1066: Conqueror without a conquest.

What if: After the death of Edward the Confessor, Harold acts as a loyal royal servant and helps William's introduction to the throne.

William gets the throne ASAP, no battle of Hastings and no batte with Harold as a king of England.

1. Would the anglisc language survive - as it was a semi-official language of the church and kingdom?
2. Would the unique anglo-saxon type of feudalism survive? Would William introduce the european system anyway?
 
Why would he help a man who in his mind and in the mind of the people has no right to the throne? The Witenagamot had proclaimed Harold king; the kingship of England was neither inherited nor determined by the monarch. For that matter, nobody believed William's claim that Edward the Confessor had name him his heir, and this is way out of character for him anyway.
 
If this happens Norman influence continues to gain ground as it had under dward II. At some point there might well be a major Saxon uprising crushed by the Normans. Hastings but under another name. Alternativbely the Saxon aristocracy Normanise and intermarry with the Norman immigrants. However, if William is king he will most likely favour the Normans even more so than Edward II (who was brught up in a Norman court) did.
 
Why would he do that? By all rights Harold was the legitimate king, the Witan had elected him. Why would he suddenly break with either of the expected courses of action to put a purely illegitimate claimant on the throne. I mean the Æthling could maybe be described as legitimate heir if you're insistent on hereditary monarchy, but given the circumstances and the Saxons seeming preference for a strong king I doubt a child should inherit.
 
If this happens Norman influence continues to gain gro-und as it had under dward II. [...] if William is king he will most likely favour the Normans even more so than Edward II (who was brught up in a Norman court) did.

I totally agree. But without a conquest, a bulk of "Saxon" (pre-conquest) aristocracy would keep their lands. And a immigrant, Norman aristocracy, even if substantial in numbers, would still be a small minority. As for the court life, I guess you're right, but some Saxons definetely would stay influential at the court as well.

Alternativbely the Saxon aristocracy Normanise and intermarry with the Norman immigrants.

In OTL Norman aristocracy anglicized (It took some time, but still...) If Normans would intermarry with Saxons as equals it might have taken less time. With Old English language constantly in use (in state documents etc.) there would be some chance to preserve it.
 
I totally agree. But without a conquest, a bulk of "Saxon" (pre-conquest) aristocracy would keep their lands. And a immigrant, Norman aristocracy, even if substantial in numbers, would still be a small minority. As for the court life, I guess you're right, but some Saxons definetely would stay influential at the court as well.



In OTL Norman aristocracy anglicized (It took some time, but still...) If Normans would intermarry with Saxons as equals it might have taken less time. With Old English language constantly in use (in state documents etc.) there would be some chance to preserve it.

I thik it would depend on how far William was prepared to go, He needed to please his Norman followers by giving them land and influence which could only have come from Saxon lands. But if William went too far by choice or miscalculation he would have faced a large scale Saxon revolt. The Normans might very well have won in which case we still get Hasings but under another name.

However if William gets it right politically (Harold gets some important post for starters) then gradual assimilation between Norman and Saxon is the likely outcome of this.
 
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