history: anglo saxons Flashcards
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why did the Northumbriansnot like tostig’s attempts of keeping out the scottish?
This is because when they invaded the earldom nothumbria he did nothing but agree to peace terms and this made the northumbrians very angry
how did tostig abuse his power?
Tostig falsely accused people of crimes in order to fine and punish them
What is another reason tostig abused his power?
he murder suporters of the northumbrian noble Gospatric - he did this because Gospatric threatned to tell king william about his crimes
why did the northumbrians resent tostig?
he imposed southern ideas and customs on them and would speak differently to his people
describe the king
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)
describe the earls
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
describe the thegns
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
describe the peasant farmers
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
describe the slaves
roughly 10% were slaves who could be bought or sold - sometimes peasants would sell themselves into slavery as desperate measures to feed their families
what were the king’s main roles
defent the kingdom, defend the church and appoint it’s new leader
what is the king’s weakness
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)
who were the witan
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
what was the witan’s weakness
The king may choose to reject the witan’s advice and decided when they met
what were the earl’s main roles
the most powerful earldoms in engalnd were wessix, mercia, east anglia and northumbria - they were responsible for taxes, punishing criminals and building an army
what was the earl’s weakness
earls still had to be fair to their people or would risk losing their land
what were the two armies that earls would create
housecarls: were professional army elites soldiers(main army)
fyrd: were ordinary soldiers from the shire
how were earldoms divided
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
describe one feature of anglo saxon society
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
describe one feature of the anglo saxon legal system
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
describe one feature of the house of godwin
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
describe one feature of wessex
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
describe one feature of the claim of william of normandy to the throne
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
describe one feature of the uprising against earl Tostig in 1065
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
