Hello, welcome to history here at Oak National Academy.

My name is Mr. Newton and I'll be your teacher today guiding you through the entire lesson.

Right, let's get started.

In these lessons, we'll focus on a specific historical environment, Durham Cathedral.

What can Durham Cathedral tell us about the wider context of this period? What can it tell us about the background story, the people or events at the time? What is the significance of the church and cathedrals in Norman England? Does Durham Cathedral tell us to what extent that Norman's reform to the English church? This is how we will use the site of Durham Cathedral to address broader questions about Norman England.

By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to use examples from Durham Cathedral as evidence of continuity and change in Norman England.

Before you begin, there are a few keywords that we need to understand.

Romanesque is the style of building that was fashionable in Western Europe, which recalled the power of the Roman Empire, and Basilica is a large oblong church that was round at one end.

The interior had two rows of columns supporting the roof.

Today's lesson's split up into two parts.

We'll first look at Norman architecture and authority before moving onto Norman religious, social, and economic impacts.

But first, let's begin with Norman Architecture and Authority.

Durham Cathedral is a prime example of Norman Romanesque architecture and it's characterised by its huge proportions, thick walls and rounded arches.

If you have a look at the photo on the left, it shows a Norman doorway of Durham Cathedral, and here we can see some of the Romanesque features.

We can see the stone pillars either side of the doorway, which sits under a round arched window, and if you look closely at the doorway arch, you can see it has elaborate designs.

This area is known as the Tympanum, and you can see some carved geometric patterns.

They look like zigzags or chevrons.

These Romanesque features revealed the Norman's desire to convey power and stability.

The cathedral scale and grandeur were unprecedented in England.

It was built on similar proportions to St.

Peter's Basilica in Rome, symbolising the dominance and permanence of Norman rule.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

Durham Cathedral was built in which architectural style, to symbolise the dominance and permanence of Norman Rule A, Anglo-basilica, B Gothic, C, Romanesque.

Pause the video, have a think and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back and well done if you knew the correct answer was C, Romanesque, recalling the power of the Roman empire that's previously ruled over England too.

The use of the ribbed vault was a pioneering technique at Durham, and this showcases the innovative spirit of the Normans and the arrow points to where the ribbed vault was on the ceiling.

This was a series of bricks or ribs which have been stacked in an arch to carry the weight of the ceiling.

The ribs transmit the load downwards towards the columns.

The stone ribs of the roof were a lightweight, yet strong design, which enabled a higher ceiling and to be held up over a wider space.

This architectural advancement not only allowed for a more impressive and stable structure, but also laid the groundwork for the later development of gothic architecture.

Building Durham Cathedral on high ground overlooking the river Weir, where the Normans had built an intimidating structure that could be seen for miles.

Despite these innovations, Durham Cathedral also exhibits continuities with Anglo-Saxon England.

The site itself was previously home to a Saxon church indicating continuity of sacred space.

The cathedral's dedication to St.

Cuthbert, a revered Anglo-Saxon Saint whose tomb we see on the photo on the left highlights the Norman's pragmatic approach to governance.

By honouring a local saint, the Normans aim to win the support and loyalty of the local population, thereby facilitating the acceptance of their rule.

The preservation and veneration of St Cuthbert's and the venerable beads shrine within the cathedral served as a point of continuity connecting the new Norman regime with the spiritual heritage of the region.

Moreover, while the Normans introduced new architectural styles and construction techniques, they retained some elements of earlier English church designs, such as the layout of the basilica.

The basilica featured a long nave in the west end of the cathedral where people would come to pray.

It was a large space which was used for multiple purposes for worship, feast days, a court and entertainment.

And in the east end of the cathedral behind this lavishly decorated screen was the choir.

The choir was a sacred space where the high altar was and the clergy worshipped here, separated from the general public.

Then there were the transects on the north and south sides of the cathedral.

These flanked the cathedral to form the shape of a cross.

They also provided a central crossing which separated the choir from the nave.

This blending of old and new styles facilitated a smoother transition for the local population, helping to legitimise Norman rule by connecting it to familiar traditions.

Durham Cathedral shows Anglo Norman architectural motifs.

In other words, despite the Normans building Durham Cathedral, it also incorporated Anglo-Saxon techniques.

This is evident in the decorative elements of the cathedral, which blend Norman geometric patterns with Anglo-Saxon motifs, particularly in the intricate carvings found in the nave and the crypt.

In the photo, you can see this I've highlighted in red a Norman Chevron pattern on the near column here, and also a diamond pattern on the far column.

And we can also see an example of intersecting arches, which I've highlighted in green, and this represents an Anglo-Saxon motif.

Have a look at this page from the Lindisfarne Gospels, which shows a canon table, and we can see the Saxon design of intersecting arches which influence their architectural style.

This demonstrates the continuity of artistic traditions.

This integration of Anglo-Saxon elements into the cathedral's design and function helps to bridge the cultural and religious divide between the Norman rulers and their Anglo-Saxon subjects.

Durham Cathedral also reflects the cultural synthesis that occurred in Norman England.

The building process involved the labour and expertise of both Norman and English artisans, leading to a fusion of styles and techniques.

This hybrid style illustrates how the Normans, while imposing their rule, also adapted and integrated elements of the existing culture.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding, which Anglo-Saxon traditions have been retained at Durham Cathedral? Select two correct answers A, a shrine to St Cuthbert, B, a shrine to St Peter, C, decorative motifs, and the layout of the basilica, D, ribbed vaulting and geometric patterns.

Pause video, have a think and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back and well done if you knew the correct two answers were A, a shrine to Saint Cuthbert and C, decorative motifs and the layout of the basilica.

The construction of Durham Cathedral was not merely a religious endeavour, but also a political statement.

The Normans used monumental architecture to assert their dominance over the conquered land.

The cathedral was located in the strategically important border region of Northern England, Northumbria.

Northumbria faced external threats from the Scots and the Danes.

So Durham Cathedral served as both a spiritual centre and a fortress, reflecting the dual role of the Prince Bishop as both a religious leader and a secular Lord.

The first Prince Bishop was William of Saint Calais.

This was part of a broader governing structure that William I introduced to England, in which the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy was replaced by Normans.

William the First introduced 200 Norman tenants in chief who almost completely replaced all large Anglo-Saxon landholders.

The introduction of the Prince Bishop role in Durham was similar to how William the Conqueror gave the earls greater powers and autonomy than was usual in order to deal with the contested Welsh border.

On the map, we can see that William I chose to build Durham Castle right next to Durham Cathedral, both sit atop high ground overlooking steep river banks, which provide natural protection.

The fortified nature of the cathedral complex underscores the militaristic aspect of Norman Rule and their focus on maintaining control over the newly acquired territory.

This was also part of a broader castle building programme across England to maintain military control.

The Norman's built over 800 motte and bailey castles as part of their campaign to conquer and control England and parts of Wales.

In terms of religious authority, the establishment of Durham Cathedral symbolised the restructuring of the English church to align more closely with Norman and European practises.

The Normans reformed the English church hierarchy, replacing many Anglo-Saxon bishops with Norman clergy.

The Norman clergy were both loyal to the king and committed to the church reforms pushed through by Archbishop Lanfranc.

Again, William of Saint Calais fits this pattern precisely, a former monk and Abbott from Maine, which boarded Normandy to the South.

While many Norman church leaders disregarded local Anglo-Saxon Saints, this change did not happen in Durham.

The new cathedral was built to house the relics for St Cuthbert, a hugely popular saint for the Anglo-Saxons.

The Normans used the continuity of Durham as a place of English pilgrimage to legitimise their rule.

The respects that the awe-inspiring New Durham Cathedral showed to St.

Cuthbert symbolised how God had favoured the Normans in their conquest of England.

They also profited economically from the continued flood of pilgrims to Durham.

Okay, let's have a check here.

Why was Durham Cathedral strategically important? A, it was located in the kingdom of Wessex.

B, it served as a key trading hub with Normandy.

C, it was situated near the border of Scotland.

Pause the video, have a think and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back and well done if you knew the correct answer was C.

It was situated near the border with Scotland.

Okay, great, let's move on to task A.

How does Durham Cathedral show evidence of continuity and change in Norman England? And what I want you to do is complete the table and you can see I've given you two columns, one column with change and another column with continuity.

And I want you to complete the lists in both columns.

And you can see two examples have been done already for you.

So in the change column, our first piece of evidence is the fact that Romanesque architecture represented a change in the way buildings were built in England.

And in the continuity column, the first piece of evidence was that English artisans were employed to build the cathedral under Norman direction.

So this evidence represents a continuity as those artisans would've helped with construction in England previously.

Pause the video, have a go at the task and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back.

Hopefully you've got two columns full of evidence backing up both change in continuity in Norman England with regards to Durham Cathedral.

And your completed table might include the following.

So for the change column, we've already mentioned Romanesque architecture, and you might have also thought about the innovations in ribbed vaulting, which enabled larger structures to be built, as it happened with Durham Cathedral.

You might have said that Norman cathedrals and castles built to impose Norman control over the conquered land representing a change to the English landscape of these imposing buildings looming over the population.

And another change was the introduction of the dual role of the Prince Bishop with William of St.

Calais being the first.

And then there was a change in religious authority of church leadership, Anglo-Saxons being replaced by Normans.

Okay, let's move on to the continuity column.

So we've already mentioned that English artisans continued to be employed.

They might have also thought about the facts that there was a continued respect for saints venerated by Anglo-Saxons, such as St.

Cuthbert and the Venerable Bede.

You might have mentioned that the site continued to be a location of pilgrimage for St.

Cuthbert's shrine and that the cathedrals still showed Anglo-Saxon decorative motifs, such as those intersecting arches and that the overall design was traditional.

It had the layout of the basilica.

Okay, great.

So we've now gone over some of the changes and continuities with regards to the Durham Cathedral, its architecture and its authority and the leadership there.

Let's now move on to the second part of the lesson.

Norman religious social and economic impact.

Durham Cathedral also reflected Norman religious values, including the papal reforms that had taken place across Europe and a stricter adherence to Benedictine monasticism.

The Normans were instrumental in implementing Gregorian reforms. Those were the papal reforms which sought to eradicate simony, enforce clerical celibacy, and restore monastic discipline.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Lanfranc, Frank made sweeping reforms to the English church, including moving some rural cathedrals to urban areas, strengthening the church hierarchy by introducing arch deacons and encouraging Benedictine discipline in monasteries.

The establishment of a Benedictine monastery at Durham alongside the cathedral exemplifies this commitment to religious reform.

And we can see a Benedictine monk in the illustration on the left.

William of St.

Calais introduced a new cathedral chapter which adopted the constitutions introduced by Lanfranc.

The monks of Durham adhered strictly to the rule of St.

Benedict, emphasising prayer, study, celibacy and the separation from secular society.

This stricter monasticism was a departure from some of the more relaxed practises that had developed in Anglo-Saxon England, signifying a broader European trend towards Ecclesiastical reform and renewal.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

Durham Cathedral reflected which Norman religious values, A, Celtic mysticism and juridic practises.

B, strict adherence to Benedictine monasticism, C, continuation of Anglo-Saxon Christian values.

Pause the video, have a think and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back and well done if you knew the correct answer was B, strict adherence to Benedictine monasticism.

The construction of Durham Cathedral had significant economic and social implications for the surrounding region.

The project required substantial resources including labour, materials and funds which stimulated the local economy.

The cathedral continued to be a major centre of pilgrimage, attracting visitors from across England and beyond, which in turn boosted local trade and commerce.

The influx of pilgrims and the associated economic activity contributed to the growth and prosperity of Durham as a town.

Socially, the presence of the cathedral and its associated monastic community continued the profound impact of religion in Northumbria.

The Benedictine monks of Durham continued to play a crucial role in the intellectual and cultural life of the area, promoting education, scholarship and the arts.

Just as the powerhouse monastery of Wearmouth and Jarrow had done for Anglo-Saxon Northumbria, the Cathedral's library and Scriptorium became important centres for the production and preservation of manuscripts, contributing to the broader European cultural renaissance of the 12th century.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding, what economic impacts did Durham Cathedral have on the surrounding region? A, it increased trade through increasing the number of pilgrims travelling to Durham, B, it isolated the region from trade because of the Prince bishop's control of the border of Scotland.

C, it reduced trade because English merchants were replaced by Normans.

Pause the video, have a think and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back and well done if you knew the correct answer was A, it's increased trade through increasing the number of pilgrims travelling to Durham.

Okay, great, let's move on to task B, and I've got a statement here for you.

The main way that Normans controlled England was through changes to landholding.

What I want you to do is use the example of Durham Cathedral and your contextual knowledge to provide evidence to support this statement to alternative explanations.

And finally, a conclusion which explicitly gives your final judgement.

So hopefully you can see here this task is provoking you to think about both sides of the story before coming to your final judgement.

A good historian will not only know their own argument, but will also know the counter arguments that can be made.

This shows you have a complete knowledge of all the arguments that can be made for a specific topic, and you are showing that you can fairly consider all the facts and interpretations of those facts.

So that's why this task is asking you to provide evidence to support the statement, but also to give to alternative explanations.

And when you come to writing your conclusion, you'll also know that a good historian will present both sides of the argument before reaching a final judgement.

And that's what your conclusion is providing you additional space to do.

But just remember, a good judgement will use contextual knowledge to back up or support the judgement.

So make sure your conclusions do that, pause the video, have a go at the task, and then come right back.

Okay, great, welcome back and well done for having you go out that task.

Now obviously there's many ways that you could have written this answer, so compare your answer with what I have here.

So let's first at the paragraph which supports the statement, and as I read through, see if you can pick out all the pieces of evidence that are being used to support the statement.

Changes to landholding were extremely important.

William I first replaced all of the large Anglo-Saxon landholders with 200 Norman tenants in chief.

This was not just to reward loyal followers.

The tenants in chief had the responsibility of governing their lands to impose Norman control.

In areas like the Welsh marches, William appointed Norman Earls with enhanced powers to control their regions, such as powers to tax residents to raise troops to put down trouble.

In Durham, the position of Prince Bishop was introduced.

Before I read the rest of the paragraph, I just want you to note that we're bringing this back to Durham Cathedral, which is our historical site.

It would be very easy here to continue to describe the wider Norman changes and continuities that were happening in England, but we need to make sure we always marshal our answers back towards Durham Cathedral.

Okay, let's continue.

So in Durham, the position of Prince Bishop was introduced, the first of whom was William of St.

Calais.

The Prince Bishop was given similar powers to the Marcher Earls in order to keep control of Northumbria.

by replacing Anglo-Saxon large landholders with Normans, William I made sure that those with power in Norman England were loyal men who would make sure Norman control was imposed.

Okay, now let's look at an alternative explanation to the statement's given.

However, another way that Normans controlled England was through religion.

Mediaeval England was a very religious place, and people believed that God punished whole countries for their sins.

The Normans claimed that reforms were needed to the English church to stop sinful practises such as simony and clerical marriage.

William St.

Calais pushed these reforms at Durham by replacing the clergy with monks who were celibate, owned no property and lived strict religious lives.

This helped the Normans control England by convincing those who worshipped at Durham Cathedral that the Normans were devoted to religion and that God thought that they were the right rulers of England.

The locals also accepted the authority of the Bishop of Durham because he had custody of St.

Cuthbert's relics, an important saint for the Anglo-Saxons, and had built a cathedral to house these relics.

Okay, let's look at my second alternative explanation.

Finally, the Normans also achieved control through their construction of imposing buildings in prominence positions.

For instance, the Normans built over 800 Motte-and-bailey castles across England, including many in borderland areas like the Welsh marches.

These dominated the landscape, symbolising the power of the Norman King, and with their garrisons of soldiers, intimidating any potential rebels.

Durham Cathedral was built on a hill above Durham.

Again, you can see here that we're making sure to bring it back to Durham Cathedral and make that link.

Durham Cathedral was built on a hill above Durham dominating the landscape together with Durham Castle right alongside it.

Furthermore, given its size, it was built on similar proportions to St.

Peter's Basilica in Rome.

In a distinctive Romanist style, Durham would have intimidated Anglo-Saxons through the demonstration of the power of the Normans and their intention to stay in England.

Okay, now let's look at my example conclusion and see if you can spot how I introduce my judgement by linking and comparing it back to the rest of my answer.

And you'll see how I'm actually arguing with evidence why my judgement is the right one.

And we can see here that my conclusion paragraph starts with the great signpost, in conclusion, a great way to let the reader know the contents of the following paragraph.

In conclusion, whilst church reform and the construction of imposing new buildings were very important methods of control, in my view, they were not as important as changes to landholding because of the replacement of Anglo-Saxons with Normans in all positions of power, including those in the church.

The introduction of the position of Prince Bishop in Durham allowed for long-term changes to the governing structure of England, which affected everyone in Northumbria, not just those within the area controlled by the bishop.

Therefore, the best demonstration of Normans successfully controlling England was through the changes to landholding as this created a ruling class that were able to dominate all of England, including some of the most historically difficult areas to govern such as Northumbria.

So you can see the judgement is making those links with the previous paragraphs and the points made there, the alternative explanations.

But I'm saying here that judgement I've reached in support of the statement about landholding is superior to those because those had either a limited impact due to their geography or to being in the institution of the church, whereas landholding had more far reaching impacts because it replaced the entire ruling elites.

Okay, great, let's summarise today's lesson, Durham Cathedral and Continuity and Change in Norman England, Durham Cathedral was built in a Romanesque style, which was very different from traditional Anglo-Saxon architecture.

Although some elements of Anglo-Saxon design remain.

Durham Cathedral's Prince Bishop was an innovation that reflected other changes in who governed Norman England and the powers given to the king's representatives in England's borderlands.

Examples of continuity include the cathedral being constructed to house St Cuthbert's shrine and the preservation of the layout of a basilica.

The cathedral's monastic canon shows a change that reflects the sweeping church reforms the Normans introduced.

Well done on a brilliant lesson, and thank you for joining me as we delved into the change in continuity at Durham Cathedral and indeed Norman England.

Change in continuity is a key focus of history, and the Norman Conquest of England offers a great case study.

See you in the next lesson.