When Charlemagne's empire fell, Europe fragmented into feudal territories. Under feudalism, the king owned all land and granted fiefs to nobles in exchange for loyalty and military service. Nobles further divided their lands between knights who protected local peasants. Peasants were tied to the land and provided food, services, and labor up the feudal chain to support their lord and the king. Through this system of obligations and bonds of loyalty, feudalism organized Medieval European society and political order.

1. L I F E I N T H E M I D D L E A G E S
The Feudal Order

2. The Rise of Feudalism
 When Charlemagne died in 814 his empire was
divided into 3 kingdoms.
 During the 800’s and 900’s invaders from every
direction threatened the kingdoms of Europe (the
Vikings, the Muslims mainly)
 With the collapse of a strong central government,
local nobles became more important.
 By AD 1000, Europes Kingdoms were divided into
hundreds of Feudal territories.
 Feudalism is based on ties of loyalty and duty among
members of the nobility.

3. How Feudalism works
 The King owns all land within his kingdom.
 The King keeps some land for himself and then
divides the land among the Nobles (or Lords)
 The Nobles who receive land from the King swear
loyalty to the king and will give money to the King
and provide Knights for the Kings when he needs an
army.
 The land given to a Noble was called a Fief. The
center of the Fief was the Lords castle.
 Vassal: A lower ranking noble who serves another
(Lords were the vassals of the King)

4. How Feudalism works, Continued
 Nobles divided their land between lower nobles,
known as knights (so knights were the Lord’s
vassals)
 Knights swore loyalty to their Lord and were his
army/protector.
 The Knights protected the peasants/serfs that lived
on their land.
 The peasants provided the Knights with food and
services.
 The food and services that the peasants provided
were passed up the line to the Lord.

5. Peasants
 Peasants had no real rights and could not own
property.
 Peasants were tied to the land; even if the Lord
changed, the peasants stayed.
 They had to get their Lords permission to marry.
 They were not slaves, however; they could not be
sold, and their Lords were supposed to protect them.
 There were A FEW peasants who were free and
rented land from a Lord

6. A Few Notes
 The society was build on bonds of loyalty.
 Lords could take or give land as they saw fit.
 While Nobles (Lords or Knights) were away (which
was often), their wives controlled the land/manor.
 Manors usually consisted of the noble’s castle, the
surrounding fields, and a peasant village.