The Apocalypse

The Rule of Law

Episode 2 is the story of the impact of the Norman Invasion on the Rule of Law in England. Saxon control of England was obliterated in 1066 by the Norman Conquest. The Normans' ancestors were Vikings. Technically, the liegemen of the King of France, in reality their military power in Northern France was enormous. They helped created the Capetian Dynasty in France when they changed their allegiance from their patrons, the Carolingians, to Hugh Capet in 987. They possessed the most feared cavalry on the continent, a brutal killing machine. They were led by the illiterate Duke of Normandy, known as "William the Bastard." At age 7, upon the death of his father, he became the Duke of Normandy. His three guardians were all assassinated in rapid succession. Not surprisingly, William grew into a violent, hardened man. Under his feudal system (land given in exchange for loyal military service), any man who challenged him was executed. On September 26th, 1066, he invaded England with 7,000 soldiers and 2,500 warhorses. Violence achieved the Conquest and continued as his means of control. All Saxon land was stolen and given to his barons, creating 1,500 "tenant-in-chief;" all but 2 were Normans. When the Saxons rebelled in the north, he exterminated the entire population in those northern counties--men by the sword, women and children by starvation. The purpose of famed Domesday Survey was squeezing taxes from the Saxon population. Episode 2 is the story of how the Conqueror used violence, taxes and the heirarchy of the Church to take control and keep control of Saxon England with an absolute dictatorship that continued for almost 700 years before the English people could begin dismantling it. However, It is also the story of how despite the Norman catastrophe, against enormous odds, progress in the law continued and milestones in the law were achieved. That progress would one day lead to complete establishment of the Rule of Law and democracy in Britain.