1. Assessed on Section B of Paper 2
Norman England
25% of GCSE
Assessed on Section B of Paper 2
4 questions in total including 16 mark question on specified site – Durham Cathedral 2018

2. What will I study? Part 1 – Conquest and control
Death of Edward the Confessor and succession crisis.
Claimants to the throne – Hardrada, Godwinson, William of Normandy, Edgar Atheling.
Battle of Stamford Bridge, Battle of Hastings.
Why did William win the Battle of Hastings? Battlefield analysis.
How did William secure control? Castles and military, terror, patronage, legality, concession.
What rebellions did William face? How did he deal with them? Including the Harrying of the North.

3. Part 2 – Life under the Normans
The Norman Feudal System
Law and order – reform of the law courts, trials
Why did William commission the Domesday Book?
Life in Norman villages
Life in Norman towns

4. Part 3 – The Norman Church and monasticism
Norman changes to the Church
William Rufus (William II) and his relationship with the Church
Relations with the Pope under the Normans
Norman monastic reform
Norman education

5. Part 4 – Study of Durham Cathedral, 2018
There will be a 16 mark question on your exam about Durham Cathedral and what it reveals about the Norman time period. This part of the course will prepare you for this question.

6. The Anglo- Saxons
The last Roman Soldiers left Britain in 410. New settlers then came in ships across the North Sea. These settlers would become known as the Saxons.
The Saxon age in Britain was from around 410 to 1066.
Saxons were a mix of tribes from Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands.
In order to understand the true impact of the Norman conquest in 1066 we need to understand what life was like before this for the Saxons.

7. Was Saxon Britain a ‘’golden age’’?
Saxon Britain has been described as a “golden age”. With your partner, list 5 elements or factors that you would expect to see in Saxon Britain if it was a golden age.
Learning outcomes:
Identify and explain the reality of life in Saxon Britain.
Assess the impact of the Norman conquest on Saxon Britain and question the idea of a Saxon ‘’golden age’’.

8. The Normans changed the English church.
The 5 most popular reasons Saxon Britain has been viewed as a golden age;
The Anglo Saxons lived in a free, relatively democratic society with access to their King, this all changed under the Normans.
The Normans increased the division between the rich and the poor in Britain.
The Anglo Saxons suffered much more violence under the Normans than they had before.
The Normans changed the English church.
Women lost their independence under the Normans.
Today you are going to test these views to find out whether they are a myth or a reality and whether Saxon Britain really was a golden age.
Your task:
Match the ‘Life under the Normans’ cards to the correct category on your worksheet and fill in the box.
Compare the information to ‘life in the Saxon age’ and reach a decision as to whether the popular view is a reality or if it is a myth.

9. Was Saxon Britain a golden age?
Society? Rich and poor? Violence? The church? Status of women?
Learning outcomes:
Identify and explain the reality of life in Saxon Britain.
Assess the impact of the Norman conquest on Saxon Britain and question the idea of a Saxon ‘’golden age’’.

10. “Norman saw on English oak
“Norman saw on English oak. On English neck a Norman yoke; Norman spoon to English dish, And England ruled as Normans wish; Blithe world in England never will be more, Till England's rid of all the four.” ―Walter Scott
What does this poem suggest about the impact of the Norman invasion? Why might the legacy of a Saxon golden age still exist?

11. Reality in Saxon Britain Reality under the Normans Myth or reality?
Popular view
Reality in Saxon Britain
Reality under the Normans
Myth or reality?
The Anglo Saxons lived in a free, relatively democratic society with access to their King, this all changed under the Normans.
In Anglo Saxon Britain, a free man could own his own property and could legally appeal to the King, or his representatives, in times of need. It has been argued that this was the start of English democracy.Although Anglo Saxons were protected by law, they were not equal. Slavery was common place and having more money gave you more influence in court. For instance, the oath (promise) of a thegn was reckoned to be worth that of six men of lower status.
The Normans increased the division between the rich and the poor in Britain.
People talk about the ‘newness’ of the feudal system. They say that holding land in return for service in the army was new. But even before 1066, landholders had to serve in the army. Although everything seemed to have changed after 1066, in many ways it was just the same.
The Anglo Saxons suffered much more violence under the Normans than they had before.
England had faced a terrible threat for centuries: the Vikings. These were Scandinavians who had raided settlements all along the coasts of Europe.
The Normans changed the English church.
Before the Norman invasion, the Anglo Saxons had been largely Christian and built many churches and monasteries. Bishops were often rich, important people who sold church jobs for profit. Local priests were usually not well educated, many could not speak Latin (the language of the church) and were married which went against the reforms of the Pope.
Women lost their independence under the Normans.
Under Saxon law, some women could own property. However, they were still under the control of their husband or father.

12. Most of the Saxon aristocracy had been killed at Hastings and William took most of the land from the survivors. Within ten years ¼ of the country was owned by 11 men who did not speak English.
B. The Normans didn't change the systems of farming. People still wore the same kinds of clothing they did before the Norman Conquest. The new Norman king and his lords were not interested in changing the ways ordinary people lived their lives. An historian writing in 2002.
C. Many Norman aristocrats forcibly married the widows of the dead Saxon land owners.
D. Arguably, it was the acquisition of great swathes of landed wealth from a handful of very wealthy Saxon landholders that allowed even the youngest of the Norman conquerors to become, as the Anglo-Norman chronicler Orderic Vitalis observed, “richer than their fathers in Normandy had been”. BBC History magazine

13. E. There were 3 languages spoken in Britain after 1066; French for the ruling classes, Latin for the church and English or the peasants.
F. The North of England rebelled against William. “He cut down many in his vengeance; destroyed the lairs of others; harried the land, and burned homes to ashes. He made no effort to control his fury and punished the innocent with the guilty. In his anger he ordered that all crops, herds and food of every kind should be bought together and burned to ashes, so that the whole region might be stripped of sustenance. As a result of this such a terrible famine fell upon the humble and defenceless people that more than 100,00 Christian folk of both sexes, young and old alike, perished of hunger. Written by a monk 60 years after the ‘harrying’ of the North
G. William was an ally of Pope Gregory VII and started reforming the English church once he was in power. Most of the English bishops were replaced by Normans and the church was bought in line with the orders from the Pope in Rome. These new rules banned priests from getting married, getting drunk or selling high ranking church positions for money.