1. Feudalism and the Manor Economy 7.2

2. Learning Targets  Students will understand the relationship between lords and vassals.  Students will understand how warfare was central to life in the Middle Ages.  Students will understand how the manor system works.

3. Feudalism  Loosely organized system of rule in which powerful local lords divided their landholdings among lesser lords  Why would these powerful lords willingly give up their land?  The lesser lords, or vassals, pledged service and loyalty in exchange for the land  And…40 days of military service a year

4. Basics of Relationship  Land in exchange for loyalty and military service  Known as the feudal contract

5. Fief  A fief is a plot of land, known as an estate Granted to vassals/lesser lords  Could be just a few acres, or hundreds of square miles  Could include towns

6. Complex Relationships  Monarchs (kings) at the top  Dukes and counts (lords)  Vassals / Lesser Lords  Some vassals had their own vassals (confused yet?)  A same man could be a vassal and a lord

7. Knights and Nobles

8. Life of a Knight (noble)  Boys were taken away at the age of 7 to train  Must learn to ride and fight  Also learned to keep his armor and weapons in good condition  Had to protect Noblewomen and peasants

9. No laziness allowed  Very strict discipline  Trainees would be hit, or even severely beaten

10. “Graduation”  When training was finished, the youth would be dubbed a knight

11. Tournaments  When warfare decreased, tournaments or mock battles became popular  Very dangerous, would hold captured knights for ransom

12. Castles and Defense

13. Castles  Castles were a necessity for protection  High walls, towers, and drawbridges  Made use of moats

14. Castle with Moat

15. Why Were Moats Important?  Attackers would form a blockade and try to starve them out, or they would try to tunnel under the walls

16. Noblewomen  Took over duties while men were away, “Lady of the Manor”  Eleanor of Acquitane, would become Queen of France and England (page 222)  Rights were restricted, land would pass to eldest son  Girls were sent away for training too, to spin and weave

17. Chivalry

18.  Brave, Loyal, Truth  Would not attack until opponent put on armor  Applied to knights only, not commoners

19. Troubadours (romance & reality)  Praised the beauty and perfection of women and romance with knights  Wrote songs and poems (became the basis of epics & poems)  Set a standard for knights they were expected to live up to

20. Peasants/Manor Life  The Manor was the lord’s estate and the heart of the feudal system  Serfs were peasants who were bound to the land  They were not technically slaves because they could not be bought or sold  They were not free though either

21. Peasants Gave  Peasants worked the land  Repaired roads and bridges  Asked permission to marry  Made payments at Christmas and Easter

22. Peasants Received  Received farmland for themselves  Were entitled to protection from warfare  Could not be forced off land  Were essentially guaranteed food, housing, and land

23. Peasant Life  Very hard and rough life  Worked sunup to sundown  Rarely ate meat  bread, cabbage, onions, peas, turnips  Couldn’t hunt wild meat—severely punished  Few would live beyond the age of 35 due to disease