MIGRATION

• what people lived in England before the Vikings?

  anglo-Saxons
• what made these people more peaceful?

  by the 700s missionaries sent by the Pope had converted the English to Christianity which made everything a lot more peaceful
• describe life in England before the Vikings?

  •the Anglo-Saxons are famous for their skilfully made jewellery

  •they were also successful farmers and traders

  •they built churches and monasteries everywhere and followed the catholic faith
• where are the Vikings from?

  scandinavia
• where did the Vikings first invade England? what is the nickname of this place?

  Lindisfarne nicknamed 'holy Island
• in what year did the Vikings invade?

  793
• give four things the Vikings were good at?

  •they built excellent ships called longboats that could resist storms

  •they were skilful navigators

  •they created beautiful jewellery

  •they wrote sagas, poems and songs
• give three negative aspects to the Vikings?

  •the Vikings raided monasteries

  •they stole property

  •they were violent and took slaves
• give four reasons why the Vikings decided to invade and eventually settle in England?

  • The Vikings knew the Anglo-Saxon England was rich

  •They didn't mind attacking people of a 'weird' religion

  • Scandinavia was becoming overcrowded

  • it was easy, the Vikings found that the English couldn't defend themselves
• where did the Vikings make the capital city?

  York, the Vikings called it Jorvik
• by 866 what was the only English kingdom that the Vikings had not conquered?


  Wessex
• Alfred the great became the King of Wessex and suffered a string of defeats against the Vikings where did he eventually escape to?

  the Isle of Athelney (Somerset). Alfred and his men waiters into the sick bug you masses by the Isle Athelney to escape, they use their local knowledge to follow the secret path's of raised ground to get through. The Vikings that tried to go after them drowned.
• however, Alfred was stubborn and refuse to give in, how did he change his fortunes?

  the Vikings thought Alfred was finished, but he was quietly training up as army, he even disguised him self as a minstrel to spy on the size/weapons in the Viking army - he copied Viking tactics and did sudden, violent raids on Viking armies
• having fooled the Vikings by making them think he could only do little raids he lured them into a massive face-to-face battle. where and when was this battle?

  Eddington, Wiltshire in 878
• when Alfred won this battle he met with the Viking leader go Guthrum, and made a surprising demand. what was it?


  that the Vikings convert to Christianity
• The country was split into two, Alfred ruled the south-west, but what was the Viking north-east called?


  the Danelaw
• give three more reasons why Alfred is nicknamed 'the great'

  he got a reputation for being calm fair and wise ruler in peace time (when not at war)

  
  

  • Alfred made a huge effort to learn how to read and write encourage learning and said that all young nobleman should learn to read English. he translated many books from Latin into English so that his people could read them

  • he also wrote many new laws. he studied laws from other kingdoms and tried to introduce their most fair laws into his

  • built burhs across the country
• what long-term impact did Alfred have?

  • after Alfred died his reforms and defences stayed in place

  • the Vikings in England remains Christian and mostly settled down as farmers

  • there was travel and trade between Wessex and the Danelaw and intermarriage between Vikings and Anglo-Saxons

  • Alfred's grandson Athelstan took over Northumbria in 927 and was acknowledged by everyone as the first real 'king of all England'. the Victorians nicknamed him 'the great
• Alfred's grandson Eethelred was not as successful. what was his nickname?


  'the unready'. mainly because he was only nine years old.
• The Vikings returned in 991 led by Sven Forkbeard - Ethelred paid them to go away -what is this payment called?


  the danegeld
• some also called King Cnut 'the great'. give three reasons why

  • he was seen as fair, just and devout (religious). Cnut's rule was one of peace, that lasted almost 20 years

  • he thought of Britain as the main part of his kingdom, not just a colony of Denmark

  • he worked hard to win over the locals and despite installing some Danish nobles in England he also allowed trustworthy English nobles to rule their own areas. Cnut wanted a strong leadership no matter if you English or Danish
• when cnut's brother died he inherited Denmark and Norway and ruled parts of Sweden too. along with Britain what do we call this empire?


  the North Sea Empire
• to bring even more stability and improve his relations with the Normans in France, who did Cnut marry?

  Emma of Normandy
• when Emma, son Edward the confessor died in 1066, which three men fought for the throne?

  William of Normandy, Harold Hadrada, Harold Godwinson
• William 1st was now in charge and England was once again ruled by foreign powers - the Normans. give three ways William changed England?


  • he spent lots of time in France so the rivals didn't steal his lands in Normandy

  • he introduced a new language to the English ruling class - they took on some French customs too

  • he built hundreds of new churches and monasteries (The Anglo-Saxons became like second-class citizens in their own lands)
• there was a rebellion against William in 1069 called the 'harrying of the north' - how did William respond?


  William defeated the rebellion

  
  

  • in the north-east of England he ordered villages to be destroyed and people to be killed

  • that's of animals and crops were burnt

  • most people who survived starved to death as he spread salt on the lands so crops couldn't grow (there are even stories of people turning to cannibalism)
• name the two Angevin kings

  •King Henry II

  •King John
• Henry II was not just king of England. name 3 other places he ruled over


  • normandy

  • anjou

  • maine
• King John lost lots of land,. what was his 2 nicknames?

  • 'softsword'

  • 'lackland
• what areas of land did John lose?

  • normandy

  • anjou

  • maine

  • other key military areas
• what was the only remaining French land John ruled?

  gascony
• in what year did the hundred year war began and what king lead them to war?

  • 1337

  • king Edward III
• some argue that pride started the hundred years war - what causes of the water related to pride?

  • King Edward III was determined to be a better ruler than his Father Edward II. he thought a war with France was a good way to prove his glory

  • The French were threatening to invade Gascony and take it back off the English (this would be another blow to the English pride)
• what economic factors caused the hundred years' war?

  • The English owned Gascony (a wine-growing region). if England lost Gascony they would also lose lots of money

  • England did lots of business with Flanders selling them wool. this trade with making the English a fortune

  
  

  The French threatened to invade Gascony and Flanders and exclude England from this highly profitable wool trade.
• what identity/family factors caused the hundred years' war?

  • King Edward III and the Plantagenet Family felt like they were half-English half-French

  • Kings of England always felt that they should be kings of France as well

  • Edwards grandfather was king of France, his mother was the daughter of a French king. he felt he had a better claim to be king of France and the French king at the time - Philip VI
• how does Scotland link to the causes of the hundred years' war?

  France teamed up with Scotland in an anti-English partnership called the 'Auld Alliance'. Edward was furious when the French used to help the Scottish in battles against the English
• name three important hundred years war battles and the dates they were fought

  • poitiers - 1356

  • agincourt - 1415

  • crecy - 1436
• why is the Battle of Agincourt at 1415 very iconic for the English people? who led that battle?

  • English win, despite being heavily outnumbered 6000 english vs 24,00-30,000 french, iconic victory

  • led by Henry V
• what was the military impact of the hundred years' war?

  • battles were never fought the same way again - battles always used to be about knights charging on horseback, but the lessons of Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt were that arrows were the most effective weapon of all.

  • later longbows and guns became the main weapon

  • there was an increased use of gunpowder cannons and handguns towards the end of the hundred years' war

  • these new inventions made the castles useless so no new castles were really ever built

  • this was the end of the 'mediaeval times
• in 1492 where did Christopher Columbus discover by accident when he was looking for India?


  america