The Middle Ages

Question 1

What is the period after the Norman Conquest up until about 1485 called? What is it characterised by?

Answer 1

The Middle Ages or the medieval period. It was a time of almost constant war.

Question 2

Why did the English fight with the Welsh, Scottish and Irish noblemen during the Middle Ages? Were they able to establish rule in any of these countries?

Answer 2

For control of their lands. Hey managed to establish rule in Wales.

Question 3

When was Wales annexed to the Crown of England? What statute was issued to declare the annexation and by whom?

Answer 3

Wales was annexed in 1284, by King Edward I who introduced the Statute of Rhuddlan.

Question 4

Name two castles that were built in Wales to maintain the power of King Edward I.

Answer 4

Conwy and Caernarvon

Question 5

When were the last Welsh rebellions defeated and English laws and language introduced in Wales?

Answer 5

By the middle of the 15th century

Question 6

English kings were less successful in Scotland. In 1314 the Scottish defeated the English in a battle. Name this battle and the king who led the Scottish.

Answer 6

The Battle of Bannockburn, where the Scottish were led by Robert the Bruce.

Question 7

Was Ireland an independent country at the beginning of the Middle Ages?

Answer 7

Yes

Question 8

Why did the English first go to Ireland?

Answer 8

They first went as troops to help the Irish king and remained to build their own settlements.

Question 9

By 1200 the English ruled an area of Ireland around Dublin. Name this area.

Answer 9

The Pale

Question 10

Name two wars that English kings fought abroad during the Middle Ages.

Answer 10

The Crusades and The Hundred Years War

Question 11

What were European Christians fighting for in the Crusades?

Answer 11

Control of the Holy Land

Question 12

Who did English kings fight in the Hundred Years War? How long did the war last?

Answer 12

They fought with France for 116 years.

Question 13

Name one of the most famous battles of the Hundred Years War that took place in 1415 in which the English were vastly outnumbered but defeated the French. Which king led the English to victory?

Answer 13

The Battle of Agincourt, where the English were led by King Henry V.

Question 14

When did the English leave France?

Answer 14

In the 1450s

Question 15

Name and explain the system of land ownership the Normans used.

Answer 15

The Normans used a system called feudalism, whereby the king gave land to his lords in return for help in war. Landowners had to send certain numbers of men to serve in the army. Some peasants had their owns lands but most were serfs. They had an area of their lord’s land where they could grow food. In return they had to work for their lord and could not move away.

Question 16

Where else in Britain did feudalism develop during the Middle Ages?

Answer 16

Southern Scotland

Question 17

How did land ownership work in The north of Scotland and Ireland during the Middle Ages?

Answer 17

Land was owned by members of prominent families called ‘clans’.

Question 18

When did the Black Death come to Britain? What was it?

Answer 18

1348. It was a disease, probably a form of plague.

Question 19

What proportion of the population of England, Scotland and Wales died during the Black Death?

Answer 19

One third

Question 20

What were the six effects of the Black Death?

Answer 20

1. The smaller population meant there was less need to grow cereal crops.
2. There were labour shortages and peasants began to demand higher wages.
3. New social classes appeared, including owners of large areas of land (later called the gentry)
4. People left the countryside to live in towns
5. In the towns, growing wealth led to the development of a strong middle class
6. In Ireland, the Black Death killed many in the Pale, which for a time reduced the area controlled by the English.

Question 21

What does parliament originate from?

Answer 21

From the king’s council of advisers, which included important noblemen and the leaders of the Church.

Question 22

What important legal and political development took place in 1215?

Answer 22

King John was forced by his noblemen to agree to a number of demands that imposed formal limits to his power. The result was a charter of rights called the Magna Carta (the Great Charter) as a result of which the king would need to involve his noblemen in decisions in the future.

Question 23

What was the Magna Carta?

Answer 23

It was a charter of rights that protected the rights of the nobility and restricted the king’s power to collect taxes or to make or change laws.

Question 24

Why were parliaments called in England during the Middle Ages?

Answer 24

For the king to consult his nobles, particularly when he needed to raise money.

Question 25

Why was parliament split into two Houses?

Answer 25

Due to the growing numbers attending.

Question 26

What were the two Houses that parliament was split into? Who were they comprised of?

Answer 26

The House of Lords, which consisted of nobility, great land owners and bishops; and the House of Commons, consisting of Knights, who were usually smaller landowners, and wealthy people from towns and cities.

Question 27

True or False: The entire population could join in electing the members of the Commons during the Middle Ages.

Answer 27

False. Only a small part of the population was able to join in the election of the members of the Commons.

Question 28

How many houses or Estates did the parliament in Scotland have? Name them.

Answer 28

Three: the lords, the Commons and the clergy.

Question 29

During the Middle Ages in England, judges developed ‘common law’ by a process of __________ and __________.

Answer 29

Precedence, traditions.

Question 30

In Scotland, the legal system developed differently and laws were ________.

Answer 30

Codified (written down)

Question 31

What languages were spoken in Britain after the Norman Conquest?

Answer 31

The king and his noblemen spoke Norman French, while the peasants had continued to speak Anglo-Saxon. These two languages gradually combined to become one English language.

Question 32

Name two modern English words based on Norman French.

Answer 32

Park and beauty

Question 33

Name three words in modern English that are based on Anglo-Saxon words?

Answer 33

Apple, cow and summer

Question 34

Give an example of two words in modern English that have similar meanings, one of which comes from French and one from Anglo-Saxon.

Answer 34

Demand (French) and ask (Anglo-Saxon)

Question 35

By which year were official documents being written and English and English had become the preferred language of the royal court and parliament?

Answer 35

1400

Question 36

In the years leading up to 1400, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote a series of poems in English about a group of people going to Canterbury on a pilgrimage. The people told each other toured on their journeys and the poems describe the travellers and the stories they told. What is the collection of poems called?

Answer 36

The Canterbury Tales

Question 37

The Canterbury Tales was one of the first books to be printed by the first person in England to print books using a printing press. What was this person’s name?

Answer 37

William Caxton

Question 38

While modern English developed in England, what languages were people in Scotland speaking?

Answer 38

Gaelic and the Scots language

Question 39

Name a poet who began to write in the Scots language.

Answer 39

John Barbour, who wrote “The Bruce” about the Battle of Bannockburn.

Question 40

What types of buildings began to be built in Britain during the Middle Ages?

Answer 40

Castles and great cathedrals

Question 41

Give two examples of castles built during the Middle Ages that are still in use today.

Answer 41

Windsor Castle and Edinburgh Castle

Question 42

Name an example of a great cathedral built in Britain during the Middle Ages?

Answer 42

Lincoln Cathedral

Question 43

Given an example of a cathedral built during the Middle Ages that has a stained glass windows telling stories about the Bible and Christian saints.

Answer 43

York Minster

Question 44

England was an important trading nation during the Middle Ages. Name one important export.

Answer 44

Wool

Question 45

People came from abroad to England during the Middle Ages to Tess and work. Give four examples of countries people came from and what kinds of special skills they had.

Answer 45

1. Weavers from France
2. Engineers from Germany
3. Glass manufacturers from Italy
4. Canal builders from Holland

Question 46

When did the civil war, called the Wars of the Roses, begin? Which two families and their supporter fought the war and why was it called the Wars of the Roses?

Answer 46

It began in 1455 and was between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. It was called the Wars of the Roses because the symbol of Lancaster was a red rose and the symbol of York was a white rose.

Question 47

Which battle ended the Wars of the Roses and in which year?

Answer 47

The Battle of Bosworth in 1485

Question 48

Who won the Wars of the Roses?

Answer 48

The House of Lancaster, led by Henry Tudor, who defeated King a Richard III of the House of York, who died in the battle.

Question 49

What title did Henry Tudor gain after winning the Wars of the Roses?

Answer 49

King Henry VII

Question 50

Who did King Henry VII marry after winning the Wars of the Roses and what was the main consequence of the marriage?

Answer 50

He married Elizabeth of York, the niece of King Richard III. This united the two families and made Henry the first king of the House of Tudor.

Question 51

What was the symbol of the House of Tudor and what was its significance?

Answer 51

A red rose with a white rose inside it as a sign that the Houses if York and Lancaster were now allies.