The Norman conquest of England, being a conquest by a people whose tongue and institutions were different from those of the English in many aspects, was an event of an altogether different character from the Danish conquest, a conquest by a people whose tongue was more akin to those of the English, but whose religion was pagan. The English were Catholic, and shared this religion with the Normans who already had some influence in England before the conquest. Furthermore, the interactions between sailors from both sides of the English channel had maintained a certain common culture.