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Medieval Britain
 Time span between the collapse of the Roman Empire
and the Renaissance is called the Middle Ages.
 The Middle Ages was a period of enormous historical,
social, and linguistic change, despite the continuity of
the Roman Catholic Church.
 The Anglo-Saxon invaders, who began their conquest
of southeastern Britain around 450, transcribed and
transliterated works into Old English.
Medieval Britain
 Linguistic and cultural changes in Britain were
accelerated by the time of the Norman Conquest in
1066, when words from French began to enter the
English vocabulary.
 Over the course of the Middle Ages, three mutually
dependent estates developed.
 Christian society was comprised of those who pray
(the clergy), those who fight (the nobility), and those
who work (the laborers).
Medieval Britain
 The clergy see to it that the souls of all may be saved;
 Laborers see to it that the bodies of all may be fed and
clothed;
 The nobility see to it that the other two estates may
carry out their functions in peace and with justice.
 Although the three estates were supposed to work
together for the common good, their actual history is
one of constant friction and conflict.
Medieval Britain
 Mutual hatred of the lower and higher estates.
 Britain was largely Christian during the Roman
occupation.
 After the collapse of the Roman Empire, peoples
belonging primarily to three Germanic tribes invaded
Britain: the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes.
 Christian missionaries were sent from Kent in
southern England and from Ireland to consolidate
religious control of Britain
Medieval Britain
 The conversion of the people was completed in 731.
 Before the Christian conversion, there had been no
books.
 Anglo-Saxon heroic poetry was part of an oral
tradition.
 The Normans, an Anglo-Saxon tribe of Germanic
ancestry whose name is a contraction of "Norsemen,"
conquered England in the Battle of Hastings.
 They adopted the French language and Christian
religion of the land.
Medieval Britain
 Linguistic and cultural exchange characterized the
period of a French-speaking ruling class in England.
 Latin remained the "international" language of
learning, theology, science, and history.
The Feudal System
 Definitions of the term "Feudalism"
 The system of government based on the tenure of land.
 The system of land tenure and of government in which
the landholders are the governors.
 The term "tenure" means the right of the person to
hold the property.
 This is not necessarily the ownership of the land. The
person is allowed to live on the land in return for
services.
The Feudal System
 The structure of the feudal system was like a
pyramid, where the king was at the top and the
common people of the country were at the base.
 In between the two were different kinds of lords whose
position was defined by their social class.
 There were the powerful barons near the top and the
tenants-in-chief nearer the bottom.
The Feudal System
 Each person in the pyramid was a vassal of the person
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above.
This meant that they swore loyalty to the person above
them in return for the right to live on the land and
have protection in times of crisis.
A form of the feudal system existed in Anglo-Saxon
times even before the Norman Conquest.
Each area of land was administered by the earl who
ensured laws were enforced.
The earl was given the full right to govern as he saw fit.
The Feudal System
Norman Feudalism
 When William the Conqueror became King of
England in 1066 he introduced a new kind of feudal
system into Britain.
 William confiscated the land in England from the
Saxon lords and allocated it to members of his own
family and the Norman lords who had helped him
conquer the country.
 These people were known as tenants-in-chief.
The Feudal System
Norman Feudalism
 Unlike the older Anglo-Saxon form of feudalism these
people did not own the land because the ownership
remained with William the Conqueror himself.
 The land allocated to a tenants-in-chief was known as
a manor and tended to be dispersed across the
country rather than being one big area.
 The tenant-in-chief had to provide for himself and his
family and to support a number of knights.
The Feudal System
Norman Feudalism
 To do this the lord sub-let his land to other lords lower
on the social ladder.
 At the bottom the common people worked on the land
growing crops and raising animals.
 The tenants-in-chief did not get the land for free, they
rented it from the king in exchange for services.
 If the services were not provided the tenant-in-chief
would be removed, by force if necessary.
The Feudal System
Norman Feudalism
 This was an important change to the older AngloSaxon form of feudalism as it meant William could
keep control of his land as bad tenants could be
removed.
 The most important service a tenant-in-chief had to
supply was a number of knights.
 The king would request the knights in time of conflict
or war. They could also be used for defending the
king's many castles.
The Feudal System
Norman Feudalism
 The tenants-in-chief would have passed the request for
knights on to their tenants and so on down the feudal
structure.
 Knights could be requested to serve the king for up to
forty days at a time.
 Religious houses were granted land in return for
saying prayers for the lord's family members, caring for
the sick and other general charitable functions.
The Feudal System
Chivalry
 Chivalry defined the way in which a knight was
supposed to behave.
 The knight was to show loyalty, morality and
generosity.
 The knight should always support his king or lord and
be prepared to put his life on the line to protect him.
 The knight should always do the right thing and
should be prepared to provide his time and energies
for free.
The Feudal System
Chivalry
 Chivalry is possibly best known for the courtly love
between the knight and his lady.
 Chivalry became so engrained in society that all the
sons of the nobles either became members of the
orders of knights or became members of the Church.
 Boys at the age of seven were sent by their family to the
home of a wealthy noble were the training would
begin.
The Feudal System
Chivalry
 At the age of fourteen or fifteen the boy would become
a squire, looking after the lord's armor and horses and
possibly accompanying the lord into battle.
 At the age of twenty-one he would then become a
knight.
 In a ceremony he would swear an oath of loyalty and
bravery and to defend God, the church and ladies.
 Kneeling before his lord, the lord would place his
sword on his shoulder and declare him a knight.
Religious Life
Importance of Religion
 Religion was important for people in medieval times
and was part of the daily for many of them.
 Each village had a church and many monasteries were
built all across Europe.
 Kings, Queen and nobles of the time gave donations to
the Church in exchange for blessings and for
forgiveness for their wrong-doings.
 The Church looked after the poor and the sick were
taken care of in monasteries.
Religious Life
Importance of Religion
 Without books and the ability to read, preachers were
the only source of information about God and the
scriptures.
 It was common for people to choose to dedicate their
lives to the Church.
 Saint Benedict (A.D. 500 ? A.D. 550), an Italian monk,
devised a series of rules that had to be followed by his
monks.
Religious Life
 These rules became known as the Benedictine Order.
 The monks had to obey three vows:
 poverty
 chastity
 obedience
 This protected them from the deceits of the World, the
lust of the flesh and the snares of the devil.
Religious Life
 Saint Augustine introduced Christianity into southern
England in 597 and he introduced the Benedictine
Order to the country.
 Augustine converted the Pagan king Ethelbert to
Christianity.
 Ethelbert gave Augustine an ancient building in
Canterbury which had been a church belonging to
earlier British Christians.
 Augustine restored and rebuilt sections of the church
and it became the centre of Christianity in Britain.
Religious Life
Pilgrimage
 Medieval people used pilgrimages to confirm their
faith in their religion.
 The most important pilgrimages for Christians were to
visit Jerusalem and Rome.
 Pilgrimage to shrines in England were also important,
such as Canterbury.
Religious Life
Pilgrimage
 Miracles were reported to occur at the shrines of
saints.
 The sick were supposed to have been cured or the
blind made to see again.
 Having a shrine or relic was very important for a
church because pilgrims would come and spend their
money in and around the church and leave donations.