KNOWLEDGE ORGANISER: BOOK 1, UNIT 1, ‘ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND’

Question 1

In what year did the Roman army abandon Britain?

Answer 1

410 AD

Question 2

What was the dominant population of Britain before the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons?

Answer 2

Celts

Question 3

What country did the Anglo-Saxons come from?

Answer 3

Germany

Question 4

What major skill did the Romans have, but the Anglo-Saxons lack, which means there is little evidence from this period?

Answer 4

Ability to read and write (literacy)

Question 5

What term is sometimes used to describe the years that followed the fall of the Roman Empire?

Answer 5

Dark Ages

Question 6

In what sort of communities did the early Anglo-Saxons choose to live?

Answer 6

Villages and small farming communities

Question 7

What object, which signified power and wealth, did the Anglo-Saxons use to fasten their clothing?

Answer 7

Gold brooch

Question 8

Which Anglo-Saxon ship burial site from the 7th century was found in 1939?

Answer 8

Sutton Hoo

Question 9

What was the most famous object to be found in this 7th century ship burial?

Answer 9

Helmet

Question 10

What do you call someone who examines objects and locations from the past, often through excavation?

Answer 10

Archaeologist

Question 11

Name three of the kingdoms that made up Anglo-Saxon Britain?

Answer 11

(three from) Sussex, Wessex, Essex, Kent, East Anglia, Mercia and Northumbria

Question 12

Which two counties in England are named after the Anglo-Saxon for northern and southern ‘people’?

Answer 12

Norfolk and Suffolk

Question 13

What term is used to describe someone who believes in many different gods?

Answer 13

Pagan

Question 14

From where do four of the English days of the week, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, get their names?

Answer 14

Anglo-Saxon Gods

Question 15

Who converted the Anglo-Saxon King of Kent to Christianity and became the first Archbishop of Canterbury?

Answer 15

Augustine

Question 16

What country did the monk Aiden, who brought Christianity to Northumbria, come from?

Answer 16

Ireland

Question 17

What are the richly decorated religious manuscripts from the medieval period called?

Answer 17

Illumination

Question 18

What material, made from the skin of sheep and calves, was used for manuscripts before the invention of paper?

Answer 18

Vellum

Question 19

Which English monk completed the first history of England in 731?

Answer 19

Bede

Question 20

Which king of Mercia built a 149-mile long earthwork between England and Wales?

Answer 20

King Offa

Question 21

Where did one of the first recorded Viking attacks on English soil take place in 793?

Answer 21

Lindisfarne

Question 22

What type of buildings did Viking raiders target for their gold and treasures?

Answer 22

Monasteries

Question 23

What part of Europe did the Vikings originally come from?

Answer 23

Scandinavia

Question 24

What name is given to the Viking ships that combined oars and sails?

Answer 24

Longboat

Question 25

How far east and west did Vikings travel?

Answer 25

East to Russia, and west to Canada

Question 26

What was a large sum of money, given to Vikings to prevent further invasions, called?

Answer 26

Danegeld

Question 27

What large Viking force invaded and settled England from 865 onwards?

Answer 27

Great Heathen Army

Question 28

What did Viking warriors name their heaven?

Answer 28

Valhalla

Question 29

What city was the centre of Viking power in England?

Answer 29

Jorvik (York)

Question 30

What Viking method for killing their enemies involved ripping out the victim’s lungs?

Answer 30

Blood Eagle

Question 31

Of which Anglo-Saxon kingdom did Alfred the Great become king in 871 AD?

Answer 31

Wessex

Question 32

Which Viking king did Alfred defend his kingdom against, and eventually defeat?

Answer 32

King Guthrum

Question 33

When Alfred went into hiding in Somerset, what was the landscape like?

Answer 33

Marshes/swamp

Question 34

At what battle did Alfred the Great defeat the ‘Great Heathen Army’?

Answer 34

The Battle of Edington

Question 35

What name was given to the territory given over to Viking rule by Alfred?

Answer 35

Danelaw

Question 36

What were the fortified towns that Alfred built across Wessex called?

Answer 36

Burhs

Question 37

What part time Anglo-Saxon army, called to fight at times of war, did Alfred organise?

Answer 37

Fyrd

Question 38

What language did Alfred learn at around the age of 40?

Answer 38

Latin

Question 39

What contemporary record of English history began during Alfred’s reign?

Answer 39

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

Question 40

In what year did Alfred the Great die?

Answer 40

899

Question 41

Which of Alfred the Great’s children helped to win Mercia back from the Vikings?

Answer 41

Æthelflæd

Question 42

After the death of her husband, what name was given to Alfred the Great’s daughter?

Answer 42

Lady of the Mercians

Question 43

Which Anglo-Saxon king unified England as a single country?

Answer 43

Æthelstan

Question 44

Victory at what battle in 937 confirmed Anglo-Saxon rule of all England?

Answer 44

The Battle of Brunanburh

Question 45

What name was given to the collection of Anglo-Saxon noblemen and clergymen who advised the king?

Answer 45

Witan

Question 46

What did Anglo-Saxon kings send throughout their kingdom to ensure their rule was followed?

Answer 46

Royal Charters

Question 47

What were the individual counties that the Anglo-Saxons divided England into called?

Answer 47

Shires

Question 48

What noble title did the Anglo-Saxons use to describe the ruler of a county?

Answer 48

Earl

Question 49

Which Viking king of England was famously unable to hold back the tide?

Answer 49

King Canute

Question 50

How much money did this Viking king pay to ensure that his own army returned to Denmark?

Answer 50

£90 000

Question 51

When did the Roman Army leaves Britain?

Answer 51

410

Question 52

When was the Vikings attack the monastery on Lindisfarne?

Answer 52

793

Question 53

When did Alfred the Great die?

Answer 53

899

Question 54

When did the Angles and Saxons arrive in England?

Answer 54

600

Question 55

When was the invasion of the ‘Great Heathen Army’?

Answer 55

865

Question 56

When was Æthelstan’s victory at the Battle of Brunanburh?

Answer 56

937

Question 57

When did Augustine arrive in England?

Answer 57

597

Question 58

When was Alfred the Great crowned King of Wessex?

Answer 58

871

Question 59

When did the Viking ruler Canute become King of England?

Answer 59

1016

Question 60

When did Bede complete the Ecclesiastical History?

Answer 60

731

Question 61

When was Alfred the Great’s victory at the Battle of Edington?

Answer 61

878