Medieval Europe

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Medieval Europe

• Development of Feudalism
• Mr. Ballman
• 7th Grade Social Studies

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Introduction

• Early Middle Ages 476 to 1000 CE
• The High Middle Ages 1000 to 1300
• The Late Middle Ages 1300 to 1450

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The Early Middle Ages

• Began with the fall of Rome
• Life was dangerous and difficult
• People needed protection from invading barbarians
  and kingdoms
• People worked hard just to survive and have
  enough food

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Feudalism

• The economic and political system during the
  Early Middle Ages

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Hierarchy
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Western Europe During the Middle Ages

• Franks a powerful group because they developed a
  new system of warfare
• Depended on troops of heavily armed warriors who
  fought on horseback
• Ruler needed the service and loyalty of many
  knights
• Knights were rewarded with land and privileges

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Clovis

• Married a Christian woman, Clotilda
• Eventually baptized into the Roman Catholic
  Church, a Christian church headed by the pope in
  Rome
• His followers became Christians
• Led the Franks in wars that widened the
  boundaries of the Frankish kingdom

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Charlemagne (Charles the Great)

• Most important leader of the Franks
• Ruled for over 40 years, from 768-814
• Unified nearly all the Christian lands of Europe
  into a single empire
• With the help of Pope Leo III, he built his
  empire
• Leo, in turn, got support from someone who had an
  army
• Pope Leo crowned Charlemagne Holy Roman emperor
  in 800 CE

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• Charlemagnes empire quickly fell after his death
  in 184
• Weak rulers who followed him could not defend the
  empire against new waves of invasions
• These kings followed Charlemagnes example of
  rewarding knights with land and privileges in
  return for military service

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A Need for Order and Protection

• The Muslims came from the Near East and northern
  Africa into what is now Spain
• The Magyars, a central Asian people, came from
  the east
• The Vikings came down from present-day Norway and
  Denmark
• Western Europeans developed a system we call
  feudalism to defend and protect themselves

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Feudalism Establishing Order

• a stable social order
• People were bound to one another by promises of
  loyalty
• All land in the kingdom belonged to the monarch
• Great deal of land belong to the church

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Manors

• Large estates held by a lord
• Most lords and wealthier knights lived on manors
• Included a castle or manor house, one or more
  villages, and the surrounding farmland
• Located in the country far from towns, so
  peasants had to produce everything the people on
  the manor needed

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Monarchs During Feudal Times

• Were feudal lords
• Expected to keep order and to provide protection
  for their vassals
• Believed in the divine right of kings
• The idea that God had given them the right to
  rule
• Power of the monarchs varied
• Relied on their vassals, especially nobles, to
  provide enough knights and soldiers
• Some lords grew very powerful and governed their
  fiefs as independent states

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William, Duke of Normandy

• Came to power in England after
• the king died without an heir
• William believed he had the right to the English
  throne
• Harold, his cousin, was crowned
• William and his army invaded England
• Defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings
• Nickname William the Conqueror
• Brought feudal instittutions from Europe with
  him.
• Brought order to England
• By the High Middle Ages, around 1000 C.E., much
  of Europe was stable because of feudalism

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Lords and Ladies During Feudal Times

• Highest-ranking class in medieval society
• Most lived on manors
• Some had several manors which the lords stayed at
  for a few months at a time with their families

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Manor Houses

• Many of the people on a manor lived with the
  lords family in the main house (manor house)
• Built of wood or stone
• Surrounded by gardens and outbuildings (such as
  stables)
• Protected by high walls and sometimes a moat
• Center of the community
• Villagers entered its walls for protection if
  there was trouble

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Castles

• Kings and queens, high-ranking nobles, and
  wealthy lords lived in castles
• Main function was to serve as a home
• Also one of the most important forms of military
  technology
• Had moats, strong walls, and gates to protect
  those who live inside
• Its large size and central locations were strong
  visual reminders of the hierarchy within the
  kingdom and the strict barriers between classes

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A Lords Daily Life

• Responsible for managing and defending his land
  and the people who worked it
• Appointed officials to make sure villagers
  carried out their duties
• Acted as judges in manor courts
• Had the power to fine and punish those who broke
  the law
• Some held posts in the kings government
• During war, lords fought for their own
  higher-ranking lords, or supplied them with a
  well-trained fight force

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Daily Life of Ladies

• Responsible for raising and training their
  children and sometimes the children of other
  noble families
• Oversaw their household or households
• Entertainment provided by musicians and jesters
  (fools who performed amusing jokes and stunts)

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Recreation for Lords and Ladies

• Hunting and hawking (hunting with birds)
• Feasting and dancing
• Board games such as chess
• Reading
• Ladies did fine embroidery, or decorative sewing

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Manor Homes and Castles

• Lit by candles only
• Warmed by open fires
• Could be gloomy and cold
• Little or no privacy
• Fleas and lice infected all medieval buildings
• People bathed only once a week
• Clothes not washed daily
• Diseases affected everyone
• War was a constant danger

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Knights

• Mounted soldiers
• Had to have some wealth because a full suit of
  armor and a horse cost a small fortune
• Usually vassals of more powerful lords

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So You Want to be a Knight
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Responsibilities of a Knight

• It was a way of life
• Lived by a strong code of behavior called
  chivalry (included bravery, loyalty, and respect
  for women)
• Expected to be loyal to their church and their
  lord
• Expected to be just and fair
• Expected to protect the helpless
• Performed acts of gallantry (respect to women)

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Daily Life of Knights

• Participated in jousts and tournaments
• Fought wearing heavy suits of armor
• 11th century armor was made of metal ring linked
  together
• 14th century plate armor was more common and
  offered better protection

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Peasants

• Supported the entire feudal structure by working
  the land
• Their labor allowed lords and knights to spend
  their time preparing for war or fighting
• Legally classified as free or unfree
• Free peasants rented land to farm and owed only
  their rent money to the lord
• Unfree peasants (serfs) farmed the lords fields
  and could not leave they received a small plot
  of land of their own to farm

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Daily Life of Peasants

• Revolved around work
• Raised crops
• Tended livestock (animals)
• Every manor had carpenters, shoemakers, smiths
  (metalworkers), and other skilled workers
• Women worked the fields when needed
• Women also cared for their children and homes

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Life of a Peasant

• Serfs owed the lord numerous taxes
• Head money paid a fix amount per person every
  year
• Tallage lord could demand this tax whenever he
  needed money
• Merchet this fee was paid by a woman, her
  father, or her husband when she married

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Life of a Peasant

• Required to grind their grain at the lords mill
  (which was the only mill in the village)
• The miller kept portions of the grain for himself
  and the lord who could keep any amount he wanted
• Serfs hated this practice and some hid small hand
  mills in their houses

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Peasant Homes

• Small houses of 1 or 2 rooms
• Made of woven strips of wood covered with straw
  or mud
• Had little furniture or possessions
• Hearth fire in the middle of the main room, but
  usually no chimney so it was dark and smoky
  inside
• An entire family might eat and sleep in one room
  that sometimes also housed their farm animals

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A Peasants Diet

• Vegetables, meat such as pork, and dark, coarse
  bread made of wheat mixed with rye or oatmeal
• In the winter, they ate meat and fish that had
  been preserved in salt
• Herbs were used for flavor and to lessen the
  taste of the salt or to disguise the taste of
  meat that was no longer fresh