Feudal society was organized in a strict hierarchy. At the top was the king, followed by nobles who were granted land from the king, known as fiefs. Nobles gave parts of their fiefs to vassals, who pledged loyalty and service, such as providing knights. Peasants lived on the land and worked for the lord, either as freemen or serfs. Serfs had fewer rights and owed much of their work and crops as rent, while freemen had more freedom. Society was also divided into clergy like bishops and monks, and the laity like nobles and peasants. Knights trained from a young age to serve their lord through combat. Castles provided protection for lords and

1. Unit 2 Feudal Society

2. Vocabulary
Serf
Vassal
Fief
Demesne
Tenure
Knight
Tournament
Page
Squire
Nun
Bishop
Priest
Abbot
Shell
Sword
Helm
Tithe
Culture
Harvest

3. The Vikings came from
Scandinavia. They conquered
the British Isles, northern
France and southern Italy, and
they founded kingdoms.

4. Journey to Normandy

5. Preparation of a feast

6. The Battle of Hastings

8. 2 The feudal society and its origins
The word Feudalism comes from feud (or fief).
This is the extension of land which belonged to
a king or a noble (the feudal lord), who could
cede it to another less powerful noble who
then became his vassal. During a
commendation ceremony the vassal swore
loyalty to his lord. He then owed him advice,
military service and sometimes financial aid.
The vassals could become lord. At the top of
the feudal social pyramid, there was the king,
considered primus inter pares (first among
equals)

9. The basic unit of land holding was the manor (or seignury). A lord could hold one many
manors. The land of the manor was divided into the demesne, held by the lord for his
own use, and the tenures held by the peasants in return for rents or feudal duties. To
maintain order and to defend themselves from enemies, lords relied on the military
service of their vassals.
toll
village
The Fief
forest
crops
mill
lord’s castle
village

10. True or false? Correct the false information
A fief or manor was a castle
Everything grown on a demesne belonged to the lord.
The lord gave the land to the peasants so that they could grow their own food.
The lords allowed merchants to cross their land and bridges free of charge

11. Match the words and the definitions
Serf fief vassal
a. Land granted to a noble by the king or a
higher noble.
b. A person who received land from the king or
a higher noble in return for homage and
allegiance.
c. A member of the lowest feudal class obliged
to work for a noble.

12. LORD
VASSAL
economic aid
counsel
military
protection
legal
defence
sustenance
military
aid

13. crown
royal orb
royal sceptre
Royal symbols

14. Noblewomen
The most important function of
noblewomen was to marry and
have children. Marriage was
arranged by parents.
Noblewomen organised the
servants, educated children and
did sewing and weaving.
Women who did not marry went
into convents

15. Feudal society was divided into three orders:
Nobles or lords: these were privileged members
of society. They controlled the lands. They were
the knights and their families. Their duty was to
defend the population. They fought on
horseback, and their weapons were the lance,
the shield and the mace.
Nobles sons started their military training when
they were eight years old. They served as pages
to an important noble and learned to fight. At the
age of fifteen, they became squires and served a
knight. If they proved their worth, about five
years later they were made knights at a special
ceremony

16. A knight’s armour

17. Who had a better life, noblemen or noblewomen? Why?

18. The clergy.
The Pope in Rome was the head of the Church
and he had great influence, and he could
excommunicate a king. Below the Pope the
Church was divided into two groups:
- the secular clergy ( bishops, priests,…) who
lived in the secular world and ministered to
ordinary people.
- the regular clergy ( abbots, monks,…) who
lived in communities in monasteries or abbeys
and followed the rules of a religious order.
Nuns and monks lived in convents and
monasteries. They spent most of their time in
prayer and meditation.
They also worked in the garden and looked
after the poor and sick. Some monks worked in
the library, where they copied manuscripts by
hand.
Pope
SECULAR CLERGY
REGULAR CLERGY
bishops abbots
priests superiors of convents
and monasteries
friars, monks and nuns

19. refectory:
dining room
church
cloister
chapter house:
a meeting room
library
guest house
kitchen storeroom
dormitory
garden
infirmary

21. Monks copied
manuscripts
by hand. A monk might copy two
or three books a year.

22. smithy well tower
parapet
moat
barbican
courtyard
battlements
wall
drawbridge
tower of homage
walk

23. Peñafiel castle, Valladolid

24. Santa Catalina castle, Jaén

25. Activity: Name the parts of a castle

26. Peasants: they made up 90 percent of
society. They often lived on the manor.
They could be free (villain or freemen) or
not (serf).
Serf: had a very hard life, they could not leave
the fief or get married without permission.
They worked in the tenures, paid rent, worked
for free on the land ( labour or corvées). They
had to pay the lords to use the bakery oven,
the mill, the bridge or the wine press. They
practised two-field crop rotation and used
rudimentary tools to farm.
Freemen: They could leave the fief and worked
on the lord’s land and paid rent but they kept
some of the harvest. They paid a tithe of the
harvest to the Church

28. 1. forest 2. Lord’s castle 3. crops 4. mill
5. church 6. house 7. tolls

29. vegetable
plot
haystack
They fished
and sometimes
ate fish.
People and animals
lived in the house.

30. Serfs or freemen? Read the statements and
decided who they refer to
They could not get married without
permission__________
They could make personal
decisions___________
They owed a tithe to the
Church_____________
They were not paid for their work__________
They could leave the fief__________________
Freeman
Serfs

31. The End
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