106-472: Garden Lodge at Logan Place in Kensington , London W8 is a detached house that was built from 1908–09 for the painter Cecil Rea and his wife, the sculptor Constance Halford . The house has had several notable inhabitants since Rea including Peter Wilson , the chairman of Sotheby's auction house, and was the last residence of the singer and songwriter Freddie Mercury from 1980 until his death at
212-641: A Norman army gathered from London, Winchester and Salisbury under Geoffrey of Coutances . Meanwhile, William attacked the Danes, who had moored for the winter south of the Humber in Lincolnshire, and drove them back to the north bank. Leaving Robert of Mortain in charge of Lincolnshire, he turned west and defeated the Mercian rebels in battle at Stafford . When the Danes attempted to return to Lincolnshire,
318-630: A busy commercial centre with many shops, typically upmarket. The street was declared London's second best shopping street in February 2005 due to its wide range and number of shops. However, since October 2008 the street has faced competition from the Westfield shopping centre in nearby White City. Kensington's second group of commercial buildings is at South Kensington , where several streets of small to medium-sized shops and service businesses are situated close to South Kensington tube station . This
424-525: A dark green door set into it that provides an entrance. The wall has been adorned with graffiti and messages from fans of Mercury since his death. Cecil Rea occupied the house from its completion until his death in 1935. His wife Constance survived him and lived there until her death in 1938. The British intelligence operative Tomás Harris and his wife Hilda moved to the house during the Second World War and hosted many MI5 and SIS employees at
530-604: A distance. A direct consequence of the invasion was the almost total elimination of the old English aristocracy and the loss of English control over the Catholic Church in England. William systematically dispossessed English landowners and conferred their property on his continental followers. The Domesday Book of 1086 meticulously documents the impact of this colossal programme of expropriation, revealing that by that time only about 5 per cent of land in England south of
636-581: A fleet of more than 300 ships carrying perhaps 15,000 men. Harald's army was further augmented by the forces of Tostig, who threw his support behind the Norwegian king's bid for the throne. Advancing on York, the Norwegians defeated a northern English army under Edwin and Morcar on 20 September at the Battle of Fulford . The two earls had rushed to engage the Norwegian forces before Harold could arrive from
742-579: A grant of some sort. This sophisticated medieval form of government was handed over to the Normans and was the foundation of further developments. They kept the framework of government but made changes in the personnel, although at first the new king attempted to keep some natives in office. By the end of William's reign, most of the officials of government and the royal household were Normans. The language of official documents also changed, from Old English to Latin. The forest laws were introduced, leading to
848-648: A hermit at Chester. After his victory at Hastings, William expected to receive the submission of the surviving English leaders, but instead Edgar the Ætheling was proclaimed king by the Witenagemot, with the support of Earls Edwin and Morcar, Stigand , the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Ealdred , the Archbishop of York. William therefore advanced, marching around the coast of Kent to London. He defeated an English force that attacked him at Southwark , but being unable to storm London Bridge he sought to reach
954-513: A land army supported by a fleet, resulted in the Treaty of Abernethy in which Malcolm expelled Edgar the Ætheling from Scotland and agreed to some degree of subordination to William. The exact status of this subordination was unclear – the treaty merely stated that Malcolm became William's man. Whether this meant only for Cumbria and Lothian or for the whole Scottish kingdom was left ambiguous. In 1075, during William's absence, Ralph de Gael ,
1060-482: A range of between 7000 and 8000 English troops. These men would have comprised a mix of the fyrd (militia mainly composed of foot soldiers) and the housecarls , or nobleman's personal troops, who usually also fought on foot. The main difference between the two types was in their armour; the housecarls used better protecting armour than that of the fyrd . The English army does not appear to have had many archers, although some were present. The identities of few of
1166-422: A range of estimates for the size of William's forces: 7000–8000 men, 1000–2000 of them cavalry; 10,000–12,000 men; 10,000 men, 3000 of them cavalry; or 7500 men. The army would have consisted of a mix of cavalry, infantry, and archers or crossbowmen, with about equal numbers of cavalry and archers and the foot soldiers equal in number to the other two types combined. Although later lists of companions of William
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#17327866070451272-504: A significant portion of his army in the north. Harold's army confronted William's invaders on 14 October at the Battle of Hastings . William's force defeated Harold, who was killed in the engagement, and William became king. Although William's main rivals were gone, he still faced rebellions over the following years and was not secure on the English throne until after 1072. The lands of the resisting English elite were confiscated; some of
1378-465: A single geographic block. To find the lands to compensate his Norman followers, William initially confiscated the estates of all the English lords who had fought and died with Harold and redistributed part of their lands. These confiscations led to revolts, which resulted in more confiscations, a cycle that continued for five years after the Battle of Hastings. To put down and prevent further rebellions
1484-606: A trait that it shares with Chelsea, its neighbour to the south. The area has some of London's most expensive streets and garden squares, and at about the turn of the 21st century the Holland Park neighbourhood became particularly high-status. In early 2007 houses sold in Upper Phillimore Gardens, immediately east of Holland Park , for over £20 million. Brompton is another definable area of Kensington. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea forms part of
1590-450: Is Holland Park , on the north side of the eastern end of Kensington High Street. Many residential roads have small communal garden squares , for the exclusive use of the residents. The sub districts of Kensington: South Kensington and Earl's Court also consist largely of private housing. North Kensington and West Kensington are largely devoid of features to attract the visitor. Kensington is, in general, an extremely affluent area,
1696-676: Is Kensington High Street , running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensington Gardens , containing the Albert Memorial , the Serpentine Gallery and Speke 's monument. South Kensington and Gloucester Road are home to Imperial College London , the Royal College of Music , the Royal Albert Hall , Natural History Museum , Victoria and Albert Museum , and Science Museum . The area
1802-756: Is also home to many embassies and consulates. The manor of Chenesitone is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086, which in the Anglo-Saxon language means "Chenesi's ton " (homestead/settlement). One early spelling is Kesyngton , as written in 1396. The manor of Kensington, in the county of Middlesex , was one of several hundred granted by King William the Conqueror (1066–1089) to Geoffrey de Montbray (or Mowbray), Bishop of Coutances in Normandy, one of his inner circle of advisors and one of
1908-400: Is also the southern end of Exhibition Road , the thoroughfare which serves the area's museums and educational institutions. The boundaries of Kensington are not well-defined; in particular, the southern part of Kensington has conflicting and complex borders with Chelsea (another ancient manor) whether electoral or postal definitions are used, and has similar architecture. To the west, a border
2014-646: Is clearly defined by the line of the Counter Creek marked by the West London railway line . To the north, the only obvious border line is Holland Park Avenue, to the north of which is the district of Notting Hill (another ancient manor), usually classed as within "North Kensington". In the north east is situated the large public Royal Park of Kensington Gardens (contiguous with its eastern neighbour, Hyde Park ). The other main green area in Kensington
2120-453: Is not known precisely how much English the Norman invaders learned, nor how much the knowledge of Norman French spread among the lower classes, but the demands of trade and basic communication probably meant that at least some of the Normans and native English were bilingual. Nevertheless, William the Conqueror never developed a working knowledge of English and for centuries afterwards English
2226-544: Is that, from 1072 until the Capetian conquest of Normandy in 1204, William and his successors were largely absentee rulers. For example, after 1072, William spent more than 75 per cent of his time in France rather than England. While he needed to be personally present in Normandy to defend the realm from foreign invasion and put down internal revolts, he set up royal administrative structures that enabled him to rule England from
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#17327866070452332-516: Is well served by public transport . Most of Kensington is served by three stations in the Travelcard Zone 1 : High Street Kensington , Gloucester Road and South Kensington . All three are served by the Circle line which connects them to London's railway terminals. The District line also serves all three stations, albeit on different branches; it links the latter two to Westminster and
2438-482: The Black Sea coast and established towns with names such as New London and New York. Before the Normans arrived, Anglo-Saxon governmental systems were more sophisticated than their counterparts in Normandy. All of England was divided into administrative units called shires , with subdivisions; the royal court was the centre of government, and a justice system based on local and regional tribunals existed to secure
2544-591: The City . The Piccadilly line also links South Kensington and Gloucester Road to the West End in about 10 minutes, and in the other direction to Chiswick , Ealing , Hounslow and Heathrow Airport in around 20–40 minutes, depending on the area of choice. In addition Kensington (Olympia) in Travelcard Zone 2 serves the western part of Kensington, with District line trains to Earl's Court and High Street Kensington. Nearby West Kensington station takes its name from
2650-502: The City of London . The building also houses Lebedev's TV channel London Live , with its news studio situated in part of the former department store, using St Mary Abbots church and Kensington Church Street as live backdrop. Kensington is crossed east–west by three main roads, the most important of which is the A4 Cromwell Road which connects it to Central London on the east and to Hounslow and Heathrow Airport on
2756-675: The Combined Counties Football League . Norman conquest of England The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest ) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman , French , Flemish , and Breton troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy , later styled William the Conqueror . William's claim to the English throne derived from his familial relationship with
2862-649: The Earl of Norfolk , and Roger de Breteuil the Earl of Hereford , conspired to overthrow him in the Revolt of the Earls . The exact reason for the rebellion is unclear, but it was launched at the wedding of Ralph to a relative of Roger's, held at Exning . Another earl, Waltheof, despite being one of William's favourites, was also involved, and some Breton lords were ready to offer support. Ralph also requested Danish aid. William remained in Normandy while his men in England subdued
2968-859: The Holiday Inn 's London Kensington Forum Hotel in Cromwell Road , a 27-storey building. Notable attractions and institutions in Kensington include Kensington Palace in Kensington Gardens, the Royal Albert Hall opposite the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park, the Royal College of Music , the Natural History Museum , the Science Museum , the Victoria and Albert Museum , Heythrop College , Imperial College ,
3074-601: The Royal College of Art , and Kensington and Chelsea College . The Olympia Exhibition Hall is just over the western border in West Kensington . Kensington is administered within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and lies within the Kensington parliamentary constituency. The head office of newspaper group DMGT is located in Northcliffe House off Kensington High Street in part of
3180-455: The Tees was left in English hands. Even this tiny residue was further diminished in the decades that followed, the elimination of native landholding being most complete in southern parts of the country. Natives were also removed from high governmental and ecclesiastical offices. After 1075 all earldoms were held by Normans, and Englishmen were only occasionally appointed as sheriffs. Likewise in
3286-503: The great hall of a manor house but in a courthouse. In order to differentiate it, the new sub-manor granted to Abingdon Abbey became known as Abbot's Kensington and the church St Mary Abbots . The original Kensington Barracks , built at Kensington Gate in the late 18th century, were demolished in 1858 and new barracks were built in Kensington Church Street. The focus of the area is Kensington High Street ,
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3392-517: The see of York had become vacant following the death of Ealdred in September 1069. Both sees were filled by men loyal to William: Lanfranc , abbot of William's foundation at Caen , received Canterbury while Thomas of Bayeux , one of William's chaplains, was installed at York. Some other bishoprics and abbeys also received new bishops and abbots and William confiscated some of the wealth of the English monasteries, which had served as repositories for
3498-403: The " Norman yoke " arose in the 17th century, the idea that Anglo-Saxon society had been freer and more equal than the society that emerged after the conquest. This theory owes more to the period in which it was developed than to historical facts, but it continues to be used to the present day in both political and popular thought. In the 20th and 21st centuries, historians have focused less on
3604-644: The 1070s, when a group of Anglo-Saxons in a fleet of 235 ships sailed for the Byzantine Empire . The empire became a popular destination for many English nobles and soldiers, as the Byzantines were in need of mercenaries. The English became the predominant element in the elite Varangian Guard , until then a largely Scandinavian unit, from which the emperor's bodyguard was drawn. Some of the English migrants were settled in Byzantine frontier regions on
3710-739: The Church, senior English office-holders were either expelled from their positions or kept in place for their lifetimes and replaced by foreigners when they died. After the death of Wulfstan in 1095, no bishopric was held by any Englishman, and English abbots became uncommon, especially in the larger monasteries. Following the conquest, many Anglo-Saxons, including groups of nobles, fled the country for Scotland, Ireland, or Scandinavia. Members of King Harold Godwinson's family sought refuge in Ireland and used their bases in that country for unsuccessful invasions of England. The largest single exodus occurred in
3816-463: The Conqueror are extant, most are padded with extra names; only about 35 individuals can be reliably claimed to have been with William at Hastings. William of Poitiers states that William obtained Pope Alexander II 's consent for the invasion, signified by a papal banner, along with diplomatic support from other European rulers. Although Alexander did give papal approval to the conquest after it succeeded, no other source claims papal support before
3922-521: The Danes the Fenland rebels remained at large, protected by the marshes, and early in 1071 there was a final outbreak of rebel activity in the area. Edwin and Morcar again turned against William, and although Edwin was quickly betrayed and killed, Morcar reached Ely , where he and Hereward were joined by exiled rebels who had sailed from Scotland. William arrived with an army and a fleet to finish off this last pocket of resistance. After some costly failures,
4028-478: The Danish king's brother, Cnut , had finally arrived in England with a fleet of 200 ships, but he was too late as Norwich had already surrendered. The Danes then raided along the coast before returning home. William did not return to England until later in 1075, to deal with the Danish threat and the aftermath of the rebellion, celebrating Christmas at Winchester. Roger and Waltheof were kept in prison, where Waltheof
4134-699: The English Channel. William assembled a large invasion fleet and an army gathered from Normandy and all over France, including large contingents from Brittany and Flanders. He mustered his forces at Saint-Valery-sur-Somme and was ready to cross the Channel by about 12 August. The exact numbers and composition of William's force are unknown. A contemporary document claims that William had 726 ships, but this may be an inflated figure. Figures given by contemporary writers are highly exaggerated, varying from 14,000 to 150,000 men. Modern historians have offered
4240-647: The English leaders surrendered to William at Berkhamsted , Hertfordshire. William was acclaimed King of England and crowned by Ealdred on 25 December 1066, in Westminster Abbey . The new king attempted to conciliate the remaining English nobility by confirming Morcar, Edwin and Waltheof, the Earl of Northumbria , in their lands as well as giving some land to Edgar the Ætheling . William remained in England until March 1067, when he returned to Normandy with English prisoners, including Stigand, Morcar, Edwin, Edgar
4346-511: The English system of taxation that included a land tax, or the geld. English coinage was also superior to most of the other currencies in use in northwestern Europe, and the ability to mint coins was a royal monopoly. The English kings had also developed the system of issuing writs to their officials, in addition to the normal medieval practice of issuing charters . Writs were either instructions to an official or group of officials, or notifications of royal actions such as appointments to office or
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4452-457: The English throne in 1042. This led to the establishment of a powerful Norman interest in English politics, as Edward drew heavily on his former hosts for support, bringing in Norman courtiers, soldiers, and clerics and appointing them to positions of power, particularly in the Church. Childless and embroiled in conflict with the formidable Godwin, Earl of Wessex , and his sons, Edward may also have encouraged Duke William of Normandy's ambitions for
4558-579: The English throne. When King Edward died at the beginning of 1066, the lack of a clear heir led to a disputed succession in which several contenders laid claim to the throne of England. Edward's immediate successor was the Earl of Wessex , Harold Godwinson, the richest and most powerful of the English aristocrats. Harold was elected king by the Witenagemot of England and crowned by the Archbishop of York, Ealdred , although Norman propaganda claimed
4664-507: The English troops appear to have pursued the fleeing Bretons. Norman cavalry then attacked and killed the pursuing troops. While the Bretons were fleeing, rumours swept the Norman forces that the duke had been killed, but William rallied his troops. Twice more the Normans made feigned withdrawals , tempting the English into pursuit, and allowing the Norman cavalry to attack them repeatedly. The available sources are more confused about events in
4770-467: The Englishmen at Hastings are known; the most important were Harold's brothers Gyrth and Leofwine . About 18 other named individuals can reasonably be assumed to have fought with Harold at Hastings, including two other relatives. The battle began at about 9 am on 14 October 1066 and lasted all day, but while a broad outline is known, the exact events are obscured by contradictory accounts in
4876-466: The Norman forces there again drove them back across the Humber. William advanced into Northumbria, defeating an attempt to block his crossing of the swollen River Aire at Pontefract . The Danes fled at his approach, and he occupied York. He bought off the Danes, who agreed to leave England in the spring, and during the winter of 1069–70 his forces systematically devastated Northumbria in the Harrying of
4982-496: The Normans constructed castles and fortifications in unprecedented numbers, initially mostly on the motte-and-bailey pattern. Historian Robert Liddiard remarks that "to glance at the urban landscape of Norwich, Durham or Lincoln is to be forcibly reminded of the impact of the Norman invasion". William and his barons also exercised tighter control over inheritance of property by widows and daughters, often forcing marriages to Normans. A measure of William's success in taking control
5088-535: The Normans managed to construct a pontoon to reach the Isle of Ely, defeated the rebels at the bridgehead and stormed the island, marking the effective end of English resistance. Morcar was imprisoned for the rest of his life; Hereward was pardoned and had his lands returned to him. William faced difficulties in his continental possessions in 1071, but in 1072 he returned to England and marched north to confront King Malcolm III of Scotland . This campaign, which included
5194-479: The North , subduing all resistance. As a symbol of his renewed authority over the north, William ceremonially wore his crown at York on Christmas Day 1069. In early 1070, having secured the submission of Waltheof and Gospatric, and driven Edgar and his remaining supporters back to Scotland, William returned to Mercia, where he based himself at Chester and crushed all remaining resistance in the area before returning to
5300-654: The Vikings in the region became known as the "Northmen" which "Normandy" and "Normans" are derived from. The Normans quickly adopted the indigenous culture as they became assimilated by the French, renouncing paganism and converting to Christianity . They adopted the Old French language of their new home and added features from their own Old Norse language, transforming it into the Norman language . They intermarried with
5406-621: The Wild , in alliance with the Welsh rulers of Gwynedd and Powys , raised a revolt in western Mercia , fighting Norman forces based in Hereford . These events forced William to return to England at the end of 1067. In 1068 William besieged rebels in Exeter , including Harold's mother Gytha, and after suffering heavy losses managed to negotiate the town's surrender. In May, William's wife Matilda
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#17327866070455512-462: The ability to dispose of their property as they wished. Debate over the conquest started almost immediately. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , when discussing the death of William the Conqueror, denounced him and the conquest in verse, but the king's obituary notice from William of Poitiers, a Frenchman, was full of praise. Historians since then have argued over the facts of the matter and how to interpret them, with little agreement. The theory or myth of
5618-470: The afternoon, but it appears that the decisive event was the death of Harold, about which different stories are told. William of Jumieges claimed that Harold was killed by the duke. The Bayeux Tapestry has been claimed to show Harold's death by an arrow to the eye, but this may be a later reworking of the tapestry to conform to 12th-century stories that Harold had died from an arrow wound to the head. Other sources stated that no one knew how Harold died because
5724-555: The assets of the native nobles. In 1070 Sweyn II of Denmark arrived to take personal command of his fleet and renounced the earlier agreement to withdraw, sending troops into the Fens to join forces with English rebels led by Hereward the Wake , at that time based on the Isle of Ely . Sweyn soon accepted a further payment of Danegeld from William, and returned home. After the departure of
5830-620: The battle remain obscure, with contradictory accounts in the sources, but all agree that William led his army from his castle and advanced towards the enemy. Harold had taken up a defensive position at the top of Senlac Hill (present-day Battle, East Sussex ), about 6 miles (10 kilometres) from William's castle at Hastings. Contemporary sources do not give reliable data on the size and composition of Harold's army, although two Norman sources give figures of 1.2 million or 400,000 men. Recent historians have suggested figures of between 5000 and 13,000 for Harold's army at Hastings, but most agree on
5936-555: The capital by a more circuitous route. William moved up the Thames valley to cross the river at Wallingford , Berkshire; while there he received the submission of Stigand. He then travelled north-east along the Chilterns , before advancing towards London from the north-west, fighting further engagements against forces from the city. Having failed to muster an effective military response, Edgar's leading supporters lost their nerve, and
6042-407: The ceremony was performed by Stigand , the uncanonically elected Archbishop of Canterbury . Harold was immediately challenged by two powerful neighbouring rulers. Duke William claimed that he had been promised the throne by King Edward and that Harold had sworn agreement to this; King Harald III of Norway, commonly known as Harald Hardrada , also contested the succession. His claim to the throne
6148-469: The charging hours Monday-Friday to pay a daily fee of £8). In 2020 a temporary cycle lane on Kensington High Street caused a nationwide media stir. The temporary cycle lane was installed by the local council in September 2020 with £700,000 in funding from central government grants, but it was removed in December 2020. Kensington has one football team, Kensington Borough F.C. , which currently plays in
6254-810: The childless Anglo-Saxon king Edward the Confessor , who may have encouraged William's hopes for the throne. Edward died in January 1066 and was succeeded by his brother-in-law Harold Godwinson . The Norwegian king Harald Hardrada invaded northern England in September 1066 and was victorious at the Battle of Fulford on 20 September, but Godwinson's army defeated and killed Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge on 25 September. Three days later on 28 September, William's invasion force of thousands of men and hundreds of ships landed at Pevensey in Sussex in southern England. Harold marched south to oppose him, leaving
6360-415: The conquest on the lower levels of English society is difficult to assess. The major change was the elimination of slavery in England , which had disappeared by the middle of the 12th century. There were about 28,000 slaves listed in the Domesday Book in 1086, fewer than had been enumerated for 1066. In some places, such as Essex, the decline in slaves was 20 per cent for the 20 years. The main reasons for
6466-587: The conquest was the introduction of Anglo-Norman , a northern dialect of Old French with limited Nordic influences, as the language of the ruling classes in England, displacing Old English. Norman French words entered the English language, and a further sign of the shift was the usage of names common in France instead of Anglo-Saxon names . Male names such as William , Robert , and Richard soon became common; female names changed more slowly. The Norman invasion had little impact on placenames , which had changed significantly after earlier Scandinavian invasions . It
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#17327866070456572-519: The decades after 1066. Although earlier historians argued that women became less free and lost rights with the conquest, current scholarship has mostly rejected this view. Little is known about women other than those in the landholding class, so no conclusions can be drawn about peasant women's status after 1066. Noblewomen appear to have continued to influence political life mainly through their kinship relationships. Both before and after 1066 aristocratic women could own land, and some women continued to have
6678-510: The decline in slaveholding appear to have been the disapproval of the Church and the cost of supporting slaves who, unlike serfs , had to be maintained entirely by their owners. The practice of slavery was not outlawed, and the Leges Henrici Primi from the reign of King Henry I continue to mention slaveholding as legal. Many of the free peasants of Anglo-Saxon society appear to have lost status and become indistinguishable from
6784-401: The elite fled into exile. To control his new kingdom, William granted lands to his followers and built castles commanding military strong points throughout the land. The Domesday Book , a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales, was completed by 1086. Other effects of the conquest included the court and government, the introduction of a dialect of French as
6890-445: The forces of Eadric the Wild, together with his Welsh allies and further rebel forces from Cheshire and Shropshire, attacked the castle at Shrewsbury . In the southwest, rebels from Devon and Cornwall attacked the Norman garrison at Exeter but were repulsed by the defenders and scattered by a Norman relief force under Count Brian. Other rebels from Dorset , Somerset and neighbouring areas besieged Montacute Castle but were defeated by
6996-523: The former boundaries with Hammersmith and is not in the Borough. A number of local bus services link Kensington into the surrounding districts, and key hubs are Kensington High Street and South Kensington station. These bus services were improved in frequency and spread from 2007 until 2010 when the western extension of the London congestion charge area existed (which required drivers of cars and vans during
7102-582: The house as "well hidden". In April 2023, Austin revealed to the BBC that Mercury's possessions from the house were to be sold at auction at Sotheby's in September 2023. In February 2024, the home was put for sale for over £30 million by Knight Frank estate agent. Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea , around 2.9 miles (4.6 km) west of Central London . The district's commercial heart
7208-404: The house on 24 November 1991. The house was designed by the architect Ernest William Marshall and built in the Neo-Georgian style. It is two-storeys high with eight bedrooms, and a pedimented studio wing with a large bay window as a notable feature. The builders were M. Calnan and Son of Commercial Road. It is set on an acre of landscaped grounds. An 8-foot high wall surrounds the garden with
7314-448: The invasion until he could make an unopposed landing. The Normans crossed to England a few days after Harold's victory over the Norwegians at Stamford Bridge on 25 September, following the dispersal of Harold's naval force. They landed at Pevensey in Sussex on 28 September and erected a wooden castle at Hastings , from which they raided the surrounding area. This ensured supplies for the army, and as Harold and his family held many of
7420-399: The invasion, but William claimed ultimate possession of the land in England over which his armies had given him de facto control, and asserted the right to dispose of it as he saw fit. Henceforth, all land was "held" directly from the king in feudal tenure in return for military service. A Norman lord typically had properties scattered piecemeal throughout England and Normandy, and not in
7526-428: The invasion. William's army assembled during the summer while an invasion fleet in Normandy was constructed. Although the army and fleet were ready by early August, adverse winds kept the ships in Normandy until late September. There were probably other reasons for William's delay, including intelligence reports from England revealing that Harold's forces were deployed along the coast. William would have preferred to delay
7632-471: The king after 1095, which increased his status in feudal England. He granted the church and an estate within the manor to Abingdon Abbey in Oxfordshire , at the deathbed request of his eldest son Geoffrey. As the de Veres became Earls of Oxford , their principal manor at Kensington came to be known as Earl's Court, as they were not resident in the manor, and their manorial business was not conducted in
7738-404: The lands in the area, it weakened William's opponent and made him more likely to attack to put an end to the raiding. Harold, after defeating his brother Tostig and Harald Hardrada in the north, left much of his force there, including Morcar and Edwin, and marched the rest of his army south to deal with the threatened Norman invasion. It is unclear when Harold learned of William's landing, but it
7844-409: The language of the elites, and changes in the composition of the upper classes, as William enfeoffed lands to be held directly from the king. More gradual changes affected the agricultural classes and village life: the main change appears to have been the formal elimination of slavery , which may or may not have been linked to the invasion. There was little alteration in the structure of government, as
7950-699: The large Barkers department store building. In addition to housing the offices for the DMGT newspapers Daily Mail , Mail on Sunday and Metro , Northcliffe House also accommodates the offices of the newspapers owned by Evgeny Lebedev : The Independent , The Independent on Sunday , and the Evening Standard . The i newspaper, sold to Johnston Press in 2016, is still produced from offices in Northcliffe House. Most of these titles were for many decades produced and printed in Fleet Street in
8056-439: The leading men of the city, on 24 September the Norwegians moved east to the tiny village of Stamford Bridge . King Harold probably learned of the Norwegian invasion in mid-September and rushed north, gathering forces as he went. The royal forces probably took nine days to cover the distance from London to York, averaging almost 25 miles (40 kilometres) per day. At dawn on 25 September Harold's forces reached York, where he learned
8162-590: The local population and used the territory granted to them as a base to extend the frontiers of the duchy westward, annexing territory including the Bessin , the Cotentin Peninsula and Avranches . In 1002, English king Æthelred the Unready married Emma of Normandy , the sister of Richard II, Duke of Normandy . Their son Edward the Confessor , who spent many years in exile in Normandy, succeeded to
8268-437: The location of the Norwegians. The English then marched on the invaders and took them by surprise, defeating them in the Battle of Stamford Bridge . Harald of Norway and Tostig were killed, and the Norwegians suffered such horrific losses that only 24 of the original 300 ships were required to carry away the survivors. The English victory was costly, however, as Harold's army was left in a battered and weakened state, and far from
8374-465: The most densely populated local government district in the United Kingdom. This high density has come about through the subdivision of large mid-rise Georgian and Victorian terraced houses (generally of four to six floors) into flats. The less-affluent northern extremity of Kensington has high-rise residential buildings, while this type of building in the southern part is only represented by
8480-683: The new Norman administrators took over many of the forms of Anglo-Saxon government. In 911, the Carolingian French ruler Charles the Simple allowed a group of Vikings under their leader Rollo to settle in Normandy as part of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte . In exchange for the land, the Norsemen under Rollo were expected to provide protection along the coast against further Viking invaders. Their settlement proved successful and
8586-412: The non-free serfs. Whether this change was due entirely to the conquest is unclear, but the invasion and its after-effects probably accelerated a process already underway. The spread of towns and increase in nucleated settlements in the countryside, rather than scattered farms, was probably accelerated by the coming of the Normans to England. The lifestyle of the peasantry probably did not greatly change in
8692-476: The press of battle was so tight around the king that the soldiers could not see who struck the fatal blow. William of Poitiers gives no details about Harold's death. The day after the battle, Harold's body was identified, either by his armour or marks on his body. The bodies of the English dead, who included some of Harold's brothers and his housecarls , were left on the battlefield, although some were removed by relatives later. Gytha , Harold's mother, offered
8798-550: The property. Freddie Mercury bought the house for £500,000 in cash from a member of the Hoare family early in 1980. After his death, mourning fans covered the wall with graffiti messages. The house was inherited by Mercury's close friend Mary Austin following his death at the house in 1991. Bridget Cherry , writing in the 1991 London: North West edition of the Pevsner Architectural Guides described
8904-630: The revolt. Roger was unable to leave his stronghold in Herefordshire because of efforts by Wulfstan , the Bishop of Worcester , and Æthelwig , the Abbot of Evesham . Ralph was bottled up in Norwich Castle by the combined efforts of Odo of Bayeux, Geoffrey of Coutances, Richard fitzGilbert , and William de Warenne . Norwich was besieged and surrendered, and Ralph went into exile. Meanwhile,
9010-528: The rightness or wrongness of the conquest itself, instead concentrating on the effects of the invasion. Some, such as Richard Southern , have seen the conquest as a critical turning point in history. Southern stated that "no country in Europe, between the rise of the barbarian kingdoms and the 20th century, has undergone so radical a change in so short a time as England experienced after 1066". Other historians, such as H. G. Richardson and G. O. Sayles, believe that
9116-406: The rights of free men. Shires were run by officials known as shire reeves or sheriffs . Most medieval governments were always on the move, holding court wherever the weather and food or other matters were best at the moment; England had a permanent treasury at Winchester before William's conquest. One major reason for the strength of the English monarchy was the wealth of the kingdom, built on
9222-401: The setting aside of large sections of England as royal forest . The Domesday survey was an administrative catalogue of the landholdings of the kingdom, and was unique to medieval Europe. It was divided into sections based on the shires, and listed all the landholdings of each tenant-in-chief of the king as well as who had held the land before the conquest. One of the most obvious effects of
9328-411: The sources. Although the numbers on each side were probably about equal, William had both cavalry and infantry, including many archers, while Harold had only foot soldiers and few archers. The English soldiers formed up as a shield wall along the ridge, and were at first so effective that William's army was thrown back with heavy casualties. Some of William's Breton troops panicked and fled, and some of
9434-464: The south, the Danes joined forces with a new Northumbrian uprising, which was also joined by Edgar, Gospatric and the other exiles from Scotland as well as Waltheof. The combined Danish and English forces defeated the Norman garrison at York, seized the castles and took control of Northumbria, although a raid into Lincolnshire led by Edgar was defeated by the Norman garrison of Lincoln . At the same time resistance flared up again in western Mercia, where
9540-471: The south. Papal legates arrived and at Easter re-crowned William, which would have symbolically reasserted his right to the kingdom. William also oversaw a purge of prelates from the Church, most notably Stigand, who was deposed from Canterbury. The papal legates also imposed penances on William and those of his supporters who had taken part in Hastings and the subsequent campaigns. As well as Canterbury,
9646-465: The south. Edwin and Morcar again submitted, while Gospatric fled to Scotland, as did Edgar the Ætheling and his family, who may have been involved in these revolts. Meanwhile, Harold's sons, who had taken refuge in Ireland, raided Somerset , Devon and Cornwall from the sea. Early in 1069 the newly installed Norman Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Comines , and several hundred soldiers accompanying him were massacred at Durham. The Northumbrian rebellion
9752-426: The south. Although Harold Godwinson had married Edwin and Morcar's sister Ealdgyth , the two earls may have distrusted Harold and feared that the king would replace Morcar with Tostig. The result was that their forces were devastated and unable to participate in the rest of the campaigns of 1066, although the two earls survived the battle. Hardrada moved on to York, which surrendered to him. After taking hostages from
9858-414: The transformation was less radical. In more general terms, Singman has called the conquest "the last echo of the national migrations that characterized the early Middle Ages". The debate over the impact of the conquest depends on how change after 1066 is measured. If Anglo-Saxon England was already evolving before the invasion, with the introduction of feudalism , castles or other changes in society, then
9964-463: The victorious duke the weight of her son's body in gold for its custody, but her offer was refused. William ordered that Harold's body be thrown into the sea, but whether that took place is unclear. Another story relates that Harold was buried at the top of a cliff. Waltham Abbey , which had been founded by Harold, later claimed that his body had been buried there secretly. Later legends claimed that Harold did not die at Hastings, but escaped and became
10070-470: The wealthiest men in post- Conquest England . He granted the tenancy of Kensington to his follower Aubrey de Vere I , who was holding the manor from him as overlord in 1086, according to the Domesday Book . The bishop's heir, Robert de Mowbray , rebelled against King William II and his vast feudal barony was forfeited to the Crown. Aubrey de Vere I thus became a tenant-in-chief , holding directly from
10176-399: The west. Parallel to the north is Kensington Road (of which Kensington High Street forms the eastern part), linking central London and Hammersmith and Hounslow to the area. To the south is Fulham Road, which connects South Kensington with Fulham to the south-west. North-south connections are not as well-developed and there is no obvious single north–south route through the area. Kensington
10282-427: The years before 1100, but such marriages were uncommon. Most Normans continued to contract marriages with other Normans or other continental families rather than with the English. Within a century of the invasion, intermarriage between the native English and the Norman immigrants had become common. By the early 1160s, Ailred of Rievaulx was writing that intermarriage was common in all levels of society. The impact of
10388-450: The Ætheling, and Waltheof. Despite the submission of the English nobles, resistance continued for several years. William left control of England in the hands of his half-brother Odo and one of his closest supporters, William fitzOsbern . In 1067 rebels in Kent launched an unsuccessful attack on Dover Castle in combination with Eustace II of Boulogne . The Shropshire landowner Eadric
10494-738: Was based on an agreement between his predecessor, Magnus the Good , and the earlier English king, Harthacnut , whereby if either died without an heir, the other would inherit both England and Norway. William and Harald at once set about assembling troops and ships to invade England. In early 1066, Harold's exiled brother, Tostig Godwinson , raided southeastern England with a fleet he had recruited in Flanders , later joined by other ships from Orkney . Threatened by Harold's fleet, Tostig moved north and raided in East Anglia and Lincolnshire , but he
10600-567: Was crowned queen at Westminster, an important symbol of William's growing international stature. Later in the year Edwin and Morcar raised a revolt in Mercia with Welsh assistance, while Gospatric , the newly appointed Earl of Northumbria, led a rising in Northumbria, which had not yet been occupied by the Normans. These rebellions rapidly collapsed as William moved against them, building castles and installing garrisons as he had already done in
10706-455: Was crushed by the garrison of York. Harold's sons launched a second raid from Ireland and were defeated at the Battle of Northam in Devon by Norman forces under Count Brian , a son of Eudes, Count of Penthièvre . In August or September 1069 a large fleet sent by Sweyn II of Denmark arrived off the coast of England, sparking a new wave of rebellions across the country. After abortive raids in
10812-509: Was driven back to his ships by the brothers Edwin, Earl of Mercia , and Morcar, Earl of Northumbria . Deserted by most of his followers, Tostig withdrew to Scotland, where he spent the summer recruiting fresh forces. King Harold spent the summer on the south coast with a large army and fleet waiting for William to invade, but the bulk of his forces were militia who needed to harvest their crops, so on 8 September Harold dismissed them. Hardrada invaded northern England in early September, leading
10918-548: Was executed in May 1076. By that time William had returned to the continent, where Ralph was continuing the rebellion from Brittany. Once England had been conquered, the Normans faced many challenges in maintaining control. They were few in number compared to the native English population; including those from other parts of France, historians estimate the number of Norman landholders at around 8000. William's followers expected and received lands and titles in return for their service in
11024-564: Was joined by Edgar, Gospatric, Siward Barn and other rebels who had taken refuge in Scotland. The castellan of York, Robert fitzRichard, was defeated and killed, and the rebels besieged the Norman castle at York. William hurried north with an army, defeated the rebels outside York and pursued them into the city, massacring the inhabitants and bringing the revolt to an end. He built a second castle at York, strengthened Norman forces in Northumbria and then returned south. A subsequent local uprising
11130-411: Was not well understood by the nobility. An estimated 8000 Normans and other continentals settled in England as a result of the conquest, although exact figures cannot be established. Some of these new residents intermarried with the native English, but the extent of this practice in the years immediately after Hastings is unclear. Several marriages are attested between Norman men and English women during
11236-465: Was probably while he was travelling south. Harold stopped in London for about a week before reaching Hastings, so it is likely that he took a second week to march south, averaging about 27 miles (43 kilometres) per day, for the nearly 200 miles (320 kilometres) to London. Although Harold attempted to surprise the Normans, William's scouts reported the English arrival to the duke. The exact events preceding
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