What military power did the king possess?

• A. He could raise a national army and fleet.
• B. He could only defend the coast with local militias.
• C. He could not equip any army.
• D. He could hire mercenaries abroad but not raise armies.

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is that the king exercised centralized military authority, able to mobilize forces across the entire realm. In Anglo-Saxon and Norman England, the monarch had the prerogative to call out troops from the shires and lead them as a national army, and to command ships for a fleet when a campaign or coastal defense was needed. This ability to raise and deploy a nationwide military force shows the king’s direct control over both land forces and naval power, rather than relying solely on local militias or private arrangements.

Local coastal defense and militias existed, and rulers did use mercenaries on occasion, but they did not replace the king’s power to raise an armed force from across the realm or to assemble a fleet for major operations. The option that the king could not equip any army is clearly inconsistent with how kingship functioned in this period. Therefore, the best description is that the king could raise a national army and fleet.