Preview

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The Feudal and Manorial Systems

• Preview
• Main Idea / Reading Focus
• The Feudal System
• Quick Facts Feudal Obligations
• The Manorial System
• Daily Life in the Middle Ages

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The Feudal and Manorial Systems
Main Idea In Europe during the Middle Ages, the
feudal and manorial systems governed life and
required people to perform certain duties and
obligations.

• Reading Focus
• What duties and obligations were central to the
  feudal system?
• How did the manorial system govern the medieval
  economy?
• What was daily life like for people on a manor?

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The Feudal System
Knights like William Marshal did not exist at the
beginning of the Middle Ages but began to emerge
as the period progressed.
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Fiefs and Vassals

• Knights were usually paid for their services with
  land
• Land given to knight for service was called a
  fief
• Anyone accepting fief was called a vassal
• Person from whom he accepted fief was his lord
• Historians call system of exchanging land for
  service the feudal system, or feudalism

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Feudal Obligations

• Oath of Fealty
• Lords, vassals in feudal system had duties to
  fulfill to one another
• Knights chief duty as vassal to provide military
  service to his lord
• Had to promise to remain loyal promise called
  oath of fealty

• Financial Obligations
• Knight had certain financial obligations to lord
• Knight obligated to pay ransom for lords release
  if captured in battle
• Gave money to lord on special occasions, such as
  knighting of son

• Lords Obligations
• Lord had to treat knights fairly, not demanding
  too much time, money
• Had to protect knight if attacked by enemies
• Had to act as judge in disputes between knights

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A Complicated System
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Summarize How did the feudal system work?
Answer(s) lord gave land to knight in return for
protection and loyalty
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The Manorial System
The feudal system was a political and social
system. A related system governed medieval
economics. This system was called the manorial
system because it was built around large estates
called manors.
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A Typical Manor

• Most of manors land occupied by fields for
  crops, pastures for animals
• Middle Ages farmers learned that leaving field
  empty for year improved soil
• In time, practice developed into three-field crop
  rotation system

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Analyze How did lords and peasants benefit from
the manorial system?
Answer(s) lords' farmlands were taken care of,
produced food peasants were provided protection
from invaders
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Daily Life in the Middle Ages

• Life in a Castle
• Life in Middle Ages not easy, did not have
  comforts we have today
• Early castles built for defense not comfort
• Few windows, stuffy in summer, cold in winter,
  dark always

• Space
• Nobles had to share space with others, including
  soldiers, servants
• Private rooms very rare
• Main room the hall, large room for dining,
  entertaining

• Bedrooms
• In early castles, noble family bedrooms separated
  from main area by sheets
• Later castles had separate bedrooms latrines
  near bedrooms
• Wooden bathtub outside in warm weather, inside
  near fireplace in winter

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Life in a Village
Despite discomforts, life in a castle was
preferable to life in a village. The typical
village family lived in a small wooden one-room
house. The roof was made of straw, the floor of
dirt, and the furniture of rough wood. Open holes
in the walls served as windows.
The family rose before dawn. Men went to work in
the fields women did chores. During harvest, the
entire family worked in the field all day.
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Contrast How was life in a castle different from
life in a village?
Answer(s) castle life more comfortable, people
did not have to work in the fields village life
was very difficult, no comforts, whole family had
to work continually