unit 1 normans

harald

• king of norway

• leader of the Varangian guard and leads vikns

• old king of england Harthacanute promised father Magnus the throne

thegns

• lords who would gather men to fight forharold

willim recruited

• soldier for germant, and italy

tostig

• raided north folk and Lincolnshire

• challenged authority at battle of fulford on 20th September 1066

battle of hastings

• Across on 27, landing 28 September

• Picked up more soldiers in London, setting off 11th October, arriving 13th

• William orders archer to shoot high in air, Harold kills by arrow in the eye Bayeux tapestry, or hacked to death

• Fake retreat, English soldiers chase normans, breaking shoe wall, formations crumbling, Harold exposed

• Rumours William died, panic and retreat, william lifts helmet, says, look at me, I am alive and with gods name I will conquer,

Edwin and morcar

swear oath of fealty

castles

• built 5,000 in 40 years

• pickering

• pevensey

• rhuddlah

• chepstow

• chester

• pulverbatch

• tretower

• st daivds

• Cardiff

order vilatisu

• praised William but critical of the harrying of the north

edward

• came into power 1042

earl godwin

• die 1053

hill called

• senlac ridge

when left for normandy

• put William firzosbern and odd in charge

northern

• didnt trust northern aristocracy, order barons to subdue cumbria

• led expeditions to assert power over Yorkshire and north east glad himself

rebellion in kent and northumbria

• 1067

• Eustace of Boulogne to track dover castles, failed

• appointed cospig, ambushed and killed by former leader

harrying of the north

• 20 years later, 60% listed as waste in domesday boos

• between 80-150,000 fewer people than 1066

• from humber river to tees river

• Staffordshire and Shropshire

Edward’s father

• Edward’s father Ethelred II, from 978,

• however invaded by Scandinavians in 1013, and many inns, including three Scandinavians, Swein, Cnut, and Harthacnut

• Edward fled to normandy, exile for over 20 years

Edwards’ rule

• returned 1042, as king

• many powerful figures loyal to scandivanian rulers

• godwin of Wessex, siward of northumbria and leofric of mercia were the most powerful earls, acted quickly to gain their support

• had to defend against foreign claimants, Magnus of Norway, prepared fleet on the south coast, never came

• gave important positions in royal household and church to followers he had gained in normandy,

  • many anglo saxons, including godwin, resented the foreign influence

Godwins exile

• king ordered godwi to punish the town of dover after a fight between townspeople and visit french noble, godwin refused

• then gathered an army, went to confront, but didn’t have enough men

Godwin’s

• Godwin was earl of Wessex until 1018, oldest and richest earldom

• 1042, supported Edward claim

• Edward married Godwin’s daughter, edith

• godwin less powerful as Edward favoured the normans in the royal household

• Godwin’s son, Harold, was earl of east anglia, Godwin died, Harold gave it up to be Earl of Wessex

• brother, tostig, Gyrth, Leofwine, earls, sister the queen, dominate figures

20 september

• battle of gate fulford

• Harold went north, he had dismissed the Fyrd, so had to gather troops on there way

• hardrada asked for hostages after victory and went to stamford bridge to collect, didnt take his whole army as he wasn’t expecting a battle

castles, building material

• earliest, wood and earth, quickly and without skilled labour

  • later repacked, stone castles, for example 1070, ordered hastings castles should be rebuilt using stone

castles, location

• sometimes, used natural parts of the landscape to make castles easier to defend

  • Richmond castles, next to a steep drop into the river swale,

• also reused existing anglo saxon structures

  • pevensey and exeter built inside fortifications that had existed before the conquest

castle building

• prevent invasion, south coast, dover, Arundel, corfe,

• in response to rebellions

• highly visible symbol

knights

the tenants in chief’s vassals

more revolt of earls

• Ralph, under seige in norwich castles, escaped and left wife Emma in control

• went to Denmark for reinforcements, but arrived too late, Emma surrended after a long siege, exile

some shire courts crime

criminal cases, dealt with cases involving land and property, attended by important people in the shire, major landholders and senior churchmen

everyday problems in villages

manor courts, like peasants who weren’t working properly

domesday book

notes who held land in 1066, how much it was worth then, and its values in 1086

rebuilt buildings

Wharram Percy, a village in Yorkshire, the normans built a stone mill for grinding grain to make flour

farming

• no machinery

• plough fields and plants seeds,

• grown on lord’s land went straight to him, own land as well

• learnt a trade too, blacksmith and carpenter

land dusts between a lord’s vassals

honourial courts

some hundred courts crimes

less serious, stealing livestock, failing to repay small debts

king’s council

curia regis, made up of tenants in chief,