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William the Conqueror

England in the 11th Century

The Vikings hit England hard, too. The earliest raids date back to Charlemagne's day and continued without a break. Alfred the Great won his reputation in battles with the Danes. By the early 11th century, the Danes had won so thoroughly that there were actually two kings of England who were also kings of Denmark.

The second of these was Canute, who resided in England rather than in Denmark for much of his reign. The inhabitants of England were the ancient Celts, who now were found only in Wales, Scotland, and Cornwall; the Saxons, who had driven back the Britons in the 6th century; and the Danes, who had settled in the eastern third of the country. Of the three, the Saxons were the most numerous and it was Saxon kings who had ruled before the Danes arrived.

Saxon England was not a feudal state. The peasantry was made up of free farmers, plus slaves; the nobility were aristocrats but there were few cases of land in exchange for service. The Church was run mainly from the monastery, not the cathedral. The king was served by a national militia, plus his own retainers. Nobles fought alongside him only as allies, not as vassals. The country was poor and sparsely populated. There were very few castles; very few stone buildings. The earls were more powerful than the king. Oriented toward the North Sea, not the continent.