The Shetar's Effect on English Law/A Law of the Jews Becomes the Law of the Land

English Law, like the English language, is an amalgam of diverse cultural influences. The legal system may fairly be seen as a composite of discrete elements from disparate sources.

By c. 900 the Vikings had ravaged northern France to such an extent that there was little plunder to be found along the rivers which had formed their major avenue of attack. Ironically it was a Danish Army (under a leader called Hrolf or Rolf in some chronicles), which arrived in 911 to pillage the lower Seine Valley that created the Vikings' only lasting impact on western Europe.
Hrolf attempted to besiege Chatres without success, but his army was such a threat to the Seine valley, that Charles, King of the Franks, negotiated a treaty at St. Clair-sur-Epte.
The Normans' love of the sea and their dynamism led to commercial prosperity.

In Normandy William 'the Bastard' succeeded to the dukedom at the age of seven or eight. For the next twelve years of his minority the dukedom was in a constant state of anarchy. The rebellion of the barons came to a head in 1047, when the whole of lower Normandy rose against him. With the help of his feudal overlord Henry I of France, William, aged twenty, crushed the revolt on the field of Vales Dunes, near Caen. The castles of the rebellious barons were razed and the nobles never challenged the duke's power again.

The Norman conquest of England began in 1066 AD with the invasion of the Kingdom of England by the troops of William, Duke of Normandy ("William the Conqueror"), and his victory at the Battle of Hastings. This resulted in Norman control of England, which was firmly established during the next few years.