4. Anglo-Saxon England:
Government, Society and Culture
I. Anglo-Saxon Government
A. The King
1) Instruments of power formalized
- hereditary succession of eldest son
- Christian coronation ceremony
- public oaths of fealty sworn by the lords
2) Extension of royal authority
- the king gained the right to : collect taxes; maintain an army;
administer justice; grant charters and mint coins; decide foreign
policy; demand services from his subjects
3) Witan
- wise men who gave the king counsel and elected the king
(a formality)
B. Shires (counties)
1) Ealdorman > a nobleman appointed by the king and charged with
military. economic and administrative duties
2) Shire Court
- met twice a year to decide judicial cases and read the king's orders
3) Shire-reeve > a commoner appointed by the king to oversee the shire
court
C. Hundreds
1) subdivisions of the shires for the purpose of administration, taxation
and commanding services
2) Hundred Court
- met every 4 weeks to decide criminal cases
- presided over by the Bailiff
- the accused was brought to court by the victim or his family;
local notables decided the proof (oath or ordeal) to determine
guilt and decide the sentence
II. Structure of Society
A. The Social Order
- Those who prayed: Bishops and priests
- Those who fought: Ealdormen and thegns
- Those who toiled: Peasants, merchants, artisans
- Slaves
B. Agriculture
- based on the Manor
C. Boroughs (Cities)
- by 1086 there were 71 royal boroughs
- they were centers of trade, mints, craft guilds, courts
- especially important was the wool trade and woolens were exchanged
for silver
- a trader who crossed the sea 3X had the status of a thegn
III. Monasticism and Learning
A. Monasteries
1) Important religious centers
- places of devotion and missionary activity
- provided women an alternative to marriage
2) Centers of learning
- knowledge preserved through the copying of books
- intellectual activities supported
> Bede (d. 735) - The Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation
- maintained schools
B. Decline of Monasteries
- due to Viking invasions and local depredations
- by 950 monasteries and the clergy were inadequately supported in the
south and non-existent in the north
- decline in learning and the production of art
C. Revival of Monasticism in the 10th Century
1) Motives:
- piety
- a way to maintain control over conquered territory
- king's ability to command great wealth and riches of the monasteries
2) Revival of Learning
- but based on English and not Latin
IV. Survival of the English Monarchy
A. Ethelred the Un Raed (of no counsel) (978-1016)
1) Child-king > inherited the throne after the assassination of his
brother, King Edward, "the Martyr"
2) Inherited problems:
- unstable frontier; unsure Danish population; rivalries of the ealdormen
3) Weak character
- distrustful of the nobles; double-crossed his men, indecisive in war
4) New Viking invasions
- carried out on an unprecedented scale
- Battle of Maldon (991) > defeated by Vikings from Norway,
Ethelred agreed to pay them off
- when Vikings returned from Denmark in 994, he also paid them off
- when King Swein was accepted as King by Danelaw, Ethelred fled
to Normandy
- Ethelred returned after the death of King Swein in 1014
B. King Cnut (1016-1035)
1) Succeeded the English throne
- Swein left his English territory to his son, Cnut
- Ethlered continued to fight against the Danes until his death
- the Witan then appointed his son, Edmund "Ironside" as king, though
many ealdormen and thegns preferred Cnut
- when Edmund died, the Witan declared Cnut king
2) Cnut unified the kingdom:
- he was accepted by both the Danes and Anglo-Saxons
- he married Ethelred's widow, Emma
- purged the English nobility
- restored Anglo-Saxon governing institusions
- issued laws that complied with the Anglo-Saxon legal system
3) Earldoms
- the kingdom was divided into 4 earldoms, each administered by an earl:
Northumbria and East Anglia > Danish earls
Mercia > Leofric, Anglo-Saxon
Wessex > Godwine, Anglo-Saxon
4) Cnut's reign was one of peace and security
C. Cnut's successors
- succeeded by two less able sons who were more interested in exploiting
the kingdom than providing good governance