Norman Institutions.   911-1066      81
But such as it was it was the main thing in life when
the Normans conquered England.
2, Normandy on the Eve of the Conquest.—The
circumstances of Normandy's origin and her uniformly
able and masterful dukes had given her an independence
and power possessed by no other part of France north
of the Loire river. In all that related to central adminis-
tration, Normandy early outstripped her neighbours such
as Anjou, Flanders, and the domains of the king of France.
But detailed knowledge of Norman institutions before
the time of the Conqueror himself is very slight. We
know something of what may be called the external his-
tory of the duchy, of its relations to the French kings and
other neighbouring powers, and of its general reputation
and characteristics. But Normandy possessed not a
vestige of written law at this time, and there has remained
little evidence of any sort that throws light upon its in-
ternal organisation.I It has been remarked of Normandy,
after her Scandinavian founders had absorbed the French
civilisation of the people whom they ruled and with whom
they were coalescing, that Normandy was French, but
French with a difference. This was certainly true of
Norman feudalism. Before the Conqueror was bom there
was feudal tenure, and probably also an assessment of
his books, unless I am mistaken, there is no word about the feudal sys-
tem. . . . Spelman reading continental books saw that English law,
for all its insularity, was a member of a great European family, a family
between all members of which there are strong family likenesses." He
worked out the idea of a common feudal law, a feudal system. ^* The new
learning was propagated among English lawyers by Sir Martin Wright;
it was popularised and made orthodox by Blackstone.' * Maitland, C. H. E.,
p. 142.
1 Our knowledge of Norman government has in recent years been greatly
enriched by the studies of Professor Haskins, published under the title
Norman Institutions. But most of this book relates to the twelfth century.
Of the earlier period. Professor Haskins asserts that the earliest trustworthy
information respecting the government of Normandy falls in the lifetime
of the Conqueror and much of it is gleaned from that later part after the
battle of Hastings. In chapter i. is to be found the first comprehensive
account of the government of Normandy in the time of William the Con-
queror, and to this chapter there is constant indebtedness in the present
sketch. The brief account of Norman institutions in P. and M. i., book i,
ch. iil, is still of great value. See also HasMns's more general and popular
book, The Normans in European History.