Editing Guernsey (section)

===Middle Ages===
In 933, the [[Cotentin Peninsula]], including [[Avranchin]], which included the islands, were placed by the French [[Rudolph of France|King Ranulf]] under the control of [[William I Longsword|William I]]. The island of Guernsey and the other [[Channel Island]]s represent the last remnants of the medieval [[Duchy of Normandy]].<ref name="HoG" />

About the year 1030, the fleet of [[Robert I, Duke of Normandy|Robert, Duke of Normandy]], which was to support the claim of his cousins [[Alfred Aetheling|Alfred]] and [[Edward the Confessor|Edward]] to the English crown against [[Cnut|Canute]], was scattered by a storm, and was driven down the Channel to Guernsey. The Duke was taken to St. Michael's Abbey. In gratitude for the abbot's hospitality, he gave all the lands within the Close of the Vale to the abbot forever as fief of St. Michael, with permission to extend this to the northwestern part of the island as soon as settlers could be found to clear and cultivate the land; and he gave them engineers and workmen to complete the castle of St. Michael and to erect such other forts as were deemed necessary.

Around the middle of the eleventh century, Guernsey was beset by a new breed of pirates who built a castle called Le Château des Sarrasins in the centre of the island near the present church of Catel; [[William the Conqueror|Duke William of Normandy (later the Conqueror)]] commissioned his Esquire Sampson d'Anneville to fight them. As a reward, in 1061 he received half of the western part of the island under the title of Fief d'Anneville. Sampson attracted many emigrants from Normandy to settle on his feudal estate, and Duke William distributed lands in Guernsey to other Norman landowners, such as the estates of Sausmarez, Les Bruniaux de St. Martin, Mauxmarquis, Rohais, etc.

Most of Guernsey was soon cultivated, and around this time the island was divided into ten parishes. Each free fief had a manorial court to hear disputes between tenants, and the Abbot of St. Michael and the Seigneur d'Anneville had the right of high jurisdiction and the privilege of trying and executing criminals, respectively, so that the civil order of the island was fully regulated even before the Norman conquest of England.<ref>{{cite web|work= British History Online|title=Guernsey|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp348-360/ |access-date=13 June 2022}}</ref>

In 1204, when [[John, King of England|King John]] lost the continental portion of the Duchy to [[Philip II of France]], the islands remained part of the Kingdom of England.<ref>{{harvnb|Crossan|2015|p=7}}</ref> The islands were then recognised by the [[Treaty of Paris (1259)|1259 Treaty of Paris]] as part of [[Henry III of England|Henry III]]'s territories.<ref name="Ogier">{{Cite book |last=Ogier |first=Daryl Mark |title=The Government and Law of Guernsey |publisher=The States of Guernsey |year=2005 |isbn=978-0954977504}}</ref>

During the [[Middle Ages]], the island was a haven for pirates that would use the "lamping technique" to ground ships close to the island. This intensified during the [[Hundred Years War]], when, [[English Channel naval campaign, 1338-1339|starting in 1339]], the island was occupied by the [[Capetian dynasty|Capetians]] on several occasions.<ref name="HoG" /> The [[Royal Guernsey Militia|Guernsey Militia]] was first mentioned as operational in 1331 and would help defend the island for a further 600 years.<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 July 2012 |title=Royal Guernsey Militia Regimental Museum |url=http://museums.gov.gg/rgm |access-date=24 September 2017 |website=Guernsey Museums & Galleries}}</ref>

In 1372, the island was invaded by [[Kingdom of Aragon|Aragonese]] mercenaries under the command of [[Owain Lawgoch]] (remembered as ''Yvon de Galles''), who was in the pay of the French king. Owain and his dark-haired mercenaries were later absorbed into Guernsey legend as invading [[Fairy|fairies]] from across the sea.<ref>{{Cite book |last=de Garis |first=Marie |title=Folklore of Guernsey |year=1986 |oclc=19840362}}</ref>