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The Feudal System
Feudalism
800 – 1000 A.D. was a period of intense invasions that disrupted life in Europe and
completely destroyed the former great Carolingian Empire of the Franks.
Mutual Obligation of the Feudal System
•
Land-lord (noble) owns a Manor
(huge estate of land).
•
He gives a grant of land (fief) to
someone who promises in
exchange to provide military
protection to the lord and his
family, work the lord’s lands, and
serve in other ways.
•
A vasssal – a person who receives
land from a lord
•
This could create complicated
alliances as the same noble might
be a vassal himself to several
different lords.
King MacLeod’s kingdom
Lord Roland’s Manor
Sir Alfred
Sir Oscar
Sir Guy’s
Manor
Feudal System
Those who fought
Those who prayed
Those who worked
Those who fought : nobles, knights, and kings
Those who prayed : the Church’s Clergy (priests, bishops, monks)
Those who worked : Peasants (serfs)
Social class was usually inherited.
Kings and Lords
• In the Early Middle Ages and well into
the High Middle Ages there was little
difference between a king and a lord
• The king was only as powerful as the
lords who protected him
• In this period some lords would
become more rich and powerful than
the king they served
• This could often result in civil war as a
powerful lord could overthrow the king
and become the new king
• In the Early Middle Ages these men
would take land often by force and
would be rich enough to build castles –
stone fortresses from which they could
subjugate the land around them
Knights
• First emerged as a distinct warrior class
in the 10th century
• The first knights were little more than
mercenary thugs offering their services
to local warlords
• Knights would became vassals of those
warlords who would build castles and
subjugate the surrounding countryside
• Very expensive to be a knight as they
had to buy their own armour, weapons,
and horses
• Most knights would live on a section of
their Lord’s land and have their own
peasants/serfs who would work the
land
• Most knights would also inherit their
land and title
Code of Chivalry
• Medieval society would try and
control the violence and
plundering of the knights by
developing a code of chivalry
• This established a standard for
acceptable knightly behaviour
which redefined knights as
protectors of the weak and poor
and to serve their 3 masters:
– Their Lord God
– Their Feudal Lord
– Their Lady
• This idealized view of
knighthood took root in the
High Middle ages but did not
begin to blossom until the Late
Middle Ages
Training and Education
• At age 7 a boy would begin training
and would live with the local lord–
would be called a page
• At age 14 the page would become a
squire and would act as a servant to
an older knight – would fight in
battles and protect the knight
• At 21 a squire was considered fully
trained – some would remain a
squire, others would be knighted at
a special ceremony where he would
receive his sword and and golden
spurs
• Knights would constantly train
• Tournaments were mock battles
were knights could showcase their
skills
Serfs and Peasants
• Serfs – (peasants / workers) who
were bound to the land of a
noble (landlord)
• Manor – the lord’s estate;
includes all land and houses
• In exchange for housing, land to
grow their food, and protection:
– Serfs had to perform work to
maintain the lord’s manor
lands and to pay several
different kinds of taxes.
– Serfs rarely left the manor
because the manor was selfsufficient – producing almost
everything one needed for
daily life.
Taxes, Taxes!
Serfs not only paid several
different taxes to their lord
and king, there was also the
Church tax, tithe, which was
10% of their income.
Medieval Village
The Feudal System
• The Serfs accepted their economic
hardships because they were taught
by the Church and believed that God
“determined” a person’s social
position before they were born.
• To leave the community in which
they were born would be questioning
God’s wisdom.
• It was a sin to question the Church