landownership 1066-87

• Ways land could be lost?

  1. acting against the king
  2. sheriff illegally grabs your land
  3. cant afford to redeem your land from king
• ways land could be gained?

  1. the king has made you 'heir' to a dead anglo-saxon thegn
  2. king has created a new earldom from forfeited land and made you earl
• What were the landownership changed by 1087?

  • only 5% of land was held by ango-saxon aristocrasts
  • the kings own royal estates made up 20% of the land and the church owned 25%
• More power to the king:

  • changes in land ownership made william more powerful and rebellions less likely
  • anglo-saxons had to pay william to redeem their land
• Williams changes meant that he now controlled most of england, so it would have been easier for him to control his people.
• what impact did landownership have on thegns?

  • when thegns died their land was inherited by williams norman followers and not inherited by the thegns children
  • many thegns left england to work as mercenaries in europe
• what impact did landownership have on peasants?

  normans became stricter about meeting the obligations due from the land they worked