Medieval Society

Who’s in charge?• In 1066, William the

Conqueror set sail and crossed 50 miles from Normandy to the coast of England.

• William defeated Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings and became the King of England.

William’s fabulous feudal system!

A land ownership system that helped the King

manage the land and the people.

How?The king owned all the land. He retained about 20% of

this land for his own use.

The King granted the rest of this land to the church and members of the peerage.

The King granted about 55% of his land to important nobles. He would only grant land

to those men he could trust.

These Lords and Barons were usually the King’s friends and relatives.

These estates known as the fief included houses, barns, tools, animals, and serfs or

peasants.

• A fief granted to a Baron was called a manor. The Baron was known as the Lord of the Manor and had complete control of this land.

•Barons established their own system of justice, minted their own money and set their own taxes.

•In return for the land they had been given by the King, the Barons had to serve on the royal council, pay rent and provide the King with Knights for military service when he demanded it.

•They also had to provide lodging and food for the King and his court when they travelled around the country.

•The Barons kept as much of their land as they wished for their own use, then granted the rest to their under-tenants

•Barons were very rich

The knights who provided military services to the Lords and Barons were also given land in return for their services

Other Knights were provided with food and shelter and paid in return for their military services.

Knights generally had to provide 40 -60 days service each year. If there was no war, they did 40 days of training at the Lord’s castle.

The King granted his remaining land (about 25%) to the church.

The Bishops had the same obligations of loyalty and service to the King.

They had the same control over their land and they were also quite rich and powerful.

Powerless peasants• Approximately 90% of the

population were peasants.• Freemen peasants were

usually in trade, they paid rent to the Lord but had more legal rights and less duties to the Lord.

• Villeins were given small parcels of land which they worked for the lord. They couldn’t sell the land or leave the manor

• Serfs did not own any land and worked for the Lord.

In Summary…Medieval Society was organized in a feudal tree or pyramid system.

• Everyone who owed a service to a person higher up on the feudal pyramid was a vassal.

• They either farmed or fought for that person above them. In return for their service they were given either protection or land.