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Power: Monarchy and Democracy in Britain c.1000 to 2014

Anglo-Saxon kingship, 1066 and the Norman monarchy

  • 4 things to know
  • Paper 2

Overview

The Witan, coronation and disputed successions, the fyrd, the geld and the thegns, the three claimants of 1066, William's claim and Hastings, the fate of the English aristocracy, Domesday Book, the Salisbury oath and the barons' dependence on the king by 1087.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Who and when

What did a late Anglo-Saxon king have the power to do, and what was expected of him?

Numbers

How was the succession crisis of 1066 settled, and what became of the English nobility?

Key term

What survey did William order in 1086, and what was it for?

Key term

Which council of leading nobles and churchmen chose who should be king in late Anglo-Saxon England?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Which council of leading nobles and churchmen chose who should be king in late Anglo-Saxon England?

    Model answer

    The Witan, which selected a man from the royal house rather than automatically taking the dead king’s eldest son.

  2. 2

    Apart from royal blood, what qualified a man to rule England around the year 1000?

    Model answer

    A record of success in war and the backing of the greatest earls, because a king who could not lead an army could not defend the kingdom.

  3. 3

    What did the coronation ceremony add to a king’s authority?

    Model answer

    He was anointed with holy oil by churchmen, which presented him as God’s chosen ruler and made rebellion against him a sin.

  4. 4

    Why was the succession in Anglo-Saxon England so often disputed?

    Model answer

    Because there was no fixed rule of inheritance, so several men of royal or noble blood could each argue that they had the better claim.

  5. 5

    What was the fyrd, and who alone could summon it?

    Model answer

    The army raised from the free men of the shires, which only the king had the right to call out.

  6. 6

    Name three things subjects expected a late Anglo-Saxon king to provide.

    Model answer

    Defence against invasion, justice through the shire and hundred courts, and a trustworthy silver coinage.

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