Transcript The Middle Ages

The Middle Ages
Ms. Elam and Mr. Stikes
SSWH7 The student will analyze European
medieval society with regard to culture, politics,
society, and economics.
a. Explain the manorial system and
feudalism; include the status of
peasants and feudal monarchies &
the importance of Charlemagne.
SECTION 1:
Explain the manorial system and feudalism;
include:
a. The status of peasants and feudal
monarchies
b. The importance of Charlemagne
Definitions
• Manorial System: economic system based
on large estates called manors
• Feudalism: system of government based
on personal obligations between a
monarch and a vassal
– Vassal: individual who swears loyalty and
obedience to a superior lord
Origins of Feudalism
• Kings were unable to defend their land
from attack
• Nobles and others had to find ways to
defend themselves
– How?
• Knight:
Knights
– Highly trained, usually mounted soldier
– Expensive to maintain
– Loyalty = land
• Land given to knight for service was called a fief
– Anyone accepting fief was called a vassal
– Person from whom he accepted fief was his lord
• Historians call system of exchanging land for
service the feudal system, or feudalism
Feudal Obligations
• Oath of Fealty:
– Promise by knight to be loyal to his lord
• Financial Obligations
– Knight would pay ransom if lord was captured
– Knight would give money to lord on important
days (births, marriages, etc.)
Feudal Obligations
• Obligations of the Lord
– Lord had to treat knights fairly, not demanding
too much time, money
– Had to protect knight if attacked by enemies
– Had to act as judge in disputes between
knights
Feudal Obligations
VASSAL:
a. Provide military service
b. Remain loyal & faithful
c. Give money on special
occasions
LORD:
a. Give land
b. Protect from attack
c. Resolve disputes
Feudalism: The Complex System
• Person could be both lord, vassal
• Some knights with large fiefs gave small pieces of
land to other knights, created many levels of
obligations
• One knight could serve many lords; no prohibition
against knight accepting fiefs from more than one
noble
• Almost everyone in system served more than one
lord
Is this an
oversimplification?
“Fealty” to King
• Theoretically, everyone supposed to be loyal
to the king
– In practice, not everyone loyal
• Some powerful nobles as strong as kings
they were supposed to serve, ignored duties
as vassals
• Feudal rules specific to time, place; could
change over time; England’s rules not same
as France’s rules
The Manorial System
The feudal system was a political and social system. A related system
governed medieval economics. This system was called the manorial
system because it was built around large estates called manors.
Lords, Peasants, and
Serfs
• Manors owned by
wealthy lords, knights
• Peasants farmed
manor fields
• Were given protection,
plots of land to cultivate
for selves
Serfdom
Free People
• Most peasants on farm
were serfs, tied to
manor
• Manors had some free
people who rented land
from lord
• Not slaves, could not
be sold away from
manor
• Others included
landowning peasants,
skilled workers like
blacksmiths, millers
• But could not leave,
marry without lord’s
permission
• Also had a priest for
spiritual needs
Manorial System
• Manor: main house
of a noble or lord
• Much of the land
around the manor
was occupied by
fields for crops &
pastures for animals
Agriculture & the Manor
• Middle Ages farmers learned that leaving
a field empty for a year improved soil
quality
• In time, practice developed into three-field
crop rotation system
– One field planted in spring for fall harvest
– Another field planted in winter for spring
harvest
– Third field remained unplanted for year
Question to think about:
Why do you think the manor
house and the village were often
separated?
Small Village
• Each manor included
fortified house for
noble family, village
for peasants, serfs
Note the three plantings
DID YOU KNOW: One field was
always left fallow, or unplanted,
in order to replenish nutrients
that helped the crops grow
• A typical manor also
included church, mill,
blacksmith
• Goal of the Manor:
to be self-sufficient
Daily Life in the Middle Ages
• For the nobility:
– Early castles built for defense not comfort
• Few windows, stuffy in summer, cold in winter, dark
always
– Nobles had to share space with others, including
soldiers, servants
• Private rooms very rare
– Main room: the “Hall”
• large room for dining, entertaining
Daily Life in the Middle Ages
• For the nobility:
– In early castles, noble family bedrooms
separated from main area by sheets
• Later castles had separate bedrooms
• Latrines located near bedrooms
• Wooden bathtub outside in warm weather, inside
near fireplace in winter
Closed In
Outline
of a
Medieval
Castle
Open Air
Daily Life in the Middle Ages
• For the peasants:
“Despite discomforts, life in a castle was
preferable to life in a village. The typical village
family lived in a small wooden one-room house.
The roof was made of straw, the floor of dirt, and
the furniture of rough wood. Open holes in the
walls served as windows.”1
“The family rose before dawn. Men went to work
in the fields; women did chores. During harvest,
the entire family worked in the field all day.” 1
1) Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Chapter 13 ppt “The Early Middle Ages”
Daily Life in the Middle Ages
• For the peasants:
– One room homes
• Slept on mats on floor with animals
– Cook on open fire in middle of home
• No chimney, smoke had no escape
• Typical meal: Brown bread, cheese, vegetables,
occasionally meat
Brief Political History
• Franks:
– Merovingians (A.D. 400’s-751)
• Merowig: mythical founder of Merovingians
• Clovis (c.466-581):
– United the Franks under one ruler
– First Germanic ruler to convert to Christianity
• Mayor of the Palace: “maior domus” (“lord of
the house”) position of power within
Merovingian dynasty [basically chief of staff]
Clovis
Charles Martel
Brief Political History
• Franks:
– Merovingians (A.D. 400’s-751)
• Charles Martel (c.688-751): (Martel = “the hammer”)
– Makes Mayor of Palace hereditary
– Battle of Tours (A.D. 732)
• Pepin III “the Short” (A.D. 714-768):
– End of Merovingians
– Elected king of Franks, first Carolingian king
– Father of Charlemagne
Charlemagne (r. 768-814)
• Charlemagne means “Charles the Great”
– Latin: Carolus Magnus shortened
• King of the Franks
– Sought to rebuild the Roman Empire
– Crowned Emperor in 800 by Pope
• Christmas day, by Pope Leo III
• Renamed empire the “Holy Roman Empire”
Charlemagne’s Empire
Charlemagne (r. 768-814)
• “Carolingian Renaissance?”
– Roman v. German influences
– Education
•
•
•
•
Rise of Universities?
Palace School @ Aachen
Alcuin (7 Liberal Arts?)
Medieval Latin
– Architecture & Art
• Cathedral @ Aachen
• Illuminated manuscripts
Cathedral at Aachen
7 Liberal Arts
• Trivium
– Grammer
– Logic
– Rhetoric
Taught
first
• Quadrivium
–
–
–
–
Arithmetic
Geometry
Music
Astronomy
Higher level of
education
Charlemagne (r. 768-814)
• Missi dominici
(singular: missus dominicus)
– Always Paired: One church official, one
government official
– Mission: To “administer the law fully and justly
in the case of the holy churches of God and of
the poor, of wards and widows and of the whole
people.”*
* - “General Capitulary of the Missi" Spring 802
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/carol-missi1.html