Download Raiders, Traders and Crusaders: Feudalism, Manorialism, and

1/23/2012
Vikings: Raiders, Traders, Explorers
Raiders, Traders
and Crusaders:
Feudalism,
Manorialism,
and Chivalry
• Germanic people from
Scandinavia – called Northmen or
Norsemen
• Worshiped warlike gods
• Raided with terrifying speed –
beached their ships, struck, and
quickly shoved out to sea
• Ships held, at most, 300 warriors
– could sail in 3 feet of water, up
shallow creeks to loot inland
villages and monasteries
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Guiding Questions
1.What are the characteristics and contributing
factors to the development of the sociopolitical system of feudalism and the
economic system of manoralism?
2.How does the literature of chivalry transcend
the culture in which it was created and convey
universal themes?
3.How does the role of women change during
this time period?
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Invasions Trouble Western Europe
Vikings: Raiders, Traders, Explorers
• Age of Invasions: 700 to 1000
• Muslims from the south seize Sicily, raid Italy,
and sack Rome
• Magyar invaders struck from the east
• Vikings, the most dreaded, sailed from the
north
• Remember  Charlemagne could not repel
further Viking and Magyar invasions
• Also traders, farmers,
and explorers
• Journeyed down rivers
into Russia and
Constantinople
• Leif Ericson – explorer
who mostly likely
reached North
America (AD 1000),
almost 500 years
before Columbus
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Vikings: Raiders, Traders, Explorers
• Vikings gradually converted
to Christianity and stopped
raiding monasteries
• The climate also changed
(warmed), allowing lands in
Scandinavia to be more
easily farmed
Vikings: The Raiders
Socio-political Effects of Invasion
• Invasions from
Vikings, Magyars, and
Muslims caused
disorder and suffering
throughout Europe
• Central authority was
proved ineffective
• Many people sought
protection under local
rulers
Restructuring Society
• Charles the Simple granted the
Viking leader Rollo a huge piece
of French territory – Normandy
• Rollo placed his hands between
the king’s hands and swore a
pledge of loyalty
Beginning of Fedualism
Click on the map for an excellent interactive site about Vikings
Magyars and Muslims
• Magyars – nomads who attacked from the
east on horseback
– Did not settle conquered lands
– Captured people to sell as slaves
– Attacked isolated villages and monasteries
• Muslims struck from the south and attacked
the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts
A New Social Order
• Other warriors and
rulers made
agreements similar
to Charles and Rollo
• Feudalism is a
system of governing
and landholding
• Similar system
existed in China
during the Zhou
dynasty or Japan
beginning in the 4th
century
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The emperor
reigned, but did
not always rule!
Social Stratification
• Social classes:
1. those who fought (nobles and knights)
2. those who prayed
3. those who worked
Feudal
Society
• Serfs where peasants who could not
lawfully leave the land on which they
were born – not slaves because they
could not be sold
• Free peasants often have rights to land in
the open-field system (community field,
not the lords field)
Feudal Pyramid
Code of Bushido
* Fidelity
* Politeness
* Virility
* Simplicity
Feudalism in Japan
Shogun
Land - Shoen
Land - Shoen
Protection
Daimyo
Samurai
Peasant
Heian Period:
Cultural Borrowing
Loyalty
1. Chinese writing.
Daimyo
Samurai
Peasant
Peasant
Loyalty
Samurai
Peasant
Food
2.Chinese artistic styles.
3.Buddhism [in the form of
ZEN].
4.BUT, not the Chinese civil
service system! 
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Zen Buddhism
A Japanese
variation of the
Mahayana form
of Buddhism,
which came from
India through
China.
It reinforced the
Bushido values of
mental and
self-discipline.
C
A
S
T
L
E
S
Ashikaga Age:
1338-1573
Osaka Castle
► Shoguns fought for power.
Laws are unclear.
Less efficient than the
Kamakura.
Armies of samurai protected
the country. 
The Age of the Warring States:
(1467 - 1568)
Castles built on hills in different
provinces.
Power shifts from above to
below.
Back to Europe
Europeans arrive in Japan 
bringing firearms & Christianity.
Christianity & foreign trade
flourish.
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Economic Side of Feudalism
• Manor: the lord’s estate
• Manorial system was based on a set of rights
and obligations between lords and serfs
• Lords provided housing, strips of land, and
protection (fief  like field)
• Serfs farmed the land, cared for the animals,
and maintained the estate
Manor: Self-Contained World
Harshness of Manor Life
• Peasants paid a tax on all grain ground in the
lord’s mill – baking bread elsewhere was a
crime
• Peasants also paid a tax for marriage, which
was only allowed with the lord’s consent
• Peasant families owed the village priest a tithe,
or church tax – 1/10th of their income
• Serf’s accepted their reality, believed that God
determined a person’s place in society
Carcassonne: A Medieval Castle
• All peasants owed the lord weekly labor (at
least a few days), as well as a portion of their
grain
• Only a few square miles of land
• Consisted of a lord’s house, church,
workshops, and a village
• About 15 to 30 families lived in the village,
which was surrounded by fields, pastures,
and forests
• Let’s be Inquirers while we analyze the layout
Warriors on Horseback
• Nobles constantly fought one
another
• Kept Europe in a fragmented
state
• Charles Martel,
Charlemagne’s grandfather,
learned the power of cavalry
from observing the Muslims
– Muslim civilization in Spain
were called the Moors
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Warriors on Horseback
• Charles Martel organized armored horsemen
called knights
• Saddles from the Asia and stirrups from India
helped the soldier stand up while riding and
maneuver heavier weapons
• Feudal lords raised their own armies
– Their vassals (knights) fought about 40 days per
year and were paid in fiefs (land)
– While not at war, they wrestled, hunted, and
trained for battle
Education of Knight
1. Page
– Age 7 went off to another lord’s
castle
– Learned courtly manners
– Played chess for strategy and sword
fighting for skills
• Troubadours: poet-musicians of the castle
- Wrote short verses about the joys and sorrows of
romantic love
How do these themes relate to today’s music?
Read The Art of Courtly Love and answer the
guided reading questions on the next slide.
Guided Reading
• What does the writer claim love will do to a
man? How might this be?
• Why do you think the promotion of
monogamous relationships was important? Is
it still important today?
2. Squire
– Age 14, became a servant to a knight
(armor, weapons, horse)
3. Knight
– Age 21, became full-fledged knight
Literature of Chivalry
• Themes downplayed
the brutality of feudal
knighthood, praised
castle life, and spoke
a knight’s undying
love for a lady
• Lords and ladies
enjoyed epic poems:
battle stories and
stories about legends
like King Arthur
Shifting Role of Women
• Church viewed women as
inferior to men
• Romantic love put women on a
pedestal
• Women are confined to the
home or convent
• For centuries, women were
mostly powerless
• Role was to take care of the
home, bear children, and
perform endless labor
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Women in Power
• Noblewomen could inherit an estate from her
husband
– Lords often passed land down to their sons, not daughters
– Could not receive land for fighting, like a knight
• With her lord’s permission, she could send knights to
battle and mobilize cavalry
– Some dressed in armor and rode warhorses
– Defended castle alongside soldiers
• Status declined as Middle Ages progressed
– Church reclaimed convents and monasteries that
noblewomen had founded
Guiding Questions
3. How does the role of women change during
this time period?
– Romantic love put women on a pedestal
– Noblewomen could inherit an estate from her
husband
– With her lord’s permission, she could send
knights to battle and mobilize cavalry
– Status declined as Middle Ages progressed
Guiding Questions
1.What are the characteristics and contributing
factors to the development of the sociopolitical system of feudalism and the
economic system of manoralism?
a. Nobles are granted the use of lands that belong
to the king in exchange for loyalty, military
service, and protection of the people who live on
the lands
b. Countries become administered by warrior
families in exchange for land and titles
Guiding Questions
2. How does the literature of chivalry transcend
the culture in which it was created and
convey universal themes?
• Multiple answers.
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