WordPress.com



Who were the people in the north that William conquered?right17970500This is a modern picture of a Viking longship, the main form of travel for the Viking people from Scandinavia. You may be wondering why this picture is important, is this a picture of Harald Hardrada, the King of Norway?No. In fact, this sort of boat would have been a common sight off the coast of northern England during the rule of Edward the Confessor, and previous Anglo-Saxon kings. Longships would not usually have been carrying potential invaders bin the years before 1066, but travellers, traders, adventurers, men and women, of Scandinavian heritage. Why were these Scandinavians in England?Anglo-Saxon kings united what we know as England under one crown. Before that it was divided into different areas rules by different people. In the later 8th Century there were violent attacks on England by Vikings. However, in the 9th and 10th century, many of these Vikings from Norway and Denmark (known as Scandinavians) arrived to settle. They had heard of England’s riches and fertile land and they migrated in large numbers to settle and farm the land, mostly in the north and east of England. You may have heard how the modern city of York was once called Jorvik (the Viking name for the city), or how now people from the north of England often say ‘bairn’ instead of child. You may have a friend with ‘son’ at the end of their surname, an indicator that their heritage is that of a Scandinavian nature, as this form of surname was introduced by the Vikings; a Richardson would be Richard’s son.-635008890000In 2007, a hoard of Viking treasure was found outside of Harrogate. It contained silver from as far away as Samarkand in modern day Afghanistan. It shows us, along with other finds, that the north and east of England was lived in by people who had links to world travel and who had traded in Afghanistan, settled in Russia, or lived with Italians. Here is a picture of part of the hoard. This is a lot of wealth for the time, we think. We don’t know what happened to the person who buried it. If only the coins could talk! The North was Viking!The Vikings fought the Anglo-Saxon kings and came to an agreement with them. The north and east of England came be known as the ‘Danelaw’, the area of Viking control. This Danelaw was home for a large number of the people we call Vikings. They travelled far and wide and their largest city in England, called Jorvik, was a great trading city. Even when England became one kingdom, there were sometimes Danish kings. England was ruled by a Danish king, Cnut, then his son, Harthacnut, until 1042, only twenty-four years before William the Conqueror invaded in 1066. Under Cnut and his sons, England was part of an empire that stretched around the North Sea and included Denmark and Norway. The sea was the way they travelled, in their longships, and Jorvik much more connected, by sea, with the coast of Scandinavia, than it was with inland parts of southern England. When Harald Hardrada tried to take the throne in 1066 he was not the ‘foreigner’ we think of today. Many people in the north probably felt he was one of them compared to Edward the Confessor or Harold Godwineson. When Harold Hardrada arrived in Jorvik, after defeating the Anglo-Saxon earls Edwin and Morcar at the Battle of Fulford, the people of the city welcomed the Norwegian king. These Anglo-Scandinavian traders, travellers, poets, and adventurers saw Harald as one of their own.What happened next?Harold Godwineson, crowned King Harold II of England early in 1066, was not prepared to give up the north without a fight. When he arrived in the north with his troops, he did battle with Harold Hardrada and his men at Stamford Bridge. Hardrada was killed and the Anglo-Scandinavian citizens of Jorvik were once more ruled by Anglo-Saxons. However, not for long! The Anglo-Saxon King Harold II was defeated and killed in October 1066 by the Norman, William the Conqueror. William had Saxon relatives, and the Normans were, themselves, descended from Northmen, or Norsemen, who had settled in northern France from the lands in the north – Scandinavia. The conquest by William was resisted. There were large rebellions in different parts of England, including the north. Norman lords were killed in Durham and York. William crushed these rebellions and carried out the ‘Harrying of the North’ to punish the people and to break their connections to Scandinavia and make the north unattractive to Scandinavian rulers. England was united, but you can still see and hear the traces of the Anglo-Scandinavian influence in the north of England today. THINK!How would you use what you have read to argue that the Norman Conquest of 1066 was not simply a story of one English people being invaded by foreigners from France?Over to you!You could do some research into what placenames and language can tell us about the Anglo-Scandinavian past. Why not start with an online search of a map of placenames ending in -by.Teacher notes: ‘Who were the people in the north that William conquered?’What is a slot-in?A slot-in is a short story from the past that is rich in historical concepts. You can use a slot-in as part of a longer sequence, or as cover work, or in those moments where you need something short. The offer a way to improve the diversity of the past represented in your classroom. The concept focus of this enquiryThe enquiry question here is: ‘Who were the people in the north that William conquered?’ The story the students will read is written so that students can learn something about the society and culture of the north of England in the 11th century, and the importance of sea routes to trade and identity at the time. The slot-in therefore helps to broaden historical knowledge of the period. Students learn that the people in what’s now the north of England had differences, as well as similarities to the people in the south. This understanding helps students to better understand the events of 1066 and William’s actions in the years of Conquest, including the co-called ‘Harrying of the North’. The sense of period and place from this slot-in will help develop students’ knowledge of England as they prepare to study more about the country in the Middle Ages. Curriculum linksWe have a duty to reflect the past of diverse people in our history curriculum. We also have such a restricted amount of curriculum time to teach a large amount of past. This story could be slotted-in to your curriculum as part of a sequence on:The Norman Conquest of England ,Life in later Anglo-Saxon England,Local history.Activity suggestionsYou might just want students to read this story, make a connection to a wider topic and move on. However, you might decide to use this material for most of a lesson with activities. You could: Provide students with a map from the east coast of North America to the centre of Russia and ask students to use the text to mark on all the places mentioned in the text, then draw out what we can learn from this plotting in terms of scope and focus of trade and people.Find an online map that shows Viking placenames in England and also search for a list of words used in the north that are from Scandinavian languages. Use these with students to investigate the impact of the Anglo-Scandinavia past and build a sense of connection with language and place. Start with a focus on the 2007 Horde – you an find information and images online – and then use the text to reveal some of the context. Get students to use their knowledge of the 1066-1070 period and this slot-in to write a short report for a news magazine programme that identifies how people in the north of England may remember as most signficant different aspects, and view somewhat differently, the events of 1066-1070. Misconceptions to dispelWe use the term Anglo-Saxon with students in a way that can lead them to think England was as unified as it is now. This slot-in helps to show that this was not the case. At the same time, it is important to emphasise points of connection too. Extra background for teachersThe Vikings, as a group (which they were not!), have been reinterpreted many times over time, including in recent times. For example, they were great warrior Aryans for the Nazis, they were proto-capitalists for the Thatcherites of the 1980s and have more recently between portrayed as multi-culturalists (for example in Sicily). Understanding that even a topic so far back is interpreted and reshaped for present purposes is important to know when we are teaching. And, of course, Vikings never wore horns! Where to link toYork Archaeological Trust is part of ‘Follow the Vikings’ and their website has many images. There is an annual Viking Festival in York. The book ‘The Edge of the World’ by Michael Pye is very useful for teacher subject knowledge about the impact of the North Sea region on Europe, including during this period. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download