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HistoryThe Norman Conquest, 1066–108738 min★★ difficulty

Lesson 4: Resistance and the Harrying

Revolts, rival claimants and Danish intervention made northern England difficult for William to control.

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

  • • Rebellion
  • • The Harrying

This lesson at a glance

  • 38 minutes
  • 18 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 18 · Discover6%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 18

Watch first

Lesson 4: Resistance and the Harrying

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 18

Before we start

What you already know

You should already know that castles helped the Normans hold territory, and that English earls and Danish rulers still had power and ambitions after 1066.

Recap: Lesson 3: Conquest by castle
3

Key words

Part 3 of 18

Key words

Words you'll need today

Harrying
Deliberate destruction of land, food and settlements to break resistance.
Chronicle
A year-by-year written account, often kept by monks.
Revolt
An organised rising against a ruler.
Waste
The word Domesday uses for land recorded as producing no value.
4

Your lesson plan

Part 4 of 18

Lesson brief

Why was the North devastated?

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

  • • The Norman Conquest and resistance (1066–1071)
  • • Domesday Book (1086)
  • • 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 18

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Resistance to Norman rule

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

6

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 18

Learn

Rebellion

Resistance continued after 1066. William answered with campaigns, castles and replacement of English elites.

7

Quick check

Part 7 of 18

Quick check

The Harrying occurred mainly in…

8

Reset break

Part 8 of 18

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 18

Quick check

Why compare chronicles and Domesday?

10

Learning cycle

Part 10 of 18

Learning cycle 2 of 2

The Harrying and its evidence

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

11

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 18

Learn

The Harrying

In 1069–70 forces destroyed food, settlements and livestock. Later chroniclers described famine; scale and language require critical comparison.

12

Quick check

Part 12 of 18

Quick check

A consequence was…

13

Investigate evidence

Part 13 of 18

Evidence 1 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 ↗
14

Investigate evidence

Part 14 of 18

Evidence 2 of 2

primary

Domesday Book

William I's royal commissioners, 1086

The survey records landholders, resources and values before and after the Conquest for most of England.

It was made for Norman government and taxation. It is exceptionally detailed about property, but records people through categories useful to rulers.

Think like a historian

What could a ruler learn from this record, and whose life is hardest to see?

Source: The National Archives, Domesday Book education resource

View the archive record ↗
15

Common mix-ups

Part 15 of 18

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

  • People often think resistance ended in 1066. Revolts continued for years, especially in the north.
  • People often take chronicle numbers literally. Writers used strong language for effect, so figures must be compared with other records.
16

Challenge round

Part 16 of 18

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

Mastery quiz

Part 17 of 18

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Lesson 4: Resistance and the Harrying

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

  1. 1. The Harrying of 1069–70 took place mainly in…

  2. 2. William responded to revolt with…

  3. 3. Why compare chronicles with Domesday?

  4. 4. Danish intervention mattered because it…

  5. 5. A consequence of the Harrying was…

  6. 6. 'Waste' in Domesday entries suggests…

18

Lesson round-up

Part 18 of 18

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.

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 ↗

Domesday Book

primary

William I's royal commissioners, 1086

The survey records landholders, resources and values before and after the Conquest for most of England.

It was made for Norman government and taxation. It is exceptionally detailed about property, but records people through categories useful to rulers.

Source: The National Archives, Domesday Book education resource

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 18 · 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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