Download Chapter 15 Medieval Europe - Ms-Jernigans-SS

Section 2
Feudalism
 Nobles were often given land by kings to fight for them.
 When invaders spread through Europe, peasants looked to
nobles instead of the king for protection.
 During the A.D. 800s this shift of power
from kings to nobles led to a new
social and political order
called feudalism.
 Under the system of feudalism, landowning nobles governed
and protected the people in return for services, such as serving
as a soldier or farming the nobles’ lands.
 Europe divided into thousands of feudal territories with the
noble’s castle, or fortress, at the center.
The Role of Vassals and Knights
 Nobles were both lords and vassals (va*suhl).
 A vassal was a noble who served a lord of a higher rank in
return for land.
 The land granted to a vassal was called a fief (feef ).
 Knights were vassals who
fought in war on horseback.
 They wore coats of armor
called mail and carried
swords and shields.
What Was a Manorial System?
 Fiefs were called manors.
 Lords ruled manors, and peasants farmed the land.
 Some peasants were free, but most were serfs; peasant
laborers bound by law to the lands of a noble.
How Did Farming Improve?
 New technology improved farming in the Middle Ages.
 The wheeled plow, the horse collar, water and wind-powered
mills, and crop rotation helped farmers produce more food.
II. Life in Feudal Europe
(pgs. 526-528)
How Did Nobles Live?
 Knights followed rules called the code of chivalry.
 The code required knights to:
 Be brave
 Obey their lords
 Show respect to women of noble
birth
 Honor and help the church
 Be honest
 Fight fairly with enemies
* A castle was the center of the manor.
 Castles had two parts:
 1) a human-made or naturally steep hill called a motte (maht)
 2) an open space called a bailey next to the motte
 The central building of a castle called a keep, was built on the motte.
 Castles were built to withstand attack and were often built on high ground
and surrounded by moats.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwF8Sc
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What Was Peasant Life Like?
 Peasants lived in simple cottages with walls of plastered clay
and thatched roofs.
 Peasants worked hard in the fields year-round, but did not
work on Catholic feast days (about 50 a year).
 Peasant women had to work in the fields and raise children.
 Bread was the basic staple peasant diet, along with vegetables,
milk, nuts, and fruit.
III. Trade and Cities (pgs. 528-531)
 Increased trade led to the growth of towns and cities.
 Northern European merchants traded with Asian merchants
in trade fairs.
 During the early Middle Ages, people bartered, or traded for
goods with other goods until the demand for gold and silver
increased.
How Were Cities Governed?
 Often, towns were under the control of the lords.
 In exchange for taxes, the lords granted townspeople basic
rights, such as the freedom to buy and sell property and to
serve in the army.
 Eventually, towns set up their own governments, with elected
members of city council.
 Members of wealthy families were usually able to control the
elections.
Crafts and Guilds
 Increased trade and manufacturing led to the organization of
guilds (gihldz), or business groups.
 The rise of towns and guilds created a new middle class in
medieval Europe.
 A child of 10 could become an apprentice.
 An apprentice learned a trade from a master craftsperson and
receive room and
board, but no wages.
 After 5-7 years, an apprentice became a journeyman and
worked for wages.
 To become a master, a journeyman had to produce a
masterpiece, or an outstanding example of the craft.
What Was City Life Like?
 Medieval cities contained crowded, wooden houses on narrow,
winding streets.
 Cities were often dirty, smelly, and polluted.
 Women in cities prepared meals, raised children, managed
their household’s money, and often helped husbands with
their trade.
 Some women developed their
own trades, especially if they
were a widow of a master
craftsmen.