Britain after 1066
Follow one part of life in Britain after 1066, such as homes, medicine or childhood. Compare selected periods to find changes, things that continued and reasons for change.
What a learner can do afterwards
- Trace one theme (e.g., medicine or childhood) across several periods of British history and describe how it changed
- Put selected periods and dates after 1066 in time order, using medieval, Tudor and Victorian examples, while recognising that other periods came between some stops
- Point out a turning point in their theme and explain what changed and why, such as laws restricting children's work or requiring school attendance
1 · Read
Choose one part of life, such as homes or childhood. Compare it at different dates, in time order. Look for changes and things that continued. Check what each record says: a list of jobs does not prove that a child never had lessons. Our timeline boxes show order, not equal lengths of time.
In medieval England, many children in poorer families carried water, weeded or tended animals. Schooling was limited. Work did not mean that children never learned or played. Lives varied, so we cannot give every poor child the same starting age for work.
In Tudor England, boys from families with money had better chances of schooling, but some poorer boys attended too. Many girls learned at home. Children could work and learn. Tudor times ended in 1603; other periods came before Victorian times began in 1837.
Some Victorian children worked long, dangerous hours in factories or mines. Factory work had begun before Victorian times. Farm tasks continued too. Factories did not replace every other workplace. Farm work could also be dangerous.
Reports of dangers to working children helped reformers ask Parliament for change. Parliament passed laws over many years. A turning point changes a story's direction. To compare how safe two jobs were, you need evidence about both. Factory danger alone cannot prove farm work was safe.
The 1842 mine law banned women, girls and boys under ten from working underground in mines. This rule was about underground work, not every job at a mine or in a factory. Other laws restricted children's factory work. Child work did not all end at once.
School access had been unequal in Tudor times. The 1880 law required attendance rules for children aged five to ten across England and Wales, with exceptions. Other parts of Britain had different school laws. Spreading this legal duty was a turning point in schooling.
Compulsory means required by law. It does not mean everyone obeyed. Changes took time. Today, children can learn at school or at home. Many children helped their families in the past, and many do chores today. This is continuity: something carried on, although the tasks and hours changed.
Childhood varied. Work rules and schooling changed over time. Follow one theme in order, checking what changed and what continued.
Readings and flashcards written for this dataset, with background study of World History, Volume 1. No textbook prose is reproduced.
More to read
Whose home are you comparing?
After 1066, Norman rulers built castles to help control places in England. A castle gives clues about defence and the people who ruled. Most families did not live in castles.
Suppose you compare a ruler's castle with a poorer family's home. The buildings may look very different even if they belong to the same date. That difference alone cannot show how homes changed through time.
To investigate change, choose homes from different dates. Ask who lived in each one and what the family could afford. Compare similar households where you can. Keep differences between families separate from differences between periods. A new ruler did not make every family's home change at once.
Comparing courts and punishments
Medieval England had church courts, royal courts and local courts. They did not all deal with the same matters. One account of a punishment cannot describe every court or every person in that period.
When following crime and punishment through time, record the date of each example. Ask which court heard the case, what the accusation was and what happened. Compare similar cases where possible.
If two punishments differ, the date may be only part of the explanation. Different courts or accusations may also matter. Do not assume that punishment became kinder at every later date. Each comparison needs evidence about the cases being compared.
One event, different kinds of evidence
The Black Death reached England in 1348. Many people died, but estimates of the number differ. People did not understand the bacteria that caused plague. Some used herbs or prayer, and they had no reliable cure for the disease.
The loss of so many people also affected work. In some places, fewer workers meant survivors could ask for higher pay. This did not make every survivor wealthy or free from duties to a lord.
These are different parts of the story. Evidence about pay helps us study work. It cannot, by itself, prove that medical knowledge improved. To investigate medicine, look for evidence about treatments and what people understood about illness. Check each claimed effect of the disaster separately.
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