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
War and British Society c.790 to c.2010
The feudal system and feudal military service
- 3 things to know
- Paper 2
Overview
William's claim to all the land, tenants-in-chief and knights' fees, a villein's obligations, Domesday Book, the new landowning class, peasant life after the Conquest, the Forest Laws, servitium debitum, homage, scutage, and the breakdowns under Stephen and John.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
What did a villein owe his lord, and how was that different from a knight’s obligation?
How completely had the landowning class changed by 1086?
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What did William claim about the ownership of land in England, and what did he do with it?
Model answer
That all of it was his by right of conquest, and he granted most of it out to a few hundred followers who held it from him in return for service.
- 2
What did a tenant-in-chief owe the king for his lands?
Model answer
A fixed number of trained, mounted knights for royal campaigns, together with money payments at set moments and the duty of attending the king’s council.
- 3
How did a baron actually find the knights he had promised the king?
Model answer
He granted parcels of his own land, called knights’ fees, to knights who each swore to serve him in arms, usually for forty days a year.
- 4
What did a villein owe his lord, and how was that different from a knight’s obligation?
Model answer
Several days’ unpaid labour a week on the lord’s demesne plus dues in kind, and unlike a knight he was unfree and could not leave the manor.
- 5
What was the Domesday Book of 1086 for?
Model answer
It recorded who held every estate, what it was worth and what it had been worth in 1066, so the king knew his kingdom’s wealth and could settle disputes over who owned what.
- 6
How completely had the landowning class changed by 1086?
Model answer
Almost every great estate was in Norman or other French hands, and only a handful of English lords of any importance were left.
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