White Plains Public Schools / Overview



Feudalism and Manorialism

E. Napp

Objective: To identify and explain significant characteristics of the feudal system in Medieval Europe

Do Now: Multiple-choice questions from previous lessons

|1. In western Europe, feudalism developed after the |4. Feudalism involved all of the following EXCEPT |

|(1) Roman Empire collapsed |(A) A commitment by a vassal to serve his lord in war and to give |

|(2) Renaissance began |council |

|(3) city of Constantinople fell |(B) A commitment by a lord to defend his vassal militarily and in |

|(4) Mongols invaded |legal proceedings |

| |(C) The grant by a lord of a fief, control of land and its peasants, |

|2. The term feudalism is best defined as a |to his vassal |

|(1) holy war between Christians and Muslims |(D) Social mobility |

|(2) process in which goods are traded for other goods | |

|(3) division of political power between three separate branches |5. A manor was all of the following EXCEPT |

|(4) system in which land is exchanged for military service and loyalty|(A) An economic unit. |

| |(B) Lands divided into two or three large fields, and further divided |

| |into strips for cultivation. |

|3. What is a primary characteristic of a feudal society? |(C) A jurisdiction under the authority of a lord. |

|(1) a representative government |(D) A unit of the church. |

|(2) economic equality for all | |

|(3) protection of individual rights | |

|(4) an exchange of land for services | |

Cornell Notes Outline: Feudalism and Manorialism (Add Key Words and Summaries)

|The Key Words: |The Notes: |

| | |

| |Feudalism |

| |It was the political and military system of the Middle Ages |

| |Land was exchanged for military service |

| |To increase the size of a lord’s army, land was given to lesser lords |

| |In exchange, lesser lords provided soldiers |

| |A lesser lord was called a vassal |

| |Land was power |

| |There was no central government |

| |Local leaders made decisions |

| |Kings were too weak to control their territories |

| |Kings needed the help of lords and vassals |

| | |

| |Manorialism |

| |It was the economic system of the Middle Ages |

| |A manor was part of a fief |

| |A fief was all of the lord’s land |

| |A manor was the part of the lord’s land where the people lived and worked |

| |A manor was self-sufficient. |

| |1. The manor produced all of people’s needs |

| | |

| |It had a fixed or rigid class system |

| |There was no social mobility |

| |A person was born a lord or a serf |

| |A serf was bound to his lord’s land |

| |The children of serfs were serfs |

| |Serfs could not change their social status |

|The Summaries: | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

Please read the passage below and answer the questions:

Under feudalism, the king owned all the land. But he needed loyal nobles to serve him. He needed nobles to provide armies. The king gained loyalty by giving nobles land. The nobles could then give land to other people and ask for their loyalty. Since warfare increased, armies were essential.

The kings and nobles who gave land were called lords. The nobles who received land were called vassals. Vassals promised loyalty to their lords. They promised to serve their lords and help them in battle. This system of exchanging land for military service was called feudalism. It existed in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages began with the fall of Rome and lasted for approximately 1,000 years. It is important to remember that a central government did not exist in Western Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It is also important to remember that warfare between the many kingdoms of Western Europe was frequent and that in a time of war, armies are important.

1- Who owned all the land? ______________________________________________________________________

2- What did the owner of all the land need? ______________________________________________________________________

3- How did he gain loyalty? ______________________________________________________________________

4- Who were lords?

______________________________________________________________________

5- Who were vassals? ______________________________________________________________________

6- Define feudalism.

______________________________________________________________________

7- When did feudalism exist in Western Europe? ______________________________________________________________________

8- What no longer existed after the fall of Rome? ______________________________________________________________________

9- Why was warfare frequent during the Middle Ages? ______________________________________________________________________

10- What is important during a time of war? ______________________________________________________________________

During the Middle Ages, most people lived on manors. A manor consisted of the lord’s house and the peasants living around it. Each manor produced its own food, clothing, and shelter. Serfs gave their lord part of their harvest in return for the use of land and other services they needed. In exchange, the lord protected the serfs from attacks by outsiders. Each lord had complete power over the serfs who lived on his manor. Serfs were bound to the land (could not leave their lords’ land) and had no voice in most matters. A manor was self-sufficient because the people who lived on it grew, raised, or made nearly everything that they needed. They rarely traded. They made their own clothing, cut their own wood, and raised all the food that they ate.

11- What was a manor? _____________________________________________________________________

12- Provide examples of the manor’s self-sufficiency. ________________________________________________________________________

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1- Using the chart and your knowledge of Social Studies, what is a rigid class system? (Hint: A rigid class system is a fixed class system.)

______________________________________________________________________________

2- What does the following statement mean: “There was no social mobility”? ______________________________________________________________________________

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Questions:

Where did feudal lords and knights live? ________________________________

What was manorialism? ________________________________

Who were knights?

________________________________

What was chivalry?

________________________________

What could serfs not do? ________________________________

What did serfs do? ________________________________

Feudal lords and knights lived in a manor house on a large estate.  The economy that grew up around the lord's home was known as manorialism.  Under this system, everyone had a well-defined place in the social structure. Many nobles became knights, mounted warriors, who lived according to a code of conduct called chivalry.  They were expected to be honest, brave, and loyal to their word.  Most peasants were serfs, meaning they could not leave their lord's lands without permission.  The serfs farmed and provided manual and military labor for the lord, and in return, he protected them and gave them a few acres to farm for themselves. ~

Word Bank:

Feudalism

Knight

Lord

Vassal

Serf

Manorialism

Trade

Warfare

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