Normans are people from the Normandy area of France.
In 1066, the Normans packed up 700 ships full of soldiers and sailed across the English Channel. A massive battle took place in Hastings.
The English and Normans had similar weaponry but The Normans also had archers. The battle lasted all day. Both armies had about 7000 men.
The Bow
The Lance
The Shield
Their leader was William Duke of Normandy who later became William the conqueror.
He became King of England after defeating the English in the Battle of Hastings.
The Bayeux Tapestry tells the story of the Battle.
The moment William lifted his helmet and revealed that he was alive.
Bishops also took part in battle back then but they were not allowed draw blood from the enemy. In many cases they carried clubs. Here is William’s half brother, a bishop.
The English king Harold takes an arrow in the eye. The English are now leaderless and the Normans claim victory and William the Duke of Normandy is now William the Conqueror and King of England.
Land meant power and they took over vast areas of land so they built forts to control these areas.
As more and more Normans came to England they built stronger stone castles made of stone.
The Normans constructed Battlements on the op of the Keep so soldiers could watch out for enemies.
Fun Fact
The actual stone building is called the Keep. A castle includes the Moat, the Keep and the Bailey.
The Normans ruled England for 300 years. The Normans are from France and they speak French in France. How come French isn’t spoken across England as a result?
At the time the Normans came to England, Ireland was a very different place to what it is today. There were many warring clans in Ireland. Each clan had their own king. The most powerful king was known as the High King.
Once the high king of Ireland died, in order to become high king, a king had to fight against other powerful kings. Sometimes the king of Connacht would win, other times it might be the king of Leinster, Munster or Ulster. These constant fights meant that kings had many enemies. The reason the Normans first came to Ireland was in fact due to this fighting.
Diarmaid MacMurrough
In 1169, 100 years after they first came to England, the Normans arrived in Ireland. Their ships arrived in Co. Wexford because the High King of Leinster (Diarmaid MacMurrough) invited them over to help him defeat.
The King of Connacht and the King of Breifne had joined their armies and Dermot wanted to defeat them.
A Norman lord called Strongbow was sent over with his army. He helped Diarmaid to win the battle. Strongbow married Diarmaid’s daughter and when Diarmaid died, Strongbow became High King of Ireland.
Strongbow remains in Christchurch Cathedral in Dublin
