2. Guided composition

Assignments

1.

Battlefield - поле битвы

An artful manoevre – искуссный маневр

A false retreat – ложное отступление

In hot pursuit – в погоню

A heap of stones – груда камней

Heather - вереск

To witness - свидетельствовать

Commonsense – здравый смысл, практичность

Subjects - подданные

Invasions - вторжения

To be conquered - быть завоеванным

2.

1. Why was October 14, 1066, called “a fateful date of English history”?

On this day the fate of England was sealed. The army of Duke William the Conqueror landed on the territory of England, where a great battle took place.

2. What artful manoevre of Duke William turned the balance of forces in his favour?

He ordered to his army to make a false retreat and when the Saxes rushed in hot pursuit he stopped his soldiers and order to shut into the air, this was narrows turning back to the ground killed a lot of enemy troops.

3. How did king Harold die?

One of the narrows got into his eye.

4. What did the people call the abbey that William the Conqueror had built on the former battlefield? Is it still here?

The abbey of St. Martin of Tours got another name among the people – the abbey of the Battle. At this place nowadays there are only its ruins.

5. What marks the place where King Harold fell dead?

The heap of stones makes this place.

6. What words does the writer choose to describe the place as it looks now?

A lonely corner hidden by the huge trees from the other world. There is an absolute silence here and only the sound of bells of the church of the Battle bothers it from time to time. The heather covers the stones that had a chance to witness the greatest event in all the human history.

7. What features does he stress in William’s character? What kind of man he was?

He stresses his commonsense and his iron will, he never knew any hesitations or doubts, he was a true optimist.

8. Did the Norman Conquest change England for the better or for the worse?

For the better, because since that time the island so used to invasions was never conquered anymore.

3. Reading

Exercises

1.

The Middle Ages - the period from the end of classical antiquity (or the deposition of the last W Roman emperor in 476 AD) to the Italian Renaissance (or the fall of Constantinople in 1453)

The Plantagenets – the famous royal dynasty that reigned England till the end of the Middle Ages.

The Crusade - any of the military expeditions undertaken in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries by the Christian powers of Europe to recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims

The Magna Carta - the charter granted by King John at Runnymede in 1215, recognizing the rights and privileges of the barons, church, and freemen

The Hundred Years’ War - the series of wars fought intermittently between England and France from 1337-1453: after early victories the English were expelled from all of France except Calais

The Peasants’ Revolt – the famous revolt broken out in 1381 organized by workmen, the leader was Wat Tyler.

2.

After being released for a great ransom he returned to England where his brother seized the throne – После освобождения за большой выкуп он вернулся в Англию, где его брат захватил трон.

Richard the Lion Heart had never been an ideal king depicted by Walter Scott in his novel – Ричард Львиное Сердце никогда не был идеальный королем, как его изображал Вальтер Скотт в своем романе.

Also Edward invaded Normandy and won a great victory in the Battle at Crecy - Также Эдуард вторгся в Нормандию и одержал большую победу в битве при Креси.

3.

A pilgrim – a person who undertakes a journey to a sacred place as an act of religious devotion

A romantic fame - state of being widely known or recognized as a romantic personality;

To rebel against smth – to resist or rise up against a government or other authority, esp by force of arms

A charter granting legal liberties – a formal document from the sovereign or state giving liberties officially

To tear up liberation acts – to break up the document giving liberties

4.

1. The daughter of Henry 1, Lady Matilda led the civil war against King Stephen, because he was unpopular.

2. Richard 1 got his name Richard the Lion Heart for his boldness and cruelty. He was also very proud and all the time quarreling with other leaders.

3. Crusaders didn’t have much success and achieved little except the promise of Saladin to let Christian piligrims enter the Holy City of Jerusalim.

4. On his way home Richard was captured by Duke Leopold of Austria and spent more than a year in prison. Hi died during the siege of one of the castles captured by King Philip in Normandy. Actually he wasn’t an ideal king, he paid little attention to England and mostly it was his brother John who ruled the country

5. After his death there was his brother John ruling the country. He cruelly robbed the barons of their lands and deserved the nickname John the Lackland. But then the lords rebelled against him and made him sign the charter granting their legal liberties – the Magna Carta.

6. During the Hundred Years’ War the English fleet destroyed a larger French fleet in 1340 and in 1345 Edward III invaded Normandy and won a great victory in the Battle at Crecy. Another important Victory was won by King Henry V in 1415 in the Battle at Agincourt. In the end in 1453 all French lands won by England were lost and the War was over.

7. The Peasant’s Revolt broke out in 1381 when there was King Richard II on the throne. In the end the leader of the Revolt was killed and the liberation acts were torn up.