Transcript manorialism
Restoration of Order
Feudalism and the Manor
The Turn of the Millennium
Before the year 1000 Christians were expecting
the world to end
This fear, along with reformed monasticism in
the 10th century allowed the papacy to
consolidate power into the power that is
recognized as the Roman Catholic Church today
Surpluses of grain revitalized urban population
and bolstered trade
The Feudal system that began under the
Carolingians began to solidify into a form of
government as it dictated the culture, society,
and economics of the 10th and 11th centuries
Economic and Social Changes
Manorialism- the economic ordering of
agricultural production and the organization of
the lives of the peasants involved with that
production
Feudalism- describes the relationship between a
lord and his vassals and to the society itself
In the middle ages 90% of the population was
peasants while 10% was nobility, clergy, and
merchants
Manorialism
Medieval Europe had a mix of agricultural
methods
Some areas were farmed by free peasants who
owned land and mixed cultivation with fishing or
herding
Most of the grain came from large manors with serfs
who were unfree peasants that worked the land
The manor was a community of peasants
organized under the authority of a lord
Was a unit of economic, judicial, and social
organization
Characteristic of southeast England, northern France,
western Germany, and the Rhone and Po river valleys
Drawing of a Manor
Medieval Manor
The Lord’s Control
Serfs and their children could not leave the manor
without the lord’s permission
The Lord ran a manorial court which could levy fines
The lord charged serfs to use his mill or winepress
The lord provided the local police and court system
Men had to work at least 3 days a week on the lord’s
land and had to provide special services at certain times
of the year
Peasant paid rent in money and goods
Peasants had to give mandatory gifts at holidays
If a man chose to marry off his daughter he paid the
lord
If a serf moved from the manor he paid a yearly fine
until he returned
Housing and Food
Lived in villages surrounded by fields
Peasants built stone houses and extended
families lived together
Where stone was scarce, they built A-frame
houses with woven branches and clay
They slept on a straw pallet and usually
displayed a crucifix in the room
They ate mostly grain with the addition of eggs,
cheese, beans, oats, peas, and a bit of meat
(mutton)
They drank either beer or wine depending on
where they lived
Feudalism
Describes the personal bonds among the elite society
Refers to a patron/client relationship between two
freemen
Vassal- a person who put himself under the protection of
a lord in exchange foe military aid
Lord and vassal both came from the upper classes of
society
The vassal had to come to the aid of the lord and the
lord owed the same to the vassal
Fief- the land that is given to the vassal from the lord
A vassal could receive fiefs from different lords but could
only have one liege