Anglo Saxon and Norman England: 3.1 Flashcards
The feudal system and the Church
1
Q
Name the 4 roles in the feudal system
A
- king
- tenant-in-chief
[] usually bishops, abbots and lords
[] similar to the position of earl in Anglo-Saxon England - under-tenant/vassal
- peasant
2
Q
Describe the role of the king in the feudal system
A
- owned all land
- gave (to tenants-in-chief/citizens):
[] land to tenants-in-chief to divvy up amongst their own followers
[] peace/law/protection
[] occasional tax concessions (exemption from tax), like in the case of the Marcher earldoms - received (from tenants-in-chief):
[] knight service
[] justice/criminal trials in baronial courts to keep control
[] tax
[] reliefs
3
Q
Describe the role of the tenants-in-chief in the feudal system
A
- gave (to vassals):
[] land
[] some other privileges, perhaps legally or financially - received (from vassals):
[] justice/criminal trials in manorial courts to keep control of the area
[] military service (to supply to king)
[] tax
[] reliefs
NOTE: some tenants-in chief could also be under-tenants tec. due to certain deals and could hold land in many different places
4
Q
Describe the role of the vassals in the feudal system
A
- gave (to peasants):
[] land to work and live on - received (from peasants):
[] RENT (not tax)
[] land service like farming etc. (could then reap the benefits of some of the crops and food produced by trading/selling/using etc.)
5
Q
Describe the four key roles of the tenants-in-chief
A
- military
[] provide knight service to the king, as well as more general military service
[] were expected to fight with William
[] were responsible for putting down rebellion on the lands that they held - social
[] were at the centre of land distribution, as they largely decided who got which lands
[] each barony (which is a large number of fiefs) had a baronial court; all those who owed knight service in the barony were expected to attend as the jury (NOTE: an example of continuity of Anglo-Saxon government) - economical
[] owed the king revenue and tax from all fiefs that they held, and were able to keep some of this money for themselves
[] NOTE: an example of the old Anglo-Saxon system being used; continuity - political
[] served on William’s royal council/Witan and gave him advice
[] were expected to provide food and shelter for William and his court when they toured the country
6
Q
Describe the importance of knight service in Norman England
A
- had to give 40 days of service a year to the king
[] NOTE: example of continuity from the Anglo-Saxons - often defended a tenant-in-chief’s property
- were essential to stamping out rebellion
- were the elite warrior class of Norman England
[] thus, they replaced thegns as the warrior class
[] many thegns moved to central Europe and became mercenaries - were often local lords of a manor and oversaw their manorial courts, however many were also poor and given only small lands, equivalent to the holdings of a peasant
7
Q
What is a fief ?
A
land held by a vassal, given by a tenant-in-chief; is part of a barony
8
Q
What is homage in terms of landholding under Norman rule ?
A
- public ceremony where an heir of land would demonstrate allegiance to William and swear oath to him
[] vital for increasing William’s control, as any landholders would have to be completely loyal to him before they inherited land and power
9
Q
What is a relief in terms of landholding under Norman rule ?
A
- a sum of money payed to the king in order to inherit and redeem lands left to one
[] William increased/decreased reliefs based on who was loyal to him or pleased him and who was rebellious; making a large relief that the chosen heir couldn’t pay off would then mean that William could seize and reallocate the land (incentive to stay loyal to William)
[] increased William’s control over rebellion and England across all groups of people
10
Q
What is forfeiture in terms of landholding under Norman rule ?
A
- when someone displeased William, committed an act of treason or rebelled, William could dispossess the landholder in question and reallocate the land as he pleased
[] this was an incentive for people to abide by William’s law and rule and stay on his good side
11
Q
What is labour service in terms of landholding under Norman rule ?
A
- working land/providing produce in return for the use of the land
[] applied to peasants renting land from vassals
[] made peasants dependent on vassals and eradicated the ceorl class
[] increased William’s control of the peasant Anglo-Saxons as they were less free to move around or displease their Norman vassals (could dispossess them and leave them with no land and no livelihood)
12
Q
Describe the social and governmental roles of the Church in England
A
- social:
[] kept detailed historical records, such as the Anglo Saxon Chronicle by monks
[] major landholder (distributed much land to others, gave tax/revenue and knight service to William)
[] responsible for asserting William’s legitimacy and authority as king during Church services, as well as passing on his messages or propaganda - governmental:
[] Church clerks issued writs and proclamations due to being literate (in Latin especially) and educated
[] Church clerks kept charge of the royal seal (represented William to the people, so this was important; many were rewarded by William via promotions in the Church)
[] were valued royal advisors due to being literate and educated
[] advised and helped devise new laws for William
[] archbishops like Lanfranc served as William’s regents
13
Q
Compare the roles of Stigand (Anglo-Saxon archbishop of Canterbury) and Lanfranc (Norman archbishop of Canterbury) in the Church
A
- Stigand only:
[] not the head of the English Church despite being an archbishop
[] was accused of simony (selling Church jobs)
[] was a pluralist (held multiple jobs in the Church, giving him more power)
[] got to his position as archbishop through his political alliance with Earl Godwin, who had forced Edward the Confessor to make him the archbishop of Canterbury - both:
[] charged with defence of the realm
[] were tenants-in-chief
[] were in charge of Church administration
[] were the king’s secretariat
[] both had legal expertise
[] both served on the Witan
[] both were royal representatives at times
[] were in charge of the king’s household/had partial charge
[] oversaw shire and hundred courts on their lands - Lanfranc only:
[] massive reform of the Church to separate politics from religion and to align more with the Pope’s policies for Catholic churches
[] head of the English Church
[] reintroduced Church-specific courts
[] revival of monasteries
[] rebuilding of the Church
[] Normanisation of the Church
[] reorganisation of the Church hierarchy
14
Q
Describe Lanfranc’s reforms of the English Church
A
- forbade simony
[] said that Church jobs should only be chosen by God (thus the king, as the king is anointed by God and viewed as God’s agent on Earth) - forbade pluralism
- enforced celibacy for all clergy
[] prior to this, English clergymen lived with the community and had families + sexual relations
[] allowed clergymen who were already married to stay married however - any court cases involving clergymen were to be tried in Church courts with a jury of clergymen, not normal courts
[] gave the Church a special place in the legal system - revival of monasteries + monastic values like piety, dedication to spiritual life etc.
- rural Anglo-Saxon cathedrals knocked down and rebuilt in strategically important market towns
[] gave increased control over an area to the bishop/archdeacon - followed the Pope in Rome and the Catholic Church’s reforms much more closely than before
- stopped praying to Celtic saints, only recognised Catholic
- increase in number of archdeacons (above parish priest but below bishop - enforced bishop’s decisions about church life in the diocese)
[] made it easier to control the powers of bishops etc. by splitting up the hierarchy into many different groups, similarly to how William increased his control by making earldoms smaller
15
Q
Describe Lanfranc’s Normanisation of the Church
A
- within 50 years from 1066, all Anglo-Saxon churches + cathedrals knocked down and rebuilt in the Norman architectural style
[] removal of Anglo-Saxon identity from religion and the switch to Norman increased acceptance of Norman rule and dissociated Anglo-Saxons from their culture before Norman times (missed it less -> didn’t rebel to reclaim culture) - after 1070, ALL important clergy replaced with Normans, apart from bishop Wulfstan
- Lanfranc brought his personal collection of legal documents to England to better understand the legal system and to help him devise laws for William
- English Church made to follow Norman customs
- William ultimately had control of the Church due to picking who was employed in which job etc.
16
Q
Why was William initially apprehensive about Lanfranc’s reforms to the Church ?
A
Papal law dictates that the Church leaders in any country should bear their ultimate allegiance to the Pope only, which technically challenged William’s authority
17
Q
Describe the major changes to Anglo-Saxon social roles under William
A
- ceorl class eradicated
[] only some in the north remained but very few - thegn class eradicated and replaced by knights and vassals
- slaves were all freed
[] Normans believed slavery was wrong, whilst it was simply commonplace to Anglo-Saxons - peasants became more dependent on lords
[] because of feudal system, as well as the lords’ increased demand for revenue from the lands meaning more work had to be done meaning less freedom meaning more dependency on lords for livelihood etc. - the powers of the aristocracy were reduced greatly from that of Anglo-Saxon earls (William had more control over the land they were allotted, how they used it, how the fyrd was levied and when, etc.) in order to give William more power and control
18
Q
Describe the major changes to trade under William
A
- increased trade with Normandy due to strong Norman links
- national trade rapidly increased
- Scandinavian trade broke off almost entirely under William
- Northumbria was pretty much useless economically and trade-wise under William due to the Harrying of the North, including York to an extent, which had previously been the most important trading city in England
19
Q
Why did William make changes to the roles in the social system, to the government and to England’s trade ?
A
To increase his control over England, to maintain Norman rule and to extract as much wealth/profit from England as possible to benefit Normandy
