Lesson video

Hello, welcome to history here at Oak National Academy.

I'm Mr. Newton, and thank you for joining me for this topic on Anglo-Saxon and Norman England.

I'm gonna be your teacher for today, and I'll guide you through the whole lesson.

So let's get started.

In this topic, we will uncover who are the Anglo-Saxons.

Where did they come from? And what type of society and government did they establish in England? This is important so we can establish what England was like during Anglo-Saxon period, and also, how it will change once the Normans invade in 1066.

This was a violence and unstable period, and the Saxons were a warrior people, but they would also embrace Christianity.

They would create intricate works of arts and would build a hugely wealthy economy.

In fact, it is under the Anglo-Saxons that England was born as a united nation.

Over the next few lessons, we will be thinking about our big inquiry question, who had power in Anglo-Saxon England? This is the question we will use to investigate what England was like before the Normans invaded in 1066? So let's start at the beginning of the story.

Who were the Anglo-Saxons? And what type of society did they establish in England? By the end of this lesson, you will be able to describe key features of Anglo-Saxon society.

Before we begin, there are a few keywords we need to understand.

An earl was a leading member of both Anglo-Saxon and Norman aristocracy, ruling an earldom on behalf of the king.

A thegn was a lower member of the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy.

They were warrior lords holding smaller areas of land than an earl.

The aristocracy is a class of people who hold high social rank, often inheriting their status and wealth.

And finally, a hierarchy is a system in which people are put at various levels or ranks according to their importance.

So today's lesson is split up into three parts.

First, we will look at who are the Anglo-Saxons? Then we'll go into a bit more closer detail looking at Anglo-Saxons social structure.

And then finally, we'll look at social mobility within Anglo-Saxons society.

Right, let's begin with the first part of the lesson.

Who were the Anglo-Saxons? The Anglo-Saxons were a group of people who settled in England around the time that the Romans left Britain.

So that's around 410 CE.

They came from northern Europe, around the areas of modern-day Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.

They were made up of different tribes such as the Angles, Jutes and Saxons.

Today, we shorten their name to the Anglo-Saxons.

Have a look at the map.

It shows the Anglo-Saxons invading and migrating from northern Europe and settling in England.

This is the route that those early Anglo-Saxons would've taken during a process of invasion and migration.

Okay, let's have a quick check for understanding.

Where did the Anglo-Saxons come from? Select three correct modern-day countries.

A, Belgium.

B, Germany.

C, Norway.

D, Netherlands.

Pause the video, have a think and come right back.

Okay, great.

Welcome back.

Yes, well done if you knew that was, A Belgium, B Germany and D Netherlands.

Okay, let's continue.

The Romans, who disapproved of anyone outside the Roman Empire referred to Anglo-Saxons as barbarians.

And the Anglo-Saxons were certainly fierce warriors.

They ruled as warrior lords and their culture was dictated by a warrior code.

Initially, the Anglo-Saxons were pagans and they worshipped many gods, including Woden, the God of war.

Now, Anglo-Saxons were certainly fierce warriors, but they also had a wealthy and sophisticated culture and played an important role in shaping the early English society and government before the Norman Conquest.

Look at the image.

It's an Anglo-Saxon King's helmet.

An archaeologist found this helmet in 1939 at a burial mound called Sutton Hoo in East Anglia.

The intricate engravings on the helmet show us the sophisticated culture of Anglo-Saxon England.

There were other treasures buried with the Sutton Hoo helmet.

Indeed, treasures have been found across the country, revealing a wealthy Anglo-Saxon England.

During the fifth century, following the departure of the Romans, large numbers of Anglo-Saxons migrated and settled in England.

It is estimated that many people living in England today have around 20 to 40% Anglo-Saxon DNA.

Okay, let's have another check for understanding.

Complete this sentence with the correct missing word.

Pause the video, have a think and come right back.

Okay, great.

Welcome back.

And well done if you knew that the correct completed sentence was, The Anglo-Saxons ruled as warrior lords.

It's under the Anglo-Saxons that England was born as a united nation.

In fact, it was an Anglo-Saxon monk who was the first to refer to an English people.

By the year 1060, Edward de Confessor was the Anglo-Saxon King of England.

The image shows Edward the Confessor pictured in the Bayeux Tapestry.

In England, by 1060, Edward ruled over a small population of about 2 million.

Today, it is over 56 million people.

Although Anglo-Saxon culture was sophisticated for the time and Anglo-Saxon England was a wealthy country, life was hard for most Anglo-Saxons.

Many people died before becoming an adult.

Those that survived faced frequent invasions from the Danes, the Vikings, and neighbouring regions like Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

This meant that the Anglo-Saxons had grown used to conflict.

These interactions and conflicts shaped their society and its structure.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

Which of the following best describes Anglo-Saxon England? A, a wealthy country with a large population.

B, a poor country with a small population.

C, a wealthy country with a small population.

Pause the video, have a think.

Then come right back.

Okay, great.

Welcome back.

Yes, well done if you knew that was C.

It was a wealthy country with a small population around 2 million people.

Okay, let's move on to our first task, Task A.

What I want you to do here is label the following statements, either true or false.

And you can see, I've given you five statements, and all you need to do is decide whether they're true or false.

Pause the video, have a go at the task and come right back.

Okay, great.

Welcome back.

Let's check those answers.

So for the first statement A, Anglo-Saxons were a group of tribes which settled in England from northern Europe.

And yes, that's correct.

It's true.

Let's have a look at the next statement.

Anglo-Saxons ruled as warrior lords and their culture was dictated by warrior code.

And again, that's true.

Anglo-Saxons faced frequent invasions from the Danes or the Vikings.

Yes, very true again.

By 1060, England had a population of 56 million.

And that one was false.

That 56 million was the modern-day population of England.

And finally, by 1060, the King of England was Alfred the Great and that was false.

By 1060, the King of England was Edward the Confessor.

Okay, great.

So now we've got a little bit of context for who the Anglo-Saxons were.

Let's move into the second part of the lesson.

What was the Anglo-Saxons social structure like? The Anglo-Saxon social structure was a hierarchy.

Meaning Anglo-Saxon society had different levels.

People who are important held a higher level.

Those who were seen as less important found themselves lower down the levels of hierarchy.

Those higher up had more power, and with this power came responsibility.

The higher ups had to provide protection to those below them.

In return for protection, those lower down the hierarchy provided service to their lord.

On the left, we can see a thegn, a type of lord, protecting the people that live on his land.

In return, his people would serve him, and this very much gives us a snapshot of how Anglo-Saxon society worked.

Okay, let's have another check for understanding.

Which statement best describes the hierarchy? A, people are put at the same level of power according to everybody being equal.

B, people are put at various levels or ranks according to their importance.

C, people are put at various levels according to their contribution to society.

Pause the video, have a think and come right back.

Okay, great.

Welcome back.

And well done if you knew that was B.

People are put at various levels or ranks according to their importance.

Okay, let's continue.

The main levels of the social structure were the king, the earls, the thegns, the peasants and the slaves.

Look at the diagram.

It's a pyramid which shows us how the Anglo-Saxon social structure works.

It shows us the hierarchy of levels with the more important people being on the higher levels of the pyramid.

The king was at the top of society and his role was to protect his land, maintain a peaceful society and uphold law and order.

After the king, the leading aristocrats were the earls.

Earls competed to get the king's favour as the king would reward them with land and wealth.

Earls controlled large areas of England called earldoms. Some earls gained so much power that they could challenge the king.

Okay, let's check your understanding on this one.

What I want you to do is complete the names of these positions in Anglo-Saxon society.

Pause the video, have a go and come right back.

Okay, great.

Welcome back.

So let's check those answers.

So A was the position of the earls.

Then we went down to B, the thegns.

C were the peasants, and D were the slaves at the bottom of Anglo-Saxon society.

Okay, let's continue and have a closer look at the thegns.

The thegns were the warrior class of the time.

These local warrior lords numbered up to 5,000 by 1060.

They held smaller areas of land than the earls.

Thegns were part of the lower aristocracy.

But they were important figures in their communities who lived in manor houses.

Thegns served whoever gave them their land.

That could be an earl, the king, other thegns, or the church.

Being a thegn meant they had to pay the heriot tax, which ensured they were equipped with necessary war gear like helmets, coats of mail, horses and weapons.

The image on the left shows us what a thegn might look like with his war gear on.

Okay, let's now move down to the next level of Anglo-Saxon society, which were the peasants.

Around 90% of the Anglo-Saxon population were peasants.

The peasants farmed land to support their family.

Their land came from the local lord.

In order to keep using the land, they also farmed and worked for their lord.

If a peasant farmer failed to keep their lord happy, they could lose their farming rights.

This meant that a peasant farmer was tied to the land.

However, some peasants known as churls, were not tied to the land and were free.

The churls had the ability to choose which lord they could work for.

Further down the hierarchy were the slaves.

They were at the bottom of society making up around 10% of the population.

Slaves were treated like property, they could be bought and sold.

After they invaded England in 1066, the Normans thought this practise of slavery was barbaric.

This highlights a significant social difference between the Anglo-Saxons and the Normans.

It's important to note these differences as they will help you in understanding the changes that take place once the Normans invade and conquer England.

Okay, let's have another check for understanding.

Select two members of the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy.

A, earls.

B, slaves.

C, thegns.

Pause the video, have a think and then come right back.

Okay, great.

Welcome back.

Yes, those two members of the aristocracy were the earls and the thegns.

Okay, let's have another check.

What were the areas controlled by earls? Is it A, duchies.

B, earldoms. C, provinces.

Pause the video, have a think and come right back.

Okay, great.

Welcome back.

Yes, that's correct.

It was B, earldoms. Okay, great.

Let's move on to the second task of the lesson.

Task B.

Use the sentence starters below to describe the different roles within Anglo-Saxon society.

Try to add another sentence to describe each role fully.

And here are the three sentence starters.

The earls help the king to.

The thegns were.

And the final sentence starter, the peasants were.

So complete those sentences and try to add another sentence just so we can get a full description of each role.

Pause the video, have a go at the task, and then come right back.

Okay, great.

Welcome back.

So you could have completed those sentences in a number of ways.

So check your answers with what I have here.

So for the first one.

The earls helped the king to rule the country.

They were given huge areas of land called earldoms. Some earls gained so much power that they could challenge the king.

Okay and the second one on the thegns.

The thegns were local warrior lords who held smaller areas of land than the earls.

Thegn served whoever gave them their land and paid the heriot tax to ensure they were equipped with the necessary war gear.

And finally, the peasants were the largest percentage of the population and rented their land from the local lord.

In order to keep using the land, they also farmed and worked for their lord.

Okay, excellent.

We've reached the final part of the lesson.

So let's take a look at social mobility.

So most peasants stayed as peasants, but Anglo-Saxon society was a relatively open system for its time.

There was movement up or down between the different layers of the social structure.

Have a look at the pyramid.

I've added a ladder here.

And we can imagine people having the ability to move up and down the levels of the Anglo-Saxon hierarchy.

This is known as social mobility, meaning that people are mobile or can move up or down the different levels of society.

For example, a hardworking and lucky peasant could gain more land and climb higher up the hierarchy, gaining the status of a thegn.

Other examples of movement between social groups include slaves becoming free, thegns becoming earls, and an earl could even become a king.

However, having an open system meant that people could also drop down the levels of the hierarchy.

Through the loss of land, earls could drop down to the level of a thegn, and if a free peasant was desperate for food for their family, they could sell themselves into slavery.

This was an important difference between the Anglo-Saxons and the Normans.

Norman society was a relatively fixed system.

One's level in society was largely dependent on which family you were born into, and you and your descendants remained at this level.

Again, it's important to note this difference as another example change that takes place once the Normans invade and conquer England.

Okay, let's have a check for understanding.

Which of these describes a key difference between Anglo-Saxon society and Norman society? Is it A, Anglo-Saxon society had a hierarchy.

B, Anglo-Saxon society was based on military strength.

C, Anglo-Saxon society was more open to social mobility.

Pause the video, have a think and come right back.

Okay, great.

Welcome back.

And yes, well done if you knew that was C, Anglo-Saxon society was more open to social mobility.

Okay, let's have another check.

Which one of these would you use as an example of Anglo-Saxons social mobility? A.

The heriot tax was used so thegns were properly equipped for war.

B, Earl Harold Godwinson became King Harold II after the death of Edward the Confessor.

C, thegns who fought well for the king were often rewarded with more land.

Pause a video, select the correct answer and come right back.

Okay, great.

Welcome back.

And well done if you knew the correct answer was B, Earl Harold Godwinson became King Harold II after the death of Edward the Confessor.

So this shows an earl was socially mobile enough to become the King of England.

Okay, excellent.

Let's move on to the final task, Task C.

What I want you to do here is describe two aspects of Anglo-Saxon society.

You must use two of the aspects below.

Warrior culture, social hierarchy, or social mobility.

You must provide detailed information to support each aspect.

And you can show you are doing this in answers by writing, for example.

Okay, so select your two aspects from the list there, from either warrior culture, social hierarchy, or social mobility.

And provide detailed information to support your descriptions.

Pause the video, have a go at the task and come right back.

Okay, great.

Welcome back.

Now, there's many ways you could have answered that question, but compare your answer with what I have here.

Now, I'm going to provide you with three examples, but you will have only answered two of the aspects.

Okay, let's have a look at the first one.

One aspect of Anglo-Saxon society is that it had a warrior culture.

For example, thegns paid the heriot tax, which ensured they were equipped with the necessary war gear.

Okay, let's have a look at the next aspect.

One aspect of Anglo-Saxon society is that it had a social hierarchy.

For example, those higher up had more power and would provide protection in return for service.

And let's look at a third aspect.

One aspect of Anglo-Saxon society is that there was social mobility.

For example, a hardworking peasant could gain more land and climb higher up the hierarchy, gaining the status of a thegn.

And hopefully, you can see there in each example, the first sentence identifies the aspect, and then the second sentence started with, for example, and then goes on to offer that detailed information of the aspect.

Okay, great.

Let's summarise today's lesson, Anglo-Saxon Society.

Anglo-Saxon settled in England from northern Europe.

Their society was hierarchical with the king at the top and slaves at the bottom.

The earls and thegns helped the king to rule the country.

The majority of society lived in villages and were peasant farmers.

The social system was not fixed.

People could move between the levels of hierarchy.

Well done on a brilliant lesson.

Thank you for joining me for the beginning of our story of Anglo-Saxon and Norman England.

I hope you've learned a lot in this lesson.

And I will see you next time when we continue our inquiry into who had power in Anglo-Saxon England.

See you in the next lesson.