The Feudal System 1066 1500 This icon indicates

The Feudal System 1066– 1500 This icon indicates the slide contains activities created in Flash. These activities are not editable. For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation. 1 of 11 © Boardworks Ltd 2004

Learning objectives This presentation covers: 1. Why William wanted a feudal system. 2. What the feudal system was. 3. How the feudal system affected different people. 2 of 11 © Boardworks Ltd 2004

Can you put these in the right order? 3 of 11 © Boardworks Ltd 2004

What was the feudal system? The feudal system can be thought of as people in a school. Different groups of people have different roles and responsibilities. The higher up the system, the less people there are but the more responsibility they have. All of the people in the system are needed for it to work – just like in a school. William was king but he could not run the country on his own. He needed other people to help him run the country, in return for giving them land power. This was the feudal system. 4 of 11 © Boardworks Ltd 2004

Who was part of the feudal system? 5 of 11 Knights William Barons Peasants © Boardworks Ltd 2004

William and the feudal system William had two problems to deal with: 1) How to reward the people who had supported his invasion and keep them loyal to him. 2) Ensuring he could control the country. He knew he could not do it on his own – he needed to have the support of the barons. William granted the barons land. The barons had to make sure William had knights for his army. 6 of 11 © Boardworks Ltd 2004

The barons and the feudal system The barons received land from William. In some cases the amount of land was huge! These estates were given in return for their support and service. One of their jobs was to supply knights to William's army. To deal with this job, and to handle their huge estates, the barons gave some of their land to the knights. In return, the knights' promised to serve in William’s army for 40 days each year. 7 of 11 © Boardworks Ltd 2004

The knights and the feudal system The knights received land from the barons in return for their promise to serve in William’s army for 40 days a year. The knights were professional soldiers who had trained for a long time in the art of medieval war. However, they were not farmers. To help them look after the land they shared the land out amongst peasant villagers who worked the fields. 8 of 11 © Boardworks Ltd 2004

The peasants and the feudal system The peasants gained little from the feudal system. They worked on the land paid taxes. But the system hadn't been much better for them before the Normans came along! 9 of 11 © Boardworks Ltd 2004

10 of 11 © Boardworks Ltd 2004

11 of 11 © Boardworks Ltd 2004