Feudalism

1. Feudalism Introduction

2. When we say the Middle Ages, what are we talking about? (Brainstorm words, things or specific time periods)

3. Middle… Dark… or just Medieval? • The Middle Ages is the period of European history that lasts from 500CE to around 1500CE • Historians call the period before the Middle Ages ancient history. • They call the period after the Middle Ages the beginnings of modern history. • The Middle Ages has also been called the Dark Ages and Medieval times.

4. Life after Rome • Before its collapse, Rome protected much of Western Europe. • When Rome collapsed there was no one who had an army strongenough to defend its borders. • Wave after wave of invaders took over European lands and cut off trade routes. They also brought in their own languages.

5. Vikings • One of the most deadly and terrifying groups of invaders were the Vikings. • Vikings came from northern Europe (today Denmark, Sweden and Norway. • For 300 years they attacked coastal towns, stealing goods and murdering people. • Europe needed to re-organize itself to provide maximum protection in a dangerous world.

6. Feudalism • Over time, people in Europe developed a way to organize themselves that would provide protection. • They created a hierarchy of power called feudalism. • Power belonged to the people who controlled the land. Theygaveprotection to those who worked the land in exchange for their labor.

7. Monarchs • People believed that the land belonged to God but that God had chosen the monarch to take care of these lands. • Divine Right = a king’s power comes from God • The king claimed ownership of the land. • The king could not govern all the land himself so he gave the land to nobles/lords (wealthy landowners) who promised to be loyal and serve him. • When the king needed an army to help him protect the land, he called on the nobles to raise and equip the army. • The king would use this army to protect the land.

8. Lords and Vassals • The nobles and lords could in turn grant land—called a fief—to another man who promised to be loyal, follow his laws and fight for him. • The man who promised loyalty was called a vassal. A vassal could be a lord but he had much less power than the greatest nobles of the land.

9. Lords and Nobles • The lord’s responsibility was to protect his vassals and their land. • If a vassal died, the lord became the protector of the vassal’s children. • Sometimes a vassal was a knight who was experienced in fighting and owned his own equipment. • Vassals had to serve in the army, they had to serve in the lord’s court and had to make special payments to the lord.

10. Manors • A lord could rule over one or more manors. • A manor was a large estate that included a village, farmland and peasants. • The manor was important because it produced food and wealth for the entire kingdom.

11. Peasants and Serfs • Peasants did all the work on a manor. They farmed the fields and harvested the grain. • Many peasants were serfs. They were not allowed to leave the manor or marry without permission from the noble. • Serfs were not slaves. He could save enough money to buy a plot of land and be a free peasant.

12. Manor: How land is used by everyone

13. Manor Chart • What do you notice about how the field is used? • Who do you think grows the food and grinds grain into flour in the mill? • If there are problems with the equipment at the mill or the blacksmith’s forge, who pays for the repairs? • Who controls how many animals and wood are taken from the forest? • Who controls how many fish are taken from the ponds? • Who do you think oversees justice in a manor? Why could this be problematic? • If a serf needs resources to repair his house or his farming tools, what do you think he could do?

14. Graph the Relationships of Feudalism