Medieval Britain
 Time span between the collapse of the Roman Empire
and the Renaissance is called the Middle Ages.
 The Middle Ages was a period of enormous historical,
social, and linguistic change.
 Over the course of the Middle Ages, three mutually
dependent estates developed.
 Christian society was comprised of those who pray
(the clergy), those who fight (the nobility), and those
who work (the laborers).
Medieval Britain
 The clergy see to it that the souls of all may be saved;
 The laborers see to it that the bodies of all may be fed
and clothed;
 The nobility see to it that the other two estates may
carry out their functions in peace and with justice.
 Although the three estates were supposed to work
together for the common good, their actual history is
one of constant friction and conflict.
 Mutual hatred of the lower and higher estates.
Medieval Britain
 Britain was largely Christian during the Roman
occupation.
 The conversion of the people was completed in 731.
 Before the Christian conversion, there had been no
books. Anglo-Saxon heroic poetry was part of an oral
tradition.
The Feudal System
 Definitions of the term "Feudalism"
 The system of government based on the tenure of land.
 The system of land tenure and of government in which
the landholders are the governors.
 The term "tenure" means the right of the person to
hold the property.
 This is not necessarily the ownership of the land. The
person is allowed to live on the land in return for
services.
The Feudal System
 The structure of the feudal system was like a
pyramid, where the king was at the top and the
common people of the country were at the base.
 In between the two were different kinds of lords. There
were the powerful barons near the top and the
tenants-in-chief nearer the bottom.
 Each person in the pyramid was a vassal of the person
above. This meant that they swore loyalty to the
person above them in return for the right to live on the
land and have protection in times of crisis.
The Feudal System
 A form of the feudal system existed in Anglo-Saxon
times even before the Norman Conquest.
 The land was granted to the earls and barons,
approved by the Witan, the highest council in the
land.
 Each area of land was administered by the earl who
ensured laws were enforced.
 The earl was given the full right to govern as he saw fit.
The Feudal System
Norman Feudalism
 When William the Conqueror became King of England in
1066 he introduced a new kind of feudal system into
Britain.
 William confiscated the land in England from the Saxon
lords and allocated it to members of his own family and the
Norman lords who had helped him conquer the country.
 These people were known as tenants-in-chief. Unlike the
older Anglo-Saxon form of feudalism these people did not
own the land because the ownership remained with
William the Conqueror himself.
The Feudal System
Norman Feudalism
 The land allocated to a tenants-in-chief was known as
a manor and tended to be dispersed across the
country rather than being one big area.
 The tenant-in-chief had to provide for himself and his
family and to support a number of knights. To do this
the lord sub-let his land to other lords lower on the
social ladder.
 At the bottom the common people worked on the land
growing crops and raising animals.
The Feudal System
Norman Feudalism
 The tenants-in-chief did not get the land for free, they
rented it from the king in exchange for services.
 If the services were not provided the tenant-in-chief
would be removed, by force if necessary.
 William could keep control of his land as bad tenants
could be removed.
The Feudal System
Norman Feudalism
 The most important service a tenant-in-chief had to
supply was a number of knights.
 The king would request the knights in time of conflict
or war, or for defending the king's many castles.
 The tenants-in-chief would have passed the request for
knights on to their tenants and so on down the feudal
structure.
The Feudal System
Norman Feudalism
 Knights could be requested to serve the king for up to
forty days at a time.
 Religious houses were granted land in return for
saying prayers for the lord's family members, caring for
the sick and other general charitable functions.
The Feudal System
Chivalry
 Chivalry defined the way in which a knight was
supposed to behave.
 The knight was to show loyalty, morality and
generosity.
 The knight should always support his king or lord and
be prepared to put his life on the line to protect him.
 The knight should always do the right thing and
should be prepared to provide his time and energies
for free.
The Feudal System
Chivalry
 Chivalry is possibly best known for the courtly love
between the knight and his lady.
 Chivalry became so engrained in society that all the
sons of the nobles either became members of the
orders of knights or became members of the Church.
The Feudal System
Chivalry
 It was a long and difficult process to become a knight.
 Boys at the age of seven were sent by their family to the
home of a wealthy noble where the training would
begin.
 The boy would serve as a page and would improve his
fitness and skills by playing sports and through
exercise.
 At the age of fourteen or fifteen the boy would become
a squire, looking after the lord's armor and horses and
possibly accompanying the lord into battle.
The Feudal System
Chivalry
 At the age of twenty-one he would then become a
knight.
 In a ceremony held in the presence of the lord and
other knights of the order he would swear an oath of
loyalty and bravery and to defend God, the church and
ladies.
 Finally, kneeling before his lord, the lord would place
his sword on the new recruit's shoulder and declare
him a knight.
Religious Life
Importance of Religion
 Religion was important for people in medieval times
and was part of the daily for many of them.
 Each village had a church and many monasteries were
built all across Europe.
 Kings, Queen and nobles of the time gave donations to
the Church in exchange for blessings and for
forgiveness for their wrong-doings.
 The Church looked after the poor and the sick were
taken care of in monasteries.
Religious Life
Importance of Religion
 Without books and the ability to read, preachers were
the only source of information about God and the
scriptures.
 It was common for people to choose to dedicate their
lives to the Church.
Religious Life
 Saint Benedict (A.D. 500 ? A.D. 550), an Italian monk,
devised a series of rules that had to be followed by his
monks. These rules became known as the Benedictine
Order.
 The monks had to obey three vows:
 poverty,
 Chastity
 obedience.
 This protected them from the deceits of the World, the
lust of the flesh and the snares of the devil.
Religious Life
 The monk’s day was divided into three parts.
 The first was devoted to services in the church
 The second was devoted to work in the cloisters,
reading, writing and meditation
 The third was devoted to manual labor, to help in the
gardens or the infirmary.
 The Benedictine monks were known as the 'Black
Monks' because of the color of their clothing.
Religious Life
Pilgrimage
 A pilgrimage means to travel to and visit a religious
shrine or relic.
 A person on a pilgrimage was known as a pilgrim.
 Medieval people used pilgrimages to confirm their
faith in their religion.
 The most important pilgrimages for Christians were to
visit Jerusalem and Rome but a pilgrimage to shrines
in England were also important, such as Canterbury.
Religious Life
Pilgrimage
 The pilgrims went to see the shrines of saints or holy
relics such as fragments of the True Cross.
 Miracles were reported to occur at the shrines of
saints.
 The sick were supposed to have been cured or the
blind made to see again.
 Having a shrine or relic was very important for a
church because pilgrims would come and spend their
money in and around the church and leave donations.