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Topic - History: 450 – 1066

The birth of the Kingdom of England

Core Knowledge

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The arrival of Anglo-Saxons and Vikings to the reign of Edward the Confessor

KS1

All topics taught with a focus on the following key concepts:

● Awareness of the past, using common words and phrases relating to the passing of time such as ‘before’, ‘after’, ‘past’, ‘present’, ‘then’ and ‘now.’ ● Knowledge of where people and events fit within a chronological framework ● Identification of similarities and differences between ways of life in different periods and draw contrasts, make connections ● Development of a vocabulary of historical terms ● Use of parts of stories and other sources to show knowledge and understanding of key features of events in the past by asking and answering questions ● Knowledge of how we find out about the past ● Identification of different ways in which the past is represented

KS2

All topics taught with a focus on the following key concepts:

● Have a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of the British, local and world history studied ● Establish clear narratives within and across periods studied ● Note connections, contrasts, trends over time ● Regularly address and devise historically valid questions regarding change, cause, similarity, differences, significance ● Construct informed responses that involve thoughtful selection and organisation of relevant historical information ● Understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources ● Understand that different versions of past events may exist and give reasons for this

Q. Who were the Anglo-Saxons?

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A. The people we call Anglo-Saxons were in fact from 3 different tribes, the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes. These tribes came from the areas of Europe we now call Holland, Denmark and Germany.

Q. When did the Anglo-Saxons come to this country?

A. The first Anglo-Saxons came here about the time that the Romans were leaving in the early 400s. Across the Roman Empire tribes were fighting with the Romans. Here Scots attacked from Ireland, Picts attacked from the north (what is now Scotland) and Saxons attacked from northern Europe. By 450 more invaders arrived. Although the British people fought these attackers for 100 hundred years or more, they were eventually defeated and retreated to Wales and Cornwall in the West.

Q. Why did the Anglo-Saxons invade this country?

A. The homelands of the Anglo-Saxons were quite flat and flooded easily, which made farming the land difficult. The Anglo-Saxons recognised that the land here was fertile and good for growing crops. This made them want to settle here and farm the land.

Q. Where did the Anglo-Saxons settle?

A. At first, the Angles settled in East Anglia, the Saxons settled in the South and the Jutes settled in Kent and the Isle of Wight. As time went on they moved further inland. They did not live in the Roman towns but built settlements on land that they farmed. The Anglo-Saxons were warriors as well as farmers and in time small kingdoms ruled over by local kings emerged. The king was supported by his nobles, the eoldermen and by the thanes who promised their loyalty to the king and fought with him in battles against other kings. Between about 500 and 850 AD, there was a heptarchy, meaning seven kingdoms. The leading members of the heptarchy were Northumbria, Wessex, Mercia, and East Anglia. The others were Sussex, Kent and Essex, although there was quite a bit of boundary change happening for the three centuries or so that this era lasted.

Q. Who were the Vikings?

A. Vikings were the next invaders to reach the shores of Britain in around 789. They came from Norway, Sweden and Denmark. They were great ship builders and sailors so were able to explore beyond their homelands. Their raids across the North Sea were sudden, violent and daring. But then some Vikings decided to stay here and by 870 the Vikings had conquered much of the country.

Q. Where did the Vikings settle?

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A. One of the first places that the Vikings seized was York, a city in the north. They renamed it Jorvik. By 885 all of the north east from York to London was under Viking control. This was called Danelaw.

Q. What were Anglo-Saxon homes like?

A. We know about Anglo-Saxon homes because archaeologists found the remains of an Anglo-Saxon village at West Stow in Suffolk. The buildings have been rebuilt to show what it was like. Houses were made of wood with thatched roofs, and walls plastered with mud, animal dung, hair and straw. There would be just one room, a door and a fire on the floor. There was no upstairs and no chimney for the smoke from the fire to escape.

Q. What were Viking homes like?

A. Vikings’ houses were called longhouses. They could be made from stone or wood. Roofs were thatched or covered with mud and turf (grass.) Inside there would be a fire edged round with stones. A hole in the roof let the smoke out. The walls were lined with earth platforms or benches where people slept.

Q. What did Anglo-Saxons eat and drink?

A. Anglo Saxons grew, gathered or hunted all their food. They grew wheat, oats, barley and made bread from these. Other crops they grew were peas, beans, leeks, onions, turnips. They made a sort of soup from vegetables called pottage. They hunted small animals, fished and gathered berries and nuts. They also kept hens, sheep, cows, goats and pigs, which provided eggs, cheese and meat, although they would only eat meat on special occasions. They drank milk, beer made from barley or mead, a drink made from honey.

Q. What did Vikings eat and drink?

A. Vikings ate a lot of meat and fish and poultry. They also ate grains like wheat, rye and oats and a range of nuts, berries and vegetables including cabbage, onion, peas. Their diet also included cheese and eggs. They drank ale, milk or buttermilk. They would smoke meat and fish or store it in salt water to preserve it to eat in the winter.

Q. How did the Anglo-Saxons dress?

A. Anglo-Saxon clothes were made from wool or linen. Women spun yarn from sheep’s wool and wove it into cloth. Then they dyed the cloth using plants. They could make cloth blue, red, yellow and, using onion skin, brown . Women and girls wore long dresses and head cloths. Men and boys wore tunics and leggings. They used brooches, pins and buckles to secure their clothes. Belts and shoes were made from leather.

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Q. How did the Vikings dress?

A. Vikings came from cold climates so they wore several layers of wool or linen clothes and sometimes animal furs to keep warm. Cloth was woven by women and was often brightly coloured using plant dyes. Sometimes the cloth was woven in a check pattern. Women wore full length dresses with an over-dress and a headband or bonnet. Men wore trousers and a long sleeved tunic with a leather belt tied at the waist. On their heads they wore woollen or leather caps. In winter woollen cloaks kept men and women warm. These were fastened with brooches. Children’s clothes were the same. On their feet they wore woollen socks and leather shoes. Rich Vikings also showed their wealth by wearing fine jewellery.

Q. What was the Anglo-Saxon way of life in this country?

A. Anglo-Saxons lived in villages. Men farmed the land and reared animals. They also hunted and had to work hard to avoid famine and get enough food for their families to eat. If crops failed people starved. Women did spinning, weaving and sewing to make clothes for the family. They fetched water. They fed the animals, milked the cows or goats and made bread, cheese and meals for all the family.

Q. What would be a typical day in the life of an Anglo-Saxon or Viking child?

A. In Anglo-Saxon and Viking children did not learn to read and write. Their education was to help their parents. In this way they learnt all the skills they needed to run a home. Girls would learn from their mothers and boys would watch and help their fathers.

Q. Who was Alfred the Great?

A. Alfred was an Anglo-Saxon king of Wessex. He became king of Wessex when his brother Ethelred died in 871 and he reigned for 28 years. He is remembered for unifying the Anglo- Saxons in resistance to the Vikings who had conquered Northumbria, Mercia and East Anglia and in 877 attacked Wessex. Alfred escaped and went into hiding in the Somerset marshlands at a place called Athelney. While there he spent the time gathering a strong army which defeated the Vikings in a great battle. Soon the Vikings surrendered. They promised not to attack Wessex again and agreed a boundary between Alfred’s lands and their territory which was called Danelaw. During the peace Alfred prepared for future Viking attacks by strengthening his army and building fortified towns, called burhs, like Southwark, Oxford, Winchester. Other Anglo-Saxon kings recognised how wise Alfred was and turned to him for leadership. Before Alfred the Great, England was not one country but 7 different kingdoms. Alfred could be said to be the first great statesman and a hero in English history. There is a folk story about Alfred. When in hiding he was asked to look after some cakes as they were cooking. He was thinking about how to save his kingdom and forgot about the cakes. The cakes burnt and Alfred got told off by the woman making the cakes who did not know he was the king. 5

Q. What happened after Alfred died?

A. When Alfred died in 899, the country was more united than ever before. After Alfred there were a succession first of Anglo-Saxon kings and then Viking kings. Alfred’s descendants gradually conquered the Danelaw and ruled over the whole country. They were: 899 - 924 Edward the Elder, King of the Angles and Saxons 924 - 940 Athelstan, King of the West Saxons and Mercians 940 -946 Edmund, 946 - 955 Edred, 955- 959 Edwy, 959 -975 Edgar, 975-978 Edward the Martyr - all known as King of the English 979 - 1016 Ethelred the Unready, 1016 Edmund Ironside - both known as King of England. When Vikings again attacked Ethelred tried to pay them to go away, a payment known as Danegeld but the Vikings took over. 1016 - 1035 Cnut -King of the English, Danes and Norwegians 1035 - 1042 Cnut’s sons 1042 -1066 Edward the Confessor, son of Ethelred, King of England

Q. What is the Sutton Hoo treasure?

A. In 1939 archaeologists discovered the burial of an Anglo-Saxon king under a mound at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk. The burial contained the remains of a huge ship. The king’s body had decayed but all his treasure had survived. It included an ornate helmet made of iron and bronze, fine weapons, a shield, beautiful gold buckles, a cooking cauldron, a drinking horn, a lyre (stringed musical instrument) and a purse containing gold coins. All these artefacts are on display at the British Museum.

Q. Who is Beowulf?

A. Beowulf is the hero of an Anglo-Saxon poem by the same name. Originally, like many other stories, it would have been passed on by word of mouth. At the time most people could not read or write. But they listened to story-tellers recite tales of heroism and battles. At some point, fortunately for us, it was written down, probably by a monk. The epic poem tells the story of Beowulf’s battles with monsters and a dragon.

Q. What did Anglo-Saxons and Vikings believe? Did they follow a religion?

A. The beliefs of the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings changed over a period of time. When they arrived here the Anglo-Saxons worshipped many gods, including a snake god. Values that were important to them were courage and bravery. They believed their gods helped them to conquer Britain. Woden was the god of the sun and sky, Tiw was the god of war, Freya was the goddess of love and Thor made thunder and lightning. Some of our weekdays are named after these Anglo-Saxon gods (Woden Wednesday, Tiw Tuesday, Freya Friday, Thor Thursday.) As farmers, nature was also important to the Anglo-Saxons and many religious festivals marked 6 events in the farming year, like harvest which the Anglo-Saxons called Nerthus. The Vikings’ beliefs were very similar to those of the Anglo-Saxons. They believed their gods lived together in a place called Asgard and that when a warrior died in battle he would go to Valhalla to be with Odin, the god of war. Thor was the most popular Viking god and Vikings often wore pendants in the shape of Thor’s hammer for good luck.

Christianity had first come to Britain during Roman times and some Britons were still Christians. But it took Christians from other countries, from Ireland and Italy to reintroduce Christianity and convert the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings. In 563 Columba, an Irish monk founded a monastery on the island of Iona off the west coast of Scotland. In 597 the head of the Christian church, Pope Gregory sent Augustine to Britain to persuade King Aethelbert of Kent to adopt the Christian faith. Eventually, Aethelbert became a Christian and many of his followers did so too. Augustine built a monastery in Canterbury and became Archbishop. Over the course of the next hundred years many monasteries were founded all over the country and other Anglo- Saxon kings became Christians. In 878 Guthrum, a Viking leader, having been defeated by Alfred, was baptised into the Christian faith. This was just under 100 years since Vikings had ransacked Lindisfarne monastery, killing the monks and stealing precious objects from their monastery.

Q. How do we know about this period of history? What is the evidence?

A. There are two main types of evidence. Firstly, we have archaeological evidence, such as the finds made at Sutton Hoo and in York. Secondly, we have written information in the form of chronicles and stories. The most famous story is Beowulf. Although it is fictional we can learn a lot from it about how people lived and what was important to them. Accounts of what happened were written by monks as these were the only people who could read and write. The most famous monk is Bede who wrote a history of England from 55 to 730 and was the first person to consider England as a country. The earliest writing about this era was by another monk, Gildas around 500. Both Bede and Gildas were writing about lots of things that had happened many years before they were born. Another source of information is the Anglo- Saxon Chronicle which King Alfred had written in the 800s.

Useful websites:

BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/anglo_saxons/what_happened_to_the_anglo- saxons/

BBC KS2 http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/topics/zxsbcdm

The British Museum http://www.britishmuseum.org/learning/schools_and_teachers/resources/cultures/anglo- saxons_and_vikings.aspx http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/saxons.htm