Feudalism: A System for Living

1. Feudalism: A System for Living

2. Review of the Dark Ages (476 C.E. – 1000 C.E.) • Another name for the early Medievalperiod. • “Medieval” means from the Middle Ages. • Follows the immediate fall of Rome. Europe lost all Rome had provided: • Order – Organized government. • Protection – Rome’s legions. • Technology – aqueducts, sewers, bath houses, roads, and buildings. • Education. • Trade • In the meantime, invaders were destroying cities, towns, churches, and monasteries. • Most books and scrolls were kept in monasteries at this time so valuable information was lost forever. • Life was not safe during this time. Barbarians enter a town. Poverty in the Dark Ages.

3. Feudalism • Order needed to be created since Rome wasn’t around to keep it anymore. • The power structure was like a pyramid. Kings and Queens ruled, then there were nobles, these were followed by knights, and the peasants. This is called feudalism. • Feudalism is the social and political system of Europe during the Middle Ages King and Queen Nobles Knights Peasants

4. Lords and Vassals • Power belonged to those who controlled the land. • The land owner is considered a Lord. • A Lord wanted vassals. A vassal is some one who pledges loyalty to the Lord. • These people were typically knights. • They would fight for the lord if needed. • They would follow the lord’s laws. • In return they would be given land called a fief. • This would have a special ceremony. One man’s vassal could be another man’s lord. • This was called an Oath of Fealty.

5. Manor System • A lord would rule over one or more manors. A manor is a large estate that would include farmland, a village, and the resources to be self-sufficient. • This is where the lord would get most of his wealth. • Each manor would have a Church and mill. • Almost everyone went to church. • Peasants used the mill to be able to make their grain into bread, the lord could keep as much of the peasant’s grain as they would like.

6. Medieval Manor

7. Peasants and Serfs • Peasants did all the work on the manor. • They would farm the lord’s fields, and a small portion of land for themselves. • In return the peasants and serfs received protection from their lord. • They had to obey the lord’s laws. A kind lord may give them legal rights, most often lords were cruel to their peasants. • A portion of what was grown on that land also needed to be given to the lord. • Peasants were often serfs, this meant that they were owned along with the land. If a new lord took over a manor, the serfs would become his like the land.