🏰 Year 7 History

The Battle of Hastings, 1066

Why 1066 Matters

In 1066, three men all claimed the English throne after King Edward the Confessor died without an heir. This led to a decisive battle that changed England forever.

The Three Claimants

• Harold Godwinson: powerful English earl; claimed Edward named him on his deathbed; crowned immediately; had the advantage of being English and already in the country
• Harald Hardrada: King of Norway; claimed an old agreement gave him the right; invaded the north of England first
• William, Duke of Normandy: claimed Edward had promised him the throne and Harold had sworn an oath to support him; invaded from the south

Key Events of 1066

• September 1066: Harold defeated Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge (northern England)
• Harold then marched his exhausted army 250 miles south in just 5 days
• 14 October 1066: Battle of Hastings near Senlac Hill, Sussex
• Harold was killed — most likely by an arrow to the eye (though the Bayeux Tapestry is unclear)
• William's feigned retreat drew the English down from their defensive position
• 25 December 1066: William crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey

Why William Won

• Harold's army was tired after two battles in three weeks
• William had cavalry (armoured knights on horseback) — Harold's army was mostly infantry
• William's archers were very effective
• The feigned retreat lured the English to break their shield wall
• Some historians argue it was a very close battle — Harold came close to winning

Norman Control of England

The Feudal System

William imposed the feudal system to control England's land and people:

• King: owned all land; granted it to barons in exchange for military service and loyalty
• Barons (Tenants-in-chief): held large estates (manors); provided knights to the king
• Knights: given land by barons; provided military service; managed smaller areas
• Villeins (serfs/peasants): worked the lord's land in exchange for protection and a plot of land; not free
• Freemen: owned small plots; paid rent rather than working the lord's land

Castles

• William built 78 castles in 20 years; they served as military bases and symbols of Norman power
• Early castles: motte-and-bailey (quick to build from wood) — motte = mound with a keep; bailey = enclosed courtyard
• Later castles: stone (stronger and more permanent), e.g. Tower of London, Windsor Castle
• Castles served as: military strongholds, administrative centres, prisons, symbols of Norman dominance

The Domesday Book (1086)

• William ordered a survey of all land in England to assess what taxes could be collected
• Recorded: who owned what land, how much it was worth, and how many people lived there
• Nicknamed "Domesday" because no appeal was possible (like the Day of Judgement)
• Hugely significant: shows the scale of Norman takeover — most English land now owned by Normans

Norman Influence on England

• Language: Norman French mixed with Old English to create Middle English — many legal, culinary, and aristocratic words come from French (beef = boeuf, pork = porc)
• Architecture: Norman Romanesque style — thick walls, round arches, heavy pillars (e.g. Durham Cathedral)
• The Church: William controlled who was appointed to Church positions; brought in Norman bishops

The Medieval Church

In medieval England, the Church was enormously powerful — it affected every aspect of daily life from birth to death.

The Church's Power

• Everyone in England was a Christian and paid a tax (tithe = 10% of income) to the Church
• The Church ran schools and hospitals; monks preserved knowledge by copying manuscripts
• The Pope in Rome was the head of the Church; kings needed his approval
• The Church owned approximately one-third of English land
• The Church had its own courts — even powerful people could be tried by them

Thomas Becket (1118–1170)

• Archbishop of Canterbury; close friend of King Henry II who made him Archbishop in 1162
• Conflict arose over whether Church courts or royal courts had authority over clergy who broke the law
• Becket fled to France (1164); returned 1170
• Henry's angry outburst ("Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?") led four knights to murder Becket in Canterbury Cathedral on 29 December 1170
• Becket was declared a saint in 1173; Canterbury became a major pilgrimage destination
• Henry did public penance (was flogged by monks) to regain the Church's favour

Monasteries

• Monks followed the Rule of St Benedict: a life of prayer, work, and study
• Daily schedule: seven prayer services from dawn to after dark; work in fields, scriptoriums, or kitchens
• Monasteries provided: hospitality for travellers, medical care, education, and preservation of books
• Famous monasteries: Westminster, Glastonbury, Lindisfarne (Holy Island)

Magna Carta & The Origins of Parliament

Why Magna Carta Was Written (1215)

• King John was unpopular: lost lands in France ("Lackland"), raised taxes heavily, ignored the advice of barons, bullied and imprisoned opponents
• 1215: barons rebelled and forced John to sign the Magna Carta at Runnymede

What Magna Carta Said

• The king must obey the law — not above it
• No taxation without the agreement of the Great Council (of barons)
• No free man could be imprisoned without a fair trial by his peers
• The Church's rights would be protected

The Development of Parliament

• 1265: Simon de Montfort (rebelling against Henry III) called the first "parliament" — included not just barons but also knights and burgesses (town representatives)
• 1295: Edward I called the "Model Parliament" — widely seen as the template for future parliaments
• Parliament gave the monarch advice and agreed to tax — it was not yet a powerful lawmaking body as it is today

The Black Death (1348–49)

What Was It?

• A devastating pandemic — a combination of bubonic, septicaemic, and pneumonic plague — caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis
• Spread via fleas on rats; also spread through coughing (pneumonic form)
• Arrived in England through the port of Weymouth in June 1348

Impact

• Killed approximately one-third of England's population (around 1.5–2 million people)
• Symptoms: swellings (buboes) in armpits and groin, black patches on skin, fever, vomiting blood
• Death usually occurred within 1–7 days
• Villages were wiped out; many place names ending in "-ton" or "-by" were deserted settlements

Why People Could Not Stop It

• No understanding of germ theory — people thought it was caused by bad air (miasma), God's punishment, or the position of the planets
• Remedies: prayer, flagellation (self-whipping), sweet-smelling herbs, bloodletting — none effective
• Doctors wore beaked masks filled with herbs to protect themselves (though this had limited effect)

Long-Term Consequences

• Labour shortage: survivors could demand higher wages — weakened serfdom and the feudal system
• Peasants gained more power and freedom; some lords converted arable land to sheep farming (needed fewer workers)
• Led to social unrest that contributed to the Peasants' Revolt of 1381

The Peasants' Revolt (1381)

Causes

• Aftermath of the Black Death: peasants expected more freedom but landowners tried to keep them tied to the land
• The Statute of Labourers (1351) tried to cap wages at pre-plague levels — peasants resented this
• New poll tax (1381): everyone had to pay a fixed amount regardless of wealth — hit the poor hardest; it was the third poll tax in four years
• Inspiring ideas: John Ball's radical preaching — "When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?" (questioning why there were social classes at all)

What Happened

• June 1381: thousands of peasants from Kent and Essex marched on London, led by Wat Tyler
• They burned the Savoy Palace (John of Gaunt's mansion) and opened the prisons
• King Richard II (aged 14) met the rebels at Mile End and agreed to their demands
• Wat Tyler was killed at Smithfield during negotiations; Richard promised to meet their demands, which dispersed the crowd
• Richard went back on all his promises once the danger had passed; leaders were executed

Significance

• In the short term: the revolt failed — leaders were executed, promises were broken
• In the long term: the poll tax was never collected again; serfdom slowly declined over the next century; it showed that ordinary people could challenge authority

Using Historical Sources

• Primary source: created at the time of the event (e.g. the Domesday Book, the Bayeux Tapestry, a charter)
• Secondary source: created later, by historians using evidence (e.g. a textbook, a documentary)

Evaluating a Source

• Nature: what type of source is it? (chronicle, painting, tax record, letter)
• Origin: who produced it, and when?
• Purpose: why was it created? To record? To celebrate? To persuade?
• Content: what does it tell us?
• Usefulness: what can we learn from it? What are its limitations?

Chronology & Key Terms

Key Dates

• 1066 – Battle of Hastings; William I crowned
• 1086 – Domesday Book compiled
• 1170 – Murder of Thomas Becket
• 1215 – Magna Carta signed by King John
• 1265 – Simon de Montfort's Parliament
• 1348–49 – Black Death reaches England
• 1381 – The Peasants' Revolt

Key Vocabulary

• Feudal system: the hierarchy of land-holding in exchange for loyalty and military service
• Vassal: someone who holds land from a lord in exchange for loyalty
• Tithe: a tax (10% of income) paid to the Church
• Excommunication: being expelled from the Church — in medieval times this was a terrifying punishment
• Serf/Villein: a peasant bound to work on their lord's land and not free to leave
• Chronicle: a detailed written account of historical events, written at the time
• Parliament: from "parler" (French = to speak); a council for discussion and agreement