Lesson video

Hello, welcome to History here at Oak National Academy.

My name's Mr. Newton, and I will be your teacher today, guiding you through the entire lesson.

Right, let's get started.

Over the next few lessons we will be thinking about our big inquiry question: How different was the English church by 1100? This is the question we will use to investigate the nature of Norman England and the church.

We know that the Normans had particular ideas on Christianity and how the church should operate.

Therefore, the Normans wanted to reform the English church and its monasteries.

But the question is how much change did the Normans introduce? By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to explain the changes brought about to English monasteries.

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

Liturgy are the prayers and rituals regularly carried out together by a religious community or religious group.

A monastery is a community of monks.

The term monastic and monasticism relates to monasteries too.

A constitution is a set of principles and legal decisions which people agree to follow.

Celibate is not having sexual relationships, usually for religious reasons.

And finally, order in this context means a group of monks or nuns who live together as a religious community, following a set of rules for that order.

So today's lesson is split into three parts.

We'll first look at the life of a monk, before moving onto the reform of English monasticism and impacts of the changes to monasticism.

Right, let's start the lesson with monastic life.

Most monks in 11th century Norman England lived according to the rules of St.

Benedict, and on the left, we can see a painting of St.

Benedict writing his rules.

Benedict was an Italian Christian monk who founded many communities of monks which followed a specific set of rules which was widely adopted.

The rules meant committing to a life based on poverty, chastity, obedience and stability.

Poverty meant no possessions.

Chastity meant giving up things that were based on pleasure.

This included sex.

Obedience was submitting to the authority of God and the monastery.

And stability meant staying in the monastic community.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

One Benedictine vowel was poverty.

What were the others? Select three correct answers.

A, chastity.

B, liturgy.

C, obedience.

D, stability.

Pause the video, select your three correct answers, and then come right back.

Okay.

Welcome back.

And well done if you knew the correct answers were A, chastity, C, obedience, D, stability.

Okay, let's continue.

So monastic life focused on worship and prayer.

Monks spent long periods chanting and singing the liturgy together.

Monks spent long periods chanting and singing the liturgy together.

The first prayers of the day, Matins, began at midnight.

The second prayers, Lauds, were at 3:00 AM, and the last prayers, Compline, were at 9:00 PM, with five church services throughout the rest of the day.

At other times of the day, monks were expected to be silent.

Monasteries developed a sort of sign language so monks could communicate what they needed from each other while eating together in the refractory, studying, or working together.

There were two ways of becoming a monk in Norman England.

Men could decide to become monks.

They were known as conversi, which meant those who have turned away from the world.

Or parents could decide to send a child to be a monk.

These children were called oblates, which means offerings.

One of the most important chroniclers of Norman England, Orderic Vitalis, was an oblate.

His Norman father sent him to be a monk when he was just 10 years old.

Monasteries used harsh discipline, and the experience was traumatising for young boys like Orderic.

When he was 52, he wrote that, "I have not seen my father since the time he drove me into exile like a hated stepson.

I often think of these things." Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

When was the first prayer of the day for a monk? A, 12:00 AM.

B, 3:00 AM.

C, 6:00 AM.

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, 12:00 AM.

Okay, great.

Let's move on to task A.

What I want you to do here is discuss how convincing you find this description of monastic life in Norman England.

And I want you to make sure in your discussions you use contextual knowledge to make your points.

Okay, so let's read the description of monastic life.

"The rule of Saint Benedict on poverty: Monks should not own anything.

They cannot call a book, paper, or even a pen their own.

Monks are permitted to have simple and practical clothes to protect them from the weather.

This will normally be a cloak and hood.

Monks are forbidden from complaining about the rough and itchy texture of their cloth.

There should be strict silence after Compline." So you've got a description there describing monastic life.

I want you to discuss how convincing this description is, and just make sure you can refer to the contextual knowledge, the background story and history that we've talked about so far to back up your points.

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

Okay, welcome back.

Hope you had some great discussions there, and you may have discussed the following.

You might have said that monks lived according to the rules of St.

Benedict, committing to a life based on poverty, chastity, obedience, and stability.

You might have said that a monk's life followed a strict structure of liturgy, for example, those prayers, Matins, Lauds and Compline.

And you might have said that monasteries developed sorts of sign language during silent periods.

Okay, great, so we've got some understanding now of the life of a monk.

Let's move onto the second part of this, and where we move on to the reform of English monasticism.

Anglo-Saxon monasteries had followed the rules of St.

Benedict for centuries, but since the 10th century, many had fallen into decline.

Repeated Viking attacks have not helped.

The image on the left is an example of the Anglo-Saxon Christian legacy.

It's a nativity scene from an eighth century Anglo-Saxon chest, and we can see the Three Wise Men presenting Baby Jesus with their gifts.

Another trend in Anglo-Saxon England was that ordinary people had turned to monasteries for help during troubled times, and as a result, monks were much more connected to their local communities.

St.

Benedict's rules were against this, saying that monasteries should be self-contained and avoid all dealings with the outside world.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

Why did Lanfranc want to reform monasteries in England? Select two correct answers.

A, he believed English monks were too connected to their communities.

B, he thought there was too much prayer, with monks praying several times a day and through the night.

C, he thought they had fallen into decline in comparison with monasteries in Normandy.

Pause the video, select your two correct answers, and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back.

And well done if you knew the correct answer was A, he believed English monks were too connected to their communities, and C, he thought that they had fallen into decline in comparison with monasteries in Normandy.

Okay, let's continue.

Lanfranc, seen in the mediaeval illustration on the left, loved and respected monastic life.

He had joined a monastery in Bec in Normandy In 1042.

He became an advisor to William of Normandy, who then made him abbot at St.

Stephen's at Caen in Normandy.

When Lanfranc became head of the English church in 1070, monasticism was at the centre of his reforms. However, nunneries did not seem to have been a focus for Lanfranc.

Monasticism provided Lanfranc with some immediate solutions for church reforms. For example, monks were celibate, and so one way to tackle the issue of clerical marriage was to remove married clergy and replace them with monks.

This is what William of St-Calais did with married church clerks at Durham, replacing them with monks from Jarrow Monastery in 1082, Lanfranc also appointed foreign monks as bishops.

For instance, the first four bishops of Rochester after the conquest were all monks from France.

Lanfranc himself was a monk bishop.

These celibate men could be trusted to push through reforms and could be expected to avoid simony, pluralism and nepotism.

Around 1077, Lanfranc issued his monastic constitutions.

These were regulations and guidelines for monastic life.

They included a new liturgy, instructions for how all the official positions in a monastery should be carried out, and guidance on a range of topics, such as how novices and new monks should be trained.

The constitutions were written for the monks at Canterbury Cathedral and the three abbeys in Canterbury over which Lanfranc had authority, but they were intended to be guidance for all English monasteries.

Lanfranc did accept that monasteries were not all the same and would do some things differently, but his main message was that they should all try as hard as they could to follow St.

Benedict's rules as closely as possible.

The fact that Lanfranc needed to write the monastic constitution suggests that monastic life had gone off track, as Lanfranc saw it.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

What reform to monasticism did Lanfranc introduce in 1077? A, a ban on celibacy.

B, a new Anglo-Saxon bishop.

C, a new set of constitutions.

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, a new set of constitutions.

Okay, great.

Let's move on to task B.

What I want you to do here is complete these sentence starters.

And you can see I've provided you with three sentence starters.

So I want you to use all your knowledge from the lesson so far to complete these sentences.

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

Okay, so there's many ways you could have completed those sentences, but check your answers with what I have here.

So for the first sentence starter: St.

Benedict's rules were against monks being too connected to their local communities.

Second sentence starter: Monasticism provided Lanfranc with some immediate solutions for church reforms, such as removing married clergy and replace them with monks who are celibate.

And finally, Lanfranc issued his monastic constitutions, which included new liturgy, instructions on the roles within a monastery, and guidance on the training of monks.

Okay, great.

Let's move on to the final part of the lesson: Impacts of the changes to monasticism.

There were 35 Benedictine monasteries in England in 1066.

According to some sources, this had increased to around 250 by 1135, with the number of monks increasing from around 1,000 to 5,000 over the same period.

"The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" for 1087 states of England, "The land was filled with monks living their lives after the rule of St.

Benedict." Normans sponsored a large increase in the number of monasteries.

New orders of monks, such as the Cluniacs, were brought over to England from Normandy, many by William's wealthy tenants-in-chief.

King William himself founded a new Abbey, later known as Battle Abbey, built by his orders on the site of the Battle of Hastings.

And you can see on the photo on the left, it shows the remains of Battle Abbey, and this was a Benedictine Abbey.

As well as new monasteries, the Normans rebuilt modest Anglo-Saxon monasteries, replacing them with jaw-dropping new abbeys and monastic cathedrals.

These cathedrals, in which an order of monks replaced the usual cathedral clergy, were unique to the English church.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

What was the name of the new order brought from Normandy to England? A, the Celibates.

B, the Cluniacs.

C, the Constitutionalists.

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, the Cluniacs.

Okay, so let's use this slide to summarise the main changes made to monasticism and the impacts that these changes had.

So we've already mentioned there was an increase in monks and monasteries, with "The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" stating, "The land was filled with monks living their lives after the rule of St.

Benedict," and there were also new orders, such as the Cluniacs, introduced to England.

Another change was that Anglo-Saxon influence was reduced in the monasteries.

Across England, Norman abbots took the place of Anglo-Saxons, so that by the end of William's reign, only three English abbots remained in office.

In 1075, there had been 13.

These new abbots were reformers and rebuilders, and did not always have much respect for Anglo-Saxon traditions and customs. Relics of some Anglo-Saxon and Celtic saints were burned to test whether they were real saints or not.

The Normans believed that real saints would not have burned.

And according to the Normans, the relics of Saint Creedon and Saint Wigstan at Evesham survived the test.

Another change was that there was a big transfer of wealth.

The Normans oversaw a massive transfer of wealth from English churches and monasteries to Normandy, while other monasteries were forced to sell their treasures to pay heavy guild taxes.

As landholders, monasteries were part of the feudal system too.

The Abbey at Peterborough, for example, had to provide 60 knights for military service.

Another change was the monks' separation from society.

The role of monasteries in English society changed as they adopted the stricter orders and monks began to cut themselves off again from the communities around them.

For instance, monks were no longer allowed to educate local children.

However, there was some resistance to the changes.

In 1083, English monks at Glastonbury resisted Lanfranc's changes to the liturgy.

This was unacceptable to their new Norman abbot, Tustin, who brought in soldiers to pressure his monks into following the reforms. The monks fled into the chapel.

The soldiers followed and fired arrows at them from the choir loft, killing at least two or three of the monks.

According to "The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle", "Blood came down from the altar onto the steps, and from the steps to the floor." Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

What were some impacts made by Norman monasticism? Select two correct answers.

A, Anglo-Saxon influence reduced.

B, monks separating from society.

C, new orders such as the Cluniacs.

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

Okay, welcome back.

And well done if you knew the correct answers were A, Anglo-Saxon influence reduced, B, monks separating from society.

Okay, let's move on to the final task, Task C.

What was important about the Norman changes brought about to English monasteries? So in today's lesson, you've dealt with many changes brought about in the monasteries, but you need to select important changes and say why they were important.

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

Okay, so there's many ways you could have answered this question, but compare your answer with what I have here.

Monasticism provided the Normans with a way to reform the English church and gain further control.

Normans sponsored a big increase in the number of monasteries and introduced new orders of monks, such as the Cluniacs.

Across England, Norman abbots took the place of Anglo-Saxons so that by the end of William's reign only three English abbots remained in office.

In 1075, there had been 13.

These new abbots could help Lanfranc enforce his monastic constitutions and reform the English church.

Lanfranc's monastic constitutions also changed the lives of monks in English monasteries by making sure they followed the rules of St.

Benedict much more closely.

Okay, great.

Let's summarise today's lesson: Norman reforms on English monasticism.

Monks lived according to the rules of St.

Benedict, committing to a life based on poverty, chastity, obedience and stability.

A monk's life followed a strict structure of liturgy.

Lanfranc issued his monastic constitutions and used monasticism to carry out church reforms, such as removing married clergy and replacing them with monks who were celibate.

Normans sponsored a large increase in the numbers of monasteries and introduced new orders of monks, such as the Cluniacs.

Across England, Norman abbots took the place of Anglo-Saxons so that by the end of William's reign, only three English abbots remained in office.

Well done on a brilliant lesson, and I hope you've learned a lot about monasticism and the changes made in England.

I'll see you next time, when we continue our inquiry.

See you next time.