Norman Life

Question 1

What was the order of the Anglo-Saxon feudal system?

Answer 1

1. King
2. Earls
3. Thegns
4. Peasants - Ceorls (freemen)
5. Peasants - villeins, cotters, borders (not free)
6. Slaves

Question 2

How much of the land did the king own before the Normans?

Answer 2

most of it - more than the church

Question 3

How many earldoms were there by 1066 and who owned them?

Answer 3

6 - each owned by the king but controlled by earls who promised to support the king - earls gave land to their supporters (thegns)

Question 4

How many Anglo-Saxon thegns were there?

Answer 4

4,000 +

Question 5

How much did thegns pay earls to live on their land?

Answer 5

100 shillings

Question 6

What did thegns do?

Answer 6

• looked after land for the earls
• ran local courts
• could be called upon for military for two months a year
• granted land to ceorls

Question 7

What did ceorls do?

Answer 7

• worked on thegn land for 2-3 days a week and pay taxes to them

Question 8

What rights did villeins, cotters and borders have?

Answer 8

had few rights and were the property of ceorls and thegns

Question 9

What rights did slaves have?

Answer 9

had fewest rights - property of freemen and worked in return for shelter/food

Question 10

How much of the land did the Norman king and church directly own?

Answer 10

William owned 20% (less than before)
church owned 25% (more than before)
- rest was shared between king’s supporters (200 Norman Barons and Bishops)

Question 11

How many Norman barons and bishops was land shared between?

Answer 11

200

Question 12

What was the order of the Norman feudal system?

Answer 12

King
Barons/Bishops (replaced Earls)
Knights (replaced Thegns)
Peasants (freeman)
Peasants (villeins, cotters, bordars)
Slaves

Question 13

What did Barons and Bishops do?

Answer 13

• swore fealty and paid homage to William in return for land - promised money and service and granted land to their followers to maintain

Question 14

What did Knights do?

Answer 14

promised to be loyal to their baron/bishop in return for land - served in army and granted some land to peasants who lived in their manor (town as the Lord of the Manor)

Question 15

How were peasants (freemen and not free) different when the Normans took over?

Answer 15

• had to obey the lord of their manor in return for land and give him crops and work days without pay - couldn’t leave land without permission (so not actually freemen) and considered too unimportant to swear fealty

Question 16

How many slaves were there in the Norman feudal system?

Answer 16

10% of population in 1086 - but rapidly declined as they were expensive and the church disapproved

Question 17

How did William change the existing feudal system?

Answer 17

• Formality increased e.g. knights guaranteed certain number of days service
• Establish power - Anglo Saxon Earls had become too powerful under Edward the Confessor and William didn’t want this so established power by giving smaller amounts to land to Barons (harder to challenge king’s position)
• Unimportance and exploitation of peasants developed
• Dumped Anglo-Saxons and replaced them with Normans
• Authority over king’s tenants e.g. fees when they died, controlling marriage of tenant’s widows and redistributing lands when no male heir
• L and holding more concentrated - 4,000 thegns held land in Anglo Saxon England - William only shared between 200 barons/bishops

Question 18

What was the order of castle development?

Answer 18

Motte and Bailey castles
The Stone Keep
Curtain Wall Castle
Curtain Wall with round towers
The Concentric Castle
Castle Palace

Question 19

What were the features of the Stone Keep?

Answer 19

• 5m thick walls
• entrance reached by ramp protected by forebuilding
• slit windows nobody could climb in arrows could be shot out
• stone
• square shaped
• long time to build

Question 20

What were the features of the Curtain Wall Castle?

Answer 20

• thick stone walls
• space for military/animals
• not on hill
• square shaped

Question 21

What were the features of the Curtain Wall Castle with round towers?

Answer 21

• round towers made stronger
• crenellations and machicolations meant better defence
• centre wall made of rough rocks/rubble easy to climb

Question 22

What were the features of the Concentric Castle?

Answer 22

• walls built at different levels so archers could shoot down
• two walls meant difficult to break in
• hundreds of years to build
• garrison soldiers needed housing and income

Question 23

What were the features of Castle Palaces?

Answer 23

• made of brick so strong / hold heat
• control established by now so défense was not a priority
• glass windows
• hand-made bricks took time
• lots of entrances

Question 24

What were the features of the Motte and Bailey Castles?

Answer 24

• built on hill (hard to reach and shows power)
• 2 weeks to build
• moat, palisade and bailey before castle is reached
• wooden walls flammable/rots
• relies on bridge to get to - one entrance

Question 25

What were the three aspects of governance that William changed?

Answer 25

1. military service 2. national government 3. local government

Question 26

How did military service change under William?

Answer 26

- reliable supply of soldiers achieved through the feudal system - in return for land each tenant-in-chief offered loyalty and a certain number of knights - knights were different to thegns in saxon england as they had to make an oath, it was a "religious duty" to provide military service - knights also had to serve for at least 40 days (unlike thegns before) - 1100 william could call on 5,000 knights obliged to provide service

Question 27

How did national government change under William?

Answer 27

- in anglo-saxon times: decision-making involved the Witan (council of nobles) - in norman times: kings continued to take advice from the Great Council as well as his household, knights and the Chancery (royal clerks) - in anglo-saxon times: main instrument of government was to issue an order in writing (writ) which gave notices and orders to be sent around country - in norman times: far more writs issued and William had much more power over earldoms

Question 28

How did local government change under William?

Answer 28

- in anglo-saxon times: england split into 134 shires, with shire-reeves in charge, each having a capital where justice and tax payments were organised - shires then split into wapentakes - in norman times: kept the system, sheriff made annual payments to the king, collected taxes and controlled shire courts - slowly replaced the english sheriffs with normans as loyalty was vital for control - new roles like castellans created (looked after castles and forests)