter the forest without permission; forest offenders, then they were harshly punished as the forest was protected. Therefore the English were unable to mount a successful challenge to Williams rule.
To conclude, William was an unpopular king where he was faced with rebellions from 1067. Nevertheless, he did not allow this to stop him from having the throne. As previously explained he introduced laws and acted in certain ways to prevent the English from overthrowing him. From the building of castles to the new forest laws, William was able to establish great control over England, as he was king from 1066-1087. Overall, castles were not the main reason as to why the English society was unable to overthrow him.