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
Y302: The Viking Age c.790–1066
- 14 subtopics
- 34 things to know
- Unit group 3
- Thematic study and interpretations, one unit of twenty-one
What Y302: The Viking Age c.790–1066 covers
The Viking Age C.790–1066 is unit Y302 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 Viking society, administration and livelihood, warfare and raids, settlements, culture and religion, raids on England in the late eighth and ninth centuries, the Danelaw, the Vikings in Ireland. 388 recall questions across 14 subtopics.
Where it is assessed
Unit group 3
Thematic study and historical interpretations, one unit of twenty-one.
Check the OCR specification ↗The 14 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Viking society, administration and livelihood: Viking identity and Scandinavian administrationRecall questions on Viking identity, Scandinavian land and climate, Scandinavian society, including slaves, the free, women, children, elites and rules of conduct, Scandinavian administration.Open →
- Viking society, administration and livelihood: royal power and Scandinavian livelihoodRecall questions on royal power, political developments in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, Scandinavian livelihood, including trade, developments in shipbuilding, seafaring, money, farming, hunting and craft-working.Open →
- Warfare and raids: early raids on England and Scotland and Alfred’s responseRecall questions on the first recorded attack, Lindisfarne, motives for the early raids, Iona, Viking pressure and Scottish unity, the change in the 860s and Alfred’s recovery and defences after 878.Open →
- Warfare and raids: Athelstan, the second Viking age and expansion abroadRecall questions on Athelstan and the north, peace after 955, the second Viking age and Danegeld, Danish rule in England and its fall, and Viking expansion to Normandy, the east, Iceland, Greenland, Wales and Man.Open →
- Settlements: Scandinavian rural and urban settlements, English rural and urban settlements, DanelawRecall questions on Scandinavian rural and urban settlements, English rural and urban settlements, including York, the Danelaw.Open →
- Settlements: kingship, move towards a united English kingdom, settlements in Western and Eastern EuropeRecall questions on kingship, the impact of settlements on livelihood, including farming, craft‑working, trade, society, including social structure, families, kinship and customs, the move towards a united English kingdom.Open →
- Culture and religion: old religion and new religionRecall questions on old religion, the gods, including Odin, Thor, Frey and the Norns, outdoor worship, including ship-settings, sacrificial sites, burial customs.Open →
- Culture and religion: culture, poetry and its purpose, sagas, feastingRecall questions on culture: art, language, writing, including runes, and naming customs, poetry and its purpose, including rune poems, eddaic poems and skaldic verse, sagas, feasting.Open →
- Depth study: Raids on England in the late eighth and ninth centuries — motives, success and impact of the raidsRecall questions on the debate over the early raids, Sawyer and Brooks, army size, the timing of the raids, England’s political condition, Alcuin on Lindisfarne, and the impact on English politics, government, economy and Church.Open →
- Depth study: Raids on England in the late eighth and ninth centuries — significance of the 860sRecall questions on the significance of the 860s, the response to raids and the first settlements.Open →
- Depth study: The Danelaw — Definitions, origins, organisation and growthRecall questions on definitions, origins, organisation and growth.Open →
- Depth study: The Danelaw — response from Anglo-Saxons and importance of YorkRecall questions on response from Anglo-Saxons, the impact on the northern and eastern economy, society, culture, religion and politics, the importance of York.Open →
- Depth study: The Vikings in Ireland — Motives for raiding, trading and settlementRecall questions on motives for raiding, trading and settlement, phases of involvement and links to Viking activity elsewhere.Open →
- Depth study: The Vikings in Ireland — Clontarf and the impact on the Irish economy and ChurchRecall questions on the Vikings in Irish politics, Clontarf and its reinterpretation, the economic effects, money and trade, excavation in Dublin, the Irish Church, cultural traces and the views of Ó Corráin.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Describe the legal and practical position of free women in Scandinavian society.
Describe the Scandinavian assembly known as the thing.
How did a silver economy work before regular coinage?
Why did Scandinavian rule in England decline and fall?
How did kingship work in Scandinavian England?
What new rituals and rules did conversion bring?
What are runes, and how did the runic alphabet change in the Viking age?
How does the political condition of England help explain the raids' success?
What was the economic impact of the raids?
Why is the 860s treated as the decisive turning point?
Why does the definition of the Danelaw matter for interpretation?
How did the Vikings become part of Irish politics?
Why do interpretations of the Vikings in Ireland differ so widely?
How did Viking pressure contribute to Scottish unity?
What triggered the second Viking age?
How did settlement change the livelihood of northern and eastern England?
How quickly did the settlers become Christian?
Name three important Scandinavian trading centres.
Give three motives for the early raids.
How did Scandinavian urban settlements differ from the countryside?
Name the Five Boroughs.
How was Norway converted?
Describe Scandinavian naming customs.
Why do some historians think the damage to the Church has been overstated?
What was the impact of the Danelaw on the economy of northern and eastern England?
What happened to Dublin in 902 and in 917?
How did the adoption of the sail change Scandinavian seafaring?
Why is the period after 955 described as one of relative peace?
How did settlement affect family and social custom in the Danelaw?
Give three explanations historians have offered for the timing of the raids.
How effective was the English response to the great army?
How did the Danelaw affect society in the north and east?
What happened at Clontarf in 1014?
Take Y302: The Viking Age c.790–1066 further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Danegeld vs Danelaw
Danegeld: the tribute raised by taxation and paid to buy off Scandinavian armies. Danelaw: the area of northern and eastern England where Danish law and custom prevailed.
Longphort vs Sokeman
Longphort: the fortified ship camp used by Scandinavian forces, especially in Ireland. Sokeman: the free peasant of the eastern shires holding land with unusually light obligations.
Lindisfarne vs Maldon
Lindisfarne: the island monastery, the most famous holy place in northern England, whose sacking in 793 shocked Christian Europe. Maldon: the battle of 991 whose defeat was followed by a great payment of tribute.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What did the Old Norse word from which we get Viking actually mean?
Model answer
It described an activity rather than a people, referring to a raiding voyage and to the man who went on one, so most Scandinavians were never Vikings at all.
- 2
How did land and climate shape life in Norway, Denmark and Sweden?
Model answer
Denmark's low, fertile land supported dense farming and cattle, Norway's mountains and fjords left only narrow coastal strips of arable and forced dependence on the sea, and Sweden's forests and lakes favoured hunting, iron and inland waterways.
- 3
Name the three broad ranks of Scandinavian society.
Model answer
The jarls or aristocracy, the free farmers or karls who formed the bulk of the population, and the thralls who were slaves.
- 4
Describe the legal and practical position of free women in Scandinavian society.
Model answer
They could own and inherit property, run the farm and its stores while the men were away, initiate divorce and commission memorial stones, though they were excluded from public office and formal legal action.
- 5
How were children treated in Scandinavian society?
Model answer
A newborn had to be acknowledged and named by the father to be reared, children worked on the farm from an early age, and boys of good family were often fostered out to build alliances between households.
- 6
What values governed conduct among free men?
Model answer
Honour and reputation above all, generosity from a lord to his followers, hospitality, loyalty and the duty to answer an insult or a killing, if necessary by feud or a formal duel.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Y302: The Viking Age c.790–1066 revision questions
- What does Y302: The Viking Age c.790–1066 cover in OCR A-Level History A?
- 14 subtopics: viking society, administration and livelihood: viking identity and scandinavian administration, viking society, administration and livelihood: royal power and scandinavian livelihood, warfare and raids: early raids on england and scotland and alfred’s response, warfare and raids: athelstan, the second viking age and expansion abroad, settlements: scandinavian rural and urban settlements, english rural and urban settlements, danelaw, settlements: kingship, move towards a united english kingdom, settlements in western and eastern europe, culture and religion: old religion and new religion, culture and religion: culture, poetry and its purpose, sagas, feasting, depth study: raids on england in the late eighth and ninth centuries — motives, success and impact of the raids, depth study: raids on england in the late eighth and ninth centuries — significance of the 860s, depth study: the danelaw — definitions, origins, organisation and growth, depth study: the danelaw — response from anglo-saxons and importance of york, depth study: the vikings in ireland — motives for raiding, trading and settlement and depth study: the vikings in ireland — clontarf and the impact on the irish economy and church. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Y302: The Viking Age c.790–1066 organised?
- By the OCR H505 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Y302: The Viking Age c.790–1066, 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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