FEUDALISM
Ch.9 section 2
The Invaders


Carolingian Empire began to fall apart soon after
Charlemagne’s death (814)
Divided into three major sections:
 The
west Frankish lands
 The eastern Frankish lands
 The middle Kingdoms

Local nobles gained power
 Invasions
added to the falling
Invaders cont.

Magyars
People of western Asia
 At the end of the 9th century moved into central Europe
(Hungary) and invaded western Europe


Vikings
Great love of adventure, search for spoils of war, and new
avenues for trade may have led to attacks in other areas of
Europe
 Warriors, superb shipbuilders, and sailors

Enabled attack places far inland
 Mid-9th century building European settlements

invaders

In 911, west Frankish king gave a group of Vikings
land forming a section of France that became
Normandy
 Deliberatly
planning to convert to Christianity which
made the Vikings part of European civilization
The Development of Feudalism

Attacks and invaders caused people to turn to
nobles to protect them
 Usually
a powerful lord that could offer protection in
return for services
 Led to feudalism– a political and social system

Vassalage- warriors fought for their lords and the
lords to care of the warriors needs
 Vassal-
a man who served a lord in a military capacity
 Knights- heavily armored calvery
 Great
social prestige and back bone of the aristocracy
The Development of Feudalism

Powerful nobles took control of large areas of land
 To
get men to fight for them they would grant each
vassal a piece of land to support him and his family
 Since there was little trade at this time and wealth was
based primarily on land, this was an important gift
The Feudal contract



The relationship between lord and vassal was made official by
a public ceremony
To become a vassal, a man performed an act of homage
“The man should put his hands together as a sign of humility, and
place them between the two hands of his lord as a token that he
vows everything to him and promises faith to him; and the lord
should receive him and promise to keep faith with him. Then the
man should say: ‘Sir, I enter your homage and faith and become
your man by mouth and hands [that is, by taking the oath and
placing his hands between those of the lord], and I swear and
promise to keep faith and loyalty to your against all others’
The Feudal Contract cont.


Loyalty to one’s lord was the chief virtue
Fief- the granting of land to a vassal
 Vassals

that held fiefs came to hold political authority
The feudal system became increasingly complicated
 The
lord-vassal relationship bound together greater
and lesser landowners.
 Honorable
relationship between free men and implied no
sense of servitude
Feudalism cont.

Came to be characterized by unwritten rules–
feudal contract
 Determined
the relationship between a lord and his
vassal
 Major
obligation was to perform military service usually 40
days a year
 When summoned would have to appear to give advice to
the lord
 Also responsible to make financial payments for various
occasions
Feudal contract cont.

The lord also had responsibilities towards the vassal
 Granted
land
 Required to protect his vassal
 Either
defending him militarily or by taking his side in a court
of law
The Nobility of the Middle Ages


Dominated by men whose chief concern was warfare
Nobles would include: kings, dukes, counts, barons,
and even bishops and archbishops who had large
amounts of land and political power
 Formed
an aristocracy that consisted of people who
held political, economic, and social power
 Social
divisions based on extremes of wealth and land
holdings
The nobility of the middle ages cont.

Tournaments– contest where knights could show their
fighting skills
Began to appear in the 12th century
 Late in the century dominated by the joust




Individual combat between two knights
Used to train for war
Chivalry– an ideal of civilized behavior among
nobilities
Code of ethics knights were supposed to uphold
 In addition to their oath to defend the Church and
defenseless people nights were to treat captives as honored
guest
 Knights should only fight for glory and not for material
rewards

Aristocratic Women

Could legally hold property, but most remained
under control of men
 Lady
of the castle had to manage the estate when lord
was away at war or court
 Large amounts of officials and servants
 Oversaw financial accounts and food supply and
maintained other supplies for smooth operation
Aristocratic Women cont.



Expected to be subservient to husband
Many were strong women who advised and even
dominated the husband
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Remarkable personality
 Heiress to the duchy of Aquitaine in southwest France
 Married at the age of 15 to King Louis VII of France



Not a happy marriage and was annulled
Eight weeks later married again to Duke Henry of
Normandy, who became King Henry II of England



Stormy relationship
Spent much time in Aquitaine
Eight children

Richard and John became kings of England