Transcript MY Feudalism in Europe

Feudalism in Middle Ages Europe
Feudalism = a political and economic
system based on land-holding and
protective alliances
Why?
Invaders Attack Western Europe
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The Vikings Invade from the North
Warlike Vikings raid Europe from
Scandinavia—Denmark, Norway,
Sweden
 Viking long ships sail in shallow
water, allowing raids inland
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A sketch of a Viking longboat
More Invaders …
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Magyars and Muslims Attack from the
East and South
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Magyars (Hungarian nomads) invade
western Europe in late 800s
Muslims strike north from Africa, attacking
through Italy and Spain
=Viking, Magyar, Muslim invasions
cause widespread disorder, fear,
suffering
Religion & Feudalism are the
answers….
Why?
The answers….
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Religion (Christianity)
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Offers hope, comfort, guidance, promise of
a better afterlife, etc..
Feudalism
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PROTECTION (in the absence of a strong
central leader)
A New Social Order: Feudalism
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Feudalism Structures Society
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After Charlemagne, feudalism
emerges—political system based on
land control
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A NOBLE lord (landowner) gives fiefs (land
grants) in exchange for services
NOBLE Vassals—people who receive fiefs—
become powerful landholders
This is an arrangement between NOBLES!!!
The basis of power and wealth
under the feudal system is….
LAND
(fiefs)
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A New Social Order: Feudalism
The Feudal System& Manor
System
Loyalty and military service
Monarchs/kings
(feudal system)
land
Lord/high ranking nobles
(Feudal system)
Land/protection
Loyalty and military service
Vassals/knight/lower ranking nobles
(feudal system)
protection
Labor/food
Peasants (free and serfs)
(manor system)
A New Social Order: Feudalism
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Social Classes Are Well Defined
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Medieval feudal system classifies people into categories
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those who fight: noble lords & knights – FEUDAL SYSTEM
those who work: peasants (free and serfs) – MANOR SYSTEM
those who pray: monks, nuns, leaders of the Church
Social class is usually inherited
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majority of people are peasants
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Serfs generally accept their lives as part of God’s plan
Monarchs
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Top of society (“God intended people to
be superior to others” – Divine Right)
Weaker after Charlemagne
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Still considered highest authority deserving
respect and loyalty (symbolic power)
Over time, lost power to lords = became like a
very powerful lord with several manors rather
than a king
Noble Lords – most “real” power
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Owned lots of land
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Used “private armies” of vassals to defend
territory
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Gave fiefs (plots of their land) to those vassals as
payment
Lived on Manors = castle/manor house &
farming estate (see p.527 in textbook)
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Built for living and defense
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Power to rule over their own land since
monarchs didn’t have “muscle”
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Defend land
Oversee workers/appoint officials to do so
act as a judge
Fought for/supply forces for king/higher
lords
Time spent hunting, fishing, being
entertained by musicians, jesters, etc..
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LADIES = focus on children, running
household, cooking, sewing, overseeing
servants
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Ran manors when men at war (including
accounting)
Could hold fiefs and inherit land in some
places
Hunting, hawking, chess, reading, sewing,
in leisure time
DOWNSIDES????
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WAR
Gloomy, cold, drafty castles
Little privacy
Diseases
Fleas and lice
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Bath possibly weekly, clothes not washed
daily
Noble Vassals
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Nobles with less power than lords
Trained as knight starting at age 7
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Page (about age 7)- education in chivalry
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Code of chivalry -MANNERS
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Obedience (to lords, respect for noblewomen, honor
church)
Helping those in trouble
Honesty and honor in battle
Squire (about age 14) –knight/servant in training
Knight (early 20s)
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Pledged loyalty and military service to
lords FOR LIFE in “act of homage”
ceremony
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Military service most important
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Defensive battles = serve as long as necessary
Offensive battles = after 6 weeks = extra pay!
Typically did not fight in winter/fall
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Give advice (when asked), financial help
(marriage, battles), need approval to give
land to the church
Received protection (i.e. strength in
numbers) and fiefs
Participate in tournaments for sport,
exercise, and 1-1 battle
Peasants
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Majority of people
Basic, crowded, wood frame cottages with
thatched roofs, dirt floors, straw for beds
Worked year round
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Harvest grain, oats, barley, peas, beans, slaughter
livestock, shear sheep, tend vegetable gardens,
etc..
Carpenters, shoemakers, metalworkers, etc..
BREAKs during Catholic feast days/holidays
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Attended Sunday worship services
Women
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Work in fields AND raise children
Prepared food for family!
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Bread, vegetables, milk, nuts, fruit, eggs, meat,
ale to drink, pork
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Used herbs to make food taste better when not fresh
Poor diet, illness, malnutrition make life expectancy
35 years
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Had to pay taxes whenever lord needed
money
Fee to marry
Had to use the lord’s mill & bakery
And pay!
pay a tithe to priest
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Tithe—a church tax—is equal to one-tenth of a peasant’s
income
Peasants – majority of people
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Free
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Paid lord for use of
land (in food)
Could leave at will
Could be forced to
leave
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Serfs (most peasants)
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people lawfully bound to
place of birth
(property/prisoners of land)
Can’t move, marry, own
property without lord’s
permission
Serfs aren’t slaves, but what
they produce belongs to
their lord
Guaranteed protection (Lord
had a duty to protect)
Can’t be bought, sold, or
kicked off land
The Manor System: The Economic Side of
Feudalism
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The Lord’s Estate/Manor has an
economic need (manor system)
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Serfs and free peasants maintain the lord’s
estate, pay rent & taxes with food/labor
The lord provides housing, farmland,
protection
Manors: The Economic Side of Feudalism
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A Self-Contained World
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Medieval manors include lord’s manor
house/castle, church, workshops, village
Manors can cover a few square miles of
land- like a privately owned village
This system allows manors to be selfsufficient and produce everything needed
for survival
Japanese Feudalism
emperor
Shoguns & then Daimyo
≈
Samurai
monarch
Noble lords
Noble vassals/knights
Peasants
Samurai (“to serve”)
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Part of private armies to protect land of the nobles
Fought on horseback with swords, daggers, bows &
arrows
Armor of leather or steel tied with silk (see p.494 in
textbook)
Code of BUSHIDO (loyalty, courage, honor)
Training begins around age 10 in with lords;
Educated in martial arts, math, astronomy; warriors
by about age 16
European Vs. Japanese Feudalism
Western Europe
Japan
Religion
Christianity; influenced
art & architecture
Buddhism (life to
come), Shinto (daily
life); influenced art &
architecture
Life of Peasants
MAJORITY; Worked
year round, largely
farming
MAJORITY; Worked
year round, largely
farming(wheat, rice,
millet, barley)
Life of Women
Peasants = worked in
fields, raise children,
prepared food, etc.
ALL expected to obey
father & son; poor
families = work in
fields, raise children,
cooked, spun/wove
cloth; wealthy =
arranged marriages to
benefit family