History Revision notes
Topics covered include The Norman conquest, The church in medieval
england and the murder of Thomas Becket
The norman conquest:
● Edward the confessor died in jan 1066
● Three men wanted to be king: Harold Godwinson, Harald Hardrada and William,
duke of Normandy.
● Harold Godwinson was crowned king
● William and Harald decided to battle against him.
● This battle was called the Battle of hastings.
● King Harold II of England is defeated by the Norman forces of William the Conqueror
at the Battle of Hastings, fought on Senlac Hill, seven miles from Hastings, England.
At the end of the bloody, all-day battle, Harold was killed–shot in the eye with an
arrow, according to legend–and his forces were destroyed.
● William, duke of normandy was crowned the next king. However, many people were
not happy about this.
● William won the battle of Hastings because of many reasons including his
preparation, luck, leadership, and some of Harold’s mistakes. William prepared
effectively for the battle. He gathered 700 ships, 7000 men and 2000 horses. William
was also very prudent with his attacks and attacked the opposing army strategically.
William’s men were all fed and well rested before the battle started.
● William faced many problems after becoming the king as many people didn’t want
the Duke of Normandy to be the King of England. William also had difficult relations
with the Church.
● Willaim created a record of wealth and made people pay a high amount of taxes so
he had enough money.
● William sent soldiers to kill all the people who had rebelled against him. To punish
him, he destroyed villages and farms in the north.
● William's followers had to be rewarded- William gave out land to his followers.
● It was very expensive to keep an army- William was able to call on 5000 knights.
● The English earls could not be trusted- The English earls lost their land to William.
● William had to keep his loyalty to his barons- The barons paid homage to William.
● William created something called the feudal system:
Topics covered include The Norman conquest, The church in medieval
england and the murder of Thomas Becket
The norman conquest:
● Edward the confessor died in jan 1066
● Three men wanted to be king: Harold Godwinson, Harald Hardrada and William,
duke of Normandy.
● Harold Godwinson was crowned king
● William and Harald decided to battle against him.
● This battle was called the Battle of hastings.
● King Harold II of England is defeated by the Norman forces of William the Conqueror
at the Battle of Hastings, fought on Senlac Hill, seven miles from Hastings, England.
At the end of the bloody, all-day battle, Harold was killed–shot in the eye with an
arrow, according to legend–and his forces were destroyed.
● William, duke of normandy was crowned the next king. However, many people were
not happy about this.
● William won the battle of Hastings because of many reasons including his
preparation, luck, leadership, and some of Harold’s mistakes. William prepared
effectively for the battle. He gathered 700 ships, 7000 men and 2000 horses. William
was also very prudent with his attacks and attacked the opposing army strategically.
William’s men were all fed and well rested before the battle started.
● William faced many problems after becoming the king as many people didn’t want
the Duke of Normandy to be the King of England. William also had difficult relations
with the Church.
● Willaim created a record of wealth and made people pay a high amount of taxes so
he had enough money.
● William sent soldiers to kill all the people who had rebelled against him. To punish
him, he destroyed villages and farms in the north.
● William's followers had to be rewarded- William gave out land to his followers.
● It was very expensive to keep an army- William was able to call on 5000 knights.
● The English earls could not be trusted- The English earls lost their land to William.
● William had to keep his loyalty to his barons- The barons paid homage to William.
● William created something called the feudal system:
