Transcript Feudalism and The Manor System - Options

Feudalism and The Manor
System
Daily Life in Medieval
Europe
After Charlemagne
• Europe was invaded
repeatedly by 3 groups:
the Vikings from the
north, the Magyars from
the east, and the Muslims
from the south
• Kings across Europe
could not defend all of
their lands, so they
granted land to nobles
• The nobles had to find a
way to defend their
territory
Feudalism
• Feudalism: the
system of
exchanging land for
service
• Over time the
system became
complicated as
lords granted land
to multiple knights
and knights
granted land to
lesser knights,
called villeins
Defense Systems
• Many nobles built castles that could withstand an attack
• The nobles then trained soldiers to defend their castles and
territory
Knights
• Most well-trained soldiers for
defending a castle
• Becoming a knight was
expensive; knights needed to
but their own armor, weapons,
and horses
• Knights often agreed to defend
a castle in exchange for a
piece of land
• Nobles would grant knights a
fief – anyone who accepted a
fief was called a vassal
Feudal Obligations
Feudalism bound people together through professional
duties
• A knight’s duties to
his lord:
– Provide military
service
– Remain loyal and
faithful
• Took an oath of
fealty, or loyalty
– Give money on
special occasions
• A lord’s duties to his
knights:
– Give land
– Protect knights from
attack
– Resolve disputes
between knights
The Medieval Manor
• Usually owned by lords or knights
• Since lords were too busy with feudal duties to
work the land, they granted land to peasants
• In exchange, the peasants provided the lord with
labor and other services
What Did a Manor Include?
• Most of the land consisted of pastures and fields for crops
• Usually there were 3 fields – a spring field, a fall field, and a
field left fallow (empty) to improve the soil
• The peasants would rotate the fields each year this system is
called crop rotation
What Did a Manor Include? (cont.)
• Lords lived in a fortified manor house
• Peasants lived in a village on the manor grounds
• The village usually had a church, mill, and a
blacksmith
• There was often a bakehouse, pond, and
orchard
• The manor was built to be self-sufficient, people
on the manor did not have to leave for anything