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Aim: why did Feudalism have an impact on societies of the Middle Ages?
Listen and then take notes continuously.
What is Feudalism?
• A political and economic system, characteristic of the European Middle Ages, in which a more powerful lord allows (possibly several) weaker lords, vassals, to use portions of his land for various purposes (E.g.: farming) and in turn expects a payment of some sort.
Feudal HierarchyCan you draw it? What do you think it looked like? Why?
God
MonarchMonarch
Nobles
Commoners / Peasants / Serfs
Feudal Hierarchy King
Duke
Lord
KnightVassal
Vassal
Vassal
God
Why was society
structured like this?
God
King
Duke Duke Duke Lord Lord
Lord Lord Lord Lord Lord Lord Lord Lord Lord Lord
Knight Knight Knight Knight Knight Knight Knight Knight Knight Knight Knight
Knight Knight Knight Knight Knight Knight Knight Knight Knight Knight Knight
Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners Commoners
GodHow did
Feudalism work?
Vocabulary• Monarch: The ruler of a land or state, who claims that
rule through birthright, conquest, and or “divine right.” Normally a dictator.
• Royalty: The ruling family of a land.• King: Title normally taken by the male ruling monarch.• Noble: Usually a small minority of people who
distinguish themselves (normally by birth) from the majority of people, the commoners, and hold positions of privilege within the land. They also normally owe allegiance and homage to more powerful nobles.
• Duke: The most powerful noble title. Often also a royal.• Lord: A generic noble title.• Knight: Normally the lowest noble title. Usually trained
as a highly skilled cavalry soldier.• Vassal: One who owes allegiance and homage to
another.
In text
Vocabulary (cont.)• Commoner: One of common birth. Not a noble.
Majority of the population. Hence common.• Peasant: Another term for a commoner. Later
on in European history came to mean a rural commoner.
• Serf: Someone who lives on a manor and sharecrops for the owner of the land, a noble.
• Divine Right: The right to rule, normally as a monarch, attained from God. That is, having been granted the right to rule from God. Used as a justification for royal dictatorships.
You should have these notes already!
So how did the Economy function?
• The Feudal Economy of the European Middle Ages was based on the Manorial System. That is the mostly agricultural productivity of a Manor.
• Feudal Economies were based on agricultural production. They were Agrarian.
• See next slide for diagram of a Manor.
Unbelievable!
Why use the manor system?
Manorial System
• Serfs worked in the fields growing crops. • They would then give a (large) share to their
Lord and or pay a monetary tax.• That Lord, invariably being a vassal to someone
else, would then pay homage, give a share to his overlord.
• And so on… and so on…• Nobles became wealthier the further up the
Feudal Hierarchy they were. • A King with many Lords vassal to him would
obviously be a very wealthy person.
Peasant House
Aim: why did Feudalism have an impact on societies of the Middle Ages?
Listen and then take notes continuously.
Fin
Aim: why did the feudal status quo of the
Middle Ages slowly begin to collapse from
1300CE to 1500CE?
Why didn’t peasants rebel?
• They did occasionally but lost nearly every time! Being treated like dirt is better than almost certain death.
• Why did they lose?
That’s why!
They are not Commoners!
They are!
However, they are not nearly as well trained or armed as Knights. In addition, they are being paid by a NOBLE.
• Why else did peasant rebellions fail nearly all of the time?
• The same reason why vassal lords had to be really careful if they tried to overthrow their “overlord.”
• Answer: The structure of the feudal political hierarchy itself. See next slide.
Did the answer help?
Fictitious Land Somewhere in Medieval Europe made up of 25 manors.
Duke Duke King Lord Lord
Lord Lord Lord Lord Lord
Lord Lord Lord Lord Lord
Lord Lord Lord Lord Lord
Lord Lord Lord Lord Lord
• Occasionally Nobles did successfully rebel against Kings. If the Noble was successful, the Noble might become the new King!
• However, when such a rebellion occurred, if outnumbered, nobles would frequently hold up in and strategically use their …
… Castles
Why would the castle play a vital role in Medieval warfare?
Edict of 1626 ordering the demolition of the feudal castles in France
• For these reasons, we announce, declare, ordain, and will that all the strongholds, either towns or castles, which are in the interior of our realm or provinces of the same, not situated in places of importance either for frontier defense or other considerations of weight, shall be razed and demolished; even ancient walls shall be destroyed so far as it shall be deemed necessary for the well-being and repose of our subjects and the security of this state, so that our said subjects henceforth need not fear that the said places will cause them any inconvenience, and so that we shall be freed from the expense of supporting garrisons in them.
What was the real reason for doing this? Why?
Read this
Read it and think about it. Don’t write it down.
What sort of weapon would destroy the strategic advantage of holding up in a castle? Why?
• The strategic use of castles and the use of knights came to a screeching halt with the invention of…
And?
A cannon small enough to be held by a human is
called a…?
The Ottoman siege of Constantinople, 1453
BTW
Aim: why did the feudal status quo of the Middle Ages slowly begin to collapse from 1300CE
to 1500CE?
Why would nobles increasingly lose their power? And why would power increasingly shift toward centralized
governments E.g.: Monarchies?
• Power shifted increasingly toward a central authority, that is a monarch (king).
• Monarchs didn’t require the same sort of allegiance from their vassal nobles and knights.
• They could use their large personal unskilled armies made up of paid commoners armed with guns and cannons to easily defeat nobles and destroy all castles.
• Thus ended the Medieval Feudal Hierarchy of the Middle Ages.
Fin
Vocabulary (cont.)• Commoner: One of common birth. Not a noble.
Majority of the population. Hence common.• Peasant: Another term for a commoner. Later
on in European history came to mean a rural commoner.
• Serf: Someone who lives on a manor and sharecrops for the owner of the land, a noble.
• Divine Right: The right to rule, normally as a monarch, attained from God. That is, having been granted the right to rule from God. Used as a justification for royal dictatorships.
Vocabulary• Monarch: The ruler of a land or state, who claims that
rule through birthright, conquest, and or “divine right.” Normally a dictator.
• Royalty: The ruling family of a land.• King: Title normally taken by the male ruling monarch.• Noble: Usually a small minority of people who
distinguish themselves (normally by birth) from the majority of people, the commoners, and hold positions of privilege within the land. They also normally owe allegiance and homage to more powerful nobles.
• Duke: The most powerful noble title. Often also a royal.• Lord: A generic noble title.• Knight: Normally the lowest noble title. Usually trained
as a highly skilled cavalry soldier.• Vassal: One who owes allegiance and homage to
another.
In text
