Anglo-Saxon England before 1066

1065

  • kingdom of England had only existed for 100 years, previously there were separate regions with separate rulers

  • English kings had strong, central control over their realm and it was divided into shires to make it easier to control

  • most shires had several burhs (fortified towns) where markets and trade were held

  • mints were set up to encourage trade and make taxation easier

  • under the law every persons life was given a cash value called ‘wergild’

  • the life of a ceorl was worth 160 shillings

  • the life of a thegn was worth 1200 shillings

  • the life of an earl was worth 4800 shillings

  • the life of a prince was worth 9000 shillings

  • the life of a king was worth 18000 shillings

  • a woman’s wergild was the same as a mans but it increased by fifty percent if she was pregnant

religion

the church was very important

  • the pagan Anglo-Saxons gradually converted to Christianity after 597AD

the English church used English while the European church usually used Latin

  • some villages didn’t has a village so they would worship around a stone cross

  • few could read so the bibles were only for the priests

  • the Pope doesn’t like/agree with the English saints

  • lots of people believe in charms and spells, even though the church doesn’t like it

  • the priests often say they eat and drink too much and are sexually immoral

Dunstan was a rich monk who became Archbishop of Canterbury in 960AD. he used his money to improve monasteries

  • ended corruption from the leaders

  • improved the education of monks, nuns and priests

  • forbade priests to marry

  • rebuilt churches, abbeys and monasteries

when he died he was made a saint when he died in 988. reforms did not continue because the vikings began raiding and the church did not recover.

in the eleventh century the church was corrupt

  • when Edward the Confessor (a devout Christian) became king he brought Norman priests to England

  • including, Robert of Jumieges (archbishop of Canterbury in 1051) who tried to reform the church but English priests resisted it

  • within a year, Harold Godwinson forced Edward to replace Robert with a new archbishop: Stigand

    • Stigand was not particularly religious and he cared more about the king than the church

    • he committed pluralism and simony and became very rich

    • the pope was unhappy about this

  • English clergy were poorly educated compared to Europe

culture

the Anglo-Saxons produced high quality art

  • engravings

  • jewels

  • the Alfred jewel featured high-quality enamel and intricate gold metalwork

few survived but some argue it was a golden age

they had rich and varied literature

  • Beowulf → set in Scandinavia

  • the Anglo-Saxon chronicle → a history starting with the Roman invasion

  • calendars

  • maps

  • poems

  • books about astronomy, grammar and medicine

buildings

  • most buildings were made with wood, clay and straw

    • fire and rot

  • some thegns had houses with two floors

  • the houses were beautifully decorated

  • some churches were made of stone

burh geats

there were royal burhs which were fortified towns but there were also smaller defended sites called burh-geats which showed the status of the thegns

  • e.g. Goltho in Lincolnshire

they were about the size of a football pitch, the were enclosed and contained the thegn’s house

  • wooden palisade

  • banks and ditches