8. William of Normandy

• usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes as William the Bastard,[2][a] was the first Norman King of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. Descended from Viking raiders, he had been Duke of Normandy since 1035 under the title of William II. After a long struggle to establish his power, by 1060 his hold on Normandy was secure, and he launched the Norman conquest of England in 1066. The rest of his life was marked by struggles to consolidate his hold over England and his continental lands and by difficulties with his eldest son.

• William was the son of the unmarried Robert I, Duke of Normandy by his mistress Herleva.

• King Edward the Confessor dies childness in January; there are two candidates – Duke William of Normandy and Harold Godwinson, the son of the lord of Wessex

• William’s army lands on the south coast; William defeats Harold at the Battle of Hastings; William the Conqueror is crowned on Christmas Day as king of England, in Westminster Abbey

• In order to control his new kingdom, William gave lands to his followers and built castles throughout the land to command military strongpoints. Other changes included the introduction of Norman French as the language of the noble elite, the court and government, and changes in the composition of the upper classes, as William enfeoffed lands to be held directly of the king. More slowly the conquest eventually changed the agricultural classes and village life: the main immediate change appears to have been the formal elimination of slavery, which may or may not have been linked to the invasion. There was little change in the structure of government, with the new Norman administrators taking over many of the forms of Anglo-Saxon government.

9. Black death

• The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350

• The Black Death is thought to have started in China or central Asia,[3] before spreading west. The plague then travelled along the Silk Road and reached the Crimea by 1346. From there, it was probably carried by Oriental rat fleas living on the black rats that were regular passengers on merchant ships.

• Spreading throughout the Mediterranean and Europe, the Black Death is estimated to have killed 30–60 percent of Europe's population.[4] All in all, the plague reduced the world population from an estimated 450 million to between 350 and 375 million in the 14th century.

• The aftermath of the plague created a series of religious, social and economic upheavals which had profound effects on the course of European history. It took 150 years for Europe's population to recover. The plague reoccurred occasionally in Europe until the 19th century.

10. 1337-1453 The Hundred Years’ war

• The Hundred Years' War was fought between England and France over a period of more than a hundred years, to be exact from 1337 - 1453.

• Purposes: The Hundred Years' War was a series of conflicts waged from 1337 to 1453 between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of France and their various allies for control of the French throne. It was the result of a dynastic disagreement dating back to William the Conqueror who became King of England in 1066, while remaining Duke of Normandy. As dukes of Normandy, the English kings owed homage to the King of France. In 1337 Edward III of England refused to pay homage to Philip VI of France, leading the French king to confiscate Edward's lands in Aquitaine.

• Edward responded by declaring that he, not Philip, was the rightful king of France - a claim dating to 1328 when Charles IV of France had died without a male heir. A claim for the succession had been made for Edward through the right of his mother Isabella, daughter of Philip IV. Instead, the son of Philip IV’s younger brother, Charles of Valois, had been made king. The question of legal succession to the French crown was central to the war over generations of English and French claimants.

• What Started the War? In 1337, French king Philip VI confiscated Guyenne, an area in southwest France that belonged to the English king Edward III.

• Edward III was King of England from 1327 until 1377. People also called him Edward of Windsor

• The English longbow, also called the Welsh longbow, is a powerful type of medieval longbow (a tall bow for archery) about 6 ft (1.83 m) long used by the English and Welsh for hunting and as a weapon in medieval warfare. English use of longbows was effective against the French during the Hundred Years' War, particularly at the start of the war in the battles of Crécy (1346) and Poitiers (1356), and most famously at the Battle of Agincourt (1415). They became less successful after this, with longbowmen taking casualties at the Battle of Verneuil (1424), and being completely routed at the Battle of Patay (1429) when they were charged before they had set up their defensive position

• Battle of Agincourt — October 25, 1415: The English against the French. The English, led by King Henry V, won big.

• Joan was also called The Maid of Orléans, or, if you are French, Sainte Jeanne d'Arc or La Pucelle (pucelle = maid). Joan was a very courageous young woman. She was a simple peasant girl and a strong believer. More to the point, she claimed that she was in tune with some of the Saints because they spoke to her. According to herself, and well ahead of her age group, Joan started hearing voices when she was only thirteen years old. The voices, who revealed themselves as St. Michael (main man), St. Catherine (who might or might not have been secretly married to Christ), and St. Margaret (whom even the Devil himself could not digest), told Joan that she was to save France. So far, so good. As Joan grew older, the voices became more specific. They informed her that she was the instrument chosen by Heaven to drive away the English. Her mission, should she choose to accept it, was to leave her home for good and to set things into motion that would bring the Dauphin to Rheims (or Reims) in order for him to become anointed king. After ten seconds the tape destroyed itself. Joan of Arc immediately notified her parents, packed her bundle, and was on her way.

• Joan of Arc led the French army to victory at Orléans when she was only 17 years old. This event was the turning point in the Hundred Years' War. A peasant girl, Joan became a symbol of national consciousness. At age 19, she was captured and burned as a heretic because she claimed to have been guided by divine voices.

• How it ended: The turning point of the war was the raising of the Siege of Orleans by the English in 1429. They were driven out of Northern France and the final battle took place at Castillon on July 17, 1453, with a victory for France.

• Margaret of Anjou: wife of Henry VI; important marriage – as the end of Hundred Year’s War