HISTORY FIELD NOTES / SOURCE-LINKED
Connect a conquest, a charter, an epidemic and a revolt. These four dates are anchors for estimating years, not a complete history of medieval England. This guide reveals dates that may appear in our independent Practice bank; return after playing if you prefer to avoid spoilers.
1066 / CONQUEST
On 14 October 1066, William of Normandy defeated King Harold's army at Hastings. A succession dispute led to the invasion and the battle. Use 1066 as an anchor for the Norman conquest, but distinguish the battle itself from the years of political change that followed.
Read the source: English Heritage, history of the battlefield
1215 / CHARTER
At Runnymede in June 1215, King John agreed to Magna Carta amid conflict with his barons. The charter belongs to a different dispute from the Norman invasion: it is 149 years after Hastings. Its original terms should be read in their medieval context rather than treated as a complete modern statement of universal rights.
1348 / EPIDEMIC
The Black Death reached England in 1348. It belongs more than a century after Magna Carta, not to the era of the Norman conquest. The National Archives describes the epidemic as part of life in fourteenth-century England. A clue about its arrival asks for a different milestone from the later changes that followed the epidemic.
Read the source: The National Archives, living in the 14th century
1381 / REVOLT
In the summer of 1381, people in England rose in what is known as the Peasants' Revolt. The movement included people from different occupations; its causes and demands were more complex than its familiar name suggests. The year is 33 years after the Black Death reached England.
TRY IT YOURSELF
Read the event names first, then try the questions before opening each answer. These are learning examples, not today’s Original Daily answers.
149 years: 1215 minus 1066.
The Black Death reached England in 1348; the revolt followed in 1381.
33 years: 1381 minus 1348. A year difference is a useful estimate, not a full explanation of cause and effect.
Hastings and Magna Carta also appear in this site's independent, source-linked Practice bank. Browse the library to find each entry and its source; these dates do not describe the separate Original Daily puzzle.
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