How far by the end of his reign had William imposed Norman government on England?

The feudal system was a huge change that William introduced, creating a system by where, in return for an oath of allegiance, William granted land to the most powerful Barons. These fiefs were then further divided amongst lesser barons. Serfs, whom worked on the land, were no longer to go as they pleased as a result of the change. They were restricted to the village they were born in, the exception being if a girl was marrying a man in another village.

Any change in law was not seen to be an enormous one, as no one actually thought of them as Norman laws. The Murdrum fine was introduced along with trail by battle, slavery and the Wergild were abolished. In some cases the Murdrum fine could be a way in which William tried to protect the Normans against any attempts by the Saxons to rebel against them. It was a fine in which any Saxons found in the radius of a murdered Norman would instantly be found guilty.

William imposed Norman government on the church by installing Lanfranc as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1070. William had waited until now as the last Saxon priest in an influential post, the Archbishop of York, had died in the previous year and William had wanted to avoid a confrontation. With the church under his control, William was able to instigate Church reform without fear of opposition.

By the end of his  reign, William had imposed Norman government on England in sufficient depth to ensure that the fundamental departments of Central Government, the Church and Personnel were under his control. This ensured that the country was more efficiently run than before Williams reign. Along with his military skills, William had been able to gain the support of England through shrewd, carefully planned changes to fundamental systems that did not make the Saxon people feel like everything was changing completely beyond recognition under Norman rule.

Written by Mark Costa