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HistoryThe Norman Conquest, 1066–108738 min★★ difficulty

Lesson 2: The battles of 1066

Harold fought at Stamford Bridge before marching south to face William on 14 October.

Part of your national curriculum
  • Historical enquiry: Understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance
  • Britain 1066-1901: Understand the impact through time of the Norman Conquest on society and the establishment of feudal government
  • Historical enquiry: Understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources, and how and why historians have interpreted the past in different ways

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

  • • Armies and tactics
  • • Contingency

This lesson at a glance

  • 38 minutes
  • 19 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 19 · Discover5%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 19

Watch first

Lesson 2: The battles of 1066

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 19

Before we start

What you already know

You should already know the four claimants of 1066 and that armies in this period marched on foot and depended on food, weather and shipping.

Recap: Lesson 1: A kingdom without an heir
3

Key words

Part 3 of 19

Key words

Words you'll need today

Fyrd
The part-time army raised from English landholders and their men.
Housecarl
A professional, well-armed soldier in the king's household.
Shield wall
A defensive line of overlapping shields.
Contingency
A chance event, such as a wind change, that affects an outcome.
4

Your lesson plan

Part 4 of 19

Lesson brief

Why did William win at Hastings?

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)
  • • The Norman Conquest and resistance (1066–1071)
  • • 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 19

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Two battles in three weeks

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

6

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 19

Learn

Armies and tactics

English housecarls and fyrd formed a shield wall; Norman infantry, archers and cavalry attacked uphill.

7

Quick check

Part 7 of 19

Quick check

Where had Harold fought first?

8

Quick check

Part 8 of 19

Quick check

English defence relied on…

9

Reset break

Part 9 of 19

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
10

Learning cycle

Part 10 of 19

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Explaining the outcome

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

11

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 19

Learn

Contingency

Leadership, feigned retreats, exhaustion and battlefield decisions interacted. Avoid treating victory as inevitable.

12

Quick check

Part 12 of 19

Quick check

Why avoid one-cause answers?

13

Investigate evidence

Part 13 of 19

Evidence 1 of 2

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

Investigate evidence

Part 14 of 19

Evidence 2 of 2

map

The Norman Conquest and resistance

Modern historical reconstruction from chronicles and archaeology, 1066–1071

The mapped sequence links Hastings, coronation, castle-building, rebellions and the Harrying of the North.

This is a modern interpretation, not a medieval object. Its value lies in making distance and sequence visible; its choices must still be questioned.

Think like a historian

How does geography help explain where resistance lasted longest?

Source: English Heritage, History of the Norman Conquest

View the archive record ↗
15

Common mix-ups

Part 15 of 19

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

  • People often think Hastings was inevitable. Harold won at Stamford Bridge first, and a different wind or a fresher army could have changed the result.
  • People often say Harold lost because of one arrow. The long march, cavalry, archers and a broken shield wall all mattered.
16

Challenge round

Part 16 of 19

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

17

Challenge round

Part 17 of 19

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

English housecarls and fyrd formed a shield wall; ____ infantry, archers and cavalry attacked uphill.

18

Mastery quiz

Part 18 of 19

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Lesson 2: The battles of 1066

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

  1. 1. Where did Harold fight before Hastings?

  2. 2. English defence at Hastings relied mainly on…

  3. 3. William's army had an advantage in…

  4. 4. Why should you avoid one-cause answers about Hastings?

  5. 5. The march from Stamford Bridge mattered because…

  6. 6. A contingency in this story is…

19

Lesson round-up

Part 19 of 19

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.

Sources for this lesson

Use these 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 ↗

The Norman Conquest and resistance

map

Modern historical reconstruction from chronicles and archaeology, 1066–1071

The mapped sequence links Hastings, coronation, castle-building, rebellions and the Harrying of the North.

This is a modern interpretation, not a medieval object. Its value lies in making distance and sequence visible; its choices must still be questioned.

Source: English Heritage, History of the Norman Conquest

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 19 · Watch & discover

How this is going

  • Not looked at yet

    Understand historical concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance

  • Not looked at yet

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

  • Not looked at yet

    Understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources, and how and why historians have interpreted the past in different ways

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