anglo-saxon ˜˚˛˝˚˝˙ˆˆˇ ˘ ˚ ˙ ˝ ˘˚ ˙ ˛˝ society the king and the ...€¦ · ·...
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Anglo-Saxon society
In Anglo-Saxon England it was the king who was the most powerful person in the land – no one could tell the king what to do. In order to govern the country, kings granted out some of their power to their earls and took advice from their council, the Witan.
The king and the earls
Half the country was Anglo-Danish, with its own laws and customs, known as the Danelaw. The king was still king of the Danelaw, but he needed to allow the Danelaw some independence.
Thegns (local lords) could complain to the king about earls who governed an earldom badly. This happened with Tostig, the earl of Northumbria in 1065. Tostig lost his earldom when his thegns complained about the way he governed.
The WitanThe Witan was a council that advised the king, but it was not a limitation on the king’s power.•Thekingdecidedwhowasappointedtothe
Witan.•ThekingdecidedwhattheWitanshould
advise him on.•ThekingdidnothavetofollowtheWitan’s
advice if he did not wish to.
The earlsThe earls were the most important men in the country after the king and governed large areas of England on the king’s behalf. To do this they were granted some of the king’s powers.
They collected taxes from their earldom for the king. Earls kept a third of the taxes for governing and protecting their earldom.They oversaw law and order in their earldom. They judged cases and decided punishments for those found guilty.Earls were the king’s ‘generals’, leading their loyal thegns in battle against the king’s enemies.
Large earldoms meant earls could become very powerful indeed in Anglo-Saxon England.
Edward the Confessor (1003--1066)Advantages As a religious leader, people
believed that God was guiding him.
He was respected as a wise lawmaker.
He was married to Edith, daughter of the rich and powerful Earl of Godwin.
Disadvantages He had been exiled in
Normandy for most of his life, so had few supporters in England.
He had no children to succeed him.
He struggled to keep control of Earl Godwin.
Pick two features of the Anglo-Saxon monarchy from the diagram at the top of this page. For each feature, describe how they made the king of Anglo-Saxon England powerful.
Law-making: only theking made new laws,and everyone had toobey them.
Money: the kingcontrolled the mintingand distribution ofcoins.
Taxation: the kingdecided when a taxwas paid and howmuch it should be.
The king ruled over allof England, with all itsresources at his command.
Religion: the kingwas chosen by Godto lead his people.
Landownership: theking could grant landto loyal followers,or take it away inpunishment.
Fyrd: the kingcould raise the fyrdarmy and fleet.
Powers ofthe king
Edward the Confessor in the Bayeux Tapestry
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The Domesday Book is another example of William’s growing power over his conquered kingdom. It was produced as a result of the Domesday survey, ordered by William in December 1085, and told William who held what land and what their obligations were to the king.
Norman England
The Domesday Book
The Domesday surveyAfter a meeting with his advisers at Christmas in 1085, William ordered an investigation of the landholdings of each shire: who held what land, what taxes they owed the king and whether they could pay any more. The results of this survey were written up as the Domesday Book.
As the work was mostly completed by August 1086, the Domesday Book is a remarkable achievement and shows the efficiency of Anglo-Saxon administration.
Explain one way in which the Domesday Book helped William increase his control over England.
Domesday Book facts 13 400 place names are recorded in the Domesday Book. The estimate of England’s population being around 2 million in the 1060s comes from analysis of Domesday Book records. The Domesday Book also gives us information about social roles in 11th century England. It lists: 28 235 slaves; 110 000 villeins (peasants bound to their lords through labour service); 14 000 freemen and 24 000 sokemen – a type of ceorl (80% of sokeman were in the Danelaw); 1000 tenants-in-chief and 8000 under-tenants.
Because the Domesday Book doesn’t cover the whole area of England, and because it doesn’t list whole families, historians have multiplied these figures to produce an estimate for the whole country.
Financial
Mili
tary Le
gal
Financial
The Domesday Book meant the king could see where landholdersshould be paying more money. It might also have involved endingspecial tax privileges for tenants-in-chief.
The meeting which decidedto carry out the Domesdaysurvey had been calledbecause of the threat of anew Viking invasion in 1085.Although the invasion neverhappened, it is possibleWilliam used the DomesdayBook to see how many moreknights tenants couldprovide for knight service.
The Domesday Book containsrecords of claims byAnglo-Saxons that Normanshad taken their lands. Sincethe Domesday surveys weremade as fairly as possible,with key people from eachhundred saying who ownedwhat, the Domesday Bookhad a role in sorting out legaldisputes.
The way the Domesday Book is organised suggests it was ahandy guide to working out what reliefs should be chargedwhen lands was due to be inherited.
There are around two million words in the Domesday Book. Handwriting analysis shows the Domesday Book’s records were all written down by one man, almost certainly an Anglo-Saxon because place names and people’s names were spelled correctly – Normans tended to spell them incorrectly.
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Bishop Odo of Bayeux was William’s half-brother and a loyal supporter throughout the Conquest. William rewarded him with the earldom of Kent, making him one of England’s (and Normandy’s) richest men.
The career and significance of Bishop Odo
Explain why William may have been angered by Odo taking knights with him to Rome.
William and Odo were half-brothers. William only
put his trust in family and a few close friends.
This appointment was significant because Odo’s bad reputation would otherwise have kept him out of Church leadership. He was in
William’s debt.
Odo’s contribution to the invasion was significant. William had to reward him, and others like him, with land after England was conquered, which made it difficult to prevent
trouble from Anglo-Saxons who had lost land
and power. Odo’s wealth is an example of how
the Conquest rapidly changed the fortunes of
some Normans.
Odo commissioned the Bayeux Tapestry as a piece of Norman propaganda, designed to
justify William’s right to be England’s king.
The regency was a disaster for relations between Normans and Anglo-Saxons. The co-regents allowed theft of lands and rape of
Anglo-Saxon women. Resentment resulted in
Anglo-Saxon resistance.
It is significant that there were limits to what
even a Norman like Odo could do, though probably he only got into trouble because he took land from the Church in a way that aggravated Lanfranc.
The likely reasons for William’s actions against
Odo are mismanagement of his earldom and the claim that Odo tried to take some knights
with him to Rome in a bid to become pope. Odo’s imprisonment is significant because it shows how William wanted loyalty and obedience above all. Family connections only protected people so far.
c1036 Odo is born. William and Odo have the same mother.
1066 Odo contributes 100 ships to William’s invasion fleet.Odo fights at the Battle of Hastings, and is shown rallying panicking troops in a scene in the Bayeux Tapestry. William rewards Odo lavishly, making him Earl of Kent and many other estates and making him second only to the king in landholdings.
1067 Odo is made co-regent of England (with William FitzOsbern) when King William returns to Normandy.
c1049 William makes Odo the Bishop of Bayeux.
1076 A three-day inquiry is held following complaints to Lanfranc about land seizures by Odo. Odo is forced to return the land.
1082 Odo falls out of favour with William and is imprisoned. He is not released until 1087 after William, on his deathbed, is persuaded by Odo’s brother to show mercy.
1088 Odo leads a group of barons in revolt against William II (see page 30)
Bishop Odo
Norman England
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Norman England
The conflicts between William and his eldest son Robert meant William did not want Robert to be king of England, preferring his favourite son William ‘Rufus’. However, this was not a situation Robert accepted and there were reasons why some Norman barons did not accept it, either.
The defeat of Robert and Odo
Key events of the 1088 rebellion• In1087Odowasreleasedfromprison.•In1088Odoledarebellionagainst
William II in support of Robert.•ThemajorityofEnglishbaronsandthe
English population supported William II.•Odoandhisbrother,RobertofMortain,
took refuge in Pevensey Castle.•OdothenescapedtoRochestercastle,
waiting for Robert Curthose’s support.•RobertneverarrivedandOdowasforcedto
surrender. •Odowasexiled.
Who supported whom in Odo’s rebellion?
Explaining the rebellion•WilliamRufuswasabletodefeatOdoand
RobertofMortain,andthemanysmallerrebellions across England of 1088, because of the support of most Norman barons, almost all the English bishops and the English population.
•BishopWulfstancrushedrebellionsintheMarcherearldoms.
•TheEnglishfyrdhelpeddefeatOdoandhisbrother in the south.
Explain why many Norman barons would have preferred England and Normandy to have been under one ruler rather than split between the two brothers, Robert and William ‘Rufus’.
Odo’s rebellion failed because the support he expected from Robert Curthose and Normandy never came.
Robert was the eldest and the barons hadsworn allegiance to him. William had hisfather’s deathbed letter to Lanfranc tosupport his claim.
The barons wanted both Normandy andEngland to be united under one lord.
Robert’s conflicts with hisfather meant his father didnot trust him to be king ofEngland.
Robert had a weak characterand some barons hoped tobe able to exploit this.
Norman tradition was thatthe eldest son inherited allthe father’s estates.
William Rufus had a strongcharacter (like his father)which could threaten thepower of the barons.
The disputedsuccession
Robert Curthose(Duke Robert ofNormandy)
William Rufus(King William II)
1088Bishop Odo of Bayeux
Robert of MortainThe majority ofNorman barons
All English bishops(except William ofSaint-Calais)
The Englishpopulation
Roger Bigod William of Eu
Robert de Mowbray Roger de Montgomery
William of Saint-Calais Hugh de Grandmesnil
Roger de LacyDra
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Put your skills and knowledge into practice with the following question.
Practice
Option B1: Anglo-Saxon and Norman England, c.1060–88
Answer Question 4(a), 4(b) and EITHER 4(c)(i) OR 4(c)(ii).
4 (a) Describe two features of the Harrying of the North. (4 marks)
Feature 1
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Feature 2
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You have 1 hour 45 minutes for the whole of Paper 2, so you should spend about 50 minutes on this option. Remember to leave 5 minutes or so to check your work when you’ve finished writing.
You need to identify two valid features and support each feature.
An example of a suitable feature might be that ‘the Harrying of the North involved destroying food stores’. A suitable supporting statement could be ‘which the local people and the rebels depended on for food for winter’.
Your exam paper will have a separate space for each feature you need to describe.
‘Describe’ means you have to give an account of the main characteristic. You do not need to explain why the feature was important or what it was trying to achieve.
You can revise the Harrying of the
North on page 14.
Links This was William’s destruction of rebel areas in
Yorkshire and other areas of the North in 1069–70 in
which…
Practice Had a go Nearly there Nailed it!
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Practice
Practice
Put your skills and knowledge into practice with the following question.
4 (b) Explain why there was a disputed succession to the English throne when Edward the Confessor died. (12 marks)You may use the following in your answer:
• Edward’s lack of an heir• The embassy to Normandy (1064)
You must also use information of your own.
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Remember that question 4(b) is all about causation: this means you are looking for relevant reasons.
For example, you might explain that Harold Godwinson’s embassy to Normandy helped lead to a disputed succession because William said Harold swore to support William’s claim to the English throne in 1064, but then went back on his word in 1066.
You can revise the death of Edward
the Confessor and the succession crisis on page 5.
Links
There are 12 marks on offer for this question. You don’t have to use the prompts in the question in your answer but you must include your own information to answer the question fully.
Your explanations need to stay focussed on answering the question. Although you might remember lots of detail about Edgar Aethling’s claim to the throne, you need to focus on providing reasons why not descriptions of.
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Practice
Use this page to continue your answer to question 4(b).
Practice
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For example, you might explain that the main dispute was between Harold and William. Edward died childless, leaving the succession open, having apparently promised the crown to first William, and then Harold. You might go on to explain that this caused a succession crisis because…
Remember: the best answers to Question 4(b) will show a good knowledge of the key features and characteristics of the period and analyse causation. They will also show how factors combine with each other to bring about an outcome – so in this case how different factors came together to bring about the outcome of the disputed succession.
Make sure you support your explanation with a good range of accurate and relevant detail throughout your answer.
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Skills
Question 1: explaining consequences 1
Question 1 on your exam paper will ask you to ‘explain two consequences of…’. There are 8 marks available for this question.
Explain two consequences of the introduction of barbed wire (1874). (8 marks)
Consequence 1
On the Plains there weren’t many trees and so homesteaders were not able to fence their crops. But when barbed wire was invented they could fence their crops.
Consequence 2
Fights between ranchers and homesteaders happened because of barbed wire because homesteaders fenced off the open range.
Sample answer
Consequence 1
On the Plains there weren’t many trees and this meant homesteaders had no timber to fence their claims, which was a problem as they couldn’t then protect crops from wandering livestock, or protect their own livestock. Barbed wire allowed homesteaders to build effective fences. While purchasing timber to make fences was very expensive, barbed wire quickly became very cheap – just 2 cents per pound of wire by the 1880s. It was effective at keeping livestock away because of the barbs. Homesteader crops were now safe from livestock.
Consequence 2
Homesteaders used barbed wire to fence off waterholes on their land, which they relied on for water for their families, crops and livestock. In the 1870s, cattle ranchers often relied on their cattle being able to use the same waterholes on trails or as they roamed on the range. One consequence of this was conflict between the ranchers and homesteaders. The rancher workers would cut the barbed wire and let their cattle through because they had often been using the waterhole for longer than the homesteaders.
This is a correct consequence but the student has only given a vague answer that doesn’t explain the consequence.
Also a correct consequence and the beginning of an explanation: the student needs to add more detail to the explanation to improve this answer.
You can revise the introduction
of barbed wire on pages xx–xx. Links
The information about the cattle industry in the 1870s is useful for providing context. Revise the early cattle industry on pages xx–xx.
Links
State the consequence and explain how that consequence resulted from barbed wire being introduced in the West.
You can say ‘One consequence of this…’ to make your answer clear.
Use your knowledge of the period to support your answer.
You could also include some information about homesteaders’ responses to the introduction to barbed wire.
You should identify what the situation was like
before the introduction of barbed wire, as this
will help you to explain the consequence that
followed its introduction.
Explaining consequencesConsequences = results of. For consequences, think ‘what happened as a result of…?’ To explain consequences, you must show the connection between the key event and the consequence.
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Question 2: analytical narrative 1
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Question 2 on your exam paper will ask you to ‘write a narrative account analysing…’. There are 8 marks available for this question. A narrative account explains how events led to an outcome.
Write a narrative account analysing the ways in which migration to the West grew in the years 1836–1850.
You may use the following in your answer:
• the setting up of the Oregon Trail (1836)
• economic problems in the East.
You must also use information of your own. (8 marks)
It was possible to travel to Oregon and California by ship, but the journey was very expensive ($500) and took a year. In 1836 a missionary family were the first people to travel overland to Oregon by wagon. They were the first to travel the Oregon Trail. Migrants needed wagons to carry with them everything they needed to set up new lives in the West, so the opening of the Oregon Trail was significant.
Travelling the Oregon Trail was cheaper and faster than travelling by ship: it took six months, starting from Independence, Missouri. As a result, when the east of the USA was hit by the effects of the 1837 financial crisis, the Oregon Trail provided a reliable and affordable route West. Following a government survey of the route, guides to the Trail were published, which meant that migrants could prepare for the journey. In 1843 a wagon train of 900 people successfully made the trip. People suffering from high unemployment in the East were inspired to migrate by these successes.
The increase in migration from 1000 people a year in 1843 to 300 000 in 1849 was the result of the California Gold Rush. People travelled from all over the world in the hope of getting rich. Around 100 000 arrived by ship, but 200 000 travelled there across the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada along the Oregon and California Trails. Without the Trails, migration to the West would have been a very different story.
Sample answer
You can revise migration to the
West on pages xx–xx.Links
Key eventsYour first step in writing an analytical narrative is to identify the key events in your narrative. This answer has selected the following key events: the setting up of the Oregon Trail (1836), financial crisis in the East (1837), publication of surveys and guides to the Oregon Trail and the California Gold Rush (1849).
Creating linksOnce you have identified the key events, your answer should consider how one key event links to the next. This answer has signposted this with phrases like ‘as a result’, ‘which meant that’.
Information of your ownThe question states that you may use the two prompts it provides (the two bullet points) but also that ‘you must also use information of your own’. Make sure you do use your own information; the best answers do this. In this answer the student has included their own information about the Gold Rush and government surveys and publications of guides.
Logical structureIf you plan your answer by noting down your key events first on scrap paper, this will help you structure your answer into a clear and logical sequence. Start with the earliest key event and work from one event to the next, identifying consequences, causes and changes.
Analytical narrativeA narrative sounds like it means ‘tell the story of…’, but this is not what you need to do for this type of question. The ‘analytical’ bit means you have to consider how key events were connected. Like all the questions on this paper, you need to think about consequences and causes: what happened as a result of a key event.
Skills
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