Feudalism and the Manorial System

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Feudalism and the Manorial System

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Feudalism

• Feudalism a political system with small, local,
  and independent leaders (local lords)
• The System
• Powerful nobles (Lord) grant land (fief) to
  lesser nobles (vassal)
• Vassal promised loyalty, military assistance, and
  other services to the lord of the fief
• Vassals could further divide the land and grant
  it to others such as knights, who would fight for
  them in war
• A vassal could also be a lord

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Feudalism

• Fiefs became hereditary
• Primogeniture system of inheritance from father
  to eldest son
• Women generally did not control land, but often
  had a fief as part of her dowry
• Kings every land holder was a vassal to the
  king, but only controlled those who lived on his
  feudal lands
• The church was part of the feudal system with
  their own fiefs and vassals

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Warfare

• Common during the Middle Ages
• Most were small, private fights between feudal
  lords with a handful of knights
• A few large conflicts involving entire regions
  broke out
• Knights wore armor
• Chain mail until gun powder was developed
• Later, overlapping metal plates were worn
• Horses were large

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Feudal Justice

• Trial by Battle a duel between accusers
• Compurgation (Oath Taking) accuser supported by
  others who swore or took an oath of truth that
  the accuser was guilty/innocent
• Trial by Ordeal outcome of an ordeal determined
  the accused guilt/innocence

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The Manorial System

• An economic system followed by people living on
  manors (large farming estates)
• Farms were self-sufficient
• A lord and several peasant families shared the
  land of the manor
• The lord generally kept 1/3 of the land for his
  home (domain) and peasant families gave the lord
  some of their crops as well as help farm the
  lords land.

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The Manorial System

• Manor Villages
• Usually located near a river or stream to power
  the village mill
• Peasant Life (serfs)
• Life was difficult
• Serfs could not leave the land without permission
  from the lord
• Life expectancy was short (disease, starvation,
  warfare)
• Most peasants lived, worked, and died where they
  were born.

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The Manorial System

• Nobles Lifestyles
• Todays standard of living is better than kings
  and queens of the middle ages (It wasnt as
  glamorous as what is in the movies)
• A lord spent most of his days looking after his
  land and dispensing justice among vassals and
  serfs
• A lord or vassal depended on his wife and
  children for help.
• Marriage was viewed as a way to advance ones
  fortune (dowry)

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Castles

• Early Middle Ages built of earth and wood
  (Later made of stone)
• Usually built on hills or other places difficult
  to attack
• A ditch or moat was dug around a castle if only
  flat land was available (often filled with water)
• A draw bridge could be lowered across the moat
  and raised for protection

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Castles

• Keep main part of castle
• Strong tower containing storerooms, workshops,
  and perhaps barracks and the lords living
  quarters
• Great Hall place where the lord accepted
  visitors
• Castles had thick walls with small windows and no
  glass

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Chivalry

• A code of conduct that dictated a knights
  behavior toward others.
• To become a knight, a boy had to be born of
  nobility
• Boys first became a page or attendant for a
  knight to learn to care for weapons
• In teenage years a page became a squire or full
  assistant to the knight
• After proving himself in battle a squire would
  become a knight in an elaborate ceremony

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Coat of Arms

• A symbol on the knights shield to distinguish
  himself from others

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