OCR GCSE History A J410
Castles: Form and Function c.1000–1750Historic environment
China 1950–1981: The People and the StateDepth study
Germany 1925–1955: The People and the StateDepth study
International Relations: The Changing International Order 1918–1975
Migration to Britain c.1000 to c.2010Thematic study
Personal Rule to Restoration 1629–1660British depth
Power: Monarchy and Democracy in Britain c.1000 to 2014Thematic study
South Africa 1960–1994: The People and the StateDepth study
The English Reformation c.1520–c.1550British depth
The Impact of Empire on Britain 1688–c.1730British depth
The USA 1919–1948: The People and the StateDepth study
The USA 1945–1974: The People and the StateDepth study
Urban Environments: Patterns of MigrationHistoric environment
War and British Society c.790 to c.2010Thematic study
Castles: Form and Function c.1000–1750
The day-to-day functions of Kenilworth Castle
- 3 things to know
- Paper 3
Overview
How castles let a few Normans hold England, Geoffrey de Clinton's founding and the Crown's seizure in the 1170s, the castle as a display of power, why kings kept it in loyal hands, estate business, justice, service buildings and changing private living space.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Why were kings so anxious to keep Kenilworth in loyal hands?
What estate business was carried on inside the castle?
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
How did castles allow a small number of Norman invaders to hold down a whole kingdom?
Model answer
Each gave a garrison a secure base from which mounted soldiers could ride out and crush resistance, and its bulk reminded everyone nearby who now ruled them.
- 2
Why could an earth-and-timber castle be thrown up so quickly?
Model answer
It needed only labour, soil and wood, so forced local labour could raise a mound and palisade in weeks, where a stone tower took years.
- 3
Who founded Kenilworth Castle, and what did his career show about how Norman kings ruled?
Model answer
Geoffrey de Clinton, chamberlain and treasurer to Henry I, a man raised up by royal service and planted in the Midlands to serve the king's interest there.
- 4
How did the castle come into the hands of the Crown in the 1170s?
Model answer
Henry II took it from the de Clinton family during the rebellion of his sons in 1173–74, and they never recovered it.
- 5
How could a castle display its lord's power to people who never went inside it?
Model answer
Through its skyline and the size of its towers, its gatehouse, its lake and its deer parks, all of which announced wealth and lordship long before a visitor reached the door.
- 6
Why were kings so anxious to keep Kenilworth in loyal hands?
Model answer
A fortress this strong in the middle of the kingdom was a danger to the Crown if a rebel held it, as the six-month resistance of 1266 proved.
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