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Question 1

1 - Who was the King of England who died in January 1066?

Answer 1

Edward the Confessor

Question 2

2 - Who were the 3 contenders to be the next King?

Answer 2

Duke William of Normandy, Harold Godwinson and Harald Hardrada

Question 3

3 - Why did William of Normandy think he had the right to be King?

Answer 3

1) In 1051, Edward had promised him the throne once he died

2) In 1064, Harold had sworn loyalty to William as the rightful future king of England

Question 4

4 - Why did Harald the viking believe he had the right to be King?

Answer 4

The Vikings had previously ruled England

Question 5

5 - Why did the Council of Witan choose Harold Godwinson to be King?

Answer 5

Edward was worried about threats to England he had wanted to strengthen an alliance between Normandy and England

Question 6

6 - If William, Duke of Normandy, had been promised by Edward the Confessor he could be the next king, why had he been promised such a thing?

Answer 6

Edward was worried about threats to England he had wanted to strengthen an alliance between Normandy and England

Question 7

7 - Had England always been ruled by a king?

Answer 7

England has been ruled by the Roman Empire between 43 and 410. Before that, it was made up of tribes, including the Celts

Question 7

8 - What sort of a place had the Romans conquered in the year 43?

Answer 7

A few towns were developing, the most people still lied in small village settlements. Some of what was farmed was being sold abroad and the tin that Britain was rich in was being mined

Question 8

9 - What did the Roman conquest of England end in the 4th century?

Answer 8

During the 4th century, the Roman Empire was coming under threat from other tribes. The Romen Emperor, Honorius, made the decision that the armies based in Britain were needed elsewhere

Question 9

10 - Who invaded England when the Romans left?

Answer 9

The Angles and the Saxons - a mixture of people from modern-day Germany, Denmark and Northern Holland

Question 10

11 - So, who were the “English” (the Anglo-Saxons) descended from?

Answer 10

A mixture of people from modern-day Germany, Denmark and Northen Holland

Question 11

12 - When did the Vikings invade England?

Answer 11

In 793 - they first invaded England through Lindisfarne in Northumbria

(They were mainly after all of the riches that were found in England’s monasteries)

Question 12

13 - Who rules England between 1034 and 1066?

Answer 12

1) King Canute was in charge of England in 1034. He had viking blood and believed heavily in his ability to harness God’s power

2) Harold Harefoot

3) Harthacnut (Anglo-Saxon)

4) Edward the Confessor (1042-1066)

Question 13

14 - What would England have looked like in the year 1066?

Answer 13

A place that ad seen many years of different “houses” of families claiming the right to be king.

Most ordinary people worked on the countryside and had very fixed routines regarding what sort of work they would each month of the year

Question 14

15 - Who invaded the north of England in 1066?

Answer 14

Harald’s viking army

Question 15

16 - Why did Harold Godwinson win the Battle of Stamford bridge in October 1066?

Answer 15

The shield wall and their brutal force

Question 16

17 - Who invaded the south of England in 1066?

Answer 16

William of Normandy

Question 17

18 - Where on the south coast did his soldiers land?

Answer 17

Pevensey

Question 18

19 - On what date did the Battle of Hastings between Harold Godwinson and William of Normandy’s armies take place?

Answer 18

October 14th, 1066

Question 19

20 - Who won the Battle of Hastings?

Answer 19

William of Normandy and his army

Question 20

21 - What was the name of the professional Anglo-Saxon army?

Answer 20

Housecarls

Question 21

22 - What were the name of the working men who were called upon to support the professional Anglo-Saxon army?

Answer 21

Fyrds

Question 22

23 - What were the main weapons and protection of the Housecarls?

Answer 22

Battle axes made from sharpened iron and heavy chainmail armour

Question 23

24 - What were the main weapons and protection of the Fyrds?

Answer 23

Farming tools like pitchforks and scythes, usually used from cutting wheat

Question 24

25 - How was all Anglo-Saxon fighting done?

Answer 24

On foot

Question 25

26 - What did William’s army have that the Anglo-Saxons did not?

Answer 25

Archers and fighters on horseback called cavalry

Question 26

27 - Why was Harold’s army exhausted before the Battle even began?

Answer 26

They had to march quickly, with heavy armour, from the north of England to the south (200 miles!)

Question 27

28 - Why was Harold’s army in a strong position at the start of the Battle?

Answer 27

They were at the top of a hill and William’s men were at the bottom of it

Question 28

29 - What smart tactic did William do to persuade Harold’s men to start leaving the top of Senlac Hill?

Answer 28

He faked a retreat so that Harold’s men men were encouraged to attack

Question 29

30 - How did William motivate his men to fight so hard?

Answer 29

He got the support of the Pope for the fight and used this to prove to his men that God was on their side

Question 30

31 - What happened when Harold’s men left the top of the hill?

Answer 30

They were no match for William’s highly skilled army

Question 31

32 - How did Harold die at the end of the Battle?

Answer 31

He was either:
- shot in the eye with an arrow
- hacked to death with a sword

Question 32

33 - Why did Harold’s army do when news of his death spread around the battlefield?

Answer 32

They ran away and some men took shelter at a nearby fort in Dover

Question 33

34 - What did William do as soon as the Battle ended?

Answer 33

Hunted down soldiers loyal to harold Godwinson and killed them

Question 34

35 - What was the name given to the brutal killing and destruction of the north of England that William carried out to ensure loyalty?

Answer 34

The Harrying of the North

Question 35

36 - What was the name of the land sharing system that William put in place to encourage and reward loyalty to him?

Answer 35

The Feudal system

Question 36

37 - What were the different ranks in the Feudal system?

Answer 36

The king, the barons, the knights and the peasants

Question 37

38 - What did the tenants-in-chiefs/barons have to take in order to be granted land by the king?

Answer 37

An oath to fealty (loyalty)

Question 38

39 - What did Knights have to provide in order to be given land by the Barons?

Answer 38

40 days of military service every year.

Question 39

40 - What was the job of the peasants who worked on land on the manorial estates?

Answer 39

To grow and farm food.

Question 40

41 - Why did William develop castles in England?

Answer 40

1) To watch over the population and give his Barons good places to rule areas of the country from.

2) To make sure strategic locations were secure. For example, castles were built at river crossings or near passes through mountains or hills.

3) A base from which to dominate land that was brought under Norman control. Castles were built in areas like Exeter, Warwick, Nottingham and York and used as part of the campaigns against unrest and protest in those areas.

Question 41

42 - What was Matilda of Flanders the first queen to receive in English history?

Answer 41

Her own crowning ceremony (coronation)

Question 42

43 - How did Matilda help William gain control of England?

Answer 42

She used her charm to persuade potential rebels in the south of England to support her husband’s right to be King of England.

Question 43

44 - How did William the Conqueror (William I of England) die in 1087?

Answer 43

He fell off his horse whilst trying to capture more land in France and was impaled on a rock.