If this is your course, you are studying how a powerful Anglo-Saxon kingdom faced repeated succession disputes, how William of Normandy conquered England, and how Norman rulers secured and reshaped the kingdom by 1107.
The course has two connected but differently assessed parts. The period study follows Anglo-Saxon government, the crisis of 1066, conquest and William I’s rule. The enquiry follows William II Rufus and the opening years of Henry I through four contemporary sources.
First, check that this is your course
- Cambridge OCR A Level History A, H505;
- Unit Group 1: British period study and enquiry;
- Unit Y102/01;
- Period study: Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest, 1035-1087;
- Enquiry topic: Norman England, 1087-1107.
This is not OCR Y101, which studies Alfred and the making of England from 871 to 1016. Y102 begins after Cnut’s death and continues through the Norman Conquest to the settlement between Henry I and the Church in 1107.
Your course in one view
Period study, 1035-1087
- Anglo-Saxon England, 1035-1066.
- The succession crisis and conquest of 1066.
- William I establishes control, 1066-1087.
- William I’s government and administration.
Enquiry, 1087-1107
- William II Rufus secures and governs England.
- William II and the Church.
- Rufus’s death and Henry I’s settlement to 1107.
The central story is not that a primitive kingdom was replaced by a modern one. Late Anglo-Saxon England already had strong royal government. Norman rulers reused much of that machinery while transforming landholding, lordship, Church leadership, military power and England’s relationship with continental Europe.
The starting world: England in 1035
Cnut had ruled England as part of a wider North Sea empire including Denmark and Norway. His government worked through English institutions and powerful regional earls. When he died in 1035, rival heirs and absent claimants made succession uncertain.
England was divided into shires and hundreds. Royal writs carried orders; local courts administered law; coinage was centrally regulated; and taxation such as the geld could raise large sums. Earls governed major regions, while thegns held land and served kings and lords. Ceorls were free people of varied wealth, and slavery remained part of society.
Kingship was hereditary but not governed by automatic primogeniture. Royal descent, designation, election by leading political figures, consecration and the ability to rule all mattered. This helps explain the accessions of 1035-1042 and the much greater crisis of 1066.
Starting-world check
- Why did Cnut’s death create uncertainty?
- Which institutions made English kingship powerful?
- Why could earls both support and constrain a king?
- Why was succession not automatic?
Essential vocabulary
- Witan: a modern name for assemblies of leading churchmen and nobles who advised the king and participated in major political decisions.
- Earl: a great regional lord with military, judicial and political responsibilities.
- Thegn: a landholding retainer owing loyalty and service to a king or lord.
- Ceorl: a free person below the rank of thegn; status and wealth varied greatly.
- Geld: a royal land tax inherited from responses to Viking warfare.
- Housecarl: a professional armed retainer, especially associated with royal and aristocratic households.
- Shire: a major local-government district administered through royal and local officers.
- Hundred: a smaller administrative and judicial division within a shire.
- Claimant: someone asserting a right to a throne or inheritance.
- Aetheling: a prince considered eligible for Anglo-Saxon kingship through royal descent.
- Fealty: a sworn obligation of loyalty.
- Tenure: the conditions on which land was held.
- Castle: a fortified lordly centre used for defence, administration and control.
- Investiture: the formal granting of the symbols and authority of ecclesiastical office.
1. Anglo-Saxon England, 1035-1066
From Cnut’s sons to Edward
Harold Harefoot became effective ruler while his half-brother Harthacnut remained in Denmark. Emma, widow of Cnut and mother of Harthacnut, defended her family’s interests. Political leaders reached practical settlements because no claimant could simply rely on birth.
Harold ruled as king from 1037 until 1040. Harthacnut then returned, but his heavy taxation and short reign brought tension. His sudden death in 1042 opened the way for Edward, son of Aethelred and Emma, who had spent many years in Normandy.
Edward was elected and crowned in 1043. He needed cooperation from the established earls, especially Godwin of Wessex, Leofric of Mercia and Siward of Northumbria. This did not make Edward powerless. Over time he built his household, appointed churchmen and used rivalry among leading families.
Edward, the Godwins and government
Godwin’s family became exceptionally powerful. Edward married Godwin’s daughter Edith, and Godwin’s sons gained earldoms. Conflict emerged over appointments, foreign favourites and the violent events at Dover involving Count Eustace of Boulogne.
In 1051 Edward secured the Godwins’ exile, showing royal authority and elite support. They returned with armed force in 1052, and the king restored them rather than risk civil war. The episode demonstrates mutual dependence: the monarchy was strong institutionally, but a great family with regional support could not be ignored.
After Godwin’s death, Harold Godwinson became Earl of Wessex and the kingdom’s leading military figure. He campaigned successfully in Wales. Northumbria remained difficult: rebellion against Harold’s brother Tostig in 1065 led to Tostig’s exile and damaged Godwin family unity.
Edward had no child. Later sources disagree about promises and designations involving William of Normandy and Harold. The surviving evidence should not be forced into one certain succession plan.
Knowledge check
- Why did Harold Harefoot become ruler despite Harthacnut’s claim?
- How did Edward establish his authority after 1042?
- What does the crisis of 1051-1052 reveal about kingship?
- Why did Harold become so powerful?
- Why was Edward’s succession unresolved?
2. The succession crisis and conquest of 1066
Edward died in January 1066. Harold Godwinson was chosen and crowned quickly. His strength rested on political leadership, election by the leading English assembly and immediate control of the kingdom.
William of Normandy claimed Edward had promised him the throne and that Harold had sworn to support him. These claims were politically useful but survive mainly through Norman accounts written after victory. Harald Hardrada claimed through earlier Scandinavian agreements and allied with the exiled Tostig. Edgar Aetheling had royal blood but was young and lacked a strong following.
William assembled ships, horses, soldiers and political support. Harold guarded the southern coast, but an invasion from Norway arrived first. Hardrada and Tostig defeated the northern earls at Fulford. Harold marched rapidly north and defeated them at Stamford Bridge on 25 September.
William landed at Pevensey while Harold’s army recovered. Harold marched south. At Hastings on 14 October, English infantry formed a shield wall on high ground while Norman forces combined archers, infantry and cavalry. The battle lasted many hours. Norman discipline and adaptation mattered, but so did Harold’s death, the strain of the northern campaign and the uncertainty of battle.
Hastings destroyed much of England’s senior leadership but did not give William automatic control. London and other centres still had to submit, and Edgar briefly received support as king. William was crowned on Christmas Day 1066.
Knowledge check
- What supported Harold’s claim?
- Why must William’s claim be treated cautiously?
- How did the Norwegian invasion affect events?
- Which factors explain William’s victory at Hastings?
- Why was the conquest not complete after the battle?
3. William I establishes control, 1066-1087
William initially retained parts of English government and some English officeholders. He needed taxation, law and local administration to function. He also rewarded followers with land and built castles at strategic centres.
Resistance encouraged harsher transformation. Exeter submitted after resistance in 1068. Revolts in the north, support for Edgar and Danish intervention produced William’s devastating northern campaign of 1069-1070. The Harrying caused destruction, displacement and famine. Its exact death toll cannot be known, but the human cost was severe.
Resistance associated with Hereward continued around Ely until 1071. William also dealt with Wales and Scotland, while Malcolm III’s support for Edgar made the northern frontier important. The Revolt of the Earls in 1075 showed that Norman and Breton lords could oppose William too.
Confiscation and redistribution transformed the elite. By 1086, most great landholding was in Norman hands. Castles allowed relatively small forces to dominate routes and settlements, but they also served as lordly homes, courts and administrative centres.
William ruled both England and Normandy. Cross-Channel lordship gave nobles opportunities but divided loyalties. His eldest son Robert rebelled in Normandy, showing that conquest did not remove dynastic conflict.
Knowledge check
- Why did William initially preserve English institutions?
- How did resistance change his policy?
- What were the purposes of castles?
- How did land redistribution transform power?
- Why did cross-Channel rule create difficulty?
4. William I’s government and administration
Norman rule combined continuity and change. Shires, hundreds, writs, taxation and royal coinage continued. Sheriffs became especially important royal agents. The king used established structures more intensively while placing trusted Normans in office.
Land was held within a hierarchy of obligations, but England was not suddenly given one neat, complete feudal system. Tenants-in-chief held directly from the king; they granted land to others and owed service. Knights supported military power, while older obligations such as the fyrd still mattered.
William replaced most English bishops and abbots with continental churchmen. Lanfranc became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1070. Church councils, new cathedrals and monasteries, claims of Canterbury’s primacy and closer contact with reform movements changed ecclesiastical life. The Crown still expected bishops to serve royal government.
Domesday Book resulted from the survey ordered in 1085 and completed in 1086. Commissioners recorded landholders, resources, values and disputes. It helped clarify rights and royal claims, supported taxation and demonstrated the reach of government. It was not a complete population census.
For towns and rural communities, conquest brought uneven experiences. New lords, castles, forest law, rents and building projects could be disruptive. English language and local custom persisted, while Latin and Norman French gained greater importance in Church, court and lordship.
Knowledge check
- Which institutions continued after 1066?
- Why is a simple feudal-system description misleading?
- How did Church reform and royal control interact?
- What purposes did Domesday serve?
- Why did the conquest affect communities unevenly?
You can pause here. If you can connect late Anglo-Saxon government, contested succession, military conquest, resistance and institutional change, you have built the complete period-study foundation.
5. William II Rufus secures and governs England
William I left Normandy to Robert Curthose, while William Rufus crossed quickly to England and was crowned in 1087 with Lanfranc’s support. Many nobles held land on both sides of the Channel and preferred one ruler. Odo of Bayeux led rebellion in 1088 in favour of Robert.
Rufus appealed for English support and promised good law. He defeated rebel strongholds at Tonbridge, Pevensey and Rochester. Selective leniency helped restore loyalty, although confiscation punished leading opponents. His success depended on action, royal resources and divisions among rebels.
Further threats included Robert de Mowbray’s revolt in 1095 and conflict over Normandy. Rufus campaigned in the north, dealt with Malcolm III of Scotland and extended influence in Wales through marcher lordship and royal intervention. He used castles, mercenaries, patronage, taxation and negotiated submission.
Ranulf Flambard became closely associated with royal administration and revenue. Chroniclers condemned his exactions, but their moral language needs testing. Rufus’s government developed existing royal machinery and raised substantial resources for war and cross-Channel ambition.
Knowledge check
- Why did William I’s inheritance create instability?
- How did Rufus defeat the 1088 rebellion?
- Why were English supporters important?
- How did Rufus control nobles and frontiers?
- Why must evidence about Flambard be tested carefully?
6. William II and the Church
Lanfranc’s death in 1089 removed an influential mediator. Rufus delayed appointments to vacant sees and abbeys and took their revenues. Church writers presented this as greed and impiety. Financial exploitation was real, but bishops also remained central to royal administration.
During a serious illness in 1093, Rufus appointed Anselm as Archbishop of Canterbury. Anselm was a respected theologian and supporter of Church reform. The relationship soon deteriorated over property, money, reform, papal allegiance and the limits of royal authority.
The western Church faced rival popes. Rufus initially refused to recognise Urban II without deciding the issue himself. At Rockingham in 1095, Anselm sought recognition of Urban, while bishops and nobles balanced loyalty to king and archbishop. A compromise recognised Urban but did not settle the relationship.
Anselm left England in 1097 after further conflict. Source questions may present Rufus as uniquely corrupt or Anselm as purely principled. Strong evaluation uses context: authorship, Church interests, later knowledge and genre affect emphasis, but they do not make a source worthless.
Enquiry check
- Why did vacant offices benefit Rufus financially?
- Why were bishops important beyond religion?
- Which issues divided Rufus and Anselm?
- Why did the papal dispute matter?
- How should hostile clerical evidence be evaluated?
7. Rufus’s death and Henry I to 1107
Rufus died from an arrow while hunting in the New Forest on 2 August 1100. Whether accident or murder cannot be proved. Henry acted immediately: he secured the treasury and was crowned before Robert returned from crusade.
Henry’s Coronation Charter promised to end abuses and restore good law. It helped win support, but a promise is not proof of complete reform. He recalled Anselm, imprisoned Flambard and married Edith, who adopted the name Matilda. Her descent from the old English royal family strengthened legitimacy.
Robert invaded in 1101. Nobles divided, but negotiation produced the Treaty of Alton: Robert recognised Henry in return for a pension and other concessions. Conflict continued because cross-Channel lordships and Robert’s Normandy remained sources of instability.
Henry defeated Robert at Tinchebray in 1106 and took control of Normandy. Robert was imprisoned. This reunited England and Normandy under one ruler but still required Henry to manage aristocrats, officials and local power.
Henry and Anselm disputed lay investiture and homage. The settlement of 1107 allowed the king to receive homage from bishops while abandoning the direct presentation of ring and staff. Both royal influence and the Church’s spiritual claims were preserved through compromise.
Enquiry check
- How did Henry exploit Rufus’s death?
- How did the charter and marriage strengthen him?
- Why did the 1101 invasion end in negotiation?
- What changed after Tinchebray?
- Why was the 1107 agreement a compromise?
The whole story in ten anchor dates
- 1035: Cnut dies and succession becomes contested.
- 1042-1043: Edward succeeds Harthacnut and is crowned.
- 1051-1052: Edward exiles the Godwins, who then force their restoration.
- 1066: Edward dies; Harold defeats Hardrada but loses to William at Hastings.
- 1069-1070: northern rebellion and Danish intervention lead to the Harrying.
- 1071: resistance around Ely is defeated and Norman control deepens.
- 1086: the Domesday survey records land, resources and claims.
- 1088: Rufus defeats a major baronial rebellion.
- 1100-1101: Rufus dies; Henry takes the throne and survives Robert’s invasion.
- 1106-1107: Tinchebray secures Normandy and the investiture compromise settles the Church dispute.
What your OCR examination asks you to do
Y102 is a written paper lasting 1 hour 30 minutes and worth 50 marks, or 25 percent of the A Level.
- Section A: Norman England, 1087-1107. Answer one compulsory 30-mark source question. Assess how far four contemporary sources, used in their historical context, support a stated view.
- Section B: Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest, 1035-1087. Answer one 20-mark essay from a choice of two.
For Section A, establish what each source claims. Test it with exact contextual knowledge, then use author, date, audience, purpose and genre to explain what it can reveal. Do not dismiss a chronicler merely as biased. Compare the whole set and reach an overall judgement about the stated view.
For Section B, answer the wording and period set. Organise your explanation around factors, developments or criteria. Use precise evidence, compare importance and show change and continuity before reaching a supported judgement.
Practice
Period-study essay plan
How far was the strength of late Anglo-Saxon government the main reason William I established control of England?
Consider inherited taxation and local administration, military victory, castles, confiscation, the defeat of resistance, Church appointments and divisions among William’s opponents. Decide whether inherited strength explains control better than conquest and coercion.
Source-enquiry routine
For a source about William Rufus and the Church:
- Identify its claim about money, appointments, reform, papal authority or character.
- Place it in the exact stage of the Rufus-Anselm relationship.
- Test the claim with contextual knowledge.
- Use provenance to explain emphasis and evidential value.
- Compare it with the other three sources and judge how far the set supports the stated view.
Your next action
Retell the course using the ten anchor dates. Then explain one connection in each pair: strong government and contested succession; Stamford Bridge and Hastings; resistance and land confiscation; castles and local control; Church reform and royal authority; cross-Channel lordship and rebellion; Rufus’s death and Henry’s rapid accession.
If the similar names become confusing, return to the seven-part map and keep a simple ruler line beside it: Cnut’s sons, Edward, Harold, William I, William II Rufus, Henry I. Attach each dispute to the ruler and problem it belongs to. The goal is not a list of kings: it is an explanation of how succession, conquest and government reshaped one another.
