Transcript Chapter 13 Early Middle Ages

Chapter 13 Early Middle Ages
*Feudalism may be considered (1) a social system of RIGID CLASS DISTINCTIONS and a
static, or unchanging, way of life; (2) a political system of local government and military
defense, and (3) and economic system of self-sufficient agricultural manors.
*The invasions by Vikings and Magyars contributed heavily to the development of
feudalism in western Europe.
*Feudal Society has RIGID CLASS DISTINCTIONS. It was sharply divided into (a) landholding nobles who were the upper class and (B) the peasants or serfs who were the
lower class. Positions in feudal society were determined by birth. Serfs could not
advance to higher social status. The serfs included men, women, and children.
*The establishment of a rigid class structure was a direct effect of the Feudal system in
medieval Europe.
Feudal System Pyramid
*1. The king- head of society, owned all the land in the kingdom but
controlled only his estates.
2. Powerful Lords – stood right below the King as his vassal. These lords
received grants of land called fiefs from the king and in return pledged
him allegiance and military service.
3. Lesser Lords – vassals of the powerful lords. Received fiefs in
exchange for allegiance and military service. Could grant fiefs to other
nobles.
4. The Knights – most numerous group of nobles, was the bulk of the
feudal armies.
5. Serfs – highest in population, bottom of the social structure.
Manors
*The feudal system was a political and social system. This system was called
the Manorial System because it was built around large estates called manors.
The purpose of the Manorial System was to provide wealth for the Nobles.
*The Lord’s estate was called a Manor. It consisted of (a) the farm and Pasture
lands; (b) the lord’s castle or manor house, and (c) the village buildings which
consisted of a church, blacksmith shops, serfs’ huts.
*The manor was largely self-sufficient economically. Most of the land was
occupied by fields for crops and pastures for animals. Farmers learned that
leaving a field empty for a year helped improve the soil which improved the
size of the harvest. This developed into the three field crop rotation system.
One field was planted in the spring for a fall harvest, another was planted in
winter for a spring harvest and the last field went unplanted for a year. This
was known as crop rotation.
Magna Carta
*King John demanded increased funds from his feudal nobles and was
accused by them of violating their Feudal rights. He was compelled by
the nobles to sign the Magna Carta
*This document limited royal power by stating that the king (a) may not
imprison any free person except by judgement of the person’s peers
(equals) and in accordance with the laws (TRIAL BY JURY) and (b) may
not levy taxes without consent of the Great Council (nobility and higher
clergy)
*Originally it protected the medieval feudal nobility against royal
tyranny. Over time the charter’s protections were extended to all
English people.
Magna Carta
*Magna Carta came to mean that (a) the monarch is not an absolute
ruler but is subject to laws (b) all persons are guaranteed trial by jury
(HAVE THE RIGHT TO DUE PROCESS) and © The Great Council, which
later became Parliament, could levy taxes. The Magna Carta is usually
considered the cornerstone of the English democracy. It recognized the
rights of the nobility in England.
The Moors
*Moors were muslims who conquered the Iberian Peninsula, between Spain
and Portugal, in the early 700s. These muslims built a powerful state
centered in the city of Cordoba.
*As early as 722 Christian rulers had begun to fight the Moors trying to drive
them out of Europe. Over time Christian rulers continued to push west and
in the early 1000s a civil war had broken out in Muslim Spain, weakening the
Moorish leaders. The Christian leaders took advantage of this weakness.
*1492 – The Moors were driven completely off the Iberian Peninsula and
forced to surrender to Granada.
*The main effect of the Moors’ expansion into Spain in the 700s was it led to
conflicts between Muslims and Christian inhabitants.