Anglo saxons

• who were peasant farmers?

  -majority of anglo saxons were peasant farmers

  -rented small farms that they worked themselves to provide for their for their families

  -did a set amount of work for the local lords

  -if they didn't do it they could lose the right to use the land

  -another group of peasants called ceorls who were 'free' and could work for different lords
• What were slaves?

  -10% of the population

  -could be bought or sold

  -if they committed a crime, they wouldn't be punished as harshly as it could affect their ability to work
• what were Thegns?

  -local lords

  -4000-5000 by 1060

  -important man in local community

  -held more land than the peasants

  -lived in manor houses

  -in warrior class of aristocracy
• Who were earls?

  most important aristocrats

  most important men in the country after the king

  Relationship between the king and his earls were based on loyalty.

  earls competed against each other to be the one the king trusted and relied on the most, so that the king would give them the greatest rewards and honour.
• Who did edward The confessor rely upon to protect England from attack?

  his earls, especially earl Godwin
• How did kings gain legitimacy for their rule? 


  They could hand out the wealth and land of their defeated enemies to their followers
• Why was Edward a respected law maker? 


  He kept things peaceful, Quarrels between families were common and could frequently break out into fighting that threatened everyone in a community
• What does it mean when a king is very pious?

  very religious and kings claimed a special link to god. It was believed that a worthy king could bring gods blessing to his country and that god could also guide his actions
• What is danelaw and how did people living there want England to be run? 


  The Danelaw Was half of the country and many of its inhabitants were the descendants of vikings invaders. although they accepted Edward’s rule, people wanted to be ruled by local men and to follow their own laws and customs
• Why was earl godwin a threat to king edward? 


  Because he and his family owned so much land that they were as rich as the king. They were lords to so many thegns that they were military much more powerful to than the king
• What happened in 1050 that threatened king Edward’s rule? 


  the king had ordered godwin to punish the people of dover after visiting embassy from boulogne was attacked. Godwin refused. as a result Edward exile. In 1051 Godwin returned with a fleet and an army. He asked Edward if his earldom could be restored to him. Edward agreed to prevent war.
• The Witan 


  A council that advised the king on issues of government.

  it was made up of the most important aristocrats of the king (earls and archbishops)

  they had an important role in approving a new king

  the king did not have to follow the Witans advice.

  they discussed possible threats, from foreign powers, religious affairs, land disputes and how to settle them
• Earldoms

  Introduced by the viking king England, Cnut.

  he first made his followers the earls of four
• Great earldoms 


  He soon passed on the title onto the leader of the most important family in each earldom

  they were responsible for collecting taxes of Their the earldom And received a share of all the revenue collected

  they oversaw justice and legal punishment in their earldom

  they had great military power
• Shires 


  Earldoms were divided into shires

  social, political, economic and military

  they were divided into hundreds of tithings. At the base of whole administrative system was the hide. Each hide of land carries obligations, payment of taxes and military service
• Shire reeves

  The kings local government officials and they worked within the earldoms to look after the kings interests and carry out his instructions
• Shire reeves responsibilities 


  Collecting revenues from kings land

  collecting geld tax

  collecting fines from the shire court

  enforcing and witnessing the law at the shire court

  responsibilities for providing men for the fyrd and for the upkeep of roads and fortifications
• The fyrd

  A military service

  there were two types, the select and the general
• What products would the saxons have traded?

  The most important trades were wool and cloth product. They were vital to the English trade later in the medieval period
• How was farming used for trade in the west and east of england?

  Farming was well organised, there were 6000 mills throughout the country used for grinding the local community grain into flour. England also has drier conditions and fertile soils which made it excellent for arable farming.
• Where did the silver come from to make English coins and what does this mean about Anglo saxon trade?

  Most of the silver came from Germany. silver is very valuable so England must have been able to export products that had high value abroad to be able to import silver from Germany
• What else did the Saxons use from other countries?

  There is evidence that products such as millstones and whetstones and wine from denmark And Normandy
• Describe what the towns were like? 


  Towns were linked by roads so troops could move quickly from one Burgh to another. They had strong walls
• Why was Northumbria important and how was it different from Wessex? 


  Northumbria was an important earldom because it was very large and it Guarded The border with Scotland and stops more Viking invasions. It was different from wessex, the richest of all earldoms and godwins powerbase in the south of englands. Much of it was part of the danelaw
• Why was there a rising against Tostig in 1065?


  tostig taxed them too heavily and they weren't used to it

  He was a southerner, when Northumbria had always been governed by a northerner

  He has ordered the assassination of high born northumbrian rivals while they were his guests

  he had been unjust imposing new laws, his enemies complained that he falsely accused people of crimes in order to take money and land from them

  his friendship with malcom meant he didnt defend Northumbria from scottish attacks
• why was there northumbrian resentment?

  The resentment against tostig had been building over many years with most of the reasons being long term ones over taxation and unfairness. The trigger of the rising was tostig's murder of the two followers of gospatric in 1064
• What happened during the rising against tostig?

  It began with rebels marching on york, the rebels killed as many of tostigs housecarls and servants as they could find and declared tostig an outlaw. They invited morcar to be their earl instead
• How did Edward respond to the rising against tostig?


  He had a conference to decide what to do about the rising. Instead of raising an army to march north and defeat the rebels, harold met with them instead and passed on king edwards agreement to their terms
• What's surprising about the date that harold was crowned? 


  Harold was crowned on the same day as Edward was buried (6 january 1066) which was also rapid as a coronation usually takes months to prepare
• who decided who the next king was and what influenced their decision?

  The witan decided who was king and was influenced because they were worried that william would act on his claim to the throne
• Why did the witan pick harold as king?


  They suspected that william would act on his claim to the throne and it was probably the need to make preparations for englands defence that made the witan willing to elect king harold as quickly as possible
• 4 challenges that harold faced as king

  Challenges from other anglo saxon earls

  Acceptance in the north

  Tostig travelling around Europe looking for allies against harold as their father had done against king edward

  William of normandy - reports that william was building an invasion fleet had reached the king
• How did harold save the challenge in the north?

  Straight after his coronation, harold went to see the chief city of northumbria. this was to meet witan members who had not been present in London and to ensure he had their support.
• How did harold save the challenge the threat of invasion?


  He gathered the largest army of England they had ever seen along the south coast of england to defend against invasion
• How did harold solve the challenge of tostig?


  Tostig gained support in flanders but when he learned about the extraordinary strength of harold Tostig left
• Who faced Hardrada and Tostig?

  Morcar and edwin. Hardrada and tostig won.
• 3 reasons for the outcome of battle at gate Fulford?


  Edwin and morcar may have been outnumbered

  Hadrada and his housecarls were battle hardened veterans and used clever strategies in the battle

  Edwin and morcar stationed their army with marshland their backs. This meant their troop, had nowhere to go when they pushed back.
• How does harold respond to the viking invasion?

  He takes his army from the south and marches them north
• 3 reasons why harold thought it was okay to leave the south of england

  storms had wrecked some of harolds own fleet and possibly drove william back from an initial invasion attempt

  wind was still blowing from the north when harold set off, which he knew would prevent william from crossing the channel.

  Harold had struggled to provide provision for his army. He knew william would have found it difficult to keep his army waiting through the summer.
• How does harold get hadrada to meet him at stamford bridge?

  Hadrada and tostig were informed that the extra hostages would be handed over to them at the bridge