Some nobles were rich and owned large fiefs. Others were poor and they only have their horse and weapons (lance, shield, mace and sword). Nobles´ sons started their military training when they were 8 as a pages. At 15 they became in squires. With 20, if they have proved their worth they were made knights. Most of the time they are in the war. If not, they trained in tournaments.

Their function was get married and have children. Marriages were arranged by families, sometimes when the future couple were only children. They organised the servants, educated the children and did sewing and weaving. They hardly ever left the castle. When they did not marry they went into the convents.

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The Pope wasthe head of the Church. He ruled the Papal State. He could excommunicate. His subjets did not owe him any allegiance.

Secular clergy The Bishops controlled a large area called diocese. In each diocese there were parishes where the priest worked. Regular clergy Members of religious orders. Each order was led by an abbot and abesses. Bellow him were superiors (monasteries) In the monasteries lived monks and nuns.

The Order of Saint Benedict was the most important religious order during the Early Middle Ages. Each order had a rule. Some order swere closed (they could not leave the monastery) Some required to beg to collect money. Each order had a habit.

Nuns lived in convents and monks live in monasteries. They spent their time in prayer and meditation. The monasteries owned their own lands, where peasants worked.

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90% of the population were peasants. Most of them worked on the Lord´s land.

The mayority were serfs. Subject to the Lord´s authority Could not leave the fief Could not get married without permission They were not paid for their work Serfdom was passed down to their children. Other were freemen. They could leave the fief They paid the rent and they kept part of the harvest They paid a tithe to the church (10% of the harvest)

They lived villages. Their house, made by wood and mud, were small. They have very little furnitues. Small house with one room where people and animals live together. They were self-sifficents. They grew food, made clothes and furnitures and built their houses. Their lives were hard. Illness was often and only few people reached the age of forty. Drought, floods and plague caused many deaths.

The whole family worked from sunrise to sunset. They used very basic tools such as sickles, scythes, hoes and roman ploughs.

Sicklescythe

HoeRoman plough

They had no fertilisers. They left half of their land fallow to recover and became fertile again. The production was low. They grew cereals (wheat or oat), vegetables, grapes and fruits.

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