Normanisation Flashcards
What was the kings place in the feudal system?
Owned all the land in England and gave it to the tenants in chief (his best supporters) who held his land but did not own it themselves
What was the tenants in chief’s place in the feudal system?
Agreed to bring men to fight for the king forty days a year, the more land he had the more men he brought, they gave enough land (villages) to the knights to pay for his warhorse, armour, weapons
What was the knights place in the feudal system?
Military/knight service for their lord (tenant in chief), gave most of land in their villages to local people so they could grow their own food but the land they kept themselves was called the demesne, did not farm land themselves this was the job of peasants
What was the role of villeins in the feudal system?
Not free to travel work wherever they wanted, tied to the land of their local lord
How did the feudal system help William keep control over England? 5 points
Based on the idea William was the only landowner in England, up to William to give away feifs (grants of land), the system meant the every group was controlled, everyone owed loyalty to the group above them, everyone had to be loyal to William or lost their land
Give 5 points about the society which might make Earls rebel
William reduced their power, reduced earldoms in size, increased power of sheriffs who answered directly to the king to keep a watch on Earls, threatened earls with forfeiture (confiscating land), had to pay tax to William from land revenues
Give 4 points about the society which might make Earls happy
Important military role as they has to lead their knights into battle when William asked, important in hierarchy as William trusted them, political role as they served as royal councillors, important social role as they sorted disputes over land
Give 1 point about the society which might make knights rebel
Some knights did not have much more land to farm than the peasants
Give 3 points about the society which might make knights happy
Important duty of 40 days of Knight service, equipped and given money to live on, some knights were asked to guard the kings castle within their 40 days of service
Give 2 points about the society which might make thegns rebel
Thegns were wiped out as a land owning class and were replaced by knights so some previously powerful thegns were reduced to the status of peasants, in 1066 there was 5000 thegns who owned land and they lost almost all of their land by 1085
Give 2 points about the society which might make ceorls rebel
No freedom to move place to place, required to stay with their lord
Give 1 point about the society which might make salves happy
In Anglo Saxon society 10% of people had been slaves but Normans thought this was wrong and wasn’t needed so many were set free
Give 6 points about how Williams power changes due to the feudal system
William could call an army whenever he needed and didn’t need to pay, knights were expensive to train and equip but the feudal system made it so that William received their service in turn for grants of land, controlled nobles by rewarding with grants of land or punishing with forfeiture, made extra money by taxing nobles wanting to inherit land though a tax called relief, Normans became the aristocracy of England (richest most powerful people)
Give 6 points about how Normans influenced culture
French words became popular in England as neither the king nor most nobles spoke English, Latin became the language for official documents, English only spoken by ordinary people and rarely written down, Norman nobles showed off wealth by building large structures using new building techniques, Anglo Saxon churches knocked down and built in a Norman style, chivalry became popular
Define chivalry
Moral code about how knights should behave. Based on the idea of showing mercy, protecting the weak but also glorified violence
