1. The document provides information about feudalism in medieval Europe between the 9th-15th centuries. It describes the political, economic, and social system that was characterized by relationships of dependence. 2. Kings lost political power as feudal monarchies developed. Society was stratified with nobles, clergy, and peasants. Nobles protected lands in exchange for grants of fiefs from kings. Peasants farmed fiefs in exchange for protection from nobles. 3. Life for different classes was explored. Nobles lived in castles and were trained for battle. Clergy lived in monasteries and had significant political, economic, and social influence. Peasants had difficult lives farming with

1. Unit 3
IES Camilo José Cela
Teacher: Rocío Bautista

2. VIDEO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCPp7XWZfHo

3. FEUDALISM:
political, economic & social system
characteristic of Western Europe
between 9th – 15th centuries.
MAIN CHARACTERISTICS:
 Loss of political power by the kings (feudal monarchies)
 Agrarian economy
 Society based on relationships of dependence
 Enormous influence of the church (theocentric society).
 Poor culture and scarce artistic achievements, until
Romanesque art appear.

4. ORIGINS OF FEUDALISM:
It began as a consequence of the INSTABILITY that
suffered Europe after the death of Charlemagne (814)
 Fights between successors of Charlemagne
 Invasions of
a) Vikings (normans)
b) Muslims
c) Others: Bulgarians, Hungarians, Slavs.
Facing this situation, kings were incapable of protecting their
territory because they didn’t have money to pay for a
professional army…
WHAT COULD THEY DO??!

6. … To face this situation…
- kings asked nobles to protect them  in exchange of giving
them land (fiefs).
- peasants also asked nobles to protect them  in exchange
of giving them their owned land & working for them.
NOBLES CONCENTRATED LARGE AREAS OF LAND,
AND MOST OF THE POPULATION (peasants) WERE
SUBORDINATED TO THEM

7. FEUDAL MONARCHIES
Feudal Europe was divided into several kingdoms ruled by kings who’s
power was considered to come from God. Therefore, in theory their power
was unlimited. However, in practice the nobility & the clergy had huge
power because they had a lot of independence inside their fiefs.
Moreover, the king governed with the help of the Royal Council (Curia
Regis): an assembly of high nobles & clerics.

8. FEUDAL ECONOMY
 2 parts:
- Demesne  lord
- Holdings  peasants
 Self-sufficient: fiefs
produced everything they
needed (food &
manufactured products).
Therefore, there was very
little trade.
FIEF (manor, fiefdom): large territories granted by the king (or a high
noble) to a noble or to the clergy in exchenge for their services.

10. Production in medieval fiefs was low because of:
Rudimentary tools
Biennial crop rotation system: half of the fields were left fallow to
enable them to recover (so the soil wouldn’t be overused).
ROMAN PLOUGH
SICKLE
SCYTHE
TWO-FIELD CROP
ROTATION

11. FEUDAL SOCIETY
It was a stratified society:
 Different social groups (estates) determined by birth
(except the clergy).

12.  Privileged groups VS non-privileged groups
NOBLES & CLERGY
- Special laws
- No taxes
- Didn't work
PEASANTS
(commoners)

13.  Each social group had a specific function:
NOBLES
CLERGY
PEASANTS

14.  Dependent relationships: there were bonds of dependence
through all ranks of society

15. LORD-VASSAL
RELATIONSHIP
(vassal-lord)
Pact between two
nobles, or between the
king and a noble.
•lord  vassal land (fief)
•vassal  lord military
aid (protection)

17. SERVITUDE RELATIONSHIP
(serf-lord)
Pact between a
peasant & a noble.
•lord  serf protection &
permission to work the
land
•serf  lord land, work
for him, part of the
harvests & taxes

18. HOW NOBLES LIVED

19. NOBLES
Small social group (<10%)
2 types:
High nobility:
 Direct vassals of the kings.
 Dukes, marquises, counts.
Low nobility:
 Vassals of other nobles.
 Knights.

20.  6 years old: pages at the castle of
another lord/king. Learn rules of court-
life.
 21 years old: become a knight
(knighting ceremony or accolade).
 In times of war  served their lord with their
troops.
 In times of peace  attended tournaments,
trained for war,…
 Noblemen: their military education began as children:
The
accolade
 14 years old: squires of another knight.
Accompany him to tournaments &
battles, carry his shield, take care of his
weapons & horse.

21. Tournaments were mock
battles for knights to
practice their military
skills

22. In the accolade (ceremony to
become a knight) the future
knight promised to accomplish the
code of chivalry.

23. Noblewomen:
 Married the man chosen by their parents.
 Tasks: bring up children, supervise servants, pray,
needlework.

24. Medieval Castles
Home of the lords

25. IN WHAT PART OF
A FIEF DID THE
LORD LIVED?

26. VIDEO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_w4FGgOVsM

27. Castles  where the nobles
lived.
 defensive fortresses
where the people
could take refuge if
attacked.
 usually built in an
elevated area in the
center of the fief.

28. The Walled Area
On top of the thick castle walls there was
a walkway. Battlements protected
the walkways, like a shield, so that soldiers
could move around the fortress during
battle. Some battlements had arrowslits
or gaps where arrows could be fired.
Plans for battle were developed and
directed from the defensive towers.

29. A deep moat surrounds the castle walls to provide extra
protection.
The Walled Area

30. You could only enter the castle if the drawbridge was
lowered and the portcullis was raised.
The Walled Area

31. Inside the castle
The keep (tower of homage) was
the large tower where the lord and his
family lived. On one floor of the keep
was the great hall. The most important
events took place there; it was where
the lord celebrated banquets, where his
vassals came to pay their taxes, and
where he made legal decisions.

32. Activities  On your castle
diagram label & define
the following terms:
 moat
 the keep (tower of
homage)
 defensive towers
 Walkway (chemin de
ronde)
 battlements
 arrowslits
 drawbridge
 portcullis
 Activity 1 (p.53)

33. HOW CLERICS LIVED

34. TYPES OF CLERGY
SECULAR CLERGY
Lived among the rest of
the population:
- Bishops (high clergy)
- Priests (low clergy)
All men
REGULAR CLERGY
Lived in monasteries:
- abbots & abbesses (high clergy)
- monks & nuns (low clergy)
Different monastic orders had
different rules that monks had to
obey:
- Vows of poverty, obedience & celibacy.
- “Ora et labora”  life dedicated to
prayer & work.

35. Benedictine order
 Founded in the 6th Century by the
Italian monk St. Benedict of Nursia.
 Monastic communities that
followed the Rule of Saint Benedict.
•Chapter 6: recommends moderation in the use of speech, but does not enjoin strict
silence, nor prohibit profitable or necessary conversation.
•Chapter 22: regulates the dormitory. Each monk is to have a separate bed and is to
sleep in his habit, so as to be ready to rise without delay for early Vigils; a light shall
burn in the dormitory throughout the night.
•Chapters 39 & 40: regulate the quantity and quality of the food. Two meals a day are
allowed, with two cooked dishes at each. Each monk is allowed a pound of bread and a
glass of wine. The meat of four-footed animals is prohibited except for the sick and
the weak.

36. Scriptorium
Hospice
Church
Cloister
Refectory
Kitchen
Monk’s cells
Medieval
monasteries
Chapter house
• Built in the countryside.
• Place where the regular clergy lived.

38. Church: building where the monks participated in the
divine offices.

39. Hospice: the building where the monks offered
accommodation to pilgrims.

40. Cloister: a square open courtyard surrounded by covered
galleries with open arcades on the inner side. From Latin
“claustrum” which means “closed”. It was where the monks
walked, meditated, talked to each other.

41. Scriptorium: the room where the monks read, studied
and illustrated sacred manuscripts.

42. VIDEO https://youtu.be/nuNfdHNTv9o

43. Refectory: the dining room where the monks ate together
at large tables. They ate in silence while a monk read from
texts from the Bible aloud.

44. Chapter house: the building where the daily meetings of
the community took place, presided over by the abbot.

45. ROLE OF THE
CHURCH
POLITICALLY
Advised kings.
Tried to reduce the
violence through
the:
- Peace of God:
condemned
attacks to
defenseless places
& people.
- Truce of God:
condemned
attacks on Sundays
& other religious
days.
ECONOMICALLY
Had large fiefs.
Collected taxes
from peasants: the
tithe (10% annual
income)
Received donations
in exchange for
prayers.
SOCIALLY
Supervised the
behaviour of the
population (they
had to attend mass,
confess, follow the
Church’s
commands)
Helped the poor,
sick, orphans…
Provided resting
place for pilgrims
Regulated working
time (bells)
CULTURALLY
Clergy was the most
educated class
(only ones who
could read & write)
Produced & copy
manuscripts in
monasteries.
Financed works of
art.
Medieval society was THEOCENTRIC:
God was the focal point of attention.
That’s why the church had a great
influence in every aspect of life.

46. HOW PEASANTS LIVED

47. PEASANTS
 Most of the population (around 90%).
 2 types:
 Free peasants (villeins): very few.
 own land
 could leave the fief
 Serfs:
 Forced to work on a plot of land he doesn’t
own
 Couldn’t leave the fief  they were tied to the
land (if the lord changes, the boss changes)
 Their children inherited their condition & duties.
 Couldn’t be killed, beaten, nor sold as slaves.

48. Serf’s Oath of Fealty
“By the Lord before whom this sanctuary is holy,
I will to _______ be true and faithful, and love all which he
loves and shun all which he shuns, according to the laws of
God and the order of the world. Nor will I ever with will or
action, through word or deed, do anything which is unpleasing
to him, on condition that he will hold to me as I shall deserve
it, and that he will perform everything as it was in our
agreement when I submitted myself to him and chose his
will.”

49. Life of a Medieval Peasant
“Nasty, brutish and short” -- Thomas Hobbes
 03:00: Wake up. Eat breakfast
(porridge) and clean up the hut
 Dawn: Begin work in the fields
(holdings) and the lord’s fields
(demesne
 Dusk: Work ends
 Evening: Eat dinner (bread, cabbage
and meat on special days)
 Night: Sleep (whole family in one
room)

50. Daily Duties of a Serf
 Reap - To cut crops for harvest with a scythe,
sickle, or reaper.
 Plough - To break and turn over
earth with a plough to form a
furrow
 Sow - The
process of
planting
seeds.

51. All the family worked in the field!!!
 Children & elderly: easier jobs:
 Carrying wood
 Taking care of the animals
 Men: hardest jobs:
 Ploughing
 Reaping
 Cutting trees
 Women: helped with some jobs
 Sowing (sembrar)
 Harvesting
 Domestic tasks
 Taking care of children
 Servants at the castle of the lord
 Washerwomen

52. Tools
 Tools were very rudimentary. They were made of cheap wood
and iron.
Scythe Sickle Hoe

53. VIDEO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsfIHiBB6xE

54. The Church for Peasants
 Peasants had a mandatory
tithe tax to the church (10%
of all income) This could be
paid in money or in goods.
 The church asked
“volunteers” to work the
church’s land for free. (No
one dared to say no.)
 Sundays were a day off. Also,
festivals and religious
holidays meant time off
work.

55. More fun facts
Peasant children
never attended
school, and they
began to work as
soon as they could.
Most children died before they
reached six months (often not
named until then)
Lice and fleas were very common.
A family’s farm animals would be
brought in the house with them to sleep
at night, to prevent theft.
Peasant children
inherited their
parents’ status (serf,
slave or free)
The same river that was used for
drinking/cooking water was also
used for toilets. Disease was
common.
Peasants never took full baths.
They would wash their hands
and face, that´s it.

56. VIDEO
1. Explain the difference
between serfs, slaves, and
free peasants.
2. Why were serfs important
to Medieval society?
3. What were some tools that
serfs used? How are they
different than what
farmers use today?
4. What was the role of
women and children?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jN1GaI8KWHo