Browse Hierarchy HST6114: 1066! The Norman Conquest

This module will provide students with a good understanding of the causes, course and consequences of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 which decisively shifted England's relations with continental Europe from a Scandinavian to a Norman French focus. The course is divided into three parts. The first explores the last decades of Anglo-Saxon England including links between England and Normandy before 1066; the second investigates the succession crisis of the 1060s, the invasion of 1066 and the subsequent resistance and rebellions while the third addresses the impact of the Norman Conquest on different aspects of government and society, including landholding and lordship, the church and the physical landscape. Seminars will draw upon an extensive range of rich and diverse primary source available to historians of the Norman Conquest. Issues relating to the relationship between England and the Continent continue to resonate and this course offers an opportunity to explore a key moment in the history of this relationship. There will be an optional fieldtrip to Battle Abbey, the site of the 1066 battle.