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

Lesson 5: Land, lordship and government

Norman elites replaced most English landholders, while kings also adapted existing shires, taxation and administration.

Part of your national curriculum
  • Britain 1066-1901: Understand the development of Church, state and society in Medieval Britain 1066-1509
  • 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

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

  • • Land redistribution
  • • Change and continuity

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 5: Land, lordship and government

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 William granted land to his followers, and that England already had shires, sheriffs and a tax system before 1066.

Recap: Lesson 4: Resistance and the Harrying
3

Key words

Part 3 of 17

Key words

Words you'll need today

Tenant-in-chief
A lord holding land directly from the king in return for service.
Feudal
A system of landholding in return for service and loyalty.
Geld
A land tax collected in England before and after 1066.
Sheriff
The king's chief officer in a shire.
4

Your lesson plan

Part 4 of 17

Lesson brief

How revolutionary was Norman rule?

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

  • • 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 17

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Who held the land?

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

6

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 17

Learn

Land redistribution

William held ultimate lordship and granted estates to followers for service. Tenants and obligations formed overlapping relationships, not a perfectly tidy pyramid.

7

Quick check

Part 7 of 17

Quick check

Who replaced many English landholders?

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

What continued?

10

Learning cycle

Part 10 of 17

Learning cycle 2 of 2

What carried on?

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

11

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 17

Learn

Change and continuity

Sheriffs, geld taxation and written government drew on English practice even as personnel, language and lordship changed.

12

Quick check

Part 12 of 17

Quick check

Why is a neat feudal pyramid limited?

13

Investigate evidence

Part 13 of 17

Evidence 1 of 1

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 ↗
14

Common mix-ups

Part 14 of 17

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

  • People often draw feudalism as a neat pyramid. Real obligations overlapped and varied from place to place.
  • People often think everything English was swept away. Shires, sheriffs and taxation continued under new masters.
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 5: Land, lordship and government

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

  1. 1. Who replaced most English landholders by 1086?

  2. 2. Land was granted in return for…

  3. 3. Which English practice continued after 1066?

  4. 4. A tenant-in-chief held land from…

  5. 5. Continuity and change together show that…

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.

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 17 · Watch & discover

How this is going

  • Not looked at yet

    Understand the development of Church, state and society in Medieval Britain 1066-1509

  • 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

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