Aim Did feudalism and manorialism help or hurt

Aim: Did feudalism and manorialism help or hurt medieval Western Europe?

I What was feudalism? A) Feudalism was decentralized government based on a system of reciprocity (exchange). A king or lord would allow a vassal to live on his land in exchange for loyalty and protection. The vassal gave an oath of fidelity in order to receive his land. B) Feudalism offered people protection during the Middle Ages. A vassal was anyone who owed allegiance to a lord or king.

Oath of Fidelity I: An Anglo Saxon Form of Commendation [from Schmidt: Gesetze der Angelsachsen, p. 404] Thus shall one take the oath of fidelity: By… [God] before whom this sanctuary is holy, I will to… [my Lord] 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… do anything which is unpleasing to him… and that he will perform everything as it was in our agreement when I submitted myself to him and chose his will. According to this oath of fidelity, what is the vassal supposed to do for his lord? What is the lord supposed to do for his vassal?

II Feudal Justice A) Most kings and lords did not follow a law code. B) Justice was carried out in the lord’s manor house. This often included trials by ordeal. These left the determination of innocence or guilt in the hands of god. 1. The accused had to carry a burning hot iron rod. If you developed blisters you were guilty. 2. The accused plunged their hand into boiling water. If you developed blisters you were guilty. 3. The accused was thrown into water. If you floated you were guilty. 4. The accused would battle his accuser. The loser was found guilty.

1. Trials by Ordeal

III Medieval Knights A) Knights were mounted soldiers, and were vassals to their feudal superiors (a lord or king). B) Knights went through extensive training. 1. At 7 a boy could become a page. He left his family for his lord’s castle to begin his training. - Combat and weapons skills - How to ride a horse in battle 2. At 15 a page could become a squire. You were assigned to a knight to continue training. 3. Once you proved yourself in battle you became a knight in an elaborate ceremony. This is a medieval battle axe. It was curved to enable the user to knock a knight off of his horse, and it was sharp enough to chop off limbs. Medieval weapons were made by blacksmiths.

C) In the early Middle Ages, knights wore chain armor. By the High Middle Ages, it became replaced by plate armor (harder to penetrate, but much heavier), linked by leather straps. Main weapon was the sword. D) When not in battle, knights would joust in tournaments (mock battles).

Plate Armor, Metropolitan Museum

IV Chivalry in the Middle Ages A) By the High Middle Ages, knights were following a code of chivalry, the basis of modern western etiquette. 1. Bravery in battle 2. Loyalty to your lord 3. Defend the church and the helpless 4. Protect women and treat them with courtesy B) Marriage was often arranged, and not usually based on love. This led to the development of courtly love; the love a knight held for a lady whom he was forbidden to be with. (Either because he was below her social status, or she was already married!) Such love was unrequited (unobtainable) in this life, but possible in the afterlife.

Heloise and Abelard: A Tale of Unrequited Love Abelard and Heloise lived in 12 th century France. Abelard, 18 years older than Heloise, was a respected philosopher. Heloise was a well educated woman for the time. At age 19, and living under her uncle‘s roof, Heloise fell in love with Abelard, her tutor. They had a child out of wedlock. Discovered by her uncle, Abelard was assaulted and castrated by a hired thug, and they were both forced to enter [separate] monasteries. They only saw each other in person once more, but they wrote letters for years. “…We may write to each other; so innocent a pleasure is not denied us. Let us not lose through negligence the only happiness which is left us, and the only one perhaps which the malice of our enemies can never ravish from us. I shall read that you are my husband you shall see me sign myself your wife. . . I shall read your most sacred thoughts; I shall carry them always about with me, I shall kiss them every moment…”

V Life in a Castles served as a home and a fortress. Castles had basic lavatories called garderobes (the waste would end up in the moat). Light was provided by candles or oil lamps. Fires were placed in the centre of the Great Hall, until the later middle ages with the invention of the chimney. Soldiers were stationed in gatehouses and guardrooms. If the battle started and the lord was not at home, the lady organized the army. A siege was an army strategy; the attacking army surrounded the castle to stop supplies from coming to the castle. It could last days to months. Castles were noisy and smelly! Livestock roamed inside the stables, blacksmiths banged out ironwork in castle forges, soldiers practiced their skills, and children played when lessons were completed. Leftover food was often thrown to the dogs, the floor, or the moat. Spiral staircases were invented for warfare. If an enemy army invaded the castle, their knights had an extremely difficult time walking up the narrow, curving staircase while fighting.

Keep Outer Gatehouse Inner Gate Moat

Ross Castle, Killarney, Ireland

Castle Of Counts, Ghent, Belgium

Medieval Food Bread was the basic food in the Middle Ages. Only the wealthy could afford bread made from finely ground grains. Stale bread called trenchers served as plates. They used knives but ate with their fingers. (But they did dip their fingers in water bowls!) After the Crusades spices made a return. The medieval pasty is the origin of our modern pie! Originally the crust wasn’t eaten but kept the filling from spoiling (it often contained meat), and it could be eaten by hand.

VI What was the Manor System (Manorialism)? A) Manorialism was an economic system in western medieval Europe. It was based on the manor (large farming estate). The manor was mostly self sufficient; almost everything needed for survival could be made on the manor. Serfs used crop rotation; the farm land was divided into two fields (2 field system). One field would be planted and one left fallow (unplanted) to regain its fertility. By the High Middle Ages, some farms had 3 or more fields (3 field system).

Water Mill The force of the water moves the wheel, which moves a grindstone to grind grain into flour. A donkey attached to a grindstone was equal to 15 men, but a water mill was equal to the power of 30 – 60 men!

The Medieval Manor Continued… B) The lord kept 1/3 of the land (domain) for himself. Serfs had to farm the lord’s domain, turn over crops from their own fields and do any other services the lord asked. Serfs could not leave the manor or hunt without permission.

VII Exceptions to Manorialism A) Limited trade existed in Western Europe before the High Middle Ages. B) Trade was more common in Southern Europe; Venice created an empire based on trade with the Byzantine Empire and the Arab Middle East. C) As a result of the Crusades, trade increased dramatically.

VIII Feudalism in Tonga “In terms of the traditional social and political organization, all land in Tonga belonged to the King… there were chiefs who were “lords of large districts of territory” and who held their lands from the king in return for taxes and military service. . . ” The Journal of the Polynesian Society Volume 68 1959 > Volume 68, No. 2 > Land tenure and social organization in Tonga, by R. R. Nayacakalou, p 92 -114 Tonga's King George Tupou V, 63, died in March, 2012.

Manorialism in Tonga Continued… Tongan Slums Tongan Palace

Family Crest Used to identify knights and nobility. Notice the lack of writing!

Focus Questions Fill in medieval western Europe on your period 3 chart. *Only include the most important points as we will be in the middle ages for a bit more time 1. Describe the systems of feudalism and manorialism. Do you think they were effective and/or made sense for the time? 2. Describe life in a castle. How did this compare to life for the patricians in ancient Rome? Is it similar to castle life as depicted in fairy tales? 3. Describe feudal justice. How is this similar or different from justice in ancient Rome or the Byzantine Empire? Do you think it was just? If not, why do you think this system was used? 4. What happened to Heloise and Abelard? Is this story romantic? What does it tell us about medieval culture in western Europe? 5. How do you know that Tonga even in the 20 th century had a feudal system? How do you feel about this?

Key Vocabulary ü ü ü ü 2 field system 3 field system Blacksmith Castle Chain Armor Chivalry Courtly love Domain Eloise and Abelard Fallow Feudal Justice Feudalism Joust Knight Lord Manor ü ü ü ü Manorialism Oath of Fidelity Page Plate Armor Reciprocity Serf Song of Roland Squire Tonga Tournament Trial by Ordeal Unrequited love Vassal Water mill