Who should be king?

Who should be king? (Battle of Hastings)

The Normand Conquest, the begining

On the 5th of January 1066, Edward the Confessor the king of England died. He had no children, which meant he had no direct heir to the throne, but three men thought they should all be the new king of England, and all had good reasons too! They were:

• Harold Godwinson was the Earl of Wessex at the time, and this made him the most powerful nobleman in England and the only Englishman claiming the throne, except for a relative called Edgar who was only eight and was not seriously considered for the throne for obvious reasons.

• Harald Hadraada’s main claim was that Cnut’s son promised his father the throne and that he was a descendant of King Cnut, a former king of England. He also felt that he might get some support from Viking families in the North of England.

• William was Edward’s cousin and was promised the throne by him, and he had helped Edward in the past. William was Duke of Normandy.

  



1) Why did England need a new king?  
2) Why was there no direct heir to the throne?   
3) Who were the three men who had claimed to the English throne?  
4) What roles did the three men have in their countries? 
5) What is a ‘claimant’? 


http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/year7links/conquest_worksheets.shtml

Anglo-Saxons

The Anglo-Saxons arrived to Britain befor the 4th century, but they settled there int he 5th century. Seven were the kingdoms formed:

• Three founded by the Saxons: Essex, Sussex and Wessex in the south-east coast.
• Three founded by de Anglos: Marcia, Oriental Anglia and Northumbria in the center and north just until Adriano's wall. 
• One founded by the Jutes: Kent in the south-west.

In pairs click this link http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/anglo_saxons/ to learn more about Anglo-Saxons.

You have to:

• Answer the quiz Who were the Anglo-Saxons?
• Describe how an Anglo-Saxon village was (Video)
• Explain briefly their clothes and their jobs in Anglo-Saxons life.
• Who was Alfred the Great? Answer the quiz Alfred the Great.
• What happened to them and the Víkings?
• Let's Dig it up: The Anglo-Saxons!!

Gaul: from Visigoths to Franks

Visigoth king Euric (466-480) dominated an important part of the Gaul, setting its capital in Toulouse and he started to take the control of the Iberian Peninsula. When he was dead, his heir, Alaric II, lost all his father achievements: he wasn't a good strateg and the Franks started their expansion.
The Franks, a small group who was living in the north of the Gaul. Clovis, a Merovingian king, was the one who expanded his kingdom. It took more than twenty years of wars and batlles to eliminate his opponents in Gaul: the Soissons, the Alemans and the Visigoths.
In the middle of the 7th century, the nobility was worried for the power that the king had, so they decided to stop him. The Mayor of the Palace was the name that the man who assumed the govern functions. Two of the most important families who took that place were the Pippinids and the Carolingian.

• Look for more information about the Mayor of the Palace and write a breif text about it. Pay attention to the two main families. (minimum 15 lines)

The early Germanic kingdoms

Germanic were all those countries which lived between Rin and Danubi. Further than that point it was the unknown and confused Slavic land.
Germanics were the main character in the disintegration of the Roman Empire. Especially important was the event in 476 when Odoacer, a Germanic military chief, defeated the last Roman emperor, Romul Augustus.
All the Occidental part of the Roman Empire was divided into small Germanic kingdoms, despite there wasn't many population. So, the Germanic power wasn't caused for the number of soldiers and citizens they were, but it was the suitable substitute for the political and military structure of the empire defeated. Also the Germanics converted to Christianity.
Anyway, those kingdoms supported themselves in basic barbarian elements. One of the most important  was the ban, power that each king had to administrate, make laws and orders, for example. So, the Germanic kings had a huge power. However, that power wasn't enough. 

The Anglo-Saxons in Britain

The Middle Ages

The first one to use the concept “Middle Ages” was Cristobal Keller in 1688, but it’s difficult to define this historical period. Nowadays, there are still discussions about its chronological and spatial limits.

During the Renaissance, at the begging of 16^th century with the Tudor dynasty, the Middle Ages were seen as a dark and violent time. But, in the 18^th century that idea changed as, on one hand, the European nationalist ideals began to spread, and, one the other hand, the Romantic ideas succeeded all over Europe. In that time, the Middle Ages were considerate as the specific moment when the European nations were born.

The history of the Middle Ages is an European work as a concept. The main space that was studied by historians was Europe, and the peripheric lands were just analyzed if they had any contact with European kingdoms. But this idea, the Eurocentrism, doesn’t have to be seen as a scorn, but as study of a determinate civilisation. Actually, all the European kingdoms were located in a homogenous world, a specific cultural area named Christianity.

Chronologically, the Middle Ages are divided in two main periods: the Early Middle Ages (1066-1307) and the Late Middle Ages (1307-1485). 

After reading the post, The Middle Ages, do these activities:

1. Had the concept the Middle Ages meant always the same for the historians? Argue your answer.
2. What are we talking about when we say Christianity?
3. Have a look at the link Medieval Times and explain the main differences among the two periods in which the Middle Ages are divided.