2.6.1 Work

Question 1

Anglo-Saxon Work (5)

Answer 1

• Trade only happened within the burhs (small fortified towns).
• Traders and merchants would sell their produce in the burhs and pay taxes on what they sold.
• Peasants lived agricultural lives, working the land and supporting an Earldom or town’s economy.
• Local priests and peasants were of equal status, although priests were usually better educated. In Anglo-Saxon society, both priests and peasants would farm their land.
• Monks and nuns would live and work in the local community.

Question 2

Where did trade take place in Anglo-Saxon England?

Answer 2

Towns

Question 3

Trade in Anglo-Saxon England was confined to the ____

Answer 3

burhs

Question 4

Knight service in Norman England (2)

Answer 4

• Knights were some of the best soldiers in England. Barons and lords (who were tenants-in-chief in the feudal hierarchy) had to provide knights to the king for 1-2 months of the year. This was called ‘knight service’. William relied on tenants-in-chief for knights and tenants-in-chief would call on their under-tenants in a cascading hierarchy.
• Some knights were members of the nobility and some knights lived like peasants.

Question 5

Tenants in Norman England (2)

Answer 5

• Under the feudal system, tenants effectively worked for their superior, whether it was their local Earl, their tenant-in-chief, or a bishop or abbot from the Church.
• Beneath tenants-in-chief were under-tenants (called vassals).

Question 6

Peasants in Norman England (3)

Answer 6

• At the bottom came the peasants, who worked in land service to their lord.
• The peasants gained protection from their lord in return for their work.
• Unlike the ceorls under Anglo-Saxon rulers, peasants were now bound to one lord and could not work for another if they chose.

Question 7

Who did tenants work for under the Norman feudal system?

Answer 7

Their superior

Question 8

Roles and responsibilities in Norman villages (4)

Answer 8

In addition to the lord and the ordinary peasants there were also several other important roles:
- Reeve: chosen by the lord or by peasant vote. Although more powerful under the Anglo-Saxons, after 1066 their job was to manage the day-to-day running of the manor and ensure the peasants were all working.
- Bailiff: responsible for collecting taxes for the king and ensuring crops were gathered and debts repaid.
- Priest: responsible for marriages and wills, as well as running the local church and conducting services.
- Miller: produced grain to make bread for the whole village.