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
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.
- The development of Kingship and kingdoms in Britain and Ireland: the first Saxons, early kingdoms and overkingshipRecall questions on the traditions of the Saxon arrival, reasons for migration, Mons Badonicus, the growth of early kingdoms, imperium, Bede’s list of overkings and the origins of the title Bretwalda.Open →
- The development of Kingship and kingdoms in Britain and Ireland: the heptarchy, royal government and the rise of Northumbria and MerciaRecall questions on doubts about the Bretwalda, the heptarchy model and its critics, itinerant kingship, the Tribal Hidage, unstable seventh-century kingship, Northumbrian expansion and its end, and the Mercian supremacy.Open →
- Religion and the Christian Church in Britain and Ireland: paganism, the Gregorian mission and Irish ChristianityRecall questions on Anglo-Saxon gods and pagan practice, Christianity before 597, Gregory’s mission and plans, the re-conversion of Northumbria, differences between Roman and Irish practice and the term Celtic Church.Open →
- Religion and the Christian Church in Britain and Ireland: Whitby, Theodore, the monasteries and missions abroadRecall questions on the Synod of Whitby, Theodore of Tarsus and Wilfrid, the golden age of monasteries and Bede’s criticism, minsters, other problems of the Church, Alcuin and English missionaries on the Continent.Open →
- Economic and social life in Britain and Ireland: Rural and urban settlementsRecall questions on rural and urban settlements, reasons for the emergence of towns, other construction, including Offa’s Dyke, the economy, farming, land issues, including the concept of bookland, craft-working.Open →
- Economic and social life in Britain and Ireland: trade, coinage, society, law and burialRecall questions on exports and imports, the development of coinage, social ranks and lordship, wergild and the laws of Ine and Aethelberht, pagan burial practice, Sutton Hoo and the decline of furnished burial.Open →
- Cultural change in Britain and Ireland: Language, religious artefacts, art and literatureRecall questions on language, nature and extent of cultural assimilation and identity, literature, including the writings of Gildas, Beowulf and the writings of Bede, education and learning, including the influence of the school at Canterbury, art, architecture, dress, jewellery.Open →
- Depth study: Athelbald, Offa and the Mercian supremacy — Mercian supremacy as a turning pointRecall questions on the Mercian supremacy as a turning point in the development of kingship and kingdoms, the extent of the supremacy, reasons for and consequences of the rise of Mercia as a political force, the role of Athelbald, the role of Offa.Open →
- Depth study: Augustine and the process of Christianisation — short and long-term impactRecall questions on the short and long-term impact of Augustine’s mission of 597, apostasy and pagan reaction, the role of the Celtic Church and Columba.Open →
- Depth study: Augustine and the process of Christianisation — Synod of Whitby as a possible turning pointRecall questions on the Synod of Whitby as a possible turning point, problems of organisation, Theodore and the spread of monasteries, reasons for and consequences of the growth of monasteries, Christianity in the countryside, the relationship between the Church and kings.Open →
- Depth study: Communities and kinship — communities, kinship, identity and dispute settlementRecall questions on regiones and small peoples, Irish local society, kinship and lordship, the migration and ethnicity debates, scientific evidence, and how disputes were settled, with the arguments of Davies, Fouracre and Wormald.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
How extensive was royal power by c.825?
Why is the royal site at Yeavering significant?
How do place-names show cultural assimilation?
Describe the characteristic style of early Anglo-Saxon metalwork.
Name two carved works that show the mixing of traditions in eighth-century Britain.
What do the campaigns at Otford in 776 and Benson in 779 show about the limits of Offa's power?
What part did the Frankish connection play in the conversion of Kent?
How did ties of lordship compete with ties of kinship?
Why do interpretations of local communities differ so much?
Who sent the mission of 597, and who led it?
Why did kings promote compensation payments instead of feud?
Why did furnished burial decline after about 700?
Name the British ruler traditionally said to have invited Germanic mercenaries into Britain in the mid-fifth century, and explain why.
Name the two brothers tradition identifies as the leaders of the first Saxon settlers in Kent around 450.
Name three gods worshipped by the pagan Anglo-Saxons.
Why is the later seventh and early eighth century called the golden age of monasteries?
Name two other problems the early English Church faced besides lay foundation.
Describe the two building types typical of an early Anglo-Saxon rural settlement.
Explain how Aethelbald's titles reflected his claims.
Give two reasons for the rapid growth of monasteries after Whitby.
How was Christianity brought to the countryside?
Name the seven kings listed by Bede as holding imperium over the southern English.
Which two defeats brought Northumbrian expansion to an end?
Was Britain wholly pagan before 597?
Name two Anglo-Saxon missionaries to the Continent and where they worked.
Give three reasons why towns re-emerged in the seventh and eighth centuries.
Trace the development of coinage across the seventh and eighth centuries.
What view of the Dyke has more recent fieldwork encouraged?
How did the relationship between the Church and kings work to both sides' advantage?
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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.
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