In this article Jane Card outlines the changing popular interpretations of one of the most familiar events in British history, the Norman Conquest. She makes the case for using visual and literary interpretations of the Conquest to engage pupils with thinking about the eleventh century, the subsequent centuries in which interpretations of the Conquest were produced, and the nature and origins of popular interpretations, and their interaction with contemporary academic interpretations. This, she suggests, will better enable pupils to confront their own popularly generated preconceptions when interpreting well known events and processes...