Note 346 — Chapter XIV · THE NORMAN CONQUEST

It seems to be true, as William of Malmesbury says, that the century preceding the Norman Conquest had been an era of religious as well as literary decline among the English. After 1066 the native clergy, ignorant and often grossly immoral, were gradually replaced by Normans, who on the whole were better men. By 1088 there remained only one bishop of English birth in the entire kingdom. One should be careful, however, not to exaggerate the moral differences between the two peoples.