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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.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Process

How did land and climate shape life in Norway, Denmark and Sweden?

Key term

Describe the legal and practical position of free women in Scandinavian society.

Key term

Describe the Scandinavian assembly known as the thing.

Who and when

How did a silver economy work before regular coinage?

Who and when

Why did Scandinavian rule in England decline and fall?

Who and when

How did kingship work in Scandinavian England?

Who and when

What new rituals and rules did conversion bring?

Process

What are runes, and how did the runic alphabet change in the Viking age?

Evaluation

How does the political condition of England help explain the raids' success?

Key term

What was the economic impact of the raids?

Key term

Why is the 860s treated as the decisive turning point?

Evaluation

Why does the definition of the Danelaw matter for interpretation?

Who and when

How did the Vikings become part of Irish politics?

Key term

Why do interpretations of the Vikings in Ireland differ so widely?

Process

How did Viking pressure contribute to Scottish unity?

Evaluation

What triggered the second Viking age?

Process

How did settlement change the livelihood of northern and eastern England?

Key term

How quickly did the settlers become Christian?

Key term

Name three important Scandinavian trading centres.

Key term

Give three motives for the early raids.

Who and when

How did Scandinavian urban settlements differ from the countryside?

Key term

Name the Five Boroughs.

Key term

How was Norway converted?

Key term

Describe Scandinavian naming customs.

Key term

Why do some historians think the damage to the Church has been overstated?

Key term

What was the impact of the Danelaw on the economy of northern and eastern England?

Key term

What happened to Dublin in 902 and in 917?

Who and when

How did the adoption of the sail change Scandinavian seafaring?

Key term

Why is the period after 955 described as one of relative peace?

Who and when

How did settlement affect family and social custom in the Danelaw?

Key term

Give three explanations historians have offered for the timing of the raids.

Key term

How effective was the English response to the great army?

Who and when

How did the Danelaw affect society in the north and east?

Key term

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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.

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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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