The Conquest of William: Fealty, Oaths, and Land Ownership

In the eyes of William the Conqueror, the English fealty oaths were merely formalities. He saw them as complete submission to his rule, not a mutual bond. When the English nobles made their oaths, they unknowingly forfeited their lands to William, who claimed all of England. Their previous rights and titles held no legitimacy to the Normans. The English culture of revoking fealty if a lord failed in his duties meant nothing to William, as he was not English. This shocked many nobles who found their lands were now lost.