Name:_________________________
Period:______ Date:_____________
Feudalism: A System for Living
Review of the Dark Ages (476 C.E. – 1000 C.E.)
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Another name for the early ________________ period.
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“Medieval” means from the Middle Ages.
Follows the immediate fall of Rome. Europe lost all Rome had provided:
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Order – Organized government.
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________________ – Rome’s legions.
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Technology – aqueducts, sewers, bath houses, roads, and buildings.
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Education.
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Trade
In the meantime, ________________ were destroying cities, towns, churches, and monasteries.
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Most books and scrolls were kept in monasteries at this time so valuable information was
lost ________________.
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Life was not safe during this time.
Feudalism
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________________ needed to be created since Rome wasn’t around to keep it anymore.
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The power structure was like a pyramid. Kings and Queens ruled, then there were nobles, these
were followed by knights, and the peasants. This is called ________________.
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Feudalism is the social and political system of Europe during the Middle Ages
Lords and Vassals
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Power belonged to those who controlled the ________________.
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The land owner is considered a ________________.
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A Lord wanted vassals. A vassal is someone who pledges loyalty to the Lord.
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These people were typically knights.
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They would fight for the lord if needed.
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They would follow the lord’s laws.
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In return they would be given land called a ________________.
This would have a special ceremony. One man’s vassal could be another man’s lord.
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This was called an ________________________________.
Manor System
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A lord would rule over one or more ________________. A manor is a large estate that would
include farmland, a village, and the resources to be ________________________________.
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This is where the lord would get most of his wealth.
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Each manor would have a ________________ and mill.
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Almost everyone went to church.
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Peasants used the mill to be able to make their grain into bread, the lord could keep as
much of the ________________ grain as they would like.
Peasants and Serfs
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Peasants did all the ________________ on the manor.
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They would farm the lord’s fields, and a small portion of land for themselves.
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In return the peasants and serfs received protection from their lord.
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They had to obey the lord’s laws. A kind lord may give them legal rights, most often lords
were cruel to their peasants.
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A portion of what was grown on that land also needed to be given to the ________________.
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Peasants were often ________________, this meant that they were owned along with the land. If a
new lord took over a manor, the serfs would become his like the land.
1: Draw and label the feudal pyramid.