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NORMANS > 1. england on the eve of conquest > Flashcards

1. england on the eve of conquest Flashcards

1
Q

how did english kings establish control?

A

land was divided into shires
-most shires had several royal ‘burhs’ (fortified towns that kept the local community safe)

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2
Q

how did kings of england support trade?

A

by setting up royal mints that produced coins with trusted purity & value

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3
Q

why was taxation in england more efficient than in other european states?

A

-the system of shires
-the steady supply of trusted coins

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4
Q

when did viking invaders return to england?

A

1013

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5
Q

between what years where there vikings & did this change anything in england?

A

-between 1014 and 1042

didn’t change much:
-they kept the system of shires, burhs and royal mints as it worked so well
-england was one of the wealthiest and most efficient states in eleventh century europe

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6
Q

the king

A

-owned more land than anyone else
-raised taxes to pay for the nation’s defences, burhs, roads and bridges (which encouraged trade)
-issued new laws
-responsible for justice in all courts of law
-was expected to be a fine warrior
-was responsible for the work of the church

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7
Q

who took the throne after the last of england‘s danish kings?

A

-edward the confessor (anglo-saxon) -never expected to become king -spent 25 years of his early life in france
-was no warrior
-when he became king in 1042, he concentrated his attention on church affairs and left most royal duties to his closest advisers

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8
Q

earls

A

-king’s chief advisers
-formed the witan, a group of advisers
-witan even helped decide who should take the throne when a king died
-couldn’t keep private armies but led the king’s ‘fyrd’ (armed forces) in times of war
-held shire courts twice a year

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9
Q

thegns

A

-roughly 5000
-high status came from land ownership (needed about 250 hectares of land as minimum)
-rhe richest one hundred might have direct contact with the king
-most just lived comfortably on their lands and carried out king’s work for him
-ran the local courts & collected taxes
-expected to fight for the king

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10
Q

ceorls

A

-most of england’s population
-some had special skills (carpenters, blacksmiths)
-most worked on the land (grew crops, kept animals & collected timber for building and firewood)
-richer lived in eastern shires (owned some land and a house of their own)
-most ceorls payed rent & did work for the thegn’s who’s land they lived on
-had to serve in the king’s ‘fyrd’ -expected to repair roads and bridges
-took part in local decision-making

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11
Q

what happened to ceorls by 1065?

A

they were far less independent than they had once been

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12
Q

thralls/slaves

A

-property of a master
-not free to seek work elsewhere
-could be branded or castrated
-10 per cent of the population
-in times of famine, parents might sell a child into slavery
-anyone born into slavery remained a thrall

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13
Q

rights of women

A

-right to own land and property (lost after 1066)
-right to leave a husband who committed adultery
-laws that set out fines for any sexual harassment of women

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14
Q

what do sermons from these times accuse gangs of men of doing?

A

buying women slaves, raping them and selling them on

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15
Q

higher status women =

A

ladies

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16
Q

what do the skeletons of low status anglo-saxon women suggest?

A

they must have done a lot of hard manual work such as churning butter, chopping wood and working in the fields at harvest time

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17
Q

double monasteries

A

-where monks and nuns lived,
worshipped and prayed alongside each other
-the women were in charge
-more or less ended by 1000

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18
Q

how much of land in england was owned by women in 1066?

A

-5%
-almost all these women were related to the earls

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19
Q

how often were cases of divorce in england?

A

very rare

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20
Q

what were women in charge of?

A

-their household stores and money
(did little work in the fields)

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21
Q

weregild

A

-value that depended on their social group
-if someone was killed, the person responsible would not be put to death if they could pay the correct ‘wergild’

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22
Q

values of weregild

A

king = 18,000 shillings
prince = 9,000 shillings
earl = 4,800 shillings
thegn = 1,200 shillings
ceorl = 160 shillings
thrall = no value

(value of a woman was exactly the same as the value of a man who had the same status in society|pregnant woman’s value increased by 50%)

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23
Q

alfred brooch

A

-found in somerset in 1693
-has ‘alfred had me worked’ engraved
-believed to have been attached to a wooden stick used to identify words & images in old manuscripts
-probably belonged to monastery

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24
Q

what does the alfred brooch tell us about the anglo saxons?

A

they were skilled in art

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25
Q

the fuller broach

A

-named after person who owned it
-made of silver
-represents the five senses

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26
Q

how do we know that anglo saxon england was famous for metalwork & engraving?

A

-one norman chronicler mentioned how foreign merchants travelled to england to buy works made by English craftsmen: he described english men as ‘outstandingly skilful in all the arts’

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27
Q

calendar

A

-written around the year 1000
-contains a map of the world, information about astronomy and a description of far off places called ‘marvels of the east’

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28
Q

what does the calendar tell us about anglo-saxons?

A

-they were interested in astrology
-they believed in myths & legends

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29
Q

beowulf

A

-poem over 3000 lines long
-set in scandinavia
-passed down orally
-still read today

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30
Q

anglo-saxon chronicle

A

-monks wrote a history of britain, beginning with arrival of julius caesar
-monks updated books till 12th century
-had many gaps & can be one-sided

31
Q

what does the anglo saxon chronicle tell us about anglo-saxons?

A

they had a growing sense of identity as a nation

32
Q

most anglo-saxon buildings

A

-made of wood, clay & straw
-rectangular
-single storey houses
-thatched roofs

33
Q

what houses did thegns live in?

A

larger houses with two floors

34
Q

how did archaeologists investigate viking houses although they have rotted away?

A

soil that built up inside usually in towns originally built by the romans was of a different colour from the surrounding area
-they show the shape and give some idea of the size of the building

35
Q

how do we know that the anglo-saxons build well with wood?

A

one eleventh-century writer praised a nunnery at in wiltshire
-he compared it with the temple of solomon that is described in the bible

36
Q

royal burhs

A

built all over england
-surrounded by walls to keep the local community safe from attack
-few were made from stone
-in most cases, the burh was defended by large earthworks of ditches and ramparts, with a strong wooden barrier

37
Q

how many castles were in england by 1065?

A

3, built by king edwards’s friends from normandy

38
Q

what was the only stone building that most anglo-saxons would ever enter?

A

churches

39
Q

how did many people still worship rather than going to churches?

A

they gathered around a stone cross

40
Q

what material were most churches first built in?

A

timber, then replaced with stone

41
Q

what were towers and church bells for in churches?

A

towers = place of protection for people, people stood on ground floors of towers for worship
church bell = called people to worship or have warnings

42
Q

westminster abbey

A

-few miles away from river thames
-edward payed for it to be built in a popular style from normandy though another abbey was less than 100m away
-longer & taller than any other anglo-saxon church
-made from carefully cut stone
-rounded arches

43
Q

why couldn’t edward attend the official opening of westminster abbey & when was it?

A

-opening = 28 dec 1065
-he was too sick & died soon the next year

44
Q

how many anglo saxons lived in towns?

A

10%
-usually had higher status & wealth than those in country

45
Q

what was a town?

A

a place with a defensive wall, a mint & a marketplace

46
Q

townhouses

A

-made of wattle & daub
-built on narrow plots
-built near river

47
Q

what was a similarity of towns & villages?

A

-there were animals inside towns
-there was grazing in fields outside walls

48
Q

farming in towns

A

-crops were grown in fields outside towns
-farming provided food for townspeople
-townspeople could sell their produce on market day

49
Q

what was sold in markets in towns?

A

-jewellry
-leather items
-wine from france
-pepper from asia
-fine cloth

50
Q

what were houses in villages made of + benefits & disadvantages

A

-wattle and daub
-homes were waterproof but needed frequent repair

51
Q

why were ploughs important for villages,

A

-they were essential for a making field ready to grow crops
-eight ideas were used to pull a plough

52
Q

what happened to villages without an earl’s personal estate within them?

A

they would be subject to visits and checks from the earl or his men

53
Q

animals in villages

A

-sheep for wool, meat & milk
-pigs, cows, chickens, geese
-all needed lots of land for pasture

54
Q

layout of houses in villages (+ animals)

A

-one large room with a fire in the centre, fire escaped through small hole in roof
-different zones for sleeping, cooking and sitting
-animals would be brought in in bad weather

55
Q

what did an earls personal estate include?

A

-a large wooden hall for entertaining & feeding
-bare earth floor
-walls decorated with tapestries
-earls valuable items on display

56
Q

what were landlords who lived near rivers often payed rent in?

A

eels (delicacy)

57
Q

what buildings did the earl have?

A

storehouses, guesthouses, workshops, stables, servants houses, bake house or kitchen, chapel, enclosures for animals, training area for soldiers

58
Q

how many houses were usually in villages and who were they owned by?

A

twelve or fifteen houses, owned by ceorls and peasants

59
Q

how did the roman catholic church grow in england?

A

-brought in AD597
-anglo saxons who were previously pagans became christian’s & adopted roman catholic traditions

60
Q

which type of christian tradition came in the north of england and who was it spread by?

A

-forms of worship that preferred to show elaborate patterns made up of interlaced bands
-spread by missionaries from ireland

61
Q

what language was the bible written in in england & what did this show about the church in england?

A

-parts of the Bible were often written in old English
-leaders of the Roman Catholic Church insisted that the bible should only ever be written in latin so that its accepted meaning should not get lost in translation
-it is a sign of the independence of the english church that monks continued to write bible extracts in the normal language of the people

62
Q

how did worship mostly work before the normans?

A

-people gathered to worship around large stone crosses, in these place they may have had a simple shelter but they had no permanent church
-some important church centres were quite remote and they served as a hub from which priests would visit outlying villages to lead the people in worship

63
Q

how did worship work after normans?

A

each village had its own stone church

64
Q

why did the pope complain that the english had too many saints?

A

they were often local people who were highly thought of after their deaths

65
Q

what behaviours of the english do sermons criticise?

A

-binge- drinking, over-eating and indulging in sex
-one sermon said that the success of the vikings’ invasion in 1013 was God’s punishment for the sins of the people of england
-sermons also criticised people for belief in witchcraft and spells

66
Q

who was st dunstan?

A

-a monk from somerset
-became archbishop of canterbury in AD960
-spent hours in prayer but also devoted himself to art
-generous and unselfish
-once, when a powerful anglo-saxon lady left dunstan a fortune, he spent it all on improving the monasteries of england

67
Q

which high standards did st dunstan set for the english church?

A

-he worked to end corruption and greed among church leaders
-he worked to improve the education and commitment of the priests, monks and nuns
-he insisted that priests should not marry
-he organised the rebuilding of many churches, abbeys and monasteries, often helped by donations from local thegns or earls who wanted the monks and nuns to pray for their souls

68
Q

what happened after st dunstan died in 988?

A

-english church leaders declared dunstan to be a saint
-they would probably have continued the church reforms of dunstan but, at the start of the eleventh century, england was again suffering from raids by vikings

69
Q

missed opportunity to reform the church during king edward’s reign

A

-edward brought norman priests to england when he became king
-one of these, became archbishop of canterbury in 1051 he set about improving the church, despite resistance from English priests
-in 1051-52 there was a power struggle in england
-godwin (earl of wessex) objected to the rising power of edward’s foreign-born friends and forced the king to replace robert with a new archbishop of canterbury (stigand)

70
Q

stigand’s background

A

-became a priest as a young man
-had efficient administration skills
-did little to try to improve the quality of the church or the priests

71
Q

problems with stigand

A

-accused of simony (selling church posts to highest bidder)
-pluralism (was bishop of winchester & archbishop of canterbury | refused to give up one position)

72
Q

why was stigand able to keep his position?

A

he had the support of harold godwinson, the earl of wessex

73
Q

pope & stigand

A

-in rome, the popewas deeply upset
-he insisted that stigand had to give up his post at winchester and come to rome for an official blessing
-stigand ignored him and stayed in england

74
Q

problems with priests

A

-poorly educated
-could marry

NORMANS (5 decks)

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