ASPECTS OF BRITISH HISTORY
craftsmen and peasants, and fairly soon they (the third generation) became bilingual.
The Anglo-Norman Empire
William controlled two large areas:
Normandy, which he had inherited from his
father, and England, which he had won in war.
As duke of Normandy he had to recognize
the king of France as his lord, whereas in England
he was king with no lord above him.
Through a number of marriages, William’s
successors added to Normandy the provinces of
Anjou6, Aquitaine7 and Brittany, and expanded
their territories in France to the Pyrenees. King
Henry II (1154–1189) controlled a greater area
than the king of France.
In 1204, during the reign of King John, the
French invaded and captured Normandy, and the
Anglo-Norman nobles lost their lands there. This is when the Norman ruling class
really began to mix with and marry the Saxons, and consider themselves English
rather than French
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