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Norman England, c1066–c1100

Economic and social changes and their consequences

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 2 section B

Overview

Castles and the towns, new boroughs, the Jewish community, open fields and the manor, a villein's labour, building in stone, the peasant diet, women's work, the farming year, and Forest law.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

What was life like for a peasant family in a Norman village, in its land, labour and food?

Key term

What effect did castle building have on English towns?

Key term

How did towns benefit under Norman rule?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What effect did castle building have on English towns?

    Model answer

    Whole streets of houses were pulled down to clear space inside the walls, and the survey later recorded the destruction in towns such as Lincoln and York.

  2. 2

    How did towns benefit under Norman rule?

    Model answer

    New boroughs were founded and existing ones grew as markets, fairs and craft trades served the castles and cathedrals being built.

  3. 3

    Which new community did the Normans bring to English towns, and why?

    Model answer

    Jewish merchants and moneylenders were brought over from Normandy, because Christians were forbidden to lend money at interest.

  4. 4

    How was farmland organised in a typical village of this period?

    Model answer

    The land lay in large open fields divided into strips, with part left fallow each year and common land for grazing.

  5. 5

    What did the word manor mean in this period?

    Model answer

    It was the estate of a single lord, made up of the land he farmed for himself and the holdings of the peasants who owed him service.

  6. 6

    What labour did a villein owe his lord?

    Model answer

    Fixed days of work on the lord's own land every week, with extra boon work demanded at ploughing and harvest.

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