1. How secure was Anglo-Saxon England between 1042 and 1062?
In this lesson, we will:
Describe the various threats that could effect order in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom.
Explain how the Saxons attempted to improve security.
Starter: Please make sure you have completed your ‘hierarchy’ diagram from last lesson.
If/when completed, have a go at the crossword puzzle to get to grips with key words.

2. How was Earl Godwin a threat to Edward?
Wessex was the most powerful earldom in England, and the Godwin family owned so much land that they were rich as the king. (Tostig in Northumbria, Godwin in Wessex, Gyrth in East Anglia)
The Godwins directly ruled over 2 of the 5 main earldoms in England.
They were lords to so many thegns that they were militarily much more powerful than Edward.
Godwin had blocked many of Edward’s decisions e.g. introducing Normans to important positions in the Church.
In 1050, Edward decided to do something to deal with the Godwinson's.

3. How did Edward try to deal with Godwin?
Edward teamed up with his close ally Robert of Jumièges (from Normandy)
In 1050, Edward invited Robert to come to England from Normandy to become Archbishop of Canterbury. Knowing this would anger Godwin, he told them to land at Dover in Wessex.
When Robert’s men were attacked in Dover, Edward demanded that Godwin punish the men responsible.
When Godwin refused, Edward and the Earls of Mercia and Northumbria forced Godwin and his family into exile.
In 1051, Godwin returned with an army from Europe. To prevent a war, Edward restored his family’s power.
(09:40 – 12:32)

4. What other threats were there to Edward’s kingdom?
External
Raids from Vikings and Germans
Raids from the Welsh on the border
Internal threats
Blood feuds
Crime in villages
Earl Godwin of Wessex
The Viking’s had been raiding England regularly since AD793. To help deal with it, the Saxons had a ‘geld tax’. The money from this would be used to pay off the Vikings to stop them raiding!

5. Learning Task One Problem What was the problem? Solution
Blood feuds
Crime
Earl Godwin of Wessex
Welsh raiding the border
Green group challenge:
For each, try to explain how the solution worked e.g. the Welsh invasion worked because it imposed a puppet ruler, so there would be no one to challenge Edward as he could influence politics in that area.
Orange group:
Overall – how successful was Edward at dealing with these problems? Weigh up the successes and failures and come to a conclusion.
Blue group:
Go through your answers and highlight each key word e.g. wergild, tax, thegn etc.

6. Problem What was the problem? Solution Blood feuds
Violence was a huge problem in the kingdom, as when someone was murdered there would be a retaliation. This was especially bad in the Danelaw area.
Edward introduced the ‘wergild’. This was a fine imposed on someone if they committed murder. Their family would have to pay the victim’s family in order to stop the violence.
Crime
Crime was often a problem e.g. theft, murder, seizing land and power.
Edward introduced ‘collective responsibility’ – when a crime was committed all members of a community had to go hunt them (hue and cry). If someone was proved to have done something wrong, everyone had to pay a fine.
Earl Godwin of Wessex
Godwin had a lot of control of England because of the land he owned. He was Earl of Wessex, which was the most powerful earldom. He vetoed many of Edward’s policies like introducing Normans to court.
Edward teamed up with Robert of Jumiege and the Earls of Northumbria and Mercia to exile Godwin and his family in 1050.
Welsh raiding the border
Wales had always been a problem for England as they would raid across the border, destroying crops and stealing cattle.
Harold and Tostig Godwinson were sent in to deal with the Welsh. Tostig led an army, Harold led the fleet. With a pincer movement they defeated the Welsh armies and executed their king. In his place, a puppet ruler was imposed.

7. Was England an advanced kingdom?
Earldoms was divided into shires – they had courts, provided troops for the fyrd etc.
At the centre of each shire there was a burh (fortified town). Burhs had strong walls which had to be maintained by the thegn who lived there.
Each shire had a sheriff who worked for the king, they would carry out various tasks like collecting tax, fines and maintaining the fyrd.
It had an army (fyrd). Every man had to fight for upto 40 days.
Burhs were also trading hubs. Trade had to take place here so tax could be paid to the sheriff.

9. Learning Task Two Green groups
“Edward the Confessor was a weak, ineffective king” How far do you agree? You may wish to consider both sides of this argument, either in paragraph or table format.
All groups
For each of the following key words, describe two key features of it:
Shire
Burh
Sheriff
Fyrd
Trading
Orange group
Blue groups
Literacy challenge! Try to write a short paragraph using as many of these 5 key words as possible. It must make sense as a paragraph, it cannot just be another definition of what they mean!

10. Key term
Definition
Shire
Had it’s own court
Was where the sheriff would be
Had it’s own burh
Provided troops for the fyrd
Burh
Surrounded by strong, wooden walls
Thegn would live here
Everyone had to share responsibility for maintaining defences
Shire reeve/sheriff would probably be based in the burh
Sheriff
Also known as “shire reeve”
King’s deputy in charge of making sure the king’s law was being carried out.
Collect tax from king’s land
Collect fines
Make sure men were joining the fyrd
Make sure the roads and defences were being maintained
Fyrd
Every man had to serve 40 days military service
Select fyrd made up of thegns who were well equipped.
General fyrd made up of men who would fight in their local area (peasants)
Trading
Often took place in burhs or in cities.
York traded with Denmark, Bristol with Scandinavia and Ireland.
London traded with Germany, France, Normandy and Flanders.
Wine, spices, cloth, dyes, pottery and wool would all be traded.