# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This eight documentary excerpt, from the BBC/PBS series 1914-18: Great War, focuses on Kaiser Wilhelm II. It looks at his role as the head of imperial Germany, his personal insecurities and his political ambitions. For more information about World War I, please visit http://alphahistory.com/worldwar1/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Kaiser Wilhelm II: The Last German Emperor

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Kaiser Wilhelm II - The Last German Emperor I WHO DID WHAT IN WW1?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
History File The First World War 5of5 Making Peace October 10, 2007  TVRIP XVID

# data[].attributes.headline
The Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations

# data[].attributes.subject
The Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ClickView Online allows you to watch your ClickView videos on the go. Empower teachers and students with 24hr off campus access to your school's video resources.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Treaty of Versailles, Terms of the Treaty 2/2

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ClickView Online allows you to watch your ClickView videos on the go. Empower teachers and students with 24hr off campus access to your school's video resources.

# data[].attributes.headline
The Kaiser, WWI and Uprisings in Germany

# data[].attributes.subject
The Kaiser, WWI and Uprisings in Germany

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Berlin History 2 of 15 - Dangerous Ideas 2 of 4 - Matt Frei BBC Culture Documentary

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An Informative Animation to explain the Spartacist Uprising of 1919, produced for Macat

Animated and Designed by Toby Mortimer and Chris Whalley

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
1920: The Kapp Putsch (& Ongoing Political Violence) | GCSE History Revision | Weimar & Nazi Germany

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Make Germany Pay part 2 - the Ruhr, hyperinflation and recovery

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
1923-29: Stresemann's Strategy | GCSE History Revision | Weimar & Nazi Germany

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Weimar Republic is the unofficial name given to Germany in the interwar period from 1919 to 1933, between the defeat of Germany in the Great War in 1918 and Hitler's rise to power in 1933. During that time, Berlin became the intellectual and creative centre of Europe, doing pioneering work in the modern movements of literature, theatre and the arts, and also in the fields of psychoanalysis, sociology and science. Germany's economy and political affairs were suffering at the time, but cultural and intellectual life was flourishing. This period in German history is often referred to as the 'Weimar Renaissance' or the country's 'Golden Years'.

Dubbed the 'Babylon of the 20s,' the city centre flourished with youthful activity and explosive sexual freedom. Provocative cabaret shows, excessive drug use, nights of hedonistic partying, open and same-sex relationships all took centre stage in Berlin. There were many strong women in the movement, with performers such as Marlene Dietrich and Anita Berber becoming icons of the time in their lifestyle, art and relationships. It was also the decade of Brecht, the Isherwoods and the Bauhaus movement in art and design.

In the documentary entitled Metropolis of Vice, Legendary Sin Cities, which offer a snapshot of the times, we hear that, 'Berlin was what sexual daydreams wanted to be. You could find almost anything there, and maybe everything.' This kind of creative freedom of thought and expression was a revelation, and an offence to the austere and conservative extreme right wing that was on the rise, namely Hitler and his Nazis.

Here's a short clip of what life looked like in Berlin in the 20s.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Berlin's Most Illustrious Decade: A Brief History of Weimar Culture

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Weimar Republic is the unofficial name given to Germany in the interwar period from 1919 to 1933, between the defeat of Germany in the Great War in 1918 and Hitler's rise to power in 1933.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Berlin History 3 of 15 - Dangerous Ideas 3 of 4 - Matt Frei BBC Culture Documentary

# data[].attributes.headline
What was the impact of the Great Depression on Germany?

# data[].attributes.subject
What was the impact of the Great Depression on Germany?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Berlin in the 1920s and the boom in film, theatre, cabaret and music are described. Hitler's view on this is then highlighted via a reading from 'Mein Kampf'. The collapse of German interwar prosperity is examined, with an analysis of the impact of the Wall Street Crash. The response is divided into immediate concerns of the German people and then the political repercussions. The reasons why people began to turn from the Weimar Republic to extremist parties is assessed, with a particular focus on why working class Germans turned to the communists. The footage ends with a description of how the Nazis changed tactics to take advantage of the Depression.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
BBC Two - History, Nazi Germany, What was the impact of the Depression on Germany?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Berlin in the 1920s and the boom in film, theatre, cabaret and music are described. Hitler's view on this is then highlighted via a reading from 'Mein Kampf'. The collapse of German interwar prosperity is examined, with an analysis of the impact of the Wall Street Crash.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
How Hitler and the Nazis seized power in Germany and ushered in the death of democracy.

# data[].attributes.body
A film that shows how Hitler and the Nazi's gained popularity and how Hitler became Chancellor

# data[].attributes.headline
20th Century Battlefields, episode 4, Korea, 1951

# data[].attributes.subject
20th Century Battlefields, episode 4, Korea, 1951

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
20th Century Battlefields - Episode 4 (Korea, 1951)

# data[].attributes.headline
20th Century Battlefields, Vietnam, 1968

# data[].attributes.subject
20th Century Battlefields, Vietnam, 1968

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
20th Century Battlefields   1968 Vietnam

# data[].attributes.headline
1066: A year to Conquer England, episode 1

# data[].attributes.subject
1066: A year to Conquer England, episode 1

# data[].attributes.body
To login in to Clickview you need your school email address without the .org

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ClickView Online allows you to watch your ClickView videos on the go. Empower teachers and students with 24hr off campus access to your school's video resources.

# data[].attributes.headline
1066: A year to conquer England, episode 2

# data[].attributes.subject
1066: A year to conquer England, episode 2

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ClickView Online allows you to watch your ClickView videos on the go. Empower teachers and students with 24hr off campus access to your school's video resources.

# data[].attributes.headline
1066: A year to conquer England, episode 3

# data[].attributes.subject
1066: A year to conquer England, episode 3

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ClickView Online allows you to watch your ClickView videos on the go. Empower teachers and students with 24hr off campus access to your school's video resources.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Who were the claimants to the throne in 1066? (1/6) | History – The Norman Conquest

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
1066: The Battle of Fulford (2/6) | History – The Norman Conquest

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
1066: The Battle of Fulford (2/6) | History – The Norman Conquest

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
1066: The Battle of Hastings (4/6) | History - The Norman Conquest

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How William the Conquerer secured power after 1066 (5/6) | History - The Norman Conquest

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Revolt and resistance after 1066 (6/6) | History - The Norman Conquest

# data[].attributes.headline
1066: A year to conquer England - short clips

# data[].attributes.subject
1066: A year to conquer England - short clips

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
BBC Two - 1066: A Year to Conquer England

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Drama-documentary exploring the betrayals between the Vikings, Anglo-Saxons and Normans.

# data[].attributes.headline
Why did the people of Germany support the Nazis?

# data[].attributes.subject
Why did the people of Germany support the Nazis?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
BBC Two - History, Nazi Germany, Why did the people of Germany support the Nazis?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Why did both working class and middle class Germans support the Nazis?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The central role played by Hitler in gaining support for the Nazi Party is explored, highlighting his appeal, skill as a speaker and charisma. Information on Nazi election success and Hitler being made chancellor is given, along with clips of Hitler and voting. A brief description of the banning of the Communist Party, the removal of freedoms and the Nazis creation of a one party state under Hitler's rule also features. Fritz Muelebach explains that if Hitler is to save Germany then there must be total obedience.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
BBC Two - History, Nazi Germany, Hitler's rise to power

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The central role played by Hitler in gaining support for the Nazi Party is explored, highlighting his appeal, skill as a speaker and charisma. Information on Nazi election success and Hitler being made chancellor is given, along with clips of Hitler and voting.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Using contempory footage and commentary from Henry Metelmann, a working class boy, the rise of the Hitler Youth movement is outlined and the reasons why it was an important form of control for the Nazis is explored. Some of the concerns that older generations had about the ability of the Nazis to influence the young are highlighted, as are reasons why it was so appealing to youngsters like Henry.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
BBC Two - History, Nazi Germany, Why was the Hitler Youth so important?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Using contempory footage and commentary from Henry Metelmann, a working class boy, the rise of the Hitler Youth movement is outlined and the reasons why it was an important form of control for the Nazis is explored.

# data[].attributes.headline
The terror experienced by ordinary people living in Nazi Germany

# data[].attributes.subject
The terror experienced by ordinary people living in Nazi Germany

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A personal account by an American woman, Norah Waln, living in Germany during the 1930s. She clearly explains the striking difference between how events in Germany were portrayed by its own newspapers and by the international press. She also explains how, on the surface, Nazi Germany seemed a very pleasant place to live - less crime, polite youth - but underneath, there simmered a very real terror.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
BBC Two - History, Nazi Germany, The terror experienced by ordinary people living in Nazi Germany

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A personal account by an American woman, Norah Waln, living in Germany during the 1930s. She clearly explains the striking difference between how events in Germany were portrayed by its own newspapers and by the international press.

# data[].attributes.headline
How much did ordinary Germans know about the actions of the Nazis?

# data[].attributes.subject
How much did ordinary Germans know about the actions of the Nazis?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A contemporary description of the Battle of Poland as 'wonderful carnage.' The narrator believes Germany was so drugged on its own lies they just couldn't see the shame any more. An account of an atrocity on the Eastern front is given, and there is speculation as to whether the German people knew what was being done in their name. Closer to home were the 'work camps', and there is disagreement as to whether or not the German people knew what was really happening there.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
BBC Two - History, Nazi Germany, How much did ordinary Germans know about the actions of the Nazis?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A contemporary description of the Battle of Poland as 'wonderful carnage.' The narrator believes Germany was so drugged on its own lies they just couldn't see the shame any more. An account of an atrocity on the Eastern front is given, and there is speculation as to whether the German people knew what was being done in their name.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Korean War Timeline
Timeline Description: The Korean War is often called The Forgotten War. It began when communist North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950. When the war ended in 1953, Korea was still divided and it remains that way today.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Korean War Timeline Timeline Description: The Korean War is often called The Forgotten War. It began when communist North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950. When the war ended in 1953, Korea was still divided and it remains that way today.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5 Ws - Cold War - The Korean War: 1950-1953 Storyboard

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Storyboard Text WHO WAS INVOLVED? WHY DID THE WAR HAPPEN? WHERE DID THIS TAKE PLACE? NORTH KOREA The United States, as well as part of the United Nation's forces, were pitted against North Korean communists, along with aid from communist China. Both forces aimed to control, and influence, the entire Korean peninsula.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In September 1950, UN forces conducted a surprise amphibious landing at the port of Inchon. In what would become a decisive UN victory, these landings helped reverse the strategic situation of the Korean War...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Second Norman Conquest | Lanfranc's Reforms

# data[].attributes.headline
The Rise of the Nazi's: episode 1 - Politics

# data[].attributes.subject
The Rise of the Nazi's: episode 1 - Politics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ClickView Online allows you to watch your ClickView videos on the go. Empower teachers and students with 24hr off campus access to your school's video resources.

# data[].attributes.headline
The Rise of the Nazi's: episode 2 - The First 6 months in power

# data[].attributes.subject
The Rise of the Nazi's: episode 2 - The First 6 months in power

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ClickView Online allows you to watch your ClickView videos on the go. Empower teachers and students with 24hr off campus access to your school's video resources.

# data[].attributes.headline
The Rise of the Nazi's: Episode 3 - Night of the Long Knives

# data[].attributes.subject
The Rise of the Nazi's: Episode 3 - Night of the Long Knives

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ClickView Online allows you to watch your ClickView videos on the go. Empower teachers and students with 24hr off campus access to your school's video resources.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ClickView Online allows you to watch your ClickView videos on the go. Empower teachers and students with 24hr off campus access to your school's video resources.

# data[].attributes.body
A documentary about the tactics used by the Vietcong

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ClickView Online allows you to watch your ClickView videos on the go. Empower teachers and students with 24hr off campus access to your school's video resources.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ClickView Online allows you to watch your ClickView videos on the go. Empower teachers and students with 24hr off campus access to your school's video resources.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ClickView Online allows you to watch your ClickView videos on the go. Empower teachers and students with 24hr off campus access to your school's video resources.

# data[].attributes.body
A short documentary about the Battle of Hastings

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ClickView Online allows you to watch your ClickView videos on the go. Empower teachers and students with 24hr off campus access to your school's video resources.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu (ft. Overly Sarcastic Productions) | Animated History

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Amazing Story Of The Burning Monk Who Changed The World

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Viet Cong Tunnels and Traps - Platoon: The True Story

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Use Of Punji Traps In The Vietnam War

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Chilling Legacy of US Chemical Warfare in Vietnam

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Third part of a short clip series about the Vietnam War. Common tactics used by the US forces and the Vietcong guerillas during the war. (Mission cut scenes taken from Men of Valor.)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
U.S. Veteran Describes Fighting in the Vietnam War

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
20th Century Battlefields: Vietnam Part 1/6

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out: Counterculture of the 1960s

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Domesday Book | The Story of Britain | BBC Teach

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The concluding episode about the life of Adolf Hitler (Robert Carlyle) details the Fuhrer's ruthless rise to power from his cell in Landsberg Prison to ...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Ending the war in Vietnam - The Vietnam War - AQA - GCSE History Revision - AQA - BBC Bitesize

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn about and revise the Vietnam War with this BBC Bitesize GCSE History (AQA) study guide.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Building a medieval castle | History - Secrets of the Castle

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Inside a medieval castle | History - Secrets of the Castle

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Saxon law - compensation | History - The Strange Case of the Law

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Saxon law courts | History - The Strange Case of the Law

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Saxon punishments | History - The Strange Case of the Law

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Trial by ordeal | History - The Strange Case of the Law

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Exploring A Medieval Castle! | BBC Teach

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Crime and Punishment Guilty as Charred Tony Robinson

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In 1066, as everybody knows, the Normans invaded England. That most engaging of all medieval sources, the Bayeux Tapestry, shows them landing their horses at Pevensey in Sussex and racing to occupy nearby Hastings, from where they would shortly set out to fight the most famous battle in English history.

Before that, they paused to have an elaborate sit-down meal - barbecued chicken is on the menu - and attend to their own protection. "This man," says the caption of an important-looking Norman holding a pennant, "orders a castle to be dug at Hastings," and to his right we see a group of men, armed with picks and shovels, setting to work.

The Normans' decision to erect a castle at the very moment of their arrival might not strike us as particularly remarkable. After all, medieval warfare revolved around the building and besieging of fortresses, and the English landscape of today is liberally studded with their remains. But at the time of the invasion in late September 1066, the Normans' action was startlingly novel: prior to that point, castles had been virtually unknown in England.

The exceptions comprised a handful constructed a few years earlier by the French friends of King Edward the Confessor. "The foreigners had built a castle in Herefordshire," says the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 1051, "and had inflicted every possible injury and insult upon the king's men in those parts".

The fact that the chronicler was reporting a new phenomenon is conveyed not only by his palpable outrage at the Frenchmen's behaviour, but also by his need to borrow their word for the offending object: this is the first recorded use of 'castle' in English.

The Conquest that followed 15 years later ensured it would not be the last, because the castle was the primary instrument by which the Normans stamped their authority on England. From having almost no castles in the period before 1066, the country was quickly crowded with them. According to one conservative modern estimate, based on the number of surviving earthworks, at least 500, and possibly closer to 1,000, had been constructed by the end of the 11th century - barely two generations since the Normans' initial landing.

Of course, England had not been without defences before 1066. The pre-Conquest landscape was studded with, among other things, Iron Age hillforts, Roman legionary forts, and the fortified towns built by the Anglo-Saxons themselves, known as boroughs or burhs. But all of these structures differed from what followed in that they were large enclosures designed to protect sizeable communities including, in some cases, non-military personnel. Castles, by contrast, were comparatively small affairs, designed to be defended by a limited number of fighting men. They had originated in France around the turn of the first millennium as a result of the collapse of royal and provincial authority, when power ultimately devolved to those who had the means to build their own private fortifications and fill them with mounted warriors.

As well as being smaller in area, castles were also taller. Some of the earliest French examples were great stone towers, such as the soaring donjon at Loches on the river Loire, built by the buccaneering Fulk Nerra, count of Anjou, around AD 1000, and still impressive 1,000 years later.

But the crucial thing about castles was that they could be created without the need for such colossal investment. It was quite possible to obtain the same advantage of height quickly and on a fraction of the budget by throwing up a great mound of earth and topping it with a tower of wood. As every schoolchild knows, such mounds were known from the first as 'mottes'.

The point about size and speed is reinforced by the Normans' behaviour in England immediately after their arrival. At Pevensey they created a castle by adapting a Roman fort, and at Hastings by customising an Iron Age hillfort, in each case hiving off a smaller section of the much larger original.

After their victory at Hastings, as they set about crushing the remaining English resistance, the Normans continued to follow this method of construction. They added new fortifications to the ancient defences at Dover, and almost certainly created the castle at Wallingford by destroying a corner of the Anglo-Saxon borough.

When, late in 1066, the citizens of London at last submitted to William the Conqueror, his first thought was to plant a castle in the south-eastern angle of the city - the site that would soon become home to the Tower.

Rising in revolt

In the years that followed, the castle-building campaign intensified. The Normans, wept the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 1067, "built castles far and wide throughout the land, oppressing the unhappy people, and things went ever from bad to worse".

Part of the reason for this intensification was the repeated attempts by the English to throw off the rule of their conquerors. The south-west of England rose in revolt at the start of 1068, apparently led by the surviving remnants of the Godwin family, while in the summer of the same year there were similar risings in the Midlands and northern England.

William crushed them all, marching in with his army and planting castles in major towns and cities. Exeter, Nottingham, Warwick, York, Lincoln, Cambridge and Huntingdon all received new royal fortresses at this time, and further examples were added in the years that followed: Chester and Stafford in 1069-70, Ely in 1071 and Durham in 1072.

The northernmost outpost of Norman power was established in 1080 by the Conqueror's son Robert, who planted a "new castle" upon the river Tyne, while William himself marked the western limit of his authority during an expedition to Wales the following year, founding a new fortress in an old Roman fort called Cardiff.

The foundation of castles, however, was far from being an exclusively royal affair. William may have raised armies to quell major rebellions, but for the rest of the time he relied on other Normans to keep order in his new kingdom.

In the two decades after 1066 the king rewarded his closest followers with extensive grants of land in England, and the first act of any sensible incoming lord was invariably to construct a castle. In some instances it appears that these were planted on top of existing English seigneurial residences, to emphasise a continuity of lordship.

But in most cases such continuity was lacking because the process of conquest had caused the country's existing tenurial map to be torn up. Sussex, for example, was sliced up into half-a-dozen new lordships, known locally as rapes, which paid no heed to earlier patterns of ownership. New lordships required new castles, and the rapes were named in each case after the fortresses that sprung up at Chichester, Hastings, Bramber, Arundel, Lewes and Pevensey.

The reorganisation of Sussex into continental-style, castle-centred lordships seems to have been a decision determined by cold military logic. The county had been the Normans' beachhead, and also the former Godwin heartland. The rapes run north-south, and their castles are all located near the coast, as if to keep the route between London and Normandy secure.

In recent decades, however, the scholarly trend has been to emphasise that castles had other roles beyond the military. The fact that they were often sited to command road and river routes, for example, meant that their owners were also well placed to control trade, and could both protect and exploit mercantile traffic. We are reminded, too, that part of the reason for building a castle could be symbolic. A great fortress, towering above everything else for miles around, provided a constant physical reminder of its owner's power - a permanent assertion of his right to rule.

During the Conqueror's reign, this was most obviously true in the case of the three great stone towers the king himself is known to have created at Chepstow, Colchester and (most famously) London. In each case these giant buildings, the like of which England had not seen since the time of the Romans, have strong Roman resonances and were partially constructed using the stone from nearby Roman ruins; not for nothing did 20th-century scholars christen the style 'Romanesque'.

Indeed, in the case of Colchester it is difficult to suggest a reason for the construction of so massive a building - beyond a desire to be associated with the town's imperial past. There are no reports of rebellions or military action in Essex during William's reign, but the great tower he created in Colchester was erected on the ruins of the town's Roman temple. The Conqueror's sycophantic biographer, William of Poitiers, draws frequent comparisons between his royal master and Julius Caesar. To judge from buildings such as Chepstow, Colchester and the Tower of London, it was a comparison that the king himself was keen to cultivate.

At the same time, we need to guard against hyper-correction. In recent years, it seems to me, the revisionist arguments about Norman castles have been pushed too far, to the extent that some historians now come close to arguing that they had almost no military function at all.

Take, for example, the castle that William the Conqueror caused to be built at Exeter in 1068. Its original gatehouse still survives, and has been judged defensively weak because it was originally entered at ground level. This may be so, but it takes a considerable leap to conclude from this, as one historian has done, that the whole castle was "militarily ineffectual".

Much of the site has now vanished, but it occupied an area of around 185 metres by 185 metres (600 by 600 feet); Domesday Book suggests that 48 houses were destroyed in order to make room for it. It was built on the highest point in the town, and was separated by a deep ditch and rampart.

Exeter had fallen to William in 1068 after a bitter three-week siege that saw heavy casualties on both sides - and during which, if we believe the later chronicler William of Malmesbury, one of the English defenders signalled his defiance by dropping his trousers and farting in the king's general direction. It beggars belief to suppose that the Conqueror, having taken the city at such cost, would have commissioned a building that had no military capability, and was concerned only with the projection of what has been called 'peaceable power'.

The notion that castles had little military purpose also requires us to ignore the testimony of contemporary chroniclers. William of Poitiers repeatedly describes the castles his master besieged on the continent before 1066 using terms such as "very strong" or "virtually impregnable". Such descriptions are borne out by the fact that it took the duke months, and in some cases years, to take them.

Yet some scholars are curiously reluctant to allow that castles built after the Conquest served a similar military purpose. The Conqueror's great stone tower at Chepstow, for instance, has been plausibly reinterpreted in recent years as an audience chamber where the king or his representatives could receive and overawe the native rulers of Wales.

But the fact is that Chepstow Castle was still a formidable building, situated high on a cliff above the river Wye, and defended at each end by ditches cut deep into the rock. True, it does not bristle with arrowloops, turrets and machicolations - but then no castles did in that period, because the technology of attack was primitive in comparison with what came later. Without the great stone-throwing machines known as trebuchets, there was not much an enemy at the gates could do, beyond mounting a blockade and trying to starve a garrison into submission.

In these circumstances, a well-situated and well-stocked castle could be militarily decisive. In 1069 the people of Northumbria overran Durham, massacring its Norman garrison, which tried and failed to hold out in the hall of the local bishop. But when the Northumbrians attempted to take the town again in 1080 they failed, because they were unable to take its new castle.

Subduing the English

One of the remarkable things about the Norman conquest was how quickly the rift between the English and the Normans was healed. Within a generation or two, it is possible to point to castles that did owe more to ideas of peaceful living than military deterrence. But in the years immediately after 1066, filled as they were with bloody rebellion and even bloodier repression - when a few thousand Normans lived among a population of two million English in the daily fear of violent death - in these circumstances castles have to be regarded first and foremost as military installations, introduced to subdue an unwilling population.

Unfashionable though it may be among castle scholars, there is every reason to listen to the testimony of the half-English, half-Norman historian Orderic Vitalis, born in Shropshire within a decade of 1066, who attributed the success of the Conquest to one factor above all others.

"The fortifications that the Normans called castles," he explains, "were scarcely known in the English provinces, and so the English - in spite of their courage and love of fighting - could put up only a weak resistance to their enemies."

William's castles 1066-87
From the moment his army landed on English soil, the Conqueror embarked on a remarkable programme of castle-building...Established by the Conqueror's friend William fitz Osbern soon after 1066, Chepstow was acquired by the king in 1075, after which construction is reckoned to have started on its Great Tower. William built his first castle in England here, the point of the Normans' disembarkation, to protect his army while they prepared to engage Harold Godwinson. After his victory at Hastings, William reportedly spent eight days at Dover, an Iron Age hillfort, "adding the fortifications it lacked". Afterwards it was entrusted to his half-brother Odo of Bayeux. This was established shortly before Christmas 1066, "as a defence against the inconstancy of the numerous and hostile inhabitants" (wrote William of Poitiers). Work on the White Tower started in the 1070s and continued until the early 12th century. Planted in the middle of an Iron Age hillfort, Old Sarum was probably begun before 1070, when the Conqueror went there to dismiss his army after the Harrying of the North. This most famous of English castles was created a short distance from an existing royal hunting lodge, probably before the council held at Windsor in 1070. On his return from Scotland in 1072, William stopped to plant a castle in Durham where, three years earlier, his troops had been massacred by the Northumbrians. William built not one but two castles in York: the first (Clifford's Tower) was constructed in the summer of 1068, the second (Baile Hill) early the following year. Norwich was begun before 1075; that year Ralph Guader, the rebellious earl of East Anglia, was besieged here for three months. A gigantic building, with close affinities to the Tower of London, Colchester illustrates William's desire to be compared to the Romans before him. Marc Morris is a historian and broadcaster specialising in the Middle Ages. He is the author of The Norman Conquest (Hutchinson, 2012).To listen to our podcast interview with Marc on the story and legacy of the Norman Conquest, click here.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In 1066, as everybody knows, the Normans invaded England. That most engaging of all medieval sources, the Bayeux Tapestry, shows them landing their horses at Pevensey in Sussex and racing to occupy nearby Hastings, from where they would shortly set out to fight the most famous battle in English history.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Footage of the 1968 Grosvenor Square demonstration in London, against the Vietnam War. Those taking part include protesters from CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament), the Flower Children, and the Love and Peace movement.

This clip can be used to prompt a discussion about the changing attitudes of teenagers and students, especially focusing on protest groups. How had the lives and attitudes of teenagers changed since the Second World War? Students could then use the internet to research music of the 1960s and create their own protest soundtrack album, creating the cover for a record, including notes on each song and what it is questioning.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Protests against the Vietnam War - GCSE History - BBC Bitesize

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Footage of the 1968 Grosvenor Square demonstration in London, against the Vietnam War. Those taking part include protesters from CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament), the Flower Children, and the Love and Peace movement. This clip can be used to prompt a discussion about the changing attitudes of teenagers and students, especially focusing on protest groups.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A Brief History of the Normans | Animated History

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A Mini Guide to Medieval Monks | Animated History

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A Mini Guide to Medieval Castles | Animated History

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An engaging animated summary of medical progress through the medieval period.Suitable for Key stage 3, GCSE and National 4

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
History KS3 / GCSE: 19th Century Medicine

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An engaging animated summary of medical progress in the 19th century. Suitable for Key stage 3, GCSE and National 4

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
An engaging animated summary of the work of pioneers, Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch, outlining how their national feud lead to great medical advancements.
Narrated by actor and impressionist Duncan Wisbey, the pace is quick and tone irreverent.

Utilising authentic archival illustrations and images the battle to prove where disease comes from is brought to life, centering on the emergence of germ theory; an essential part of the syllabus.

It explores the intensification of their intellectual battle within the context of the Franco-Prussian war and sees how each one's research and experimentation fed the others.

Seen alongside their British proponents; Tyndall, Roberts and Cheyne, the film centres on the importance of their legacy in understanding bacteria, and being able to treat disease more effectively today.

This is from the series: Medicine through time

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An engaging animated look at the work of medical pioneers, Pasteur and Koch. Suitable for Key stage 3, GCSE and National 4

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An engaging animated look at the work of medical pioneers, Chadwick and Snow. Suitable for Key stage 3, GCSE and National 4

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Using authentic archival illustrations and diagrams, this animation brings to life how the Renaissance brought on a fresh thirst for scientific enquiry.

Narrated by actor and impressionist Duncan Wisbey, the pace is quick and tone irreverent.

The film draws on the work of key figures of the time such as Ambroise Paré, William Harvey and George Thomson.

Looking at their work we see the critical advancements they made in our understanding of new treatments and the human body.

Key themes that directly affected progress during this period were new weapons on the battlefield, the Great Plague of 1664 and the circulation of new ideas through the invention of the printing press.

The summary clearly highlights successes of the period with new experimentation leading to a better understanding of the human body, but also the short-fallings; such as the failure of many people to accept these new ideas and ultimately these new discoveries not benefiting the wider population.

This is from the series: Medicine through time

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
History KS3/GCSE: 16th and 17th Century Medicine

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An engaging animated summary of medical progress in the 16th and 17th centuries.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
An engaging animated summary of medical progress from the 20th century to the present day, outlining the huge medical breakthroughs that helped develop our understanding of illness today.
Authentic archival photographs and drawings are used to bring these brilliant advancements to life.

The film touches on the pioneering work of Marie Curie, Alexander Fleming, Ernst Chain, Howard Florey, James Watson and Francis Crick.

The summary highlights vital developments in radiology, plastic surgery, the discovery of penicillin, DNA and the formation of the NHS.

Set against the historical context of two world wars, technological advancements, government intervention and the creation of the welfare state this film incorporates the key topics for the syllabus.

It presents the information in a way were pupils are encouraged to find the links between the external factors affecting the population, and the medical breakthroughs it saw.

Narrated by actor and impressionist Duncan Wisbey, the pace is quick and tone irreverent, making it a fun but immersive classroom tool.

This is from the series: Medicine through time

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An engaging animated summary of medical progress during the 20th century to the present day. Suitable for Key stage 3, GCSE and National 4

# data[].attributes.headline
Chloroform and Carbolic Acid - James Simpson & Joseph Lister 

# data[].attributes.subject
Chloroform and Carbolic Acid - James Simpson & Joseph Lister 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Using authentic archival illustrations and images together with stories which perfectly illustrate the process of experimentation of the two scientists, this summary highlights their breakthrough discoveries on treating pain and infection.

Chloroform and carbolic acid are highlighted in context of medical progress whilst recognising their drawbacks and opposition.

Narrated by actor and impressionist Duncan Wisbey, the pace is quick, humourous and tone irreverent.

This is from the series: Medicine through time

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An engaging animated look at the work of medical pioneers, Lister and Simpson.Suitable for Key stage 3, GCSE and National 4

# data[].attributes.headline
Smallpox + Edward Jenner and John Hunter

# data[].attributes.subject
Smallpox + Edward Jenner and John Hunter

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
An engaging animated summary of medical progress in the 18th century; a time that saw doctors challenging the norm, the first ever vaccine and encouraged scientific training for surgeons.
Narrated by actor and impressionist Duncan Wisbey, the pace is quick and tone irreverent.

Using authentic archival illustrations and drawings the key figures focused on are Edward Jenner and John Hunter who both made major breakthroughs in observation, experimentation and immunology.

Key themes that directly affected progress during this period are explored such as the population rise in urban areas, more hospitals and institutions built by philanthropists, the gin craze and effect this had on people's well-being and as a result the government's growing interest in public health.

As a result, it immerses students in an effective and imaginative way.

This is from the series: Medicine through time

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
History KS3 / GCSE: 18th Century Medicine

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An engaging animated summary of medical progress in the 18th century. Suitable for Key stage 3, GCSE and National 4

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This film explores each pioneer's individual work and experimentation which lead to the greater understanding of the human body.

Using rich archive; authentic illustrations and original diagrams this film brings to life the work of these three Renaissance pioneers.

By contextualising Vesalius, Paré and Harvey with the then widely accepted teachings of Galen we see the evolution of ideas on anatomy and physiology and highlight how change occurred in medical thought.

Narrated by actor and impressionist Duncan Wisbey, the pace is quick and tone irreverent, ensuring it is an immersive and useful source for the classroom.

This is from the series: Medicine through time

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
History KS3 / GCSE: Vesalius, Paré and Harvey

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An engaging animated look at the work of medical pioneers Vesalius, Paré and Harvey. Suitable for Key stage 3, GCSE and National 4

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Using authentic archival photographs and illustrations this summary immerses pupils into accounts of pioneering experimentation.

Outlining key events that lead to the discovery and later mass production of penicillin; revisiting Pasteur's germ theory, we see a progression of medical understanding through overcoming specific problems such as the resistance of staphylococcus to magic bullet cures.

Seen alongside scientist's current battle with the resilience of MRSA against modern antibiotic treatments, this process of scientific discovery is linked to the present.

It also encourages pupils to pick out key factors which led to the mass production of antibiotics; such as chance, individual brilliance and advancements in technology.

Narrated by actor and impressionist Duncan Wisbey, the pace is quick, humourous and tone irreverent.

This is from the series: Medicine through time

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
History KS3 / GCSE: Fleming, Florey and Chain

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An engaging animated look at the work of medical pioneers, Fleming, Florey and Chain. Suitable for Key stage 3, GCSE and National 4

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
To see lot more of my documentaries videos online, Please visit - www.youtube.com/user/j0hnl0cker
or go to the main documentary website @ http://johnlocker.com/home/search/qs?searchkey=city

Revolutionary : Episode 02 ► http://j.mp/FilthyCities-Revolutionary
Industrial : Episode 03 ► http://j.mp/FilthyCities-Industrial

Dan Snow gets down and dirty in medieval grime to discover the hard way how the London we know was forged in the filth of the 14th century. State of the art computer-generated imagery (CGI) reveals London's streets as they were 700 years ago and Dan steps into the shoes of a medieval Londoner - wooden platforms designed to help him rise above the disgusting mess underfoot. He spends the night as a medieval muck-raker shifting a staggering six tonnes of excrement, and has a go at medieval butchery to find out what the authorities were up against. Plus, he examines the remains of a plague victim to discover how a catastrophic epidemic would help a new and cleaner London emerge from the muck of the past.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
To see lot more of my documentaries videos online, Please visit - www.youtube.com/user/j0hnl0cker or go to the main documentary website @ http://johnlocker.com/home/search/qs?searchkey=city Revolutionary : Episode 02 ► http://j.mp/FilthyCities-Revolutionary Industrial : Episode 03 ► http://j.mp/FilthyCities-Industrial Dan Snow gets down and dirty in medieval grime to discover the hard way how the London we know was forged in the filth of the 14th century.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Galen lived in Rome, 500 years after the Hippocratic doctors. By treating the Emperor, he became one of the most famous doctors in Rome. He carried out a public dissection of a pig to prove that Greek medicine was wrong to think the heart controlled the body. His theory of the body as a system dominated medicine for 1,400 years. However, he was held back by religious beliefs that said dissection was wrong. Instead, he went to gladiator school where he was able to study wounds and also searched for broken tombs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
BBC Two - History, Medicine through Time, The story of Galen in the Roman period

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A dramatisation of the Roman doctor Galen talking about his work and achievements.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Black Death - HD VERSION ("Hollaback Girl" by Gwen Sefani)