Exam Richard and John the first bit of revision list

Question 1

Nobles

Answer 1

Nobles varied greatly in wealth and the amount of land they held. Nobles would never do any physical work on the land. They were directly below the King in the feudal hierarchy .

Question 2

Barons

Answer 2

Leading nobles were known as barons. They were closest to the king and owned a superior amount of land than the rest of the nobility. The average income for a baron was £200 per year

Question 3

Knights

Answer 3

Usually knights were the younger sons of nobles who had not inherited their family title. There were around 4,500 knights in the country, varying greatly in wealth and power.

Question 4

Free men

Answer 4

A free man could be a merchant, a professional soldier, a craftsman or a farmer who was a free tenant. Both free tenants and merchants served on juries. Well-off merchant would earn around £20 per year while free tenants could hold between 30-100 acres of land from the local lord to whom they paid rent.

Question 5

Villeins

Answer 5

It is estimated that half of England’s population were unfree peasants (known as villeins). They worked on their lords land or for a free tenant. In return for this they were allowed to work a tiny piece of land for themselves, living off the crops they produced.

Question 6

Feudal Hierarchy

Answer 6

The way in which society was structured in the Middle Ages. This was based on gaining land from those above you in society in return for providing them with military service or labour.

Question 7

Minister

Answer 7

Servants of the king who carried out his wishes and command

Question 8

Agents

Answer 8

Men who served the king and helped to rule a specified area

Question 9

Duchy

Answer 9

Land controlled by a Duke

Question 10

Earldoms

Answer 10

The land ruled by an Earl, often but not always a county

Question 11

Justiciar

Answer 11

The king’s chief minister; the man who was in charge of government during the king’s absence from the kingdom

Question 12

Royal Demesne

Answer 12

Land controlled directly by the king, rather than land held from him by a tenant-in-chief

Question 13

Scutage

Answer 13

Money owed by a tenant-in-chief in place of sending a quota of knights to the King

Question 14

Knights service

Answer 14

The agreement by which a tenant promised to provide a number of knights to his lord in return for land. Tenants-in-chief (barons) held their land from the king by knight’s service and therefore had to provide knights for the king’s army

Question 15

Labour service

Answer 15

The services owed by an unfree tenant to his lord in return for land. This involved providing agricultural labour to the lord, often on a weekly basis.
. Free men akso had to help the lord at harvest time and with ploughing. this was also known as labour service. A free men had to pay the lord to use his mill to grind his corn into flour. Thye could not even bake their own bread-they had to use the lord’s ovens or pay his bakers. Some free men had to pay the lord a sum of money to take over their father’s lands.

Question 16

Military servic

Answer 16

The tenant-in-chief provided knights when a king raised an army. Some barons were allowed to pay money to the king instead of providing knights. This is the same as scutage, or shield money. Scutage was paid at a fixed rate according to the number of fiefs held by the tenant-in-chief. The more land you held the more money you paid.

Question 17

Fief

Answer 17

land held by a vassal in return for service to a lord

Question 18

Under-tenant

Answer 18

someone who held their fiefs directly from a tenant-in-chief

Question 19

Vassal

Answer 19

someone who held land from someone else in the feudal system

Question 20

tenant-in-chief

Answer 20

someone who held their fief directly from the king

Question 21

The duty that knights owed their lord in return for holding their land. As part of knights service, they would have to perform certain duties e.g.

Answer 21

To serve in the king’s army for at least 2 months at his own expense
To perform up to 40 days service in guarding the lord’s castle and in training
To help raise money to pay the ransom of his lord if he was captured in battle or in prison

Question 22

How was land distributed?

Answer 22

Land was distributed between the lords, the Church and the king. The barons (leading nobles in the country) held around 50% of the land. One baron owned hundreds of manors (land centred around one or more villages). Lesser nobles and knights held around 5% of the land and would have fewer manors. Land-holding nobles and knights had the title of lord. The church had around 25% to keep the Pope pleased and show respect for God, and would often be rented out to free men. The king kept around 20%. The king’s land is known as the royal demesne, and much of this land would be run by paid managers and also rented out to free men.

Question 23

The role of the Church in society

Answer 23

perform daily church services as well as things like batisms funerals and weddings . The clergy man’s role was to take care of the spiritual welfare of the people by making sure that they correctly followed the teachings of the church. But they were also an important part of the feudal system. The archibishops and bishops held land as vassals of the king and the Church owned about 20% of the land in England . This land could be taken away from the church, but churchmen were expected to perform dutires for it

Question 24

The role of the Church within government

Answer 24

first duty to perform church services. In addition important churchmen such as the archbishops , bishops and abbots had to supply a quota of knights for the king’s army
advise the King (only important church men)
act as clerics in baronial or royal households
ensure people correctly follow church teachings

Question 25

Why could the King and Church relationship be difficult :

Answer 25

the King expected the clergy to be loyal to him however the problem came if he came in conflict with the pope as the clergy regarded the pope as their supreme overlord. This made the relationship between King and Church very complicated. The King wanted the clergy to recognise his authority and obey his laws. he used clerical punishments like forfeiture against barons that opposed his law.

The Pope could use his weapons of interdict and excommunication if he believed a serious offence against the church had been committed.It made life very difficult for a king or leading baron if they were executed because it meant that they were no longer allowed to mix with christians.

Question 26

The nature of kingship

Answer 26

Rights of succession

In the 11th century the normans introduced the principle of promegeniture the idea that all the wealth and lands of a king were inherited by his oldest legitimate son
Despite this Richard was the first king in a hundred years to inherit the throne via promegeniture in previous reigns the heir to throne had been chosen by the king or the leading barons
However the uncertainty as to who ascended the throne could cause civil war

Question 27

Kingly 5 duties

Answer 27

-KNIGHT-
The king was in charge of the royal army. He led it into battle. He had to be a brave and successful soldier to win respect, land and to defend the country from the threat of invasion
People believed that kings had the duty to govern well.
-MANAGER-
The king made most of the key decisions, but he needed to appoint skilled people to help him run the country. He also needed to raise a lot of money to appear wealthy and powerful through the act of display. He would also need money when facing threats from other monarchs. He would need to raise an army which would require huge sums of money to equip the soldiers of his army.
-JUDGE-
The king had to settle disputes and punish people who broke the law. He put people on trial in his own court, or sent his judges around the country to settle cases for him.
-PRIEST-
Religion was an important part of everyone’s life. People believed that the king had been chosen by God to rule over them. They expected the king to protect, support and respect the Church
-GOVERNOR-
The king made the key decisions but he was expected to consult with his leading barons. A successful monarch needed to win the support of the barons by establishing law and order, communicating clearly and making them feel safe and secure

Question 28

Rights and rituals

Answer 28

The coronation ceremony:
Took place at Westminster Abbey. The king was lead by the clergy to the high alter where the deeply religious act of ‘anointing the king’ would happen. He was sanctified by ‘holy oil’. This ceremony was deeply symbolic of the part which God and his Church played in king-making in medieval England. It was only with the crowning of the king that God’s approval was unmistakable and royal acts were given authority. The king would also have to take a triple oath at the ceremony; to protect the church, to offer justice to all and to act with mercy

The act of homage: Those present at the coronation ceremony would swear homage to the king. The swearing of homage by his tenants-in-chief acknowledged the rights possessed by an English king-ultimately, that the king owned all the land in the kingdom

Key Terms- Rights Rituals and Display
The coronation ceremony
Took place at Westminster Abbey. The king was lead by the clergy to the high alter where the deeply religious act of ‘anointing the king’ would happen. He was sanctified by ‘holy oil’. This ceremony was deeply symbolic of the part which God and his Church played in king-making in medieval England. It was only with the crowning of the king that God’s approval was unmistakable and royal acts were given authority. The king would also have to take a triple oath at the ceremony; to protect the church, to offer justice to all and to act with mercy
The act of homage
Those present at the coronation ceremony would swear homage to the king. The swearing of homage by his tenants-in-chief acknowledged the rights possessed by an English king-ultimately, that the king owned all the land in the kingdom

Display
Important objects symbolised some of the key features of medieval kinship. Including: the orb, the sceptre, the ring and the sword.

Crown wearings:

Winchester at Easter
Gloucester at Christmas
Westminster at Whitsun

These public displays of kingship encouraged loyalty to the monarch as they reminded people of his power and authority

Question 29

Richard I as King; claim to the throne

Answer 29

In 1189 when Henry II died, Richard was his eldest surviving legitmat son. while the principle of primogeniture as mentioned earlier , had not yet been established as the sole reason for the succession of a king, Richard had an excellent claim to the throne.
Richardwas the favourite son of his mother ealnor and had been made duke of aquitaine in 1172

Question 30

How Richard’s character

Answer 30

Richard is often regarded as the model of a medieval king
At the time, he was seen as a great warrior who did his Christian duty by leading a crusade to the Holy Land
His personality, his success in battle and his charisma helped him to gain the loyalty of his subjects
Richard’s character was formed in Aquitaine where he spent much of his teenage years
As a young man Richard was deeply influenced by the code of chivalry which guided his training as a knight and his behaviour in battle
On the other hand, in spite of his love of chivalry he also had a practical view of warfare
He believed that problems could be solved by battle and he admired ruthlessness
Richard also had less attractive qualities: his time in Aquitaine made him arrogant and selfish, and on three occasions he had broken his feudal oath and rebelled against his father
Away from the battlefield, chivalry continued to play an important part in his behaviour
He developed chivalric ideas of courtly love, which is an idealised form of lover where men almost worship women in poetry and song
Richard’s enthusiasm for courtly love influenced the poetry and music that he wrote

Question 31

Richard securing power:

Answer 31

When was Richard coronated?
3rd september 1189
Why do you think Richard’s coronation is often described as ‘lavish’?
he appeared dressed into gold from head to toe
What event spoiled the coronation?
an attack on london’s jewish community
What 5 things did Richard do to secure his kingdom in order to leave it while he went on crusade?
-he made peace with the men who had fought with his father against him
- he appointed william long champ as his chancellor to manage the kingdom in his absence
- He appointed his half brother Geoffrey as Archbishop of york because richard feared that geofrey might seize the throne he made him an archbishop so that he couldn’t become king
- To appease his brother john and stop him from taking the throne he made him count of mortain in normandy and gave him lands in england . However he didnt give john control of any castles in case he tried to use them as military bases
-he banned geoffrey and john from england for 3 years to prevent rebellion

Question 32

John as a king

Answer 32

John was not expected to be king - in 1185 Henry sent John to extend control over Ireland. This was a failure and John was called home after 6 months as it was a failure.
John first plotted with Richard against his father then against Richard when he went on crusade. Richard forgave John and eventually named him as his heir and John became King in 1199.

Question 33

John claim to the throne, Arthur’s claim to the throne & the backing of his claim including Philip II and French nobles

Answer 33

John first plotted with Richard against his father then against Richard when he went on crusade. Richard forgave John and eventually named him as his heir and John became King in 1199.
Arthur (d.1204)
As the son of Geoffrey, Arthur felt he had a better claim to the throne then John because he was the son of the second son to Henry II rather than the 3rd son. Richard died and Arthur joined forces with Philip II and attacked John’s lands in France.
Philip invaded Normandy as soon as he heard of Richard’s death.
The backing of his claim to throne by Philip II and french nobles
Arthur swore homage to Philip - for some, Arthur held a better claim to the throne than John as he was the son of John’s older brother.
Brittany chose Arthur (son of John’s deceased elder brother, Geoffrey) as their new ruler, as did many powerful barons in Anjou, Maine and Touraine.