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SavannahYear 8
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HistoryThe Norman Conquest, 1066–108738 min★★ difficulty

Lesson 1: A kingdom without an heir

Edward the Confessor's death opened a contested succession shaped by kinship, promises, election and force.

Part of your national curriculum
  • Historical enquiry: Understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims
  • Britain 1066-1901: Understand the impact through time of the Norman Conquest on society and the establishment of feudal government

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Understand the impact through time of the Norman Conquest on society and the establishment of feudal government

Key learning points

  • • Four claims
  • • Criteria for judgement

This lesson at a glance

  • 38 minutes
  • 17 parts to scroll through
  • 3 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

impactnormanconquestsocietyestablishment

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 17 · Discover6%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 17

Watch first

Lesson 1: A kingdom without an heir

An English teaching video on this topic from TED-Ed. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Understand the impact through time of the Norman Conquest on society and the establishment of feudal government

2

What you already know

Part 2 of 17

Before we start

What you already know

You should already know that England was a kingdom before 1066, that kings needed the support of powerful landholders, and that a claim to the throne could rest on family, promises or force.

3

Key words

Part 3 of 17

Key words

Words you'll need today

Succession
Who legally takes the throne when a ruler dies.
Witan
The council of leading English nobles and churchmen who advised the king and approved his successor.
Claimant
Someone who says they have the right to the throne.
Hearsay
A report of what someone else said, which cannot be checked directly.
4

Your lesson plan

Part 4 of 17

Lesson brief

Who had the strongest claim in 1066?

By the end, you will be able to

  • • Place events accurately in the conquest chronology
  • • Explain causes and consequences rather than list them
  • • Use the named evidence with attention to provenance

Resources

  • • Bayeux Tapestry (c.1070s)
  • • Lesson notes and marked knowledge check
4 minRecall the chronology and frame the enquiry
15 minRead the textbook explanation and build the argument
11 minInterrogate the archive evidence in context
8 minAnswer the checks and write a supported conclusion
5

Learning cycle

Part 5 of 17

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Who wanted the throne?

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

6

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 17

Learn

Four claims

Harold Godwinson was chosen by the witan; William of Normandy claimed Edward and Harold had promised him the crown; Harald Hardrada invoked an older agreement; Edgar Ætheling had royal blood but was young.

7

Quick check

Part 7 of 17

Quick check

Who chose Harold Godwinson?

8

Reset break

Part 8 of 17

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
9

Quick check

Part 9 of 17

Quick check

Why are later claims difficult?

10

Learning cycle

Part 10 of 17

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Judging the claims

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

11

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 17

Learn

Criteria for judgement

Separate what each claimant said from the evidence that survives, much of it written after victory.

12

Quick check

Part 12 of 17

Quick check

Best judgement method?

13

Investigate evidence

Part 13 of 17

Evidence 1 of 1

object

Bayeux Tapestry

Unknown embroiderers, probably Canterbury, c.1070s

The embroidered narrative shows Harold's oath, the crossing, Hastings and Harold's defeat from a Norman-centred viewpoint.

Made soon after the conquest, this is both narrative and political artefact. Its pictures require interpretation; captions are in Latin.

Think like a historian

Whose story does the embroidery centre, and where might it simplify events?

Source: Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeux, UNESCO Memory of the World

View the archive record ↗
14

Common mix-ups

Part 14 of 17

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

  • People often think the crown always passed to the eldest son. In 1066 English kingship still depended on choice by the witan as well as blood.
  • People often treat a claimant's own story as fact. Most surviving accounts were written after the conquest by people who needed William to look right.
15

Challenge round

Part 15 of 17

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

16

Mastery quiz

Part 16 of 17

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Lesson 1: A kingdom without an heir

6 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. Who was chosen as king by the witan in January 1066?

  2. 2. What did William of Normandy base his claim on?

  3. 3. Harald Hardrada's claim rested on…

  4. 4. Why is much of the evidence for 1066 difficult?

  5. 5. The best way to judge the claims is to…

  6. 6. The witan mattered because…

17

Lesson round-up

Part 17 of 17

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Source

A factory inspector's notebook, 1842

"I visited the mill at seven in the morning. The machines were already running. I counted fourteen children at the frames, the youngest no more than nine years of age. The overseer told me they work from six until seven, with forty minutes for dinner."

"The air is thick with cotton dust and the windows are kept shut so the thread does not break. Two of the children showed me hands cut by the shuttles. The owner assured me that the work is light and that the families beg him for the places, since without the children's wages the rent cannot be paid."

"I have written to the magistrates. I doubt much will follow from it."

Original source-style text written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Who wrote this, when, and why might that make it useful to a historian?
  2. What does the source tell you about children's work — and what does it not tell you?
  3. How far does this source show that mill owners were to blame? Answer with a judgement and evidence.

Source for this lesson

Use this for the source work task below.

Bayeux Tapestry

object

Unknown embroiderers, probably Canterbury, c.1070s

The embroidered narrative shows Harold's oath, the crossing, Hastings and Harold's defeat from a Norman-centred viewpoint.

Made soon after the conquest, this is both narrative and political artefact. Its pictures require interpretation; captions are in Latin.

Source: Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeux, UNESCO Memory of the World

View the original record ↗

  • Source work

    Reading

    Read the source closely. Write who made it, when, and what it tells you — then what it does not tell you.

    2 paragraphs

  • Essay answer

    Writing

    Answer the enquiry question with a clear judgement. Use two pieces of evidence and finish with a sentence that weighs them up.

    300–400 words

  • Timeline

    Diagram

    Draw a timeline of the events in this lesson with dates, then photograph it.

    6–8 events

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 17 · Watch & discover

How this is going

  • Not looked at yet

    Understand the methods of historical enquiry, including how evidence is used rigorously to make historical claims

  • Not looked at yet

    Understand the impact through time of the Norman Conquest on society and the establishment of feudal government

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