history: anglo saxons

Question 1

why did the Northumbriansnot like tostig’s attempts of keeping out the scottish?

Answer 1

This is because when they invaded the earldom nothumbria he did nothing but agree to peace terms and this made the northumbrians very angry

Question 2

how did tostig abuse his power?

Answer 2

Tostig falsely accused people of crimes in order to fine and punish them

Question 3

What is another reason tostig abused his power?

Answer 3

he murder suporters of the northumbrian noble Gospatric - he did this because Gospatric threatned to tell king william about his crimes

Question 4

why did the northumbrians resent tostig?

Answer 4

he imposed southern ideas and customs on them and would speak differently to his people

Question 5

describe the king

Answer 5

he was the most powerful person in england - in charge of taxes and wealth - expected loyalty from people(there was an oath made by people at the age of 12)

Question 6

describe the earls

Answer 6

powerful land owners ruling over an ealrdom e.g wessex and mercia - benefits included collecting taxes to enhance wealth or even dominate the king’s decisions - they could be named the succesor

Question 7

describe the thegns

Answer 7

local landowners and knights(expected to be equipped for war if called upon by the king or earl) - had to potential to increase their status to earl if they owned land and were favorable to the king

Question 8

describe the peasant farmers

Answer 8

roughly 70% were peasants who rented small farms from local thegns - If a peasant had 5 hides of land( 1 hide = 120 acres) he could gain the status of a thegn

Question 9

describe the slaves

Answer 9

roughly 10% were slaves who could be bought or sold - sometimes peasants would sell themselves into slavery as desperate measures to feed their families

Question 10

what were the king’s main roles

Answer 10

defent the kingdom, defend the church and appoint it’s new leader

Question 11

what is the king’s weakness

Answer 11

he must maintain the support of the earls or they may rebel against him, (e.g earl godwin of wessex owned 1/3 of the land in england so was the king’s main rival)

Question 12

who were the witan

Answer 12

they were the king’s main advisors - met in a council - included nobles and bishops and helped the king to collect taxes and maintain order. Would decide the new king if there was no heir

Question 13

what was the witan’s weakness

Answer 13

The king may choose to reject the witan’s advice and decided when they met

Question 14

what were the earl’s main roles

Answer 14

the most powerful earldoms in engalnd were wessix, mercia, east anglia and northumbria - they were responsible for taxes, punishing criminals and building an army

Question 15

what was the earl’s weakness

Answer 15

earls still had to be fair to their people or would risk losing their land

Question 16

what were the two armies that earls would create

Answer 16

housecarls: were professional army elites soldiers(main army)
fyrd: were ordinary soldiers from the shire

Question 17

how were earldoms divided

Answer 17

they earldoms were divided into shires, then hundred, then hides.
40 shirereeves ran the shire
12 villages run by a reeve
1 hide was 120 acres of land

Question 18

describe one feature of anglo saxon society

Answer 18

It was built up in a heirachy - this meant everyone knew their roles and what was expected of them. Slaves and peasants were at the very bottom

Question 19

describe one feature of the anglo saxon legal system

Answer 19

one feature of the legal system was that it was highly sophisticated in law enforcement. For example shire - reeves enforced law at a local level

Question 20

describe one feature of the house of godwin

Answer 20

one feature was their military strength - Harold and his brother Tostig fought in wales in a series of battles and killed the king then sent his de-capitated head to king edward

Question 21

describe one feature of wessex

Answer 21

one feature was that it took up one third of england meaning whoever controlled wessex was very important - it was also on the south coast so they had the ability to trade across the channel

Question 22

describe one feature of the claim of william of normandy to the throne

Answer 22

one feature was that edward had promised william the throne in 1051 - he also had the support of the pope of his claim. This was significant as he was able to get many people to follow him as he had the pope’s support

Question 23

describe one feature of the uprising against earl Tostig in 1065

Answer 23

due to the relationship between earl totsig and king of scotland - when the scottish attacked northumbria tostig instead of retalliating allowed it and instead signed peace terms which made northumbrians very angry