The Normans

The Normans came to govern England following one of the most famous battles in English history: the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Four Norman kings presided over a period of great change and development for the country.
The Domesday Book, a great record of English land-holding, was published; the forests were extended; the Exchequer was founded; and a start was made on the Tower of London.
In religious affairs, the Gregorian reform movement gathered pace and forced concessions, while the machinery of government developed to support the country while Henry was fighting abroad.
Meanwhile, the social landscape altered dramatically, as the Norman aristocracy came to prominence. Many of the nobles struggled to keep a hold on their interests in both Normandy and England, as divided rule meant the threat of conflict.

This was the case when William the Conqueror died. His eldest son, Robert, became Duke of Normandy, while the next youngest, William, became king of England. Their younger brother Henry would become king on William II's death. The uneasy divide continued until Henry captured and imprisoned his elder brother.

The question of the succession continued to weigh heavily over the remainder of the period. Henry's son died, and his nominated heir Matilda was denied the throne by her cousin, Henry's nephew, Stephen.
There then followed a period of civil war. Matilda married Geoffrey Plantagenet of Anjou, who took control of Normandy. The duchy was therefore separated from England once again.
A compromise was eventually reached whereby the son of Matilda and Geoffrey would be heir to the English crown, while Stephen's son would inherit his baronial lands.
It meant that in 1154 Henry II would ascend to the throne as the first undisputed king in over 100 years - evidence of the dynastic uncertainty of the Norman period. http://www.royal.gov.uk/

III. "Dynasty"

Henry II Eleanor of Aquitaine

1087–1216. There is no saga more powerful than that of the warring dynasty – domineering father, beautiful, scheming mother and squabbling, murderous sons and daughters, (particularly the nieces). In the years that followed the Norman Conquest, this was the drama played out on the stage of British history.

Task 1. Listen to the introduction and fill in the gaps in the text.

England 1154, nearly a century after the …… of ……... The country was torn apart by a savage ….. war. ……. the ……… was long dead. For thirty years his children were in struggle. The realm was in ruins. And then there appeared a young king, brave and charismatic who stopped the anarchy. His name was Henry. And he would become the greatest of all the …….. …... He should be as well known as Henry VIII or Elizabeth I, but if he is remembered at all today, it is as the king who ordered …… in the ………, or as the father of the impossibly bad …. …. and the impossibly glamorous ……. the …. …... Henry II has no great monument. Yet, he made an indelible mark (неизгладимый след) on the country: the father of Common Law*, the Godfather of the English State. But Henry II was cursed, brought down by the ……, his children, and most of all by his wife, the beautiful all-powerful Eleanor of Aquitaine*.

*Common law – англо-саксонское право: система, основанная на интерпретации прецедентов

*Eleanor of Aquitaine -(1122 or 1124 - 1204) was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages, a member of a dynasty of rulers in southwestern France. She became Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right while she was still a child, then later queen consort of France (1137–1152) and England (1154–1189). Eleanor's succession to the duchy of Aquitaine in 1137 made her the most eligible bride in Europe.

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