What Was the Norman Conquest? KS3 History Explained

The Norman Conquest was the invasion and takeover of England by William, Duke of Normandy, following his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066. It ended Anglo-Saxon rule, replaced the English nobility with French-speaking Normans, and transformed the English language, law, and architecture in ways still visible today.

Why did the Norman Conquest happen?

The immediate cause was a succession crisis. When the English king Edward the Confessor died in January 1066 without leaving a clear heir, three men claimed the throne of England.

Claimant | Claim | Why they believed they had a right
Harold Godwinson | Earl of Wessex, the most powerful English noble | Claimed Edward had named him king on his deathbed; supported by the English council (Witan)
William, Duke of Normandy | Edward's cousin | Claimed Edward had promised him the throne in 1051; claimed Harold had sworn an oath to support his claim
Harald Hardrada of Norway | King of Norway | Based his claim on an old treaty between Norway and Denmark giving Norway rights over England

Harold Godwinson was crowned king on the day of Edward's funeral — but both William and Harald Hardrada immediately prepared to invade.

What happened in 1066?

The year 1066 saw three major battles in quick succession.

The Battle of Gate Fulford (20 September 1066)

Harald Hardrada of Norway, allied with Harold Godwinson's own brother Tostig, defeated an English army at Gate Fulford near York. Northern England was in Norwegian hands.

The Battle of Stamford Bridge (25 September 1066)

King Harold Godwinson marched his army 185 miles north in just four days — a remarkable feat of logistics and determination. He surprised the Norwegian forces at Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire. Harald Hardrada was killed; the Norwegian threat was ended. Harold had won a decisive victory — but his army was exhausted.

The Battle of Hastings (14 October 1066)

Three days after Stamford Bridge, Harold received news that William had landed at Pevensey in Sussex on 28 September with around 7,000 to 12,000 men. Harold marched his army south — roughly 250 miles in eight days — and met William's forces near Hastings.

The battle lasted most of the day. Harold's Anglo-Saxon forces fought on foot in a defensive shield-wall on a ridge called Senlac Hill. William used mounted knights and archers. Early Norman cavalry charges were repulsed. According to The National Archives and medieval chroniclers including the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a turning point came when a section of Harold's forces broke ranks to chase what appeared to be a retreating Norman force — whether the retreat was feigned or real is debated by historians. Harold was killed — tradition holds he was struck by an arrow, though the Bayeux Tapestry's depiction is ambiguous. Without their king, the English army collapsed.

William was crowned King of England on 25 December 1066 at Westminster Abbey.

What changed after the Norman Conquest?

The Conquest was not simply a change of king. It was a complete replacement of the ruling class.

Land redistribution

William rewarded his Norman barons and knights with land seized from the English aristocracy. By 1086, according to the Domesday Book, the top 200 Norman landholders owned roughly half of England's assessed value. English lords who had fought at Hastings lost everything; those who submitted were often permitted to buy back their lands at a high price.

The feudal system

William organised England along feudal lines. All land ultimately belonged to the king. Barons held land in exchange for providing knights; knights held land in exchange for military service; peasants (villeins) worked the land in exchange for protection. This hierarchy — known as the feudal pyramid — shaped English society for centuries.

Castles

William built castles across England at a speed and scale England had not seen before. Castles served a dual purpose: as military strongholds to control the population and as symbols of Norman power. The Tower of London, begun in 1066–67, is the most famous example. By 1100 there were hundreds of Norman castles across England, from motte-and-bailey earthwork forts to stone keeps.

Language

The Norman Conquest transformed the English language. For roughly 300 years, the ruling class in England spoke Norman French, while the common people spoke Old English. This is why English has so many pairs of words where one is Old English and one is French: cow (Old English) and beef (French); pig (Old English) and pork (French); house (Old English) and mansion (French). This linguistic layering is still visible in modern English today.

The Church

William replaced most Anglo-Saxon bishops and abbots with Normans. He appointed Lanfranc, a famous scholar from northern France, as Archbishop of Canterbury. Norman bishops launched a major programme of church building — the great Norman cathedrals at Durham, Norwich, Winchester, and elsewhere were built in the decades following 1066.

What was the Domesday Book?

In 1086 William commissioned a comprehensive survey of England to record who owned what — land, livestock, and taxable resources. The survey was recorded in two volumes now kept at The National Archives at Kew. The Domesday Book (the name, recorded from the 12th century, implies a judgment as final as Doomsday) tells historians an enormous amount about the structure of Norman England: which lands had changed hands since 1066, how much they were worth, and how they were worked.

Crucially, the Domesday Book shows the scale of the dispossession: in almost every entry, a Norman lord had replaced an English one since the Conquest.

Why does the Norman Conquest still matter?

At KS3 and beyond, historians argue the Norman Conquest was one of the most significant turning points in English history because:

It ended Anglo-Saxon England and connected England more closely to continental Europe.

The feudal system it introduced shaped land ownership and social hierarchy for centuries.

The English language as we know it today emerged from the mixing of Old English and Norman French.

English law, including the common law tradition, developed in the Norman and Angevin periods that followed.

Frequently asked questions

Who won the Battle of Hastings in 1066?

William, Duke of Normandy, won the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066. His forces defeated the Anglo-Saxon army led by King Harold Godwinson, who was killed during the battle. William was subsequently crowned King of England on 25 December 1066.

Why was Harold Godwinson at a disadvantage at Hastings?

Harold's army was exhausted from marching approximately 250 miles south after defeating the Norwegians at Stamford Bridge just over two weeks earlier. Many historians argue he should have waited longer before engaging William, giving his forces time to rest and gather fresh reinforcements. His decision to fight quickly remains one of the key debates in the history of 1066.

What was the Domesday Book and why was it created?

The Domesday Book was a survey of England ordered by William I in 1086. It recorded who owned land, what that land was worth, and what resources (livestock, mills, fishponds) it contained. William needed this information to assess taxation and to establish legal ownership of the lands redistributed after the Conquest. The two original volumes are held at The National Archives in Kew.

How did the Norman Conquest change the English language?

The Norman Conquest introduced Norman French as the language of the ruling class, the law courts, and the Church. For several centuries, English society was effectively bilingual. When the two languages eventually merged, English gained thousands of French-origin words alongside its Old English base — which is why modern English has so many synonyms with subtly different connotations, such as "freedom" (Old English) and "liberty" (French), or "ask" (Old English) and "enquire" (French).

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