levo

Y301: The Early Anglo-Saxons c.400–800

  • 11 subtopics
  • 31 things to know
  • Unit group 3
  • Thematic study and interpretations, one unit of twenty-one

What Y301: The Early Anglo-Saxons c.400–800 covers

The Early Anglo-Saxons C.400–800 is unit Y301 of OCR History A, one of the twenty-one options in unit group 3, the thematic study and historical interpretations; a student sits one of them. Its four key topics and three depth studies are the development of Kingship and kingdoms in Britain and Ireland, religion and the Christian Church in Britain and Ireland, economic and social life in Britain and Ireland, cultural change in Britain and Ireland, Athelbald, Offa and the Mercian supremacy, Augustine and the process of Christianisation, communities and kinship. 331 recall questions across 11 subtopics.

Where it is assessed

Unit group 3

Thematic study and historical interpretations, one unit of twenty-one.

Check the OCR specification ↗

The 11 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Who and when

Why did kings rise and fall so rapidly in the seventh century?

Key term

How extensive was royal power by c.825?

Key term

Why is the royal site at Yeavering significant?

Key term

How do place-names show cultural assimilation?

Key term

Describe the characteristic style of early Anglo-Saxon metalwork.

Key term

Name two carved works that show the mixing of traditions in eighth-century Britain.

Key term

What do the campaigns at Otford in 776 and Benson in 779 show about the limits of Offa's power?

Who and when

What part did the Frankish connection play in the conversion of Kent?

Who and when

How did ties of lordship compete with ties of kinship?

Key term

Why do interpretations of local communities differ so much?

Who and when

Who sent the mission of 597, and who led it?

Evaluation

Why did kings promote compensation payments instead of feud?

Evaluation

Why did furnished burial decline after about 700?

Key term

Name the British ruler traditionally said to have invited Germanic mercenaries into Britain in the mid-fifth century, and explain why.

Key term

Name the two brothers tradition identifies as the leaders of the first Saxon settlers in Kent around 450.

Key term

Name three gods worshipped by the pagan Anglo-Saxons.

Key term

Why is the later seventh and early eighth century called the golden age of monasteries?

Key term

Name two other problems the early English Church faced besides lay foundation.

Key term

Describe the two building types typical of an early Anglo-Saxon rural settlement.

Key term

Explain how Aethelbald's titles reflected his claims.

Key term

Give two reasons for the rapid growth of monasteries after Whitby.

Key term

How was Christianity brought to the countryside?

Key term

Name the seven kings listed by Bede as holding imperium over the southern English.

Key term

Which two defeats brought Northumbrian expansion to an end?

Key term

Was Britain wholly pagan before 597?

Key term

Name two Anglo-Saxon missionaries to the Continent and where they worked.

Key term

Give three reasons why towns re-emerged in the seventh and eighth centuries.

Key term

Trace the development of coinage across the seventh and eighth centuries.

Key term

What view of the Dyke has more recent fieldwork encouraged?

Evaluation

How did the relationship between the Church and kings work to both sides' advantage?

Key term

Name three peoples smaller than the great kingdoms.

Take Y301: The Early Anglo-Saxons c.400–800 further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

  • Bookland vs Wergild

    Bookland: land granted by charter, held free of many customary burdens and able to be bequeathed. Wergild: the price set on a man's life according to his rank, paid to his kin to end a feud.

  • Heptarchy vs Bretwalda

    Heptarchy: the conventional grouping of the early English kingdoms into seven. Bretwalda: the title implying overlordship of the other English kings.

  • Mons Badonicus vs Synod of Whitby

    Mons Badonicus: the British victory said to have halted Saxon expansion for a generation. Synod of Whitby: the meeting of 664 which settled the dating of Easter in favour of Roman practice.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Name the British ruler traditionally said to have invited Germanic mercenaries into Britain in the mid-fifth century, and explain why.

    Model answer

    Vortigern, described in the British tradition as a proud tyrant who hired Saxon federates to hold off Pictish and Irish attacks.

  2. 2

    Name the two brothers tradition identifies as the leaders of the first Saxon settlers in Kent around 450.

    Model answer

    Hengist and Horsa, with Horsa said to have been killed fighting the Britons soon afterwards.

  3. 3

    Give two reasons Germanic peoples crossed to Britain in the fifth century.

    Model answer

    They were recruited and paid as federate soldiers by British rulers, and the collapse of Roman authority opened up land and plunder at a time when rising sea levels were spoiling coastal settlement in their North Sea homelands.

  4. 4

    What was Mons Badonicus and why did it matter?

    Model answer

    It was a British victory over the Saxons around the year 500 that appears to have halted Saxon expansion westwards for roughly a generation.

  5. 5

    Why were some kingdoms able to grow at their neighbours' expense before c.600?

    Model answer

    Success in war brought tribute, slaves and treasure with which a king could reward followers, and that reputation drew more warriors to him, so small folk groups were absorbed by whichever dynasty could keep winning.

  6. 6

    What did overkingship, or imperium, mean in practice for the greatest kings of the period?

    Model answer

    It meant lordship over other kings rather than direct rule: the overking took tribute, expected military service and arbitrated between his under-kings, but left their kingdoms and dynasties intact.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

1Closed book
2Open book
3Closed book

The 3-step method, run for you

Answer cold, learn it, then prove it stuck. Levo tracks the jump between your first attempt and your last.

Y101: Alfred and the Making of England 871–1016
Y102: Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest 1035–1107
Y103: England 1199–1272
Y104: England 1377–1455

Cram a whole paper in one sitting

Sort every topic into what you know and what you do not, then drill only the weak ones.

Franz Ferdinand was shot at in June.
SarajevoBelgradeVienna

Blank Blitz makes facts automatic

Rapid timed gap-fills on the terms and numbers you need to recall without thinking.

AA republic replaced the sultanate.
BThe caliphate was abolished in 1924.
CThe Latin alphabet was adopted.

Build It gets the exam shape right

Assemble a full-mark answer from its marking points, in the order an examiner wants them.

Simony means the buying and selling of Church office.
TrueFalse

Test It catches misconceptions

Spot the fault in a statement. The traps are the mistakes students actually make.

721941163128510

Brain Breaks between sessions

Short focus games to reset attention, so the next set lands better than the last.

Y301: The Early Anglo-Saxons c.400–800 revision questions

What does Y301: The Early Anglo-Saxons c.400–800 cover in OCR A-Level History A?
11 subtopics: the development of kingship and kingdoms in britain and ireland: the first saxons, early kingdoms and overkingship, the development of kingship and kingdoms in britain and ireland: the heptarchy, royal government and the rise of northumbria and mercia, religion and the christian church in britain and ireland: paganism, the gregorian mission and irish christianity, religion and the christian church in britain and ireland: whitby, theodore, the monasteries and missions abroad, economic and social life in britain and ireland: rural and urban settlements, economic and social life in britain and ireland: trade, coinage, society, law and burial, cultural change in britain and ireland: language, religious artefacts, art and literature, depth study: athelbald, offa and the mercian supremacy — mercian supremacy as a turning point, depth study: augustine and the process of christianisation — short and long-term impact, depth study: augustine and the process of christianisation — synod of whitby as a possible turning point and depth study: communities and kinship — communities, kinship, identity and dispute settlement. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
How is Y301: The Early Anglo-Saxons c.400–800 organised?
By the OCR H505 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.

Every question in Y301: The Early Anglo-Saxons c.400–800, 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.

Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.