Board: OCR | Unit: Y102 | Component: 1 (British Period Study)
About this option
Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest covers the last decades of the Anglo-Saxon state and the transformation of England following the Norman invasion. Students trace the political instability of the mid-eleventh century, the rival claims to the throne in 1066, the conquest itself, and the far-reaching changes in landholding, government, the Church, and culture that followed. The option requires sustained engagement with how profoundly — and how quickly — England was transformed by conquest.
Key themes
- Late Anglo-Saxon England: the kingdom under Æthelred, Cnut, and Edward the Confessor — political structures, the Church, and the great earldoms
- The succession crisis of 1066: the rival claims of Harold Godwinson, Harald Hardrada, and William of Normandy
- The conquest: the campaigns of 1066, Stamford Bridge, Hastings, and William’s consolidation of power
- The Norman settlement: the redistribution of land, the replacement of the English aristocracy, and the introduction of feudalism
- William I’s kingship: castle-building, the Domesday Survey, church reform, and the management of the Norman nobility
- The impact on the Church: the Normanisation of the episcopate, Lanfranc’s reforms, and the changing relationship between Crown and papacy
- William II and Henry I: the continuation and development of Norman rule to 1107
What the exam asks
Y102 is a period study. Questions require breadth across the full chronological range, assessing change and the ability to make comparisons across different phases of the period. Students are expected to demonstrate precise factual knowledge and to sustain arguments across the whole option.
Historiography
The Norman Conquest is one of the most debated events in English history:
- The nature of the conquest: catastrophe or transformation? The debate between those who emphasise the destruction of the Anglo-Saxon ruling class and those who point to continuities in law, administration, and local government
- Feudalism and the Norman settlement: did the Normans introduce a feudal system, or was pre-conquest England already moving in this direction? (Susan Reynolds’s challenge to the feudalism concept)
- The Domesday Book: administrative masterpiece or fiscal tool? The debates about William’s purpose and the survey’s reliability as a historical source
- Anglo-Saxon decline: how far was the late Anglo-Saxon state weakened by internal division, and how far was the conquest simply the result of bad luck at Hastings?
Interpretations pack — coming September 2026
A teaching pack for this option is in development, covering all core historiographical debates. It will include named historians with argument summaries, paired comparison tasks built to OCR mark scheme logic, and provenance analysis prompts — all in a downloadable PDF.
£9.99 per pack · Available September 2026
