Year 7 History: Medieval Realms. The Norman Conquest
WHO SHOULD BE KING?
As the year 1066 began, England's King, Edward the Confessor, was an old and sick man. He had been King since 1042. No one expected him to live much longer. The King of England was usually the son or another close relation of the previous king. But even if a King was succeeded by his son, it was the custom for a new king to be approved by the Kings council. Edward had no children and no surviving brothers or sisters. When Edward the Confessor died on the 5th January 1066, there were four people who might become king.
1 Which of these four people do you think had the best claim to the English
throne? Explain your answer.
2 Who do you think would have made the best king? Explain your answer.
3 Imagine you are one of the King's council. Who would you have chosen?
The Battle of Hastings
Background
The King's council chose Harold Earl of Wessex as the next king of England. Harold knew that William, Duke of Normandy would invade. In September Harold received news that there had been an invasion. Harold must come quickly.
But the invasion was in the North, not the South. Harald Hardrada, King of Norway had landed1 Harold marched north as fast as he could. On the 25th September he caught the invaders by surprise beyond York at Stamford Bridge. A fierce battle raged and many were killed on both sides before the English won.
On the morning of the 28th September William, Duke of Normandy's 7,000 soldiers landed at Pevensey 111 Sussex. As soon as Harold heard the news he rushed South again. He marched the 90 miles back to London so fast that the majority of his army, already weakened by battle, were left far behind Without waiting for reinforcements, Harold marched on to the south coast. He arrived with about 7,000 men, although only about 2,000 of these were his highly trained Housecarls.
The battle
Harold and his winy took up position on Senlac Hill. The fighting began at about nine o'clock on the 14th October and lasted most of the day. The Norman attacks had little effect at first. It is not clear what broke the deadlock At one point the Normans began to retreat, fearing that William had been killed. William took off his helmet so his men could see he was alive and well. The Normans then used the trick of pretending to retreat and many of Harold's army ran after them. The Normans then suddenly turned their horses, surrounded the English and cut them down. Twice this trick was employed and at last the English tired. Gradually the Saxon line broke up. Harold's bodyguard (Housecarls) were left to fight on alone. It is unclear how Harold died he may have be struck in the eye with an arrow or cut down by a Norman Knight. What ever the cause, by dusk the Saxons were in full retreat and Harold lay dead behind them. William was the victor, but had he won the crown of England?
How did William keep order after the conquest?
KEYWORDS
BIASED When a source looks at an event Only from one
person's point of view.
REBELLION When people fight against the King and his
government.
FACT Something that has been proved to be
correct and cannot be argued with.
OPINION Someone's point of view about something that's
happened.
Most of what we know about the baffle of Hastings comes from the Bayeux Tapestry. This is a picture about 70 metres long which shows what happened from Harold's visit to Normandy to the Battle of Hastings. Although it gives us a great deal of information about what people wore and how they fought, it is biased as the Bayeux Tapestry only gives the Norman side of the story.
William was now king of England. Many of the Saxon Lords had been killed in the fighting or had escaped overseas. Most of those who were left had their lands taken away. The fighting did not end with the Battle of Hastings. There were rebellions in many different places. William was a foreign king with between 5000 and 6000 men, in a land of about 1¼ million to Saxons. Somehow he had to keep order.
1 Copy out the key words and their meanings into your book.
2 Here are five things which William could do to control the people of
England. Put them into the order that you think would have been most
beneficial to William, then copy them into your book.
THE FEUDAL SYSTEM and THE DOMESDAY BOOK
KEYWORDS
FEUDAL SYSTEM A system by which men gave services to their Lord in return for his protection.
BARON An important man who was very wealthy.
KNIGHT A man who promised to fight for his Lord.
PEASANT A man who was poor and worked on the land
King William owned all the land in England. He lent much of it to the barons who promised to pay William money and provide him with soldiers for his army when he needed them. We call their promise to the King homage. William made sure that each barons land was dotted around the country. This made it hard for the barons to get together an army to fight the King. William also made everyone swear an oath of loyalty to him. Every man had to promise to support the King above everyone else. The diagram below shows how the feudal system worked.
To help pay for running the country, the landowners paid a tax, called geld, to William. But when he became King of England, he had no record of how much tax people should pay. King William decided that one of the best ways to keep control in England was to find out what people owned and to make them pay taxes.
In 1086 William sent his knights to every single village in the country to do a survey. He told the knights to find out what each person owned and to threaten to kill people if they would not tell them. The people were so scared that they thought it was their Domesday (end of their life). William asked his knights to record everything they found in a huge book. This became known as the Domesday Book (meaning book of judgement). The Domesday book also allowed William to know how many knights he would have to fight on his side. William was also able to settle quarrels between barons over the ownership of land, because he had a list of all the villages as they had been in 1066.
1 Copy out the key words and their meanings into your book.
2 Copy out the diagram that shows how the feudal system worked.
3 What problems did the Domesday book allow William to solve?