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Y101: Alfred and the Making of England 871–1016

  • 10 subtopics
  • 26 things to know
  • Unit group 1
  • British period study and enquiry, one unit of thirteen

What Y101: Alfred and the Making of England 871–1016 covers

Alfred and the Making of England 871–1016 is unit Y101 of OCR History A, one of the thirteen options in unit group 1, the British period study and enquiry; a student sits one of them. Its seven key topics are Alfred and the Vikings, Alfred and the governance of England, the revival of literacy and learning: the Alfredian Renaissance, Edward the Elder 899–924, Athelstan 924–939, Edmund 939–946, Eadred 946–955 and Edgar 957–975, Aethelred 978–1016. 321 recall questions across 10 subtopics.

Where it is assessed

Unit group 1

British period study and enquiry, one unit of thirteen.

Check the OCR specification ↗

The 10 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Numbers

How was the dynastic feud with Aethelwold finally resolved?

Who and when

At what gathering did the northern rulers acknowledge Edward's overlordship, and when?

Key term

Describe how the nature of the court and royal council changed under Athelstan.

Key term

Why does the surviving legislation suggest Athelstan struggled to enforce order?

Key term

What happened at the Old and New Minsters at Winchester in 964?

Key term

Explain why monastic reform served Edgar's political interests as well as his piety.

Evaluation

Why did the murder of Edward the Martyr shadow the whole of Aethelred's reign?

Numbers

What happened in 1013 when Sweyn Forkbeard invaded?

Key term

Why is the cultural achievement of Aethelred's reign a problem for the traditional picture of it as a failure?

Key term

What part did chance play in Alfred's survival?

Key term

Name four burhs used as examples of Alfred's fortress network.

Key term

Describe the state of England at Alfred's death in 899.

Key term

Give two kinds of evidence for the scale of Scandinavian settlement in eastern England.

Key term

What happened to Mercia's independence after Aethelflaed died in 918?

Key term

Name the three main allies who fought against Athelstan at Brunanburh in 937.

Who and when

Why did Athelstan's success provoke a Scottish alliance with the Norse of Dublin?

Key term

Who took York on Athelstan's death in 939?

Key term

Why was Edmund celebrated as the liberator of the Danes?

Key term

State the terms of peace agreed with Guthrum after Edington.

Who and when

Why did continuing migration from Denmark make the Danelaw a lasting problem rather than a temporary one?

Who and when

In what year did the Welsh kings submit to Edward?

Who and when

What role did magnates and ealdormen play in Athelstan's government?

Key term

Which other Norse claimant, besides Eric Bloodaxe, contested York under Eadred?

Key term

How were the localities administered under Edgar?

Key term

What was the anti-monastic reaction that followed Edgar's death?

Key term

Give two ways in which Alfred used literature as propaganda.

Take Y101: Alfred and the Making of England 871–1016 further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

  • Burh vs Burghal Hidage

    Burh: a fortified centre garrisoned by the surrounding district for the defence of Wessex. Burghal Hidage: the document listing the fortresses of Wessex with the hides assigned to maintain each one.

  • Danelaw vs Five Boroughs

    Danelaw: the area of eastern and northern England where Danish law and custom prevailed rather than English law. Five Boroughs: the group of fortified Danish towns of the east midlands, Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham and Stamford.

  • Asser vs Wulfstan

    Asser: the Welsh bishop who joined Alfred's court and wrote the king's biography. Wulfstan: the Archbishop of York who drafted law codes for Aethelred and denounced English sins in a famous sermon.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Who challenged Edward the Elder's succession in 899, and on what basis?

    Model answer

    His cousin Aethelwold, son of Alfred's elder brother Aethelred I, claimed the throne on the grounds of senior descent, seizing Wimborne before fleeing north.

  2. 2

    How was the dynastic feud with Aethelwold finally resolved?

    Model answer

    Aethelwold was accepted as king by the Northumbrian and East Anglian Danes and raided Wessex, but he was killed fighting Edward's forces at the battle of the Holme in 902.

  3. 3

    Explain why the avoidance of dynastic feuds mattered so much to the West Saxon dynasty after 899.

    Model answer

    Rival aetheling claims invited Scandinavian rulers to back a pretender, so eliminating them allowed Edward to direct all his resources outwards against the Danelaw rather than inwards against his own kin.

  4. 4

    What is meant by the Danelaw?

    Model answer

    It was the area of eastern and northern England settled and governed by Scandinavians, where Danish law and custom prevailed rather than English law.

  5. 5

    Give two kinds of evidence for the scale of Scandinavian settlement in eastern England.

    Model answer

    Place names with Scandinavian endings such as -by and -thorpe, and the unusually large numbers of free peasants and sokemen later recorded in the eastern shires.

  6. 6

    Name the Five Boroughs of the Danelaw.

    Model answer

    They were Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham and Stamford.

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Y101: Alfred and the Making of England 871–1016
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Y101: Alfred and the Making of England 871–1016 revision questions

What does Y101: Alfred and the Making of England 871–1016 cover in OCR A-Level History A?
10 subtopics: edward the elder 899–924: avoidance of dynastic feuds, campaigns of edward and aethelflaed, edward the elder 899–924: ‘submission’ of the welsh kings and extent of edward’s power in 924, athelstan 924–939: capture of york 927, relations with scotland and continued problems with the vikings, athelstan 924–939: connections with the continent and athelstan’s legal codes, edmund 939–946, eadred 946–955 and edgar 957–975: return of the vikings, edmund 939–946, eadred 946–955 and edgar 957–975: edgar’s reforms, aethelred 978–1016: crisis over the new monasticism and return of the vikings, aethelred 978–1016: legislation of aethelred and cultural developments, enquiry: alfred and the vikings — alfred’s position in 871 and return of the vikings in the 890s and enquiry: alfred and the governance of england — burhs, law and the revival of learning. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
How is Y101: Alfred and the Making of England 871–1016 organised?
By the OCR H505 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.

Every question in Y101: Alfred and the Making of England 871–1016, on a schedule.

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