1) The document provides an overview of life during the Middle Ages in Europe under the feudal system. Peasants lived and worked on manors, while towns offered more freedom but were overcrowded. 2) Events like the Black Death and Hundred Years War weakened the feudal system by reducing populations and increasing taxes. This led peasants to gain more freedom and a market economy to emerge. 3) Attitudes were changing with the growth of towns and trade, as people grew less devoted to religion and more interested in worldly matters. This set the stage for the Renaissance.

1. Renaissance
Chapter One:
Times of Change

2. Middle Ages
• Most of Europe was organized in a system
called feudalism
• Feudalism was set up in a hierarchy
• Whatever level of the feudalism hierarchy
you were born in is the level you would die
in (if born into peasantry, you would live
and die as a peasant)
• Feudalism was based on land, loyalty, and
duty

3. Feudalism – Knights and Nobles
• In order for nobles or knights to obtain
land they would have to swear oaths of
allegiance (loyalty to the king)
– Pieces of land were referred to as manors or
fiefs

4. Feudalism – Barons and Bishops
• Barons and Bishops had the same
amount of power
• Bishops were given land from the crown
• Over time the church became a very large
landowner
• This led to the church being very important
to the people of medieval times

5. Country Life
• Most people in the middle ages were peasants
• Peasants lived in rural villages that were located
on a manor
• Peasants worked cooperatively helping each
other do various tasks (like plowing and haying)
• In exchange for use of the land the peasants
had to pay the nobles a portion of what they
produced
• On top of paying them for the land, they were
also expected to build roads, clear forests, and
do any other work that the lord ordered.

6. • Peasants were uneducated
• Some peasants were known as freemen
who rented land from the lord or worked
for pay.
• Most peasants were serfs
• Serfs were not allowed to leave the manor
without permission

7. Town Life
• Most towns were located near a castle, palace,
or a large monastery
• Peasants would build stone walls around their
town to protect them from rival cities and lords
• Towns were overcrowded and dirty, but provided
a chance for freedom and new opportunities
– Freedoms included: doing whatever they wished,
marrying whoever they wanted, and being free to
make money

8. Towns
• Guilds controlled the prices of goods, set quality
standards, and decided who would be allowed to
train or apprentice for certain trades
• Guilds also took care of family members if an
accident occurred
• In order to open your own shop you would have
to become a master, but first you would have to
train to become a journeyman to get admitted
into the guild. From there you would work to
become a master

9. Challenging the Feudal System
• Feudal system remained strong for hundreds of
years
• In 1337 war broke out between England and
France
• This war was called “The Hundred Year War”
• This war caused the peasants to revolt because
they were the ones who had to pay for it
– War is expensive so what the crown did to pay for the
war was raise the taxes that the peasants paid
• Peasants banded together and killed many
nobles and burned manor houses

10. The Black Death
• The black death was the next blow to the
feudal system
• Millions of Europeans died between 1346
and 1350
• Outbreaks of the plague continued for the
next several hundred years
• This caused labour shortages on the
manor and many feudal estates went
bankrupt

11. The Black Death
• Nobles began renting and selling land to
the serfs
• Serfs were released from their obligation
to their lords
• All of this came about because the
reduced labour force
• Serfs were able to leave one lord to go
work for another…we start to see a
competitive market place for workers

12. A tidbit about clocks
• People normally told time by using sun
dials, water clocks, and hourglasses.
• People started to become more
dependent on the time so in the
early 1300s mechanical clocks
were developed

13. Wealth
• With the rise of towns, society became less rigid
• People were now able to move up from one social
level to another
• A new structure began to emerge
• Power was now based on money, not ownership of
land
• People were more interested in material position
and began displaying their wealth through the
clothing they wore, decorations, furniture, and food
• Sumptuary Laws were introduced because of the
new found wealth

14. Sumptuary Laws
• Sumptuary laws were put in place to
control consumption (how people spent
their money)
• This restricted what people of different
classes could wear

15. Society Based on Religion
• Religion was a central part of people’s
lives
• Worldview was shaped by the Christian
church
• Because life was filled with sickness,
famine, and war, the hope of a better life
after death was important (suffer today,
paradise tomorrow)

16. The Church Hierarchy
Pope
Archbishop
Bishops
Priests
Parishioners

17. The Church Community
• Every group in the church hierarchy had the duty
to be obedient to the group above it and to
provide services to the group below
• Members of the congregation were expected to
pay the church a tithe (a portion of their crops or
earnings)
• During the middles ages thousands of churches
were built
– Between the years 900 A.D. and 1000 A.D. over 1500
churches were built just in France
• Monks and nuns were well educated

18. Changing Attitudes Towards
Religion
• Black Death made people question faith
• Everyone was affected, even the church
• No one was safe
• People felt that God had abandoned them
because their prayers were unanswered
and people kept dying
• People also questioned the wealth of the
church
• A big change was occuring

19. A New Age
• The emergence of busy towns and a merchant
class meant that society was less rigidly
organized.
• Worldly pleasure became more important
• What came next was called the “Renaissance”
• This term was coined by French historian Jules
Michelet
• Renaissance was the rebirth of classical
knowledge and learning
• The Renaissance movement began in Italy and
spread through Europe