Anglo Saxon England

Cards (2)

  • Anglo Saxon Society
    • Nearly 90% of Saxons were peasants, working on land controlled by Thegns
    • A small number of Cerols (free slaves) had the right to work for any Thegn
    • 10% of Saxons were slaves
    • Earldoms were split into Shires, where a Shire Reeve (sheriff) collected the Geld Tax for the King and ran the King's Courts
    • If the courts could not decide someone's guilt, a trial by ordeal was carried out in a church so that God could be the judge
    • Churches were the social centres of towns and villages
  • Anglo Saxon Government
    • King Edward the Confessor had the power to make new laws, raise the Fyrd army and grant land to his supporters
    • The Earls controlled the majority of the land, they were in charge of collecting the King's taxes from their Earldoms and each was lord to hundreds of Thegns
    • The Witan were a council of Earls and Archbishops chosen by the King to advise him but also approved of new Kings
    • The Danelaw accepted Edward as King but followed many of their own laws and customs from previous Danish invasions