Paper 2: Power: Monarchy and Democracy in Britain C1000-2014
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Paper 2: Power: Monarchy and democracy in Britain c1000-2014. 1. Describe the Anglo-Saxon system of government. [4] • Witan –The relatives of the King, the important nobles (Earls) and churchmen (Bishops) made up the Kings council which was known as the WITAN. These men led the armies and ruled the shires on behalf of the king. In return, they received wealth, status and land. • At local level the lesser nobles (THEGNS) carried out the roles of bailiffs and estate management. Each shire was divided into HUNDREDS. These districts had their own law courts and army. • The Church handled many administrative roles for the King because many churchmen could read and write. The Church taught the ordinary people about why they should support the king and influence his reputation. They also wrote down the history of the period. 2. Explain why the Church was important in Anglo-Saxon England. [8] • The church was flourishing in Aethelred’s time (c.1000). Kings and noblemen gave the church gifts of land and money. The great MINSTERS were in Rochester, York, London, Canterbury and Winchester. These Churches were built with donations by the King. • Nobles provided money for churches to be built on their land as a great show of status and power. This reminded the local population of who was in charge. It hosted community events as well as religious services, and new laws or taxes would be announced there. Building a church was the first step in building a community in the area. • As churchmen were literate some of the great works of learning, art and culture. These men wrote down the history of the time and could influence the reputation of the King. In return, the king and the nobles would donate wealth and land to the Church, as well as protecting it from attack. 3. Explain how Anglo-Saxon kings were chosen. [8] • Glorious Ancestors – Aethelred the Unready had Glorious ancestors like Alfred the Great, Aethelstand and Eadgar. These had won great victories against the Vikings. Alfred had established the Danelaw and achieved peace with the Vikings. Aethelstan united the various Saxon and Viking kingdons and became the first king of a ‘united’ England, and Eadgar reformed the law courts and was a strong protector of the Church. Anglo-Saxon kings were expected to live up to the reputations of their ancestors. • Support of Witan and nobles – Harold Godwinson was supported by the Witan when he became King in 1066 following the death of Edward as he was the most powerful and wealthiest English noble, and had effectively ruled England since 1053. As he was English, powerful, and in control of the Witan, he had a united England behind him. He was also made the legitimate successor of Edward as he had been granted his kingship upon Edward’s death • Military power – Anglo-Saxon kings first duty was to protect the country. They failed when they were unable to do this and were replaced by their opponent. Thus Aethelred was defeated by King Swein of Denmark and died opposing King Cnut in 1016. Cnut was able to execute some of Aethelred’s leading followers, but then allowed most of the Anglo-Saxon nobles to keep their land and position in return for their support. 4. Aethelred should be called ‘Aethelred the Unlucky’ rather than ‘Aethelred the Unready’. How far do you agree? [14] • Argument: Aethelred faced the same Viking threats as previous Anglo-Saxon Kings like Alfred, and largely he tried to deal with them in the same way. But these failed and he was replaced by the Viking Cnut. That is not to say that he made some mistakes and had a poor choice in advisors, but ultimately he was unlucky. • Evidence for Unlucky: Aethelred faced Viking attacks when he was very young from AD991, when the English lost the battle of Maldon. Aethelred and his advisors took the traditional Anglo-Saxon tactic of deciding to pay off the Vikings with a Danegeld payment of £10,000, and a treaty with the Normans to ensure they did not continue to help the Vikings. However, the Vikings returned three years later, but this time had to be paid off for 22,000 pounds. Viking raids continued to happen after this. This was unlucky, as the policy of paying a Danegeld had worked previously for Alfred and Eadgar, but it did not for Aethelred. • Evidence for Unread: Aethelred make some bad decisions and he did sometimes trust the wrong people. Aethelred needed the support of important nobles in Mercia and Northumbria, so he offered them important positions in the government. But then in 1002, he ordered that all the Danes in England should be killed. Many nobles, especially in the North, had Danish subjects, and so they refused to carry out these executions. Some of his nobles however did, and this provoked further revenge attacks by the Vikings. Therefore, this shows that Aethelred was badly advised as he chose to follow poor advice which resulted in him losing support from some nobles and also provoking further Viking attacks. 5. Describe two examples of the effects of the Norman Conquest. [4] • The Harrying of the North – Following the Norman invasion, William introduced the idea of CHIVALRY. The English who surrendered to him were not punished. However, chivalry was forgotten in 1069 when the Scots and Viking raided the North. William sent an army north and drove the rebels away. He then persisted to burn homes, barns and slaughtered animals. This was known as the HARRYING OF THE NORTH. • Castles - The Normans were strong advocates of castles. Castles could protect an area and repel an army. The Normans built a castle in Pevensey almost as soon as they landed. The first Norman castles were simple wooden MOTTE and BAILEY castles. In the first 30 years of Norman rule around 500 castles were built which dominated the English landscape to remind the people who was in charge. • CHURCH – William removed the Anglo-Saxon bishops and abbots and replaced them with Normans. By 1070 only 20% of the bishops were English. Churches were destroyed and re-built in the Norman style. The purpose of church was the thank God for the Norman victory and to remove English traditional values. 6. Explain why the Norman invasion was successful in 1066. [8] • Military - The Norman military was more formidable than the English – cavalry and archers were easily better than HOUSECARLS and FYRDS. The Norman knights had been constantly battling against the great lords of France since William was a boy, besieging castles as well as openly fighting. William had had to defend Normandy since his childhood against the King of France. Therefore they were highly experienced. England however had been relatively stable and had not had a serious incident or civil war since 1016. The English were not strangers to warfare, but the Normans were more experienced. Whilst the English numbered about the same as the Normans, the Normans were also better equipped. • Tactics – William had foot soldiers, horsemen and archers so they could change tactics more easily than the English, who were mainly foot-soldiers. English tactics had not changed much for a century. So William was able to turn a retreat into a tactic of fake-retreating in order to break the English shield wall. • Leadership - Harold and his closet advisers were a tight-knit group. But the Norman advisers were William’s half-brothers, and so were even more loyal and stayed close to William. Harold however was feuding with his own brother Tostig. In addition, Harold, by turning his forces around after the Battle of Stamford Bridge and marching straight back south to do battle with the Normans, risked overstretching his resources. In contrast, William refused to strike inland immediately after he landed in England. Instead, he stayed near the coast, securing his supply lines to Normandy and resting his troops while waiting for Harold to come to him. 7. How significant was the Norman Conquest for England? [14] • CASTLES –The Normans were strong advocates of castles. Castles could protect an area and repel an army. The Normans built a castle in Pevensey almost as soon as they landed. The first Norman castles were simple wooden MOTTE and BAILEY castles. In the first 30 years of Norman rule around 500 castles were built which dominated the English landscape to remind the people who was in charge. A massive tax was placed on the Church to pay for their construction, and local people were forced to build and reinforce these temporary castles to make them stronger. This process ensured Norman control over all areas of the country. • LAND OWNERSHIP – William rewarded his loyal band of trusted supporters. William took land away from the English THEGNS and gave it to Norman BARONS. This land was then sub-divided to their followers locally. This was known as FEUDALISM. This system guaranteed loyalty to William so that he could go abroad fighting without concern of a threat to his crown at home. Each shire was now controlled by a Norman baron and his knights with a network of castles. In the first few months after the Norman invasion, English nobles were allowed to keep their land. But because of English rebellions and William’s need to reward his followers, the English noble class of about 4000 thegns was slowly replaced by around 200 Norman barons, loyal to William, by around 1086. • CHURCH - William removed the Anglo-Saxon bishops and abbots and replaced them with Normans. By 1070 only 20% of the bishops were English (There were 15 Bishops, 3 were English).