Between which years did the Anglo-Saxon period last in Britain?
From 410 to 1066.
Which groups attacked Britain after Roman rule ended?
The Picts, Scots, and Saxons.
How was post-Roman Britain politically organized?
It fragmented into territories and small kingdoms.
How did Germanic settlement in Britain unfold?
It was gradual rather than a single invasion.
Why did some Germanic tribes initially come to Britain?
Britons invited them to help defend against northern and Irish raiders.
What did the Heptarchy collectively name?
Seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.
How was Anglo-Saxon society organized by rank?
The king (Cyning) ranked above Earls, Ceorls, and slaves.
What was the Witan?
A political council of nobles, clergy, and advisers that helped the king decide important matters.
In which year did Pope Gregory I send Augustine to convert the Anglo-Saxons?
597.
How did the Christian Church affect relations between Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and Europe?
It brought the kingdoms into closer contact with the rest of Europe.
What did Northumbrian monasteries produce as the kingdom became a centre of learning?
Important religious and historical texts.
Under which king did Mercia rise to prominence during the 8th century?
King Offa.
From which countries did the Vikings mainly come?
Norway and Denmark.
In which year did the Viking Age in Britain begin with the Lindisfarne raid?
793.
What was the Danelaw by the mid-9th century?
The area of eastern and northern England where Danish law prevailed after Viking settlement.
What role did Wessex play under Alfred during the Viking attacks?
It became the main resistance.
Which military, legal, and educational changes did Alfred introduce while defending Wessex?
He introduced military, legal, and educational reforms.
In which year did Alfred’s victory at Edington force Guthrum’s conversion and establish a Wessex-Danelaw frontier?
878.
What did Alfred’s reign lay the foundations for?
The eventual unification of England.
In which year did Athelstan become England’s first unified king after Brunanburh?
937.
When did a new wave of Viking raids begin under Danish kings?
In the late 10th century.
How did Æthelred II respond to the late-10th-century Viking raids?
He struggled to repel them.
In which year did Sweyn Forkbeard and Cnut lead the Danish conquest of England?
1016.
In which year did the Witan restore the Anglo-Saxon royal line under Edward the Confessor?
1042.
In what year did Edward the Confessor die without a clear heir, triggering a succession crisis?
1066.
Who did the Witan choose as king after Edward the Confessor died without a direct heir?
Harold Godwinson.
What invasion did Harold Godwinson end by defeating Harald Hardrada at Stamford Bridge?
The Viking invasion of England.
When did William land in Sussex?
28 September 1066.
When did William defeat Harold Godwinson at Hastings, where Harold was killed?
14 October 1066.
When was William crowned King of England, beginning Norman rule?
Christmas Day, December 1066.
What social change did William’s feudal system bring to England?
It transferred wealth and power from the Anglo-Saxon nobility to the Normans.
In which year did William commission the Domesday Book survey?
1085.
What did the Domesday Book record across the kingdom?
Ownership and property.
Which language did the Norman Conquest introduce to England?
Norman French.
What did William’s forces devastate during the Harrying of the North in 1069–1070?
Towns, villages, and farmland.
Who commissioned the Bayeux Tapestry in the 1070s?
Odo, Bishop of Bayeux and William I’s half-brother.
Which son received Normandy after William I died in 1087?
Robert Curthose.
In which year did Henry I issue the Charter of Liberties?
1100.
What financial institution did Henry I develop to improve royal revenue collection?
The Exchequer.
In which year did Henry I and Pope Paschal II agree on episcopal investiture?
1107.
In which year did Henry I defeat Robert Curthose at Tinchebray?
1106.
What happened to William Adelin in 1120?
He drowned when the White Ship sank.
In which year did Henry marry Eleanor of Aquitaine, whose lands included Aquitaine and Poitou?
1152.
Which territories and connections comprised the Angevin Empire under Henry II?
England, Normandy, Anjou, Aquitaine, other western French territories, and connections to Brittany.
What was Henry II’s feudal relationship to the King of France for his French territories?
He was the French king’s vassal and owed obligations including homage.
What judicial change did Henry II seek after the Anarchy weakened consistent royal justice?
He sought to centralise judicial power and apply royal law more uniformly.
What reporting duty did the Assize of Clarendon impose in 1166?
Groups of local men had to report suspected criminals to royal authorities.
What role did juries increasingly perform during Henry II’s reign?
They reported accusations and established facts.
Where did the Angles originate?
Northern Germany and southern Denmark.
Where did the Saxons originate?
Central and northern Germany.
Where did the Jutes originate?
Jutland in modern Denmark.
When did Anglo-Saxon kingdoms become established in Britain?
From the 5th and 6th centuries.
What role did Anglo-Saxon kingdoms play despite fighting for dominance?
They remained the foundation of Anglo-Saxon England.
What were the main features of Anglo-Saxon life?
It was mainly rural, centred on agriculture, animal farming, and village communities.
What matters did the Witan advise on, and who retained ultimate authority?
It advised on laws, military matters, and appointing a monarch; the king retained ultimate authority.
What role did Anglo-Saxon noblemen hold in the Witan?
They formed an important part of the Witan.
What church office did Augustine hold after establishing the Church at Canterbury?
He became its first Archbishop.
How did the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms become Christian?
They converted over several decades as pagan practices were gradually replaced by Christian customs.
What did Northumbrian monasteries help spread?
Literacy, art, and religious practices.
Which work by Bede is an important historical source for the period?
The Ecclesiastical History of the English People.
What does Beowulf reflect about the Anglo-Saxon period?
Its warrior culture and heroism.
What were Dooms among the earliest examples of in England?
Written laws.
Under which king did Northumbria become a major power in the early 7th and 8th centuries?
King Edwin.
What did Offa’s coinage resemble?
Charlemagne’s coinage.
What did Offa’s coinage symbolize?
His power and prestige.
Why did neither Mercia nor Northumbria maintain permanent dominance?
Internal conflicts and increasing Viking pressure.
What did Old Norse later contribute to English?
Vocabulary.
What vessels did Vikings use to explore and invade Europe?
Longships called drakkars.
What shaped most written accounts about the Vikings?
Accounts produced by Christian monks, which could be biased.
Which areas did Vikings attack and exploit for Church wealth?
Monasteries, towns, and coastal settlements.
Which defenses against Viking raids did Alfred establish in Wessex?
He reorganised the army, built a navy, and established fortified burhs.
How did Alfred promote literacy and strengthen English culture?
He had important works translated into Old English.
Who continued expanding Wessex’s power after Alfred died in 899?
Edward the Elder and his grandson Athelstan.
How did Wessex’s successors strengthen royal authority after uniting England by the mid-10th century?
Through administrative and judicial reforms.
What was Danegeld paid to prevent?
Further Viking invasions.
Which territories besides England were included in Cnut’s North Sea Empire?
Denmark and Norway.
Which powerful earls challenged Edward the Confessor’s control?
Godwin and later Harold Godwinson.
Why did William, Duke of Normandy, claim the English throne?
He believed Edward the Confessor had promised it to him.
Which king of Norway claimed the English throne and was known as the Last Viking?
Harald Hardrada.
How many pages did the Domesday Book contain?
Over 900 pages.
How were the Great and Little Domesday Books compiled?
From commissioners’ reports recorded by scribes.
How were lords’ taxes to the Crown determined?
In proportion to the size of their property.
What were Norman castles used for?
They served as military bases and residences for the Norman elite.
Which architectural style did the Normans introduce?
Romanesque architecture.
How long did Anglo-Saxon uprisings against Norman authority continue?
For decades.
What ultimately crushed the Revolt of the Earls in 1075 and 1088?
The Crown’s military power.
Where is the Bayeux Tapestry displayed?
In Bayeux.
In which year did William II crush a baronial rebellion supporting Robert’s claim?
1088.
What does the earliest surviving Pipe Roll, dated 1130, record?
The Exchequer’s annual financial administration.
In which year did Robert Curthose relinquish his claim to England under the Treaty of Alton?
1101.
Whom did Henry I marry in 1100 to strengthen links with Anglo-Saxon tradition?
Matilda of Scotland.
Who were Henry II’s parents, and what French territories did he inherit through his father?
Matilda and Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou; important French territories.
What did Henry II’s itinerant justices do?
They travelled to hear cases and enforce royal law.
How many inscriptions are depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry?
57 inscriptions.
Answer 50 questions on Anglo-Saxon and Plantagenet England.
1. The Anglo-Saxon period in Britain:
2. After Roman rule ended, which developments affected Britain?
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