Feudalism and Manor Life
The Feudal SystemThe Manor Knights William the ConquerorEleanor of Aquitaine
Review
17-3
Objectives
• What was a knight?
• Why did vassals serve lords?
• In what ways did knights and lords each benefit from feudalism?
• How did William the Conqueror help spread feudalism? From what country did he come? What country did he take over?
• What was a typical manor like?
• How did most serfs live under the manor system?
• What led to the growth of Europe’s population in the Middle ages?
• Why did many peasants leave their farms and move to cities?
• What was chivalry?
William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066.
Vassals were people that swore an oath in return for land – everyone under the king was a vassal.
Knights were warriors that fought on horseback.
Serfs were the poor farmers on the bottom.
Feudalism was where people above promised land to people below, and people below promised to fight for those above.
I swear allegiance to the royal family
of Williams.
A fief was a piece of land given for a promise of military service.
Terms and People
• A Manor was a self-reliant medieval community.
• Eleanor of Aquitaine ruled southwest France as a vassal of the king.
The Feudal System
In the Middle Ages, the type of government was called the Feudal System
Under this system, the king owned everything.
King
The king owned • the land, • The lumber on the land • Firewood • The deer and other game animals • The fish in the brooks • Towns • The buildings • the people • Their tools, clothes…. EVERYTHING
Obviously, the king couldn’t manage it all by himself.
The king would let people use land in exchange for military support.
King
Barons I promise!I promise!
Knights
I promise!I promise! I promise!I promise!serfs
We’re the serfs. We work the land.
In return, we get protection when
bad soldiers come.
I’m a lord. If you promise to fight
for me, I'll give you some land!
I’m a lord. If you promise to fight for me, I'll give you some
land!
I’m the king. I own everything. If you
promise to support me with military, I'll give you
some land.
The one giving the land was referred to as the lord. The one receiving the land was called the vassal.
Those in the middle would be both a lord and a vassal.
The Manor
Feudalism was the political power structure and the theory behind it. The Manor System was a self-sufficient community where lords and serfs live together. They had only limited trade.
The manor included • A manor house• A church and graveyard• A mill• A blacksmith • A forest • Common hay field • The Manor’s fields or wheat, barley, and fallow• The
A manor was a community during the Middle Ages.
The king’s vassal lived in the manor house.
His serfs lived in the village.
The Lord of the Manor had legal and economic power over his tenants.
The serf typically could cut a certain amount of hay from the common, could hook and crook firewood, could take a limited amount of lumber. His holding included house and a strip.
A serf’s family may have lived in a home such as these.
Animals typically lived in the same house as the humans. So did rats.
A serf life was filled with hard labor. They were plagued with vermin – lice, fleas, and worms.
Miss Roe. “The Manor System.” YouTube. https://youtu.be/NB-XHEa3aIY (2:38). Text only, but good.
MrZoller. “Manorialism.” YouTube. https://youtu.be/BncxSWIBxAE (7:26).
Knights
The stirrup was invented about 1000 AD.
The stirrup allowed the rider to stand up, allowing impact warfare.
After the stirrup, the spear was replaced with the lance. The lance was tucked under the arm. It was an impact weapon, used to knock down.
Before the invention of the stirrup, the main weapon was the spear. It was raised over the head and thrown or jabbed from a chest-high position. It was a stabbing weapon.
MrFord4210 . “Medieval Jousting - Hever Castle - The Knights of Royal England.” YouTube. https://youtu.be/cosWi0n6kgk (3:49).
Plate armor was not the norm; mail with a helmet was more common.
A suit of mail Plate armor
Early knights were much like the Vikings, earning wealth and glory by looting neighboring cities, often killing masses of people and burning their towns.
Innocents were killed and nation was destroyed for booty.
Chivalry was the church's attempt to civilize a barbaric warrior class.
The church began by publishing rules to reform knights. These were the forerunners of modern rules of warfare like the Geneva Convention.
In 989 AD, the Church published “The Peace and Truth of God”, which forbade knights from injuring noncombatants.
In 1027 AD, it published “The Truce of God”, which prohibited fighting on the Sabbath, Holy Days, or in the winter, when life was hard anyway.
These rules were written in Latin. Later, writing in the knights’ own languages, poets working for the church like Crétian de Toyes began publishing tales in which knight followed a code of Chivalry. Most famous of these were the tales of King Arthur and his knights.
In 1276, Raymond Lull published that a knight’s duty was to:
(1) his faith, (2) his lord, and (3) to women, children, widow and orphans.
Alternate: https://youtu.be/I8MkxKl9YZc
Getty Museum. “Chivalry in the Middle Ages.” YouTube. https://youtu.be/T7j0V1AHvBU (2:38).
In the Middle Ages, knighthood was one of two ways out of serfdom and poverty; the other was to join the church.
Social MobilityIn the early Middle Ages, any peasant rich enough to buy a horse and a sword could ride off to war and be a knight. Also, in the early Middle Ages, knights could become nobles.
Buying and maintaining a horse was very expensive. As time went on, a knight was also expected to feed, clothe, equip and train a squire.
Later, there were more rules about knighthood. Lords placed less emphasis on fighting ability and more on bloodlines, family crest, etc. The division between knight and lord became wider.
Further Information:
Ryan Reeves. “Knights and Chivalry.” YouTube. https://youtu.be/Z_ypna0s2II (29:22).
Middle Ages History. “Medieval Lives – Episode 5: The Knight (History Documentary.” YouTube. https://youtu.be/-cm_KGmKj1o (28:42)
Roger Collins. “Medieval Weapons and combat – the Lance.” YouTube. https://youtu.be/98hRtOJqOYE (45:58).
William the Conqueror
In 1066, William the Conqueror invaded England from France.
He introduced the idea of feudalism to England.
In feudalism, all land belonged to the king.
The king allowed those loyal to him to use some of the land. These loyal people were called vassals.
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in western Europe during the High Middle Ages.
While she was still a child, she became Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right. Later, she married King Louis VII of France and became queen.
Later, she married Henry, son of William the Conqueror. When William died, her husband became King Henry II of England.
She supported her son's revolt against her husband, and her husband had her imprisoned. She was not released until their son became Richard I, sixteen years later.
When Richard I ran off on a crusade, his brother John became king – thus, Eleanor had two sons become king.
These are the two kings popularized in the stories of Robin Hood.
Eleanor of Aquitaine was also the 19x great-grandmother of George Washington
Review
What social and political system is illustrated here?
King
Barons
Knights
serfs
A Capitalism
B Persian Monarchy
C Socialism
D Catholicism
E Feudalism
Under the theory of the feudal system, who owned the land?
The citizens The nobility
God The King
What self-sufficient community arose in the Middle Ages?
Vassal The Feudal System
Serfdom The Manor
What was a knight?
Knights were warriors that fought on horseback.
Knights were warriors that were armored.
Knights were warriors who were directly related to
their lord.
Knights were warriors trained in
monasteries.
What invention allowed knights to stand up in the saddle ?
Plate armor The Lance
The Stirrup The bridle
In the feudal system, what did a lord expect in return for land?
Money A share of the crop
Military service His daughter's hand in marriage
What was the most common type of armor worn by Medieval Knights?
Plate armor Ring mail
Scale armor Leather armor
What became the main weapon of the knight after the invention of the stirrup?
The broadsword The lance
The spear The rapier
In the feudal system, what term is used to describe the person that gave the land?
The lord The vassal
The knight The serf
In the feudal system, what term is used to describe the person that received the land?
The lord The vassal
The villain The serf
When a lord gave a vassal some land, what was that piece of land called?
A fief Chivalry
A vassal A serf
What concept was the church's attempt to civilize a barbaric warrior class?
Feudalism Chivalry
Vassal Serf
Who were the serfs?
People employed by the church Knights working for a lord
One that received land for military service
Landless farmers at the bottom of the social scale
What You Will Learn…
Main Ideas 1. Feudalism governed how nobles, knights,
and serfs dealt with each other. 2. Feudalism spread through most of Europe.
3. The manor system dominated Europe’s economy.
4. When towns and trade grew, that helped end the feudal system.
The Big IdeaA complex web of duties and obligations
governed relationships between people in the Middle Ages.
4.3.5 Western Europe to 1500 – Explain the workings of feudalism, manoralism, and the growth of centralized monarchies and city-states in Europe
17-3 Feudalism and the Manor Life
Eleanor of Aquitaine ruled southwest France as a vassal of the king. Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the Wealthiest and most powerful women in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. Why did vassals serve lords? In what ways did knights and lords each benefit from feudalism? What was a typical manor like? How did most serfs live under the manor system? What led to the growth of Europe’s population in the Middle Ages? Why did many peasants leave their farms and move to cities? Serfs were the poor farmers on the bottom.in 1066, William the Conqueror invaded England from France.
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