Essential Question What is Feudalism and why was it used?

Economics

Feudalism

Feudalism- a system of rule where people trade their work for protection One guy owns the land, another works on it. Each group of people had specific jobs to complete.

King Nobles/Barons Knights Peasants/Serfs The Feudal System Lords

King Nobles protection Knights land (fiefs) protectionlabor (work) Peasants Lords

Example 100 Tacos 4 x 50 Tacos (200) 2 x 100 Tacos (200) Peasants get: ______ Knights get: ______ Nobles get: ______

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Textbook Attack! Use the index to find –Definition –Chapter –Heading For the following term: Serf

Imagineland 1. The King officially owns all of the land of the country. He usually builds a large castle in his capital city. 2. To get nobles to support him the king divides his land and puts nobles in charge of their own area. 3. The nobles divide their land and use that to pay knights who then protect the land and serve the king. 4. Peasants are allowed to live on the land and build farms. They pay taxes to the nobles and can’t leave. 5. Taxes ultimately end up going to the king. Peasants work, knights protect, nobles collect, king gets rich.

Why? No Roman Empire means no Roman Army. No army means no protection. People willingly (usually…) gave up their land to be protected. It was all about survival.

And so… People turned to feudalism for protection. Landowners hired knights to protect the peasants who agreed to work for the landowners. This further divided Europe.

Knights

The Knights Many stories of knights are nothing more than fairy tales. Knights were very real though. They played a huge part in medieval society. I’m one athletic metal guy! This fly is so gonna die!

The Legends The Knights we think about are usually those of legend. Legends tell of knights saving damsels from evil dragons. We think of knights as these honorable heroes. But… This chick is heavy.

The Truth Women aren’t helpless. Dragons don’t exist. Knights were hired to protect the land in Europe. In return for their service, knights were given land.

They made their money from taxes and treasures taken in battle. They treated peasants very badly because they had the direct support of the kings. They also had enough money to “buy” salvation from the church. The Truth

War Knights started as protectors from foreign enemies and to protect Christians. By about the year 1,000 war was pretty much constant. But they weren’t fighting invaders – they were fighting each other!

So, if knights were so bad, why are they so popular?

The Tournament The tournament was a large gathering of knights where they would compete. People would root for knights like we root for sports teams. It also gave the knights a chance to train for battle.

The Tournament Knights would gather to play a series of “games” usually to impress the ladies. They had archery contests, wrote poems and of course, the joust.