The Anglo-Saxons: from the Heptarchy to the Norman invasion

Question 1

What was the Heptarchy?

Answer 1

division of Britain into 7 independent kingdoms

Heptarchy comes from Ancient GreeK: “rule (archy) of seven (hepta)”

The seve kingdoms were: Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex, Sussex, Essex, Kent, East Anglia

Question 2

When did the Heptarchy develop?

Answer 2

7th century

Question 3

When did Viking raids start?

Answer 3

8th-9th centuries

A raid is a short and violent expedition with the aimof stealing riches.

Most Viking raids had monasteries and their riches as their preferred targets.

Question 4

Who were the Vikings?

Answer 4

raiders from modern Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway and Sweden)

“Viking” was not an ethnic group but the name of a profession.

Vikings were also known as the Danes.

Question 5

Who united the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms against the Vikings?

Answer 5

King Alfred the Great

King Alfred the Great was the king of Wessex.

Question 6

What did Alfred the Great encourage?

Answer 6

military defense/development of army and fleet/religion and culture

He commissioned the “Anglo-Saxon Chronicle”, a history of England

Question 7

What was king Alfred’s political aim?

Answer 7

the creation of an English state

Question 8

What was king Alfred the Great’s title? Why?

Answer 8

King of the ANglo-Saxons, because he started to unite the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms

Question 9

Who was the first king to unite all the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms?

Answer 9

King Athelstan (Alfred the Great’s grandson)

Question 10

Why is Athelstan known as the father of the English state?

Answer 10

creation of a single English kingdom with its laws, coinage and royal authority

King Athelstan can be considered the first king of England

Question 11

What was the Danegeld?

Answer 11

protection money paid to the Vikings/the policy of paying Vikings to avoid their raids

Danegeld comes from the Old English for “Danish gold”

Question 12

What was the Danelaw?

Answer 12

the region of Britain under Viking control in the 10th century

It’s called Danelaw because people followed the law of the Vikings (Danes) instead of the law of the Anglo-Saxons

Question 13

When did the first Viking kings raise to the English throne?

Answer 13

11th century

Question 14

Which Viking king ruled over the largest kingdom?

Answer 14

King Canute

King Canute ruled over Denmark, Norway and England

Question 15

Why was Edward the Confessor famous?

Answer 15

his faith/the building of several religious buildings/the building of Westminster Abbey

Question 16

Who was the last Anglo-Saxon king?

Answer 16

Harold II (Edward the Confessor’s brother)

Question 17

Who were the Normans?

Answer 17

Vikings from Normandy (northern France)/French people of Viking descent

Vikings settled in different parts of Europe, (e.g. the Sicilian Normans

Question 18

Who led the Norman conquest of England?

Answer 18

William duke of Normandy

William was a distant relative of Edward the Confessor who claimed that the last king promised him the throne before death

Question 19

When did the Norman conquest of Britain happen?

Answer 19

1066

Question 20

Which great battle marked the success of the Norman invasion?

Answer 20

Battle of Hastings

Question 21

With which name did William become king of England?

Answer 21

William I

William I was the first king to be crowned king in Westminster Abbey.