The Early Middle Ages
Section 3
Preview
• Main Idea / Reading Focus
• The Feudal System
• Quick Facts: Feudal Obligations
• The Manorial System
• Daily Life in the Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages
Section 3
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?
Main Idea
In Europe during the Middle Ages, the feudal and manorial
systems governed life and required people to perform certain
duties and obligations.
The Early Middle Ages
Section 3
Knights like William Marshal did not exist at the beginning of the Middle Ages but began to emerge as the period progressed.
• Feudalism originated partly as result of Viking, Magyar,
Muslim invasions
• Kings unable to defend their lands, lands of their nobles • Nobles had to find way to
defend own lands
• Built castles, often on hills
• Not elaborate structures; built of wood, used as place of
shelter in case of attack
Origins of Feudalism
• Nobles needed trained soldiers to defend castles • Knights most important,
highly skilled soldiers
• Mounted knights in heavy armor best defenders
• Being a knight expensive; had to maintain weapons, armor, horses
• Knights demanded payment for services
Knights and Lords
The Early Middle Ages
Section 3
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
The Early Middle Ages
Section 3
Oath of Fealty
• Lords, vassals in feudal system had duties to fulfill to one another • Knight’s chief duty as vassal to provide military service to his lord • Had to promise to remain loyal; promise called oath of fealty
The Early Middle Ages
Section 3
Financial Obligations
• Knight had certain financial obligations to lord
• Knight obligated to pay ransom for lord’s release if captured in battle • Gave money to lord on special occasions, such as knighting of son
Lord’s Obligations
• Lord had to treat knights fairly, not demanding too much time, money • Had to protect knight if attacked by enemies
The Early Middle Ages
Section 3
• Almost everyone in system served more than one lord • Theoretically, everyone
supposed to be loyal to the king • In practice, not everyone loyal • Some powerful nobles as
strong as kings they were supposed to serve, ignored duties as vassals
• Feudal rules specific to time, place; could change over time; England’s rules not same as France’s rules
Fealty to King
• Europe’s feudal system incredibly complex
• Person could be both lord, vassal
• Some knights with large fiefs gave small pieces of land to other knights, created many levels of obligations
• One knight could serve many lords; no prohibition against
knight accepting fiefs from more than one noble
Lord and Vassal
The Early Middle Ages
Section 3
Summarize
How did the feudal system work?
The Early Middle Ages
Section 3
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.
• Manors owned by wealthy lords, knights • Peasants farmed
manor fields • Were given
protection, plots of land to cultivate for selves
Lords, Peasants,
and Serfs • Most peasants on
farm were serfs, tied to manor
• Not slaves, could not be sold away from manor
• But could not leave, marry without lord’s permission
Serfdom
• Manors had some free people who rented land from lord • Others included
landowning peasants, skilled workers like blacksmiths, millers • Also had a priest for
spiritual needs
Free People
The Early Middle Ages
Section 3
• Most of manor’s 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
• One field planted in spring for fall harvest
• Another field planted in winter for spring harvest
• Third field remained unplanted for year
Rotation
• Each manor included fortified house for noble family, village for peasants, serfs
• Goal to make manor self-sufficient • Typical manor also included
church, mill, blacksmith
Small Village
The Early Middle Ages
Section 3
The Early Middle Ages
Section 3
Analyze
How did lords and peasants benefit from the
manorial system?
Answer(s):
lords' farmlands were taken care of,
The Early Middle Ages
Section 3
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
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
Space
• Nobles had to share space with others, including soldiers, servants • Private rooms very rare
• Main room the hall, large room for dining, entertaining
The Early Middle Ages
Section 3
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. 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.
• Most families slept on beds of straw on floor
• All shared one room with each other, animals
• Most glad to have animals to provide extra heat in cold winters
Bedrooms
Life in a Village
• Peasant families cooked meals over open fire in middle of floor
• Typical meal: brown bread, cheese, vegetables, occasionally meat
• No chimneys, house often full of smoke; fires common
