The Feudal System

Feudalism800 – 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.

King MacLeod’s kingdom

Lord Roland’s Manor Sir Guy’s Manor

Sir Alfred

Sir Oscar

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.

Those who fought : nobles, knights, and kingsThose who prayed : the Church’s Clergy (priests, bishops, monks)Those who worked : Peasants (serfs)

Social class was usually inherited.

Those who fought

Those who prayed

Those who worked

Feudal System

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 self-sufficient – 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