The Anglo-Saxons, Vikings & the Normans

Many teachers will be familiar with aspects of these societies from earlier versions of the National Curriculum.  The Curriculum 2014 introduced new areas such as the relations with the Scots and the continuity with the Normans.  These societies have often proved popular with plenty of interesting sources including archaeology and artefacts.  This is a crucial area of study with children given an opportunity to learn about the origins of so much of the United Kingdom.  There is plenty of scope for a range of fascinating historical investigations using a range of key historical concepts.

Sort by: Date (Newest first) | Title A-Z
Show: All | Articles | Podcasts | Multipage Articles
  • Romans, Anglo-Saxons, and Vikings Lessons

    Article

    Please note: these lessons were produced as part of the Nuffield Primary History project (1991-2009) and pre-date the 2014 National Curriculum. This resource is free to everyone. For access to hundreds of other high-quality resources by primary history experts along with free or discounted CPD and membership of a thriving community of teachers...

    Click to view
  • The Vikings in Britain: a brief history

    Article

    Viking Age | In Britain: background | Short history | King Alfred | Later raids & rulers | Key concepts < This resource is free for everyone For access to hundreds of other high-quality resources by primary history experts along with free or discounted CPD and membership of a thriving community of...

    Click to view
  • Anglo-Saxons: a brief history

    Article

    Jump to: Anglo-Saxons in Britain | Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms | Areas to examine | Key concepts & links This resource is free to everyone. For access to hundreds of other high-quality resources by primary history experts along with free or discounted CPD and membership of a thriving community of teachers and subject...

    Click to view
  • Viking travel

    Article

    Please note: this lesson was produced as part of the Nuffield Primary History project (1991-2009) and pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum. It is part of a full sequence of lessons available here. How did the Vikings travel so far? Using photos to investigate a Viking longboat. (See Gokstad ship for links to photographs.) Key...

    Click to view
  • Vikings: who were they?

    Article

    Please note: this lesson was produced as part of the Nuffield Primary History project (1991-2009) and pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum. It is part of a full sequence of lessons available here. This resource is free to everyone. For access to hundreds of other high-quality resources by primary history experts along with free...

    Click to view
  • Vikings: Egils Saga

    Article

    Please note: this lesson was produced as part of the Nuffield Primary History project (1991-2009) and pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum. It is part of a full sequence of lessons available here. Key questions in this lesson were: What did the Vikings value?  What can we discover from sagas and poetry? (These resources...

    Click to view
  • Viking traders

    Article

    Please note: this lesson was produced as part of the Nuffield Primary History project (1991-2009) and pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum. It is part of a full sequence of lessons available here. Enactive learning - a Viking trading game to help children understand the full variety of Viking life and culture. They were so...

    Click to view
  • Saxon Settlers in Britain

    Article

    Please note: this lesson was produced as part of the Nuffield Primary History project (1991-2009) and pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum. It is part of a full sequence of lessons available here. This resource is free to everyone. For access to hundreds of other high-quality resources by primary history experts along with free...

    Click to view
  • A view from the classroom: Teachers TV, The Staffordshire Hoard And 'Doing History'

    Article

    When the Historical Association was approached by Teachers' TV to produce ‘Great Ideas for Teaching History' at Key Stage 2, it was inevitable that I, as a full time teacher on the Primary Committee, would have no escape. My school agreed I could take part, with the involvement of two...

    Click to view
  • Sutton Hoo - Classroom archaeology in the digital age

    Article

    Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content and links may be outdated. The class had composed its Anglo-Saxon funeral poem for Raedwald, an Anglo-Saxon king, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A6dwald_of_East_Anglia, the high king or Bretwalda of all seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the early seventh century as well as being King...

    Click to view
  • The strange death of King Harold II: Propaganda and the problem of legitimacy in the aftermath of the Battle of Hastings

    Article

    How did King Harold II die at the Battle of Hastings? The question is simple enough and the answer is apparently well known. Harold was killed by an arrow which struck him in the eye. His death is depicted clearly on the Bayeux Tapestry in one of its most famous...

    Click to view
  • Case Study: Classroom archaeology. Sutton Hoo, or the mystery of the empty grave

    Article

    Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated. ‘Would you like to go for a walk in the woods on the other side of the river? I asked my wife on a spring day in 1982. Happily she assented, and we drove off...

    Click to view
  • Here come the Vikings! Making a saga out of a crisis

    Article

    Please note: this article pre-dates the 2014 National Curriculum and some content may be outdated. What are your first impressions when you think of Alfred the Great? Perhaps it's the story of the heroic individual being humbled by burning the cakes or for those of a certain age, it may...

    Click to view
  • Putting the Story back into History

    Article

    Children love stories. They like the drama, the excitement, the chance to listen and to wonder. Narrative is a very important part of history and sometimes, by concentrating on facts or on skills, we tend to lose the view of the big picture, especially in the Key Stage 2 curriculum...

    Click to view
  • Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People

    Article

    Much research has been devoted in recent years to Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People (EH), completed in 731 at the joint monastery of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow; but in one crucial respect little progress has been made: the editing of the text. The excellent edition published by Charles Plummer in 1896...

    Click to view
  • The Vikings in Britain

    Article

    Professor Henry Loyn provides an update on recent studies of the Viking Age. Interest in the activities of the Scandinavian people in Britain during the Viking Age, c 800-1100 A.D., has been strong in the last half-century or so, and it is good to pause and assess contributions to the...

    Click to view