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Year 10
AQA

Durham Cathedral - sources and historical context

I can explain the strengths and limitations of key sources for Norman England.

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New
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Year 10
AQA

Durham Cathedral - sources and historical context

I can explain the strengths and limitations of key sources for Norman England.

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Share activities with pupils
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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Different types of sources provide insights into the historical context of Norman England.
  2. Three types of sources are visual sources, text sources and material sources.
  3. Each type of source has strengths and limitations.
  4. Durham Cathedral may have inspired Anglo-Saxons to further worship
  5. Historians debate the impact of the new building upon ordinary people

Keywords

  • Source - a direct or first-hand piece of evidence from the past

  • Historical context - what is happening at the time of a historical event, possibly shaping it

  • Contemporary - from the same time as something

Common misconception

There are relatively few sources for Norman England, so historians have less to say about this period than later periods of English history.

Historians have plenty to say about Norman England because they are able to interpret the sources available in many different ways to support many different theories.

This lesson is designed to work with all the Norman England Historic Environments, but could easily be adapted to a specific site, for example, in conjunction with the AQA resource pack for that site.
Teacher tip

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which word describes the language spoken by ordinary people in a region or country?
Correct Answer: vernacular
Q2.
Which word describes the ability to choose and appoint bishops and abbots?
Correct Answer: investiture
Q3.
Complete the sentence: There are key topics making up the historical context of Norman England.
one
two
Correct answer: three
four
Q4.
Which topics does 'Life under the Normans' not cover?
Correct answer: the Church
economic and social changes and their consequences
Correct answer: military aspects
feudalism and government
Correct answer: establishing and maintaining control
Q5.
Which of the following relate to monasticism in Norman England?
Archbishop Lanfranc and reform of the English Church
Correct answer: Latin usage and the vernacular
Correct answer: the building of abbeys and monasteries
the Investiture Controversy
Q6.
Which word describes the support that an overlord provided to their vassal in return for homage?
Correct Answer: patronage

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which word describes a direct or first-hand piece of evidence from the past?
Correct Answer: source
Q2.
Which word describes what is happening at the time of a historical event, possibly shaping it?
Correct Answer: historical context
Q3.
The three types of sources most useful for learning about Norman England are _________, text sources and..._
written sources
Correct answer: visual sources
Correct answer: material sources
painting sources
Q4.
Which of the following are limitations of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as a source about Norman England?
Correct answer: Some events are only described briefly, or vaguely.
It was written within a year of the events it describes.
It provides insights as to how the English felt about Normans.
Correct answer: Accounts are often biased about Norman actions.
Q5.
Who wrote ‘Gesta Guillelmi’?
Harold Godwinson
William of Normandy
Correct answer: William of Poitiers
William II
Q6.
Which of the following are strengths of Norman material sources?
Correct answer: not rewritten or recorded by later writers
have often been remodelled, extended or damaged
Correct answer: buildings provide evidence of technology and engineering skills
surviving buildings for ordinary people are very rare