Feudalism

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Feudalism

• The social structure of the Middle Ages was
  organized round the system of Feudalism.
• Feudalism in practice meant that the country was
  not governed by the king but by individual lords,
  or barons, who administered their own estates,
  dispensed their own justice, minted their own
  money, levied taxes and tolls, and demanded
  military service from vassals.
• Usually the lords could field greater armies than
  the king.
• In theory the king was the chief feudal lord, but
  in reality the individual lords were supreme in
  their own territory.
• Many kings were little more than figurehead
  rulers

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How it worksfeudalism

• Feudalism was built upon a relationship of
  obligation and mutual service between vassals and
  lords.
• A vassal held his land, or fief, as a grant from
  a lord.
• When a vassal died, his heir was required to
  publicly renew his oath of faithfulness (fealty)
  to his lord.
• This public oath was called "homage".

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KINGS

• In theory the king was the chief feudal lord, but
  in reality the individual lords were supreme in
  their own territory.
• Many kings were little more than figurehead
  rulers

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Lords

• A Lord's Obligations
• On the lord's side, he was obliged to protect
  the vassal, give military aid, and guard his
  children.
• If a daughter inherited, the lord arranged her
  marriage.
• If there were no heirs the lord disposed of the
  fief as he chose.

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Vassals

• A Vassal's (Knight) Obligations
• The vassal was required to attend the lord at
  his court, help administer justice, and
  contribute money if needed.
• He had to answer a summons to battle, bringing
  an agreed upon number of fighting men.
• As well, he must feed and house the lord and his
  company when they travelled across his land.

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Serfs

• The Serf's Life.
• Although not technically a slave, a serf was
  bound to a lord for life.
• He could own no property and needed the lord's
  permission to marry.
• Under no circumstance could a serf leave the land
  unless he chose to run away.
• If he ran to a town and managed to stay there for
  a year and a day, he was a free man.
• However, the serf did have rights.
• He could not be displaced if the manor changed
  hands.
• He could not be required to fight, and he was
  entitled to the protection of the lord.

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Heraldry

• Knights needed a new form of identification
  during battle--other than their faces.
• They started decorating their outer garments,
  flags and shields, eventually leading to
  heraldry, the creating of coats of arms.
• This is where our picture of the medieval era
  comes from--decorative crests, symbolism, magical
  beasts.
• Each color, pattern, and image stands for
  something different, allowing each knight to
  personalize his ID.
• The crests came in helpful as nobles--many who
  couldn't even sign their own name--made seals out
  of them to use as their stamp of approval.

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Heraldry

• Heraldry is still alive today many families,
  churches, and schools have their own coat of
  arms.
• Today they are no longer needed but are retained
  for their symbolic and sentimental value.

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• Here's how to make your own shield (Although
  there is more to a coat of arms then just the
  shield (the supporters, helm, crest, etc.)
• it gets awfully confusing and detailed to do
  everything right, so we decided to just explain
  how to make the shield)
• Start with a shield--it can be of many shapes,
  but stick with the basic one. 

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• The background of a shield is called the "field"
• Traditional heraldry used the following colors
  and metals
• Colors
• Gules -  Bright Red fire, nobleness, boldness,
  virility. Originally only princes could wear it
  because it also represented cruelty and
  supposedly princes were cruel to their enemies.
• Azure -  Royal Blue or Sky Blue (not pastel) the
  sky, purity, justice, goodness, sincerity
• Vert  - Emerald Green happiness, pleasure,
  youth, health
• Purpure -  Royal Purple usually equated with red
  and its meanings
• Sable -  Black sadness, melancholy. The lowest
  color--for the clergy who should avoid vanity and
  for widows and widowers.
• Metals
• Or -  Gold (yellow) The sun. Originally only
  princes could wear it
• Argent -  Silver (white) The moon. Stood for
  purity, justice, childhood, hope,

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• 2. Divide it
• In half means marriage the left when facing the
  shield (or Dexter) the husband's arms and the
  right (or Sinister) the wife's. This is called
  impalement.

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Eldest child (well, it's supposed to be son, but
if you're a girl, we'll let you make a coat of
arms anyway)

• 3. Show your rank in the family. Depending on
  which child you are, you put a different small
  design--called a cadency mark--in the middle of
  the upper part of the shield.
• The head of the family's shield doesn't have any
  cadency marks.

Second
Third
Fourth
Fifth
Sixth
Seventh
Eighth
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• In quarters (quartering).
• The First quarter (upper left), and sometimes the
  Fourth (bottom right) are usually that of the
  bearer's parents.
• The others are coats inherited by marriages to
  heiresses--who inherited it because the family
  had no male heirs to carry on the family name and
  coat.

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• 4. Decorate
• Animals and images of all sorts were used on
  shields (Animals are generally portrayed in
  profile) flowers, stars, mermaids, suns, lions,
  eagles, angels, unicorns, dragons, monsters of
  all kinds, and even partridges. They meant
  different things at different times to different
  people.
• Decorate your shield with whatever you think
  best represents you.

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References

• http//www.britainexpress.com/History/Feudalism_an
  d_Medieval_life.htm
• http//library.thinkquest.org/3708/shield.htm
• http//www.yourchildlearns.com/her_act.htm