ConflictEurope
The Battle of Hastings
The Normans take England, and English becomes another language
See it on the timeline →In depth
The conquest was followed by the Domesday Book of 1086, a complete survey of who owned what across the realm — without parallel in Europe at the time, and still one of the most remarkable administrative documents of the Middle Ages. The Bayeux Tapestry, seventy metres long, tells the whole story in embroidery, from the winners' side.
For children
William of Normandy crossed the Channel and defeated the English king Harold at Hastings. French then became the language of the court for three centuries — which is why English has two words for almost everything, one Germanic and one French.
Connects to
Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org