The Feudal System

Simple diagram to explain how Feudalism worked. This would be particularly useful when it comes to studying this in class. Branching off of this, the terms of Knight, Villeins and Freemen can be explained. 

When looking at this topic, I came across this site for an online lesson, something which may have potential when working in the classroom. 

http://www.historyonthenet.com/Lessons/medieval/feudalism.htm

William II - Otherwise known as Rufus

Again, more notes from Tyerman, C, Who’s Who in Early Medieval England, (Shepheard-Walwyn, 1996), pp. 47-54 as this has helped me make the context jump to further on. 

• Brief reign
• One of the most feared and respected rulers of his time
• 1088 – fought off Curthouse who was not happy about his succession.
• 1090-1096 – consolidate his kingdom and reunite the Anglo-Norman dominions – regularly invaded Normandy
• 1096 – had reunited his father’s possessions with much of the Conqueror’s skill, determination and opportunism.
• Main concern was the protection of his frontiers
• Death – 2^nd August 1100 – killed by a stray arrow while hunting deer in the New Forest – political sensation.
• Died without being able to confess – was bad in medieval times.
• Henry took full advantage of the situation his brother’s death had given him.
• Constant war in William’s reign and there was the financial implications for this on the country – taxes
• No tyrant – consulted his advisors on tax and other campaigns.
• English chroniclers – bad-mouthed, homosexual, unflattering portrait of the King – almost demonic.
• Blunt
• Homosexual accusations – explained by an odd cultural barrier between France and England – just different fashions
• Did not marry – exceptional – no legitimate heir
• Builder of Westminster Hall in 1097 – deemed it to be too small. 

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Although not part of the text book I've been following, it is obviously important to fill in the gaps, hence this and the following posts on Henry I. Henry II is important because Thomas Becket is studied so therefore it must be right that this gap is filled. 

The Domesday Book

Just some notes made from Clanchy, M.T., England and its Rulers, 1066-1307, (3^rd Edition), (Blackwell Publishing, 2006), pp. 42 – 45   about the Domesday Book. 

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Greatest achievement that of William I (the Conqueror)
·         1086 – a year before he died
·         Description of land, conducted county by county.
·         Thorough – ‘Anglo Saxon Chronicle commented with exaggeration that there was not one ox nor one cow not one pig which was left off the record.’
·         Detailed information  on different dates – 1065, When William granted the estate, and 1086
·         Questions like –  ‘What was the manor called?’ ‘How many freeman?’, ‘How many villeins are there?’, ‘How many mills?’ etc
·         Domesday – natives reminded of ‘Doomsday’ – the last judgement
·         20 years delay in having it drawn up.
·         May have been needed because the redistribution of land and the process of the Norman Conquest had left the country in a chaotic state.
·         School textbooks suggest that William distributed the land after the battle of Hastings – Wrong. No clue as to how big England really was so didn’t have the ability to be able to do this. More likely to be 1071-2 after he defeated Edwin and Morcar.
·         ‘Survey was a model of efficiency’ – only after the chaos that it seeked to alter.
·         Purpose of the three dates was to obtain information about who possessed what and whate titles they claimed.
·         Showed Royal Family owned 1/5 of land, Church – 1/4 , 10/11 lay magnates – ¼
·         1086 – 2000 foreign knights, 10,000 new settlers in all.
·         Domesday book entitled them to rule
·         ‘Legally if not in reality, the Conquest marked a new start’ p. 45

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If teaching this in school, I would take in my Copy of the Domesday Book for Wiltshire. It has a Facsimile, Translation and history of the book. It also contains fantastic maps which could be scanned and showed to the students.  

Motte and Bailey Castle Board Works Presentation

I found this on the TES Connect website and thought it was a great resource to use in front of a class of year 7s to teach and reinforce about Motte and Bailey Castles.

This is an interactive whiteboard so the students would be able to learn in a hands on way and reinforcement would be in a fun format.

I also found this video which explains the idea behind the Castles in just a few minutes.

Castles - 1st type

After William the Conqueror became King, it was important that he was able to defend his rule - there was still opposition to his rule. Castles were the way that he did this. They were used to keep him and his supporters safe from those that still were not happy about his invasion and were also used to house important people as they travelled up and down the country.

The first type of castle that he built were Motte and Bailey castles. They were made out of wood and consisted of two parts - the Motte and the Bailey.

The Motte was a defensive mound to make it harder for the attackers to penetrate the castle, and the Bailey was where the animals and soldiers lived.

This type of castle was quick to build when William's troops and followers were unwanted in certain areas. It was also easy to defend though it's weakness was that it was easy to burn down - it was made out of wood.

Battle of Hastings

Just found this great resource about the Battle of Hastings. 

1.On the fifth of January 1066 Edward the Confessor, King of England died. Almost immediately, Harold Godwinson of Wessex is made King.

2. At around this time, Harold’s exiled brother, Tostig, returned to England…

3. …causing havoc along the south coast

4. William was preparing to head south, to defend England against the Normans, so hurriedly Tostig fled to the North.

5. But even here, Earls who were allies of Harold’s drove him from England… so he fled on to Scotland

6. In Scotland, Tostig met up with Harald, King of Norway, where he agreed to join forces with him

7. For several months, Harold and his army kept watch on the south coast, ready to defend against William

8. As Harold prepared to return to London, Harald of Norway & Tostig returned to Yorkshire

9. As soon as Godwinson heard this, he headed north with his armies

10. And the two armies met at Stamford Bridge, in Yorkshire, where a battle was fought

11. Sound effect

12.And at the battle of Stamford Bridge, Harald Hardrada and Tostig were both killed, leaving Harold Godwinson as victor.

13. Meanwhile, having heard that Harold had been drawn to the north, William set out to attack southern England with his armies.

14. When he arrived in England, defence was so poor that he even had time to construct a small castle.

15. On hearing the news of William’s approach, Harold once more marched his armies, this time to the south

16. And at Hastings another battle took place…

17. …with Harold killed, leaving William as King of England

Taken from http://www.tes.co.uk/ResourceDetail.aspx?storyCode=6003712 - also available as a PowerPoint

1066 and the Battle of Hastings.

This is the year that saw 3 Kings in power in England - Edward the Confessor, Harold Godwineson and William the Conqueror.

After the death of Edward in early 1066, Harold was crowned King. William did not like this - he had already been promised the Crown from Edward in the years before his death. He therefore proceeded in getting ready to fight Harold for the crown of England. He aimed to take England from the South. Harald Hardraada, a Norwegian who has not been not mentioned before, did not like Harold's coronation either, believing that he also had a stronger claim to the Crown. He also wanted England in order to rebuild the great Viking Empire that had been lost. He was also planning to invade the country though from the North.

So Harold Godwineson had to try and defend the country from a Northern attack as well as from a Southern Attack - Stretching his army rather thin. The Northern attack happened first, Harold winning after the Battles of Stamford Bridge and those just outside York.

When William chose to cross the channel to England, Harold Godwineson was not in the best of forms. He had a weakened, smaller, exhausted army that was miles from where William was planning to attack - they were still resting from Harald. Harold had to march them to the other end of the country and try and gather as many people as he could along the way to make up numbers.

The video in this link explains the battle and what happened afterwards.
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/1066-battle-of-hastings-abbey-and-battlefield/history/

After the Battle, William was forced to consolidate his power by gaining control of the country. He did this in a variety of ways, as can be seen in the next post.