A new wave of monasteries and friaries was established while ecclesiastical reforms led to tensions between successive kings and archbishops. England's population more than doubled during the 12th and 13th centuries, fueling an expansion of the towns, cities, and trade, helped by warmer temperatures across Northern Europe. The position of women in society changed as laws regarding land and lordship shifted. The new rulers introduced a feudal approach to governing England, eradicating the practice of slavery, but creating a much wider body of unfree labourers called serfs. William the Conqueror and his successors took over the existing state system, repressing local revolts and controlling the population through a network of castles. The Norman invasion of England in 1066 led to the defeat and replacement of the Anglo-Saxon elite with Norman and French nobles and their supporters. Despite repeated crises of succession and a Danish seizure of power at the start of the 11th century, it can also be argued that by the 1060s England was a powerful, centralised state with a strong military and successful economy. Eventually, Wessex was established as the most powerful kingdom and promoting the growth of an English identity. ![]() In the 8th and 9th centuries, England faced fierce Viking attacks, and the fighting lasted for many decades. The Anglo-Saxons converted to Christianity in the 7th century, and a network of monasteries and convents were built across England. A rich artistic culture flourished under the Anglo-Saxons, producing epic poems such as Beowulf and sophisticated metalwork. After several centuries of Germanic immigration, new identities and cultures began to emerge, developing into kingdoms that competed for power. ![]() When England emerged from the collapse of the Roman Empire, the economy was in tatters and many of the towns abandoned. ![]() England in the Middle Ages concerns the history of England during the medieval period, from the end of the 5th century through to the start of the early modern period in 1485.
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