ABSTRACT
From the outset the Norman Conquest had deep religious connotations; quite apart from the powerful political and strategic support for the Conquest provided by European heads of state, including Emperor Henry III, William fitz Osbern also received the seal of papal approval. After the Conquest William used the church in England as in Normandy as an instrument of government. Opinions on the state of the English church on the eve of the Conquest have varied considerably over time. For several reasons it is difficult to obtain a true picture of the distribution of parish churches at the time of the Conquest. The semi-religious nature of the Conquest ‘involved the Saxon church in ecclesiastical censure of the unfortunate Harold and contributed to render the Norman Conquest as complete intellectually as it was politically.’ Both Anglo-Saxon churches and Norman churches were built in a style generally known as ‘romanesque’.
