Anglo Saxons Flashcards
What was the Witan?
- shortened from Witanegomot, meaning “wise men”, it was a council which gave advice to the king
- In cases of doubt concerning the next king of England, the Witan was responsible for deciding who would take the crown
What did the Anglo Saxon population make up?
-Slaves; at the bottom, made 10% of population, were treated like objects
-Peasants; worked for the lord of the land or thegn, could be ordered to fight at any time, made up 70% of the population
Ceorls; made up 10% of the population, free men, owned small amount of land, had to fight if ordered
-Thegns; powerful land owners, were warriors and fought for the king, controlled shires and were responsible for collecting taxes and building roads and bridges, made up 1% of the population
-Earls; no more than 6 in the country, owned huge areas of land (Earldoms), made sure laws were obeyed on their land, raised men for the king’s army
king; most powerful man in England (or supposed to be), had to defend the country and pass good laws, and make sure his earls were impressing those laws on their earldoms
What was the Anglo Saxon legal system based upon?
- Each person had a price on their life (Wergild)
- This meant that if someone killed that person, their life price would have to be payed by the murderer to the deceased’s family (a fine)
- life price was based on their importance, for example, a Wergild for killing a nobleman was 300 shillings, while a ceorl was only 100 shillings
Why was Harold Godwin the most powerful man in England in 1065?
- His father had married Gytha, the daughter of a Danish Earl, which won him many allies
- He was very wealthy, his land supplying him with around £8500 a year compared to Edward’s meager £6000
- He owned a lot more land than even the king himself
- His sister, Edith, was married to Edward the Confessor
- He was a very powerful and experienced soldier, winning battles for the king, and even killing the welsh king himself in 1062. This earned him the title of “king’s deputy” and put him in charge of the king’s army
Who were the four claimants to the throne?
- Harold Godwinson; English, chosen by the Witan, claimed Edward promised him the throne on his deathbed, had been best man to the king (his sister married to him) and was more powerful than him
- Harald Hardrada; King of Norway, fearsome warrior, claimed he had entitlement to the throne, due to viking deals in relation to King Cnut, which if it had gone down that path, would have been handed to him
- Edgar Atheling; closest blood relative to Edward the Confessor, was only a young child so had no experience in running a country
- William, Duke of Normandy; was a tough feared military leader and had experience in ruling, claimed he was a distant cousin to Edward, claimed he was promised the throne by Harold on behalf of Edward when he went to France in 1064 and swore on holy relics, had the backing of the pope on his claim
What happened at Gate Fulford?
-Tostig had allied with Harald Hardrada and convinced him to launch an attack on England
-Due to Harold’s troops being in the south, awaiting William, he wasn’t expecting an invasion from the north
In mid-September, Hardrada positioned his troops on the north coast, and slaughtered Edwin and Morcars’ army, Edwin and Morcar fleeing the scene
What happened at Stamford Bridge?
- Hardrada was overconfident from his Gate Fulford, leaving much of his army and armor behind while marching southwards
- When he came face to face with Harold, he was shocked, the battle turning to hand-to-hand combat, and was defeated with an arrow to the windpipe
- The Norwegians kept on fighting under the orders of Tostig, until he was eventually killed, and the soldiers were so dispersed they could be picked off one by one
- Any remaining Norwegians fled and returned home, securing a victory for Harold
Why did Harold lose at Hastings?
- Norwegian invasion; 300 mile march made many soldiers tired, lost many trained housecarls in the fight leaving only fyrds left, the victory had a psychological affect on him and the soldiers making them overconfident
- Harold’s mistakes; he marched past the fortified burh of London and straight to Hastings, he didn’t wait for reinforcements, he brought all powerful nobles with him to the battle meaning there was no one to rebel and take the throne if he lost
- William’s tactics; he bated the Anglo Saxon soldiers down the hill using fake retreats to break up the shield wall, ultimately winning him the battle
What was the Submission of the Earls?
- 1066, he avoided London, where all the powerful Earls had appointed Edgar the new king of England, and went around it, pillaging other small towns and terrorizing villagers
- Out of fear, the Earls, one by one, went to William, and accepted that he was the new king of England, rejecting Edgar
- William now had the “support” of the nobles in England
What were the Marcher Earldoms?
-3 earldoms on the border of Wales
-were controlled by Norman nobles, friends of William
The Earls of these 3 earldoms, were more powerful than any ordinary earl; they could create laws, not pay tax to the king (thus becoming very wealthy), build markets whenever, and build castles wherever they wanted
-This allowed the problem of Wales to be solved, controlling the “Marcher” as it was called
What was the revolt of Edwin and Morcar?
- Happened in 1068, but very little rebellious activity took place
- Due to cruel Norman rule, the two most powerful English Earls fled London, to the north, to rise an army to start a rebellion against William
- When William marched north to sop it, Edwin and Morcar surrendered and the rebellion was disbanded
What did Edgar Atheling do to rebel?
-Edgar allied with King of Denmark, Swein and King of Scotland, Malcolm, to help him reclaim the throne
-1069, there was an outbreak in Durham, and in York, when the earl of Northumbria (Morcar) had been replaced with Robert Cumin. Robert Cumin and many Norman men were slaughtered by Anglo-Saxon citizens
-This riot, sparked many others around the country, and gained support to start an organised rebellion against the king, Edgar travelling down to join
-William marched up, and slaughtered everyone in York, to destroy the rebellion, and Edgar fled
When the Danes agreed to send troops over to England, Edgar met and once again traveled down to start a rebellion (the potential for the support of the Danish King had sparked more rebellions in York)
William yet again traveled up, nut it was a bust: Edgar fled to Scotland, and the Danes didn’t leave their boats
-William secure the victory
What was the Harrying of the North?
- It was when William destroyed everything from the Humber to the Tees
- All villages were destroyed, crops killed, livestock slaughtered
- Over 100,000 people were killed
- The Normans even ploughed salt into the land, so it could never be armed for years
- Any survivors were left to starve, many reverting to eating cats and even themselves, when migrating south (many died on the journey)
- This act was to prevent an invasion from Denmark, and to stop all the rebellions which were centering in the north
- After this, William had decided to replace all Anglo-Saxon Earls with Normans
- By 1085, there were virtually no Anglo-Saxons who owned any land. Earldoms were smaller, to make Earls less powerful, and William’s tactics were no longer gaining support, but ruling through fear by destroying whole villages, and building excessive amounts of castles
What was Trial by Ordeal?
- the accused person would either:
1. choose water; this meant that they’d be dropped into water (pond), and if they sank, they were innocent, but if they floated, the water had rejected them (water seen as pure) so were guilty (had to either pay the wergild, or had a death penalty)
2. choose iron; this meant they would have to grasp a red hot iron and if after three days, it had healed (by God), they were innocent, if not they were guilty (and considering the hygiene in those days, many would not heal)
What was Danelaw?
-The area of Northumbria that was settled by vikings
