New
New
Year 10
AQA
The Norman Church
I can discuss the extent to which the Church changed under the Normans.
New
New
Year 10
AQA
The Norman Church
I can discuss the extent to which the Church changed under the Normans.
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- The Normans changed many aspects of the English Church.
- Norman personnel were installed in senior Church positions.
- The English Church was brought in line with ideas of the Reform Papacy.
Keywords
Veneration - to show great respect and honour to something
Common misconception
The Norman conquest was a brutal military occupation which resulted in wholescale change of the English Church.
Whilst there were significant changes, the English Church retained its basic structure and liturgy.
Summary lessons can contain a lot of knowledge, confusing students with multiple competing conclusions. Provide students with historical interpretations of the events and task students with deciding which interpretation is more compelling, given all the contextual knowledge they now have.
Teacher tip
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
- Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on
Open Government Licence version 3.0
except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).Lesson video
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Starter quiz
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6 Questions
Q1.
Put these daily prayers of monks in order.
Q2.
What was the word for a child who is sent to be a monk in Anglo-Saxon and Norman England?
conversi
obligate
Q3.
The is the term for the prayers and rituals regularly carried out by a religious community.
Q4.
When did Lanfranc become head of the English Church?
1060
1080
1090
Q5.
How many Benedictine monasteries were in England by 1135?
25
35
350
Q6.
Why did English monks in Glastonbury get into trouble with their Norman abbot, Tustin?
They resisted changes Lanfranc wanted to make about how children became monks.
They resisted changes regarding following the rule of Saint Benedict.
Exit quiz
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6 Questions
Q1.
Lanfranc replaced Stigand as Archbishop of Canterbury in ...
1050.
1060.
1080.
Q2.
Why were synods introduced?
to give bishops greater control over how people worshipped
to give bishops greater control over how donations were used
to give bishops greater control over clerical land and assets
Q3.
What did Lanfranc try to enforce on the clergy?
simony
nepotism
pilgrimages
Q4.
The term for showing great respect and honour to something is .
Q5.
Religious buildings changed after 1100 by ...
increasing the number of schools in monasteries.
being built in the Anglo-Saxon style
Q6.
Match these changes to the reasons they came about.
This aligned the Church more closely with Norman rule.
William needed to reward the Church for its support for his invasion.
This was to remove corrupt practices.
This was to create a more disciplined clergy.
Additional material
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