Political system – monarch &nobles make alliances (land exchanged for loyalty & military aid)

 Central government became weak.

 King (monarch) gives land/fief (and peasants/serfs) to  Nobles who give loyalty and military aid

 King  Lords/nobles  Vassals (each lord serves someone of higher rank)  Knights  Peasants/serf (farmers, artisans)

TThere was lots of warfare (remember, no central govt) so they were 1 st begun for protection/defense

 Wood 1 st, then stone w/ thick walls and towers (turrets)  Built on a hill or mound  Moat and drawbridge major defenses against invaders  Keep (square building)  Open area around keep (bailey) includes: barracks, storerooms, workshops, chapel

 Lord –  total control; governs manor & castle  Collected rent from peasants (goods)  Noblewoman/lady Jobs – needlework, making medicines, supervise estate

LLand/fief can be passed on to heir (sons) – land stays in the family

 They get land (called fiefs) and the income lets them buy horses and battle gear

77 – page (lord’s assistant) 115 – squire (help knight, learns to use weapons) KKnight – prove self in battle; trained to fight on horseback

 Defend Christian church  Be brave in battle  Fight fair  Treat noble women with gentleness

 Mock battles (jousting, sword fighting)  Entertainment (minstrels sing, storytelling )

 Agricultural system - nobles/lords, serfs/peasants get food, shelter, and protection.

 Nobles/lords give peasants protection, food, shelter  Serfs/peasants give lord part of what they produce (satisfy lords material needs )

 Serfs are bound to the land, but they are not slaves. They cannot be sold without the land.

FFarmers (most) SSome days – laborers (repair roads/bridges) BBlacksmiths, carpenters, shoemakers, millers, vinters, brewers WWomen – make candles, cloth, sew

PPLOW – took less time NNew system of planting (3 fields vs 2 fields); new system left 1 field fallow – unplanted and 2 fields were planted

 Serfs/peasants get little freedom or opportunity, but they do get protection/security

 Spiritual, political, social leader in Europe  Catholic  Pope – authority over all Christians  God’s grace earned by sacraments  Service in Latin  People couldn’t read – learned religion from statues, paintings, stained glass windows

 Pope, bishops, priests = secular – lived “in the world”  Monks, nuns = live monastic life ( life dedicated to God, apart from rest of society ).  Monks – cannot own property or marry, must follow monastic rules (simple clothes, plain food, vows of silence & poverty)  Nuns – convent, prayer and making things with their hands

 Monks –  copy religious works and classical writings ( preserved ancient knowledge & religious information alive when few could read/write ) Schools, hospitals, food for poor, place for travelers Teach carpentry, weaving, farming Missionaries – results? Mid 1000s most of western Europe is Christian

 “Great Charter” – limits absolute power of king, some trace our Constitution to this document.

 King John was forced to sign it by his nobles.  Why did they do that?  The King raised their taxes &put his enemies in jail w/o a trial.

 Put limits on the power of the king  No taxes w/o agreement of a council  Freemen are guaranteed right to trial by jury Ultimately, it came to guarantee rights for all Englishmen (instead of just the nobles)