Feudalism and

the Manor
Economy
Chapter 7 Section 2
Modern World History
Unit: Early Middle Ages
Windham High School
Peltier rm. 229

Feudalism Develops
Emperors were too weak to maintain law and
order with all the incoming invasions from the
Vikings, Muslims, and Magyars.
Feudalism begins due to the basic need for
protection.
o People needed protection.

Feudalism was a loosely organized system of rule

in which powerful local lords divided their
landholdings among lesser lords.
o Rich people rented their land to people below them who then divided
this land further between the poor and the lords provided protection
against invaders.

Mutual Obligations
Land in exchange for loyalty and military service.
Feudal Contract- lords gave land to vassals,
vassals became knights for lords, vassals divided
land into fiefs, peasants worked the land.
Draw this diagram in your notebooks:

A Secured Society
This is the time where we got all the fun names;
dukes, counts, earls
One man could be both a lord and a vassal
Sometimes vassals had land from many lords,
and it turned into quite a problem.
o Ex. If your two best friends are fighting,
and you have been loyal to both, what
dilemma does that put you in?

Liege Lord- lord who vassal

was loyal to first.

The World of Knights &

Nobles
This was a time of kings, lords and castles.
Everyone battled each other for land and power.
Nobles were allowed to become knights.
Knight- mounted warrior.
o Began training in boyhood.

Knights and Warfare

Began at age 7! (What does this sound familiar to?!)

Sent to castle of fathers lord.
Learned to ride and fight
Had to keep armor and weapons in good condition.
Punished physically.
After training, the youth was dubbed a knight,
usually in a public ceremony.
Knights usually fought on horseback and used
swords, axes, and lances as weapons.
They also wore metal armor and carried shields to
protect their bodies.

Castles and Defense

All powerful lords fortified their homes with
defenses.
By 1100s, kings and other nobles built huge stone
castles with high walls, towers, and drawbridges
over moats.
They were sometimes fortresses that housed all
of the peasants.

Noblewomen: Restrictions
& Power
Lady of the manor took over when men were at
battle.
o
o
o
o

Supervised vassals.
Managed household.
Agriculture and medical tasks.
Sometimes even went to war.

Inheritance was limited however.

o Land usually passed to the eldest son of the family.
o Dowry- family gave a woman land to give to future husband.

Education/Training- sent to friends or relatives to

learn how to sew and weave.
o Few learned to read and write.
o Main job was to produce many children.

Chivalry: Romance &

Reality
It required knights to be brave, loyal and true to
their word.
In war they had to fight fairly.
o Ex. They would wait until both were fully prepared to fight.

Even had to release prisoners if he promised to

pay his ransom
Also meant that they must protect the weak.
o Peasants and women.
o Troubadours sang about the deeds of these knights.

Manors Support
Feudalism
Manors could include one or more villages and
the surrounding lands.
Peasants worked on the manor.
o Most of them were serfs and tied to the land (they couldnt just up and
move.)

Serfs moved with the land.

o Could be given to a new lord.

Lords & Peasants: Mutual

Obligations
Peasants had to work almost every day of the
week farming, from sun up to sun down or later.
They also repaired bridges, roads, and fences.
Peasants even had to ask the lord to marry.
Peasants paid the lord a fee when they inherited
their fathers land.
Other payments were due at Christmas and
Easter.
o Paid in goods; grain, honey, eggs, chickens, etc.

Peasants could farm land for themselves also.

Guaranteed food, housing and land.

A Self-Sufficient World
Peasants produced almost everything they
needed on the manor.
Manor included: cottages, water mill, church,
manor house.

Peasant Life
Men and women helped to till the land.
Children planted seeds and weeded the gardens.
In the winter after the harvest, hunger was very
common.
Few lived past the age of 35.
Diet: black bread, cabbage, turnips or onions.
Not allowed to hunt on the lords land.
Slept with their animals.