Anglo Saxon and Norman England: 3.4 Flashcards
William and his sons
1
Q
Describe a brief timeline of the last years of William I, from the first heavy geld tax in 1084 in anticipation of a Viking invasion, to his death in 1087
A
- 1084
[] huge geld tax levied - 1085
[] William raises and provisions a huge army to defend against possible Viking invasion - December 1085
[] Domesday Book surveys - 1086
[] another very heavy geld tax levied for the possible invasion - August 1086
[] first drafts of the Domesday Book
[] huge oath-taking ceremony in Salisbury in anticipation of the Viking invasion - 9 September 1087
[] William dies
2
Q
Describe William’s personality throughout his childhood and adulthood
A
- resillient
[] survived many assassination attempts as he grew up as was given the Dukedom at a young age
[] was a bastard; an illegitimate child of the Duke of Normandy before him and this made life hard for him initially - extremely well-versed in military tactics and battle
[] was constantly at war and in military campaigns as soon as he could lead his own armies
[] by 1066, he had around 10 years’ worth military experience, knowledge of logistics and strategy - was a very good leader
[] by 1066, had 10 years’ worth of experience as a leader, and had many very loyal followers - throughout his life, was criticised for his avarice and greed
- also criticised for his brutality in war and in exacting justice
3
Q
Describe William’s attitudes as a king
A
- wanted to appear as a legitimate king despite taking the throne by force
- attempted to be very pious
[] gave lots of money to the English Church
[] invested in Church reforms
[] repented on his deathbed
[] left his succession of England up to God, against traditional custom of simply giving all properties to the eldest son - used England as a source of profit to fuel his avarice and Normandy’s development
4
Q
Describe William’s attitude towards his wife, Matilda
A
- loved his wife a lot
[] when Matilda died in 1083, William was said to have wept for days
[] made up with Robert in 1080 to make her happy - trusted Matilda a lot
[] left her as regent in England many times throughout his reign
5
Q
Describe William’s relationship with his eldest son, Robert “Curthose”
A
- strained
[] William tended to mock Robert a lot (the nickname Curthose means ‘short stockings’ or ‘dumpy legs’)
[] although Robert was a good warrior, William (rightly) didn’t believe that Robert was able to rule Normandy or England successfully, especially as Normandy had faced many threats in the 1070s
[] this caused tension between Robert and William; Robert had ambition for power and was impatient to get it, whilst William was also very fond of his own powers and didn’t want to let go of them
6
Q
Describe the key events of the tensions between William and Robert from 1077 to 1080
A
- 1077
[] Robert’s younger brothers played a prank on him, splashing him with water
[] Robert got genuinely angry at them and William had to break up the fight
[] Robert got even angrier at William for not aptly punishing his younger brothers
[] attempted to take over Rouen castle in retaliation, then fled from William’s troops when they tried to arrest him - Robert and William’s troops fought at Remalard before Robert fled to Flanders and was taken in by the king
[] the king installed Robert in a castle at the border between France and Normandy, and from here, Robert launched attacks and invasions into Normandy - William found that Matilda had been secretly sending money to Robert and was furious
[] Matilda justified this by saying she would do anything for her children and William understood - 1079
[] during battle, Robert knocked William off of his horse
[] Robert gave his father his own horse and ordered him to retreat; HUMILIATING for William and showed how good of a warrior Robert was - Easter 1080
[] Matilda organised reconciliation for William and Robert
[] got back on good-ish terms and Robert was finally named as his father’s heir to Normandy
7
Q
Describe William’s death and his succession
A
- July 1087
[] William suffered internal injuries in a battle when he was thrown around on his saddle - suffered for many weeks before his death on the 9th of September 1087
[] due to his drawn out death, he had time to make preparations for his succession
[] named Robert as the heir to Normandy
[] wanted William Rufus to inherit England, but William still felt he had to do penance for the violent way in which he gained and kept the English throne so let God decide through Lanfranc
[] wrote a letter of recommendation for William Rufus as king to Lanfranc before he died, so Lanfranc could decide if he wanted to crown Robert or William Rufus - when William died, his servants stripped his corpse and stole as much as they could; barons also rode out to their castles to protect them from attack
[] shows how disrespected and disliked he was by the end of his reign - during William’s funeral, his corpse was squeezed into its tomb and burst with a horrible smell, emptying the cathedral
[] very bad omen; people took it as God saying that he was still angry at William for all his sins in life
8
Q
Describe the key events of Robert and Odo’s rebellion against William Rufus
A
- William crowned in September of 1087 after being approved by Lanfranc
[] shows Lanfranc’s power as the head of the Church as no one else was included in this decision
[] some argued against it for this reason, as went against tradition of choosing via Witan and because Lanfranc was close to William, this choice could be seen as biased
[] others argued against it, particularly Norman aristocrats, as dealing with two separate kings when owning land in both countries, especially if both kings were fighting, could be tricky to negotiate etc. - Robert Curthose wanted England as well as Normandy, so rebelled against William II
[] supported by Odo and Robert of Mortain (Odo’s brother) as they saw that Robert was easily manipulated and could use this for their own benefit if he was in power
[] also, William Rufus was a lot like his father, and may have tried to reduce their powers even further - alongside main rebellion, smaller rebellions in Northumberland, Somerset, Wiltshire, the Marcher earldoms (put down by Bishop Wulfstan) and so on broke out
[] despite this, the majority of people both Norman and English were against the rebellion and supported William Rufus - Odo and Robert de Mortain took refuge in Pevensy castle
[] were besieged for 6 weeks
[] both were captured, though Odo managed to flee to Rochester castle first (abandoned by Robert Curthose however and had to give up hiding) - William Rufus raised an English army, then demanded the money they had been given to live off of during military service instead of using them to fight
[] used this money to buy the loyalty of Robert’s opportunistic Norman baronial supporters
[] massive loss in support meant that Robert was forced to surrender to William, and the two shared joint rule of Normandy whilst William also kept England - this made William Rufus wildly popular in England
[] he then promised to get rid of/weaken the forest, lower tax rates and to restore Edward the Confessor’s way of rule, essentially getting rid of everything that the Anglo-Saxons had despised about Norman rule; made him even more popular
[] he went back on all of this however
