The Middle Ages in Britain cover a huge period. They take us from the shock of the Norman Conquest, which began in 1066, to the Hundred Years' War with France and the War of the Roses, which finally ended in 1485. Saxon England didn't have any firm rules about who should be King. Basically, when a king died, the crown passed to whoever could: show that they had some sort of blood claim, and grab the throne before anyone else got it.

William was born in 1027. He became duke of Normandy when he was only seven years old. William laid claim to the English throne after Edward died. He was a distant cousin of Edward and said that Edward had promised him the throne when visiting France in 1051. William invaded England to become King.

The Normans were people who lived in Normandy in Northern France. They were originally Vikings from Scandinavia. (The name Normandy comes from the French normand, meaning Norsemen and Normans).

When William won the Battle of Hastings, he earned himself the title 'Conqueror'. He marched to London and was crowned King in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066. In 1067, William started building the Tower of London, the great fortress which demonstrated his power and dominated the city of London.The Normans were great builders. Norman lords lived in strong stone castles.

The Norman victory changed the way in which England was ruled.Under the Saxons, the earls were often as important as the king, but now the king was firmly in control. He governed the whole country, and his rule was law.

Having conquered England, William wanted to make sure he remained in control of it.

After winning the Battle of Hastings, William set about building a string of castles in strategic areas across the country. Originally these castles were wooden towers on earthen 'mottes' (mounds) with a bailey (defensive area) surrounded by earth ramparts, but many were later rebuilt in stone. By the end of William's reign over 80 castles had been built throughout his kingdom, as a permanent reminder of the new Norman feudal order.

Having conquered England, William wanted to know just how much it was worth.

In 1086 he ordered a detailed description to be made. In the words of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, ' so very thoroughly did he have the enquiry carried out that not even one ox or one cow or one pig escaped notice. All this information was written down in the Domesday Book.

The Domesday Book was, in effect, the first national census. Thanks to the Domesday Book we know much about England in the eleventh century. It shows, for example, that by 1086, twenty years after the Battle of Hastings, there were hardly any rich landowners of English birth left in England. It was a land ruled by Frenchmen, especially William's favourite Normans.

William the Conquereor died a year later in 1087. Normandy went to his eldest son Robert, and England to his second son William, who became William II, but was known as William Rufus because of his red hair.

Order of the Garter

The order's emblem, depicted on insignia, is a garter with the motto Honi soit qui mal y pense (Old French: "shame upon him who thinks evil upon it") in gold lettering. Members of the order wear such a garter on ceremonial occasions.

King Edward III founded the Order of the Garter as "a society, fellowship and college of knights." The foundation year is usually presumed to be 1348. Various legends account for the origin of the Order. The most popular legend involves the "Countess of Salisbury". While she was dancing with or near King Edward at Eltham Palace, her garter is said to have slipped from her leg. When the surrounding courtiers sniggered, the king picked it up and tied it to his leg, exclaiming, "Honi soit qui mal y pense," ("Shamed be the person who thinks evil of it."),