Village Life In Norman England

Question 1

What are the four jobs people in villages would have?

Answer 1

1. Reeve
2. Bailiff
3. Priest
4. Miller

Question 2

How many villages were there in England in 1086?

Answer 2

13,400

Question 3

How many of the English population were living in villages?

Answer 3

90%

Question 4

Who controlled the villages?

Answer 4

Lord of the manner

Question 5

What was peasant housing like?

Answer 5

• around the lords manor
• one room with a floor made of compacted mud
• walls made from wattle and daub
• roof made from straw
• damp/dark

Question 6

What was the main occupation?

Answer 6

Farming

Question 7

What were manors?

Answer 7

A specific area within the village owned by the Lord, known as the demesne . In medieval times the manor was the nucleus of English rural life. It was an administrative unit of an extensive area of land.
Included the Manor House as well as the homes of the freemen
Contained barns, church and mill

Question 8

What was the role of the reeve?

Answer 8

• chosen by lord/peasant vote, job was to manage day-to-day running of the manor and ensure the peasants were all working

Question 9

What was the role of the bailiff?

Answer 9

• responsible for collecting taxes for the king and ensuring crops were gathered and debts repaid

Question 10

What was the role of the priest?

Answer 10

Responsible for marriages and wills, as well as running the local church and conducting services

Question 11

What was the role of the miller?

Answer 11

Produced grain to make bread for the whole village

Question 12

How many key leaders were there in the church?

Answer 12

3

Question 13

Who did the key leaders of the church consist of?

Answer 13

• the Archbishop of Canterbury
• the king
• The pope

Question 14

When did the church bells ring?

Answer 14

At the beginning and end of every working day

Question 15

When were church services held?

Answer 15

• Sundays
• feast days
• holy days “holidays”

Question 16

What were 3 weapons used to attack castles?

Answer 16

• battering ram
• siege tower
• trebouchet and mangonel

Question 17

By 1086, how many castles had William’s barons built?

Answer 17

Over 100

Question 18

What was a problem of wooden motte and bailey castles?

Answer 18

They burned and rotted easily

Question 19

By ____, wood had been replaced by stone for most new castles

Answer 19

1070

Question 20

Castles were a centre of ________ for an area, they protected Norman _______ and especially new _____, they intimidated locals and showed ______ (moving so much earth and stone and clearing _____ to build castles showed Norman strength)

Answer 20

Administration, settlers, lords, power, forests

Question 21

Castles were also built to establish _____ (especially in the North and the Welsh border) and to show the Norman ____ structure - Norman rulers lived in castles on _____, while A-S subjects were at the _____. A castle was a highly visible ____ which everyone understood.

Answer 21

Control, social, hills, bottom, symbol

Question 22

The reasons for castle building can be summarised using APICS - what does this stand for?

Answer 22

Administration, protection, intimidation, control, symbolism

Question 23

Where were castles built? (5)

Answer 23

1. Areas of strategic importance (eg old Roman roads, river crossings)
2. On high ground to spot attackers
3. Near towns
4. Near water or resources
5. Near natural defences (eg the coast)

Question 24

The outer _____ wall was very high and had plenty of _____ posts. Slightly _____ ground leading up to it made it hard to attack

Answer 24

Bailey, lookout, raised

Question 25

Most _____ were dry ditches but some contained water

Answer 25

Moats

Question 26

The inner ______ was the area within the inner wall that protects the ______. Last line of ______.

Answer 26

Bailey, keep, defence

Question 27

The _____ was a mound of earth with a ______ on top. Sometimes very steep.

Answer 27

Motte, keep

Question 28

______ and _______ were entrances to the outer and inner baileys, guarded by soldiers to protect the castles most valuable points. Some castles had drawbridges.

Answer 28

Gateways, gatehouses

Question 29

The _____ was initially built of wood but later _____ and was built on top of the _____. High, straight walls made it hard to ____. Soldiers were positioned to spot and stop an attack early. A steep, narrow staircase and _______ helped make it the most secure part of the castle.

Answer 29

Keep, stone, motte, climb, battlements

Question 30

How big were villages?

Answer 30

Villages varied in size, but many would only have a few handful of families. A village of 67 families was large, while some only had five or six households.

Question 31

Who were the peasants in Norman England?

Answer 31

1. Freemen paid the Lord rent for their land. Also carried out “boon work”- unpaid extra work on the Lord’s demesne
2. Villeins were unfree peasants who worked on the lord’s land for no pay. They had a little land to farm for themselves. They could not leave the land without the lord’s permission
3. Bordars and cottars were poorer villeins, who rarely had enough land of their own to live on
4. Around 10% of the population were slaves, who had no freedom and no land.
   The Normans gradually got rid of slavery, but it took time.