THE RISE OF THE NORMANS[THE WAR FOR ENGLAND]

PREVIOUSLY….• 5-6th C• Local Britons having problems with Picts, invite Anglo-Saxons

over to help• Anglo Saxons want to stay, Britons give them Kent• They want more – they take it• Britons flee to modern day Wales

• 6-8th C• Anglo-Saxon form kingdoms, civil wars over who is the

true King (or bretwalda)• 8th – 9th C• 786 Vikings begin to raid Britain and fight wars with the

ruling Anglo-Saxons

• THE GREAT HEATHEN ARMY of the Danish Vikings arrives in England in 865 AD

• Led by Ragnar & Ivar the Boneless takes over nearly all of England

SO WHAT HAPPENED WITH THOSE VIKINGS?

ALRED OF WESSEX

• King of Wessex (Anglo-Saxon) • Creates the burghal system to re-organize

military defense• BURGH: a mound of earth surrounded by a

ditch often with a palisade wall

ALFRED – THE GREAT

WHY DID HE THINK THISWOULD WORK?

• THE FYRD – What we would think of as conscription (the Draft)

• All able bodied English (Anglo-Saxons) were part of the fyrd, they had to provide their own weapons

• The fyrd was called upon in emergency situations

Alfred re-emphasizes the fyrd and turns them from a conscripted poorly trained commoners into a capable fighting force.

ALFRED THE GREAT

• Alfred and his army beat back the Vikings out of Wessex

• Treaty is agreed upon, and Vikings forced to give lands back to Anglo-Saxons but can stay in Danelaw

Does defeating an army and forcing them to take only ½ of a country that was yours to begin with make you great?

ALFRED’S REFORMS - RESULTS?

LATE 9TH CENTURY ENGLAND• Danelaw: Danish Viking

Kings

• Wessex: Led by Anglo-Saxon Kings (The English)

• Northumbria: Norwegian Viking kings.

**Vikings are not all one people there are different groups of them.

10TH C: SIGNIFICANT EVENTS• Guthrum (Danes) gets converted to

Christianity

• 910 – English def. Danish Vikings

• 954 – English def. Eric Bloodaxe & the Norwegian Vikings

BY 954 ALL THE VIKINGS ARE OUT OF ENGLAND or too Christian to fight us

ETHELRED THE UNREADY• King of England 978 –

1016 AD

• THE VIKINGS RETURN!

• But Ethelred thinks of a plan to send them home….

CNUT (CANUTE) THE GREAT • KING OF DENMARK• KING OF NORWAY

And thanks to Ethelred being the Unready and paying him $$$ to stay away…he shows up conquers England and becomes

THE KING OF ENGLAND…

IF YOUR KEEPING TRACK…CIVILIZATION/COUNTRY PERSON THEY CALLED ‘GREAT’Greece Alexander of MacedonEngland Alfred of WessexFrance Charlemagne Scandinavia Canute Byzantines Justinian I Eastern Romans ConstantineWestern Romans Pompey Persians Xerxes I & Darius I

VIKING EMPIRE OF CNUT

CNUT DIES---WHO TAKES THE EMPIRE?

• Cnut’s son wants to go home to Denmark and be King there…

• So the new King becomes the son of the previous king (Ethelred the Unready) his son is:

• EDWARD THE CONFESSOR

• Takes back much of England and then he dies too

WHO SUCCEEDS?

WHO THE HECK ARE THE NORMANS• Normandy is a region in coastal France, right

across the English channel from England

CONFLICT• RUMOUR: Edward chose William of Normandy to be the

heir, Edward dies without his true intentions being known.

• HAROLD (England) is crowned King

• HAROLD HADRADA (Norway): “OH HELL NOOOOOO!” And invades England…

BATTLE OF STAMFORD BRIDGE: English Harold defeats Norwegian Harold

NOT OVER YET…• The next day

William of Normandy lands in England

• Harold has to rush his army south to Hasting.

BATTLE OF HASTINGS• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLy1LskT6Y8

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8OPQ_28mdo

DÉJÀ VU? • WHO RULED

GREECE?• First Myceneans• Then Athens• Then Sparta• Then Athens• Then Sparta• Then Athens• Then Thebes• But in the end…

• WHO RULED ENGLAND?• First Britons• Then Anglo-Saxons• Then Vikings• Then Anglo-Saxons• Then Vikings• Then Anglo-Saxons• Then Vikings• But in the end…NORMANSMACEDONS

WILLIAM OF NORMANDY• More Famously known as WILLIAM THE

CONQUEROR

• Goes on to conquer England..

• HOW he did it. &• WHAT he did there.