Flashcards
Life under the Normans
Cards in this deck (23)
- 1King• William directly owned 20% of the land.
• 25% was owned by the Church.
• The rest was shared out amoangst William’s supported.
• 200 Bishops and Barons. - 2Barons and Bishops• They were granted land (they did not own it- they held it in
tenure)
• In return they swore fealty and paid homage to William.
• They also promised money and service. - 3Knights• Under-tenants
• They promised to be loyal to their baron or bishop.
• A knight also be called a LORD OF THE MANOR.
• They served as knights in the army.
• They granted some of their land to the peasant. - 4Peasants• They had to obey the Lord their manor in return for their land.
• They also gave the lord some of their crops and worked a set
number of days on his lands without pay.
• Most could not leave the Lord’s land without permission-
therefore most were not freemen. - 5Slaves• They made up 10% of the population in 1086
• Rapidly declined as they were expensive to keep and the Church
disapproved. - 6Oath of Fealty:The Oath of Fealty was
an oath of loyalty. IT
was a promise to serve
the Lord and be
faithful. IT was a
religious act - 7What happened to English Landowners?• William wanted to reward mercenaries loyal service with land as
well as money.
• By 1076 the last English Earl Waltheof had been beheaded.
• There were only 2 Englishmen who held land directly from the King:
Thurkill of Arden and Colswein of Lincoln.
• By 1096 all of the Senoir positions in the Church were held by
Normans.
• Anglo-Saxons lack of loyalty meat that they were replaced by
Normans.
• William instead used the Feudal system to favour those who had
helped him conquer his new Kingdom. - 8Kings Court• The King was the most important person in the justice system this was the same
as under the Anglo-Saxons.
• His decisions were binding.
• The King’s court dealt with royal pleas.
• Crimes: The most serious offences, robbery, rape, arson, treason, murder.
• The King could also hear appeals from lower courts. - 9Shire Courts• Anglo Saxon.
• Not much change
• They now met regularly and were supervised by a sheriff.
• The judges were landowners or sheriffs.
• Crimes: They heard disputes over land or theft or violence. - 10Hundred Courts• NEW NORMAN IDEA.
• Also known as the HONOURIAL COURTS.
• They were for the Lord to deal with his tenants.
• They supervised property transactions or announced new laws from the King.
• The tenants gave the Lord advice. - 11Manor Courts• Manor Court was the area of land controlled by the Lord of the Manor.
• Minor court
• Dealt with day to life e.g. bad ploughing or labour not being supplied. - 12Constables• Some places had constables to keep an eye
on things, but these men only had the job
for a year.
• They had the power to arrest people, break
up fights and prevent fires.
• They held the key to the Stocks.
• They were not paid much and often had
other work to supplement their income. - 13Watchmen• Most towns had a watchman who tried to
make sure that people kept to the CURFEW.
They were there to prevent crime and catch
criminals.
• They were either volunteers or were given the
job as a duty.
• Many did not take their job seriously and
regarded their duty as a chance to drink with
friends. - 14Tithing• This was a group of 10-12 freemen.
• They promised to prevent each other from
committing a crime.
• If one of them did, they had to reveal the
guilty one or risk the whole group being
punished, usually by a fine.
• However, many guilty men escaped.
• Some sought sanctuary in the church. - 15Hue and cry• This was the system for catching criminals after
an offence occurred.
• This meant that everyone had a duty to raise
the alarm if they saw a crime taking place and
everyone who heard the alarm had to help to
catch the suspect. If anyone ignored the hue
The Murdrum Fine! and cry, they would be fined. - 16Burgesses A Burgess was a town
dweller from the
upper ranks of
townspeople. They
owed services and
taxes to the Lord and
could buy and sell
property.
Lincoln had 970
burgesses.
Burgesses had legal
and administrative
responsibilities but
the amount of power
they had did vary
from town to town. - 17By how much did life really change?• The Normans did change life in England.
• The change was different according to social status.
• For those as the very top of the hierarchy when the
Normans arrives, THE Norman impact was very
significant.
• For the peasants life changed very little. - 18What evidence is there for the growth of towns? The evidence can be seen from the Domesday survey of 1086.
London: 10,000 inhabitants.
Winchester: 6,000 inhabitants.
Norwich, York and Lincoln: 4,000-5,000 people. - 19How did trade affect the growth of towns?Trade played an important role in the growth of
towns during the Norman period. Trade links with
France were strengthened at the expense of
Scandinavians links, however the Normans brought
stability in trade and this led to the development of
many towns. - 20Markets and Fairs Markets and Fairs could only be held if a Franchise
(authorisation for a group of towns people to carry
out business activity) was given in the form of a
grant.
After the Norman Conquest 2800 grants were
given.
Whilst markets gave traders a place to buy and sell,
fair marked religious events and were an occasion
to celebrate. - 21the wool trade• Wool was in great demand in England and
neighbouring counties for making clothes.
• It was produced in the countryside, but was
brought, along major rivers to market in
towns such as York and Lincoln.
• Wool was often exported abroad to towns
such as Flanders in Belgium.
• Some English costal towns grew as centres
of international trade, including Boston,
London and Southampton.
• Towns like Bristol grew as a result of trade in
wine from Gascony. - 22Metal work• The production of iron and lead was very
important in Norman England for building
houses and making weapons. Towns that
specialised in metalworking were often
situated near woodland, because wood was
used in the furnaces needed to melt and
shape metal. - 23The salt trade• Salt was very important product as it was used
for cooking and to preserve food. The town of
Droitwich, fro example, grew rapidly due to the
production and sale of salt.
• The Domesday Book shows that there were 13
salt houses in Droitwich and that three salt
worker paid their tax to the King in Salt.
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- Flashcards on Life under the Normans, created by Keira Johnstone on 29/11/2021.
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