How did William the 1st take control of England?

Answer 1

William gained control of England by building castles which insured that the locals didn't put up rebellions and if they did they were easily stopped by the soldiers. castles scared the locals.

Next William created the feudal system that insured that everyone was loyal to the king and the people above them as they had to pay eachover taxes. The fuedal system ensured that the barons were loyal to the king, the knights were loyal to the barons and the peaseants were loyal to the knights which meant that everyone was under the kings control.

Next William created the domesday book which kept a record of how many animals or how many fields a person has therefore how much tax they should be charged . However the book was only used for 2 years as William died soon after creating it meaning it wasnt as useful.

Answer 2

Hi.
It's ALL about control.
Motte and bailey castles were established throughout England after the conquest; built quickly there told the populace that the Normans were here to stay. They were often built in strategic areas, usually on higher ground so that they could be seen for miles. About 20 soldiers could hold off hundreds of attackers. They were very hard to attack. Gradually a lot of them were rebuilt in stone...most famously the White Tower in the Tower of London (which is still there! Amazing!).
Feudalism. This was a system of control wereby each level of society gave service to their liege lord in return for land. At the bottom were the peasants, who didn't own anything but who worked for their liege lord in return for a little bit of scrub from which they could eke out an existence. Their liege lords were the knights, who gave service to their liege lords,the barons, who gave their service to their liege lord, the King. The church also owned land, a lot of land! This system of land ownership in return for service was around for hundreds of years, and still exists on the island of Sark in the Channel Islands! Their liege lord is the Queen!!! (who is known as the Duke of Normandy!). So, it proved a very efficient system and gave Norman England a constant supply of men-at-arms so it was always able to defend itself.
The Domesday Book is an amazing event in English history. William wanted to know how rich this new land was, so he sent out his clerks (who were basically monks) to every corner of his new kingdom to record what everyone owned. From this he could then calculate how much TAX these people would pay. Don't forget, everything was based on LAND in medieval England. Land was your power-base. The more land you had, the more you had to pay the king. It was enforced rigorously by William's soldiers, and there are instances were peasants and the like were killed for not giving the correct information. It became known as a Dooms Day book because people believed that on the day of Judgement (or Dooms Day), a great book would be opened and all the things you had done wrong in your life would be read out. The spelling changed over time. AND, there were two such books (well, actually more than two, but...) one smaller than the other, hence Little Domesday!!! Some of these copies still exist, making it one of the most important historical documents known. The detail it gives us of medieval life is quite remarkable, but this is another topic!
Anyway, I hope this has helped.
Good luck!

Answer 3

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