Anglo-Saxons and Norman England.

anglo saxon social system

Anglo Saxon society was hierarchal, arranged in a clear order of status. the arrangment was :

kings: defended his country, and pass laws and make sure they were obeyed.

earls: 6 of them, kings advisers- enforced laws and raised men for army

thegns: made laws, not as powerful as earls, warriors who defended the king. the king also granted them land for their serviced

ceorls: owned a small area of farmland. all male ceorls had to serve in the army.

slaves: had to work for lords 3 days a week, mainly did a lot of farming

peasants: no freedom, no land, master dictated their entire lives.

however a person could buy their way into having a higher status.

monarchy and central government

the king was the head of the government and took all the important decisions. he had roles like defending his country and his people from attack which meant he had an army. he also defended the church and appointed the churches leaders.

local government and the earls

it was well organized and advanced. the very top government consisted of earls, the most powerful land owners that there were. the king was the centre of the government so he had his administrations who were known as ‘central government’

legal system

the legal system was violent and religious. there was many things included in the legal system such as wergild: fine paid for victims of crimes.

death penalties: a small number of serious crimes resulted in this.

community watch: small communities looked out for eachothers behaviour, if someone committed a crime, others would report it.

village life

villages were filled with poverty and were small and simple. in the villages, the church was the most important building. Earls had a personal estate. Most villages had 12-15 houses and there were millions of animals like pigs, cows, chickens and geese.

town life

town life was very localised, every knew everyone. 10% of people lived in towns, houses were built the same as villages however those who lived in towns had higher status and more money

the economy

peasants were farmers using their plots of land to grow crops. some people also made a little extra money by swapping with other things, exchange economy.

the church

the church was very religious, powerful and wealthy. the church was rich and played an important part in the government and everyday life.

how was anglo-saxon england organised?

earldoms: 4 main earldoms, land controlled by earls who made sure that crimes were sorted and there was no rebellion.

shires: a shire was a self division of an earldom. The earldom contained a local Thegn sheriff who collected fines and taxes.

Hundred: were sub divisions of shires. hundreds each contained 12 villages, each hundred has its own reeve.

villages:(self explainitory)

how was authority obtained in the church?

there were 15 bishops and they each lived in a village called a diocese owned by the church. the church owned 25% of england land where they built monasteries which houses for monks.

how was authority maintained by the king

the king defends his country from attack, passes good laws and made sure they were obeyed. he defended the church and appointed the churches leaders. the king was the only person who had the power to settle disputes between nobles.

how was authority mainainted by the witan

when the kings needed advice on important issue they called on a meeting known as the witangemot. the witan didn’t have regular meetings or memberships. the witans most powerful role was debate about would would be the next king.

how was authority maintained by the earls

they owned such large areas. they had to ensure that there was no crime or rebellions. earls had to raise armies so they were ready for defence.

how was authority maintained by the legal system?

wergild was a fine paid to the victims of a crime or to the families as compensation. a small number of serious crimes carried the death penalty such as treason against the king or betraying your lord. if a crime was comitted the victim or witness was expected to raise the ‘hugh and cry’ to hunt down a criminal.

how was authority mainrained by the local government

sherrif’s were assigned in every single shire, they collected taxes and fines, carries out justice in the kings court, raise soldiers for royal army. each hundred had its own reeve who held a hundred court each month to deal with less serious crimes.

houses and towns and villages

houses in both towns and villages were built the exact same. they had a fire in the centre of a room.

there were zones for sitting and cooking. animals would also home in those houses in the colder months.

houses were made out of wattle and daub (sticks , twigs or reads, daub was a wetsoil, clay, sand ,animal dung and straw mixture used to make cement.

houses needed frequent repair but were waterproof