Norman Church

• Architectural features of a Norman church

  • Small tower, porchway
• After 1066, William claimed there were problems with the Anglo-Saxon churches
• Problems with Anglo-Saxon churches identified by William


  • Saxon clergy often absent from parishes
  • Church offices and sacraments prayers were sold
  • Nepotism in giving church jobs
  • Clergy marrying when they should be celibate
• William believed in a more strict and Catholic way of running the church
• William appointed Archbishop Lanfranc to make changes


  Lanfranc believed in reform and had made major changes to the church in Normandy
• Archbishop Lanfranc was recognized as the primate chief archbishop in England
• Reforms made by Archbishop Lanfranc

  1. Increasing bishop authority

  2. Banning priests from marrying
• Archbishop Lanfranc built Battle Abbey on the site of the Battle of Hastings
• Physical changes to churches were a statement of the Norman intent to invade and stay
• Physical changes to churches

  • Massive stone churches built in a monumental style
• Many Anglo-Saxon churches were built from timber, which is why few exist today
• Survivor from the time

  • St. Gregory's Minster in Yorkshire, built from stone
• Statement of church's power

  • York Minster, a massive stone church built in a monumental style
• Architectural styles

  • English perpendicular
  • Romanesque
• The Normans were building massive stone churches in a monumental style as a statement of their wealth, power, and domination over the English
• The church rebuilt by the Normans at Ifly in Oxford in the 12th century was made of stone, symbolizing permanence and strength compared to wood
• Norman churches were often built from stone imported from Khan in Normandy, standing out against the English countryside
• Norman churches were built on a much larger scale with a nave, transepts, and choir, often resembling the shape of a cross
• Norman churches were built in the Romanesque style, imitating the Romans to convey power and success
• William saw the church as a means to further exercise Norman power and dominate the English
• Archbishop Lanfranc was tasked with fixing perceived problems with the Saxon church
• Churches were rebuilt in the Norman Romanesque style, emphasizing that God was on the Normans' side and their permanence in England
• William wanted to make people believe that he was in charge of their very souls as well