bring trade, take over most of England, convert people to Christian, set up different kingdoms. traded goods all over Europe - made them rich
what where the 7 kingdoms set up by Anglo saxons
Kent, East anglia, mercia, Essex, Sussex, wessex, Northumbria
Where were the Vikings from?
Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden)
what did vikings do
raid and invade countries.
Raid at Lindisfarne (in northumbria)
Lindasfarme - holy sight for Anglo-Saxon Christians. Vikings raided England and took books, paintings & sculptures. unprotected bc monks had no weapons.
Why did the Vikings leave Scandinavia?
overpopulation and lack of good farmland
What did Alfred the Great do?
translated books from Latin to English. established School of Court to teach people how to read. still recognised as a peacemaker and scholar (a statue of him was put up 1000 years after his death) built castles across the country. he wasvery significant
what did Alfred's peace treaty with the vikings do
restricted them to North and East of England (dane law) to stop them from taking over in 878
what did King Aethelred do to viking
paid them to go to Normandy with danegeld (Danish currency) - some stayed and became mercenaries (soldiers) to protect england, others stayed to terrorise them
Danegeld became too expensive and English hated the taxes so...
Aethelred made a deal with duke of Normandy to work together and to stop using Normandy as base
what was St briced day massace
in 1002 Aethelred carried out a mass killing of all vikings he found south of dane law.
what did sven forkbeard do
(King of Denmark) his wife (gunhilda) was killed during the St. Brice's Day massacre & wanted revenge, in 1013 he conquered England.
where does Aethelred flee to after seven forkbeard takes over
normandy
what happens after forkbeard dies
Cnut becomes king but Aethelred comes back as he wants power, defeats cnut. cnut flees to normandy
why did Aethelred have lack of support
a lot of people supported cnut and rebelled
Edward ironside and cnut fought...
the battle of assadun in Essex. both agree that Edmund will rule wessex and cnut run the rest.
what happened in 1066
Edward the Confessor dies and is succeded by Harold Godwinson. He immediately faced threats from William and Harald Hadrada. William of Normandy wins the Battle of Hastings. (became William Conquerer)
who fought in battle of hastings
William the Conqueror, Harold Godwinson and Harald hadrada (King of Norway)
how did William I change britain
- created Domesday book
- started making stone castles all over the country
- Harrying of the North
- created the feudal system
Domesday Book
book put together for William the Conqueror. It listed every castle and field in England so they could make sure everyone paid their taxes & allowed future Kings to have financial control over population
what was Harrying of the North
When William and his fellow Normans began to take land and increase taxation many rebelled so he destroyed their houses and livestock as a punishment, as well as executing any rebels.
Feudal system
A system based on the granting of land in exchange for military assistance
what was henry II known as and by who
known as overlord by irish leaders and british settlers in Ireland
Angevin Empire
The lands of Henry II (inherited from marriage) and Eleanor of Aquitaine, stretched from Scotland to South-Central France.
why did Richard lion heart lose land
He went on crusades (so it was hard for him to manage Angevin empire) to the holy land & lack of support
how did king john lose land
Lost normandy during anglo-french war. After conflict, england was financially exhausted.
Why did king john become really unpopular
He raised taxes to fund the army so he could try to regain Normandy.
what did the barons do after king john raised taxes
they rebelled and forced john to change the way he was running the country - john complied and created the magna carta
What did the Magna Carta do?
Limited the power of the king
everyone has the right to justice and a fair trial
why was king john significant?
if he didn't lose all that land, the magna carta wouldn't have been signed