Medieval Britain 1066–1509

October

HintHarold's army had marched south straight after beating the Vikings at Stamford Bridge in September.

The whyThe battle was fought on 14 October and William was crowned at Westminster on Christmas Day. Within a generation almost every great English landholder had been replaced by a Norman.

Edward the Confessor

HintHe was known for his piety and for founding Westminster Abbey, and his nickname reflects that devotion.

The whyHe left no heir, and rival accounts claim he promised the throne to more than one man. That is exactly why three claimants could each argue they were the rightful successor.

Retreat

HintIf your enemy holds the high ground, tempt them to leave it by looking beaten.

The whyThe feigned flight drew English soldiers out of the shield wall and down the slope, where Norman horsemen could turn and cut them down in the open.

They were built to control the population, not to defend a border

HintA fort meant for keeping out invaders would sit on the frontier, not in the middle of somebody else's market place.

The whyDomesday records houses pulled down in Lincoln, Norwich, Cambridge and York to clear castle sites. A garrison beside the market and the main road let a few thousand Normans tax, police and overawe a country of about two million.

1086

HintTwenty years after the conquest, William wanted to know exactly what his new kingdom was worth.

The whyIt recorded landholders, ploughs, mills and livestock so the king could tax accurately and settle arguments about who owned what. People called it Domesday because there was no appealing against it.

military service

HintLand was never a free gift; the king expected armed men whenever he called for them.

The whyEvery level of the pyramid owed something upwards. Barons owed the king soldiers, knights owed their baron time in armour, and peasants owed their knight labour on his land.

Thomas Becket

HintHe had been the king's close friend and chancellor before taking the top post in the English church and turning against him.

The whyHenry II is said to have asked who would rid him of this troublesome priest, and four knights took him at his word. The murdered archbishop became a saint and the king had to do public penance.

The king himself is bound by the law

HintNothing about barons' hunting rights survived; what lasted was a limit placed above the crown.

The whyClause 39 promised that no free man would be imprisoned or stripped of his lands except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land. Pope Innocent III annulled the charter in August 1215 and the war resumed, but it was reissued in 1216, 1217 and 1225, and that clause is still on the statute book.

Simon de Montfort

HintA rebel earl who had beaten Henry III in battle and needed wider support to hold on to power.

The whyInviting burgesses from the towns was the novelty, which is why his assembly is often called an early parliament, even though he was ruling by force after a civil war.

Between a third and a half

HintSo many died that whole villages were abandoned and there were not enough workers left to bring in the harvest.

The whyEstimates run between a third and a half. Losing so many people so fast made surviving labourers scarce and valuable, which shook the whole feudal arrangement.

The poll tax

HintIt charged every adult the same flat amount, whether they were rich or poor.

The whyA flat charge per head hits the poorest hardest, and it landed on top of laws holding wages down after the plague. Rebels from Kent and Essex marched on London and killed the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Bosworth

HintIt was fought in Leicestershire, and the loser's remains were found under a Leicester car park in 2012.

The whyHenry Tudor became Henry VII and married Elizabeth of York, joining the rival houses. The Tudor rose puts the white rose of York inside the red rose of Lancaster.