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

A motte-and-bailey castle

提示Both parts of the name come from Norman French.

为什么The 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

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

为什么A 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

提示The Anglo-Saxons relied on fortified towns called burhs.

为什么Castles 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

提示Think about height and speed on the battlefield.

为什么A 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

提示The earliest timber castles came in the century before.

为什么Early 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

提示The Danes had been paid to go home before it began.

为什么The 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

提示Think of what an army needs in order to keep fighting.

为什么Soldiers killed rebels and destroyed food, which caused famine. William was criticised across Europe for his brutality.

Hereward the Wake

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

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

Waltheof

提示He joined the plot, then confessed it to the archbishop.

为什么The 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

提示The fleet sailed into the Humber estuary.

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

Robert

提示Think of the eldest brother, not the youngest.

为什么William 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)

提示His nickname came from his colouring.

为什么He 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

提示He was the last of three surviving sons.

为什么Henry 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

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

为什么Odo 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

提示The early revolts had changed his mind about sharing power.

为什么At 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.