H3H03 MEDIEVAL ENGLAND 1066-1399 TUTORIAL TOPICS
01 THE NORMAN CONQUEST.
a) Who are the principal historians of the Conquest ? How have
historical opinions developed since the Seventeenth century ?
What are the principal concerns of the current generation of
Conquest historians ? How are their opinions divided ?
b) What are the main contemporary sources for the Conquest ? How
reliable are they ?
c) Who were the claimants to the English throne in 1066 ? How did
they derive their claims, and how did they pursue them ?
d) What is meant by the term feudalism ? What is the significance of
the following: (a) the fief (b) the tenant in chief (c) the
servitium debitum (d) commendation (e) knight service (f) scutage
?
e) Are we justified in speaking of a Feudal Settlement of England
between 1066 and 1086 ? What are the principal arguments for and
against?
f) What changes did William make in the government of England ?
What is the significance of the writ, the scriptorium, the royal
household, the Curia Regis, the sheriff, the justiciar ?
g) What information was recorded in Domesday Book, and what was its
purpose ? What can historians learn from the Domesday Inquest ?
h) What reforms did William and Lanfranc make in the English church
? What was the significance of their policy on the separation of
Church and State courts ?
i) Did the Norman Conquest cause a break in the continuity of
English history ? Analyse the arguments for and against.
Using the relevant volume of ENGLISH HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS find, read
and annotate the following documents:
a) The Anglo Saxon Chronicle account of the invasion of 1066.
b) William of Poitiers on the deeds of William the Conqueror.
c) Writ of Edward the Confessor to Tofi 1061 (no 3b
d) Writ of William I enquiring into sheriffs (1077) (no 38)
e) Domesday Book Huntingdon (no 205)