The Middle Ages

Ms. Elam and Mr. Stikes

SSWH7 The student will analyze European medieval society with regard to culture, politics, society, and economics.

a. Explain the manorial system and feudalism; include the status of peasants and feudal monarchies & the importance of Charlemagne.

SECTION 1:

Explain the manorial system and feudalism; include:

a. The status of peasants and feudal monarchies

b. The importance of Charlemagne

Definitions

• Manorial System: economic system based on large estates called manors

• Feudalism: system of government based on personal obligations between a monarch and a vassal– Vassal: individual who swears loyalty and

obedience to a superior lord

Origins of Feudalism

• Kings were unable to defend their land from attack

• Nobles and others had to find ways to defend themselves– How?

Knights• Knight:

– Highly trained, usually mounted soldier

– Expensive to maintain

– Loyalty = land

• Land given to knight for service was called a fief

– Anyone accepting fief was called a vassal

– Person from whom he accepted fief was his lord

• Historians call system of exchanging land for service the feudal system, or feudalism

Feudal Obligations

• Oath of Fealty:– Promise by knight to be loyal to his lord

• Financial Obligations– Knight would pay ransom if lord was captured– Knight would give money to lord on important

days (births, marriages, etc.)

Feudal Obligations

• Obligations of the Lord

– Lord had to treat knights fairly, not demanding too much time, money

– Had to protect knight if attacked by enemies

– Had to act as judge in disputes between knights

Feudal Obligations

LORD:a. Give land

b. Protect from attackc. Resolve disputes

VASSAL:a. Provide military serviceb. Remain loyal & faithfulc. Give money on special

occasions

Feudalism: The Complex System• Person could be both lord, vassal

• Some knights with large fiefs gave small pieces of land to other knights, created many levels of obligations

• One knight could serve many lords; no prohibition against knight accepting fiefs from more than one noble

• Almost everyone in system served more than one lord

Is this an oversimplification?

“Fealty” to King• Theoretically, everyone supposed to be loyal

to the king– In practice, not everyone loyal

• Some powerful nobles as strong as kings they were supposed to serve, ignored duties as vassals

• Feudal rules specific to time, place; could change over time; England’s rules not same as France’s rules

The feudal system was a political and social system. A related system governed medieval economics. This system was called the manorial

system because it was built around large estates called manors.

• Manors owned by wealthy lords, knights

• Peasants farmed manor fields

• Were given protection, plots of land to cultivate for selves

Lords, Peasants, and Serfs

• Most peasants on farm were serfs, tied to manor

• Not slaves, could not be sold away from manor

• But could not leave, marry without lord’s permission

Serfdom

• Manors had some free people who rented land from lord

• Others included landowning peasants, skilled workers like blacksmiths, millers

• Also had a priest for spiritual needs

Free People

The Manorial System

Manorial System

• Manor: main house of a noble or lord

• Much of the land around the manor was occupied by fields for crops & pastures for animals

Agriculture & the Manor

• Middle Ages farmers learned that leaving a field empty for a year improved soil quality

• In time, practice developed into three-field crop rotation system– One field planted in spring for fall harvest– Another field planted in winter for spring

harvest– Third field remained unplanted for year

Note the three plantings

• Each manor included fortified house for noble family, village for peasants, serfs

• A typical manor also included church, mill, blacksmith

• Goal of the Manor: to be self-sufficient

Small Village

DID YOU KNOW: One field was always left fallow, or unplanted, in order to replenish nutrients that helped the crops grow

Question to think about:

Why do you think the manor house and the village were often separated?

Daily Life in the Middle Ages• For the nobility:

– Early castles built for defense not comfort• Few windows, stuffy in summer, cold in winter, dark

always

– Nobles had to share space with others, including soldiers, servants

• Private rooms very rare

– Main room: the “Hall”• large room for dining, entertaining

Daily Life in the Middle Ages• For the nobility:

– In early castles, noble family bedrooms separated from main area by sheets

• Later castles had separate bedrooms

• Latrines located near bedrooms

• Wooden bathtub outside in warm weather, inside near fireplace in winter

Outline of a

Medieval Castle

Open Air

Closed In

Daily Life in the Middle Ages

• For the peasants:

“Despite discomforts, life in a castle was preferable to life in a village. The typical village family lived in a small wooden one-room house. The roof was made of straw, the floor of dirt, and the furniture of rough wood. Open holes in the walls served as windows.”1

“The family rose before dawn. Men went to work in the fields; women did chores. During harvest, the entire family worked in the field all day.” 1

1) Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Chapter 13 ppt “The Early Middle Ages”

Daily Life in the Middle Ages

• For the peasants:– One room homes

• Slept on mats on floor with animals

– Cook on open fire in middle of home• No chimney, smoke had no escape• Typical meal: Brown bread, cheese, vegetables,

occasionally meat

Brief Political History

• Franks:– Merovingians (A.D. 400’s-751)

• Merowig: mythical founder of Merovingians

• Clovis (c.466-581): – United the Franks under one ruler– First Germanic ruler to convert to Christianity

• Mayor of the Palace: “maior domus” (“lord of the house”) position of power within Merovingian dynasty [basically chief of staff]

Clovis

Charles Martel

Brief Political History

• Franks:– Merovingians (A.D. 400’s-751)

• Charles Martel (c.688-751): (Martel = “the hammer”)– Makes Mayor of Palace hereditary– Battle of Tours (A.D. 732)

• Pepin III “the Short” (A.D. 714-768):– End of Merovingians– Elected king of Franks, first Carolingian king– Father of Charlemagne

Charlemagne (r. 768-814)

• Charlemagne means “Charles the Great”– Latin: Carolus Magnus shortened

• King of the Franks– Sought to rebuild the Roman Empire– Crowned Emperor in 800 by Pope

• Christmas day, by Pope Leo III• Renamed empire the “Holy Roman Empire”

Charlemagne’s Empire

Charlemagne (r. 768-814)

• “Carolingian Renaissance?”– Roman v. German influences

– Education• Rise of Universities?• Palace School @ Aachen• Alcuin (7 Liberal Arts?)• Medieval Latin

– Architecture & Art• Cathedral @ Aachen• Illuminated manuscripts

Cathedral at Aachen

7 Liberal Arts

• Trivium– Grammer– Logic– Rhetoric

• Quadrivium– Arithmetic– Geometry– Music– Astronomy

Taught first

Higher level of education

Charlemagne (r. 768-814)

• Missi dominici (singular: missus dominicus)

– Always Paired: One church official, one government official

– Mission: To “administer the law fully and justly in the case of the holy churches of God and of the poor, of wards and widows and of the whole people.”*

* - “General Capitulary of the Missi" Spring 802 http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/carol-missi1.html