t that the number was large and their influence more than
proportionate to their numbers. Within the lifetime of William, whose
death occurred in 1087, of his two sons, William II and Henry I, and
the nominal reign of Stephen extending to 1154, the whole body of the
nobility, the bishops and abbots, and the government officials had
come to be of Norman or other continental origin. Besides these the
architects and artisans who built the castles and fortresses, and the
cathedrals, abbeys, and parish churches, whose erection throughout the
land was such a marked characteristic of the period, were immigrants
from Normandy. Merchants from the Norman cities of Rouen and Caen came
to settle in London and other English cities, and weavers from
Flanders were settled in various towns and even rural districts. For a
short time these newcomers remained a separate people, but before the
twelfth century was over they had become for the most part
indistinguishable from the great mass of the English people amongst
whom they had come. They had nevertheless made that people stronger,
more vigorous, more active-minded, and more varied in their
occupations and interests.

King William and his successors retained their continental dominions
and even extended them after their acquisition of the English kingdom,
so that trade between the two sides of the Channel was more natural
and easy than before. The strong government of the Norman kings gave
protection and encouragement to this commerce, and by keeping down the
violence of the nobles favored trade within the country. The English
towns had been growing in number, size, and wealth in the years just
before the Conquest. The contests of the years immediately following
1066 led to a short period of decay, but very soon increasing trade
and handicraft led to still greater progress. London, especially, now
made good its position as one of the great cities of Europe, and that
preeminence among English towns which it has never since lost. The
fishing and seaport towns along the southern and eastern coast also,
and even a number of inland towns, came to hold a much more
influential place in the nation than they had possessed in the
Anglo-Saxon period.

The increased power of the monarchy arose partly from its military
character as based upon a conquest of the country, partly from the
personal character of William and his immediate successors, partly
from the more effective machinery for adminis