Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Anglo Saxon Society
- Edward The Confessor - 1003-1066
- As a religious leader people
believed that God was
guiding him.
- He had no children
to success him and
pass on his wealth
and land to.
- He was married to
Edith. She was the
wealthy daughter of
the rich and powerful
Earl Godwinson.
- Sometimes Edward
struggled to keep
control of Earl
Godwinson.
- He had been exiled
from Normandy
for most of his life.
- This meant that he
didn't have many
English supporters.
- He was respected
as a law maker.
- The Witan
- The Witan was the council that
advised the king.
- The king didn't have to
follow the Witan's advice
- The king decided on what the
Witan would advise him on.
- The king decided who was in
the Witan.
- The Earls
- The Earls were the most
powerful in the country
after the king.
- Large Earldoms meant
that earls could become
very powerful.
- Earls governed
large areas of
England on behalf
of the king.
- Earls were granted some
of the kings power.
- Military power - Earls were the
kings "generals", raising the army.
- They helped with overseeing laws
and choosing punishments.
- Collecting taxes - Earls collected
taxes for the Earldoms and kept a
third of the tax.
- The Power of the King
- Landownership - The
King could grant land
and take it away.
- Religion - God chose
the king to rule.
- Money - The King controlled the
distribution of coins and the
amount of taxes charged.
- Fyrd - The King could
raise the Fyrd army
and fleet.
- Law Making - Only the king
could make laws and
everyone gad to obey them.
- Taxation - The King decided
when a tax should be paid and
how it should be paid.
- The King was the most powerful
person which meant that no one
could tell him what the do.
- The Social System
- The Anglo Saxon society
was a hierarchy as it was
arranged in a set order of
wealth, staus and rank.
- Everyone knew their
status and what was
expected of them.
- A persons rank
could increase if
they paid for it.
- Such as a slave buying
their freedom and
becoming a peasant.
- A ceorl could become
a thegn if he built a
larger estate.
- However people could
also move down status if
they committed a crime.
- Anglo Saxon laws state that
some crimes were punishable
but being made a slave.