Feudalism developed in Medieval Europe as a result of the lack of strong central governments after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Kings granted land to vassals in exchange for their loyalty and military service. These vassals then granted land to their own vassals, creating a hierarchy with the king at the top. Peasants lived and worked on the land but were bound to the lord, either as freemen who paid taxes or serfs owned by the lord. The feudal system organized Medieval society into estates with different rights and roles. Nobles and clergy were privileged while peasants and workers formed the non-privileged estates. Towns and trade grew, leading to the rise of craft

1. THE MIDDLE AGES. FEUDALISM
María Jesús Campos
learningfromhistory.wikispaces.com

2. FEUDALISM
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire there was
no central government in Europe. During the Middle
Ages different kingdoms and empires fought with
each other to control the territory.
After the Carolingian Empire disappeared, Europe
was again in constant fight.

3.  People felt a lack of security. They couldn’t
travel from one place to another, trading
routes were interrupted and sometimes
when territories were invaded, people were
in danger even in their own houses.

4.  However, the kings had
no professional armies
to protect the land and
the people.
 So, peasants turned to
the nobles for
protection as nobles
were able to pay their
own soldiers.
 In exchange for
protection, peasants
had to work for the
nobles and submit to
their authority.
Sometimes they also
gave them their lands.

5.  This created a new
social system which
is called Feudalism.
 Feudalism was a
social system
developed during the
Middle Ages. It was
based on ties of
loyalty and duty
between the lord and
his vassals.

6.  In the feudal system,
all the land in the
kingdom belonged to
the king. But as he
didn’t have enough
soldiers to protect it,
the king kept a quarter
of the land for his own
use and gave the rest
to his followers or
vassals (usually
noblemen) for them to
protect the territory
and its inhabitants.

7.  The king gave the land
or fief to his vassal at
a special public
ceremony. The vassal
knelt before the king
and promised to be
loyal to him, to supply
soldiers to protect him,
the land and its
inhabitants.
 If the vassal was not
faithful to his promise
the king could take the
fief back again.

8.  When a king’s vassal
also called lord, got
land from the king he
also divided it among
his own followers, his
vassals. They were
called knights, as
they were soldiers
who rode into battle
on horse back.
 The knight promised
to fight for the lord
and protect his own
territory and
inhabitants.

9.  Kings, lords and
knights got their power
from the land but they
did not farm it. This
work was done by the
peasants.
 Peasants worked from
dawn to dusk and had
to pay heavy taxes to
the king, to the lord
and to the Church.
 Most of them could not
leave the fief and had

10. King
Lords (nobles,
important clergy)
They were the
king’s vassals
Knight’s
They were the lord’s
vassals
Workers: mainly peasants
They farmed the land and produced
goods

11. THE FIEF: THE MANORIAL SYSTEM
 A fief or manor was the
land given by the king to
a lord or by a lord to a
knight for him to protect
it and its inhabitants.
 Each fief had:
 A castle
 A village
 The demesne
 Plots of land
 Forests
 Mill, oven, bridges, roads,
etc.

13.  The castle, in which
the lord lived and
which sheltered
peasants when the fief
was under attack.
 The village, in which
some peasants lived.
 The demesne was the
part of the land that the
lord kept for himself to
obtain his own
nourishment. It was
farm by his serfs who
gave all the production
to the lord.

14.  The rest of the land
was divided into plots
of land that were
rented to the peasants
so that they could
grow their own food.
The rent was paid in
money, products or
work on the demesne.
 Forests belonged to
the lord who decided
when peasants could
hunt or collect
firewood there.

15.  The mill, the oven, the roads, bridges, etc also
belonged to the lord and peasants had to pay
taxes or tolls to use them.
 There were no shops in the village becauses
peasants grew their own food and made the
goods they needed.
 The lord administered justice and collected
taxes.

16. MEDIEVAL SOCIETY
 Medieval society was divided into three groups
called estates:
 Clergy were the monks and priests that worked for the
Catholic Church. Their duty was to pray for the spiritual
salvation of the people. (oratores)
 Nobles were the lords, knights and their families. Their
duty was to protect the population and the land.
(bellatores)
 Workers were mainly peasants but also craftsmen and
merchants. Their duty was to produce the food and
goods needed by society.

17.  There were two types of
estates:
 Privileged estates that
comprised the clergy and the
nobles as their duties were
considered the most important
for society. Because of that,
they did not pay taxes or have
to do manual work, they could
not be tortured and they could
hold political power.
 Non privileged estates were
formed by the workers. They
had to pay taxes, do manual
work, they could be tortured
and could not hold political
power.
 Everybody was born into a estate,
except the clergy, and could not
change his or her estate.

18. Clergy
Nobles
Workers
(peasants,
craftsmen,
merchants)

19. THE NOBLES: NOBLEMEN AND NOBLEWOMEN
 Nobles were the most powerful
people during the Middle Ages.
 Their duty was to protect the
population and support the
king.
 Types of nobles:
 Some were very rich and owned
large fiefs.
 Others owned small fiefs or only
their horse and weapons as
knights.
 They followed the code of
chivalry, certain rules that
meant that a noble had to obey
his lord, show respect to
women of noble birth, honour
the Church and help people.

20.  The most important
function of noblewomen
was to marry and have
children to continue the
family line.
 Nevertheless, when the
nobleman went to war, the
noblewoman run the fief
and was in charge of its
government and
protection.
 Marriages were arranged
by parents. If a
noblewomen did not
marry, she usually entered

21.  Nobles lived in the castle.
 The castle was built to
withstand attack during
times of war.
 They were often
constructed on high ground
so that they could see if
somebody was coming.
 They were built of stone.
 They had different parts for
the people to live and
others to be used as
storerooms for animals,
tools and food.
 The castle had a big patio.
 If the fief was attacked,
peasants and serfs took
shelter in the castle.

22. The clergy
 In the Middle Ages, people
were very religious.
Everyone in Europe was a
Christian except for a small
number of Jewish people.
 The head of the Church was
the Pope. He lived in Rome
and ruled over the Papal
States on the Italian
Peninsula.
 The Pope had great
influence and could annoint
a king to make people
support him or he could
excommunicate a king,
thereby taking away the
people’s support.

23.  Below the Pope, in the different kingdoms, the Church was
divided into:
 The secular clergy
 The regular clergy
The
Pope
Secular Regular
Clergy Clergy
Bishop Abbot Abbesse
Priests Monks Nuns

24.  The secular clergy lived
between the people in the
villages and the fiefs.
 Their leaders were the
bishops who had special
churches called cathedrals.
They controlled a large area
called diocese that was
divided into parishes.
 A priest worked in each
parish. Priests were
important among peasants as
they baptized them, married
them, attended them when
they were sick and usually
they were the only persons
who could read or write.
 Peasants paid a tax to the
Church. It was called the
tithe as it represented a
tenth of their crops or income.

25.  The regular clergy were members
of religious orders. They were
Christians who went to lonely
places to pray to God, they didn’t
live among normal people.
 They lived in a monastery an
were called monks. If they
were women they lived in a
convent and were called nuns.
 Each monastery was ruled by
an abbot, each convent was
ruled by an abbesse.
 Monasteries owned their own
lands or fiefs where peasants
worked.
 Some religious orders were
closed so their members could
leave the convent or
monastery.

26.  The functions of monks
and nuns were:
 To pray for the spiritual
salvation of the people
 To educate noble boys and
girls
 To copy manuscripts on the
scriptorium to preserve
them.
 To prepare medicines using
herbs. Some convents and
monasteries acted as
hospitals and pharmacies.
 Sometimes travellers could
get a free night’s shelter in
a monastery.

27.  As peasants paid the
tithe to the Church,
some noblemen or
noblewomen would give
money or properties to
the Church after their
death, and some
monasteries and
convents had their own
lands or fiefs, the clergy
became very rich.

29. PEASANTS
 90% of the population was composed of peasants.
 Most lived on a fief and worked on the lord’s land.
 There were two types of peasants:
 Freemen owned the land they worked but had to pay
taxes to the lord and priest. They could leave the fief if
they wished and married anyone they chose.
 Serfs belonged to the lord. They could not leave the fief
or get married without his permission. They had to work
on the lord’s land without a salary and they had to pay
taxes to the lord and the priests.

30.  Peasants lived in small
villages.
 Their houses were made of
mud and wood and had only
one room. People and
animals shared the house.
 Peasants were self-
sufficient, they grew their
food, made their clothes and
furniture and built their
houses.
 Peasants worked year-round
from sunrise to sunset.
Peasants only took a break
from work and went to
church on Catholic feast
days.
 Peasantwomen and children
also worked in the fields.
Children didn’t go to school.
Most peasants couldn’t read
nor write.

32. MEDIEVAL CITIES AND ECONOMY
 After the fall of
the Roman Empire
many towns
disappeared,
however, around
the 11th century,
life became more
peaceful, trade
increased and
towns were
revived.

33. THE DEVELOPMENT OF TRADE AND BANKING
 Trade developed quickly
from the 12th century.
 Products were
transported by land,
river and sea.
 As trade developed,
money was needed so
banking techniques
changed and new
financial methods like
payment by credit were
developed.

34. THE DEVELOPMENT OF CITIES
 As trade developed, cities
began to grow. Some old
cities were revived while
new cities appeared as
well.
 Cities had markets where
the merchants went to sell
their goods.
 Lords did not have power
in the cities so many
peasants migrated there
to escape the lord’s
authority and to find a
new job.
 All the inhabitants of the
city were free.

35.  Most of the buildings were made of wood.
 Towns were very dirty. People threw rubbish
over the walls attracting rats. There were no
sewers and an open drain ran down the
middle of the street. People threw everything
into it.
 People walking by had to be careful that they
didn’t get something nasty on their heads.
 The drain ran into the river where the people
got their drinking water.

36.  People seldom washed and
usually had fleas. Many
suffered from skin diseases.
 During the 14th century a
terrible plague arrived in
Europe. It was called the
Black Death because
victims turned black and
died. It wiped out one-third
of the European population.
 People thought that the
Black Death was God’s
punishment for sin. Now we
know that it came from
fleas carried by the black
rat. Far more townspeople
died than peasants because
of the dirt of the towns.

37. CRAFTSMEN
 As the population grew,
there was a greater
demand for clothes and
goods so the number of
craftsmen increased.
 Craftsmen made their
products by hand. They
worked in small
workshops.
 Craftsmen of the same
profession often lived on
the same streets which
were named after their
trades.

38.  Craftsmen usually joined
a guild. The guild has
its own statute and
established:
 Its members’ rights and
obligations.
 The prices of the goods
 The quality and
materials to be used in
the products.
 Production
 The number of workers.
 Guilds also distributed
raw materials and
looked after its
members and their
families when somebody
died or could not work.

39.  Guilds established 3
categories of craftsmen:
 Mastercraftsmen owned
the workshop, the tools and
the raw materials. To become
a master one had to pass an
exam and produce a
masterpiece to prove to the
guild he was a skilled
craftsman.
 Journeymen were skilled
craftsmen who received
wages for their work.
 Apprentices were young
men who wanted to learn and
trade. They lived in their
master’s house and worked
for him for at least 7 years
without any payment.

40. Developed by María Jesús Campos
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