Theme 1 Info Notes

King’s Powers

Military - Commander of national army, sole right to raise army, duty of protection - internal and external threats

Religious - Divinely appointed, controlled running of church, appointed Bishops

Legal - Chief arbiter of justice, settled disputes between leading vassals, sole maker of laws and foreign and domestic policy

Economic - Right to mint coins, function to maintain currency’s integrity

Royal Household

Type - Itinerant, projected power geographically, royal treasure at Winchester

Compositon - Family, servants, priests

Bureaucracy - Chancery staffed by royal clerks, issued writs, administrative control function

Housecarls - Elite warriors, core of royal army, king’s bodyguard

Advisors - Leading men - Earls, Thegns, Archbishops etc

King’s Control

Yes - Centralised compared to France, king could use patronage and wealth, sense of a national cultural identity following defeat of vikings - Alfred rex Saxonum, grandson Aethlestan rex Anglorum

No - Government basic, itinerant without departments, limited capacity and authority in independant north, Edward never visited, collective power of Earls outweighed king, influence through Witan, sanctioning laws, approving appointments, settling disputes

Divisons of Governance

Earldoms:

Powers - Below only king, governed vast areas, Wessex, Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, autonomous - kept peace, exercised justice, raised armies

Limitations - Autonomous, not independant - couldn’t mint coins or hold own courts

Shires/Counties - Almost 40, royal sheriff who did the king’s will

Thegns - Landed gentry, 5,000, backbone of English society as warriors and administrators, supervised tax collection, judges in shire courts

Hundreds - Subdivision, villages, administered by reeves

Vills - Another subdivision, also reeves

Legal System

Courts:

Royal - King presided over serious charges of murder, rape, treason, arson, disputes between earls and thegns, King’s Peace - duty to keep people safe

Shire - Sheriff presided over significant cases such as theft, violence, land and family disputes, writs and charters read and discussed, met 2x yearly at Easter and Michaelmas

Hundred - Routine cases, lowest public court, dealt with local land disputes and law and order

Trials:

Oaths - Those of good character could swear on oath they were honest or bring in oath helpers

Ordeals - Judgement of God for criminal cases, cold water and hot iron

Laws

Edward - Exception to late Anglo-Saxon kings as made no new laws, relied on predecessors

Athlestan - Economic - All buying + selling must be done in trading centre, witnessed by Reeve, clamp down on stolen property esp cattle

Athlestan - Social - All freemen 12+ had to belong to tithing - 10 people, duty to police others behaviour, 2x yearly Sherrif had to tour shire to ensure correct function

Limitations - Not a coherant, uniform system countrywide, each region had own customs

Limitations - Canute - Law code - different laws in Wessex, Mercia and old Danelaw, in Northumbria lack of central authority made blood feuds part of daily life

Economy:

Silver Penny:

Usage - wide, trusted, 1 denomination, stable, 9m in circulation by 1066 however bartering still used in local trade

Royal influence - Bore king’s head as a symbol of royal authority

Royal Mints:

Production - Dies produced in London, cast by royally licensed moneyers, 60 mints by 1016

Foreign Coins - Illegal, had to be melted down and recast

Currency Maintenance -Every 5 years collected in and reminted, 15% value paid, maintained integrity and made profit for king

Urbanisation:

Causes - Stable political environment, settled population, well farmed hinterland

Examples - 10% population lived in towns, London 10,000, Norwich, Winchester, York 5,000-10,000, 112 towns, 6,000 watermills, thriving industries such as lead in Derbyshire, tin in Cornwall

Trading Centres:

Causes of Growth - Major towns from fortified Burhs, built by Alfred + successors against vikings, nowhere 30km+ from one in Wessex, planned from outset as places of living, trade, manufacture, shire admin centres and helped by law codes

Examples - Wood, leather footwear, clay, pottery, clothing, tools, salt, candles, streets named for butchers, goldsmiths, shoemakers, shieldmakers, tanners in Winchester

Overseas Trade:

Locations - Merchants from Scandinavia, Flanders, Rhineland, Normandy, France, Spain, tied into complex European trading system

Exports - Exceeded imports - cheese, ham, salt, meat, smoked herrings, leather, net importer of silver, favourable trade balance, wealth of thegns increased

Imports - Exotic spices and gems - Vikings opened trade routes from Constantinople

Coastal Towns:

Main ports - London, Norwich, York

Placement - Ideal for continental trade as inland on river esturies, shelter with sloping beach to haul boats, good communications inland

Taxation System:

Effectiveness - Geld easy to raise and manage, £6,000 per annum, emergency - 991 - 1012, £137,000 as Danegeld, short notice, vast amounts

Wealth creation - Edwards reign - Viking threat down so money could stay in hands of nobility, built lavish compounds, had purple cloth, opulent gifts in thegns’ wills