THE NORMAN CONQUEST

EDWARD THE
CONFESSOR

 was more interested in church

than in kingship;
 built Westminster Abbey;
 was single and had no children;
 brought many Normans to his
court;
 died in 1066.
 HAROLD GODWINSON

 was from the most powerful

family of Wessex;
 was chosen by the Witan to be
the next king of England;
 though had no royal blood;
 his right to the throne was
challenged by Duke of
Normandy – William.
 WILLIAM DUKE OF
NORMANDY

 has two claims to the English

throne: 1) King Edward
promised it to him; 2) Harold
promised not to claim the
throne for himself;
 Harold said he had been
forced to make the promise;
 In 1066 William landed in
England with his army.
 THE CONQUEST
1066
 Harold was faced by two dangers: by the
Danish Vikings and by William.
 Harold marched to Yorkshire to defeat
the Danes. His men were tired and had
no time to rest.
 Harold decided not to wait for the whole
Saxon army. He was sure he could defeat
William. It was his blunder.
 William’s army was small but better
armed, better organized and had horses.
 In battle near Hastings (East Sussex)
William defeated Harold’s army and
killed him.
 Then he marched to London burning the
villages on his way.
 He was crowned king of England in
Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day in
1066.
 How William organized his kingdom

 Feudal system: all land was owned by the king, he gave the land to his vassals in return for
services (military) and goods. The nobles kept serfs to work on their land.
 The basic principles of feudalism: every man had a lord, every lord had land. The king
was connected through this chain of people to the lowest man in the country.
 All the vassals had to promise the king loyalty and service. This promise was called
“homage”. It has remained a part of the coronation ceremony of British kings and queens
until now (to pay homage - to openly honor or worship someone).
 When a noble died, his son received his estate but he had to pay the king for that. If a noble
didn’t have heirs, the king took back his estate.
 “DOMESDAY” BOOK
In 1086 William wanted to know who
owned his land and how much it was
worth. Thus, he sent a team of people all
through England to make a complete
economic survey.
They asked the following questions:
 How much land was there?
 Who owned it?
 How much was it worth?
 How many families, ploughs and sheep
were there?
The team wrote down all the information.
The people knew they couldn’t avoid the
survey. It was like the Day of Judgement
(the Doom) for them. So they called the
book “Domesday” Book.
Bayeux Tapestry, medieval embroidery depicting the Norman Conquest of England in 1066,
remarkable as a work of art and important as a source for 11th-century history.
Eight colours were used in the making of the Bayeux Tapestry. The five main colours are blue-green, terracotta, light-
green, buff and grey-blue. There are also places where very dark blue, yellow and dark green colours were used.