History Anglo Saxon Flashcards

Who did peasants work for?

The local thegn

What were Churls?

A type of peasant that had significantly more freedom and wealth and could move across the country and work for another lord if they wished

How many thegns were there by 1060

between 4000 and 5000

How important were thegns?

-They were aristocratic ruling and warrior class of the Anglo Saxon society

-They held a minimum of 5 hides of land

What tax did someone have to pay to become a thegn?

Heriot tax

Who were earls?

The most important members of the aristocratic ruling class who controlled large pieces of land on behalf of the king

What is an earldom?

The land ruled by an earl

What were the most important earldoms?

-Northumbria

-Mercia

-East Anglia

-Wessex

-Kent

What amount that was collected was given to earls?

What other roles did an earl have?

1/3

-Kept law and order in an earldom, acted as judges, fought in wars

Did Anglo Saxon society allow people to move between class levels?

Yes

How was class mobility demonstrated?

-If a churl had 5 hides of land and paid the heriot tax he could become a thegn

-If a thegn displayed loyalty to the king he could become an earl

What was the King’s peace?

The idea that the king would protect his people and in return he expected loyalty and support

What was the royal mint?

The place where coins were made which was controlled by the king in order to ensure no coins were forged

What other things did the king control?

Land-He could take it away and give it to others in return for military support

Army-He could raise an army at any point he wished

Tax-The king decided when tax should be paid

Who helped Edward get the position of King?

The earl of Wessex, Godwin

What did boys have to do at age 12 to show their loyalty to the king?

They swore an oath of loyalty on holy relics

What was a shire reeve?

A royal official that was responsible for a shire?

What did the Anglo Saxon people believe?

They believed they were chosen as God’s representatives on Earth as they were said to have been anointed by Christ

For what reasons was Edward’s power limited?

-He wasn’t a competent military leader which meant he relied on his earls which in turn gave them more power instead of him

-Earls had so much land it meant they were almost as wealthy as the king and so they could also raise an army large enough to rebel against the king

What was the Danelaw?

A part of England that kept its Viking culture and so had customs and beliefs that were separate from the latter and so if felt like Edward was trying to lead two kingdoms which caused conflict of ideas

Who were the Witan?

A group of people whose job it was to advise the king on any matter he was concerned on

-They also helped to decide the next king

What did the Earls have to do?

-They were tasked with collecting tax which heavily increased their wealth(given 1/3 of it)

-Oversaw justice and legal systems and so they could control and influence the way people lived

-Earls called on thegns in their earldom to fight for the king and had a group of elite bodyguards(housecarls)

Why did the local people trust their earl over the king?

He was a more visible form of power that people saw on a regular basis and so they felt they could come to him with their problems over the king who they barely saw

Did Earls have more power than the king?

No as the despite their power they were still ultimately under the king as they swore an oath of loyalty

-However, dependent on who was king the earls may step out of line and try and rebel if they had enough power

How did the Anglo Saxons separate themselves from the rest of Europe?

-They refused to follow the customs and traditions the pope put in place and focused on local saints

Who was the most important religious figure in Anglo Saxon society?

The Archbishop

Were bishops powerful?

Yes many were wealthy and served on the Witan

What was the issue with Archbishop Stigand

He was corrupt and didn’t try to improve the quality of life for priests but simply enjoyed the position of wealth he was offered

-Third richest man in England

How did the church control the people?

-Everyone in England was Christian and was fearful of hell and so the church used that fear to control them

-Only the church could read and write and so they could control what people listened to and so control their opinion

What was pluralism?

Having more than one religious role

What was simony?

The crime of purchasing a religious role

What percentage of tax did the church collect

10%

What was a buhr?

The fortified main town of each shire

Who was a shire reeve?

The king’s representative in local government

What was the job of a shire reeve?

-To collect revenue from the land in the shire

-collect geld tax(tax on land)

-To collect fines from shire courts

-To collect men for the fyrd

What was an earldom divided into?

What was a shire divided into?

What was a hundred divided into?

-A shire

-A hundred

-A tithing

What was a tithing?

a group of ten households

What was a hundred?

100 hides of land

What was collective responsibility?

What was Hue and Cry?

What was Wergild?

What was Trial by Ordeal?

-If one member of the tithing broke the law the rest were responsible

-Everyone in the community was expected to help catch the criminal

-Compensation paid to avoid blood feud

-When God was asked to judge cases where community courts could not

How many people lived in England in 1060?

How many were nobles out of that

How many were slaves?

2 million

4000-6000

9.7%

What were the features of Burhrs?

-People from the countryside would take refuge in a Buhr when Vikings were around

-Strong walls and ramparts made the towns difficult to attack by Viking raids

Why did England bring in a lot of money?

-The climate was very good for agriculture and keeping livestock which they could sell for a profit

-England had good trade links across the channel to Normandy and Flanders

-The efficient tax system boosted the earnings of the king and also the nobles and the church

What were ordinary priests like in Anglo Saxon society?

-They farmed like peasants and weren’t well educated

How did the House of Godwin increase its power?

-Earl Godwin’s daughter Edith married King Edward which meant that she was now part of the royal family and therefore had the potential to influence laws and customs

-Harold Godwinson married the sister of the Earl of Northumbria which gave him support from the north

-The Godwin’s had control of Wessex which was England’s main defence against attacks from foreign enemies making them all the more important

-The Godwin’s were Lords to many hundreds of thegns which meant they were able to collect tax from these thegns and use them in war

What were the events of Harold’s embassy to Normandy?

-King Edward sent Harold to Normandy to give a message to William

-Harold was ambushed Count guy of Ponthieu but William rescued him

-In return Harold swore a very serious oath to William

What is the significance of Harold’s embassy to Normandy?

-Shows that Harold was Edward’s right hand man and someone he trusted

-Normans used this to claim that Harold broke the oath between both him and William that he would allow William to become king of England in order to legitimise his claim to the throne

What happened when Edward feared an attack from the Welsh King Llewelyn?

Harold launched a surprise attack on him with Tostig in 1063 and killed the Welsh king placing 3 puppet kings in his place and established himself as Edward’s sub-regulus

What position did Tostig take up?

The Earl of Northumbria

Why did the people of Northumbria rebel against him?

Nationality-Northumbrians were used to being governed by Northerners but Tostig was a Southerner and didn’t understand their traditions and customs

Taxation-The Northumbrians were always used to paying lower taxes as the region was significantly poorer than other regions like Wessex where Tostig was from but when he came he increased it to the same rate as wessex

Abuse of power- He falsely accused people of crimes so he could take their money and land from them without dispute he also had a good relationship with Malcolm of Scotland and so allowed their attacks on Northumbria to go unpunished

Why didn’t Harold stand up for his brother Tostig?

To gain the Witan’s support and become king he had to show he was concerned with country’s needs and not his families needs and so used Tostig as stepping stone to him gaining power

When was Harold crowned King?

6 January 1066

What was Harold’s claim to the throne?

-Edward said he could be king on his deathbed

-It was backed by witnesses and he proved himself many times( he was sub-regulus)

What was Edgar the Aethling’s claim to the throne?

-He was Edward’s nephew and so was the natural heir

-Weak claim as he was to young

What was Harold Hadrada’’s claim to the throne?

-Based on a secret deal made between other Vikings

-Weak claim but Harold had lots of battle experience

What was William of Normandy’s claim to the throne

-He made an agreement with King Edward following Harold’s embassy to Normandy

-Had the backing of the pope

Who fought the battle of gate fulford?

Edwin and Morcar vs Tostig and Harold Hadrada

How did Harold Godwinson’s decision help Harold Hadrada win the battle of Gate Fulford

-When Harold Godwinson become king he placed the largest army England had ever seen on the south coast of England to defend it against attack from England and was forced to disband the fyrd after 40 days as William had failed to invade

What tactic did Harold Hadrada use to defeat Edwin and Morcar

The Flanking Tactic

How did the Flanking tactic defeat the English troops?

-As the English shield wall surged forward against Tostig’s weaker troops, Hardrada hit the English troops with his best warriors from the side

-This left thousands of english troops injured and making them unable to fight in the battle of Hastings

How did nature help Harold Hardrada win?

The English were positioned with marshy land behind them which meant that as they got attacked they were stuck in the mud so thousands of troops were injured

How did Harold respond to Edwin and Morcar’s defeat?

What was that battle called?

-He gathered an army to fight Hadrada and Tostig up north

-The battle of Stamford Bridge

How did Harold win the Battle of Stamford Bridge?

Having led a rapid march to the north, gathering troops along the way for 5 days walking 185 miles, Harold’s army surprised the Vikings who were waiting for hostages

-The strength of Harold Godwinson’s housecarls was superior to the now fatigued Vikings and they pushed through with their skill and determination

-The Vikings left their armour on their ships along with a third of their men so were unprepared for the attack

How was the battle of Stamford bridge significant?

-William invaded the south while Harold was in the north

-Harold had to travel south extremely fast with his already tired housecarls, thus decreasing his chances of winning

-Harold’s victory may have made him to underestimate the threat William poses

What day was the Battle of Hastings?

14 October 1066

How did the feigned retreat help William to win the Battle of Hastings?

The English shield wall was formidable and was unable to be penetrated by the Norman army so the Normans pretended to retreat which drew out the English soldiers the Normans were then able to attack the English without defence

How did William invading the Earldom Wessex help him to win the Battle of Hastings?

This was Harold’s home town and so Harold felt an obligation to protect it as he was controlled by his emotion hence he was drawn out of London which was heavily fortified and so gave William a better chance of winning

How did leadership help William win the Battle of Hastings?

-During the summer before the battle of Hasting William kept his soldiers disciplined and made sure they didn’t do anything rash like invading nearby villagers

-During the battle there was a rumour going round that William had died but he took of his helmet and told everyone he was alive which increased the morale of the army

How did William’s army help him to win the Battle of Hastings?

- highly trained, heavily-armoured mounted knights could launch devastating charges using their height advantage to beat down foes.

-The horses were specially bred and shipped over for the battle so they were of high quality

How did luck help William win the battle of Hastings?

-If he had invaded in the summer, as Harold expected him to, he would have fought an English army twice as large but the winds stopped William from crossing the channel.

-The same wind that brought Harald Hardrada from Norway to York also allowed William to cross from Normandy to Pevensey. This meant William landed unopposed and was able to rest his soldiers and even build a castle

How did the english army stop Harold from winning?

-The men of the fyrd who made up a majority of the army were very inexperienced and didn’t have formal weapons

-The fatigue from fighting the battle of stamford bridge and then having to travel up south to fight william would have lowered their moral

How did William establish his control after the Battle of Hastings?

William led his army on a brutal march through south-east England, destroying homes and farms. • Towns and villages were intimidated and surrendered. William led his army round London to Berkhamsted rather than attacking London directly.

Why did the earls submit to William?

-William had seized the royal treasury so Edgar Aethling had little to offer followers in the way of reward

-William’s march round London may have threatened to cut the city off from supplies.

-England’s best warriors died at the Battle of Hastings.

How did William reward his followers?

-He sent lavish gifts to the pope (probably from the English royal treasury

-He set a heavy geld tax, to pay his mercenaries

-He declared that all land in England belonged to him. He then granted land and earldoms to his followers

Why did William build marcher earldoms?

-To reward his followers who helped him like Hugh d’ Avranches who gave William 60 ships in 1066 and who he also made Earl of Chester

-To protect the borders as during Edward the confessors reign England had been continously under threat from attack by Wales so by creating the Marcher Earldoms he could strengthen the defence on the border and stop attacks

-To weaken the power of the centralised nobility like Edgar the Aethling and Edwin and Morcar by sharing power between other influential people

Give me the name of one Marcher Earldom

Hereford

What privileges were marcher earls given?

-They didn’t have to pay tax

-There sheriffs reported to them not the king

-could build castles

What were the features of motte and baily castles?

-A strong wooden tower called the keep provided a lookout point where archers could shoot from

-A palisade (strong fence) was made of solid timbers driven deep into the ground: it was strong and quick to build.

Why were castles important?

-They were located in strategically important places, for example, at river crossings. This made it easier to keep the local population (and any rebel activity) under surveillance. He built 500 at strategic locations

-The Normans built castles to control areas. When a town was overlooked by a Norman castle, it had a psychological impact on the locals: making them feel dominated as William built castles in Warwick and Nottingham to intimidate Edwin and Morcar in 1068

-To protect his barons from unhappy englishmen as each castle took 7-14 days to build and the barons had made 100 by 1086

How were buhrs different from castles?

-Burhs protected Anglo-Saxons; castles were built to control Anglo-Saxons.

When was the Edwin and Morcar revolt

1068

Why was Edwin’s resentment a cause of the revolt?

Edwin was unhappy because William promised Edwin he could marry his daughter but William went back on his word and also reduced the size of Edwin’s earldom.

Why were taxes a cause of the revolts?

William imposed a heavy geld tax in December 1066. He returned to Normandy in the spring of 1067, taking with him a lot of English treasure. It became clear to Anglo Saxon earls that William planned to take money from England to make Normandy and the Normans richer

Why was bad government a cause of the revolts?

It was reported that Odo of Bayeux and William FitzOsbern had seized land unlawfully and allowed soldiers to rape Anglo-Saxon women without punishment

Why were castles a cause of the revolts?

Castles were resented as being a symbol of Norman domination. Housing was cleared to build castles and people were forced to provide resources for the castle garrison.

What were the consequences of the revolt?

-Edgar Aethling’s escape to Scotland created a new centre of resistance to Norman control at Malcolm III’s court.

-William decided that he needed to put a Norman in charge of the north. The man he chose, Robert Cumin.

When were the rest of the revolts?

1069-71

What was the Robert Cumin rebellion?

After being betrayed by Gospatric in the 1068 rebellion, William chose a new Earl of northern Northumbria: Robert Cumin. Cumin violently attacked towns and villages as he went north, and a group of angry Northumbrians retaliated by killing him in Durham.

What was the uprising in York?

In 1069 a rebellion began in York and Edgar the Aethling came down from Scotland to join William put down the rebellion and Edgar escaped back to Scotland. William had a new castle built at York and put William FitzObern in charge of it

Why did William go to Winchester to celebrate easter?

Carrying out royal ceremonies was important for William to be seen as a ‘real’ king

What was the Anglo-Danish attack on York?

-In 1069 Edgar joined forces with a fleet sent by King Sweyn of Denmark

-Together they attacked York killing 3000 Normans

How did William respond to the Anglo Danish Attack?

-The rebels scattered when William arrived the Danes sailed to the swampy coast of Lincolnshire

-William tried hunting down the rebels but more rebellions were breaking out all over the country

What did William do to stop the rebellion?

He paid the Danes a large amount of money to leave and then started Harrying the North

What was the Rebellion at Ely with Hereward the Wake?

-In 1070 the Danes returned led by King Sweyn himself and set up on the Isle of Ely

-Sweyn made alliances with Hereward the Wake who wanted revenge for having his land taken away from him

-Together they raided Peterborough Abbey to stop the Normans getting its riches

-The Danes made of back to Denmark with the treasures while Morcar who helped Hereward was captured and imprisoned

Why did the rebellion fail?

-The Danes betrayed Hereward and Morcar

-William was decisive in putting competent allies in charge of places where rebellions arose and paying the Danes to leave before harrying the North to finally stamp out all rebellions

-The Normans bribed monks to show them the ways through the marshes which resulted in Ely’s capture

What was the Harrying of the North?

Why did he do it?

-When William brutally destroyed the North in order to stop the rebellions

-Revenge for the death of Cumin

-To stop rebellions in the North

-To end the Danelaw

What were the short term impacts of the Harrying of the North?

-100,000 people died and the region was devastated and people froze to death or starved

-Thousands of refuges fled the region

-People resorted to cannibalism

What were the long term impacts of the Harrying of the North?

-William’s troops salted the earth so that nothing could grow there in fact when the doomsday survey was made in 1086 60% of Yorkshire was still classed as waste

-Removing Anglo Danish people from the region reduced the chances of further invasions

-William replaced Anglo Saxon Nobles rather than win them over

Who were tenants in chief?

large landholders who held their land directly from the king

How much of England was held by Tenants in chief in 1087?

How many of the tenants in chief were Anglo Saxons?

How much of England did the king own?

How much did the Church own?

-190

-2

20%

-25%

How did the Tenants in Chief give William power?

-Had to give knight service showing Norman military control of England.

-Many tenants-in-chief had administrative responsibilities, such as managing local courts and ensuring the enforcement of the king’s laws.

-They held large areas of land which they granted to their sub-tenants thus creating a network of vassals they also held large areas of land like Robert of Mortain who held 797 manors