History > Normans Part 2 > Flashcards

Normans Part 2 Flashcards

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1
Q

What was the hierarchy of the Anglo Saxon social system?

A

From the top: The king, the earls, the thegns, the freemen and the slaves

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2
Q

What was the role of the earls in the Saxon social system?

A

They were the most important men in the country after the king, they governed earldoms, competed with each other for the king’s favour and challenged the king

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3
Q

What was the role of the thegns and how many were there?

A

There were 4000-5000 thegns. They were local lords/aristocrats who were important in the community who may have lived in a manor house

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4
Q

What was the role of the freemen?

A

They rented small farms and did work for local lords for food. If they didn’t work, they couldn’t use the land

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5
Q

What percentage of the Saxon population were slaves?

A

Around 10%

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6
Q

What were the limits to the power of the Saxon earls?

A

They had to be obedient, relied on the support of thegns and peasants and could be removed by thegns

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7
Q

What power did the Saxon earls have?

A

They collected the taxes of their earldom and received a share of the revenue, oversaw justice and legal punishments in their earldom, had great military power and had economic, legal and military powers

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8
Q

Describe the Witan and their importance in Saxon England

A

Witan means the meeting of wise men and they advised the king on religious and non-religious problems. They were the most important aristocrats in the kingdom, made up of earls and archbishops. They discussed possible threats, religious affairs, land disputes and approved the new king (a new king could still be crowned without their approval)

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9
Q

What were the functions of a Saxon shire?

A

They had their own court for trying cases and giving out punishments and provided troops for the fyrd. Each shire had a burh that acted as an administrative/trading centre and had a reeve who acted as the king’s representative in that shire

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10
Q

What was the role of a shire reeve?

A

To act as the king’s representative, to collect revenues, taxes and fines

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11
Q

Describe the Norman Feudal Sytem?

A

From top to bottom: The king, barons/bishops, knights, peasants and slaves

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12
Q

How did the king affect laws in Saxon England?

A

The king was the law-maker, issuing laws to fulfil his role of keeping the peace. People looked to the king to provide peace and to provide justice; treating everyone of the same social standing the same way

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13
Q

What was the concept behind blood fueds?

A

If someone was killed, the victim’s family had the right to kill someone from the murderer’s family, who then had the right to revenge themselves and so on.

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14
Q

What was the ‘Hue and Cry’?

A

The idea that, when a crime was committed, it was the duty of all members of a tithing to hunt for the criminal

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15
Q

What were the men of each tithing responsible for?

A

The ‘Hue and Cry’ and the good behaviour of their ten households

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16
Q

What would happen if someone from a tithing refused to join the general fyrd?

A

There would be consequences for everyone in the tithing, likely a fine

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17
Q

What were the two types of trial in Norman England?

A

Trial by jury in the hundred/shire-court and a trial by ordeal

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18
Q

What happened in a trial by jury in the hundred/shire-court?

A

The jury consisted of men who knew both the accuser and the accused. The accuser and accused each gave their version of events and it was up to the jury to decide who was lying. If there was no clear evidence, the jury made their decision based on their knowledge of the people concerned

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19
Q

Who judged a trial by ordeal?

A

God

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20
Q

What did the accused have to do in the lead up to a trial by ordeal?

A

They had to fast for three days and listen to Mass

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21
Q

What was the the trial by hot water?

A

The accused had to plunge his hand into boiling water to pick up an object and lift it out. If the resulting wound healed cleanly, it was a sign from God that the accused was innocent. If it did not heal, they were guilty and should be punished

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22
Q

What was Western England known for selling in Norman times?

A

Western England was particularly well-suited to sheep rearing. Sheep wool was made into cloth and sold in markets and wines. English cloth was prized throughout Europe and a valuable export

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23
Q

What was Eastern England known for selling in Norman times?

A

Eastern England had drier conditions and fertile soil that made it excellent for arable farming (growing crops) . Farming was well organized

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24
Q

How many grain mills were there in England during Norman occupation?

A

There were over 6,000 mills throughout the country used for grinding the local community’s grain into flour

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25
How did the South make Norman England rich?
Most of the south was covered in forests. There were small villages where the forest had been cleared and land was farmed. This lead to greatly increased food production and contributed to making England rich
26
Why was copper and tin important in Norman England for money?
Copper and tin were often used together to make bronze, which was used for tools and jewellery. England was Europe's chief supplier of tin
27
What percentage of England lived in towns at the end of Edward the confessor's reign?
Around 10% of the population
28
How far apart were towns?
No more than 15 or 20 miles apart if news of a Viking raiding party reached them
29
How were towns well defended?
They were close together (15-20 miles apart), had strong walls and ramparts guarded by men from the town and were connected by roads so that troops could move quickly from one to the other
30
What were town essentially?
Fortified burhs
31
What wee towns used for?
They were trading hubs
32
What did the king's laws say on trade and why?
They demanded that all trade worth more than a set amount of money should take place in a burh so that trade tax could be applied to them
33
What were the populations of London and York by 1060 and why?
They were the biggest cities in England, with populations of over 10,000. York was a centre for trade with Denmark and London housed traders from Germany, France, Normandy and Flanders
34
What were the populations of Norwich and Lincoln by 1060 and why?
They had around 6,000 people in them, because they were trading towns
35
Why was Bristol important for trading?
It was the centre of trade between the west of England and the Viking settlements in southern Ireland
36
What were villages likely to be like in Norman England?
Many quite isolated homes and farms scattered over the countryside
37
What would village homes be made from and who would live in a house?
They were made from wood and thatched with straw. They were homes for lots of relatives living together
38
Who lived in villages?
Thegns and peasants
39
What were the thegns' houses like?
They lived in manor houses that were larger and better built than peasant huts, some of which were fortified against attack
40
What did most thegns do with their land to build links with the village?
They often built a church on their land and employed a priest to hold services for the thegn's household. These churches would also provide services for the surrounding area, building connections from the local thegn and the church to the people
41
How was the church organized in Norman England?
There were two archbishops at the top, about 15 bishops below them and then below them were abbot and abbesses and below them were monks and nuns
42
What were the titles of the two archbishops?
The archbishop of Canterbury (in the south) and the archbishop of York (in the north)
43
What were the roles of the archbishops?
They were in charge of the Church in their regions
44
What were the roles of the bishops?
They were each in charge of an area called a diocese or a see and they were responsible for making sure the village priests obeyed the Church's laws and carried out religious services correctly
45
What were abbeys and who lived there?
Monasteries and convents, which housed monks and nuns respectively
46
What were the roles of the abbots and abbesses?
Abbots headed up the monasteries and abbesses headed up the nunneries
47
What was the role of monks and nuns?
Mainly to pray, but they also wrote histories, created beautiful tapestries and acted as teacher and advisors to lords
48
How did monasteries make money?
Selling crops grown on monastery farms
49
How much of the land in England did the church own?
The church was a very powerful and rich organisation that owned 23% of the land in England
50
What changed regarding raising armies from the Saxons social system to the Norman Feudal system?
The Saxon kings had raised armies from their tenants as and when they were needed, but William made it so each knight had to guarantee a certain number of days of service
51
What happened in Norman England when tenants died?
The king charged fees when the tenants died, controlled the marriages of the widows and redistributed lands when there was no male heir
52
How many English thegns were there in England in 1060 compared to 1086?
There were around 4000 thegns by 1060 and only 4 by 1086 that still held any land
53
Who controlled the land in Norman England?
The 4 English thegns, the king, the church and approximately 200 Norman barons and bishops
54
What did William make sure to do about his lords and their lands, and what was the exception?
He learned from Edward the Confessor and made sure that no one person had too much land. The only exception was the Marcher earls
55
What were the 3 marcher earldoms and where were they?
They were the earldom of Chester, the earldom of Shrewsbury and the Earldom of Hereford and they were on the border between England and Wales
56
Why were the marcher earldoms bigger than regular earldoms?
Because of the threat of a Welsh rebellion
57
How many earls were there in Edward the Confessor's time, and who owned the most land?
There was Earl Siward, Earls Edwin and Morcar (they count as one), The Godwinson Earls (they count as one) and the King. The Godwinson earls controlled the most land
58
How many earls were there in England in William's town, and who owned the most land?
William's half brothers: Odo of Bayeux and Robert of Mortain, the Montgomeries, Alan of Richmond, Clares, Eustace of Boulogne, William de Warenne, Geoffrey de Mandeville, Hugh of Avranches and the king. The king controlled the most land
59
What was different about Shire Reeves in the marcher earldoms and why?
Instead of working for the king, they worked for the earl, giving the earl almost complete power over the law in their earldom. This was to make them become the central figures of the law and allow them to respond quickly and firmly to any unrest or disobedience
60
What was different about the tax the earls had to pay in the marcher earldoms?
They did not have to pay tax to the king on their lands, unlike the other earls, to reward their loyalty and encourage them to spend on new settlements and defences
61
Why were the Marcher earldoms smaller than the Saxon earldoms?
To prevent the marcher earls from gaining too much power and to make them easier to control
62
What was different about castles in the marcher earldoms and why?
In the rest of England, landholders had to apply to the king before they could build castles; the marcher earls were free to build them wherever they needed them. This was because castles were used to control the area and launch attacks into Wales and were essential to controlling the Marches
63
What was special about the rights the marcher earls had and why?
They were able to create burhs and markets and could set up churches. These were rights that usually only the king had. These rights helped attract people from Normandy to come and settle in those areas
64
How did land grabs benefit the Normans to get land?
This was the illegal way in which the Saxons lost their land to the Normans, often organized by Norman sheriffs. There were thefts and seizures of land as well as corrupt deals that left the Saxons with less
65
How did the forfeit rule help William take land?
The king owned all the land in the kingdom, so if anyone acted against the king, their lands would be forfeit. William made his followers the new owners of any such land.
66
What was patronage?
Where William could offer people land in return for their loyalty and, in turn, take land off those who were unloyal
67
What was the concept of 'One Land Owner'?
Under William, there was only one formal landowner - the King; everyone had tenure from him
68
What was 'Land at Death'?
Where if a tenant died without an heir, their property became William's once again
69
What were leases?
Saxons had to pay William to continue to have the right to their land - many ended up being charged twice. This was unpopular
70
What was primogeniture?
The practice that, when someone dies all of their land is inherited by the eldest son. This meant that the Normans could keep large estates
71
What was a tithing?
A Saxon tradition that William kept, it involved a group of 1-12 freemen who promised to prevent each other from committing crime and if one did they had to reveal the guilty one or risk them all being punished, likely through a fine
72
What was a Murdrum fine?
If a Norman was killed and their murderer was not found within 5 days, the whole hundred would be heavily fined
73
What were the curfews that William introduced?
the church bell was rung at sunset in Summer and 20:00 in Winter and everyone had to go home. Anyone outside or anyone with fires lit could be punished
74
What was the hierarchy of the courts?
The King's court, Shire courts, hundred courts, Lord's courts and Manor courts
75
What was the King's court?
The King's court dealt with royal pleas which included the most serious offences of murder, treason, arson, robbery and rape. The king could also hear appeals from lower courts
76
What were Shire courts?
They did not change much from the Saxon times, but they now met more regularly and were supervised by either a sheriff or bishop. The judges were local landowners or the sheriff and they heard disputes over land or crimes involving violence or theft
77
What were Hundred courts?
They were around before 1066 and were held monthly with a bailiff in charge (who was appointed by the sheriff). Some hundred were still privately held and if so the lord would be in charge. They dealt with minor disputes
78
What were the Lord's courts?
They were introduced by the Normans for the lord to deal with his tenants. They did not only deal with crime or disputes, they supervised property transactions or made announcements of new laws from the king. The tenants also gave the lords advice at these courts just as the highest lords advised the king in his own court
79
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