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Feudalism
World History/Napp
“Under feudalism, the king owned all the land. But he needed loyal nobles to serve him.
He needed nobles to provide armies. The king gained loyalty by giving nobles land. The
nobles could then give land to other people and ask for their loyalty. Since warfare
increased in the early Middle Ages, armies were essential.
The kings and nobles who gave land were called lords. The nobles who received land
were called vassals. Vassals promised loyalty to their lords. They promised to serve their
lords and help them in battle. This system of exchanging land for military service was
called feudalism. It existed in Western Europe during the Middle Ages.
The Middle Ages began with the fall of Rome and lasted for approximately 1,000 years. It
is important to remember that a central government did not exist in Western Europe after
the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It is also important to remember that warfare
between the many kingdoms of Western Europe was frequent and that in a time of war,
armies are important.
The lord gave his vassal a fief. A fief was a piece of land, and the peasants farmed on it.
To protect his fief, each vassal needed his own soldiers.
About ninety percent of the people who lived during the Middle Ages were peasants. A
few peasants were free, but most peasants were serfs. Serfs were not free, but they were
not slaves either. No one could buy or sell them. But they had to stay on the manor on
which they had been born.
Serfs worked on the manor farms from early in the morning until late at night. They did
the farm work, cut wood, and built fences. Female serfs worked in the fields, cooked, made
clothing, and cared for the house. About 60 percent of what each serf raised went to the
lord of the manor and to the church. Life was difficult for serfs. After meeting their
responsibilities, little remained for themselves and their families. However, lords protected
serfs during a time of warfare.” ~ World History
Questions:
1- Why did the king give land to his nobles in the Middle Ages?
2- Define lord and vassal.
3- Define feudalism and fief.
4- Why were serfs not free but also not slaves?
5- Describe the hard life of a serf.
6- What did lords provide serfs?
7- Why did feudalism develop after the fall of the Western Roman Empire?
The Manor
- The manor was all of the lord’s land or the
lord’s estate
A Harsh Life
- For the privilege of living on the lord’s
land, peasants paid a high price
- During the Middle Ages, the manor system
was the basic economic arrangement
- They paid a tax on all grain ground in the
lord’s mill
- The manor system rested on a set of rights
and obligations between a lord and his serfs
- Peasants also paid a tax on marriage
- The lord provided the serfs with housing,
farmland, and protection from bandits
- In return, serfs tended the lord’s lands,
cared for his animals, and performed other
tasks for the estate
- A manor typically consisted of the lord’s
manor house, a church, and workshops
- Fields, pastures, and woodlands
surrounded the village
- The manor was largely a self-sufficient
community in that the serfs and peasants
raised or produced nearly everything that
they and their lord needed for daily life
- Weddings could take place only with the
lord’s consent.
- After all these payments to the lord,
peasant families owed the village priest a
tithe, or church tax
- A tithe represented one-tenth of their
income
- Serfs lived in crowded cottages; the
cottages had only one or two rooms
- Peasants warmed their dirt-floor houses by
bringing pigs inside
- At night, the family huddled on a pile of
straw that often crawled with insects
- Peasants’ simple diet consisted mainly of
vegetables, coarse brown bread, grain,
cheese, and soup
Questions:
- What was a medieval manor?
- Why was the manor self-sufficient?
- Describe the role of the lord and the role of the serf on the manor?
- Why did peasants pay so many taxes?
- Describe the living conditions of peasants.
- Describe the diet of peasants.
- Would you have wanted to be a peasant in the medieval period? Explain your answer.
“The Vikings set sail from Scandinavia, a wintry, wooded region in Northern Europe. (The
region is now the countries of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.) The Vikings, also called
Northmen or Norsemen, were a Germanic people.
The Vikings carried out their raids with terrifying speed. Clutching swords and heavy
wooden shields, these helmeted seafarers beached their ships, struck quickly, and then
moved out to sea again. They were gone before locals could mount a defense. Viking
warships were awe-inspiring. The largest of these long ships held 300 warriors, who took
turns rowing the ship’s 72 oars. The prow of each ship swept grandly upward, often ending
with the carved head of a sea monster. Rowing up shallow creeks, the Vikings looted inland
villages and monasteries.
The Vikings were not only warriors but also traders, farmers, and explorers. They
ventured far beyond Western Europe. A Viking explorer named Leif Ericson reached
North America around 1000, almost 500 years before Columbus. About the same time, the
Viking reign of terror in Europe faded away. As Vikings gradually accepted Christianity,
they stopped raiding monasteries.
The word feudalism comes from
the Latin word feudum, meaning
fief.
- Why was feudalism a system
dependent on land?
“For most serfs, both men and women, life was work and more work. Their days revolved
around raising crops and livestock and taking care of home and family. As soon as children
were old enough, they were put to work in the fields or in the home. Many children did not
survive to adulthood. Illness and malnutrition were constant afflictions for medieval
peasants. Average life expectancy was about 35 years. And during that short lifetime, most
peasants never traveled more than 25 miles from their homes.” ~ World History
Questions:
- Compare your life with the life of a medieval serf.
- How does a manor differ from the City of White Plains?
- What were the advantages of manor life?
- What were the disadvantages of manor life?