1. Chapter 15 Medieval Europe
Section 2
Feudalism

2. I. What Is Feudalism (pgs. 522 – 531)
Nobles were often given land by kings to fight for them.
When invaders spread through Europe, peasants looked to nobles instead of the king for protection.
During the A.D. 800s this shift of power
from kings to nobles led to a new
social and political order
called feudalism.

3. Under the system of feudalism, landowning nobles governed and protected the people in return for services, such as serving as a soldier or farming the nobles’ lands.
Europe divided into thousands of feudal territories with the noble’s castle, or fortress, at the center.

4. The Role of Vassals and Knights
Nobles were both lords and vassals (va*suhl).
A vassal was a noble who served a lord of a higher rank in return for land.
The land granted to a vassal was called a fief (feef).
Knights were vassals who
fought in war on horseback.
They wore coats of armor
called mail and carried
swords and shields.

5. What Was a Manorial System?
Fiefs were called manors.
Lords ruled manors, and peasants farmed the land.
Some peasants were free, but most were serfs; peasant laborers bound by law to the lands of a noble.

6. How Did Farming Improve?
New technology improved farming in the Middle Ages.
The wheeled plow, the horse collar, water and wind-powered mills, and crop rotation helped farmers produce more food.

7. II. Life in Feudal Europe
(pgs )

8. How Did Nobles Live?
Knights followed rules called the code of chivalry.
The code required knights to:
Be brave
Obey their lords
Show respect to women of noble
birth
Honor and help the church
Be honest
Fight fairly with enemies

9. * A castle was the center of the manor. Castles had two parts:
1) a human-made or naturally steep hill called a motte (maht)
2) an open space called a bailey next to the motte
The central building of a castle called a keep, was built on the motte.
Castles were built to withstand attack and were often built on high ground and surrounded by moats.

11. What Was Peasant Life Like?
Peasants lived in simple cottages with walls of plastered clay and thatched roofs.
Peasants worked hard in the fields year-round, but did not work on Catholic feast days (about 50 a year).
Peasant women had to work in the fields and raise children.
Bread was the basic staple peasant diet, along with vegetables, milk, nuts, and fruit.

12. III. Trade and Cities (pgs. 528-531)
Increased trade led to the growth of towns and cities.
Northern European merchants traded with Asian merchants in trade fairs.
During the early Middle Ages, people bartered, or traded for goods with other goods until the demand for gold and silver increased.

13. How Were Cities Governed?
Often, towns were under the control of the lords.
In exchange for taxes, the lords granted townspeople basic rights, such as the freedom to buy and sell property and to serve in the army.
Eventually, towns set up their own governments, with elected members of city council.
Members of wealthy families were usually able to control the elections.

14. Crafts and Guilds
Increased trade and manufacturing led to the organization of guilds (gihldz), or business groups.
The rise of towns and guilds created a new middle class in medieval Europe.
A child of 10 could become an apprentice.
An apprentice learned a trade from a master craftsperson and
receive room and
board, but no wages.

15. After 5-7 years, an apprentice became a journeyman and worked for wages.
To become a master, a journeyman had to produce a masterpiece, or an outstanding example of the craft.

16. What Was City Life Like?
Medieval cities contained crowded, wooden houses on narrow, winding streets.
Cities were often dirty, smelly, and polluted.
Women in cities prepared meals, raised children, managed their household’s money, and often helped husbands with their trade.
Some women developed their
own trades, especially if they
were a widow of a master
craftsmen.