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History-PE 1 (Ch. 1, 2,5)

1066 and all that
The British Isles lie off north-west corner of the European Mainland. Only 300 islands are inhabited
out of the 5000 islands. The two biggest Islands are- Great Britain and Ireland. We don’t know who
lived here, and all information in solely based on archaeologically verified sources.

Certain part of Britain history was in the prehistoric period. A land bridge was a narrow piece of land,
in this case, linking The Isles to the European Mainland, used by animals and plants for getting
across, and is naturally formed. The stone age lasted from 13000 BC to 4500 BC, the bronze age
lasted from 2500 BC to 1200 BC, and the iron age lasted from 700 BC to AD 43.

Tribes Invading England

1. Celts: They were the first tribe to invade Britain. The introduced bagpipes, and built forts,
they wore brightly-coloured clothes and used special soaps and perfumes. Thei priests were
called druids. Some of their traditions still are followed today, like Halloween and May Day.
The Tribal Business was done at the yearly-assemblies.
2. Beakers: They were present during Bronze Age, and many think the bronze age started when
they arrived. They made beakers, shaped like bells, and were sometimes also referred to as
the ’Bell Beakers’. Their burial ground in situated in London, UK.
3. Romans: They came from Italy and invaded in AD 43. Their army included, Gauls,
Hungarians, and Germans. They were the first to use calendars, glasses, coins, and bricks.
Many of our current languages and laws can be traced back to them. The were the ones who
created Latin. They also loved conquering. They left in AD410. After 400 years, Roman British
was destroyed.
4. Anglo- Saxons: Their history is solely based on archaeological sources. They came in AD 450,
after Romans. They grew rye, barley, wheat, oats and vegetables. Most countries are named
after them. They drove British Tribes into Wales, Cornwall, Cumbria and Scotland.
5. Vikings: Came in the 8th Century after defeating Anglo-Saxons, and came from Denmark,
Norway and Sweden.

In 1066, an army from Normandy attacked England. Before 1066, Edward the confessor was king
(1042-1066) and the population of Britain was about 1.6 million. The profession was farming, and
out of 100 people, 2 were rich. There were no shops, so people had to grow their own food. Goods
sold in England were- Fish, wheat, lead, tin, iron, wool, silver, salt, honey and copper. Everyone was
a Christian and went to the church. Monks kept official diaries, called chronicles, in which they wrote
about towns, religion, history, kings, gossip, politics, and weather.

Beginning of War

In January, 1066, Edward dies. He had no legal heir. Though, three men thought they should be king.

1. Harold Godwinson- The Englishman: Godwinson was the Earl of Wessex. He and his father
were banished from England, but they returned a year later. Godwinson’s sister was married
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to Edward. He was brave and respected. He was the only Englishman and Edward promised
him the throne on his deathbed.
2. William of Normandy- The Norman: He was the Duke of Normandy and came from a fighting
family. Edward had promised him the throne in 1051. He skinned 30 townsmen alive.
Edward loved William like a son and decided he should be the next kind of England.
Godwinson may have told this news to William and promised William to support his claim.

3. Harald Hardrada- The Viking: He was the Kind of Norway, and was planning a full-scale
invasion on England. He thought he should be king, because a Viking had once ruled
England. His nickname was- ‘The Ruthless’ and his claim was supported by Godwinson’s
brother Tostig (brothers broke out in a fight)

The Battle of Stamford Bridge- Round 1: The Battle between Godwinson and Hardrada

300 longboats carried the Viking army to England. Vikings took York and seized control of much of
north England. Godwinson’s army rushes up to meet Tostig and Hardrada. On 25th September 1066,
Godwinson surprises Hardrada’s troops by arriving very quickly, near their place of resting- Stamford
Bridge. Meanwhile, William waited. Fierce Storms blew in Normandy, preventing William’s invasion
boats from sailing to England. It was early morning and Godwinson arrives. The battle starts badly
for Hardrada’s men. They had left their armour miles away. However, they soon gain control. A
mighty Viking slays 40 Englishmen with his axe. With no way over the bridge, Hardrada’s men fight
Godwinson’s men to a standstill. After hours, Godwinson’s men try and stop the warrior on the
bridge and are fruitful. By midday, Hardrada is killed and by nightfall, Tostig was cut into pieces.
Godwinson was victor, but William is just getting started.

Armies taking part in the Battle of Hastings

Godwinson’s Army

-- Housecarls— --Fyrds--
Key
KP- 9/10 KP- 3/10
KP-Killing Power
D- 9/10 D- 5/10
D- Defence
S-1/10 S- 3/10
S- Speed
ROA- 1/10 ROA- 3/10
ROA- Range of Attack
About 2500, battle-axes and Have javelins, scythes,
over 600, use farm/
chainmail home tools
William’s Army
--Archers-- --Knights--
--Foot Soldiers—
KP- 7/10 KP- 4/10 KP- 8/10

D- 8/10 D- 1/10 D- 4/10

S- 2/10 S- 3/10 S-10/10

ROA- 2/10 ROA- 2/10 ROA- 8/10

Have swords and 1500, wooden bows, Strongest, 2000, warhorse,

can kill from 180 m hauberks (chainmail suits),
shields
away spears,
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The Battle of Hastings- Round 2: The Battle between Godwinson and William

On October 14 1066, 930 am, the was started between Harold and William. William carried the flag
given by ’pope’, which he thought was a sign of God. Harold’s men made a shield wall and hid
behind it. William sent foot soldiers to fight them, but as Harold’s army stood at the top of Senlac
hill, William’s men got tired before they reached the top, because the hill was steep. For 2hrs, the
battle raged on. Rumour soon spread that no one had saw William for ½ hr. But then he came out of
the crowd saying- ‘Look at me! I’m alive! And with God’s help, shall be victor!!’ William had to get
Godwinson’s army down the hill. He told his men to run away, as though retreating. Harold’s men
came down, breaking the shield war, thinking they were closing victory. But, as soon as they came
near, William’s men cut them into pieces. This trick, William and his men played for a long time, until
most of the army was dead. After sunset, Godwinson was killed. William buried his body at a secret
location despite the fact that Godwinson’s mother was offering him Godwinson’s weight in gold in
return for her dear son’s body.

William the Conqueror

On 14 October 1066, night, the Normans had a feast to celebrate their victory. William stripped the
English dead of their weapons and armour. He marched to London. By early December 1066, he
reached London and was crowned the new king of England, on Christmas Eves. Thus, he was know as
William the Conqueror.

The mystery of Harold Godwinson’s Death

Godwinson did die at the Battle of Hastings, but the question here is how did her die? There have
been several evidences, that may or may not be true. Amatus of Montecasino first wrote that
Godwinson was killed by an arrow in his eye. The Bayeux Tapestry shows two English soldiers-one
with an arrow in his eye, while the other being cut by a Norman solider. Above these two men, it is
written, in Latin, ‘Hic Harold Rex Interfectus Est’ This means- ‘King Harold has been killed here’

But which one is Harold?

The Norman Conquest

After defeating Harold, on October 14 1066, William sure was happy, but he knew that he was ina
dangerous position. He knew the English would want to get rid of him, after all he had killed the
English King- Harold Godwinson.

William’s Problems

- Attack from Vikings

- Getting to London: Some of his men stayed back to guard it
- Defeating Dover: There was a fort at Dover full of English soldiers and William had to defeat
them first
- Tired Army
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William was determined to keep the throne, and dealt with problems swiftly. William marched up to
Dover. English army decided to surrender. William’s army became greedy and plundered those who
offered to help. William gave them money for the damage caused. After capturing Dover, he spent
eight months making it stronger.

The March to London

William took months to reach London. On his way, his army burned, killed and plundered, villages. In
December 1066, the English soldiers gave in and he was crowned king in Westminster Abbey as the
official King of England on 25th December 1066. He still had to conquer the North of England. When
William’s friend, Earl Robert and 900 soldiers were murdered while going to rule Durham- William
acted quickly and brutally to deal with rebels.

William ordered that his friends would help him run England and build strong fortresses called
castles to protect themselves from unhappy Englishmen. By 1071, after 5 years from 1066, he
became the Master of England.

He brought his friends from Normandy to live in the castles. Now, his challenge was to stay in
charge.

William’s Castles- Motte and Bailey

To the English, William was a foreigner. Most of the Englishmen wanted him dead. By 1071, he
finally managed to put down rebels.

William got his rich and loyal friends from Normandy. For the help, William gave his large amounts of
land to his friends. Owners of the land were called barons. They realised they needed protection
from unhappy Englishmen and decided to make the motte and bailey castles. They had to build the
castles quickly and each one took 7-14 days to build.

Motte and bailey castles were made up of two main parts:

A motte otherwise known as a 'mound' is a raised hill, this was where the keep was built to house
the lord of the manor and his family. They would conduct business from the keep. The keep is the
castle or tower that sits atop the motte. Most structures were basic in build and complexity, as
mottes didn't have much surface area and couldn't support more than one or two rooms. The motte
was protected by a wooden wall, responsible for defence. Some parts of the keep were built inside
the hill, so inhabitants had a cellar below.

The bailey was a courtyard which surrounded the motte and had a defensive wall to keep out
unwanted visitors. The yard typically contained kitchens, stables, a chapel, barracks and workshops.
This is where the soldiers, servants and animals lived. They served the Lord in the motte, servants
with special skills such as blacksmiths and cooks would play a vital part in making sure the tower was
well stocked.

As well as the motte, bailey and keep, there was a moat surrounding the castle. This was a deep
ditch, typically filled with water. This made it very difficult for intruders to attack or get inside.
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The Domesday Book

William sent officials all over England to visit every village and ask questions to priests, stewards, and
six elderly citizens of each village. The questions that they asked were: How many cows do you
have? How many people live here? How many fishponds are located here?

All these records were sent to a man in Winchester, where he wrote it all down in Latin. It had
around 2 million words. This was called the Domesday Book. It gave William knowledge about how
much tax could someone pay him; how many people could fight for him. He could also settle
disputes relating to land.

The Feudal System

William was very creative and good at administration.

William said that all the land belonged to him. But England was too bug to be run by a single man.
So, he started sharing out land. Even though he still owned it. He created the feudal system. The
feudal system was a way to organizing society into groups, based on their roles. He mostly gave land
to people who helped him in the Battle of Hastings. Feudal is Latin for- ‘Land’.

The Feudal Structure:

The Middle Ages

Life in the Middle Ages were tough. The
farmers spent lot of time in their fields,
working hard.

The peasants lived in wooden huts. The field

was divided into strips and shared equally and
carefully with everyone. There were no shops,
so peasants had to grow their own food.

Elements of a Village

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The villages in the Middle Ages varied in size. They could be as small as 10 houses or as big as a
mansion.

Wattle houses were made of sticks woven together, whereas daub houses were made of mud, dung,
and straw.

People who didn’t live in villages or castles, lived in towns. After 1066, towns began to develop and
grow. The Lords or Barons still owned the land, but the townsmen- if they had a lot of money- they
could buy it from the Lords.

The town’s freedom was written on a special piece of paper called the town charter. The charter
gave the townspeople the chance to run the town by themselves. By 1400, about 300 towns had
received their charter and freedom.