The policies of , king of England from 1066 until his death in 1087, may be largely responsible for eventually making Britain the most powerful nation in Europe.

At the age of eight, William the Conqueror became duke of and later King of England. Violence plagued his early reign, but with the help of King Henry I of France, William managed to survive the early years. After the Battle of Hastings, in 1066, he was crowned king of England. He never spoke English and was illiterate, but he had more influence on the evolution of the English language then anyone before or since. William ruled England until his death, on September 9, 1087, in Rouen, France.

Both of these portraits are of William the Conqueror!

Born around 1028 in Falaise, Normandy, France, William was an illegitimate child of Robert I, duke of Normandy, who died in 1035 while returning from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

At only eight years of age, William became the new duke of Normandy. Violence and corruption-plagued his early reign, as the feudal barons fought for control of his fragile dukedom. A few of William's guards died and his teacher was murdered during a period of severe anarchy. With the help of King Henry I of France, William managed to survive the early years.

King Henry I of France knighted William, still in his teens, in 1042. Taking a new stand on political events, William finally gained firm control of his duchy. By 1064 he had conquered and won two neighbouring provinces — Brittany and Maine. In the meantime, the childless king of England — Edward the Confessor, whose mother was a sister of William's grandfather — promised William succession to the English throne. However, when Edward died in 1066, his brother-in-law and most powerful of the English lords, Harold Godwinson, claimed the throne of England for himself (despite an oath he made to William to support his claim). The Witan, a council of English lords that commonly took part in deciding succession, supported Harold. William, angered by the betrayal, decided to invade England and enforce his claim.

William assembled a fleet and an army on the French coast, but due to unrelenting north winds, their advance was delayed for several weeks. In the meantime, the Norwegian army invaded England from the North Sea. Harold, who had been preparing for William's invasion from the south, rapidly moved his army north to defend England from Norway. After defeating the Norwegians, Harold unwisely marched his troops back down to meet William, without a rest.

On October 14, 1066, the two armies met in the famous Battle of Hastings. King Harold and his two brothers were killed in the battle, and since no one of stature remained to raise a new army, William's path to the throne was clear. He was crowned king of England on Christmas Day.

There were several revolts in the next five years, which William used as an excuse to confiscate English land and declare it his personal property. He then distributed the land to his Norman followers, who imposed their unique feudal system. Eventually, Normans replaced the entire Anglo-Saxon aristocracy. William, however, retained most of England's institutions and was intensely interested in learning about his new property. He ordered a detailed census to be made of the population and property of England — which was compiled in The Domesday Book (now an invaluable source of historical information and still in the Public Record Office in London).

William died on September 9, 1087, in Rouen, France. Although he never spoke English and was illiterate, he had more influence on the evolution of the English language than anyone before or since — adding a slew of French and Latin words to the English dictionary. The introduction of skilled Norman administrators may be largely responsible for eventually making England the most powerful government in Europe. Y6 Week 9 English 1 IAL: to use evidence from across a text to explain events or ideas

1) “William was one of the most significant monarchs in English history”

Find evidence in the text to support this claim. You can paraphrase (reword the exact words in the text but with the same meaning).

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2) Why did William set out to invade England?

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3) Which of these quotes best support the idea that the author thinks it is perhaps surprising that William was so influential in the evolution of the English language? Circle one.

.. William, however, ..adding a slew of Although he never retained most of French and Latin Violence plagued his spoke English and England’s words to the early reign… was illiterate … English dictionary… institutions …

4) a) It could be said that William had no respect for his new kingdom. Find some evidence to support this idea.

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b) It could also be said that William did respect his new kingdom. Find some supporting evidence for this idea.

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5) Explain the crucial mistake that Harold Godwinson made.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Y6 Week 9 English 2 IAL: to identify key questions to be asked and how to record the information https://kidskonnect.com/history/king-harold-ii/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/harold_ii_godwineson.shtml https://www.historyhit.com/facts. -about-harold-godwinson/

Here we have two different visual representations of King Harold II.

Use the links above (or any other texts you think suitable) To research information about him. Decide what information you want to seek before you start. Once you start reading, you may come across facts and opinions about him that you want to record- that’s ok!

Decide how you want to record and present the information- true/false grids, a timeline etc. Y6 Week 9 English 3

This week’s spellings innocent innocence decency frequent confident frequency confidence independent decent independence

Use the facts that you have researched about King Harold II to write a biography about him. You could refer back to last week’s biography on Barry Steptoe and this week’s biography about William the Conqueror to give you ideas on how to structure the text.

Remember to keep the sentence openers varied- avoid starting every sentence with “Harold” or “He”.

If you type the text, you can add images and backgrounds or borders and email them to us to look at. ☺