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Unit 3
IES Camilo José Cela
Teacher: Rocío Bautista
FEUDALISM:
political, economic & social system
characteristic of Western Europe
between 9th – 15th centuries.
MAIN CHARACTERISTICS:
Loss of political power by the kings (feudal monarchies)
Agrarian economy
Society based on relationships of dependence
Enormous influence of the church (theocentric society).
Poor culture and scarce artistic achievements, until
Romanesque art appear.
ORIGINS OF FEUDALISM:
It began as a consequence of the INSTABILITY that
suffered Europe after the death of Charlemagne (814)
Fights between successors of Charlemagne
Invasions of
a) Vikings (normans)
b) Muslims
c) Others: Bulgarians, Hungarians, Slavs.
Facing this situation, kings were incapable of protecting their
territory because they didn’t have money to pay for a
professional army…
WHAT COULD THEY DO??!
… To face this situation…
- kings asked nobles to protect them in exchange of giving
them land (fiefs).
- peasants also asked nobles to protect them in exchange
of giving them their owned land & working for them.
NOBLES CONCENTRATED LARGE AREAS OF LAND,
AND MOST OF THE POPULATION (peasants) WERE
SUBORDINATED TO THEM
FEUDAL MONARCHIESFeudal Europe was divided into several kingdoms ruled by kings who’s
power was considered to come from God. Therefore, in theory their power
was unlimited. However, in practice the nobility & the clergy had huge
power because they had a lot of independence inside their fiefs.
Moreover, the king governed with the help of the Royal Council (Curia
Regis): an assembly of high nobles & clerics.
FEUDAL ECONOMY
2 parts:- Demesne lord
- Holdings peasants
Self-sufficient: fiefs
produced everything they
needed (food & manufactured products).
Therefore, there was very
little trade.
FIEF (manor, fiefdom): large territories granted by the king (or a high
noble) to a noble or to the clergy in exchenge for their services.
Production in medieval fiefs was low because of:
Rudimentary tools
Biennial crop rotation system: half of the fields were left fallow to
enable them to recover (so the soil wouldn’t be overused).
ROMAN PLOUGH
HOE
SICKLE
SCYTHE
TWO-FIELD CROP
ROTATION
FEUDAL SOCIETY
It was a stratified society:
Different social groups (estates) determined by birth
(except the clergy).
Privileged groups VS non-privileged groups
NOBLES & CLERGY
- Special laws
- No taxes
- Didn't work
PEASANTS
(commoners)
Each social group had a specific function:
NOBLES
CLERGY
PEASANTS
Dependent relationships: there were bonds of dependence
through all ranks of society
LORD-VASSAL
RELATIONSHIP
(vassal-lord)
Pact between two
nobles, or between the
king and a noble.•lord vassal land (fief)
•vassal lord military
aid (protection)
SERVITUDE RELATIONSHIP
(serf-lord)
Pact between a
peasant & a noble. •lord serf protection &
permission to work the
land•serf lord land, work
for him, part of the
harvests & taxes
HOW NOBLES LIVED
NOBLES
Small social group (<10%)
2 types:
High nobility:
Direct vassals of the kings.
Dukes, marquises, counts.
Low nobility:
Vassals of other nobles.
Knights.
6 years old: pages at the castle of
another lord/king. Learn rules of court-
life.
21 years old: become a knight(knighting ceremony or accolade).
In times of war served their lord with their
troops.
In times of peace attended tournaments,
trained for war,…
Noblemen: their military education began as children:
The accolade
14 years old: squires of another knight.
Accompany him to tournaments &
battles, carry his shield, take care of his
weapons & horse.
Tournaments were mock battles for knights to practice their military
skills
In the accolade (ceremony to become a knight) the future
knight promised to accomplish the code of chivalry.
Noblewomen:
Married the man chosen by their parents.
Tasks: bring up children, supervise servants, pray, needlework.
Medieval Castles
Home of the lords
IN WHAT PART OF A FIEF DID THE LORD LIVED?
Castles where the nobles lived.
defensive fortresses
where the people
could take refuge if attacked.
usually built in an
elevated area in the
center of the fief.
The Walled Area
On top of the thick castle walls there was
a walkway. Battlements protected
the walkways, like a shield, so that soldiers
could move around the fortress during
battle. Some battlements had arrowslitsor gaps where arrows could be fired. Plans for battle were developed and
directed from the defensive towers.
A deep moat surrounds the castle walls to provide extra
protection.
The Walled Area
You could only enter the castle if the drawbridge was
lowered and the portcullis was raised.
The Walled Area
Inside the castleThe keep (tower of homage) was
the large tower where the lord and his family lived. On one floor of the keep
was the great hall. The most important
events took place there; it was where
the lord celebrated banquets, where his
vassals came to pay their taxes, and
where he made legal decisions.
Activities On your castle
diagram label & define
the following terms:
moat
the keep (tower of
homage)
defensive towers
Walkway (chemin de
ronde)
battlements
arrowslits
drawbridge
portcullis
Activity 1 (p.53)
HOW CLERICS LIVED
TYPES OF CLERGY
SECULAR CLERGY
Lived among the rest of
the population:
- Bishops (high clergy)- Priests (low clergy)
All men
REGULAR CLERGY
Lived in monasteries:
- abbots & abbesses (high clergy)
- monks & nuns (low clergy)
Different monastic orders had different rules that monks had to obey:
- Vows of poverty, obedience & celibacy.
- “Ora et labora” life dedicated to prayer & work.
Benedictine order
Founded In the 6th Century by the Italian monk St. Benedict of Nursia.
Monastic communities that observe
the Rule of Saint Benedict.
•Chapter 6: recommends moderation in the use of speech, but does not enjoin strict silence, nor prohibit profitable or necessary conversation.•Chapter 22: regulates the dormitory. Each monk is to have a separate bed and is to sleep in his habit, so as to be ready to rise without delay for early Vigils; a light shall burn in the dormitory throughout the night.•Chapters 39 & 40: regulate the quantity and quality of the food. Two meals a day are allowed, with two cooked dishes at each. Each monk is allowed a pound of bread and a glass of wine. The meat of four-footed animals is prohibited except for the sick and the weak.
Scriptorium
Hospice
ChurchCloister
Refectory
Kitchen
Monk’s cells
Medieval monasteries
Chapter house
Church: building where the monks participated in the
divine offices.
Hospice: the building where the monks offered
accommodation to pilgrims.
Cloister: a square open courtyard surrounded by covered galleries with open arcades on the inner side. From Latin “claustrum” which means “closed”. It was where the monks walked, meditated, talked to each other.
Scriptorium: the room where the monks read, studied
and illustrated sacred manuscripts.
Refectory: the dining room where the monks ate together
at large tables. They ate in silence while a monk read from texts from the Bible aloud.
Chapter house: the building where the daily meetings of
the community took place, presided over by the abbot.
ROLE OF THE CHURCH
POLITICALY
Advised kings.
Tried to reduce the violence through the:
- Peace of God: condemned attacks to defenseless places & people.
- Truce of God: condemned attacks on Sundays & other religious days.
ECONOMICALY
Had large fiefs.
Collected taxesfrom peasants: the tithe (10% annual income)
Received donations in exchange for prayers.
SOCIALY
Supervised the behaviour of the population (they dad to attend mass, confess, follow the Church’s commands)
Helped the poor, sick, orphans…
Provided resting place for pilgrims
Controlled working time (bells)
CULTURALY
Clergy was the most educated class(only ones who could read & write)
Produced & copy manuscripts in monasteries.
Financed works of art.
Medieval society was THEOCENTRIC:
God was the focal point of attention.
That’s why the church had a great
influence in every aspect of life.
HOW PEASANTS LIVED
PEASANTS
Most of the population (around 90%).
2 types:
Free peasants (villeins): very few.
own land
could leave the fief
Serfs:
Forced to work on a plot of land he doesn’t
own
Couldn’t leave the fief they were tied to the
land (if the lord changes, the boss changes)
Their children inherited their condition & duties.
Couldn’t be killed, beaten, nor sold as slaves.
Serf’s Oath of Fealty
“By the Lord before whom this sanctuary is holy,
I will to _______ be true and faithful, and love all which he
loves and shun all which he shuns, according to the laws of
God and the order of the world. Nor will I ever with will or
action, through word or deed, do anything which is unpleasing
to him, on condition that he will hold to me as I shall deserve
it, and that he will perform everything as it was in our
agreement when I submitted myself to him and chose his
will.”
Life of a Medieval Peasant
“Nasty, brutish and short” -- Thomas Hobbes
03:00: Wake up. Eat breakfast
(porridge) and clean up the hut
Dawn: Begin work in the fields
(holdings) and the lord’s fields
(demesne
Dusk: Work ends
Evening: Eat dinner (bread, cabbage
and meat on special days)
Night: Sleep (whole family in one
room)
Daily Duties of a Serf
Reap - To cut crops for harvest with a scythe,
sickle, or reaper.
Plough - To break and turn over earth with a plough to form a
furrow
Sow - The process of
planting
seeds.
All the family worked in the field!!!
Children & elderly: easier jobs:
Carrying wood
Taking care of the animals
Men: hardest jobs:
Ploughing
Reaping
Cutting trees
Women: helped with some jobs
Sowing (sembrar)
Harvesting
Domestic tasks
Taking care of children
Servants at the castle of the lord
Washerwomen
Tools
Tools were very rudimentary. They were made of cheap woodand iron.
Scythe Sickle Hoe
The Church for Peasants
Peasants had a mandatory
tithe tax to the church (10%
of all income) This could be
paid in money or in goods.
The church asked
“volunteers” to work the
church’s land for free. (No
one dared to say no.)
Sundays were a day off. Also,
festivals and religious
holidays meant time off
work.
More fun facts
Peasant children
never attended
school, and they
began to work as
soon as they could.
Most children died before they
reached six months (often not
named until then)
Lice and fleas were very common.
A family’s farm animals would be
brought in the house with them to sleep
at night, to prevent theft.
Peasant children
inherited their
parents’ status (serf,
slave or free)
The same river that was used for
drinking/cooking water was also
used for toilets. Disease was
common.
Peasants never took full baths.
They would wash their hands
and face, that´s it.
VIDEO
1. Explain the difference between serfs, slaves, and free peasants.
2. Why were serfs important to Medieval society?
3. What were some tools that serfs used? How are they different than what farmers use today?
4. What was the role of women and children?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN1GaI8KWHo
