Hello, welcome to history here at Oak National Academy.

I'm Mr. Newton, and thank you for joining me for this topic on Anglo-Saxon and Norman England.

I'll be your teacher for today and I'll guide you through the whole lesson.

All right, let's get started.

In this topic, we will be looking at the events of 1066 and the eventual invasion of the Normans.

Many historians consider this an important period of history because the Normans will transform England's society and how it is ruled.

And 1066 represents the last time that England is ever successfully invaded and conquered.

Over the next few lessons, we will be thinking about our big inquiry question.

Why did the Normans conquer England in 1066? This is the question we will use to investigate the immediate events that will lead up to the eventual and total conquest of England.

These events were triggered by the death of King Edward the Confessor who died without a heir to the throne.

By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to explain why there was a succession crisis in 1066.

Before we begin, there are a few key words we need to understand.

A claimant is a person who declares their belief that something belongs to them or that they have a right to it.

A succession crisis occurs when there is no clear heir to a position.

A mercenary is a soldier who fights for any country or group that pays them.

Legitimacy means that something can be proved to be right by law or according to customs. In Anglo-Saxon England an aethling was a prince of royal blood.

This lesson is split into two parts.

The first part we'll look at the Anglo-Saxon claimants to the throne before moving on to the rival claimants.

Right, let's start with the Anglo-Saxon claimants.

On the 5th of January, 1066, Edward the Confessor died.

Edward and his wife Edith, had no children, leaving no successor to his throne.

Have a look at the image.

It shows a detail from the Bayeux Tapestry showing the death of Edward the Confessor.

Edward is being prepared for burial, and the bishop in the centre of the image is performing the last rites, or final blessing.

The Latin words above them read "And here he died." Given Edward had no children, the urgent question was who would be his successor? Who would be the next monarch of England? The same day as Edward's funeral, Harold Godwinson was crowned the king of England, and we can see Harold on the left holding his axe.

Harold was a very powerful and wealthy Anglo-Saxon Earl when he became king of England.

However, there were other claimants to the throne.

This caused a succession crisis which made the year 1066 one of the most memorable years in English history.

There was a young Anglo-Saxon prince named Edgar, who had a claim to the throne.

There was William, the Duke of Normandy, who also had a claim to the English throne.

Then there was Hardrada, the Viking King of Norway, who also believed he had a right to claim the kingdom of England.

Ultimately, whoever was the strongest in battle would take the throne and claim the wealth of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom.

So let's take a closer look at Harold Godwinson and his claim to the English throne.

The story goes that Edward on his deathbed nominated his brother-in-law, Harold Godwinson to be king.

However, other sources suggest that Edward only entrusted Harold to protect the kingdom.

Have a look at the image on the left.

It's a detail from the Bayeux Tapestry showing King Edward on his deathbed, and you can see Queen Edith on the left crying.

The dying king is speaking to Harold.

Harold is kneeling in front of him.

It is here that Edward supposedly nominated Harold to be king.

Whatever the case, Harold got the backing of the Witan and many nobles across England.

On the left is an illustration of the Witan, with the king in the centre.

In Anglo-Saxon England, the successor to the throne was not always the eldest son.

Instead, in some circumstances, the Witan chose a king they believed was capable of governing the country through the specific challenges it may face in the coming years.

In 1066, there was a risk of invasion from other potential claimants to the throne.

Therefore, the Witan quickly nominated Harold, a strong military leader.

Harold's claim was primarily based on the power and influence he and his family had accumulated within the kingdom.

A close advisor to the king, he had influence with most of the nobility and the ability to raise an army with thousands of thegns, the warrior lords of Anglo-Saxon England.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

Who did the Witan choose to be king after the death of Edward the Confessor? Is it A, Duke William of Normandy, B, Edgar the Aethling, C, Harald Hardrada, D, Harold Godwinson? Pause the video, have a think and come right back.

Okay, welcome back.

Well done if you knew it was D, Harold Godwinson.

Why was there a threat of invasion in England in 1066? Is it A, because economic problems in England meant it could not afford mercenaries? B, because there were other claimants who did not accept Harold's legitimacy as king? Or C, because religious conflicts in England had weakened its defences? Pause the video, have a think and come right back.

Good welcome back, well done if you knew it was B, because there were other claimants who did not accept Harold's legitimacy as king.

Now let's take a closer look at Edgar Aethling and his claim to the English throne.

Having royal blood was also important in making a claim to the throne.

Although Harold was related to King Edward by marriage, the house of Godwin was not descended from kings.

But then there was Edgar the Aethling, the word aethling means young prince.

Edgar was King Edward's nephew and had once seemed Edward's choice for his heir.

He was the last male member of the house of Wessex, a descendant of Alfred the Great.

Many nobles had a lingering loyalty to the house, which created the nation of England.

However, Edgar was barely into his teens.

That made him an unrealistic choice for the potential troubles ahead.

The Witan chose the proven military experience of Harold instead.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

What I want you to do here is discuss what's made Edgar the Aethling a legitimate claimant to the throne of Anglo-Saxon England.

Pause here, have a quick discussion or perhaps you could write down your thoughts on a piece of paper and then come right back.

Okay, welcome back.

Hopefully he was able to have a very discussion or perhaps you jotted some thoughts down on a piece of paper.

Here are some things that you may have came up with.

Edgar had royal blood.

This would've given his claim to the English throne, some real legitimacy.

He was also related to King Edward by blood, he was his nephew.

Edward had once seemed to choose him as his heir, and he was named Aethling, which means prince of royal blood.

Okay, let's move on to task A.

What I want you to do here is complete the table below by describing the claim and then evaluating its strengths and weaknesses.

Some boxes have already been done for you.

So we're looking at the two Anglo-Saxon claimants, Harold and Edgar, and for Harold, you can see I've described what his claim is already.

So I've written, "Nominated by Edward on his deathbed; related to Edward by marriage and a proven military leader." This is a basic description of what his claim is to the throne.

So now you need to evaluate that claim and decide how strong or weak that claim is.

And for the second box, this time I want you to describe what the basic claim Edgar has to the throne.

And I've already evaluated that claim for you.

So I wrote, "Edgar has a strong claim in terms of his royal blood, but weak in practise because he was too young to be the military leader England needed in 1066 and therefore did not get the support of the Witan." So pause the video, have a go at the task, complete those two boxes, and then come right back.

Okay, excellent, welcome back.

You might have slightly different details to the one I have here, but hopefully the details out here ring true with you too.

So for Howard Godwinson, we'd already described his claim in the box, so we needed to evaluate how strong was his claim to the throne.

So you could have put, he had the support of the Witan and said Edward had nominated him, both proved his legitimacy, but no royal blood, only related by marriage.

So those are some of the pros and cons of Harold's claim.

Now let's look at Edgar.

We'd already evaluated his claim, so we just needed to describe what was his actual claim to the throne.

And that was he had royal blood, he was the nephew of King Edward.

Okay, let's now move on to the second part of the lesson.

Harold and Edgar weren't the only claimants to the throne.

There were some rival claimants beyond Anglo-Saxon England.

Let's take a look at some rival claimants to the throne of Anglo-Saxon England.

The Witan's focus was fixed on the potential actions of Duke William of Normandy.

We can see William on the left from the detail of the Bayeux Tapestry.

King Edward's mother was Norman and he had spent most of his life in Normandy.

And in 1051, Edward had proposed his cousin, William, as a potential heir, as he aimed to strengthen his connection with Normandy against the powerful house of Godwin.

In 1066 the Witan, and Harold, knew that William was not likely to give up his claim.

A few weeks after Harold's coronation, he discovered that William was building a fleet of ships to invade England.

Harold raised a fyrd, an army of part-time soldiers to defend the southern coast and waited.

The Witan and Harold had good reason to be concerned.

William was a formidable warrior who had asserted his control over northern France despite multiple attempts to overthrow him.

William also had other sources of legitimacy.

William claims that Harold had visited Normandy and made an oath to support William's claim to the throne.

Have a look at the image.

This is a detail from the Bayeux Tapestry showing Harold standing on the right swearing an oath to William, who's seated holding a sword on the left.

And we can see that Harold is making his oath while touching a casket containing holy relics.

Another source of legitimacy that William had was that he had convinced the Pope to support his claim as well.

This was important as it gave William religious legitimacy, the backing of God and the church would be of great support his cause.

William had lived his life surrounded by enemies.

He had survived by being ruthless and taking the lands of opponents.

England offered an opportunity to expand the power and security of his Norman Kingdom by taking the throne of the prosperous kingdom of England.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

Why did Duke William of Normandy believe he had a claim to the English throne? Select two correct answers.

Is it A, because Harold Godwinson had sworn an oath to support his claim.

B, because he was promised a throne by Edward the confessor.

C, because he was married to Matilda of Flanders, a country with strong trade links to England.

Or D, because his father had once nearly married the daughter of Cnut, the Viking King of England.

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

Okay, good, welcome back.

Well done if you knew it was A, because Harold Godwinson had sworn an oath to support his claim, and B, because he was promised the throne by Edward the Confessor.

Unbeknownst to Harold Godwinson, the immediate threat was not from William, but from his brother, Tostig Godwinson, who invaded northern England with an army of Vikings.

Tostig had been exiled from England and Harold did nothing to help him.

Angered by his exile, Tostig Godwinson befriended King Harald of Norway.

Harald had built a fearsome reputation as a mercenary fighting for the rulers of Russia and Constantinople.

He became the commander of an elite unit of the Byzantine army.

In 1047, he was made king of Norway and later became known as Harald Hardrada, the hard ruler.

In 1065, Hardrada was 50 years old when Tostig convinced him to invade England.

Tostig assured Hardrada that the Northumbrians would welcome the return of Viking rule.

Hardrada was a descendant of Cnut, the Viking king of England from 1016 to 1035, Cnut's son had promised that a future King of Norway could be the successor to the English throne.

With this technical claim to the throne and an army of 300 ships and up to 15,000 soldiers, Hardrada and Tostig invaded England with the hope of conquering the wealthy kingdom.

Harold Godwinson had been stationed on the southern coast awaiting a normal invasion.

Have a look at the map, we can imagine Harold waiting on the south coast and looking across the English channel with William preparing his army in northern France.

However, it was at this point when Harold got the unexpected news of a Norwegian invasion in northern England.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

Why was Harald Hardrada a claimant to the English throne? Select two correct answers.

Is it A, because Cnut's son had promised that a future king of Norway could be the successor.

B, because he was the descendant of Edward the Confessor who promised he could be the successor.

C, because he was the descendant of Cnut and became the last Viking mercenary D, because Tostig convinced him that Northern England would welcome his rule.

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

Okay, great, welcome back.

Well done if you knew the first correct answer was because Cnut's son had promised that a future king of Norway could be the successor a technical claim.

And then D, because Tostig had convinced him that Northern England would welcome his rule because England had that Viking connection, particularly in that northern area.

Okay, let's move into task B.

What I want you to do is complete the table below by describing the claim and then evaluating its strengths and weaknesses.

So you've previously done this in task A for Harold and Edgar, but now I want you to complete the full table for William and Hardrada.

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

Okay, great, welcome back.

Again, there's multiple details that you could have put here, and yours might look slightly different from mine, but hopefully you should see a lot of overlap.

So let's go through those answers.

So for Duke William of Normandy, his basic claim was Edward proposed him as a successor in 1051, the Pope supported him and he was Edward's cousin.

So those are the main points to William's claim.

So now let's evaluate the strength of that claim.

The Pope agreed that Edward's promise in 1051 proved William's legitimacy.

While Harold's oath breaking meant his claim was not legitimate, but William was not supported by the Witan, and Edward had nominated Harold on his deathbed rejecting William.

Okay, now let's look at Hardrada's claim.

Cnut's son, when King of England had promised the king of Norway could be a successor in England.

So this is obviously a point in history when there was a Viking king on the English throne and promises had been made to keep Viking kings on the throne, a future king of Norway could be successor in England.

Okay, now let's evaluate that claim.

A weak claim based on complex Viking deals from long ago.

Some in the Danelaw might support a Viking king, so that Danelaw area being the northern area of England, which had previously been invaded and settled by Danes, Vikings.

So some people there might welcome a return of a Viking king, but Hardrada had never been an heir of Edward's and was not the Witan's choice.

So in other words, things have moved on, too much water has passed under the bridge and there's now an Anglo-Saxon on the throne not a Viking.

Okay, excellent.

So hopefully we've built up a picture of the four claimants to the throne, what their claim is, and kind of made some basic judgements about the strengths and weaknesses of those claims. Okay, let's move on to the second part of task B.

What I want you to do is explain in two paragraphs why there was a succession crisis in 1066.

Your answer should include the following, as a minimum, Harold Godson, the Duke William of Normandy.

So use all of your knowledge from the lesson today to provide two detailed paragraphs explaining why there was a succession crisis in 1066.

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

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

"There was a succession crisis after the death of Edward the Confessor because Edward died without an heir and there were multiple claimants to the throne of the wealthy kingdom of England.

Harold Godwinson had claimed that Edward appointed him king from his deathbed.

Harold was a powerful earl who had been a close advisor to the king.

The Witan and many of England's nobles backed him as the legitimate successor to King Edward.

However, Harold's coronation the day after Edward's death did not settle the succession as other claimants refused to accept his legitimacy." Okay, that's the first paragraph.

Let's have a look at the second paragraph.

"However, Duke William of Normandy also believed he had a legitimate claim to the throne.

King Edward had proposed his cousin, William, as a potential heir in 1051.

William claimed that Harold had made an oath to support him: breaking this oath meant Harold had no legitimacy to be king.

The Pope was convinced by this and supported William's claim.

William was a formidable warrior who had asserted his control over northern France and was more than willing to claim England.

It was this threat of invasion that turned the succession after Edward to confessor death into a crisis for England." Okay, excellent, let's summarise today's lesson, claimants to the throne in 1066.

In January 1066, Harold Godwinson was crowned king of England by the Witan.

This was following Edward the Confessor's death, which had left unclear who would succeed him.

However, Harold was not the only claimant, Duke William of Normandy and Harald Hardrada believed they should be the king of England too.

There was also Edgar the Aethling, the closest living relative of Edward the Confessor.

Despite Harold being crowned King, England faced potential invasions by other claimants to the throne resulting in a succession crisis.

Well done on a brilliant lesson, and thank you for joining me for the beginning of our story into the epic events of 1066.

I hope you've learned a lot in this lesson.

I'll see you next time when we continue our inquiry into why the Normans conquered England in 1066.

See you in the next lesson.