How did William I

change England?

Made by: Belal Mohamed Yara Hana

What is the Feudal
System?

•The feudal system is a way of ruling a

nation, were the king gives land for the
barons and the barons in return give him
knights and soldiers. The barons then give
land to the knights and the knights fight
for the barons in return. At last, the
knights give protection, shelter and food
for the peasants and the peasants give
farm and some of their land, rent, and
work for the knights.
•The Feudal System allowed William
to control land in England during
his reign, fearing possible revolts
against him, William gathered his
tenants – in chief- together at Old
Sarum and made them take an oath
of loyalty to him. This was a way of
William demonstrating his power
over England and trying to secure
his own land.

It wasn’t fair because it gave

uneven opportunities. His position
depended on their family.
Castles: Motte and Bailey

• The motte and baily are two type of

structures in which the motte is a type of
hill where the king can stay up inside
while the archers are shooting from
above when enemies are going to
charge.
 The last line of defence was this
great tower. The Normans had a The mound of
good view of the surrounding earth was called
area from up there to see any a motte.
approaching attackers.

All of the fences

are made of
wood.

A drawbridge to
get over the deep
ditch. 1eq

The large courtyard was called a bailey. A deep ditch around the
It contained stables, barracks for castle was an extra defence.
soldiers, storehouses and a kitchen.
 The Domesday Book

The Survey
Around Christmas 1085, William sent officials to visit towns
and villages all over England and ask a series of detailed
questions. In each village, they interviewed the priest, the
steward (the man who organized the farm work), and six
elderly people.The officials (and the soldiers who travelled
with them) visited over 13000 villages in less than a year –
this was very quick by medieval standards. A second group
of officials visited the villages later to check the people who
had been honest.
 The Books

All the records from the surveys were sent to Winchester where one
wrote it all down in Latin. The surveys filled two huge books (which are
together called the Domesday Book) and contained approximately two
million words.
The book gave William knowledge. It meant:
• He could work out how much each person in England could afford
to pay him in taxes.
• He knew exactly how many people he could get to fight for him.
• He could settle any quarrels over who owned which bit of land.

However, William never got to see the finished book in use. He was in
He was in Normandy 1087and, while riding his horse, he slipped
forward in his saddle and burst open his bladder. He died in agony. He
wouldn’t have been able to read it himself anyway – he couldn’t read!
 What does the Domesday Book
In the years before
tell us? 1066, England was
controlled by Anglo –
Saxons – now it was
mainly controlled by
There were around many
10000 Norman settler. foreigners.Anglo–
Norman
England Saxons

Around ten of King

Williams important King William and his
followers controlled 25 family directly controlled
per cent of England around 20 per cent of the
land.
between them.
170 other Normans
controlled the rest – this
meant all the land in
England was held by just
250 people
Fun Facts
 Fun Facts

The Motte and

Feudal The Bailey
system Domesday
Book
Feudalism was The castle is
established in It listed over named after
other parts in 13,000 places in Norman words.
Europe before England and
1066 and the parts of Wales
Norman conquest
England.