The Norman conquest of England was the invasion and occupation of England in the eleventh century by an army of Normans, Britons, Flemish and French led by Duke William II of Normandy, who would later be known as William the Conqueror.
Guillermo claimed the English throne under the aegis of his kinship with the Anglo-Saxon King Edward the Confessor, who had no offspring, a circumstance that encouraged the Norman's hopes of achieving his enthronement. Eduardo died in January 1066 and was succeeded by his brother-in-law Harold Godwinson. King Harald III of Norway invaded northern England in September 1066 and secured a victory at the Battle of Fulford, but was defeated by Harold at the Battle of Stamford Bridge on September 25 of that year. Guillermo had already landed in the south of England and Haroldo marched quickly there to face him, though leaving much of his army in the north. On October 14, 1066, both armies clashed at the Battle of Hastings, which resulted in the victory of William and the death in combat of Haroldo.
Although Guillermo eliminated his main rival, he still had to face numerous rebellions in the following years, so until 1072 he could not take hold on the throne. The lands of the English aristocrats who resisted were confiscated, while some of them marched into exile. In order to control the kingdom, Guillermo gave lands to his servants and built fortresses and castles throughout the country. The conquerors introduced changes in the court and the government, the French language and remodeled the composition of the upper classes, as Guillermo turned the lands into fiefs to impose their authority. Other changes affected agricultural classes and rural life, where the greatest impact seems to have been the formal elimination of slavery, which may or may not be related to the invasion. There were small alterations in the structure of government, since the Normans assumed many of the forms of the previous Anglo-Saxon administration.
