As soon as it became clear that the king’s initial desire to work with the old Anglo-Saxon aristocracy had failed, he set out to create a new йlite that would be loyal to him and ensure his position as king of England. That was secured by two things: castles, and knights to man them. The most famous of all the castles was the Tower of London. William I organized the government of England on the system that had been successful in Normandy – the feudal system based on the ownership of land. He granted lands confiscated from the defeated aristocracy to 170 of his followers who became thereby his tenants-in-chief. The grants of land were usually scattered through several shires. Collectively each group of lands was called an honour and each honour consisted of several smaller units called manors, divided among the 5,000 knights who had fought at Hastings. A knight had to swear loyalty to his lord. Each tenant-in-chief had 2 groups of knights: one consisting of those who were permanently part of his household and a second one including those who came in return for land. The lords themselves had to swear loyalty to the king and to supply knights for his service. The common people belonged to the knight on whose manor they lived. They had to serve as farm-workers but not as soldiers. There was also a small class of freemen, who didn’t have to work on the knight’s farm. William was a strong king and the system worked. The trouble was that under a weaker ruler the system could break down, leading to private castles and armies.

The White Tower in the Tower of London

The same revolution was applied to the Anglo-Saxon church. In Normandy William controlled all the appointments of bishops and abbots, filling them with his own friends and relations. Bishops and abbots from before 1066 either died or were deposed. They were replaced by Normans, and had to render the king rent in the form of armed knights. Together the tenants-in-chief, bishops and abbots made up the new ruling class, for the higher clergy, being educated, were essential for the running of the government. In these changes William was aided by a new archbishop of Canterbury, Lanfranc. Both believed that priests should be celibate. More significant for the future was the creation of special courts to deal with church cases only.

All the lords had the right to attend the king’s council and it was his duty to ask their advice. William held council meetings nearly every day, wherever he happened to be. Three times a year he held a ceremonial council for Christian feasts and wore his crown: in Winchester for Easter, in London for Whitsun and in Gloucester for Christmas. Then every lord had to attend.

Winchester castle was still the seat of Government. Here William set up his government office, which controlled the collection of taxes and kept account of all expenses. From this office men were sent out in 1086 to make a detailed record of all the wealth of England, for William, fearing invasion from Denmark, wanted to extract the maximum in taxation. The result was the Domesday Book, which gives us a complete description of the country. The book occupies 400 double-sided pages and paints a picture of a country where virtually the entire population was engaged in agriculture with little or no industry or commerce, and few towns.