Feudal Europe was organized into a hierarchical feudal system following invasions in the 9th-10th centuries. Monarchs relied on nobles for protection and armies in exchange for land and power. Peasants pledged allegiance to nobles in exchange for protection and became serfs working the nobles' lands. Society was stratified with nobles and clergy owning most land and peasants working to support them. The system established relationships of loyalty between lords and vassals up to the king, though nobles often rebelled.

1. Feudal Europe
2nd
ESO
Maira Gil Camarón

2. How was medieval society organised?
A period of instability
9th
-10th
centuries: invasions in western Europe destroyed
villages, bridges and roads, sacked monasteries and terrorised
the populations: Vikings, Muslims and Hungarians

5. The monarchs were unable to
protect the people, collect taxes
or maintain a stable army 
they relied on the nobles in a
system of relationships called
vassalage
The peasants needed permanent
protection: they got it from
nobles with private armies. In
return for protection, the
peasants had to pay rent and
taxes, and work on the nobles’
land, and fell into serfdom.
This situation made the nobles
very powerful, even more than
the king

6. Vassalage, the basis of Feudalism
Although the nobles were often more powerful than the king
they still recognised the king as the ruler of the country and
they paid homage to him:
The homage: the ceremony in which a noble promised to be
loyal and obedient to the king or to a more powerful noble.
The person who promised to be loyal was called the vassal of
the other person. Sometimes kings paid homage to other
kings. In this case, they often paid a tax called a tribute. Even
alter had paid homage, nobles often rebelled against the king
The investiture: the king gave a fiefdom to a vassal
Many nobles became feudal lords and passed the position on
to their children  they could transfer part of his fiefdom to
lesser nobles (knights) so that they could govern them and
maintain a small army

7. A stratified society
Feudal society: unequal
At the top, the king, and their subjects were grouped into
estates  closed social groups into which people were born
and remained for life
Privileged: nobility and clergy (a minority). They owned
the most of the land and did not work or pay taxes
Non-privileged: peasants and artisans (the majority).
They had to work and support the other estates. They had no
rights and paid taxes to the lord and to their lords
Orders and their roles:
Nobles had to fight to protect the others
Clergy had to pray for the salvation of the others
Peasants had to work to provide food for the others

10. The feudal monarchy
Sanctity and heritage / The king’s powers
Feudal Europe was divided into numerous kingdoms and
independent states governed by sacred kings: a king was king by
the grace of God.
Their authority was (in theory) very broad: they led the army,
legislated and judged. But, in practice, they were merely the “first
among equals” because the great nobles and clergy acted with a
high degree of independence.
The kings governed with the help of the Curia Regis (or Royal
Council), an assembly of nobles and clergy who advised then on
major issues. In terms of administration, the kingdoms were divided
into counties ruled by counts, and duchies governed by dukes.

11. Kings and emperors
The kings were crowned by the bishops but the emperor was
crowned by the Pope  in the 10th
century, Otto I of Germany
(Holy Roman Empire) was crowned as emperor by the
Pope  European Christianity had two
representatives, the emperor to provide military
defence and the Pope to provide spiritual authority
The Holy Roman Empire continued for many centuries, but the
emperor’s authority and the title of emperor ended up
becoming an honorary title, with little real power.

12. The privileged: the Nobility
The nobility: Knights and Ladies
They had to fight to protect the others, so their most important activity was
training for battle taking part in joust and tournaments. The king could
summoned them to war and they had to go with their troops
They also went hunting on horseback and practised falconry
Ladies were responsible for the servants and domestic matters

15. The privileged: the clergy
Church regulation of social life
The church was the most important building during the
Feudalism  it marked the rhythm of the daily life, announced
mass, warning…
The Church organised the ceremonies in the life of the
humans (baptism, marriage, funeral) and festivities
(Christmas, Easter…)
Christians had certain religious obligations: pray every day,
go to mass on Sunday, fast during Lent… and they had to
practise charity and make a pilgrimage to holy sites (Rome,
Jerusalem, Compostela…)

16. A rich and influential
institution
The Church: the most influential
institution in Medieval Europe 
great riches and clergymen held
privileged positions and enjoyed
high standard of living
The Church owned land and
buildings (monasteries, convents,
churches) and received a tithe from
peasants living on its land and
donations from its parishioners
The Church helped the poor, cared
for the sick and taught in
monastery schools

17. The organisation of the Church
Clergy: men and women who dedicated their lives to the Church. At the top
was the Pope, who lived in Rome.
Secular clergy: priests and bishops who attended the believers in their
churches
Regular clergy: monks and nuns dedicated to prayer  monasteries in
the countryside or convents in cities
Not all members enjoyed the same standard of living:
High clergy (cardinals, bishops, abbots…) had the same privileges than
the nobles
Lower clergy (parish priests, monks…) lives similar lives to the peasants

19. A fiefdom: lord and peasants
Medieval Europe was an agrarian world where wealth was based
on land ownership  fiefdoms or manors were large territories
belonging to the king or granted by him to the nobility/clergy in
exchange for their services. They were not private property, they
were entailed property: they could be inherited by the lord’s
descendants but not sold.
Manors consisted of two parts:
The demesne or domain was the best land that the lord
reserved for himself. The castle and the communal pastures and
forest were located on this land
Dependent holdings: plots of land that the lord provided to
serfs or free peasants, and which they farmed and built their
houses on, in exchange for their labour and taxes

21. The lord lived from manorial rents
The land under the control of the lord: fiefdom. The lord
gave plots/land (holdings) to peasants in exchange for labour
and taxes (manorial rents)
The peasant had to work a period of time on the lord land’s
(personal services), give them part of the harvest and
contribute towards the maintenance of the castle and services.
They have to pay to use the oven, the mill, the blacksmith’s…
(monopoly rights)
In addition to his economic rights, the lords enjoyed
jurisdictional power and rights  the lord would issue
orders, impart justice, collect taxes…
The lord had complete authority over the fiefdom and had to
guarantee the protection of the peasants in case of war.

22. Peasants worked the land
Peasants: 90% of the population
Free peasants or villains  they owned their own lands
(allods) and were not legally bound to a lord. They had the
right to get married, leave the fiefdom, learn a trade…
Serfs  they worked the lord’s land and had no personal
freedom. They could not leave the fiefdom, get married or
leave inheritance without the permission of the lord
They all lived in small villages or on isolated farms and had the
right to collect firewood from the forest and graze their
livestock on the pastures

23. WORKING THE FIELDS
To avoid depleting the soil, peasants rotated their crops. First they used a
two-crop system, then a three-crop system. In both cases, part of the land
was left fallow:
First year: fertilisers were not available, so one plot of land was
left fallow for the soil to recover
Second year: the plot of fallow land was cultivated, while the
other was left to recover
The main crops were cereals, pulses, grapevines and olives. In
gardens, vegetables and fruit trees