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| Battle of Hasting Photo source: Wikipedia |
1066 was marked by the near death of King Edward the Confessor, who had no his successor, and many Europeans wanted to take the throne after his death. It is believed that Edward, whose mother was originally from Normandy and promised the throne to his cousin, William, Duke of Normandy. However, King changed his decision last moments of his life, naming him as his successor his brother, Harold Godwinson Count Wessex. King Edward died on January 5, 1066.
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| William the Conqueror photo source alchetron |
The next day, Godwinson was crowned and became King Harold II of Westminster's keeping the tradition of Anglo-Saxon kings, which have been on the throne for six centuries, from the time the Roman Empire disappeared.
King Harald of Norway Hadrada became interested in obtaining the throne and exiled with his brother of newly crowned king, staged an invasion scheduled for September of 1066. On September 25 broke the Battle of Stamford Bridge, a ferocious confrontation after which both the king of Norway and its ally died. Just days after this event, King Harold and realized that it is again in danger, William the Conqueror initiating an attack proportions against him and holding an army of about 7,000 soldiers, to whom was added and infantry. Harols's army and that of William clashed at a distance of about 7 miles from the city of Hastings, on 14 October 1066. For William, the battle was an unexpected success, and among the deceased who was King Harold according to legend, he was struck by an arrow in one eye.
Since then, the 6 centuries of government Anglo-Saxon ended and the Norman conquest of England ended on Christmas Day, when William was crowned in Westminster Abbey, becoming the first king of origin Norman England.
This event changed the history of England, but also world history forever. This territory entered a strong connection to Scandinavia and also marked a cultural transformation of England. In the months following, the Normans began imposing castles that had the role of building the fortifications, but also to defend the Anglo-Saxon rebellions. Just months after his coronation, William started the beginning of the construction of the Tower of London and Windsor Castle. Moreover, using English labor, built enormous fortresses, which represented a model for future Anglo-Saxon manor.
But the most important transformation was found in the spoken language. Immediately after the victory, he became predominant French and the British monarchy's motto still is the phrase in French "Dieu et mon droit". Old English language used by the Anglo-Saxons looked like German and French language Normans combined with the language and thus was born modern English. Words used by Norman were introduced in this new language and are used today: beef (beef), Button (Buttons), Duke (lead), flowers (flowers), justice (justice), marriage (matrimony) , soldier (soldier). French names were also highly used in England, and Henry and Richard have become extremely common. In the thirteenth century, the name of William originated from Germanic (Wilhelm) was the most common surname among men across England. Even today, it is extremely popular and will become the name of an English monarch for the fourth time, where Prince William will get the throne.
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The above post is reprinted from materials provided by History . Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
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