Download Feudalism

Feudalism
Charlemagne
& the Carolingian Empire
• Charlemagne ruled for 28 years… from 786
– 814 A.D.
• He not only ruled this Frankish (mostly
France) Kingdom… he also expanded it!
• By 800 A.D. Charlemagne had become the
Roman Emperor (remember… bringing those
3 elements together!)
• In 841 A.D. Charlemagne died and the
Carolingian Empire fell apart!
Why did it fall apart?
Grandson #1 (Western Frankish Lands) Charlemagne
Grandson #2 (Middle Frankish Lands)Grandson #3 (East Frankish Lands)
• Divisions among his grandsons…
• Local #’s gained power…
• & Invasions broke apart the rest.
-
Invasions
• Muslims – Southern Europe and France
• Magyars (W. Asia) – Central/Western
Europe, Hungary
• Vikings (Norsemen of Scandinavia,
Germanic, LOVE adventure, war, trade) –
most far reaching attacks of the time
Vikings
• The Vikings were warriors! They sacked
Villages and Towns… destroyed Churches…
and defeated small local armies easily!
• The Vikings became part of European
Civilization… starting in 911 AD Frankish
rulers gave a group of Vikings land in France
(Normandy). They then converted them to
Christianity.
• Their ships were long and skinny… allowing
them to use rivers to move far inland!
Feudalism
• Because of the Vikings causing problems
AND because of the big Empires
(Carolingian) falling apart, FEUDALISM was
used to keep control under one central
government.
• In order to survive… Feudalism is born!
Warrior
Leader
• Feudalism is circular…
Warriors swear an oath of
loyalty to a leader and fight
for them. Leaders in turn
take care of the warriors
needs.
• During the Middle Ages,
Land = Wealth… is the
greatest gift a Lord could
give their Vassal was land!
A grant of land is called a
FIEF.
• Knights had great social
prestige as the armored
cavalry that dominated
warfare in Europe for
almost 500 years.
Hi! I’m
Feudalism!
Draw me on
the back of
your note
sheet!
Kings
Land
$, Loyalty,
Support
Lords
$, Loyalty,
Support
Land
Knights
$, Loyalty,
Labor
Protection
Serfs
KING
LORDS
(King’s Vassals)
The Lords Vassals
You keep all of this
strait with a Feudal
Contract! That is a
set of unwritten laws
that determined the
relationship between
the Lords and his
Vassal.
Knights
Just to Clarify:
This can get
CONFUSING!!!
Vassals were NOT
slaves, Kings, Lords,
Vassals, and Knights
were free men who
traded services
Nobility
• Nobles LOVED war in the Middle Ages! Their
main concern was warfare!
• Kings, Dukes, Counts, Barons, Bishops, and
Archbishops all held considerable power!
Chivalry
• Chivalry is a code of ethics and an ideal of
civic behavior that knights were supposed to
uphold.
• EXAMPLES from the Code:
– Defend the Church
– Defend defenseless people
– Treat captives as honored guests
– Fight ONLY for glory
• Always followed?........................ NO!
Women of Aristocracy
• They could own land (but usually didn’t)…
managed the estate (house)… ,took care of
financial accounts… and kept up with
supplies.
• The Expectation of Women: Women should
be subservient to their husbands.
• The Reality of Women: Many women were
strong and dominated their husbands!