Anglo-Saxon England Before 1066
Picture England in 1060 - it's a tough place to live with only 2 million people and sky-high infant mortality rates. Most people are farmers just trying to survive, but there's actually a pretty organised social hierarchy that determines everyone's place in society.
At the bottom, you've got peasants who rent land and work constantly to feed their families. They owe labour to their lords - skip work and you lose your land! About 10% of people are slaves who can be bought and sold, though they're not always treated brutally.
Moving up the ladder, thegns are the local lords (around 4,000-5,000 of them) who own significant chunks of land called hides and live in proper manor houses. At the top sit the earls - the real power players who compete to be the king's favourite and sometimes even challenge royal authority.
Key Point: The most powerful earl, Godwin of Wessex, was actually more influential than King Edward himself, showing that royal power had serious limits in Anglo-Saxon England.
