The 11th Century on AboutBritain.com You are here: Articles -> British History Through the Centuries -> The 11th Century The 11th Century The 11th century refers to the period from the year 1000 to 1099, although some historians argue a case for it covering the period from 1001 to 1100. Wherever you draw the line, it was an incredibly long time ago, long before most things were officially recorded. The 11th century in England saw the end of the Viking Age with King Canute and his son Harthacnut, and the start of the Norman Conquest which began in 1066. This period was generally known as the Middle Ages.

Key Dates Some of the major events during this period were: 1042 Edward the Confessor crowned king 1066 Battle of Hastings and defeat of Harold II 1066 William the Conqueror was crowned king in Westminster Abbey 1070 Work started on Canterbury Cathedral 1078 Building of the Tower of London commenced 1086 Domesday Book was compiled 1087 Death of William I who was succeeded by his son William II Domesday Book One of the legacies of the rule of William I was the Domesday Book in 1086. William the Conqueror, as he was better known, invaded England to claim the throne which he believed had been promised to him by his cousin, Edward the Confessor. William the Conqueror defeated Harold II at the Battle of Hastings and to consolidate his rule, he ordered a census to assess his landholdings. Representatives of the king were sent all over England to record who owned the land and livestock and to put a value on it. It is thanks to this massive project that much of our historic data is founded upon today.

The names of towns and their existence can be verified in the two massive volumes, and of course the information was used to assess rents and taxes. Unfortunately London , Winchester and some other towns were omitted, but it is still a very comprehensive record for its time. From these records it is estimated that 1 ¼ to 2 million people lived in England during the 11th century. William the Conqueror also began the building of many medieval castles and cathedrals, including and Canterbury and Durham Cathedrals. Most landholding was based on the feudal system, with William the Conqueror heading the social structure. He granted land to tenants-in-chief, mainly lords who swore allegiance to him. They in turn tenanted the land to villagers and peasants who worked small plots of land. The Domesday Book is now maintained on view in the National Archives, Kew although the original is written in Latin and is hard to interpret. The contents can be found on-line as part of the BBC Domesday project. Villages, Castles and Churches It is hard to imagine life more than a thousand years ago, yet there are a surprising number of historic sights which date back to that period.

Most of England was covered with isolated farms, hamlets and tiny villages interspersed with fields. As most fortifications in this era were made of wood, few survive today. However many churches were built of stone and although often altered and largely rebuilt, they are an incredible testament to the skills of their builders. Arundel Castle was built as both a fortification and a home and is a famous 11th century historic home which can be visited. Dunfermline Abbey is built on the remains of an 11th century Benedictine Abbey and St Martin's Cathedral in Leicester also dates back to this historic time. 10th and 11th Cent. Clothing in England: A Portfolio of Images The Benedictional of St. Æthelwold, 970 (Backhouse, pl. vi) "A poem in gold at the beginning of the book states that it was written at the command of Æthewold , Bishop of Winchester, for his personal use, by one of his monks named Godeman...St. Æthewold was born at Winchester and as a young man was at the court of Æthelstan (reigned 924-39).

..In 963 Æthewold became Bishop of Winchester...He died in 984...The main contents of the benedictional...are special texts for use by a bishop when giving a solemn blessing at Mass, after the Lord's Prayer and before communion. This rite...was 'non-Roman'; it originated probably in Frankish lands...[but] was very popular during the Middle Ages." (Backhouse, p. 59) The Nativity, Morse (walrus tusk) ivory, in the Metz style, late 10th century (Lasko, pl. 100) "...the iconography of ivory carving [was close] to the manuscript illumination in monastic workshops.

..the figure style on the ivory is much closer to the Metz ivories...The stocky figures with thick, almost blanket-like draperies that bind them tightly like shrouds, and with heads that project their heavy jaws forwards are characteristic of the ivories, while the Benedictional's [see above] thin linear, sharply defined forms have more of the earlier, delicate Reimsian 'drawing' style in them...It has been argued that the relationship [to the Aethewold Benedictional] is not a direct one, but that it was probably a Metz manuscript...that probably came to England and was copied at Winchester" serving as a model for the later ivories. (Lasko, p. 71) Crucifixion Triptych The Benedictional of Archbishop Robert, late 10th cent. (Backhouse, pl.

viii) "It is uncertain whether the Robert [of the name] is the Archbishop of Rouen...from 990 to 1037, who was the brother of Emma of Normandy, queen successively of Æthelred and Cnut, or Robert of Jumièges ...A very plausible patron for the manuscript is Æthegar, monk of Abingdon, the first abbot of Æthelwold's reformed New Minster, Bishop of Slesey 980, and Archbishop of Canterbury 988-90...[These benedictionals] contain the most important surviving painting in the Winchester style...with their strong, rich colouring and more statuesque figures they appear closer to the presumably Carolingian archetype." (Backhouse, p. 60) The Arenberg Gospels, Late 10th cent. (Backhouse, pl.

xi) "This magnificent Gospels is set apart from other English manuscripts of the late tenth and early eleventh centuries by its distinctive palette...There are portraits of the four Evangelists, their symbols above them...Conspicuously absent are the flamboyant frames of acanthus typical of late tenth-century Winchester work and adapted at Canterbury in the early eleventh century." (Backhouse, p.68) Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy, Late 10th cent. (Backhouse, pl. 44) "Boethius was a Roman philosopher and statesman (c.480-c.524) . He became the friend and advisor of Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths, but he eventually had Boethius executed on a charge of treason. While in prison beforehand Boethius wrote his celebrated De Consolatione Philosophiae , which tells how the soul attains through philosophy to knowledge of God.

The work was extremely popular in the Middle Ages and was one of those translated into Old English by Alfred." "At the beginning of his treatise Boethius sees in imagination 'a woman...having a grave countenance, glistening with clear eyes, and of a quicker sight than commonly Nature doth afford...' This is Philosophy...The zigzag hems of the drapery [are similar to those in] the Ramsey Psalter. Prudentius, Late 10th cent. (Backhouse, pl. 46) From "a copy of Prudentius's Psychomachia [1], written and illustrated in the late 10th century...The technique of the illustrations of all the Anglo-Saxon manuscripts of the Psychomachia [2] is outline drawing; they derive from a cycle of eighty-nine drawings which originated in the fifth century." (Backhouse, p. 68) Detail 1 : "At the sight of Luxuia's chariot, glittering with gold and precious stones, men give up the fight. Detail 2 , Detail 3 , Detail 4 : "Men abandoning themselves to Luxoria." Junius MS.

11, Bodleian Library (Oxford University Libraries) 'The Cædmon Manuscript": parts of Genesis, Exodus and Daniel in Old English verse, illustrated with Anglo-Saxon drawings, c. A.D. 1000. Entire manuscript available at: Early Manuscripts at Oxford University, Bodleian Library, Junius MS. 11 Arenberg Gospel Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostilica, Vaticana MS Reg. lat. 12 Canterbury, Christ Church?; Bury St. Edmunds Believed to have been created at the Canterbury scriptorium that produced the Harley MS. Psychomachia of Prudentius (Ohlgren) London, Bristish Library MS Cotton Cleopatra C. VIII, Canterbury, Christ Church "The Psychomachia by Prudentius (Aurelius Prudentius Clemens, b. A.D.

348) was one of the most popular Latin poems of the early Middle Ages...[This manuscript] dates to the late tenth or early eleventh century...The poem recounts battles between seven pairs of virtues and vices, personified as warrior maidens." Fides (Faith) and Veterum Cultura Deorum (Worship of Old Gods), Pudicitia (Chastity) and Sodomita Libido (Lust of the Sodomite), Patientia (Patience) and Ira (Anger), Mens Humilis (Humility) and Superbia (Pride), Sobrietas (Soberness) and Luxuria (Indulgence), Operatio (Good Works) and Avaritia (Avarice), Concordia (Concord) and Discordia (Discord). f5: Abraham returns after freeing Lot. Lot's wife accompanies. Psychomachia of Prudentius London, Bristish Library MS Cotton Cleopatra C. VIII, Canterbury, Christ Church Psychomachia of Prudentius (Ohlgren) London, Bristish Library MS Cotton Cleopatra C.

VIII, Canterbury, Christ Church f11: Ira (Anger), holding a shield, strikes with a sword at Patentia, (in the next drawing Ira's sword breaks in pieces on Patentia's head!) Psychomachia of Prudentius London, Bristish Library MS Cotton Cleopatra C. VIII, Canterbury, Christ Church f13: Patentia points towards Job and promises him peace Psychomachia of Prudentius (Ohlgren) London, Bristish Library MS Cotton Cleopatra C. VIII, Canterbury, Christ Church f17: Humilitas, veiled, holds Superbia's severed head by the hair; Spes, veiled, standing onthe left, upbraids the dead Vice. Psychomachia of Prudentius London, Bristish Library MS Cotton Cleopatra C. VIII, Canterbury, Christ Church f36: Sapientia Junius Manuscript, late 10th to early 11th cent., p 53 Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Junius 11, Canterbury, Christ Church?

"...contains four poems in Old English and a sequence of textual illustrations to Genesis." "...Given the emphasis placed...on the rebellion of a prince against his king or lord, and the exile of a price with his royal retainers, it is plausible to speculate that these episodes...may refer to the tumultuous events leading up to the death of Aethelred and the elevation of Cnut to the throne in 1016." Detail of top : Irad and his wife attended by a midwife. Detail of center : Irad and his wife attended by a midwife. Detail of bottom : Lamech with his wives Adah and Zillah. Junius Manuscript, late 10th to early 11th cent., p 54 Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Junius 11, Canterbury, Christ Church? Detail of top : Jubal plays a lyre, Tubal-Cain is a blacksmith Detail of center : Tubal-Cain, holding an axe, drives a plow.

Detail of bottom : Adam stands, Eve sits holding Seth Junius Manuscript, late 10th to early 11th cent., p 59 Oxford, Bodleian Library MS Junius 11, Canterbury, Christ Church? Malaleel's death and burial. His son Jared holds the corpse while six males (his other sons) stand to the right. Three females (his daughters?) look on, two with faces veiled.) Eve suckling Cain, c.1015 Detail of bronze portal of Hildesheim Cathedral. Virgin and Child in a mandorla, Morse ivory, early 11th cent. (Lasko, pl. 203) "...the sculptural reality of the carving is almost totally destroyed by the sharply incised network of surface drawing...there remain elements of the fluttery drapery so close to the Winchester style...the figures have the broad heads and jutting jaws [and] closely resemble the manuscript illumination dated to around 1100." Harley Psalter, f 72, 2nd quarter, 11th cent.

(Ohlgren) London, British Library MS Harley 603, Canterbury, Christ Church The psalmist is threatened by 4 persecutors. "This profusely illustrated manuscript is the earliest of the three English copies of the Utrecht Psalter, which was made at the abbey of Hautvilles, near Rheims in the early ninth century." f72 is drawn by Hand E: "who worked in the early years of the second quarter of the 11th century, did not follow the Utrecht Psalter as a model. Because two later artists revived the Utrecht iconography, it has been assumed that the manuscript was removed from Christ Church for a period of time...As a result, due to the absence of the model, artists E and F were forced to improvise." (cf. Judith E. Duffey who disagrees and asserts that the departure from the originals was deliberate and conscious.) The Trinity Gospels, Early 11th cent. (Backhouse, pl. xiii) "There are fifteen pages of decorated canon tables, miniatures of the four Evangelists, and decorative pages at the beginning of each gospel.

Canon tables are tables devised by Eusebius of Caesara (c.260-c. 340), the biographer and ecclesiastical advisor of the Emperor Constantine the Great, to show the correspondences between the four gospel narratives. They are a standard inclusion in manuscripts of the gospels in the Middle Ages." (Backhouse, p. 68) The Copenhagen Gospels, Early 11th cent. (Backhouse, pl. ) Begun in 10th century, left unfinished, illuminations added in the 11th century. "The manuscript has lost two evangelist miniatures. Those remaining show Matthew and Luke. The representation of Matthew is very closely related to that of him in the Lindesfarne Gospels. Especially to be noted is the appearance of a head from behind a curtain on the right, which possibly belongs to Christ in the role of inspirer of the gospel." The Missal of Robert of Jumièges, Mid 11th cent. (Backhouse, pl. xiv) "An inscription at the end of the book, probably by the donor himself, records that it was given to the Abbey of Jumièges when Bishop of London.

Robert was a Norman by birth and a close friend of Edward the Confessor (King of England 1042-66). Be became Abbott of Jumièges in 1037, was Bishop of London 1044-51 and Archbishop of Canterbury 1051-2. He had to flee from England in 1052 and died later that year...The miniatures are extremely expressive, showing at once the Winchester school's expert draughtsmanship and its fondness for lavish colouring." The New Minster Liber Vitae, 1031 (Backhouse, pl. 62) Presentation of a gold cross to the New Minster by Cnut (reigned 1016-35) and his Queen, Ælfgifu (Emma of Normandy). "The Book of Life...of a church or monastery was meant as a draft entry for the eternal Book of Life of the Saved. The New Minster book states that it contains the names of the brethren and monks as also of the associates and benefactors, living and dead, of the Abbey.

It was to be brought daily to the alter at one of the community's two solemn Masses by the subdeacon, who was then to read out some of the names in it." (Backhouse, p. 78) Calendar and Hymnal, 11th cent. (Backhouse, pl. 60) Early and mid-11th century. "These calendar scenes are the earliest surviving examples in English art of a cycle...of 'labours of the month' illustrations now known within the context of any medieval calendar, though certain features of their composition suggest that they may themselves have been based ultimately upon a late classical sequence." Cotton Claudius B IV, folio 10, from the Old English Illustrated Hexateuch in the British Library, 11th century. (Coatsworth) The ladies wear the wrap style head rail. The gentleman exhibits the classic wrinkled sleeves and shoulder-fastened cloak. The Encomium Emmae Reginae, 1041-2 (Anglo-Saxon Index) Queen Emma receives the Encomium Emmae from its author, while her sons Harthacnut and Edward look on. Psalter, Mid-late 11th cent.

(Backhouse, pl. 67) "There is illumination of two dates in the manuscript. Original work [mid-11th cent.]includes drawings of the signs of the zodiac...and a full-page Crucifixion in tinted outline. This shows a very posed style of Anglo-Saxon drawing, in which pattern has taken the place of invention." >Backhouse, p. 83) BBC - History - Overview: The Vikings, 800 to 1066 Overview: The Vikings, 800 to 1066 By Professor Edward James Last updated 2011-03-29 The story of the Vikings in Britain is one of conquest, expulsion, extortion and reconquest. Their lasting legacy was the formation of the independent kingdoms of England and Scotland. On this page Print this page Viking raids Raids by seaborne Scandinavian pirates on sites in Britain, especially largely undefended monastic sites, began at the end of the eighth century AD. By the end of the ninth century there were large-scale settlements of Scandinavians in various parts of Britain, and they had achieved political domination over a significant territory.

Early in the 11th century the king of Denmark became king of England as well. And in 1066 there were separate invasions by the king of Norway, Harald Hardrada, and duke of Normandy, William, the latter the descendant of Scandinavian settlers in northern France. Many monasteries in the north were destroyed, and with them any records of the raids. Yet the most significant development of the period was an indirect result of Scandinavian involvement in the affairs of Britain - the emergence of two kingdoms of newly unified territories, England and Scotland. In 793 AD, an anguished Alcuin of York wrote to the Higbald, the bishop of Lindisfarne and to Ethelred, King of Northumbria, bemoaning the unexpected attack on the monastery of Lindisfarne by Viking raiders, probably Norwegians sailing directly across the North Sea to Northumbria. It is clear from the letter that Lindisfarne was not destroyed. Alcuin suggested that further attack might be averted by moral reform in the monastery. Over the next few decades, many monasteries in the north were destroyed, and with them any records they might have kept of the raids.

We know no historical details of the raids in Scotland, although they must have been extensive. Iona was burnt in 802 AD, and 68 monks were killed in another raid in 806 AD. The remaining monks fled to Kells (County Meath, Ireland) with a gospel-book probably produced in Iona, but now known as the 'Book of Kells'. Other monasteries in Scotland and northern England simply disappear from the record. Lindisfarne was abandoned, and the monks trailed around northern England with their greatest possession, the relics of St Cuthbert, until they found a home in Durham in 995 AD. Top England and Scotland We cannot be sure of the impact the Vikings had on Scotland due to a real scarcity of written material from the area. But the surviving place names show us that the Orkneys and Shetlands, and the mainland of Caithness and Sutherland, were heavily settled by Norwegians. Those Norwegians were probably involved in the greatest political upset in the north - the disappearance of the kingdom of the Picts. The Vikings began to assemble larger armies with the clear intent of conquest.

In the eighth century, the Picts had one of the most important kingdoms in Britain. By the end of the ninth century they had vanished. In their place was a kingdom of Scotland, controlled by the Scots, who were the descendents of immigrants from Ireland in the fifth and sixth centuries. The Scots took advantage of the presence of the Vikings, and, above all under King Cináed mac Alpín (Kenneth MacAlpine), they did so with considerable aggression and intelligence. They promoted themselves as the kings of all those in northern Britain, or 'Alba'. They wove a new national history, which emphasised (or invented) many links between the Scottish and Pictish dynasties. They also promoted the idea that St Columba, the founder of the monastery of Iona, was the apostle of all those in the north. The Viking raids in England were sporadic until the 840s AD, but in the 850s Viking armies began to winter in England, and in the 860s they began to assemble larger armies with the clear intent of conquest.

In 865 AD they forced the East Angles to help supply an army, which in 866 AD captured York and in 867 AD took over the southern part of the kingdom of Northumbria. Later traditions saw Ragnar Hairy-Breeks and his son Ívarr the Boneless as the two main Viking leaders, responsible not only for killing Ælla, King of Northumbria in 867 AD but also Edmund, King of the East Angles in 869 AD, and for destroying Dumbarton, the fortress of the British kings of Strathclyde. The normally reliable 'Annals of Ulster' recorded Ívarr's death in Ireland in 873 AD and described him as 'king of the Northmen in the whole of Ireland and Britain'. The man we then see more clearly in the sources as the Viking leader, Hálfdan, was later believed to be Ívarr's brother.

He led the Viking army to a conquest of Mercia in 874 AD, organised a parcelling out of land among the Vikings in Northumbria in 876 AD, and in 878 AD moved south and forced most of the population of Wessex to submit. The Vikings had conquered almost the whole of England. Alfred's dynasty An excerpt from the 'Parker Chronicle', the oldest surviving manuscript from the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' (890 AD) © The idea that the Vikings had forced Wessex to submit may have been invented to magnify the achievement of its king, Alfred, the only English king to be called 'the Great'. Famously, he hid in the marshes near Athelney (Somerset) in 878 AD, but then emerged, re-formed his army, and defeated the Vikings later that year at Edington (Wiltshire). After the peace that Alfred forced on the Vikings, the Viking army seems to have moved across the Channel (it established winter quarters in Paris in 886 AD), giving the king some time to organise for war. Æthelstan's victory did not end the Viking threat or the slow expansion by the Scots.

He built fortresses, established a defensive strategy, and built up a navy. By the time the Vikings returned in the 890s, the West Saxons were able to resist, leaving Alfred, at his death in 899 AD, king of the only independent English kingdom. Thanks to Alfred's own propaganda machine, we know more about him than about most early medieval kings in Britain. He ordered the compilation of the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle', a major source of information that was continued as contemporary chronicles in various centres until the 12th century. Under Alfred's auspices, the Welshman Asser prepared a 'Life of Alfred', after the model of Einhard's 'Life of Charlemagne'. Like Charlemagne, Alfred was deeply interested in promoting literacy and learning, and he sponsored (and perhaps even took part in) the translation of various Latin works into English. Alfred was succeeded by his son Edward the Elder (899-924 AD) and grandson Æthelstan (924-939 AD). Both these rulers were in many ways even more important in the history of England than Alfred himself.

In a few expeditions Edward (with the direct military help of his sister Æthelflæd, widow of the Mercian king) conquered the south of England from the Danes, and incorporated Mercia itself into his kingdom. The 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' tells us that Edward built a fortress at Bakewell (Derbyshire), and there he was chosen 'father and lord' by the king of the Scots, the king of the Strathclyde Welsh, and the people of Northumbria. All of them were perhaps in need of protection from aggression by the Vikings of Dublin. There was a similar submission to Æthelstan in 927 AD, at Eamont (Cumbria), when Welsh kings as well as the Scottish king submitted to him. The great Welsh king Hywel Dda (Hywel the Good) was apparently a close ally. In fact, he was so Anglophile that he named one of his sons Edwin, and sponsored a written law code after the English model. Æthelstan's greatest success was the victory at Brunanburh, somewhere in the north.

A Viking army led by Olaf Guthfrithson, allied with the kings of Scotland and Strathclyde, invaded Northumbria in 937 AD. Our source tells us that five kings and seven of Olaf's earls died on the battlefield, as well as the son of Constantine II of Scotland. Æthelstan's reputation was immense on the continent, and an Irish monk called him 'the pillar of the dignity of the western world'. But his victory did not put an end to the Viking threat in the north, nor to the slow expansion of the power of the Scots. The last Viking king of York, Eric Bloodaxe, was only expelled from Northumbria in 954 AD, after Æthelstan's rule. In that same year the Scots took Edinburgh from the English. Top Danegeld After 955 AD there was a generation of peace on the island of Britain. As the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicle' says of Edgar, King of England (959 - 975 AD) 'without battle he brought under his sway all that he wished'.

He issued laws for 'all the nations, whether Englishmen, Danes, or Britons', an interesting recognition of the multi-ethnic character of England at the time. Edgar took advantage of his strong position to foster the reorganisation of the church that is generally known as the '10th-century Reformation'. New bishoprics were established in the areas conquered from the Vikings. Raids were on a large scale and their object was extortion. But above all this reformation was about the re-establishment and strict reform of monasticism. Edgar relied on three men in particular - Dunstan (archbishop of Canterbury, 960 - 988 AD), Oswald (bishop of Worcester, 961 - 992 AD, and archbishop of York, 971 - 992 AD) and Æthelwold (bishop of Winchester, 963 - 984 AD). The process was sealed by the 'Regularis Concordia' of 973 AD, a document of monastic reform that relied heavily on continental models.

It was cemented by the building of some magnificent churches (mostly replaced by the Normans) and some lavish illuminated manuscripts, such as the 'Benedictional of St Æthelwold'. After Edgar's death, his successor Edward I reigned briefly. He was murdered in 978 AD at Corfe (Dorset), possibly by the followers of his young half-brother Æthelred, and possibly by his stepmother. Edgar's half-brother, Æthelred II, who later would acquire the nickname 'the Unready', started his long reign (978-1016 AD) at the same time as the emergence of Denmark. The country was newly converted to Christianity and newly unified under Harald Bluetooth. It was becoming a major power. This was the dawning of the 'second Viking age', and it was very different from the first. Raids were on a large scale, frequently organised by royal leaders, and their object was extortion. In 991 AD the Danes acquired 4,500 kg of silver in return for going home.

By 1012, payments to the Danes, known as 'Danegeld', had increased to 22,000 kg. England was wealthy, and it developed a taxation system that was probably more sophisticated than any other in Europe, which was both a cause and a consequence of the raiding. Conquest and fall Silver penny of Cnut (Canute) © The extortion came to an end in 1013, when Harald's son, Swein Forkbeard, decided to conquer England. He forced Æthelred into exile, although the definitive conquest of England was only achieved under his son Cnut (or Canute). In 1016, Cnut became king of England, and after further campaigns in Scandinavia he could claim in 1027 to be 'king of the whole of England and Denmark and Norway and of parts of Sweden'. William won and the last English royal dynasty perished. Cnut was a strong and effective king. He introduced some Danish customs to England, but England also influenced Denmark. For instance, Cnut appointed several Englishmen as bishops in Denmark, and even today most of the ordinary Danish words of church organisation are English in origin.

In an attempt at reconciliation with the English he had conquered, Cnut married Emma, the widow of Æthelred. She was the daughter of the duke of Normandy, himself the descendant of Vikings or Northmen (Normans). She bore Cnut a son, Harthacnut, but she had also had a son by Æthelred, who succeeded Harthacnut as Edward II, the Confessor (1042 - 1066). When Edward died without children, it was natural that Emma's great-nephew, Duke William, should lay claim to the throne. It was just as natural that this claim should be resisted by Harold, the son of Godwin, Edward's most powerful noble. Harold II successfully beat off the invasion by Harald Hardrada of Norway, defeating him at Stamford Bridge near York in September 1066. Even when he and his troops arrived, exhausted, at Hastings three weeks later to face William's Norman invaders, he nearly prevailed. But William won, and the last English royal dynasty perished.

Find out more Books From the Vikings to the Normans (Short Oxford History of the British Isles) edited by Wendy Davies (Oxford University Press, 2003) Britain in the First Millennium by Edward James (Edward Arnold, 2001) Early Medieval Ireland, AD 400-AD 1200 Dáibhí Ó Cróinín (Longman, 1995) Scotland: Archaeology and Early History Graham Ritchie and Anna Ritchie (Edinburgh University Press, 1991) The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings edited by Peter Sawyer (Oxford University Press, 1997) Unification and Conquest: Political and Social History of England in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries by Pauline Stafford (Hodder Arnold, 1989) Top About the author Edward James is Professor of Medieval History at University College Dublin. Previously he had been Senior Lecturer at the University of York and Professor of Medieval History at Reading. He has published a number of books and articles on early medieval France, including The Franks (Blackwell, 1988) and is currently writing a book called Europe's Barbarians for Longman.

Medieval Anglo-Saxons Mysteries The roots of Anglo-Saxon England lie in the fifth century. No longer under Roman protection, the Britons invited groups of Saxons to settle on the eastern coast and defend the land from invaders. The migration continued, and the Saxons multiplied and came to occupy most of the east and central part of Britain south of Scotland. One of the earliest Saxon kings in Britain whose name we know was Cerdic, who founded the Kingdom of Wessex in the sixth century. In 597, St. Augustine landed in Kent to convert the Saxons to Christianity. His rapid success did not hold and required fortifying over the following decades, but a monastery founded on the Isle of Lindisfarne in 635 helped establish Anglo-Saxon England as a Christian country. In 793, Vikings attacked Lindisfarne, beginning a wave of terrifying raids culminating in 866 with the capture of what is now York by Danish Vikings who settled there and began expanding their territory. King Alfred the Great, one of Cerdic's successors, defended Wessex from the Danes, establishing a boundary between the Danish north and the Saxon south.

Several nineteenth century authors wrote romanticized adventure novels set during the time of Alfred the Great; modern authors from Alfred Duggan on have based their work on more solid historical research. Alfred's children unified England in the tenth century. His daughter Aethelfled ruled as the powerful "Lady of the Mercians." During the early eleventh century, England had several Danish kings. Cnut (or Canute) is the best known. Saxon rule was briefly restored with Edward the Confessor, who died in 1066. The throne was then disputed among Harold Godwineson, Harald Hardrada and Duke William of Normandy, precipitating the Norman Conquest. 6th-9th Century Anglo-Saxon England, Before Alfred the Great Click on the title for more information from Powell's Books or another online source, or if you're outside the U.S., try The Book Depository . Edoardo Albert, Edwin, High King of Britain (2014), about Edwin of Northumbria, who seeks refuge with Raedwald of East Anglia after being deposed, where he meets a Christian missionary who predicts he will become King of Britain; #1 in a planned series.

Richard Blake, Conspiracies of Rome (2008), about a handsome young Saxon who unwittingly becomes involved in a heretical plot amid the turmoil of seventh century Rome; #1 in the Aelric series. Richard Blake, The Terror of Constantinople (2009), about a young Anglo-Saxon clerk from Britain used as a pawn by Emperor Phocas as enemy armies near Constantinople in 610 AD; #2 in the Aelric series. Richard Blake, The Blood of Alexandria (2010), about an Anglo-Saxon clerk for the Roman Emperor Heraclius who is sent on a mission to Alexandria where he must contend with unrest in the streets and the threat of a Persian invasion; #3 in the Aelric series. Richard Blake, The Sword of Damascus (2011), about an Anglo-Saxon clerk sent to Damascus as the victorious Muslim caliphate threatens to move beyond Arabia to Constantinople; #4 in the Aelric series. Marissa Campbell, Avelynn (2016), about a ninth-century Saxon woman who is a secret pagan and falls in love with a Viking on the eve of the Viking invasion of England.

(2016), about the seventh-century Saxon woman Hild, who converted to Christianity and became the Abbess of Whitby. Alfred Duggan, Conscience of the King (1951), about Cerdic, the Saxon founder of Wessex (519-534). Barbara Erskine, River of Destiny (2012), a supernatural story about a present-day couple who move into an old house and become entangled with the lives of a Victorian-era blacksmith and an Anglo-Saxon smith who lived in 865. Parke Godwin, The Tower of Beowulf (1995), historical fantasy based on the Old English epic poem Beowulf. Nicola Griffith, Hild (2013), about the early life of Hild, who would found Whitby Abbey, in the court of King Edwin of Northumbria during the transition from paganism to Christianity. Review Victor Canning, Raven's Wind (1983), about a young Anglo-Saxon man who escapes from Viking captivity.

Review Bernard Cornwell, The Last Kingdom (2004), about a dispossessed Saxon lord raised by Vikings who joins King Alfred's army in the hope of winning back his lands; #1 in the Saxon Tales series. Review Bernard Cornwell, The Pale Horseman (2005), about a dispossessed Saxon lord raised by Vikings who loses King Alfred's favor shortly before the Danes invade; #2 in the Saxon Tales series. Review Bernard Cornwell, The Lords of the North (2006), about a dispossessed Saxon lord raised by Vikings who returns to Northumbria to try to regain the lands his uncle usurped from him; #3 in the Saxon Tales series. Review Bernard Cornwell, Sword Song (2007), about a Saxon raised by Vikings who fights in King Alfred's army during an attempt to regain London from the Danes; #4 in the Saxon Tales series. Review Bernard Cornwell, The Burning Land (2009), about a Saxon raised by Vikings who serves in King Alfred's army as the Danes make another attempt at conquest and Alfred's health begins to fail; #5 in the Saxon Tales series.

Review Bernard Cornwell, Death of Kings (2012), about a Saxon raised by Vikings who vows to serve the ailing King Alfred but questions whether to abandon Alfred's heir so he can reclaim his own ancestral lands; #6 in the Saxon Tales series. Review Bernard Cornwell, The Pagan Lord (2013), about a Saxon raised by Vikings who after the death of Alfred the Great leads a band of men north in an attempt to recapture his family fortress; #7 in the Saxon Tales series. Review Bernard Cornwell, The Empty Throne (2014), about a warrior who supports the late king's widow, Aethelfled, to succeed him, amid a time of renewed Viking attacks on England; #8 in the Saxon Tales series. Review Bernard Cornwell, Warriors of the Storm (2016), about a warrior in Anglo-Saxon Mercia whose allegiance is tested; #9 in the Saxon Tales series. Review Alfred Duggan, The King of Athelney (1961; also titled The Right Line of Cerdic), about King Alfred the Great.

Review Valerie Anand, The Dowerless Sisters , a saga about a family descended from English serfs; #6 in the Bridges Over Time series, which continues past the medieval period. Patricia Bracewell, Shadow on the Crown (2013), about Emma of Normandy, who at age fifteen married the much-older King Aethelred of England. Patricia Bracewell, The Price of Blood (2015), about Emma of Normandy, the wife of King Aethelred, in 1006 as she struggles to protect her infant son from rivals for the throne; #2 in the Emma of Normandy trilogy. Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Harold, Last of the Saxon Kings (1848), about King Harold, who lost his throne to the Normans in 1066. Joanna Courtney, The Chosen Queen (2015), about Edyth of Mercia, the wife of Harold Godwinson, in 1066 as the Norman Conquest looms; #1 in the Queens of the Conquest trilogy.

Joanna Courtney, The Constant Queen (2016), about Elizaveta Princess of Kiev and Harald Hardrada as the Vikings move to invade England in 1066; #2 in the Queens of Conquest series. H.A. Douglas, The Ship-Master (2007), about a Viking Age ship which sets out for a summer of trading and encounters a host of difficulties; self-published. H.A. Douglas, The Ship-Wives (2008), about a Viking woman who must manage her homestead, defend it, and decide whether to accept a marriage offer for her young daughter while her husband is away at sea; sequel to The Ship-Master; self-published. Alfred Duggan, The Cunning of the Dove (1960), about King Edward the Confessor, who ruled from 1042-1066. Justin Hill, Shieldwall (2011), about a young man who survives the Viking raids of 1016 to fight in King Ethelred's army during the years before the Norman Invasion in 1066; #1 in a planned series.

Review Helen Hollick, The Forever Queen (2011; originally published in 2004 as A Hollow Crown ), about Emma, the wife of the eleventh-century King Aethelred of England. Review Penny Ingham, Lady of the Mercians , about the daughter of King Alfred the Great, who became a powerful ruler during an age of warfare; self-published. Sheelagh Kelly, Jorvik: A Tale of the Last Viking (1992), about a man from the eleventh century Viking city of Jorvik, now modern-day York, England, and his quest for vengeance against King Ethelred. Ottilie A. Liljencrantz, The Ward of King Canute: A Romance of the Danish Conquest (1902), about King Canute and his wife Elfgiva. Eliza Redgold, Naked: A Novel of Lady Godiva (2015), about the Saxon woman who, according to legend, rode naked through the town of Coventry to persuade her husband to revoke a severe tax on the townfolk. Anya Seton, Avalon (1956), about tenth-century England during the Viking invasions.

Christopher Spellman, Blood Oath (2010), about two brothers whose loyalty to each other is tested during the tenth-century reign of Aethelstan of Wessex; self-published; #1 in the series The Raven and the Wolf. (2011), about two brothers caught up in a blood feud; self-published; #2 in the series The Raven and the Wolf. 6th-11th Century European Continent Click on the title for more information from Powell's Books or another online source, or if you're outside the U.S., try The Book Depository . Irene Brand, Like a Burning Fire (1996), about a man whose search for a family memento of Christ's resurrection takes him to the court of Charlemagne; Christian message; #2 in the Legacies of Faith series. Michael Chabon, Gentlemen of the Road (2007), an adventure story about the Khazars, in which a pair of Jewish horse thieves become involved in a tenth century rebellion in the Caucasus.

Review David Churchill, The Leopards of Normandy: Devil (2015), about Robert, Duke of Normandy, who fathered an illegitimate son who would become William the Conqueror; #1 in a series. Donna Cross, Pope Joan (1996), based on the legend of the German woman who may have become a pope in the ninth century. Review and Author Interview Eyvind Johnson, The Days of His Grace (1960), about a family of minor nobility in what is now northern Italy during the time of Charlemagne's conquests there. Robert Lyndon, Hawk Quest (2012), about an eleventh-century Frankish outlaw who takes on a commission to ransom a Norman knight captured by the Seljuk Turks. Review Robert Lyndon, Imperial Fire (2014), about a Byzantine mercenary sent to China on a search for gunpowder; sequel to Hawk Quest. Allan Massie, Charlemagne and Roland (2007), the story of Charlemagne, as narrated by the tutor of the young Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II; #3 in the Dark Age trilogy.

Naomi Mitchison, The Oath-Takers (1991), about a young Frank who travels to Spain in the unsettled years after the death of Charlemagne. Catherine Munroe, The King's Nun: A Novel of King Charlemagne (2007), about an eighth century nun who becomes a trusted advisor of Charlemagne. Julia O'Faolain, Women in the Wall (1975), about Radegund, one of the six wives of the Frankish King Clothair I. Mirella Patzer, Heinrich the Fowler: Father of the Ottonian Empire (2005), about the tenth century struggles of Duke Heinrich of Saxony and his wife Matilda to achieve their ambitions; self-published. Iain Pears, The Dream of Scipio (2002), a literary novel about the persecution of Jews, set in Provence, France, during the fifth, fourteenth and twentieth centuries.

Bernard Reilly, Treasure of the Vanquished: A Novel of Visigothic Spain (1993), about Pelayo (Pelagius), a Gothic nobleman of the eighth century, and his efforts to reconquer southern Spain from the Moors. Bernard Reilly, Secret Of Santiago (1997), about a man and his faith in Spain in 830 A.D. when the Shrine of Santiago de Compostela was founded. Kim Rendfeld, The Cross and the Dragon (2012), about a woman who give her husband a charmed dragon amulet in the hope of protecting him when he fights in Charlemagne's army against invaders from Spain in 778. Tim Severin, The Emperor's Elephant (2013), about a man who goes on a mission for Charlemagne to find rare animals and bring them to Haroun al-Rashid, the Caliph of Baghdad; #2 in the Saxon series.

Review Tim Severin, Saxon: The Pope’s Assassin (2015), about a Saxon prince sent to Rome by King Carolus (Charlemagne) to find out who attacked Pope Leo; #3 in the Saxon series. Warren A. Silver, The Green Rose (1977), about the eleventh-century Spanish Jewish mystic and poet Solomon ibn Gabirol. Henry Treece, The Green Man (1966), a retelling of the earliest version of the Hamlet story, set in sixth century Denmark. Review (1965), about Emir al-Rahman II in ninth century Moorish Spain and a Christian Goth who becomes an instrument of the defeat of Islam in Spain. Mysteries Click on the title for more information from Powell's Books or another online source, or if you're outside the U.S., try The Book Depository . Charles Barnitz, The Frith Seat (2012), a mystery about a man in Eoforwic (York England) in 783 who claims sanctuary after being accused of a series of murders and is commanded to find the real killer; self-published.

Stephen Gaspar, To Know Evil (2009), a mystery set in northern Italy on the eve of the second millenium about a monk whose abbot forbids him to investigate the suspicious death of a fellow monk, which may be connected with a gnostic text hidden in the abbey library. V.M. Whitworth, The Bone Thief (2012), about a young cleric who serves as secretary to King Edward's sister, the queen of Mercia, who sends him to find Saint Oswold's bones; #1 in the Wulfgar mystery series. V.M. Whitworth, The Traitors' Pit (2013), about a young cleric whose elder brother is accused of plotting to overthrow King Edward; #2 in the Wulfgar mystery series. History of Normandy - Vikings, Conquest of England, William the Conqueror, World War 2 - Normandy Tourism, France William the Conqueror History of Normandy Normandy's history has been long and often turbulent, and has left a rich heritage of listed monuments, world-famous sites, and superb museums.

History FROM THE NEOLITHIC TO THE FRANKISH KINGDOMS Normandy has been settled since ancient times. Neolithic peoples were replaced by bronze-age Celtic tribes who spread all over western Europe and the British Isles before the Roman armies of Julius Cesar conquered what is now France. In the 3rd century the Roman Emperor Diocletian created a province whose boundaries were close to those of today's Normandy. He subsequently gave Constantius, father of Constantine I, responsibility for Britain and Gaul, including Normandy. Not for the last time, England and Normandy were to be under the same rule. The collapse of the Roman empire led to invasions by Germanic tribes, the Franks, who created new kingdoms which initially encompassed Northern France, and in the centuries to come, all of France, the Spanish Marches, and Northern Italy. Power struggles and dynastic conflicts over the next two centuries culminated in the domination of the region by Charlemagne's Carolingian Empire, which extended from the borders of Saxony and Bavaria in the East, to the borders of Spain.

After the death of Charlemagne's only son, the empire was divided into three, and the future Normandy became part of the Kingdom of the West Franks until 987, when on the death of the last Frankish king the monarchy passed to the Capetians. Charles the Bald, duke of the region around Paris ("the Ile de France"), became king, and the kingdom became known as France. THE VIKING PROVINCE During the 8th and 9th centuries, attracted by the riches of the province with which they had often traded, Vikings ventured down in their long boats each summer from their Scandinavian homelands to raid the monasteries and towns, reaching Paris in 845. After a few years they began to over-winter in the region, and by 911 the Viking "jarl" or leader Rollon, Count of Rouen , was powerful enough to force the French king to sign a treaty ceding part of the province to him, from which it took the name of Normandy, the country of the Northmen.

In the following century and a half, Rollon and his successors, now converted to Christianity and nominal vassals of the French king, expanded their domains by conquest until they covered roughly the area of today's Normandy. Rollon's grandson Richard I took the title of Duke and the family name, St Clair or Sinclair, from Saint Clair sur Epte, where the treaty had been signed. In 1035, with the death of Duke Robert of Normandy, the title passed to his illegitemate son William, then 8 years old. William quickly learned the arts of war and politics in the violent society of 11th century Normandy. Knighted by the French king Henri I at the age of 15, a few years later he was successfully leading his troops to put down rebellions and invasions, supported militarily by Henri and politically by the Pope. THE CONQUEST OF ENGLAND When King Edward the Confessor died in 1066, leaving no heirs, three rival claimants appeared to dispute the throne of England : Harold Earl of Wessex, Harald III of Norway, and William, whose great aunt Emma was Edward's mother, wife of Ethelred the Unready.

William also claimed that Edward, while in exile in Normandy, had promised him the throne, and that Harold had pledged loyalty to him when knighted by William a few years previously. Edward's will named Harold as his successor, and the new king, anticipating the reactions of the unsuccessful claimants, raised an army and a fleet to defend the coastline, and found himself assailed by his own brother Tostig as well as the king of Norway. Meanwhile Duke William, feeling that a consecrated banner sent him by the Pope in his support gave him the moral high ground, assembled a force of 600 ships and 7000 men at St Valéry sur Somme, and after some weeks delay due to bad weather, set forth with his army in his Viking long ships to meet Harold, who having defeated both Harald and Tostig, had marched south to oppose William. The decisive battle of Hastings, in which Harold was defeated after a day-long struggle, established William and founded the lineage which dominated both sides of the Channel until the thirteenth century.

A FRENCH DUCHY AGAIN After the Conquest, the Duchy was a source of rivalry between the French and English kings, culminating in 1204 in the recovery of continental Normandy (excluding most of the Channel Islands) by Philip II of France. After a brief re-occupation by the English in the 15th century, the French victory in the Hundred Years War confirmed the Duchy's unification with France, and the centre of influence moved to Paris. French rule was not much to the taste of the independent-minded Norman people, who had acquired rights and privileges, and local laws, which were not always respected by the increasingly authoritarian monarchy in Paris. In 1314, a series of revolts across France, protesting against Philip le Bel's latest tax, led Philip's successor Louis le Hutin to sign a number of provincial charters, including the "Charte aux Normands", inspired by Magna Carta, which recognised the Norman people's specificities and rights, including that of never being called before a court outside the Duchy. Although repeatedly confirmed over the centuries by French kings, it was often neglected, and finally abolished by Louis XIV.

THE NORMAN PROVINCE In 1469 Louis XI symbolically put an end to the Duchy by breaking the Ducal Ring, and Duke Charles was dispossessed of his lands. Normandy became a province ruled directly from Paris. A few years later, another symbol of Norman independence was diminished when the Echiquier, or High Court, of Rouen was renamed the Parliament of Normandy by François I, to become increasingly subject to Royal power. When the same François I founded Le Havre , it was in order to establish a commercial port within a few days' journey of Paris, more than to develop the province's economy. In the centuries that followed, independent-minded Normandy, so close to Paris, remained something of a thorn in the side of the central power, and when in 1640 the Parliament of Normandy showed insufficient enthusiasm in putting down the Revolt of the "Nu-Pieds" (Bare-foot revolt), one of many in the "century of revolts", it was closed and replaced by representatives from Paris until the following year.

The economy and culture of Normandy suffered greatly during the religious wars that devastated France in the 17th century, and it was not until Henri IV passed the Edict of Nantes, guaranteeing religious freedom, that the economy of the country, and of Normandy in particular, prospered again and continued to do so until the Revolution in 1789, when the old order was overturned, and the province was divided into 5 départements. NORMANDY IN REVOLUTIONARY FRANCE When the high hopes of the Revolution led to disappointment and arbitrary incursions on traditional freedoms, revolts spread from Brittany to Normandy, and civil war ravaged the countryside until it was bloodily put down at the battle of Vernon, where the insurrectionary army under the Marquis of Puisaye was defeated by the army of the Convention. The province licked its wounds and remained peaceful, until with the arrival in power of Napoleon, the loss of ancient privileges was compensated by economic prosperity, which continued throughout the 19th century.

When the same François I founded Le Havre, it was in order to establish a commercial port within a few days' journey of Paris NORMANDY TODAY The nineteenth century brought peace and prosperity after the temporary disruption of the Napoleonic Wars, until the war of 1870-71 between France and Germany, when the banks of the Seine between Elbeuf and Le Havre were the scenes of hard-fought battles. Rouen , Dieppe , Fécamp and Boulbec were occupied, and the region paid a high price, both literally and figuratively, for the conflict. Nevertheless, the economy recovered, and as the century came to a close, Normandy's coastal resorts and ancient towns became popular destinations for the newly well-off middle classes of France, Britain and the rest of Europe, which continued for much of the 20th century. The region was not in the direct front line of World War I, and it was not until the German advance of 1940, and the Allied invasion in 1944 , that the population of Normandy again suffered the desolation of war.

Four hundred towns and villages were totally destroyed, and thousands of civilians killed, before peace came and rebuilding could begin. Today, Normandy's battle scars have long healed, and the region is prosperous once again, and looking forward to a future as exciting as its long history. Not to be missed Domesday Book - The National Archives Domesday Book External links Domesday Book is the oldest government record held in The National Archives. In fact there are two Domesday Books – Little Domesday and Great Domesday, which together contain a great deal of information about England in the 11th century. In 1086, King William I (the Conqueror) wanted to find out about all the land in his new kingdom: who owned which property, who else lived there, how much the land was worth and therefore how much tax he could charge, so he sent official government inspectors around England to ask questions in local courts. Fixed questions were asked, such as what the place was called, who owned it, how many men lived there, how many cows were there and so on.

For each property, the questions were asked three times to see what changes had happened over time so that the king would know about the lands in Edward the Confessor’s time (before 1066), who William I had given it to and what it was worth then, and finally what the situation was in 1086 at the time of the survey. All the results of these questions were handwritten into the Domesday Book by scribes. Tasks 1. Who holds Patcham after 1066? How did the change in ownership of land help William increase his control over the country? a measurement of land a place where you cannot be seen 3. How many oxen are there in the village? Remember each plough is pulled by a team of eight oxen. 4. How many people live in this village? 5. Make a list of all the people in the village, starting with those who hold the most land and ending with the poorest members of the village. 6. Name two jobs, apart from ploughing, which this source reveals. 7. Work out the number of acres of land in the village. Remember one hide = 120 acres; an acre is roughly the size of a football pitch.

8. What do you think the woodland was used for? 9. What was the value of the land when William the Conqueror became king in 1066? What had happened to its value by 1086? 10. Think about your answers for question 9. Why do you think King William was interested in knowing the value of the land? Background On 5 January 1066, Edward the Confessor, the King of England, died. Harold Godwin was crowned King of England. Two other men claimed that the throne belonged to them: Harold Hardrada, King of Norway; the other was William Duke of Normandy. Harold Hardrada invaded the north of England but the King managed to defeat his army. Shortly after, William – had landed in the south of England. On 14 October 1066, the English and Norman armies clashed in a battle just outside Hastings, in which Harold died – legend has it that King Harold was shot in the eye by an arrow! William, Duke of Normandy was crowned King of England on Christmas Day 1066.

William took all the land and important jobs in the Government and Church away from the Saxons and divided it up amongst his Norman friends. He built castles to make the English feel so scared that they would not dare even to think about causing trouble. By 1085, William had a shortage of money and also many Normans had begun to disagree amongst themselves over the land they had been given as a reward for helping conquer England. William wanted to settle these disputes once and for all. Thus William decided to order a survey. The survey would list all the land in England. It would list who was looking after each area, what lands they had, and which other people lived there. Importantly, the survey would find out how much tax-money William could get from this land. Official government inspectors were sent around the country to gather information. The people in England spoke Saxon English and the Norman inspectors spoke French and Latin. A jury, which included the local important men such as the village priest and reeve who could understand the different languages, had to decide whether their neighbours were telling the truth. The results of this survey were written into Domesday Book.

Great Domesday contains most of the counties of England and was written by one scribe and checked by a second. Little Domesday, which contains the information for Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk, was probably written first and is the work of at least six scribes. Domesday Book describes almost all of England and more than 13,000 places are mentioned in it. Most of them still survive today. London, Winchester, County Durham and Northumberland were not included in King William’s survey. In spite of these omissions, the survey gives a wealth of information, as well as highlighting that a lot of property had been destroyed by William’s invasion in 1066. Most of the land originally owned by 2000 Saxons belonged to 200 Norman barons in 1086, showing just how powerful the Norman lords had become! Teachers' notes Illustration: Photograph of open volumes of Little Domesday and Great Domesday (Catalogue ref: E31/1 and E 31/2) Source Image 1: Page from Vol.

1 of Great Domesday (Catalogue ref: E 31/2/1, f.26b) Source Image 2: Extract of page from Vol. 1 of Great Domesday, showing survey entry of Preston Hundred in Sussex (Catalogue ref: E 31/2/1, f.26b) This lesson could be used for History at key stage 3 (year 7), within Unit 2: How did medieval monarchs keep control? Section 2: How did William the Conqueror secure control of England? and Unit 3: How hard was life for medieval people in town and country? Section 1: What does the Domesday Book tell us about life in town and country? The activities also support the key stage 3 literacy strategy for the development of writing. Finally, the questions could also be used with key stage 2 pupils, fitting in with Unit 4 on famous people as well as contributing to the key stage 2 numeracy strategy. The extension activities might be the basis for class discussion and group or individual work. External links

Question: What was a nickname of 11th century British king, Edward?
Answer: The Confessor