History at key stage 3 (Year 7)
Unit 2: How did medieval monarchs keep control?
Section 2: How did William the Conqueror secure control of England?
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Objectives |
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- about Saxon resistance to the invading Normans
- to investigate the different ways in which William of Normandy secured the Conquest
- why the Saxons and Normans had different views about William the Conqueror
- to select and summarise information to support a point of view
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Activities |
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Outcomes |
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Children: |
- Use the map of the Saxon kingdom to explain the task facing William the Conqueror after defeating Harold Godwinson and the Saxons at Hastings.
- Explain to pupils how insecure William was immediately after 1066 because of possible Saxon resistance to Norman rule. Discuss possible ways that William could respond to Saxon resistance. Ask pupils
How would you tell William to act if you were barons advising him? Compare pupils' advice with an account of William's actions from 1066 to 1087.
- Ask pupils to examine in detail one way in which William established control
eg the 'harrying of the North' - the use of terror and destruction to overawe the Saxons; the resistance of Hereward the Wake and the role of the monks of Ely in his betrayal to the Normans; the feudal system - the distribution by William of conquered land to his barons in return for military service; the building of motte-and-bailey castles by William's barons to subdue the conquered territories. This could be through using videos, textbooks, databases, CD-ROMs and websites, and site visits.
- Ask pupils to explain how William's actions made his position more secure.
- Ask pupils to consider how the Saxons may have felt about his actions.
- Through explanation and discussion, consider in what other way William secured control.
- Explain to pupils that some Normans and Saxons produced different interpretations of William. Ask them to write a brief account, from a Saxon viewpoint, describing the sort of man that William was. Key vocabulary and correct spelling should be emphasised. Then share with them an eleventh-century account of William. Ask pupils to compare their reconstructions with this view.
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- explain how William the Conqueror overcame initial Saxon resistance
- describe and explain how William used different methods to consolidate Norman control of England
- select, organise and prioritise information relevant to a Saxon view of William's career
- use correctly subject-specific keywords
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Points to note |
- Extension work could focus on:
- the validity of the various claimants to the throne of England
- whether Harold Godwinson lost or William of Normandy won
- Links can be made with unit 4 ?Medieval church?.
- Use historical fiction,
eg 'Hereward the Wake' by Malcolm Saville, to add depth.
- Key skills: some of these activities will provide opportunities for pupils to demonstrate evidence of IT skills,
eg extracting information from a database.
- ICT: pupils might interrogate a database of Domesday Book entries (containing some Yorkshire data) to find out about some of William's strategies of control,
eg What happened to ownership of land during William's reign? How effective was the harrying of the North? Pupils could interrogate a large database of medieval castles to find out numbers and locations of castles built during William's reign and consider how far castle building was part of William's strategy of control. They could use a website to find information about the types of castles built by William.
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This unit is divided into sections. Each section contains a sequence of
activities with related objectives and outcomes. You can view this unit by
moving through the sections or print/download the whole unit.
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