Start of FeudalismStart of Feudalism  Political Organization  Began due to:  Collapsing Central Authority  Low public revenue  Declining commerce  Why?  The need to bring order

A New Social OrderA New Social Order  Based on a system of rights and obligations  Vassalage – lesser noble (vassal) pledges loyalty to a powerful noble (lord)  Vassal must  Give military service and loyalty  Vassal gets  Fief : land with peasants  Primogeniture : son can inherit his father’s fief

The Feudal PyramidThe Feudal Pyramid King and Queen Church Officials and Nobles Knights Peasants

Well Defined Social ClassesWell Defined Social Classes  Status determined a persons prestige and power  Three main groups  Those who fought (nobles, knights)  Those who prayed (people of the church)  Those who worked (peasants)  Social class was usually inherited

Serfs  Majority of people were peasants  Could not lawfully leave the place where they were born  Bound to the land, but not slaves  Could not be bought or sold  Their labor produced belonged to the lord

Manoralism  Manor: the Lord’s estate  Large farming estates  Self – sufficient  Basic economic arrangement  Set of rights and obligations between a lord and his serfs  Lord provides: housing and protection  Serfs provide: tend to land and care for animals

Life on the ManorLife on the Manor  Peasants paid a tax on all grain  Any tax evasion would be considered a crime  Marriage taxes  Lords consent  Tithe to the church  Lived in crowded cottages  Illness and malnutrition