The document discusses the feudal system that developed in Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It describes how the feudal system was based on hierarchies of land ownership and personal obligations. Lords granted land (fiefs) to vassals in exchange for military service and protection. In turn, peasants lived and worked on the manor lands in exchange for protection from their lord. While the manor provided necessities, peasants also faced high taxes and duties under the feudal system.

2. Before you leave class, you must
complete the following:
List one of each: What benefits do
you think a medieval manor
provided to the serfs who lived
there? What were the drawbacks

3.  Europeans developed feudalism, a
political and military system of
protective alliances and
relationships
 The rights and duties of feudal
relationships helped shape today’s
forms of representative government.

4.  After the treaty of Verdun, Charlemagne’s
three feuding grandsons broke the kingdom up
even further.
 Part of this territory also became a
battleground as new waves of invaders
attacked Europe.
 The political turmoil and constant warfare led
to the rise of feudalism- a military and political
system based on land ownership and personal
loyalty.

5.  lord
 fief
 vassal
 knight
 serf
 manor
 tithe

6. Why do these NFL teams take the names of
European invaders from 1000 years ago?

7.  Vikings set sail from
Scandinavia, a wintry,
wooded region in
Northern Europe.
 The Vikings are also
known as Norsemen.
 They took pride in
violent names like
Eric Bloodaxe and
Thorfinn Skullsplitter
Modern-day Scandinavia

8.  Tuesday is named for the Norse god Tyr,
the Norse equivalent of the Roman god
Mars, the Spanish word Martes is based on
Tyr as well.
 Wednesday is named for the Norse god
Woden.
 Thursday is named for the Norse god Thor
 Friday is named for the Norse goddess
Frigg.

9. A Viking ship, known
as a Prow, held 300
warriors who took turns
rowing the ships 72 oars

10.  Vikings were traders, farmers and outstanding
explorers. Leif Ericson likely reached North
America 500 years before Columbus
 As Vikings accepted Christianity, they stopped
raiding monasteries.
 A warming trend in Europe’s climate made
farming easier in Scandinavia.
 As agriculture increased, the seafaring life of a
Viking became less necessary.

11.  The Magyars are
a group of
nomadic peoples
who were superb
horseback riders.
The Magyars
swept across the
Danube and
invaded Western
Europe.
 The Magyars
captured people
to sell as slaves.
 They overran
Northern Italy
and reached as
far west as the
Rhineland and
Burgundy The Magyars came from present day Hungary.
The Hungarians today speak the language of
Magyar.

12.  Muslims controlled the
Mediterranean Sea and disrupted
trade.
 The Muslims plundered Europe
during the 800s and 900s.
 They attacked Atlantic and
Mediterranean coasts and as far
inland as Switzerland

13.  In 911 Rollo the
Viking and King
Charles the Simple of
France made peace.
 This marked the
beginning of the end
of the Viking
invasions in Western
Europe.

14.  Feudalism is based on mutual
obligations.
 In exchange for military protection,
a lord or landowner granted land
which was called a fief.
 The person receiving the fief was
called a vassal

15.  At the peak of the
pyramid is the King.
 The next step are the
vassals and church
officials
 They were followed by
knights, mounted
warriors who pledged
to defend their lord’s
land in exchange for
fiefs
 The peasants who
worked the fields were
at the bottom of the
pyramid

16.  In the feudal system, status defined
a person’s prestige and power.
 There were three groups
 Those who fought (nobles and
knights)
 Those who prayed (Church Officials)
 Those who worked (peasants)

17.  Serfs were people
who could not
lawfully leave the
place they were born.
 They were not slaves,
they could not be
bought or sold.
 The wealth of the
feudal lords came
from the labor of
peasants

18.  The manor was the
lord’s estate.
 The lord provided
the serfs with
housing and fields,
in return the serfs
worked the fields.
 Men and women
alike worked in the
fields.

19.  Peasants pay a high price for life on a manor
 They pay tax on all grain ground in the lord’s
mill.
 Peasants also paid a marriage tax.
 Peasant families had to pay a tax to the church
known as a tithe.
 A tithe represented one-tenth of their income