2. • For safety and for defense, people in the Middle Ages
formed small communities around a central lord or
master. Most people lived on a manor, which consisted of
the castle, the church, the village, and the surrounding
farm land. These manors were isolated, with occasional
visitors. In this "feudal" system, the king awarded land
grants or "fiefs" to his most important nobles, his
barons, and his bishops, in return for their contribution of
soldiers for the king's armies. At the lowest echelon of
society were the Serfs. In exchange for living and
working on his land, the lord offered his peasants
protection.
3. • The European Feudal System is basically a legal and military
obligation to the King to always conquer or defend his
kingdom.
• The King granted large amounts of land called a “fief” to
Barons. In return, the Lords, and Barons pledged military
support to the King in the forms of Knights, who happened to
have land granted to them by the Lords, and Barons. Then
there were the commoners, who were able to live on the
Knights Land, or the Lords or Barons land as long as they
farmed it, and took care of it. The lowest on the hierarchy list
were serfs.
• In return for the serfs willing to farm the land (and pay
taxes), they were offered protection and legal justice.
4. • Few kings had enough wealth to keep a standing army
and depended on their barons to provide knights and
soldiers. Kings had to work hard however to keep the
barons under control. In many cases, especially in
France and Germany, the barons grew very powerful and
governed their fiefs as independent states.
5. • Barons were the most powerful and wealthy
noblemen, who received their fiefs directly from the king.
When William of Normandy conquered England in
1066, he had about 120 barons. Each provided the king
with a possible army of 5,000 men.
6. • Lords ruled over fiefs or manors, renting out most of the
land to the peasants who worked for them. They were
also the warriors of medieval society. As trained
knights, they were bound by oath to serve the great
nobles who granted them their fiefs, and could be called
to battle at any time.
7. • The peasants were at the
bottom of the feudal tree.
They were the workers
who farmed the land to
provide food for everyone
else. Most peasants
worked for a lord who let
them farm a piece of land
for themselves in return for
their labor.
8. Serf
• Serfs were pretty much
the exact same as the
peasants. The only
difference between the
two classes was that serfs
weren’t earning their own
living and they weren’t
free. Serfs were pretty
much slaves owned by
the land, and in exchange
for their work they were
offered protections by
their lords.
