1066 in six (scenes)!
Characters:
Edward the Confessor
Harold Godwinson
William the Conqueror
Harald Hardrada
10 Anglo-Saxons
10 Normans
Props:
Crown
Hat for William
Rulers (for swords)
Exercise books (for shields)
Balls (to represent arrows)
Fluorescent jackets with names of key characters
Toy boat
Flag – Papal banner
Scene 1:
Court of Edward the Confessor, England. Edward is dying. Harold Godwinson is by
his side (Ask students what’s both are thinking). Have a small group of students
as the Witan nearby.
Teacher:
In 1066 the English King Edward the Confessor died. He had no son to follow him as
king, so the Witan made Harold Godwinson king of England. Soon, however, Harold
Godwinson was facing real problems. Within weeks he was in the difficult position of
having two enemies to fight at the same time. (Ask students to guess who they
might be)
Scene 2:
Court of William duke of Normandy. William with members of his court.
Teacher:
William, duke of Normandy, felt that he had a better claim to the throne than Harold.
He prepared an army to invade England. (Ask students what he needed to do to
prepare for battle). William was a good general and had much experience of war.
His men were well armed and trained. He made sure they had good supplies of food,
clothes and all the other equipment necessary for the invasion. William’s plans for
invasion were delayed by bad weather. For several weeks, the wind would not blow
in the right direction for him to land his army in England. (Ask students to blow in
different directions. William to wobble his paper boat up and down in the
winds)
-----------
Scene 3
Court of Harold Hardrada, Norway. Harold Hardrada and his court. Place them at the
back of the room/field to represent the north of England
Teacher:
At the same time, Harold Hardrada of Norway also got an army ready to invade
England. While William was waiting for the wind to change, Harold Hardrada landed
his army in the north of England, near York. (Ask students what Harold
Godwinson should do before marching his troops up to Hardrada). Harold
Godwinson marched his army all the way up to the north to fight him. Harold
Godwinson took Hardrada’s army by surprise and defeated it. Harold Hardrada was
killed (Ask student to dye dramatically)
---------Scene 4
Pevensey, Hastings. Place students playing William and his men at the front of the
room/ field to represent the south of the country.
Teacher:
It was unfortunate for Harold Godwinson that his two enemies came from opposite
ends of England. This was because as Harold celebrated his victory, the wind
changed direction. William landed his army in the south of England, 300 miles away.
(Ask students what Harold should do) Perhaps a wiser leader than Harold
Godwinson might have rested his troops, after their long march and hard battle, but
not Harold Godwinson.
Harold marched back down south to meet William. As a leader, he was brave and
impatient, rather than cunning and wise. He could have stopped in London to gather
more troops and supplies, but he did not. Instead, he marched right down to
Hastings, on the south coast, to fight William. This meant that many of his troops
were exhausted by these long marches, and not in a good condition for fighting.
--------Scene 5
Senlac Hill, outside Hastings. Position Harold and his men on chairs or at the top of
a slope and William and his men below). Divide William’s men into archers and
cavalry.
(Ask students where would the best place be to position his troops) At the
Battle of Hastings, Harold and his men fought bravely. William felt confident too
because he had the flag from the pope (Ask student to wave the flag and ask why
this would have boosted his troops’ confidence)
William’s archers unleashed their arrows (Ask archers to throw balls at Harold’s
men) but Harold’s men were able to protect themselves (Ask students how). They
used their shield wall to protect themselves from the arrows. They then banged their
shields with their swords (Rulers used to bang exercise books) and shouted “Out,
out, out!”.
(Ask students what William used after his archers). He next used his cavalry but
the hill was too steep for the horses (Ask students to gallop up the hill, rear up and
turn back tired).
At one point people thought William had actually been killed. (Ask students what
did William do to boost the morale of his troops). William lifted his helmet to
show he was alive (Ask student playing William to lift up helmet/hat).
However, Harold made some mistakes as a general. Although his troops were in a
strong position on top of Senlac Hill, they were too spread out for Harold to control
them effectively. At the bottom of the hill William played a cruel trick on Harold to lure
his men down. (Ask students what he did). William was able to trick some of
Harold’s troops away from their strong position by getting his troops to pretend to run
away. When part of Harold’s forces ran after them, they were cut down. It was the
turning point. This split in Harold’s army enabled William to win the battle. Harold
fought to the end, but was eventually killed (Ask students if they know how Harold
was killed)
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Scene 6
William at Westminster Abbey with his men and Anglo-Saxons
Teacher:
(Ask what you think William did straight after the battle to secure his hold on
the country).William built a castle at Dover, and brought in extra troops to replace
his losses in the battle. (Ask what happened to Harold’s body). Harold’s body was
stripped of all its possessions and hacked into pieces. Only his lover Edith Swanneck could identify it from marks only she know about! When he felt strong enough
he marched on London. Then he was crowned King of England on Christmas Day
1066 (Ask student to crown William).(Ask what you think Harold’s men would
be expected to do and what William’s men would become). Harold’s men were
expected to bow down and give thanks for their new king. William’s men were
awarded land and titles in reward.
Below are name plates to stick on fluorescent jackets
William
Duke of
Normandy
Harold
Godwinson
Harald
Hardrada
Edward
The
Confessor