Starter quiz
- Match the words with the correct definitions.
- fyrd⇔local, untrained Anglo-Saxons who were called up to fight ✓
- shield wall⇔the defensive line of shields used by Anglo-Saxon armies ✓
- infantry⇔foot soldiers ✓
- cavalry⇔soldiers on horseback ✓
- Which of these people were king of England at some point during 1066?
- Harold Godwinson ✓
- Edward the Confessor ✓
- William of Normandy ✓
- William of Poitiers
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- In 1070 William the Conqueror appointed a new Archbishop of Canterbury. What was the Archbishop’s name?
- 'Lanfranc' ✓
- Which of these were things that Lanfranc carried out in his reform of the English Church?
- Replaced almost all the Anglo-Saxon abbots with Normans. ✓
- Replaced almost all the bishops appointed by Edward the Confessor with Normans. ✓
- Ordered all Church services to be in English so everyone could understand them.
- Introduced new rules for how priests, bishops and monks should live their lives. ✓
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- Which of these ways of increasing Norman control over England were connected to Lanfranc's Church reforms?
- Imposing loyalty through paying homage.
- Stopping rule-breaking, e.g. breaking rule of celibacy. ✓
- A large programme of rebuilding in the Norman Romanesque style. ✓
- Property was passed to the eldest son (primogeniture).
- Carrying out a survey of all landholding in King Edward's time and in the 1080s.
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Look at this scene from the Bayeux Tapestry. It shows soldiers attacking a structure which other soldiers are defending. Which of these structures does the scene show?- cathedral
- priory
- castle ✓
- house
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Exit quiz
- Which one of the following is the best explanation for why William ordered castles to be built in England after 1066?
- So English people would have somewhere safe to shelter from Viking attacks.
- To help William stop rebellions against Norman rule. ✓
- To convince English people that God had chosen William as their king.
- To force English people to leave a region where there had been a rebellion.
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- Add in the missing word to complete the name used for the way the Normans brutally put down a rebellion in Yorkshire in 1069: the ______ of the North.
- 'Harrying' ✓
- Match these features of motte-and-bailey castles with their correct definitions.
- moat⇔a ditch, sometimes filled with water, surrounding the castle ✓
- bailey⇔the castle courtyard; an open area inside the outer defences ✓
- watchtower⇔a tall structure within a castle used for keeping a lookout ✓
- motte⇔a mound of earth ✓
- How many castles did William have built during his reign?
- 7
- 70
- 700 ✓
- 7000
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- Put these events in order, starting with the earliest.
- 1⇔After his invasion fleet landed, William built a temporary castle at Pevensey.
- 2⇔A castle began to be constructed in London just before William's coronation.
- 3⇔In 1067, over 100 houses were destroyed to make room for Norwich castle.
- 4⇔A motte-and-bailey castle was built in York following a major rebellion.
- 5⇔In 1072 William ordered that a castle be built in Durham.
Which of these facts about Totnes castle are true?- Totnes town already had strong fortifications before the Norman Conquest. ✓
- Totnes castle was built following rebellions in the south west in 1068. ✓
- The motte of Totnes castle is 17.5 metres high. ✓
- The first castle at Totnes had stone walls rather than a wooden fence.
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Lesson Details
Key learning points
- The Normans faced many rebellions during William the Conqueror's reign.
- The Normans built motte-and-bailey castles to deter these rebellions.
- The Normans introduced new stone buildings to many towns.
- Historians use the material remains of castles to study the Norman period.
Common misconception
The written word is the only useful source for the study of the past.
Although written sources are useful, material remains can reveal much about past societies - it depends on the questions historians ask of the source.
Keywords
Siege - the act of surrounding a town and refusing to let people out or goods in
Motte-and-bailey castle - a type of fortification introduced to England by the Normans
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