Normans Part 2 Flashcards
What is a Reeve?
- A peasant selected/ voted by the villagers to ensure everyone stuck to their work.
- Worked on behalf of the King
- Prestigious job
The Bailiff
Ensured everyone paid taxes and crops were gathered.
The Priest
Ran local church and ensured marriages, wills etc were legal. Centre of the community Couldn’t get into heaven without him Helped the sick Counselled locals
Miller
Produces grains to make bread. Bread then cooked in the lords oven.
Wharram Percy: Yorkshire Village
Doesn’t exist anymore
Archaeologists have learnt lots about Norman villages thanks to it.
Before 1066 it was a Saxon village: wooden church, a few peasant houses
After 1066: land went to a Norman family called the Percy’s, they helped develop it. They brought affluence- population grew, wealth can be seen - wooden houses replaced with stone.
Field System
Farmland divided into fields surrounded by hedges.
Pastoral and arable farming.
Peasants had to make enough food for themselves and to pay rent.
They made vegetables, grains and even beer.
What is fallow?
Some fields would be left empty in order to give the soil a year or two to recover.
Land Strips
Fields for crops were split into thin strips of land.
25% were given to the lord, the rest split between the peasants.
Each peasant was responsible for a certain number of land strips.
The Church in Norman times: Religion
Everyone went to the village church
If you could afford it you went on a pilgrimage, e.g. Lourdes or Jerusalem.
Local pilgrimages if you were poor.
People knew prayers off by heart.
Time off was for holy days: all saints day, Easter Sunday
You could buy ‘relics’ from the church and these would get you into heaven.
The Church in Norman times: Economics
Church is extremely wealthy
Major landowner
Church made peasants work on church land without pay, if they refused they would ‘go to hell’
Church also charged everyone a tax called the tithe. 10% of all the peasants produced that year.
The Church in Norman times: Politics (power)
Church was part of running the country
Two top religious figures in England: Archbishop of Canterbury and the archbishop of York - same as now
They and the top bishops and abbots would advise the King and help him run the country
The Church in Norman times: Education
The Church taught about Heaven and Hell:
Known as the sanctions of Heaven and Hell
They did this through ‘doom paintings’ as most people couldn’t read -illiterate.
Books written by hand, monks copied out all the scriptures/texts- the Church got to control what was published.
The Church in Norman times: The Law
The Church had their own courts
People were put on trial for ‘religious crimes’ e.g. giving false info to The Church, marrying a relative, or any crimes committed on Church land.
The Church could sentence people.
The Church in Norman times: Health
Health care came from the Church
Monks made natural medicines and ointments
Lack of modern understanding meant they didn’t understand what caused disease
Often illness was seen as a punishment from God so you should pray.
Pastoral Farming
Arable Farming
Cattle farming
Growing crops
Peasants houses
Walls made from ‘wattle and daub’ sticks and clay, even animal dung
Thatched roof (easily destroyed)
Animals brought into the house at night for safety and extra warmth - led to poor hygiene, caused health problems especially for youth and pregnant
No bathroom - bathed once a year
Manor 1
Specific area in village controlled by the Manor House
A group of peasants lived in the manor named freemen
The lord lived in the Manor House and ruled over the manor
How did the poorest peasants live? (Villages)
Villeins lives in houses around the lords manor.
They weren’t able to leave the area without the lords permission.
Small clusters of houses - several hundred people living together.
Most families lived and slept together in one room.
The Domesday Survey
Carried out in 1085
It was a survey of who owned what and how much that land cost, compared to 1066.
Took less than a year
Why was the Domesday survey carried out?
The Norman conquest had completely changed the ownership of land in England. Since 1066, people had died or land had been sold. Land disputes were common - the survey would help with these as it would reveal exactly who owned what and how that had changed since 1066.
Legal System - courts
The Kings court Shire courts Hundred courts Lords courts (introduced by the Normans) Manor courts
Trial by Battle
The accused and the accuser would fight and god would supposedly give great strength to the one in the right.
If a person died/yielded they were guilty.
Introduced by Normans
Showed their militaristic culture.
Oaths
People who knew the accused had to comment on the accused’s character.
To ensure they told the truth they had to swear on something holy
Paths were a continuation of Anglo-Saxon system
Trial by Ordeal
Cold Water: the water was blessed by the priest. People believed holy water would repel a sinner so the guilty would float and the innocent would sink.
Hot Iron: the accused carried a hot iron in their hand for 3 paces. The hand would be bound and inspected 3 days later. Infected would=guilty
Punishments: fines
Under Anglo-Saxon law, for more serious crimes, the freemen had a value priced on their life, ‘Wergild’ (man price) and this was paid to the family of the victim.
For less serious crimes, the guilty person would pay compensation to the victim.
Punishment: changes?
‘Wergild’ died out under Norman rule. For serious offences, offenders were usually hung or physically mutilated (blinded, limb cut off, castrated)
How was the law enforced? Tithing
Group of 10-12 freemen
Promised to prevent each other from
