OCR A-Level History A H505
Y101: Alfred and the Making of England 871–1016Unit group 1
Y102: Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest 1035–1107Unit group 1
Y103: England 1199–1272Unit group 1
Y104: England 1377–1455Unit group 1
Y105: England 1445–1509: Lancastrians, Yorkists and Henry VIIUnit group 1
Y106: England 1485–1558: The Early TudorsUnit group 1
Y107: England 1547–1603: The Later TudorsUnit group 1
Y108: The Early Stuarts and the Origins of the Civil War 1603–1660Unit group 1
Y109: The Making of Georgian Britain 1678–c.1760Unit group 1
Y110: From Pitt to Peel 1783–1853Unit group 1
Y111: Liberals, Conservatives and the Rise of Labour 1846–1918Unit group 1
Y112: Britain 1900–1951Unit group 1
Y113: Britain 1930–1997Unit group 1
Y201: The Rise of Islam c.550–750Unit group 2
Y202: Charlemagne 768–814Unit group 2
Y203: The Crusades and the Crusader States 1095–1192Unit group 2
Y204: Genghis Khan and the Explosion From the Steppes c.1167–1405Unit group 2
Y205: Exploration, Encounters and Empire 1445–1570Unit group 2
Y206: Spain 1469–1556Unit group 2
Y207: The German Reformation and the Rule of Charles v 1500–1559Unit group 2
Y208: Philip II 1556–1598Unit group 2
Y209: African Kingdoms c.1400–c.1800: Four Case StudiesUnit group 2
Y210: Russia 1645–1741Unit group 2
Y211: The Rise and Decline of the Mughal Empire in India 1526–1739Unit group 2
Y212: The American Revolution 1740–1796Unit group 2
Y213: The French Revolution and the Rule of Napoleon 1774–1815Unit group 2
Y214: France 1814–1870Unit group 2
Y215: Italy and Unification 1789–1896Unit group 2
Y216: The USA in the 19th Century: Westward Expansion and Civil War 1803–c.1890Unit group 2
Y217: Japan 1853–1937Unit group 2
Y218: International Relations 1890–1941Unit group 2
Y219: Russia 1894–1941Unit group 2
Y220: Italy 1896–1943Unit group 2
Y221: Democracy and Dictatorships in Germany 1919–1963Unit group 2
Y222: The Cold War in Asia 1945–1993Unit group 2
Y223: The Cold War in Europe 1941–1995Unit group 2
Y224: Apartheid and Reconciliation: South African Politics 1948–1999Unit group 2
Y301: The Early Anglo-Saxons c.400–800Unit group 3
Y302: The Viking Age c.790–1066Unit group 3
Y303: English Government and the Church 1066–1216Unit group 3
Y304: The Church and Medieval Heresy c.1100–1437Unit group 3
Y305: The Renaissance c.1400–c.1600Unit group 3
Y306: Rebellion and Disorder Under the Tudors 1485–1603Unit group 3
Y307: Tudor Foreign Policy 1485–1603Unit group 3
Y308: The Catholic Reformation 1492–1610Unit group 3
Y309: The Ascendancy of the Ottoman Empire 1453–1606Unit group 3
Y310: The Development of the Nation State: France 1498–1610Unit group 3
Y311: The Origins and Growth of the British Empire 1558–1783Unit group 3
Y312: Popular Culture and the Witchcraze of the 16th and 17th CenturiesUnit group 3
Y313: The Ascendancy of France 1610–1715Unit group 3
Y314: The Challenge of German Nationalism 1789–1919Unit group 3
Y315: The Changing Nature of Warfare 1792–1945Unit group 3
Y316: Britain and Ireland 1791–1921Unit group 3
Y317: China and Its Rulers 1839–1989Unit group 3
Y318: Russia and Its Rulers 1855–1964Unit group 3
Y319: Civil Rights in the USA 1865–1992Unit group 3
Y320: From Colonialism to Independence: The British Empire 1857–1965Unit group 3
Y321: The Middle East 1908–2011: Ottomans to Arab SpringUnit group 3
Y202: Charlemagne 768–814
- 8 subtopics
- 20 things to know
- Unit group 2
- Non-British period study, one unit of twenty-four
What Y202: Charlemagne 768–814 covers
Charlemagne 768–814 is unit Y202 of OCR History A, one of the twenty-four options in unit group 2, the non-British period study; a student sits one of them. Its four key topics are war and conquest, administration and internal affairs, the Carolingian Renaissance, later kingship and imperial rule. 293 recall questions across 8 subtopics.
Where it is assessed
Unit group 2
Non-British period study, one unit of twenty-four.
Check the OCR specification ↗The 8 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- War and conquest: Situation in the Frankish lands and wars against the SaxonsRecall questions on situation in the Frankish lands on Charlemagne’s accession in 768, succession disputes with Carloman 768–771, reasons and changing motives for war, wars against the Saxons.Open →
- War and conquest: later campaigns, methods of warfare and reasons for successRecall questions on the later Saxon wars, the Avars, Slavs and Danes, the Spanish expedition and Roncesvalles, Byzantine relations, the Frankish army and the reasons for Charlemagne’s military success.Open →
- Administration and internal affairs: Aims and methods of control and organisation, economic policiesRecall questions on aims and methods of control and organisation, capitularies, conciliar decrees, counts and missi dominici, economic policies including coinage.Open →
- Administration and internal affairs: importance of the Church to effective governmentRecall questions on importance of the Church to effective government, religious policies, synods, Admonitio Generalis, church schools, literacy and clerical education, legal reforms, the Programmatic Capitulary and revision of Salic Law, extent of success of administrative and religious policies across the empire.Open →
- The Carolingian Renaissance: motives for patronage, minuscule, chant and the schoolsRecall questions on why Charlemagne funded scholarship, the part of monasteries, Carolingian minuscule and the copying programme, Roman chant and its leading school, and the schools of the revival.Open →
- The Carolingian Renaissance: work of scholars and extent of a cultural revivalRecall questions on the work of scholars including Alcuin, Einhard and Paul the Deacon, courts at Frankfurt, Aachen and Paderborn, extent of a cultural revival.Open →
- Later kingship and imperial rule: Leo III and the imperial coronation of 800Recall questions on relations with Pope Leo III, the attack on Leo in 799, the events of Christmas Day 800, why the imperial title was attractive, Einhard’s account and the consequences of the coronation for Frankish government.Open →
- Later kingship and imperial rule: relations with Byzantium and consolidation or decline in later yearsRecall questions on relations with Byzantium, Divisio, death of his sons and role of Louis, consolidation or decline in later years.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Why was the division of the kingdom with Carloman in 768 so dangerous?
What threat did the Danes pose in Charlemagne's later years?
How were capitularies enforced across the empire?
What did Alcuin contribute to Charlemagne's programme?
Give two reasons why an imperial title was available and attractive in 800.
Explain how Charlemagne's motives for war changed over the reign.
What happened at the pass of Roncesvalles?
Name three of the royal centres associated with Charlemagne's court.
Define the term capitulary.
Why did Charlemagne pay for scholarship and the copying of books?
What is the lasting importance of the Carolingian copying programme?
Describe what happened in St Peter's on Christmas Day 800.
How did the deaths of Charlemagne's sons change the succession?
How was Louis made emperor in 813, and why was the manner significant?
How was the succession dispute with Carloman resolved?
Explain why the missi were sent out in pairs of one layman and one churchman.
Why did Charlemagne impose Roman chant on his churches?
Why did Einhard claim Charlemagne would not have entered the church had he known what Leo intended?
Give three reasons for seeing Charlemagne's last years as a period of decline.
Take Y202: Charlemagne 768–814 further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Capitulary vs Missi dominici
Capitulary: a royal ordinance issued in numbered chapters and sent out to be enforced. Missi dominici: the pairs of envoys, one lay and one clerical, sent to inspect the counties.
Admonitio Generalis vs Divisio of 806
Admonitio Generalis: the great reforming ordinance of 789 setting standards of conduct and learning for the clergy. Divisio of 806: the plan for dividing the empire between the emperor's three sons.
Carolingian minuscule vs Programmatic Capitulary of 802
Carolingian minuscule: the clear rounded script developed to make texts legible and accurately copied. Programmatic Capitulary of 802: the ordinance requiring an oath of loyalty from every free man and setting out the duties of office.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What was the state of the Frankish lands when Charlemagne came to the throne in 768?
Model answer
He inherited a large, wealthy and militarily aggressive kingdom recently consolidated by his father Pippin, but one that was divided with his brother and whose outlying peoples such as the Aquitanians and Saxons were only loosely controlled.
- 2
Why was the division of the kingdom with Carloman in 768 so dangerous?
Model answer
The two brothers received interlocking territories rather than clean blocks, so neither had a defensible realm, and Carloman refused to help suppress the Aquitanian revolt, leaving the two courts openly hostile.
- 3
How was the succession dispute with Carloman resolved?
Model answer
Carloman died suddenly in 771, and Charlemagne immediately took over his lands and won over his followers before the claims of Carloman's young sons could be pressed.
- 4
Explain how Charlemagne's motives for war changed over the reign.
Model answer
Early campaigns were driven by plunder, tribute and the need to reward and occupy his aristocracy, but from the 770s conquest was increasingly justified as the defence and expansion of Christendom, with conversion becoming an aim in itself.
- 5
What triggered Charlemagne's invasion of the Lombard kingdom in 773?
Model answer
Pope Hadrian I appealed for help against Desiderius, who was pressing on papal territory and sheltering Carloman's family.
- 6
How did the Lombard kingdom fall?
Model answer
Charlemagne besieged Desiderius in his capital at Pavia through the winter of 773 to 774 until the city capitulated, after which Desiderius was deposed into a monastery and Charlemagne took the title King of the Lombards.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Y202: Charlemagne 768–814 revision questions
- What does Y202: Charlemagne 768–814 cover in OCR A-Level History A?
- 8 subtopics: war and conquest: situation in the frankish lands and wars against the saxons, war and conquest: later campaigns, methods of warfare and reasons for success, administration and internal affairs: aims and methods of control and organisation, economic policies, administration and internal affairs: importance of the church to effective government, the carolingian renaissance: motives for patronage, minuscule, chant and the schools, the carolingian renaissance: work of scholars and extent of a cultural revival, later kingship and imperial rule: leo iii and the imperial coronation of 800 and later kingship and imperial rule: relations with byzantium and consolidation or decline in later years. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Y202: Charlemagne 768–814 organised?
- By the OCR H505 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Y202: Charlemagne 768–814, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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