Medieval Britain 1066–1509, Year 11: castles, rebellion and the Conqueror's government (Norman England option)

A motte-and-bailey castle

HintBoth parts of the name come from Norman French.

The whyThe mound was the motte and the enclosed yard the bailey, usually ringed by a fence and ditch. Most Norman castles were variations on this design.

They could be put up quickly with little skilled labour

HintThink about how soon the Normans needed to hold down each area.

The whyA small timber castle might take weeks, a large motte months, but stone keeps took far longer. Speed mattered while Norman forces moved round the country to control pockets of resistance.

Almost unknown — the Normans brought them in

HintThe Anglo-Saxons relied on fortified towns called burhs.

The whyCastles gave a small garrison a base to dominate an area, house a Norman lord and run the district. They were not only forts, and they were meant to overawe the local people.

The Normans fought on horseback; the English fought on foot

HintThink about height and speed on the battlefield.

The whyA knight rode a specially trained war horse. The English army was almost entirely infantry, with few archers, while the Norman force mixed cavalry, archers and infantry.

12th

HintThe earliest timber castles came in the century before.

The whyEarly Norman castles were mostly earth and timber. Stone cost far more than earth and timber, which is one reason timber castles lasted so long alongside stone ones.

1070

HintThe Danes had been paid to go home before it began.

The whyThe rebels refused to meet him in battle, so William decided to starve them out by destroying the land. Chroniclers recorded famine on a huge scale. Estimates of the dead vary widely; a figure of about 100,000 is often repeated, but it is disputed.

To crush northern resistance so completely that no rebellion could survive there again

HintThink of what an army needs in order to keep fighting.

The whySoldiers killed rebels and destroyed food, which caused famine. William was criticised across Europe for his brutality.

Hereward the Wake

HintHe is the best-known leader of the Fenland resistance, and legends grew up around him.

The whyMuch of what is told about Hereward comes from later legend, and the early sources sometimes contradict each other.

Waltheof

HintHe joined the plot, then confessed it to the archbishop.

The whyThe revolt of 1075 was started by two of William's own earls, Ralph and Roger, while he was in Normandy. English forces and castle garrisons helped to put it down.

Denmark

HintThe fleet sailed into the Humber estuary.

The whyTogether the Danes and English rebels, including Edgar Ætheling, stormed York. William bought the Danes off and then turned on the northern shires.

Robert

HintThink of the eldest brother, not the youngest.

The whyWilliam left Normandy to Robert and England to his second surviving son, William. The split set the brothers against one another: in 1088 some barons rebelled to put Robert on the English throne.

William II (Rufus)

HintHis nickname came from his colouring.

The whyHe was the Conqueror's second surviving son. Robert, expecting to get England as well as Normandy, found William Rufus already crowned. William II died in 1100.

A large sum of money

HintHe was the last of three surviving sons.

The whyHenry received money, usually reported as £5,000, and no kingdom of his own. He still became king, after William Rufus died in 1100.

Odo of Bayeux

HintHe was a bishop with a taste for power, and became Earl of Kent.

The whyOdo and William fitzOsbern were made earls in the south and ruled for William. Odo grew so powerful that William later imprisoned him.

He replaced them with loyal Normans

HintThe early revolts had changed his mind about sharing power.

The whyAt first William kept earls such as Edwin, Morcar and Waltheof to show he was Edward's lawful heir. After the revolts he put Normans in charge, and Lanfranc became a key adviser.