Early Britain

Question 1

The first people to live in the U.K. were ______-_________.

Answer 1

Hunter-gatherers

Question 2

What was the period called in which hunter-gatherers lived in the U.K.?

Answer 2

The Stone Age

Question 3

How was Britain connected to the European continent during the Stone Age?

Answer 3

By a land bridge

Question 4

When did Britain become permanently separated from the European continent by the Channel?

Answer 4

10,000 years ago

Question 5

When did the first farmers arrive in Britain?

Answer 5

6,000 years ago

Question 6

Where did the ancestors of the first farmers to live in Britain probably come from?

Answer 6

South-east Europe

Question 7

Name a famous monument built by the first farmers during the Stone Age, that was used for special gatherings, and was situated in what is now the English county of Wiltshire.

Answer 7

Stonehenge

Question 8

Name the best preserved prehistoric village in Northern Europe and where it is located.

Answer 8

Skara Brae, on Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland.

Question 9

When approximately was the Bronze Age?

Answer 9

4,000 years ago

Question 10

What period followed the Bronze Age?

Answer 10

The Iron Age

Question 11

In which present English county is the Iron Age hill fort at Maiden Castle?

Answer 11

Dorset

Question 12

What family of languages were spoken by the farmers, craft workers and warriors of the Iron Age?

Answer 12

Celtic

Question 13

Were the first coins to be minted in Britain made during the Bronze Age or the Iron Age?

Answer 13

During the Iron Age

Question 14

Which Roman emperors led invasions into Britain and when? Which of the invasions was ultimately successful in occupying almost all of Britain?

Answer 14

Julius Caesar in 55 BC and The Emperor Claudius in AD 43.

The second invasion in AD 43 was successful.

Question 15

Name a tribal leader who fought against the Romans and is remembered today by a statue in Westminster outside the Houses of Parliament.

Answer 15

Boudicca, queen of the Iceni in what is now eastern England.

Question 16

Was Scotland conquered by the Romans?

Answer 16

No

Question 17

The Emperor Hadrian built a wall in the north of England to keep out the ancestors of the Scottish people. What were these people called?

Answer 17

The Picts

Question 18

Name the two forts in Hadrian’s wall that are UNESCO World Heritage Sites today?

Answer 18

Housesteads and Vindolanda

Question 19

How long did the Romans remain in Britain?

Answer 19

For 400 years

Question 20

During which centuries did the first Christian communities begin to appear in Britain?

Answer 20

The 3rd and 4th centuries.

Question 21

What impact did the Romans have on British society?

Answer 21

They built roads and public buildings, created a structure of law and introduced new plants and animals. They also introduced Christianity in the 3rd and 4th centuries.

Question 22

When did the Roman army leave Britain and why?

Answer 22

AD 410. They left to defend other parts of the Roman Empire and never returned.

Question 23

Which Northern European tribes invaded Britain after the Romans had gone?

Answer 23

The Jutes, the Angles and the Saxons.

Question 24

By which year were Anglo-Saxon kingdoms established in Britain (mainly in what is now England)?

Answer 24

AD 600

Question 25

Name the burial place of the Anglo-Saxon king who was buried with treasure and armour placed in a ship, covered by a mound of earth?

Answer 25

Sutton Hoo in modern Suffolk

Question 26

Was West Britain (including Wales and Scotland) under Anglo-Saxon rule around AD 600?

Answer 26

No

Question 27

The Anglo-Saxons were not Christians when they first came to Britain. Who spread Christianity in Britain during this period?

Answer 27

Missionaries such as St. Patrick, St Columba and St. Augustine

Question 28

Where did St. Columba build a monastery off the coast of Scotland?

Answer 28

On the island of Iona

Question 29

Where was St Augustine from, which part of Britain did he spread Christianity from, and what title did he receive thereafter?

Answer 29

From Rome. He spread Christianity in the south. He became the first Archbishop of Canterbury.

Question 30

Where did the Vikings come from?

Answer 30

Denmark and Norway

Question 31

When did the Vikings first visit Britain and why?

Answer 31

In AD 789, to raid coast towns and take away goods and slaves.

Question 32

Where did the Vikings start to form their own communities?

Answer 32

In the east of England and Scotland

Question 33

Under whom did the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms unite to defeat the Vikings?

Answer 33

King Alfred the Great

Question 34

What is the area called which the Vikings who stayed behind after defeat to the Anglo-Saxons settled in? Name two places in the area that one from the Viking languages.

Answer 34

Danelaw - Grimsby and Scunthorpe come from Viking languages.

Question 35

Anglo-Saxons continued to rule Britain after chasing away the Vikings except for a short period when there was a Danish king. Who was the first of these Danish kings?

Answer 35

Cnut, also called Canute

Question 36

The north united under one king due to the threat of attack by Vikings and started to be known as Scotland. Who was this king?

Answer 36

Kenneth MacAlpin

Question 37

When did the Norman conquest happen? Who led the invasion, who did he defeat and in what battle?

Answer 37

The Norman invasion happened in 1066, led by William, the Duke of Normandy. He defeated Harold, the Saxon king of England at the Battle of Hastings.

Question 38

What is William, the Duke of Normandy, also known as?

Answer 38

William the Conqueror

Question 39

What is the name of the great piece of embroidery in which the Battle of Hastings is commemorated and which can still be seen in France today?

Answer 39

The Bayeux Tapestry

Question 40

The Norman Conquest was the last foreign invasion of England. True or false?

Answer 40

True

Question 41

Did the Normans conquer Wales and Scotland?

Answer 41

They conquered Wales but the Welsh gradually won territory back. They did not invade Scotland.

Question 42

What was the Domesday book?

Answer 42

It was a book ordered to be compiled by William the Conqueror containing lists of all the towns and villages, the people who lived there, who owned the land and what animals they owned.

Question 43

How long is the linen cloth of the Bayeux Tapestry and what material is it embroidered with?

Answer 43

It is 70m (230ft) long and embroidered with coloured wool.