Norman Conquest - How Saintly Was Anglo-Saxon England?

Question 1

Worship and beliefs

Answer 1

• some gathered around stone crosses

Question 2

Ordinary people

Answer 2

• few could read
• gospels were for monks, priests, educated
• so hard to know what went on in the minds of ordinary people (majority)

Question 3

Parish Church Buildings

Answer 3

• Villages built timber and later stone buildings for worship
• Pulled down and replaced with larger stone churches, or new additions made
• Towers were built, served as a place for protection and had a church bell for warnings - ground floor, where worship took place
• had baptisteries for baptisms, and similar area for priests to lead worship
• preference for building in wood - decorative and structural
• not as artistic as Europe, bigger and used stone
• some built by thegns as a private chapel in 11th century

Question 4

Westminster Abbey

Answer 4

• with the help of Robert of Jumièges, King Edward paid for a new abbey to be built, as he built a palace here - built in style popular in Normandy
• cut stones and rounded arches
• last years of his reign, Edward spent time making it look splendid - effort to show Anglo-Saxon England was one of Europe’s greatest nations
• official opening on 28th December 1065 - Edward too ill to attend, died 1066
• little remains of the abbey as almost entirely rebuilt in the 1400s

Question 5

Archbishop Stigand

Answer 5

• served King and Earl Harold - didn’t try to improve church, kept influence as he was supported by the Earl of Wessex (Harold Godwinson)
• 1065 - Bishop of Winchester and Archbishop of Cantebury
• very rich land in 10 shires
• accused of simony - selling off church posts to the highest bidder
• became a priest as a young man - impressive skills of efficient administration
• Pope was upset
• ignored Pope and stayed in England after being asked to go for an official blessing
• sin of pluralism - wouldn’t give up

Question 6

English Church

Answer 6

• Roman Catholic Church came from Europe to England in AD 597 and Anglo-Saxons became Christians

Question 7

Wergild

Answer 7

• value of person based on rank in society
• women are valued in society - same as men’s
• woman’s wergild was 50% more than men’s if they were pregnant
• if you killed a King you would get 18000s

Question 8

Anglo Saxon Hierarchy

Answer 8

King
Earls
Thegns
Ceorls
Thralls

Question 9

Thralls

Answer 9

• enslaved people, couldn’t leave to go somewhere else

Question 10

Ceorls

Answer 10

• majority of England’s population
• can take part in courts
• owner houses and land but paid rent to a thegn and worked on his land
• grew crops and raised animals
• had to serve in King’s fyrd

Question 11

Thegns

Answer 11

• 5000
• ran local courts and collected taxes - helped King
• had to own 250 hectares of land

Question 12

Earls

Answer 12

• earls led the fyrd
• held shire courts twice a year
• rich and powerful

Question 13

King

Answer 13

• responsible for law courts and making laws with advisors
• work of church
• owned more land - raised taxes to pay for defence, roads, bridges, burhs

(Can move up hierarchy)

Question 14

England 1065

Answer 14

• Scotland was an independent country
• border region between Scotland and England was unsafe and unsettled - frequent raids were made into the each other’s land
• just over 100 years after defeating the Vikings
• people of the midlands were mainly Anglo-Saxons - settled after arriving from northern Germany in the fifth century
•overtime, they set up kingdoms such as Wessex in the South (Harold Godwinson)
• People of the North and East of England were a mix of AS and Vikings. The Viking’s came from Scandinavia and settled in these regions after about AD 850.
• Harold Godwinson - Cornwall had many of the ancient British people who had lived here until the Anglo Saxons arrived in the fifth century
• the Welsh are descended from the British who lived all over southern Britain until AS arrived
• Wales was independent until the 13th century

Question 15

History of the Normans

Answer 15

• they crushed rebellions brutally, but adopted the local language and customs of the people they ruled. By the early eleventh century, Normandy was one of the more stable parts of the Frankish kingdom.
• William made a very advantageous marriage to Matilda of Flandres - powerful neighbouring country
• Normandy was stable and wealthy until an eleventh century crisis led to William becoming Duke at the age of 8 but was too young to rule
• The Viking leader (Rollo) became a vassal of the Frankish king in 911. Over the next 100 years, the Normans had doubled their territory through conquest and marriage alliances
• no country called ‘France’ until the 13th century
• King or France ruled much of what is now France

Question 16

Social Structure of Normandy in 1065

Answer 16

• Norman society was based on the feudal system: powerful men held land for providing a service
• knights became part of the feudal system - swore loyalty to their duke or count and received land in return. This helped the ruler to control the land
• dukes and counts became the king’s vassal and were given land in return called a fief. This ‘land for loyalty’ arrangement is called the feudal system
• Norman knights sensed a chance and grabbed what land and power they could, leaving Normandy unstable. William had to learn who to trust.
• in 1047, a full scale revolt broke out. William took charge and persuaded the King of the Franks to help him crush the rebels. He was merciless and regained control of the duchy.

Question 17

Church - Normandy in 1065

Answer 17

• Normans became devout supporters of the Roman Catholic Church, and were at the forefront of Church reform. Monks and nuns were praised for their devotion and the quality of their teaching, as well as their religious art and music.
• Normandy led the way in Church reforms, and was praised for its piety and religious art and music
• Norman churches were larger and finer than those in Anglo Saxon England. Even in small towns, the churches were usually built from stone.
• the Viking settlers in Normandy were Pagan, but when Rollo became the vassal of the Frankish King, he converted to Christianity
• Normans favoured a style called Romanesque, with clean lines and elegant rounded arches in churches

Question 18

Military - Normandy in 1065

Answer 18

• Dukes and Counts began building private armies by giving their supporters weapons and armour. This was important because it meant they had full-time soldiers, not just troops to call on in times of war
• Most of the land was ruled on the King’s behalf by dukes or counts. They swore loyalty to the King, and promised to lend him their armies if necessary
• Norman knights protected their land with castles. They were not built with stone but with wood. The most common form was a motte and Bailey. These could be built at great speed and were strong fortresses
• invention of stirrup made cavalry possibles. Rider could charge and swing sword while still in the saddle
• french dukes and clung had their own armies, which gave them a lot of independence . They ruled their lands like small kingdoms

Question 19

What does The Fuller Brooch reveal about life in Anglo-Saxon England?

Answer 19

• Skill of craftsmen
• Appreciation of art and beauty
• Linking of art to human senses
• Love of design, symmetry, detail

Stolen by Vikings/Normans - little remains as decayed

Question 20

Alfred Jewel

Answer 20

• made 890
• age where fine objects could be produced for the wealthy
• used in monastery - importance of religious texts
• 180 years before Norman Conquest
• used for reading books and pointing to texts/manuscripts
• gold, emeralds and precious jewels
• ordered to be made by King Alfred

Question 21

Why does so little Anglo-Saxon art remain today?

Answer 21

• stolen by Vikings/Normans
• destroyed by Henry VIII - dissolved in 1350s

Question 22

What evidence do we have that the Anglo-Saxons were skilled craftsmen and women?

Answer 22

• chronicler at Evesham Abbey wrote that the abbot was a skilled craftsmen
• A Norman writer mentioned how foreign merchants travelled to England to buy fine objects
• skill of English nuns who embroidered Bayeaux tapestry

Question 23

Examples of how Anglo-Saxon literature was rich and varied

Answer 23

• Anglo Saxon chronicles - collection of yearly records of life throughout the Anglo-Saxon period
• Anglo-Saxon works of fiction, e.g. Beawolf
• Sermons and other Anglo-Saxon texts (poetry)

Question 24

Baerwolf

Answer 24

The most famous Anglo Saxon work of fiction is Baerwolf, which is set in Scandinavia. It was written down in the early Anglo-Saxon period, but was still very popular in the eleventh century.
• would have been read allowed

Question 25

Dunstan

Answer 25

Set high standards for the church
• ending corruption making leaders, improving education of monks, nuns and priest and forbidding priests to marry
• died in 988 - reforms not continued, because Vikings began raids

Question 26

How much of the population was enslaved?

Answer 26

10%

Question 27

Women

Answer 27

• Hilda of Whitby - abbess of the Whitby monastery
could have access to an education
• women had right to own and sell land without permission from husband/father