Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/317

England and France in the Middle Ages 229 369. William's Policy in England. The English who had re- fused to join him before the battle of Hastings were declared to have forfeited their lands, but were permitted to keep them upon condition of receiving them back from the new king as his vassals. The lands of those who actually fought against him at Hastings, or in later rebellions, were seized and redistributed LJ J^| f among his faithful fol- lowers, both Norman and English. William declared that he did not propose to change the English cus- toms but to govern as Edward the Confessor had done. He maintained the Witenagemot, a council made up of bishops and nobles, whose advice the Saxon kings had sought in all important matters. He avoided giving to any one person a great many estates in a single region, so that no one should thus become inconven- iently powerful. Finally, in order to secure the support of the smaller landholders and to prevent combinations against him among the greater ones, he required every landowner in England to take an oath of fidelity directly to him, instead of having only a few great landowners as vassals who had their own subvassals under their own control, as in France (366). 370. General Results of the Norman Conquest. It is clear that the Norman Conquest was not a simple change of kings, but that a new element was added to the English people. We cannot tell how many Normans actually emigrated across the Channel, NORMAN GATEWAY AT BRISTOL, ENGLAND This beautiful gateway was originally the entrance to a monastery, begun in 1142. It is one of the finest examples of the Norman style of building to be seen in England