Lesson 1: England in 1066

• History
• Lower Secondary (Key Stage 3)

Introduction

This lesson analyses England just before the Norman invasion. During the lesson, students will examine what made England an attractive option for conquest, explore the 'set-up' of medieval England and ask your students to explore why England would have made a great prize for any potential ruler.

Instructions

Simply load up the lesson and it's ready to teach! You can also save this lesson to your LessonUp area and make any adjustments you would like, including updating or altering the video, text and image content to suit your classes. 

A great companion textbook to these lessons is 'Understanding History - updated edition' from Hodder Education. 

Date:

LO: To examine the position of England in 1066, what made it attractive and who wanted the throne. 

What do you already know about medieval England?

What do you know about...

Image from: https://medievalreporter.com/guidebook/civilizations/anglo-saxons/

Why was England such an attractive country to rule by the 1060's?

Wealth! There was a population of around 2 million people. Most of these people would have 'worked the land'. England had plenty of grain, cattle and sheep. Merchants traded food, wool and leather with other countries, which led to many wealthy towns. There were even skilled craftsmen who could make more 'luxury' goods, such as cloth, metal and jewellery.

Defences! The Saxons did not build castles, however they did build burhs, especially in the south. Burhs were fortified towns constructed off of the land. They usually had raised banks surrounding them and had trained soldiers ready to defend them. This attracted local people to the area.

The King! England became a single kingdom at the end of the 10th century. In the 1060s, the king could control the whole country from London, while also owning most of the land. They also ensured that all the coin used came from royal mints, meaning that the average person could not 'make' their own money. By dividing England into shires it made it easier to set up systems to control each area using shire courts, and collect the right taxes from each area!

The earls. Powerful men called earls owned large areas of land accross England. They advised the king and helped him control the different areas they were responsible for. By 1065, the most powerful earls came from the same 3 families. The rivalry between them sometimes made England unstable especially if they couldn't decide who should be the next king!

Soldiers! In wartime, the king and his earls could gather a force of around 3000 housecarls. These were very well-trained soldiers who could use spears, swords and battle-axes. They could also summon untrained common soldiers. Unlike the Normans, the Saxons did not fight on horseback, and only fought on foot!

Religion. For hundreds of years, England had been a Christian country. People would gather around stone crosses to worship, but some towns had built small wooden churches. In London King Edward paid for Westminster Abbey to be built, but stone churches were exceedingly rare in Saxon England. 

Click the hotspots on the right to reveal more information about Saxon England!

What makes England worth conquering?

What makes England worth conquering?

What is the most significant thing that makes England hard to conquer?

What makes England worth conquering?

What is the most significant thing 

that makes England hard to conquer?

Wealth

Defences

The King

The earls

The soldiers

Religion

What is the most significant thing that makes England hard to conquer?

What makes England worth conquering?

What is the most significant thing 

that makes England easier to conquer?

Wealth

Defences

The King

The earls

The soldiers

Religion

It's a great time to ask your students to explain why they picked the option they picked here. These are not easy questions, so any prompting towards thinking about how (for example) the defences are not as stable or heavy as a castle is a great start!

In January 1066 the king, Edward the Confessor, died without leaving any children as an heir. There were a number of people who thought they should be the next ruler of England, and each had a reason for believing so.

Let's examine the crown's contenders and their reason for believing they were the most obvious heir.

January 1066, The King is dead.

"Edward the Confessor" 

from 'Chronicle of England'

Originally published/produced in N. England, 

c. 1307 - c. 1327.

How did this lesson go for you?

How did this lesson go for you?

How did this lesson go for you?

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