GCSE Norman Booklet 3

Question 1

What is celibacy?

Answer 1

Not having sex or getting married

Question 2

Why were monks celibate?

Answer 2

Devoted their lives to God

Question 3

What is excommunication?

Answer 3

Not allowed to be part of the church

Question 4

Why was excommunication so serious?

Answer 4

If you couldn’t attend church then you could not go to heaven

Question 5

What is simony?

Answer 5

When positions in church were sold to people.

Question 6

What religion were most people in Norman England?

Answer 6

Catholic

Question 7

What was a tithe?

Answer 7

A 10% tax of your income or goods paid to the church

Question 8

How were new books created in Norman times?

Answer 8

They were copied by monks because there was no printing press until the 16th century

Question 9

What was nepotism?

Answer 9

Giving jobs to friends or relatives

Question 10

What was pluralism?

Answer 10

Having more than one job in the church at the same time

Question 11

What was the name of the corrupt archbishop of Canterbury who died in 1072?

Answer 11

Stigund

Question 12

What was the name of the archbishop of Canterbury who reformed the church?

Answer 12

Lanfranc

Question 13

What were Lanfranc’s reforms?

Answer 13

He replaced Saxon bishops with Normans, he rebuilt 2000 churchs and cathedrals, church land was divided into archdeaconaries and deanaries to increase church control, church courts increased their power and priests were not allowed to marry

Question 14

What were synods?

Answer 14

Church councils which met twice a year to increase their control over an area.

Question 15

What style were most Norman cathedrals built using?

Answer 15

Romanesque e.g. Durham Norwich and Gloucester

Question 16

How many new churches were built from 1070-1170?

Answer 16

2000

Question 17

What was a dioceses?

Answer 17

An area of land owned by the church

Question 18

What did the Council of Winchester decide in 1076?

Answer 18

Clergy (church people) could only be tried in a church court

Question 19

Why didn’t most peasants see a change in their religious experience under the Normans?

Answer 19

Parish priests remained mostly Saxon

Question 20

What was the Primacy of Canterbury?”

Answer 20

Lanfranc was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 1070 but he had a rival called, Thomas the Archbishop of York. Both men wanted to establish primacy (that they were the leader of the English church). Thomas of York had to go to Canterbury for Lanfranc to consecrate him (confirm his position as archbishop of York) but Lanfranc refused to do this unless Thomas swore loyalty to him – this would make Canterbury more important than York. In 1072 Thomas submitted to Lanfranc again under pressure from King William and Canterbury therefore became the most important religious position in the country.

Question 21

Why did the Normans build huge stone cathedrals?

Answer 21

Show their power, remind English they were defeated, help Norman kings go to heaven

Question 22

What was William II also known as?

Answer 22

William Rufus

Question 23

Who did William II exile for not helping him fights against rebels in 1088?

Answer 23

William of St Calais

Question 24

Why did William II appoint Anselm as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1093?

Answer 24

Lanfranc had died in 1089 and hadn’t been replaced as William II wanted to take all of Lanfranc’s land and power. William got ill and thought he was being punished so appointed Anselm to please God

Question 25

Why did Anselm upset William II?

Answer 25

Anselm wanted all lost lands returned to the bishopric to become the king’s spiritual advisor and for William to recognise Urban II as pope. By 1094 Anselm was preaching about the king’s lack of morality and that he kept stealing church land when bishops died.

Question 26

Why did William I fall out with Pope Gregory VII?

Answer 26

Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) was much more radical than Alexander and wanted to have much more control over the decisions of Europe’s kings. Gregory wanted English bishops to travel frequently to Rome but William didn’t want him interfering with his bishops. The Pope demanded that William swear fealty to him (which would mean the Pope was more important) but William refused.

Question 27

What did William I do to keep Pope Gregory II happy?

Answer 27

William did reintroduce Peter’s Pence a tax of 1d on every household paid to the Pope.

Question 28

Why did William II fall out with Pope Gregory VII?

Answer 28

Pope Gregory VII wanted to decide who would be the Archbishop of Canterbury but William II didn’t want interference from Rome (like his father).

Question 29

What was the investigature controversy?

Answer 29

Investiture is the practice of kings giving emblems of their office (rings and a staff) to new bishops. This implied that bishops depended on kings rather than the Pope for their spiritual power.The church opposed this principal but the problem arose because the king handed out land and if bishops refused to accept the power of a king the king would lose authority.

Question 30

Why did Henry I fall out with Archbishop Anselm?

Answer 30

Archbishop Anselm refused to swear homage to the king and was exiled in 1103 because he wanted to swear loyalty to the pope

Question 31

Why wasn't Henry I excommunicated?

Answer 31

Henry I was threatened with excommunication by Pope Paschal II (which would close all of the churches and dam the English to hell!) but an agreement was signed in 1107 known as the Concordat of London. Henry I gave up the right to choose bishops but these bishops could swear homage to the king before they were consecrated by the Pope.

Question 32

Why was the Concordat of London a good compromise between king and church?

Answer 32

This meant bishops would still have some loyalty to the king as well as gaining spiritual power from the Pope.

Question 33

Name two orders of monks?

Answer 33

Benedictine and Cluniacs

Question 34

What three vows did monks and nuns make?

Answer 34

Poverty – they had to give up all possessions. Chastity – they couldn’t get married and couldn’t have sex (celibacy). Obedience – had to obey the abbot/abbess and obey all the rules of the monastery.

Question 35

List three reasons why monasteries needed reforming by 1100?

Answer 35

Many religious people were worried that there was too much influence by secular people on religious orders.Benedictine monasteries for example were meant to grow all their own food but they needed land for this. Local lords often gave them land but only if they had influence over the monastery in return. Also many monks were ignoring the rules they were meant to live by an wore expensive clothes, ate meat, married and had children.

Question 36

Why did Normans built monasteries next to castles?

Answer 36

To show their power and military might was supported by God

Question 37

What happened to the number of monks and nuns between 1066-1135?

Answer 37

From 1066-1135 the number of monks and nuns increased from 1000 to 5000.

Question 38

What happened to the number of cathedrals between 1066-1135?

Answer 38

In 1066 there were 4 cathedrals with monasteries attached to them – Canterbury Winchester Worcester and Sherborne. By 1135 10 of England’s cathedrals had a monastery attached. There were 19 cathedrals in total.

Question 39

What happened to the number of religious houses between 1066-1135?

Answer 39

From 1066-1135 the number of religious houses (e.g. monasteries) increased from 60 to over 250.

Question 40

What happened to Anglo-Saxon abbots under the Normans?

Answer 40

In 1075 Archbishop Lanfranc held a council in London where 13 of the 21 abbots were Anglo-Saxon. By 108 only 3 Anglo-Saxon abbots remained.

Question 41

What happened in Glastonbury as a result of Lanfrancs reforms?

Answer 41

In 1083 Thursta the abbot of glastonbury introduced a new chant. The monks refused so Thurstan sent in knights to enforce the change. 3 monks were killed and 18 more injured

Question 42

What happened to language under the Normans?

Answer 42

Most peasants continued to speak Anglo-Saxon English and they were the majority of the population (approx. 90%!). Norman-French became the favoured language as Anglo-Saxon teachers were replaced by Normans. It became the most common language for the nobility middle classes and clerks. Whilst English did return as a language the Norman influence was huge. Roughly ¼ of English words come from the Norman-French.

Question 43

Why did Saxon English start to disappear?

Answer 43

English was no longer the written language of government and became obsolete in books. Orderic Vitalis (a monk who wrote a history of Europe) said that William I struggled to learn English and so didn’t feel it was necessary. Latin was the language of Norman government and the church. It was used by merchants around Europe as a universal language.