"If thou would have health and vigor Shun cares and avoid anger.
Be temperate in eating And in the use of wine. After a heavy meal
Rise and take the air Sleep not with an overloaded stomach And
above all thou must Respond to Nature when she calls."
The Conquerer allowed Jewish traders to follow him from Normandy and settle in separate sections of the main towns. Then engaged in long-distance trade, money-changing, and money-lending. They loaned money for interest for the building of castles and cathedrals. Christians were not allowed by the church to engage in this usury. The Jews could not become citizens nor could they have standing in the local courts. Instead, a royal justiciar secured justice for them. They could practice their own religion.
William the Conquerer was succeeded as king by his son William II (Rufus), who transgressed many of the customs of the nation to get more money for himself. He was killed by an arrow of a fellow hunter while they and William's younger brother Henry were hunting together in a crown forest. Henry then became king.
- The Law -
The Norman conquerors brought no written law, but affirmed the laws of the nation. Two they especially enforced were:
Anyone caught in the act of digging up the King's road, felling a tree across it, or attacking someone so that his blood spilled on it shall pay a fine to the King.
All freemen shall have a surety who would hand him over to justice for his offenses or pay the damages or fines due. If an accused man fled, his surety would have a year to find him to obtain reimbursement.
The Conquerer proclaimed that:
No cattle shall be sold except in towns and before three witnesses.
For the sale of ancient chattels, there must be a surety and a warrantor.