A throne with no clear heir

On 5 January 1066 Edward the Confessor died childless. With no direct heir, several men claimed the English throne — and the crisis would decide the future of England.

• Harold Godwinson — the most powerful Anglo-Saxon earl. He said Edward named him heir on his deathbed, and was crowned king in January 1066.
• William, Duke of Normandy — claimed Edward had promised him the throne, and that Harold had sworn an oath to support him.
• Harald Hardrada of Norway — a Viking claimant, backed by Harold's exiled brother Tostig.

Why it mattered: Anglo-Saxon England had no fixed rule of succession. When three strong men each claimed the crown, war was almost certain.

Three claimants, three claims

Each rival built his claim on a different mix of blood, promises and force:

William argued Harold had broken a holy oath — and even got the Pope's blessing for his invasion, presenting himself as the rightful, God-backed claimant.

Whose claim?

Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066

The first invasion came from the north. Harald Hardrada and Tostig landed near York with a Viking army. Harold Godwinson marched his army north at speed to meet them.

• At Stamford Bridge (25 September 1066) Harold Godwinson defeated the invaders in a hard-fought battle.
• Both Harald Hardrada and Tostig were killed. The Viking threat to England was crushed.
• But just days later, news came that William had landed in the south — so Harold had to march his tired army all the way back.

Key point: Stamford Bridge was a great English victory — but it left Harold's army exhausted and far from the south coast at exactly the wrong moment.

The Battle of Hastings, 14 October 1066

William landed at Pevensey in late September. On 14 October 1066 the two armies met near Hastings for the battle that would decide the throne.

• Harold's men formed a shield wall on high ground; William used archers, cavalry and feigned retreats to draw them out.
• Harold Godwinson was killed and the English were defeated.
• The Bayeux Tapestry is the key source telling the story of the conquest.

Name the battle

William is crowned king

Victory at Hastings did not instantly give William the country — but it opened the road to London. After crushing resistance and taking submissions, he secured the crown.

• William was crowned King of England on 25 December 1066 — Christmas Day — at Westminster Abbey.
• The coronation itself was tense: Norman guards, fearing a rising, set fire to houses outside the abbey.
• William now had to turn a battlefield win into lasting control of a hostile country.

Misconception alert: Hastings did not end resistance. England was conquered gradually — through years of castle-building, rebellions and brutal crackdowns after 1066.

What happened at Hastings?

Building castles

The Normans held down England with castles — fast to build and easy to defend. Most were motte-and-bailey castles, thrown up quickly across the country.

• Castles let a small number of Normans dominate a hostile local population.
• They were bases for soldiers, symbols of Norman power, and centres of control.
• Later, key sites were rebuilt in stone — for example the Tower of London.

The Harrying of the North

The north rebelled repeatedly against Norman rule. In 1069–70 William answered with a campaign of terrible brutality — the Harrying of the North.

• Norman armies burned villages, crops and livestock across Yorkshire and the north.
• Thousands died of starvation, and the land was devastated for years.
• It broke northern resistance — but at a horrific human cost.

Why it mattered: the Harrying showed William would use extreme force to secure his rule. It ended large-scale northern rebellion, but its brutality shocked even some Norman chroniclers.

Hereward the Wake and the Revolt of the Earls

Resistance flared up again even after the Harrying:

• Hereward the Wake (1071) led resistance in the marshy Fens around Ely, before William finally crushed it.
• The Revolt of the Earls (1075) — a rebellion by Norman and English earls against William. It failed, and the rebels were harshly punished.

Pattern: rebellion → Norman force → tighter control. Each rising was defeated, and each time William strengthened his grip through castles, land seizures and punishment.

Crushing the north

The feudal system

To control the land, William reorganised society into the feudal system — a pyramid of land held in return for service and loyalty (homage).

• The king owned all the land and granted it to tenants-in-chief (barons).
• Barons gave land to knights in return for military service; knights were served by peasants (villeins) who farmed the land.
• Anglo-Saxon lords lost their lands (forfeiture), which were handed to loyal Normans.

Top of the pyramid

The Domesday Book

In 1085–1086 William ordered a huge survey of England — the Domesday Book — recording who owned what, and what it was worth.

• Royal officials recorded land, people, livestock and value, village by village.
• It let William tax the country accurately and know exactly what each landholder owed.
• It was so thorough that people compared it to the "Day of Judgement" — hence the name Domesday.

Two big purposes: the Domesday Book was a tool for raising money (tax) and for control — proof of the king's power to know and command his whole kingdom.

When was Domesday made?

Event / term ↔ significance

Tap an event or term on the left, then tap its significance on the right.

Reforming the Church

The Church was central to power, so William took firm control of it. In 1070 he made Lanfranc the Archbishop of Canterbury, replacing English bishops with Normans.

• Lanfranc led a reform of the English Church, tightening discipline and organisation.
• Normans built great new cathedrals in the heavy, round-arched Romanesque (Norman) style.
• Controlling the Church boosted William's authority — bishops were powerful landholders and could preach loyalty to the king.

Why it mattered: by putting loyal Normans in charge of the Church, William gained control of a rich and powerful institution — and used it to help govern England.

Name the Archbishop

Governing Norman England

William kept some Anglo-Saxon systems and added Norman ones to rule effectively:

• Sheriffs collected taxes and enforced the king's justice in each shire.
• Forest law made huge areas royal forest — reserved for the king's hunting, with harsh penalties for poaching.
• Norman French became the language of the ruling class, while ordinary people still spoke English.

Norman rule reshaped society: a new French-speaking ruling class held the land, but England's shire and hundred system of local government largely survived.

From William I to William II

The period runs to about 1100, spanning the reigns of the first two Norman kings:

• William I ("the Conqueror") died in 1087. His lands were divided among his sons.
• England passed to William II, known as William Rufus ("the red").
• Rufus continued Norman rule until his death in 1100, when his brother Henry I took the throne — the end of the c1066–c1100 study.

By 1100 England had been transformed: a Norman king, Norman lords, Norman castles and a Norman Church — yet still built on Anglo-Saxon foundations.

After the Conqueror

Timeline: 1066 → c1100

Put the events in order

Tap the events in the correct time order, from earliest to latest.

Sources and interpretations

In the AQA exam you handle sources and think about how they help you study Norman England. Two quick habits win marks:

• Ask who made it and why (provenance). The Bayeux Tapestry, for example, was made under Norman patronage — it tells the story from the Norman point of view.
• Use your own knowledge to judge it. Support or challenge a source with facts you know (dates, events, people).

Interpretations differ: historians debate how brutal the Conquest was, or how much changed for ordinary people. Being aware that interpretations vary — and why — is exactly what the exam rewards.

Thinking like a historian

Why did William win and keep England?

No single cause — but a chain of factors, from luck and leadership at Hastings to ruthless control afterwards:

Winning Hastings was only the start — William kept England through castles, brutal force, the feudal system and control of the Church.

The essentials to remember

You've covered the whole AQA Norman England, c1066–c1100 study. Press Finish to see your score.