Changes

Historians looking at the meaning of the Conquest until recently were at opposite extremes. One school says the Conquest made little difference:  the changes were not very great for most people, and the essential  English character soon reasserted itself in all fundamentals despite the use of the French language by a new leadership class. At the other pole are historians who argue the Conquest brought abrupt and profound changes. Some argue the changes improved England, moving it from weak, directionless Anglo-Saxon leadership to a strong Norman leadership. Some say the changes were great and for the worse, imposing on the defenseless English peasants harsh and rapacious rule, which took the English centuries to overcome.   

Historians looking at the meaning of the Conquest until recently were at opposite extremes. One school says the Conquest made little difference:  the changes were not very great for most people, and the essential  English character soon reasserted itself in all fundamentals despite the use of the French language by a new leadership class. At the other pole are historians who argue the Conquest brought abrupt and profound changes. Some argue the changes improved England, moving it from weak, directionless Anglo-Saxon leadership to a strong Norman leadership. Some say the changes were great and for the worse, imposing on the defenseless English peasants harsh and rapacious rule, which took the English centuries to overcome.   

In recent decades, scholars have avoided black-and-white and emphasized nuances and local variations. They study the ways in which Anglo-Saxon and French institutions and practices worked together to establish the fundamentals of later medieval English society, economics, government, law, religious institutions and practices, art, architecture, and language. Huscroft (2009) concludes that the effects of the Conquest were moderate, because the peoples of eleventh-century Britain and Normandy had much in common.

In recent decades, scholars have avoided black-and-white and emphasized nuances and local variations. They study the ways in which Anglo-Saxon and French institutions and practices worked together to establish the fundamentals of later medieval English society, economics, government, law, religious institutions and practices, art, architecture, and language. Huscroft (2009) concludes that the effects of the Conquest were moderate, because the peoples of eleventh century Britain and Normandy had much in common.

==Further reading==

==Further reading==