Medieval England

• England was a good place for migrants because it offered the possibility for people to settle and experience a better life.
• England was rich in resources, including salt, fish, wheat, honey, wool, lead, iron, copper, tin and silver.
• Vikings raided at first. In 865 they invaded and began to settle,  farm and trade. 
• Normans invaded in 1066 to take control of England. Normans who followed William were attracted by the opportunities for new land and wealth that England could provide. 
• From 1070, Jews were invited by William the Conqueror to establish themselves as money lenders. 
• European craftsmen came to set up their own businesses. This was encouraged by the Black Death of 1348-51, which made it easier for people to find work. 
• Danes established their own towns and villages, customs and laws, crafts and trades in the Danelaw. They lost control of the Saxons in 937 but regained it in 1016 when Cnut became king. 
• Normans established themselves by using violence against the Saxons and building castles to control them. They kept control of England by establishing the Feudal system.
• Jews lived in their own parts of towns and cities, called Jewries, following their own way of life. Although at first Jews had the protection of monarchs, they were expelled from England in 1290
• Bankers from Lombardy took the place of Jewish moneylenders. Weavers from the Low Countries developed the English cloth industry and German merchants controlled it by the 15th century.
• 1265: Pope Clement IV allowed Christians to charge interest, so Jews were no longer needed in England leading to their expulsion in 1290 after the Statute of Jewry in 1275 that also forbade Jews to charge interest on loans
• The Vikings had an impact on place names and language. Their system of government provided the basis of modern parliamentary democracy. 
• The Normans had an impact on language, landscape and landownership. Although they kept the Saxon system of government, they put Normans in charge
• Jewish loans and taxes supported monarchs; their loans helped local businesses to grow and develop. The Jewish people’s impact on society was positive, though it ended in 1290.
• Migrant weavers and merchants changed England’s economy from being based on raw materials to manufacturing. Lombardy bankers began to change London into an international financial centre. 
• The Vikings used York to control Northumbria. York was also attractive because of its international trade connections and fertile land. York’s population grew significantly. The Vikings lived in small, thatched,  wattle houses and practised a range of trades. The Vikings made York a rich trading port, strengthening its national and international connections.