A Brief History of Jersey

Description

The Channel Islands are termed a 'Peculiar of the Crown'. They owe their allegiance directly to the English Crown, not to the Parliament of the United Kingdom. This is because they are the last remaining territories of the Dukes of Normandy of whom William of Normandy conquered England in 1066, thereby becoming King William of England. The Island's loyalty, therefore, is to their first Liege Lords, the Dukes of Normandy and, through them, directly to the English Crown.

The Channel Islands consist of two Bailiwicks, or areas under the guidence of a Bailiff - the chief civil official. One Bailiwick comprises Guernsey, Alderney, Sark and the smaller islands, the other is Jersey with its off-shore reefs Les Minquiers and Les Ecrehous.

Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands and the most southerly. It is irregular in shape being 9 miles by 5 miles or 45 square miles in area. It is formed primarily from granite giving it an imposing and rocky coastline.

Through its position in the gulf of St Malo, it is also subject to dramatic tidal changes. For these natural reasons it has been a difficult island to conquer.

Historically, its geographical position made it an important outpost for England. In the Medieval period it lay on the route of the wine and salt trades which ran from Gascony in the south-west of France to England in the north. Later, it was to be of strategic importance. Being only 12 miles from the shores of France, it became a base for smugglers and privateers during the many wars against the French.

It has suffered from invasions by Bretons, Saxons,Gauls, Vikings, Romans, French, Germans and, during the English Civil War of the 17th century, from the English Parliamentarians as well.

It has seen internecine strife, violent political feuds and serious economic problems. It has felt the impact of Catholicism, Calvinism, Methodism and Anglicanism as well as surviving radical changes to its social structure.

Its languages have included Latin, Breton, Norman French, Jersey Norman French, French and English. Well into the 1900s, many inhabitants would be tri-lingual through the rural communities were more likely to speak Jerriais (Jersey French) or French-for this reason the Book of Common Prayer had to be translated into French for the majority of the population.

Despite this, or maybe because of it, the Island has developed its own character-neither English or French-and encapsulated in this 45 square miles is a vibrant history as one of the 'Peculiars of the English Crown'.