Editing History of Jersey (section)

=== Duchy of Normandy (873–1204) ===
From 873, Jersey was affected by the conquests by the [[Normans]] of the western coast of France (the Channel Islands were territory of the [[Kingdom of France]] at this time). During the reign of [[Charles the Simple|Charles III]] the Simple, the territory of modern Normandy was yielded to [[Rollo]], the leader of the Normans, with the title of the "Duke of Normandy". While the Duchy was held in fief to the French Crown, the Crown only had limited rights in the province.

In around 933, Duke William I (William Longsword), seized Jersey, which until then had been politically linked to Brittany, and it is likely that the pre-Norman form of government and way of life was replaced at this point.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Lempière|first=Raoul|title=Customs, Ceremonies and Traditions of the Channel Islands|publisher=Robert Hale|year=1976|isbn=0-7091-5731-2|location=Great Britain}}</ref>{{Rp|22}} The island adopted the Norman law system, still the basis of [[Law of Jersey|Jersey law]] today. During Norman rule, the island redeveloped after the devastation brought by the Vikings and developed agriculture. Immigration from the Norman mainland at this time first brought the modern Norman cultural influences found in the island today.<ref name="BHJ" /><sup>:19</sup>

A key part of the early administrative structure of Jersey was the [[fief]]. Alongside the parish, the fief provided a basic framework for rural life; the system began with the Norman system and largely remained similar to it. In Jersey, the dues, services and rents owed by tenants were extensive and often onerous. Jersey peasants retained a degree of freedom lost elsewhere, probably due to the insignificance of the island in the Duchy. More is known of the origins of the fief than of the parishes and early documents show that Jersey was thoroughly feudalised (the majority of the residents were tenants holding land from Seigneurs). The fief of St Ouen, the most senior fief in Jersey's feudal structure, was by 1135 in the hands of the de Carteret family. They held extensive lands in Carteret as well, but these were lost by them after [[John, King of England|King John]]'s loss of Normandy, so they decided to settle on the island. Between the 12th and 20th centuries, there were an estimated 245 fiefs in Jersey, though not all simultaneously.<ref name=":2" />{{rp|13–14}}

In 1066, the Duke [[William the Conqueror]] defeated [[Harold Godwinson]] at [[Battle of Hastings|Hastings]] to become the [[List of English monarchs|King of England]]; however, he continued to rule his French possessions, including Jersey, as a separate entity,<ref>{{cite web | title = A Short Constitutional History of Jersey | publisher = Voisin & Co | date = 1999-05-18 | url = http://www.voisinlaw.com/default.asp?contentID=368 | access-date = 2009-06-25 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101206062513/http://www.voisinlaw.com/default.asp?contentID=368 | archive-date = 2010-12-06 | url-status = dead }}</ref> as [[fealty]] was owed to the King of France. This initial association of Jersey with England did not last long, as William split his possessions between his two elder sons: [[Robert Curthose]] became Duke of Normandy and [[William II of England|William Rufus]] gained the English Crown. After William Rufus' death his younger brother [[Henry I of England|Henry I]]  claimed the English throne, and recaptured Normandy for England in 1106.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|23}} The island was then part of the English King's realm (though still part of Normandy and France). Around 1142, it is recorded that Jersey was under the control of the [[Counts and dukes of Anjou|Count of Anjou]], who administered Normandy for the Duke.<ref name="RL" />{{Rp|page=23}}

According to the Rolls of the Norman Exchequer, in 1180 Jersey was divided for administrative purposes into three ministeria:<ref>{{cite book |last=Stapleton |first=Thomas |title=Magni rotuli scaccarii Normanniæ sub regibus Angliæ |date=1840}}</ref> {{Lang|fr|de Gorroic}}, {{Lang|fr|de Groceio}} and {{Lang|fr|de Crapoudoit}} (possibly containing four parishes each). Gorroic is an old spelling for Gorey, containing St Martin, St Saviour, Grouville and St Clement; Groceio could derive from de Gruchy, and contains St John, Trinity, St Lawrence and St Helier; and Crapoudoit, likely referring to the stream of St Peter's Valley, contains the remainder of the parishes in the West.<ref name="BHJ">{{cite book |last=Syvret |first=Marguerite |title=Balleine's History of Jersey |publisher= The History Press |date=2011 |isbn= 978-1860776502 }}</ref>{{rp|23}} This was a time of building or extending churches with most parish churches in the island being built/rebuilt in a Norman style chosen by the abbey or priory to which each church had been granted. St Mary and St Martin being given to Cerisy Abbey.<ref name="BHJ" />{{rp|21}} By Norman times, the parish boundaries were firmly fixed and remain largely unchanged since. It was likely set in place due to the tithe system under Charlemagne, where each property must contribute to the church, so each property would have had to be established within a parish. The parish system is much more important in Jersey than in England or post-Napoleon France.<ref name="BHJ" /><sup>:15</sup>

After the death of [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] in 1189 and the short reign of [[Richard I of England|Richard I]], the island (and the rest of the Empire) fell to King John in 1199. In 1200, John agreed to render homage of his Norman territories to the King [[Philip II of France|Philip Augustus]] of France, but in 1204, King Philip re-conquered the Duchy. Though the French initially occupied the Channel Islands from 1204 to 1206 (and again in 1216 to 1217), John recognised their strategic importance and recovered them. However, thanks to [[Peter de Preaux|Pierre de Préaux]], a governor of Rouen who possessed the isles, who decided to support King John, the islands remained in the personal possession of the English king<ref name="BHJ" />{{rp|25}} and were described as being a Peculiar of the Crown.<ref>{{cite book |last=Liddicoat |first=Anthony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pgobrmlMAGQC&pg=PA6 |title=A Grammar of the Norman French of the Channel Islands |date=1 August 1994 |publisher=[[Walter de Gruyter]] |isbn=3-11-012631-1 |page=6}}</ref>[[Image:Mont Orgueil castle Jersey.jpg|thumb|Mont Orgueil dominates the small harbour of [[Gorey, Jersey|Gorey]] and guards Jersey from attack from the French coast opposite]]