Transcript Middle Ages - Oxford School District

Feudalism and the
Manor System
Coach Parrish
OMS
Chapter 14, Section 1
Knights
– soldier who received honor and
land in exchange for serving his lord.
 Squire – knight – in – training. A squire
becomes a knight when he completes his
training and is presented his sword and
shield.
 The squire would kneel as a sword tapped
him on each shoulder. This process was
called knighting.
 Knight
Middle Ages
Ages – years between ancient and
modern times. Occurred about 1000
years ago in Western Europe.
 The middle ages are often called the
medieval period.
 Middle
Collapse of the Roman Empire
 The
middle ages began with the collapse
of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire
had provided order to the region for about
500 years.
 The collapse of the Roman Empire caused
Europe to divide into several small
kingdoms.
Charlemagne Reunites Western Europe
 One
of the invading groups of the old
Roman Empire were the Franks. They
came from Gaul. In AD 768, Charlemagne
became king of the Franks.
 He took over many small and weak
kingdoms and eventually his kingdom
stretched across all of Western Europe.
Charlemagne:
Royal Church of St. Mary at Aachen
Charlemagne Reunites Western
Europe, cont.
 Charlemagne
ruled his kingdom for 50
years, expanding education and the
Christian religion. He built schools and
improved the economy.
 After his death (814 AD), the empire was
divided among his 3 sons. They fought
each other for control of the region.
Feudal System
 Because
of Viking invasions, the people of
Europe needed a way to defend
themselves. They came up with feudalism
– land was owned by kings or lords but
controlled by vassals in return for their
loyalty.
 In medieval Europe, the landowners held
power. They were called nobles or
princes.
Feudal Duties
 The
main duty of a lord was to protect his
land and the vassals that controlled it. If a
vassal died, his children were cared for by
the lord.
 Vassals were expected in return to fight
and help protect the lord. Some vassals
were knights who led men into battle.
Pledging fealty to Charlemagne
Knights of Christ by Jan van Eyck
Manor System
 Manorialism
was the way medieval
Europeans organized their economy.
System was based on the manor – large
estate that included farm fields, pastures,
and the manor house.
Lords and Manors
 The
lord of the manor was typically a vassal
of a king. The manor was part of his fief
(plot of land). Most goods such as food and
clothing were made on the manor.
 The lord depended on the manor for wealth.
The lord ruled over the poor people who
worked the land and also made and
enforced laws. He also levied taxes against
the peasants.
Role of Noblewomen
 Women
of feudal society also had their
role. They would visit other noble families
for training. After training, she became
lady of the household.
 A woman’s duties include supervising
servants, performing medical tasks, and
managing the house.
Noblewomen
Peasants and Serfs
 The
majority of the people of medieval
Europe were peasants. They were poor
people who made their living as farmers
and laborers.
 They worked the manors’ fields and were
allowed to farm a little strip of land for
themselves to feed their families.
Peasants
Tied to the Manor


1.
2.
Most peasants were also serfs. Serfs –
peasants who were considered to be part of
the manor. When a noble was given a fief, the
serfs on the manor became his. The serfs
could do nothing without the lord’s permission.
Serfs became free if…
they saved enough money to buy a plot of land
they escaped for a year and a day without
being caught
A Hard Life
 Medieval
peasants worked very hard.
Men, women, and children were all
required to work. Peasants lived in one
room huts. For cooking, they built a fire on
the dirt floor. They slept on straw mats on
the floor.