saxon and norman. now there's only englishmen?

Question

how? from the story i read, there used to be Saxon and Norman. is that true? or just some made up story based on historical fact.

Answer 1

the population of england has always been mixed-race. even going back before the normans king canute (knut) was a viking.

the normans also had a claim to the english throne (the normans were vikings who had naturalised in france. they were 'normans' because they were 'north men'). the norman claim came through the marriage of emma to king ethelred the unready.

after edward the confessor died there was no obvious line of succession to the english throne (edward had no son). harold godwinson happened to be the strongest candidate in england, so he took the throne by an effective coup.

harold hardrada - a norse king who also had a strong claim to the english throne - attempted an invasion, but was defeated by king harold's army.

then william the bastard - a norman kinglet who had an indirect claim to the throne of england, but also the pope's backing - invaded at hastings and harold's tired army was defeated and harold himself killed.

at first the new norman lords did an ethnic cleansing - getting rid of all the old saxon nobility. but after a few hundred years they settled in, started marrying local girls and speaking english.

if you go back far enough everywhere is mainly full of people who arrived there either by migration or invasion. england is no different.

Answer 2

After 1066 conquest Norman and Saxons didn't melt immediately. As you can see reading the famous novel "Ivanhoe" for long time Saxons and Norman has been opposed one to the other, Saxon feeling oppressed by Norman aristocracy. Also they were two different people, with different uses and languages. However little by little the common interest for a powerful Britain become a link in the nation, and Britain become a Saxon Blooded Country led by a Norman Original aristocracy. The end of the Hundred Year war also expelled British Aristocracy out of France and Normandy, their motherland, and this was a great pull for the creation of the melted British People.
I want to point out that this "Uniformity" of British people didn't include neither Wales or Scotland, and that nowadays it is ended: in-fact there is a strong minority of Islamic medio oriental people , arriving up to 1/3 of population.
Good Luck

Answer 3

Yes, it's not a made up story but solidly based on history.

There used to be Saxons and Normans in England in the early 11th century. The Saxons had invaded or migrated to the island of Britain around the time of the fall of the western Roman empire. The Normans were natives of Normandy in France. In 1066, William the Conqueror, a Norman invaded England and defeated the Saxons at the battle of Hastings.

The victorious Normans extended their rule over the rest of England and their descendants replaced the Saxons as the ruling class. After an initial period of resentment and rebellion, the two populations largely intermarried and merged, combining languages and traditions. Eventually, both identified themselves as English.

Answer 4

The Saxons were from Germany and the Normans were from France, they both invaded us. The Saxons came around the fifth century with other Germanic tribes (The Angles and the Jutes). The Normans came in the eleventh century (1066 and all that). But after a thousand years or so of breeding between the different tribal descendants people just consider themselves English.

Answer 5

Not only Saxon and Norman, but Danes/Vikings as well. The Danish King Cnut was also King of England. It's all true.

Answer 6

Mixture of Normans,Saxons,Britons and other tribes made the English.It is not a made up story.

Answer 7

It's true. The Normans are still around ,they form much of the British aristocracy and still have the land that they grabbed.

Answer 8

if only people in Indonesia could do such thing. so there is no real action or under certain king's rule that this merger happened. really interesting. good question but sorry, poor answers