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Regional States
• Germanic invaders
toppled Rome’s authority
in the late 5th Century
A.D. but no clear
successor to centralized
authority emerged
– The Franks
temporarily revived
empire; the high point
of which was the reign
of Charlemagne from
768-814
Charlemagne
Regional States
• After Charlemagne, his
successor Carolingians had no
effective means of defending
against Magyars, Muslims,
Vikings, and other invaders
• In response, European nobles
sought to protect their lands
and maintain order in their own
territories
• Political authority in early
medieval Europe thus
devolved into competing local
and regional jurisdictions with
a decentralized political order
– “Feudalism”
Viking long ship
“Feudalism”
• There really was no “feudal system” if that implies a neat
hierarchy of lords and vassals who collectively took
charge of political and military affairs
• Because the feudal hierarchy arose as a makeshift for
defense against invaders, it always had a provisional, ad
hoc, and flexible character
– There was no “system”
• However, medieval European society was characterized
by:
– Fragmentation of political power
– Public power in private hands
– Armed forces secured through private contracts
Medieval Society
Early Middle Ages (450-1050)
• The country was not governed by the king but by
individual lords who administered their own
estates, dispensed their own justice, minted their
own money, levied taxes and tolls, and
demanded military service from vassals
• Usually the lords could field greater armies than
the king
– In theory the king was the chief feudal lord, but in
reality the individual lords were supreme in their own
territory
• Many kings were little more than figurehead rulers
Retainees
• The nobles maintained their armies by
offering grants, usually land, to armed
retainees
• In exchange for the grants, the retainees
pledged their loyalty and military service to
their lords
– The retainees gained increased rights over
their land, to include the prerogative to pass
on their rights to the heirs
Political-Military Relationship
• A close relationship between political and
military authorities developed
– As a result, political authorities and military specialists
merged into a hereditary noble class which lived off
the surplus agricultural production that it extracted
from the cultivators
– Only by tapping into this surplus could the lords and
their retainees secure the material resources
necessary to maintain their control over military,
political, and legal affairs
Serfs
• Free peasants sought
protection from a lord and
pledged their labor and
obedience in exchange for
security and land to cultivate
• Beginning in the mid 17th
Century, this category
became recognized as serfs–
neither fully slave nor fully
free
– Not chattel slaves subject to
sale by their master
– But still owed obligations to the
lords whose lands they
cultivated
Serfs’ Obligations
• Had the right to work certain lands and to pass
those lands on to their heirs
• In exchange they had to perform labor services
and pay rents in kind (a portion of the harvest,
chickens, eggs, etc)
• Male serfs typically worked three days a week
for their lords with extra services during planting
and harvesting times
• Women serfs churned butter, spun thread, and
sewed clothes for their lords and their families
Serfs’ Obligations
• Since the lord
provided the land, the
serfs had little
opportunity to move
and had to get the
lord’s permission to
do so
– Even had to pay fees
to marry someone who
worked for a different
lord
Manors
• Manors were large estates
consisting of fields, meadows,
forests, agricultural tools,
domestic animals, and serfs
• The lord of the manor and his
deputies provided government,
administration, police services,
and justice for the manor
• Many lords had the authority to
execute serfs for serious
misconduct
• In the absence of thriving cities
in rural areas, manors became
largely self-sufficient
communities
Transition to the High Middle Ages
(1050 to 1400)
• The regional stability of the early middle ages allowed
local rulers to organize powerful regional states
– Holy Roman Empire
– Capetian France
– Norman England
– Papal States
• The kings of England and France used their
relationships with retainees to build powerful, centralized
monarchies
– Still no one could consolidate all of Europe under a
single empire
Three Estates of Medieval Society
• Those who pray
– The clergy of the
Roman Catholic
Church
• Those who fight
– Nobles
• Those who work
– Peasants
• The result was a
society marked by
political, social, and
economic inequality
Chivalry
• Church officials
originally proposed a
chivalric code to curb
fighting within
Christendom
• By the 12th Century,
the ritual by which a
young man became
a knight commonly
included the
candidate placing his
sword upon an altar
and pledging his
service to God
Chivalry
• With chivalry, warriors were
encouraged to adopt higher
ethical standards and refined
manners and become cultivated
leaders of society
• The chivalric code called for a
noble to devote himself to the
causes of order, piety, and the
Christian faith rather than
seeking wealth and power
How was order maintained in the
Early Middle Ages?
How was order maintained in the
Early Middle Ages?
• In the absence of a strong centralized
authority, local political and military elites
worked out various ad hoc ways to
organize and protect their territories
– Lords and retainees
– Manors
– Serfs
How was order maintained in the
High Middle Ages?
How was order maintained in the
High Middle Ages?
• The regional stability of the Early Middle
Ages allowed powerful regional states to
be built, but there was still no single
European Empire
• The code of chivalry helped provide some
order and protection for those who
otherwise would be most vulnerable to
unchecked power