MEDIEVAL AGES: FEUDALISM.
Charlemagne ruled from 768 to 814. During his long reign,
there was stability in western Europe. But when Charlemagne died,
his grandsons were unable to keep his empire together. Matters were
made even worse by the regular invasions of the Vikings.
The lack of a central government led to the development of
the feudal system. The cause was the people’s need for protection.
With no strong kings to maintain law and order, people turned to local
lords for help. At the heart of the system were personal
arrangements between two parts.
Feudal arrangements involved kings, powerful lords, and
lesser nobles. Even though kings had little power, they were still kings, and on occasion they
needed to raise an army, as did dukes and nobles. To do so, they granted lands to the lords beneath
them.
The feudal system was a social, economic and political system that was found throughout
Western Europe in the Medieval Ages. The feudal system enabled kings to keep control of their
lands by contracting others to do the controlling for them.
At the top of the feudal system was the king. Chosen by God, the king had a ‘divine right’ to
rule. The king gave his lands and fiefs to important lords. In return for the fiefs, the lords or nobles
became
the
king’s
vassals and swore an
oath of loyalty and paid
homage to him. Homage
consisted of the vassal
surrendering himself to
the lord, symbolized by
his kneeling and giving
his joined hands to the
lord, who clasped them
in
his
own,
thus
accepting the surrender.
This meant that
the nobles promised never to go to war against the king and to provide the king with money,
soldiers, accommodation or advice (counsel) when needed. The nobles also included powerful
members of the church such as bishops, because the church was one of the most important medieval
landowners.
The lord also had vassals who were called knights. Again in return for fiefs, the vassals
made promises, the most important of which was to serve the lord as a soldier of 40 days a year.
The vast majority of people were peasants who worked directly for the knights, who paid rents and
taxes to him and who fought for him in time of war. The knights also provided for law and order
and justice through the courts.
Most peasants were serfs who were ‘owned’ by the knights. It was common for a peasant to
have a small plot of land on which to grow food for himself and his family. Peasants had to spend
time every week working the lord’s land and even had to ask permission to leave the fief.
ACTIVITIES.
1. Define these concepts:
FEUDALISM
VASSAL
FIEF
HOMAGE
SERF
2. CROSSWORD.
Across
1.
a member of a class of low social status that depends on agricultural labour as a means of subsistence
5.
(in feudal Europe) the property or fee granted to a vassal for his maintenance by his lord in return for
service
6.
of or relating to a hereditary class with special social or political status, often derived from a feudal
period
7.
a male sovereign or monarch
9.
(in the feudal system) a person granted the use of land, in return for rendering homage, fealty, and
usually military service or its equivalent to a lord or other superior; feudal tenant.
10. the act of respect and allegiance made by a vassal to his lord
Down
2.
(in medieval Europe) an unfree person, esp one bound to the land.
3.
742–814, king of the Franks 768–814; as Charles I, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire 800–814.
4.
any of the Scandinavian pirates who plundered the coasts of Europe from the 8th to 10th centuries.
7.
a person who served his lord as a mounted and heavily armed soldier
8.
the collective body of men and women ordained as religious ministers
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EclipseCrossword.com
A MEDIEVAL CASTLE.