Feudalism and Manors PDF

THE FEUDAL SYSTEM / MANOR SYSTEM  WHAT ARE THEY? Feudalism: Manor System: Feudalism is the social order that The Manor System was the basic developed in Europe after the fall of the economic system that grew...

THE FEUDAL SYSTEM / MANOR SYSTEM  WHAT ARE THEY? Feudalism: Manor System: Feudalism is the social order that The Manor System was the basic developed in Europe after the fall of the economic system that grew out of and Roman Empire and existed until the mid supported Feudalism. 1400’s. 2  WHY FEUDALISM? After the Roman Empire fell, there was no strong central government. With no standing army or police, societies were plunged into chaos. Feudalism provided some structure to society and offered protection for the masses. 3  HOW DID IT WORK? In the 600’s, powerful Frankish (French) chiefs owned large There was no money system, so land amounts of land. However, they was the most valuable thing a chief needed an army to protect it, could offer. and loyal people to put it to use. The Franks started giving land to important people in exchange for oaths of loyalty to the chief. 4  HOW DID IT WORK? Over time, the Feudal system became more formalized, and grew into a strict social hierarchy. At the top were monarchs, and below them were nobles or lords. Next came the knights, and then, finally, the serfs or peasants. 5 THE FEUDAL HIERARCHY  MONARCH A Monarch is another word for ‘King’ or ‘Queen’. PledgeMonarchs of Loyalty and service ‘owned’ the land in their territory. To raise an In exchange army, for the and ensure land, the noble pledged loyalty to that theythe monarch could andthe control promised to fight for the lord when called. area, the monarch would grant fiefs of land to nobles. A noble who pledge loyalty became a VASSEL of the monarch. 9  NOBLE OR LORD A noble In exchange, is a person the noble whopromises serves the to monarch. send a certain They number can be called of Dukes, soldiers armed Barons, or Earls, knights or whatever. when called Theby noble the can monarch. use the They land to establish also pay taxes a manor to the (more monarch. on that later). 10  KNIGHT To supply knights to the monarch, the noble would oftenwas A knight divide his skilled warrior. He was a highly fief trained of land among from age six in horsemanship and several men in exchange warfare. for their pledge of loyalty to the noble. These mencould Knights werealso called serve the noble directly, knights. getting support and the right to live on the noble’s manor instead of land. 11  SERFS (PEASANTS) Peasants are commoners and lived on the manors of monarchs, nobles, or knights. In exchange for working the noble’s land, they were given small plots of land, some of the food they produced on their plots, and shelter. Often, they worked five days on the nobles land and two on their own. Serfs were peasants who were ‘tied’ to the land. They could never leave without the noble’s permission. In practice, most peasants lived and died without ever seeing beyond two miles of their front door. 12  REVIEW Feudalism grew out of the Serfs could farm some chaos caused by the fall of land on a manor and the Roman Empire. received the protection It was based on the granting of the noble in exchange of land in exchange for loyalty and military service. for their labor. It provided order and some security in the absence of a stable central government. 13  WEAKNESSES OF THE FEUDAL SYSTEM Nobles often challenged monarchs or each other, leading to constant warfare. The strength of a monarch was only as secure as the loyalty of his nobles. These landless knights and nobles contributed to ever more warfare. 14  MANOR SYSTEM Manor: The estate of a knight or noble on a ‘fief’ of land. Each manor was designed in the same basic way. The management of the resources on the manor and its economy came to be known as the ‘Manor System’. 15  GOALS OF MANOR SYSTEM Each Manor tried to be self-sufficient, or create all the food and other materials it needed. To be secure, a manor did not want to rely on outside sources of food and other essential items. 16  WHY SELF-SUFFICIENT? Warfare between knights, nobles, and monarchs was always a threat. You needed to create what you needed to survive. In other words, you could not rely on your neighbor. Commerce and trade were greatly reduced. Roads were poor or non-existent. Most manors were far from cities, where a small amount of trade still existed. 17  WHY SELF-SUFFICIENT? In short, you could not be sure when the next shipment of food, weapons, or other essentials were coming your way. Thus, you had to make it yourself, or perish. Arming soldiers and knights was extremely expensive. You needed to keep your manor as wealthy as possible. Sending money to a merchant cut into your profits. 18  HOW DID A MANOR WORK? The Manor was based around a ‘Manor House’ or a castle. The noble or knight lived here. Fields were divided into three sections: One for spring plantings, one for fall planting, and one ‘fallow field’. A ‘fallow’ field was left unplanted for one or more seasons to keep the soil from wearing out. Peasants were given small strips of land to farm after working the lord’s fields. 19  HOW DID IT WORK? Every manor had a mill to grind grain. The noble owned it, and all peasants had to use it, for a fee of course (they truly hated this rule). Manors that had a pond or lake were lucky. They could farm fish and eels to add to their food supply. Animals (cows, goats) roamed freely across common pasture and fallow land. Each manor had a church, paid for by the noble. A portion of land was farmed to pay for the service of a priest. Only nobles could hunt wild game in the fields and 20 forests.  HOW DID IT WORK? Each manor had a church, paid for by the noble. A portion of land was farmed to pay for the service of a priest. Only nobles could hunt wild game in the fields and forests. 21  PRIEST Each manor church had a priest. He was required to say Mass, baptize infants, and perform last rights. Attending mass and receiving church sacraments were seen as essential to getting into Heaven. Thus, priests were given a great deal of respect. 22  HOW DID THE MANOR SYSTEM SUPPORT FEUDALISM? It divided a monarch’s Manors provided the income needed to support the knights land among loyal nobles and soldiers demanded by the Nobles would defend the monarch. land, as it was the most A monarch could not oversee valuable thing a person all the land himself. Granting fiefs made sure it was put to could own at the time. productive use. This would allow for taxes to be paid, and, of course, knights armed for war. 23