ABSTRACT
T he N orm an Conquest was a political and military trium ph o f the first order, and dram atic political and military consequences o f a perm anent nature flowed from it. Effects on the ecclesiastical life of England were also intense, even if, initially at least, they were not so dramatic. M ost of the great churches lost some of their tem poral possessions, it is true, to the advantage of N orm an newcomers, but only exceptionally, as at New Minster, W inchester, were there large confiscations by way o f punishm ent for active resistance. M ost alienations were suffered at sub-tenant level because the tenants had fought against William and stood in array against him at Hastings or later; and there was quite a degree o f recovery as new N orm an bishops and abbots took over adm inistration o f their estates.
