William in power - 2

Question 1

Marcher earldoms: Shire-sized, centred on shire town

Answer 1

Earldoms were smaller and more compact than shires

small size meant easier to control, also ensured they weren’t as powerful as the king

Question 2

Marcher earldoms: granted full power of the law

Answer 2

sheriffs worked for the earl. They controlled shire courts and gave earls complete power over legal system in earldom

earls became central figures of law and responded quickly and firmly to any unrest/disobedience.

Question 3

Marcher earldoms: right to build castles

Answer 3

free to build castles without permission

castles used to control area and attack into wales, essential to control earldoms.

Question 4

why castles were important: built in strategic locations

Answer 4

at river crossings, hills, mountains. Built along the border with Wales

Question 5

Why castles were important: used as base for lord of area

Answer 5

when invading, troops could take refuge in base before launching a counter-attack

Question 6

why castles were important: to dominate the area

Answer 6

castles popular under Norman reign, castles often built in towns to go against unrest in the area

Question 7

Why castles were built: symbol of Norman power

Answer 7

constant reminder of who ruled the country

Question 8

cause of the revolt of the earls: Edwin and Morcar’s resentment

Answer 8

Edwin was promised by William he could marry his daughter, broke this promise and his earldom was made much smaller

Morcar’s earldom decreased in size and some was given to Tostig’s old thegn. less land=less money

Question 9

cause of the revolt of the earls: bad government

Answer 9

Odo and William FitzOsbern allowed soldiers to rape AS women and take land

Question 10

cause of the revolt of the earls: Taxes

Answer 10

heavy geld tax, earls kidnapped to Normandy realised William wanted to use AS wealth for his own good

Question 11

cause of the revolt of the earls: Castles

Answer 11

Resented because they represented Norman tradition. Castleries: a place where people had to provide goods to maintain their castle.

Question 12

Outcomes of the revolt

Answer 12

revolt passed quickly after Edwin and Morcar surrendered, they were pardoned.

Escape of Edgar and other leaders to Scotland created a new centre of resistance to William’s control

Even though Edwin and Morcar gained a lot of support, this put people off from rebelling again

Question 13

Reasons for the revolt’s failure

Answer 13

Edwin and Morcar surrendered quickly to test whether William would come.

Rebels were not united by a common cause, each had their own resentement.

William didn’t need compromise with them because he had strong castles and was excellent at keeping control

Question 14

William’s solution to the Anglo-Danish attack on York

Answer 14

He paid the Danes a large amount of money to leave, but the Danes kept coming back.

Total destruction campaign - the Harrying of the North: winter 1069-70

Question 15

Anglo Saxon resistance: threat - Danish invasion

Answer 15

Approach to threat: pay Danes to leave and Harrying of the North

Outcome: Rebels easier to defeat without Danish support

Question 16

Anglo Saxon resistance: threat - ‘Guerrilla warfare’ from the rebels, avoiding open battle

Answer 16

Approach to threat: Rapid response to rebellion, used trusted followers to keep followers under control while he led forces to deal with serious unrest. Troops searched out rebel hideouts. Castles re-imposed control. Harrying of the North made areas inhabitable.

Outcome: experience of stamping out rebellions showed AS aristocracy needed to be removed from power to prevent rebellions permanently.

Question 17

Anglo Saxon resistance: threat - Discontent from troops and followers

Answer 17

Approach to threat: troops complained about too much marching, William promised rewards and promises.

Outcome: More land taken from AS, money from taxes was used to pay soldiers, money taken from the Church.

Question 18

Anglo Saxon resistance: threat - Edgar as the ‘real’ king, stronger claim

Answer 18

Approach to threat: royal ceremonies to show William’s power

Outcome: English people followed William against the rebels; army levied from shires.

Question 19

Reasons for the Harrying of the North

Answer 19

Cumin was killed and many Norman men too, William wanted revenge.

Northern rebels refused to meet him in open battle, William wanted to make it impossible to stay there.

North was very different from the South, William didn’t realise this as Northerners required different tactics, Danish heritage

Rebellions in North triggered more rebellions, William couldn’t drag his men everywhere with him.

Question 20

Immediate impacts of the Harrying

Answer 20

100,000 people died. No food/shelter meant people froze/starved to death.

Seeds were destroyed

Cannibalism and people selling themselves into slavery.

Question 21

Long term impacts of the Harrying

Answer 21

60% of Yorkshire became a wasteland. No economy activity that could be taxed.

For William and Norman control of England, the Harrying was a turning point. Instead of winning over the AS aristocracy, William now wanted to replace them.

The Harrying was widely criticised, especially by the pope. William spent much time and money to the Church in the years to come because of this.

Question 22

Landholders in Norman England, statistics

Answer 22

over half of the land was owned by 190 tenants in chief, only 2 were AS

Question 23

How did AS lose their land? By forfeit: lose something as punishment

Answer 23

Leaders lost land they were unloyal to the king - their lands could be forfeited

Question 24

How did AS lose their land? New earldoms

Answer 24

land that became forfeited was given to loyal followers, these were to defend trouble spots, e.g marcher earldoms.

Question 25

How did AS lose their land? Land grabs

Answer 25

illegal way in which AS lost land, stealing. Norman sheriffs were particularly notorious for this sort of exploitation.

Question 26

Before 1071, what AS owned this was passed to Norman ‘heirs’ wherever it was in the country so landowners held land in many different parts of the country.

Answer 26

After 1071, William consolidated blocks of land, these were easier to control as they were on one area and just one person was needed to look after it. William stopped keeping AS tradition now.

Question 27

Maintaining royal power: Military strength

Answer 27

William was a smart leader, ruthless; he was brutal in the way he crushed rebels. This proved to people that he was favoured by God. This power gave him legitimacy, he had to show that he could be a king not only a conqueror.

Question 28

Maintaining royal power: The legitimate successor

Answer 28

Edward had apparently promised him the throne and this was emphasised throughout his reign, God had chosen him and is why William won and not Harold at the BOH.

Question 29

Maintaining royal power: Royal ceremonies

Answer 29

William promised to maintain the same tradition as Edward the Confessor. He made 3 ceremonies a year where he was seen to be wearing his crown, this reminded people that he is the ruler.

Question 30

Maintaining royal power: Coinage and writs

Answer 30

his face was printed onto coins, writs showed his importance in letters and spread his power across the country in everyday life.

Question 31

Maintaining royal power: Journeys around England

Answer 31

William travelled around England showing his face otherwise the regions furthest away would lose contact and authority.

Question 32

Maintaining royal power: Owning the land

Answer 32

New landownership system showed that every persons land was tied to the king in someway, tenants and tenants in chief. E.g taking land from rebels/those who died without an heir. Judging people and giving amount of land to those who were most loyal

Question 33

Maintaining royal power: Oath-taking

Answer 33

very important at the time, if an oath was broken you could be killed or face serious punishments.

Question 34

Revolt of the Earls, 1075: Roger de Breteuil, Earl of Hereford

Answer 34

Norman: son of FitzOsbern, inherited the Marcher earldom, Hereford. Roger was the least likely to rebel because his father had been so important to William’s establishing control. Roger was angry that he got less land than his father had. Now that sheriffs held more power in marcher earldoms, instead of earls, he lost great power which frustrated him

Question 35

Revolt of the Earls, 1075: Ralph de Gael, Earl of East Anglia

Answer 35

Norman: son of an Anglo-Norman who served for Edward. He resented a loss of power and wealth compared to his father’s holdings.

Question 36

Revolt of the Earls, 1075: Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria

Answer 36

Saxon: son of Earl Siward. when Siward died, Waltheof was too young to inherit his land so it was given to Tostig, Waltheof couldn’t fight for his land.

Question 37

Reasons for the revolt of the Earls (6: opportunities and resentments )

Answer 37

Resentments: loss of lands, loss of privileges, loss of power

Opportunities: William’s absence, powerful allies, AS rebelliousness

Question 38

Why didn’t the revolt of the Earls succeed?

Answer 38

Waltheof informed Lanfranc of their plans while William was away. He sent men to Hereford and East Anglia and saw the castles being built stronger and better troops ready for an attack.

Lanfranc wrote letters to Roger to try and convince him to stop because his father had been loyal to William. Lanfrance then used excommunication to cut off Roger from the Church so he would give up his plans.

People in Herefordshire and East Anglia built defences to trap them and prevent them from revolting.

Danes came too late, with 200 ships they could have outnumbered William but decided against it.

Question 39

What happened to the Earls after the failure of the revolt?

Answer 39

Ralph escaped to Brittany. Emma waited in Norwich castle until she was guaranteed a safe passage for her and her followers.

Waltheof fled abroad, he was tricked and came back because William said he’d forgive him. He was wrong and was imprisoned.

Roger was imprisoned for life (like Morcar)

Question 40

The effects of the revolt of the earls

Answer 40

William needed to be careful with his own earls.

AS joined Normans in stopping revolts from spreading, they now supported the Normans. But William was still harsh against AS aristocracy, he executed Waltheof (AS)

Failure of the Danes led to it being the last Viking threat to England. William was very stong on defences when there was a threat from Denmark in 1075, suggesting he saw the events of 1075 as very threatening meaning a tight grip had to be maintained.

Question 41

what is a fief?

Answer 41

land held by a vassal in return for service to a lord, also called a feud.