Saturday, September 29. 2018Norman Conquest
What were tournaments? Fighting was a matter of honour for knights. When there was no obvious reason to fight, the knights had to invent one. Tournaments were contests in which knights fought each other with various weapons. They wore heavy armour that was supposed to prevent injury, but they were frequently maimed or killed. Tournaments were popular events at which heavy bets were placed on favourite knights. They served as a useful form of training for real warfare.
What was the Domesday Book? Once the Normans had secured their hold over their new territory, they wanted to know exactly what it was worth. In 1085, King William commissioned a great survey of his whole kingdom. It would list every town, village and farm, who owned what, and how much each holding was worth, so that taxes could be applied. All this information was written down in the Domesday Book. This book is still in existence today.
Pictures Credit: Google Saturday, September 29. 2018Norman Conquest
What is the Bayeux tapestry? The Bayeux tapestry was made by the Normans to celebrate their victory over the English in 1066. It is a huge series of pictures depicting incidents during the conquest. The pictures are sewn on a strip of cloth 70 m in length. At one time, the tapestry was even longer, but a section of it is now missing. How did the Norman invasion change the English language? Up until the Norman invasion, people in England spoke in Old English. The Normans spoke a form of French, and they insisted on the use of French as the language of educated people. Most of the ruling classes spoke nothing else but French. Over the years the languages spoken by the common people and the nobility became closer, until an entirely new language evolved. Modern English, which is descended from this mixture, still contains the recognizable remains of Saxon and French words. For example, the word ‘cow’ is descended from the Saxon word, while the word ‘beef’ is related to the French word.
Why did the Normans win the Battle of Hastings? The Normans won the battle because the English armies were exhausted from previous fighting and were too far away to stop the invasion. After the death of Edward the Confessor, Harold Godwinsson was appointed king of England. However, Harald Hardrada of Norway also claimed the English crown and invaded northern England. He was defeated by the army of Harold Godwinsson near York. Three days later the Normans invaded at Hastings in the south. The English army was forced to dash the length of England in order to fight the invaders. Exhausted when they arrived, they were soon defeated. King Harold was killed during the battle, and was succeeded by the Norman king William the First, or William the Conqueror. Pictures Credit: Google Saturday, September 29. 2018Norman Conquest
Who were the Normans? The Normans were the descendants of Vikings who settled in northern France and adopted French customs and the French language. Vikings had also settled in southern Italy and on the island of Sicily, where they established kingdoms. They soon adopted the Christian religion. How did the Normans change British society? The Normans introduced the feudal system to England. According to this system, the king owned all the land and others could hold land in exchange for providing services to the king. William the Conqueror appointed barons who were provided with estates taken from the original English earls. In return, the barons paid him taxes and supplied soldiers for his armies. The barons, in turn, let their knights hold smaller sections of land, while the knights let part of this land to people called villeins. They were farmers who had to provide some of their produce to the local lord of the manor. In this way, the land and the whole of English society was broken into small, easily controlled units. Picture Credit: Google |
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