Norman Conquest

Norman Conquest, era of English history following the Battle of Hastings (1066), when William, Duke of Normandy, defeated and killed England's Saxon king, Harold. William claimed the English throne and quickly crushed resistance. By 1070 most Anglo-Saxon nobles had been either killed or subjugated, their land distributed to Normans in return for their agreement to supply the king with mounted soldiers. After the conquest French became the language of the royal court and had a major and lasting influence on English.

See also: Hastings, Battle of; William I.