The+coming+of+the+Normans


 * THE COMING OF THE NORMANS **

** What happened when the king of England Edward the Confessor died? Learn about the three claimants to the throne, and their arguments. **

On the 5th of January 1066, Edward the Confessor the king of England died. He had no children, which meant he had no direct heir to the throne, but four men thought they should all be the new king of England, and all had good reasons too! They were: **Edgar, Harold Godwinson Harald Hadraada William Duke of Normandy**



William of Normandy (seated) negotiates with Harold Godwinson (with mustache) in 1064. [|Bayeux Tapestry] (c. 1090)

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** Harold Godwinson ** was the Earl of Wessex at the time, and this made him the most powerful nobleman in England. Edward the Confessor named Harold as king just before he died. The strong and important men of England chose Harold to be their king too. He was English, but he was not related to Edward. Moreover, Harold had already promised William of Normandy that he would help him to become king of England when Edward died. ** Harald Hadraada, ** the King of Norway felt he should have been king of England too! His family had been kings of England before Edward. There was no one to replace Edward so Harald wanted the crown of England for himself. Moreover, Cnut’s son promised his father the throne. He also felt that he might get some support from Viking families in the North of England. **Willaim** was Edward’s cousin and was promised the throne by him (and by Harold Godwinson) because he had helped Edward in the past. William was Duke of Normandy and came from France.
 * E dgar ** was English and was the nearest relative. But he was only eight and he was not serilously considered for the throne for obvious reasons.

On January 6th Harold II was crowned the new king of England, William and Harald were not happy…

TASKS **A. Answer the following questions in full sentences**

1) Why did England need a new king? Why was there no direct heir to the throne?

2) What is a ‘claimant’? Who were the three (or four?) men who had claims to the English throne?

3) Read about the four claimants to the throne in the webpage http://pelesagratcor.wikispaces.com/the+four+claimants and then draw a chart with the details. Which candidate would you have voted for if you had been a member of the Witan? Give your reasons.What roles did the three men have in their countries?

4) Who was crowned the new king of England, and when did it happen?

Two other men both thought that they should also be king, they were W_ _ _ _ _ _, Duke of N_ _ _ _ _ _ _ and H_ _ _ _ _ H_ _ _ _ _ _ _ who was king of N _ _ _ _ _. William said that he had been promised the _ _ _ _ _ and Harald said that England had been part of Norway and so he should be king. They couldn't _ _ _ _ _ who should be king so they would have to fight! ||
 * B. Fill in the gaps.**
 * In _ _ _ _ the King of England _ _ _ _ _ _ the Confessor died. He had no children to follow him but named _ _ _ _ _ _ G_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ as the new king when he died. There was one relative, a boy called _ _ _ _ _ but the important men of England got together and named Harold as king.

When Harold Godwinson was crowned king of England the other claimants were furious. They each felt they had the rightful claim to the throne. Harald Hardrada, the ruthless Viking, set sail for England and defeated the local English army in a battle at Fulford Gate. He now thought he controlled the area. The new King ( Harold Godwinson ) was determined to stop him. He marched north, recruiting men to help him fight. They met at Stamford Bridge on 25th September 1066. King Harold arrived early in the morning. The Vikings had not expected him so soon. King Harold managed to surprise them. Using his surprise attack King Harold's forces cut the Vikings to pieces. Harald Hardrada took an arrow full in his chest. It was a tremendous victory for King Harold. King Harold was ecstatic. He had defended his kingdom. However, while King Harold concentrated on the Viking invasion, Duke William had already begun his own invasion on the South Coast. While King Harold and his men were still celebrating their fantastic victory, news arrived about Duke William's forc es landing in the south. Duke William built a fort and camped at Hastings. There he met Harold’s army and fight in the Battle of Hastings. The Battle of Hastings was very different to battles today – there were no guns, tanks or planes. Most fighting was done hand -to –hand. Swords with wide blades were the main weapon. The English also fought using battleaxes, which they swung with both hands. They fought on foot. The Normans had two great advantages. They had knight mounted on warhorses, who were trained to charge the enemy. Meanwhile, archers fired arrows to distract and injure the enemy. The English had few, if any archers, and no horses. Harold’s army was in poor condition – they were exhausted after the march and battle at Stamford Bridge. Some of his troops were paid Danish fighters. Some were local farmers called upon to help (these were called the fyrd). The fyrd had pitchforks, farming tools and stones as their weapons. The fighting began at nine o’clock. The English stood their ground against the archers, and waited at the top of Senlac hill, behind the Shield Wall. Time and time again the Normans charged uphill, only to be forced back by the shield wall. Then, the Normans pretended to retreat. The English made the mistake of following them. The Normans surrounded them and cut them down. William and his nobles repeated this trick successfully three times, until the shield wall was gone. Somehow, late in the afternoon, Harold himself was killed. When news got out the English army fled. The Battle was over. William of Normandy was King of England.
 * The Battle of Hastings **

IF YOU NEED HELP TO UNDERSAND THE VOCABULARY OF THIS TEXT ABOUT THE BATTLE OF HASTINS, CLICK HERE: Glossary of the Battle of Hastings

TASKS
 * TASK ONE . Answer the following questions in full sentences **

1) What advantages did the Normans have? 2) What did the Normans do to trick the enemy? 3) What happened when Harold was killed?



Here you can watch a movie with[| all you need to know about the battle of Hastings] and a movie about the [|fight between the Normans and the Vikings.].

You **must** see this video!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y3iIUH9QRo

** TASK TWO. Now imagine you are a journalist working for //The Times// in the year 1066. Write a report about the Battle of Hastings.**

***First of all decide which side you are a supporter of. If it is the Normans, your report will be really positive. If it is the Saxons, your report will be really negative.**

***Try to cover at least four of the following areas (cover them all if you can…** **)** - Background to the battle (be exciting - don’t bore readers!) - Location of the battle - How the two sides lined up - Description of tactics - Description of the violence of the fightin g - What happened as the day wore on  - Important events - things that changed the battle - Death of Harold - Norman victory - Braveness of all involve d

Here you have a template you can use to write your report: