Name:
Settlers,
Raiders and
Invaders.
Year 7 History Homework Booklet
v.3 09/2012
How to use this booklet
Welcome to your first Humanities homework booklet. This one focuses
on History, specifically the history of these islands before the events
you will study in class.
The idea behind this booklet is that you can organise your homework in
a way that suits you so that you can do it when you want to do it.
You must do all of the activities in bold. But you probably should have
a go at the EXTENSION activities as well.
This booklet will be taken in and marked by your teacher at the end of
the fortnight then it will be put into your assessment book.
So long as you finish all the tasks before the final deadline, it doesn’t matter when you do the
activities.
You can do it ten-minute bursts or in two-hour sessions. It should take you 2-3 hours to
complete the whole thing.
You can work with your friends (that’s work with not copy from) or on your own.
It is important that you read the pages before answering the questions.
You will need to use the internet for some of the activities. If you don’t have the internet at
home then you can always use the computers in the Library in a lunchtime.
Good luck, I hope you enjoy it!
This book was given to you on: ____________________________________________________
This book will completed by:
____________________________________________________
1. Where is Britain?
The country we live in is called the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
It is situated on a collection of islands.
The biggest islands are Britain and Ireland.
Shade Britain red and Ireland blue.
However, our country is not that simple. Our
country is actually made up of four smaller
countries. These are England, Scotland, Wales
and Northern Ireland.
Leave England white and shade Wales red,
Scotland blue and Northern Ireland green.
EXTENSION: Can you find out which national symbols belong to which country? Colour this list the same colours you used for the
second map. (Be careful - Some countries have more than 1!)
Rose, leek, dragon, thistle, daffodil, shamrock, a red lion standing up, three lions lying down, harp.
2. Who has lived in Britain?
Many, many different people have come to live in these islands throughout history.
Some have come to live and work and some people have invaded and come to take over.
Over the next few pages we are going to meet some of the most famous. Watch out,
though! Because some of these things happened a long, long time ago, historians are not
always sure whether the things that are supposed to have happened actually did happen,
or whether they are just myths and legends.
Celtic period
Roman period
450AD
Medieval
period
Saxon period
54BC
1066AD
61AD
200
BC
100
1
AD
100
200
899AD
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
410AD
1100
1200
1016AD
Viking period
43AD
793AD
As you go through the booklet you will need to return to this page to put these
labels next to the right time in the timeline. (CLUE: Look at the top right-hand corner
of each of the pages.)
Julius Caesar comes to Britain
Alfred the Great dies.
Boudicca’s rebellion.
The Romans leave Britain.
The Battle of Stamford Bridge ends the
Viking Age.
Vikings raid the monastery at
Lindisfarne.
Hengist and Horsa come to Britain.
Cnut becomes king of England.
Claudius invades Britain
3. Who were the Celts?
From
2,000BC
Finding out about the past is difficult and the further back you go the more difficult it is.
One of the first groups of people to live in Britain and Ireland about who we have some
information were the Celts who lived in the Iron Age. The Celts were farmers and sometimes
warriors. The lived in groups called tribes. There were many different Celtic tribes in these
islands. We call the Celts that lived in Britain ‘Britons’ to tell them apart from Celts that lived
in other parts of Europe.
We know about the Celts because some of the things they made and used survive today. A lot
has been discovered by archaeologists. Also, other things have been written down by
historians.
By using the Library, books or the internet, see if you can match these Celtic things with
their description. (HINT:http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/celts may help)
THING
DEFINITION
a torc
A paint that Celts used to decorate their bodies – especially
if they were going into battle.
woad
A plant that grows in the branches of tall trees. The Celts
thought it had magical powers.
hill fort
These people were at the heart of the Celts’ religion. They
were doctors and wise men as well as priests.
mistletoe
A necklace usually made of bronze or gold to show how rich
and important the person wearing it was.
druids
The type of place where Celts lived. They were so high up
to make them easier to defend against enemies.
EXTENSION: Design your own Celtic torc and staple it into this booklet.
The Celtic Britons were living quite happily, farming, fighting, fishing, mining and trading with
other Celts on the continent until 55BC. In that year the Roman Emperor, Julius Caesar, turned
up. He brought thousands of soldiers with him and made the Celts in Southern England pay
him money. He soon went away again but later another Roman was to turn up and he intended
to stick around…
4. Why did Claudius come to Britain?
AD43
Hello, my name is Claudius. I am
Emperor of Rome. This means that
I control all of the area shaded on
this map. I am the most powerful
man in the world.
However, I never wanted to be Emperor! I’d much rather be an historian!
Being Emperor is really dangerous! There are lots of people who want me
dead so they can take over. Only the Roman army can protect me.
The problem is, I’m not really a soldier. They think I’m a bit of a sissy. What I
need to do is to win a war and take over some new land to impress them
and keep them loyal.
Hmm, I wonder… where could I invade?
Claudius chose to invade Britain in 43AD. However, in history things are never really that
simple. Below are other reasons why Claudius invaded Britain. Colour the reasons that are to
do with MAKING CLAUDIUS LOOK GOOD red and the reasons to do with MONEY, green.
Britain had lots of
useful things like tin.
Claudius could make the
Celts who lived in Britain
pay him taxes.
The only other Roman to have come to Britain was the
famous emperor Julius Caesar (54BC). If Claudius
could take over Britain people might think he had
done something that even Caesar couldn’t manage.
Claudius could give bits
of Britain to his
soldiers.
The people in Rome really
liked to celebrate winning
wars.
EXTENSION: Can you find out what Claudius called his son? (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/claudius.shtml might
help). Write your answer here._________________________________________________________________________________________
Why do you think he might have called him this? “He may have been called this because________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. Why would the Victorians want a statue of Boudicca?
61AD
During the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901)
the government asked a sculptor called Thomas
Thornycroft to design a statue of the British
Celtic queen Boudicca (You say, “Boo-dik-a”).
Read
about
Boudicca’s
rebellion
at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/r
omans/rebellion. (You need to read all of the
sections.)
So, why would the Victorians, who lived many,
many years after Boudicca died, want to put up a
statue of a Celtic queen who lost a battle?
Statue of Boudicca on Westminster pier
in London.
Below are statements about the Victorians and
statements about Boudicca. Link the statements
to show the similarities between Boudicca and
Victoria.
Queen Victoria was a very powerful
and popular queen.
Boudicca was treated very unfairly by
the Romans.
The name Victoria means ‘victory’.
Boudicca nearly defeated the mighty
Roman army.
The Victorians were very proud of
their country.
Boudicca tried to protect her country
from being invaded.
The Victorians were very proud of
their army.
Boudicca was a powerful queen.
Victorians thought of themselves as
fair and just.
Some people think ‘Boudicca’ means
‘victory’.
EXTENSION: Can you find a book in the Library that mentions Boudicca? Write its name here: ____________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6. Why did Hengist and Horsa not leave?
The Romans stayed in charge of Britain for around 350 years,
which is a long time, especially as they were not invited!
However, they did do some good things when they were here.
They built fine houses, new towns, better roads and, most
importantly, kept the peace. However, by the fifth century things
were looking a bit sticky for the Roman Empire. Lots of people
were attacking different parts of the Empire and the city of Rome
itself was under threat. In 410AD the last Roman soldiers were
taken out of Britain in order to go and protect Rome. This meant
that the Celtic Britons were in charge again. But it also meant
that they were free to fight amongst themselves…
c.450AD
Hengist & Horsa.
(They were twins).
Around 450AD a leader of a Celtic tribe, a king called Vortigern, was having trouble with his
neighbours, a tribe called the Picts, so he hired some help. He asked two brothers called
Hengist and Horsa from Jutland (in what is now Denmark) to bring an army to fight for him.
Put the statements below in order to find out what happened next…
A. …and demanded more money
from Vortigern.
B. They wanted to stay and farm
because farming in England was
better than in Jutland. Hengist
and Horsa invited more people
from their country to come and
live in England…
C. People from across northern
Europe came to take land from
the Celts. They became known as
the Anglo-Saxons. Many of the
people in England are, at least in
part, descended from these
Anglo-Saxons.
D. Hengist and Horsa brought
three ship-loads of soldiers over
to Britain to help the Celtic king
Vortigern fight against his
enemies.
E. …they were here to live! Other
people from Hengist and Horsa’s
homeland saw them taking over
land in England and decided to do
the same.
F. When Vortigern refused to pay
Hengist and Horsa more money
they decided to use their army to
take over parts of England.
Instead of coming over to fight…
G. After the fighting, Hengist,
Horsa were paid by Vortigern.
However, they didn’t leave.
H. They didn’t leave because they
decided to stay in England and
farm.
Correct Order
D
C
7. Where did the Anglo-Saxons settle?
From
450AD
A
S
J
A
J
S
The people who came after Hengist and Horsa were from different parts of northern
Europe. The biggest groups were the Angles, Saxons and Jutes. Today we generally call
them the Anglo-Saxons.
They were good at fighting and took over large parts of Britain, driving the Celts
northwards and westwards. They have given us many names for places, especially in
England. See if you can match the name of the places to their definition…
Essex
The kingdom of the West Saxons.
Sussex
The kingdom of the East Saxons.
England
The land of the Angles.
East Anglia
The kingdom of the South Saxons
Wessex
The land of the Eastern Angles.
8. What can I discover about Alfred the Great?
Celts
still
lived
here
849899AD
The Anglo-Saxons took over and drove the Celts
north and west.
Saxon England was divided up into 5 different
kingdoms.
Use
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/anglo
_saxons to label the 5 kingdoms on the map.
(Although this website is aimed at Primary school kids
we are going to use it in a secondary school sort of a
way. Don’t think that you’re going backwards!)
A statue of Alfred the Great.
The most famous of the Saxon kings was a man called Alfred the Great. Using the same
website. Write down (at least) three interesting things about Alfred the Great.
______________________________________________________________________
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EXTENSION: Can you find out the names of three other Anglo-Saxon kings?___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9. What can I discover about the Vikings?
7001100AD
The Anglo-Saxons didn’t have England to themselves for long before another
bunch of aggressive northern Europeans turned up; the Vikings.
Use http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/vikings to answer the
following questions.
Name the three countries that the Vikings came from.
________________________________________________________________________________
What did “Going Viking” mean?
________________________________________________________________________________
In what year was the first Viking raid on Britain?
________________________________________________________________________________
Why did Vikings attack monasteries?
________________________________________________________________________________
What was the name of the area where the Vikings settled in England?
________________________________________________________________________________
What is the name of famous Viking who became king of England in 1016?
________________________________________________________________________________
Name at least three places, other than Britain, where the Vikings went.
________________________________________________________________________________
EXTENSION: Can you find out what Danegeld was?_______________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7001100AD
10. What can I discover about the Vikings?
The Vikings were quite a war-like bunch. Historians believe they know quite a bit about how
they lived, sailed, traded and fought. However, sometimes it’s difficult to tell myths from
truths.
Read some things that have been claimed about Viking warfare:
• Some Vikings were called berserkers. They got themselves whipped-up into a frenzy before
they went ‘berserk’ in battle.
•Some people claim that these berserkers took drugs before battle to make them think that
they were invincible.
• Some people claim that the berserkers sometimes went into battle completely naked!
Imagine how terrified you would be if a big hairy man was running towards you who thought
he was so tough he didn’t need any armour! Also, where would you put your eyes?
• It has been reported that Vikings sometimes used a particularly vicious way of killing
people. It was called the blood eagle. What they did was tear the victims ribs away from
their spine and pull out their lungs. This made their back look like a bloody eagle spreading
its wings. Yuck! It is also reported that salt was sometimes poured into the wounds to make
the death even more painful. Some people say that the Saxon king Edmund suffered this
grisly end. (He was later made Saint Edmund and was buried at…)
EXTENSION: Where was St. Edmund buried?_______________________________________________________________________
Some Vikings had quite strange and cool names. See if you can match the name to Viking.
Erik Bloodaxe
A Viking warrior who had an illness that made his bones very weak.
He was very clever but weak. This was good because, apparently,
his brother was strong but stupid.
Sweyn
Forkbeard
The King of Norway who became king of the Saxon kingdom of
Northumbria. He got his name from his reputation as a vicious
fighter (and the fact hed probably killed his half-brother.)
Ivar the
Boneless
A Viking who was briefly became king of England. He had a big
beard that was split into two.
The Viking age finally came to an end when the Saxon King Harold defeated the Viking king
Harald Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066. Of course, the Battle of Hastings
in the same year ended the Saxon age as well. But, you’ll learn all about these things in
lessons…