William the Conqueror and the Victory at Hastings

1. In the early Middle Ages, England kept getting invaded by the vikings from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.  King Ethelred the Unready was a weak king.
    He could not effectively deal with the invasions.  

   

   Ethelred the Unready

   He married a Norman, Emma, to help defeat Vikings by forming an alliance with Normandy. When the fighting got especially dangerous, Ethelred and Emma sent their children to Normandy, including their son Edward, the future king of England.
2. Soon Edward (the Confessor) became king of England.
    Because he lived in Normandy for quite a while, he was heavily influenced by Norman culture. He even stayed at the castle of William, Duke of Normandy. 
   
   

   

   Edward the Confessor

   
   William claimed that Edward promised him the crown when he died.
3. Edward returns to England and brought back a lot of advisers and such who were Norman. The Anglo-Saxons did not like all of these Normans in high positions at court. So Edward the Confessor was forced to send them back. In 1065 he became very ill. He then conferred the kingdom to Harold Godwinson, a powerful earl, and also the husband to Edward's sister Edith.  But before he was given the kingdom, Harold had visited William in Normandy and promised loyalty to him as king.

   

   Harold Godwinson
4. Edward died and William claimed the throne with the support of the Anglo-Saxons. They don't want a Norman king! He doesn't even speak English! Harold was then crowned king and William was not happy. He appealed to Pope Alexander II and the pope gave him permission to invade England.
5. As William was assembling his invading force, Harold had to go north to defend England from the pesky Vikings again at York. The Viking King Hardrada had invaded northern England at York. 
6. While the Anglo-Saxon army is away fighting the Vikings, William landed at Pevensey Bay and no one was there. He started to ransack the countryside.
7. Harold was victorious against the Vikings at Stamford Bridge. Then he hears that William was  ravaging southern England so he quickly hurried south. They went so fast, his army was tired and ragged.

   

   The end of the Viking ear, with their defeat at Stamford Bridge
8. They meet William at the town of Hastings. Harold positioned his army on Senlac Hill, protected by marshy land on each flank, trees behind him and a man-made ditch and a palisade in front. As the battle commenced, Harold had a shield guard that was effective at blocking arrows from the Normans. The Normans charged and the Saxons held them off, but the right flank broke rank to chase the retreating Normans. They were decimated. After an hour break, William changed tactics.

   

   Melee at Hastings
9. On the second round they fired arrows higher and caught the Anglo-Saxons by surprise, then charged with cavalry. The were still repulsed, but Harold and both of his brothers were killed. Harold died when an arrow went right through his eyeball!

The English rebellions against the Norman Conquest were first led in 1067 by King Harold's mother Gytha but her forces are defeated. In 1068 King William exacted a terrible punishment on the rebels in the North of England referred to as 'The Harrying of the North'- William ordered that all land is laid to waste and thousands of men, women and children are starved to death. The final major rebellion against William the Conqueror and the Norman Conquest was led by Hereward the Wake with Harold's brother the Earl Morcar against the Normans at Peterborough - once again the rebels were defeated and the Norman Conquest was finally complete.

William the Conqueror instituted his strategy for medieval warfare of building castles and went on to build many castles in England including his most famous, the Tower of London. 

The Tower of London

William the Conqueror also left another legacy - The Doomsday Book which was begun in 1086 and contained detailed records of 13,418 settlements in England. 



Domesday Book still exists today!

The Doomsday Book, which still survives, provides an insight into the medieval life and times of this era. In 1087 King William the Conqueror died in a riding accident when he fell from his horse.


Supplemental Activity


In order to reinforce the concept behind the Domesday book, each boy made their own Domesday Book. I passed out candy while I was giving my lecture.  They each had their own paper bag to keep it all. Then when the lecture was over I handed them each an inventory sheet with a Domesday cover.  They had to inventory their candy and their neighbors candy.