The Norman aristocracy and Bishop Odo
The culture of the Norman aristocracy
After 1066, England had a new ruling class of Norman lords and knights. Their culture was different from the English nobility's:
- Language: they spoke . Government and Church documents were written in Latin. English remained the language of most ordinary people, so the rulers and the ruled spoke different languages.
- Warfare: they fought as knights on horseback, and built castles.
- Religion: they gave land to the Church and founded new abbeys and priories, many linked to monasteries in Normandy.
- Two homes: many held land in both England and Normandy, and crossed the Channel often.
Significance: this culture set the Norman ruling class apart from the people they ruled.
Key terms
Bishop Odo's rise
Odo was William's half-brother: they had the same mother. William made him Bishop of Bayeux in Normandy.
He fought at Hastings, and he is thought to have ordered the , which shows him encouraging the Norman troops.
After 1066 William rewarded him with the earldom of Kent and huge lands across England, making him one of the richest men in the country. In 1067, while William was in Normandy, Odo was one of the who governed England.
Common mistake
Odo was William's half-brother, not his son. Don't mix him up with William's sons, Robert, William Rufus and Henry.
Key terms
Odo's abuse of power and fall, 1082
Odo used his power to take land from others, including from the Church. In one famous case he was forced to return lands he had seized from the Archbishop of Canterbury.
In 1082, William had Odo arrested. Later writers say Odo had been gathering knights to take to Italy, possibly hoping to become Pope, and William would not allow his knights to leave. Odo was imprisoned in Normandy for the rest of William's reign.
Significance: Odo shows how William rewarded loyal family members, but also that no one, not even his own brother, was allowed to threaten his power.
Odo after 1087
As William lay dying in 1087, he agreed to release Odo. Odo returned to England, but in 1088 he led a rebellion against the new king, William Rufus, to put his other nephew, Robert, on the throne. It failed, and Odo had to leave England for good.
Significance: Odo was important throughout the Norman Conquest: as a soldier at Hastings, a landowner and earl, a regent, and finally a rebel. His career shows both the rewards and the dangers of power in Norman England.