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Norman Conquest - Coggle Diagram
Norman Conquest
How William kept control
Dealt with rebellions
A few years after William became king, there was a rebellion called in northern England.
The rebellion happened because, to make himself more popular, William kept some of the Anglo Saxon nobles. Two of these were Edwin and Morcar. Edwin controlled Mercia and Morcar controlled Northumbria.
In 1069, they gathered there forces and threatened to rebel
In respone, William gathered a small but well trained army and defeated them in battle with ease.
After this, as a message to anyone who was thinking of a rebellion, he charged north, destroying everything and anything in his path. This was called the Harrying of the North and it worked, the message was clear.
Castles
The first castles that William built in England were wooden castles that had a moat and an area eclosed by walls with a higher area built on a man made hill.
These were later replaced with stone castles and some of these catsles still exist today. For example, Dover Castle and Windsor Castle.
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Feudal sustem
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The system made it so the king was most powerful and everyone else was below him. It meant that everyone in te country had a rank.
The ranks were: Monarch, noble/bishop, knight, peasant. The peasants answered to the knights, the knights answered to the nobles and the bishops, the nobles and the bishops answered to the king.
This formed the feudal system. The feudal system is represented as a pyramid because for every monarch, there were more nobles, and for every noble, there were more knights et cetera.
Domesday book
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William used it because he wanted to know how big of an army he could rase in an emergency, how mich he could tax and how many people were in his country.
The domesday book checked if a family owned a house, how many people were in the family and how old they were, how much land they owned, how many animals they owned and how much they earned. Those are just some of the things.
The domesday book also ensured that no nobles were or became too powerful meaning that William had complete control.
Battle of Hastings
Causes
When Edward the Confessor, an Anglo Saxon king who had no son, died, there was chaos as there was no heir. But three people contended for the throne. These were:
Harald Hadrada, the viking king of Norway. Thought he should of got the throne when the king of Norway before him, King Cnut, died.
William Duke of Normandy, he was not a king, was loyal to the king of France but was almsot more powerful. Edward also promised him the throne. Harold Godwinson was meant to support him but did not in the end because he wanted power.
Harold Godwinson, the most important noble in the country at the time. Says that Edward promised him the throne. Though saved by William once and swore loyalty to make him king. Did not go back on his promise.
Lots of people wanted to rule England as it was quite a big country and had lots of farmland that could be used to make profit
Why he was victorious
William's preparation
He went to the Pope and got his support, had God on his side
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He did a lot of preperation for the invasion, about 9 months
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He also hired new soldiers, like mercenaries
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William's luck
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After the battle of Stamford bridge, Harold's army was exhausted and the morale was quite low
The wind meant that there was no one down south, Harold was fighting vikings up north in the battle of Stamford bridge
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William's army
The army was well tranied and structured. There were cavalry, archers and infantry which gave a variety of ways to attack the Anglo Saxons
The Normans did a fake retreat, this may have been done on purpose or by chance
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But then William took of his helmet and announced that he was alive and the Normans rejoined the fight
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William's army was very disciplined which meant that they would follow orders and were very effective