1066-1154 (randomised)

Question 1

There were two categories of peasant: which was the lower of these, and which was the higher, who had more rights?

Answer 1

Villeins were the lower category; freemen were the higher category.

Question 2

Which group, second from the top in the feudal system, comprised the people to whom William gave large areas of land in return for service which they would provide to him?

Answer 2

Nobles / Nobility

Question 3

No-one knew how the people of London might react to William’s coronation, so William posted guards on the abbey doors. What happened during the ceremony which made the guards think that William was in trouble?

Answer 3

There was a loud shout from inside, but in fact it was a shout of celebration e.g. ‘God save the King!’ rather than of protest.

Question 4

What was the name of the Saxon thegn who waged a sort of guerrilla campaign against the Normans from his base hiding out in the marshes of the Isle of Ely?

Answer 4

Hereward (later known as Hereward the Wake, because a local family called Wake tried to claim him as their ancestor)

Question 5

Which three types of people made up the nobility?

Answer 5

Clergy, Lords (and Ladies), and Barons

Question 6

What was the name of Henry I’s daughter, and what title was she known by (and why)?

Answer 6

Matilda, known as the Empress Matilda because she had been married to the Holy Roman Emperor

Question 7

Why did the question of who would succeed Henry I cause so many problems even though Henry had two sons and a daughter, which should have been more than enough heirs for the succession to be straightforward?

Answer 7

Henry and his two sons set out on ships from Normandy to England in 1120, and, although Henry’s ship crossed safely, the ship which had both princes on board (known as The White Ship) hit a rock and sank with no survivors.

Question 8

What was the name (either the five-letter short name or the nine-letter long name) of the Saxon court who in 1066 (and at other times) had the job of saying who was to be the next king?

Answer 8

The Witan (or Witenagemot)

Question 9

Starting from the top, what were the four levels in the feudal hierarchy?

Answer 9

King, Nobles, Knights, Peasants

Question 10

Who were the two most important English thegns still left alive after Hastings, who defied William and backed anyone who opposed him?

Answer 10

Edwin of Mercia and Morcar of Northumbria

Question 11

As the first stage in building a castle, the Normans forced all the locals to dig a huge great earthwork like a vast upside-down pudding bowl, which was called what?

Answer 11

A motte

Question 12

What was the name of Matilda’s cousin, whom lots of those barons who had sworn loyally to support Empress Matilda through thick and thin suddenly decided they preferred?

Answer 12

Stephen

Question 13

In which building did William’s coronation as King of England take place, and how was the choice of building intended to emphasise the apparent legitimacy of William’s succession to the throne?

Answer 13

Westminster Abbey, which had been founded by Edward the Confessor, and so holding the coronation there could be seen as a symbol showing that William was Edward’s heir.

Question 14

Where did the first invasion of 1066 come, and who invaded?

Answer 14

Yorkshire, where Harald Hardrada invaded with Tostig.

Question 15

What was the name of the book resulting from the survey which William sent his men out to conduct, which involved them visiting every single village in England and writing down exactly who owned what and how much?

Answer 15

Domesday Book

Question 16

What was the name of the hill occupied by the Saxon army at the start of the Battle of Hastings?

Answer 16

Senlac Hill

Question 17

What technically inaccurate name is given to the very long (70-metre) piece of embroidered linen which tells the story of William’s invasion of England and the Battle of Hastings from the Norman perspective?

Answer 17

The Bayeux Tapestry (inaccurate because it’s not really a tapestry)

Question 18

On which date did the coronation of William as King of England take place?

Answer 18

Christmas Day 1066

Question 19

Why might you have expected King Harold and his army to be exhausted ahead of the Battle at Hastings?

Answer 19

Because they’d had to march quickly up north to defeat the Vikings at the Battle of Stamford Bridge and then march quickly south again to meet the Norman invasion

Question 20

In which year, the year before William’s death, was Domesday Book finished?

Answer 20

1086

Question 21

When Harold forced Tostig to go into exile, where did he (Tostig) go?

Answer 21

Norway, to join Harald Hardrada

Question 22

How did William Rufus die, in circumstances which suggested either an accident or a contract killing?

Answer 22

He was shot with an arrow while he was out hunting in the New Forest one day

Question 23

To whom did Henry I’s daughter Matilda get married after the death of her first husband?

Answer 23

Count Geoffrey of Anjou

Question 24

Which building did William’s men set to work building as soon as he was crowned?

Answer 24

The Tower of London

Question 25

After his victory in his 1068-1069 campaign against Edgar the Aetheling and his allies, William led his army through the north of England destroying everything, a total ‘scorched earth’ policy which was given what name?

Answer 25

Harrying the North (or The Harrying of the North)

Question 26

What was the name of the French knight who killed William Rufus?

Answer 26

Walter Tyrrel

Question 27

What was the name of William’s brother, who was probably the person who had the tapestry made, and what position did he hold?

Answer 27

Odo, Bishop of Bayeux

Question 28

Which group, third from the top in the feudal system, received land from the nobles (in the level above them), and what service were they expected to provide?

Answer 28

Knights, who would form the army which would fight for the king

Question 29

What was the name of Harold Godwinsson’s brother, who had been Earl of Northumbria until his thegns (with the assistance of Harold) drove him out?

Answer 29

Tostig

Question 30

Which King of Scotland, who had previously been helped by the English to gain the Scottish throne, decided to help the English fight back when the Normans conquered England?

Answer 30

Malcolm III aka Malcolm Canmore

Question 31

What two things were the nobles expected to provide to the king in return for the land which he had given them?

Answer 31

An army, and money

Question 32

Since it wasn’t very long since the Danes had ruled England, they were still very interested in it and could be counted upon if there was a chance of helping put Edgar the AEtheling on the throne. What was the name of the King of Denmark?

Answer 32

King Svein

Question 33

Which son of William the Conqueror succeeded him as king?

Answer 33

William Rufus (aka William II)

Question 34

Just before the Normans set sail to invade England, a shooting star flew overhead. Why were the Normans alarmed by this, and how did William reassure them?

Answer 34

They were really scared that the star was a sign of bad luck, but William told them, yes, it was a sign of bad luck - for Harold.

Question 35

What is Harold Godwinsson reported to have said upon hearing of Harald Hardrada’s invasion?

Answer 35

‘So this Norwegian wants England, does he? I’ll give him a bit of England. Six feet of it.’

Question 36

Two consecutive sections of the Bayeux Tapestry seem to show which two harms befalling Harold, leading to his death?

Answer 36

An arrow from one of the Norman archers hits Harold in the eye, and then the Norman cavalry charged and Harold was cut down with a sword.

Question 37

Apart from forming part of the army (which is mentioned in British History for Dummies but not in the BBC Bitesize guide), what service did the peasants provide for those above them in the feudal system?

Answer 37

They did the actual work of farming etc. on the land, and paid rent to be allowed to do this

Question 38

Which was the largest and lowest group in medieval society, and approximately what percentage of the population did they make up?

Answer 38

Peasants, who made up over 90% of the population

Question 39

At which battle, one of the most impressive victories any Saxon king ever won, did Harold’s men kill Harald Hardrada and Tostig?

Answer 39

The Battle of Stamford Bridge

Question 40

After building a castle’s main fort on the top of the mound known as a motte, the Normans then built a smaller mound down at the bottom for all the horses and cattle and people who weren’t going to be based in the fortress itself, around which they put a strong wooden fence. What did they call this smaller mound?

Answer 40

A bailey

Question 41

Why was the Domesday Book so called, according to Richard FitzGerald, Treasurer of England?

Answer 41

‘Because it is not permissible to contradict its decisions, any more than it will be [to contradict] those of the Last Judgement.’

Question 42

There were four candidates to be king in 1066. Two of them were Harold Godwinsson (subsequently King Harold) and William Duke of Normandy (subsequently William the Conqueror). Who were the other two?

Answer 42

Edgar the Aetheling and Harald Hardrada, King of Norway

Question 43

Which of his brothers succeeded William Rufus as king?

Answer 43

Henry Beauclerc (aka Henry I)

Question 44

What were three reasons (one in terms of self-defence and two others in terms of harming the enemy) why it would have been most sensible for the Saxons to remain on top of Senlac Hill?

Answer 44

Self-defence: they could keep their shield wall firm. Harming the enemy: they could hurl whatever they wanted down at the Normans as they (the Normans) ran up at them (the Saxons); they could hack at anyone who managed to struggle to the top.

Question 45

As the Normans were coming ashore, William slipped and fell. When they saw their Duke losing his footing the moment he stepped on English soil, the Normans were bound to think, ‘Uh-oh, is that a bad sign?’ How did one of William’s quicker-thinking barons save the day?

Answer 45

He called out, ‘Looks like you’ve already grabbed England with your bare hands, sir!’ and William quickly grabbed a handful of sand and held it up triumphantly.

Question 46

Which one little bit of England, which in those days was marshland, ideal for a hideout, and was known as an ‘Isle’, held out against the Norman invader?

Answer 46

Ely

Question 47

In descending order of age, who were the three sons of William the Conqueror who all wanted to succeed him on the throne, what were their ‘nicknames’ and what did these nicknames mean?

Answer 47

Robert Curthose (meaning ‘shorty’), William Rufus (meaning ‘red-faced’) and Henry Beauclerc (meaning ‘the clever one’)

Question 48

What was the fatal mistake which the Saxons made at the Battle of Hastings?

Answer 48

Some of them broke out of the shield wall on the top of Senlac Hill and ran after the Normans, thus making them vulnerable to attack by the Normans at the bottom of the hill

Question 49

Which member of the Royal House of Wessex and direct descendant of Alfred the Great.threw his hat into the ring for the throne of England shortly after William the Conqueror’s accession?

Answer 49

Edgar the AEtheling

Question 50

What were the two main reasons why Matilda’s succession to the throne was not straightforward?

Answer 50

The Barons (even though Henry had got them to swear loyalty to Matilday) didn’t like the idea of having a queen rather than a king / Henry had quarrelled with Matilda’s husband, Geoffrey, and had specifically said that he should not inherit the throne (which made his wife’s inheritance of the throne inherently risky)