Transcript Development of Feudalism

Development of Feudalism
Mr. Ballman
7th Grade Social Studies
 Early Middle Ages: 476 to 1000 CE
 The High Middle Ages: 1000 to 1300
 The Late Middle Ages: 1300 to 1450
 Began with the fall of Rome
 Life was dangerous and difficult
 People needed protection from
invading barbarians and kingdoms
 People worked hard just to survive
and have enough food
 The economic and political system
during the Early Middle Ages
Monarch
Lords
Knights
Peasants
 Franks: a powerful group because
they developed a new system of
warfare
 Depended on troops of heavily
armed warriors who fought on
horseback
 Ruler needed the service and loyalty
of many knights
 Knights were rewarded with land
and privileges
 Married a Christian woman, Clotilda
 Eventually baptized into the Roman
Catholic Church, a Christian church
headed by the pope in Rome
 His followers became Christians
 Led the Franks in wars that widened
the boundaries of the Frankish
kingdom
 Most important leader of the Franks
 Ruled for over 40 years, from 768-814
 Unified nearly all the Christian lands
of Europe into a single empire
 With the help of Pope Leo III, he built
his empire
 Leo, in turn, got support from
someone who had an army
 Pope Leo crowned Charlemagne
Holy Roman emperor in 800 CE
 Charlemagne’s empire quickly fell
after his death in 184
 Weak rulers who followed him could
not defend the empire against new
waves of invasions
 These kings followed Charlemagne’s
example of rewarding knights with
land and privileges in return for
military service
 The Muslims came from the Near
East and northern Africa into what is
now Spain
 The Magyars, a central Asian people,
came from the east
 The Vikings came down from
present-day Norway and Denmark
 Western Europeans developed a
system we call feudalism to defend
and protect themselves
 a stable social order
 People were bound to one another by
promises of loyalty
 All land in the kingdom belonged to
the monarch
 Great deal of land belong to the
church
King
• Gave fiefs, or grants of land, to his most important
lords who became vassals
• Each lord promised to supply the king with knights in
times of war
• Enlisted lesser lords and knights as his vassals
Lord
Peasants
• Rented land from the lords
• Some were called serfs and were tied to the land they
worked
• Farmed the land in return for a small plot of land of
their own
 Large estates held by a lord
 Most lords and wealthier knights
lived on manors
 Included a castle or manor house, one
or more villages, and the surrounding
farmland
 Located in the country far from
towns, so peasants had to produce
everything the people on the manor
needed
 Were feudal lords
 Expected to keep order and to
provide protection for their vassals
 Believed in the divine right of kings
The idea that God had given them the
right to rule
 Power of the monarchs varied
 Relied on their vassals, especially
nobles, to provide enough knights
and soldiers
 Some lords grew very powerful and
governed their fiefs as independent
states
 Came to power in England after:
 the king died without an heir
William believed he had the right to the
English throne
Harold, his cousin, was crowned
William and his army invaded England
Defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings
Nickname William the Conqueror
Brought feudal instittutions from Europe
with him.
Brought order to England
By the High Middle Ages, around 1000
C.E., much of Europe was stable because
of feudalism
 Highest-ranking class in medieval
society
 Most lived on manors
 Some had several manors which the
lords stayed at for a few months at a
time with their families
 Many of the people on a manor lived
with the lord’s family in the main
house (manor house)
 Built of wood or stone
 Surrounded by gardens and
outbuildings (such as stables)
 Protected by high walls and
sometimes a moat
 Center of the community
 Villagers entered its walls for
protection if there was trouble
 Kings and queens, high-ranking
nobles, and wealthy lords lived in
castles
 Main function was to serve as a home
 Also one of the most important forms
of military technology
 Had moats, strong walls, and gates to
protect those who live inside
 Its large size and central locations
were strong visual reminders of the
hierarchy within the kingdom and
the strict barriers between classes
 Responsible for managing and
defending his land and the people who
worked it
 Appointed officials to make sure
villagers carried out their duties
 Acted as judges in manor courts
 Had the power to fine and punish those
who broke the law
 Some held posts in the king’s
government
 During war, lords fought for their own
higher-ranking lords, or supplied them
with a well-trained fight force
 Responsible for raising and training
their children and sometimes the
children of other noble families
 Oversaw their household or
households
 Entertainment provided by musicians
and jesters (“fools” who performed
amusing jokes and stunts)
 Hunting and hawking (hunting with
birds)
 Feasting and dancing
 Board games such as chess
 Reading
 Ladies did fine embroidery, or
decorative sewing
 Lit by candles only
 Warmed by open fires
 Could be gloomy and cold
 Little or no privacy
 Fleas and lice infected all medieval
buildings
 People bathed only once a week
 Clothes not washed daily
 Diseases affected everyone
 War was a constant danger
 Mounted soldiers
 Had to have some wealth because a
full suit of armor and a horse cost a
small fortune
 Usually vassals of more powerful
lords
Start as a page, or
servant
After 7 years,
became a squire
Became a knight
in his early 20s if
he was deserving
 It was a way of life
 Lived by a strong code of behavior
called chivalry (included bravery,
loyalty, and respect for women)
 Expected to be loyal to their church
and their lord
 Expected to be just and fair
 Expected to protect the helpless
 Performed acts of gallantry (respect
to women)
 Participated in jousts and
tournaments
 Fought wearing heavy suits of armor
 11th century: armor was made of
metal ring linked together
 14th century: plate armor was more
common and offered better
protection
 Supported the entire feudal structure
by working the land
 Their labor allowed lords and knights
to spend their time preparing for war
or fighting
 Legally classified as free or unfree
 Free peasants: rented land to farm
and owed only their rent money to
the lord
 Unfree peasants (serfs): farmed the
lord’s fields and could not leave; they
received a small plot of land of their
own to farm
 Revolved around work
 Raised crops
 Tended livestock (animals)
 Every manor had carpenters,
shoemakers, smiths (metalworkers),
and other skilled workers
 Women worked the fields when
needed
 Women also cared for their children
and homes
 Serfs owed the lord numerous taxes
 “Head money”: paid a fix amount per
person every year
 Tallage: lord could demand this tax
whenever he needed money
 Merchet: this fee was paid by a
woman, her father, or her husband
when she married
 Required to grind their grain at the
lord’s mill (which was the only mill
in the village)
 The miller kept portions of the grain
for himself and the lord who could
keep any amount he wanted
 Serfs hated this practice and some hid
small hand mills in their houses
 Small houses of 1 or 2 rooms
 Made of woven strips of wood
covered with straw or mud
 Had little furniture or possessions
 Hearth fire in the middle of the main
room, but usually no chimney so it
was dark and smoky inside
 An entire family might eat and sleep
in one room that sometimes also
housed their farm animals
 Vegetables, meat such as pork, and
dark, coarse bread made of wheat
mixed with rye or oatmeal
 In the winter, they ate meat and fish
that had been preserved in salt
 Herbs were used for flavor and to
lessen the taste of the salt or to
disguise the taste of meat that was no
longer fresh