Production Steps 1.Stand and put your hands on your shoulders. 2.Reach down to your desk and select a seed (crumbled piece of paper) from an imaginary bag by bringing your elbows together. 3.Reach down to the floor. 4.Plant the seed by releasing your elbows. 5.Sit down at your desk. 6.Write the word of your assigned product on the piece of scrap paper. 7.Continue planting seeds by repeating steps 1-6. L ESSON 14 – T HE E CONOMIC S YSTEM OF M EDIEVAL E UROPE F OCUS M IDDLE S CHOOL W ORLD H ISTORY © C OUNCIL FOR E CONOMIC E DUCATION, N EW Y ORK, NY

Production Table GroupRound 1Round 2Round 3 L ESSON 14 – T HE E CONOMIC S YSTEM OF M EDIEVAL E UROPE F OCUS M IDDLE S CHOOL W ORLD H ISTORY © C OUNCIL FOR E CONOMIC E DUCATION, N EW Y ORK, NY

Manor System Under feudalism in Medieval Europe, the economic system was manorialism. An economic system is the way in which a group organizes to determine what to produce, how to produce, and for whom to produce. The lord’s land consisted of 25 to 30 percent of the arable land of the manor plus the manor house, barns, stables, workshops, gardens, mills, and ovens. L ESSON 14 – T HE E CONOMIC S YSTEM OF M EDIEVAL E UROPE F OCUS M IDDLE S CHOOL W ORLD H ISTORY © C OUNCIL FOR E CONOMIC E DUCATION, N EW Y ORK, NY

Manor System Serfs were bound to the land. Lords might leave but serfs stayed with the land. Serfs’ land was in large fields divided into strips. A peasant household had possibly two dozen strips scattered throughout the open fields. Serfs of a manor agreed on what and when to harvest. This was called communal farming. L ESSON 14 – T HE E CONOMIC S YSTEM OF M EDIEVAL E UROPE F OCUS M IDDLE S CHOOL W ORLD H ISTORY © C OUNCIL FOR E CONOMIC E DUCATION, N EW Y ORK, NY

Manor System Serfs planted only half their fields each year. The other half were left fallow each year to preserve soil fertility. This was called two-field crop rotation. Serfs worked the land for the lord three to four days week. Few markets existed where the lord could buy goods and services. They relied on the serfs to produce most goods. L ESSON 14 – T HE E CONOMIC S YSTEM OF M EDIEVAL E UROPE F OCUS M IDDLE S CHOOL W ORLD H ISTORY © C OUNCIL FOR E CONOMIC E DUCATION, N EW Y ORK, NY

Manor System Serfs had to grind their grain in the lord’s mill and bake bread in the lord’s oven for a fee. Serfs had to pay other fees collected on a regular basis or on special occasions. Fees could be as high as 50% of goods that the serf produced. L ESSON 14 – T HE E CONOMIC S YSTEM OF M EDIEVAL E UROPE F OCUS M IDDLE S CHOOL W ORLD H ISTORY © C OUNCIL FOR E CONOMIC E DUCATION, N EW Y ORK, NY

Economic Systems TraditionalCommandMarket What to Produce CustomCentral authority Whatever is profitable How to Produce CustomCentral authority Least costly method For Whom to Produce CustomCentral authority Highest bidder L ESSON 14 – T HE E CONOMIC S YSTEM OF M EDIEVAL E UROPE F OCUS M IDDLE S CHOOL W ORLD H ISTORY © C OUNCIL FOR E CONOMIC E DUCATION, N EW Y ORK, NY