England under foreign kings.

1. Read the text and find the answers to the following questions:

• Who ruled over the country for twenty-four years?
• Where did the Normans come from?
• What was the Norman king called?
• What did the Norman invaders do in England?

The Danes returned again and again to attack England. The English people had to pay tribute. But the Danes wanted to rule over the country and after many battles took the crown from the English. They held it for twenty-four years. Three Danish kings, one after the other, ruled over England. One of these kings - Canute was at the same time king of England, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The rule of Danish kings over England came to an end soon after Canute`s death in 1035.

Now the Normans began to attack the coasts of England from Normandy (France). In 1066 the Normans won the victory and William, Duke of Normandy, was crowned king of England and called William the Conqueror.

The invaders burnt houses and killed people. The land was taken from the English and given to the Normans. The invaders spoke French, and it was the language of the upper classes and the government. English was the language of the lower classes. A Norman aristocracy became the new governing class and many members of the native English elite, including bishops, were replaced with Normans.

The first years of William's reign were spent crushing resistance and securing his borders, which he did with ruthless efficiency. He invaded Scotland in 1072 and concluded a truce with the Scottish king. He marched into Wales in 1081 and created special defensive 'marcher' counties along the borders. The last serious rebellion against his rule, the Revolt of the Earls, took place in 1075. In 1086, William ordered a survey to be made of the kingdom. This became known as the Domesday Book and remains one of the oldest valid legal documents in Britain.

With the kingdom increasingly settled, William spent most of his last 15 years in Normandy, leaving the government of England to regents, usually clergymen. He spent the last months of his reign fighting Philip I, King of France. He died on 9 September 1087 from injuries received when he fell from his horse at the Siege of Mantes. He divided his lands between two of his sons, with Robert receiving Normandy and William Rufus, England.

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the Normans - норманны

Canute- Канут

Norway - Норвегия

Sweden - Швеция

1. Look through the text again and find words and constructions you may use in your professional discourse (scientific terms etc.). Translate and memorize them.
2. Find the transcription of the following words and practise pronouncing them: death, conqueror, government, reign, earl, survey, increasingly.
3. Prove that:

· The English population was oppressed by foreign rulers.

· The locals resisted the foreign domination.

· William the Conqueror didn’t rule England himself all the time.

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