FIEF
FAITH
FEALTY
Your task, both as a small group and in your home-group
pairs, is to become experts on your component. The
steps below will help guide you through this process.
Remember to think both broadly and deeply while being
as precise and as specific as you can.
Step 1: As a small group (everyone here), clarify what
your component means, and brain storm what could be
part of it (how your component fits into the Feudal
System).
Step 2: As a small group, brainstorm a list of good
questions that could guide your research into your
component.
Step 3: Using the questions your group brainstormed, I
home-group partners, research the topic. Be sure to
consider all the sources available to you. Your notes can
be point form, diagrams, charts, drawings…. Any styles
that will help you take in, process, and remember the
material and will help you teach it to the rest of your
group.
Step 4: Return to your home-group and teach the other
pairs about your component.
FEALTY
Medieval Sourcebook:
"Feudal" Oaths of Fidelity
There is increasing uneasiness among scholars about the concept of feudalism as a term to
describe non-monetized relationships between the land-holding aristocracy. Still various aspects
of lordship and vassalage are documented. Here is are two typical oaths of fidelity..
I: An Anglo Saxon Form of Commendation [from Schmidt: Gesetze der Angelsachsen, p. 404]
Thus shall one take the oath of fidelity:
By the Lord before whom this sanctuary is holy, I will to N. be true and faithful, and love all
which he loves and shun all which he shuns, according to the laws of God and the order of the
world. Nor will I ever with will or action, through word or deed, do anything which is unpleasing
to him, on condition that he will hold to me as I shall deserve it, and that he will perform
everything as it was in our agreement when I submitted myself to him and chose his will.
II: Acceptance of an Antrusian, 7th Century [from Roziere: Collection de Formules, No. VIII, Vol
I, p. 8]
It is right that those who offer to us unbroken fidelity should be protected by our aid. And since
such and such a faithful one of ours, by the favor of God, coming here in our palace with his
arms, has seen fit to swear trust and fidelity to us in our hand, therefore we decree and
command by the present precept that for the future such and such above mentioned be
counted with the number of antrustions. And if anyone perchance should presume to kill him,
let him know that he will be judged guilty of his wergild of 600 shillings.
from E. P. Cheyney, trans, University of Pennsylvania. Dept. of History: Translations and
Reprints from the Original Sources of European history, published for the Dept. of History of the
University of Pennsylvania., Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press [1898]. Vol IV, No: 3,
3-5
This text is part of the Internet Medieval Source Book. The Sourcebook is a collection of public
domain and copy-permitted texts related to medieval and Byzantine history.
(c)Paul Halsall Feb 1996
halsall@murray.fordham.edu
Source: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/feud-oath1.html
Vassals
A Vassal in feudal society was one invested with a fief in return for services to an overlord.
Some vassals did not have fiefs and lived at their lord's court as his household knights.
Certain vassals who held their fiefs directly from the crown were tenants in chief and formed
the most important feudal group, the barons. A fief held by tenants of these tenants in chief
was called an arriere-fief, and, when the king summoned the whole feudal host, he was said
to summon the ban et arriere-ban. There were female vassals as well; their husbands fulfilled
their wives' services.
Under the feudal contract, the lord had the duty to provide the fief for his vassal, to protect
him, and to do him justice in his court. In return, the lord had the right to demand the
services attached to the fief (military, judicial, administrative) and a right to various
"incomes" known as feudal incidents. Examples of incidents are relief, a tax paid when a fief
was transferred to an heir or alienated by the vassal, and scutage, a tax paid in lieu of military
service. Arbitrary arrangements were gradually replaced by a system of fixed dues on
occasions limited by custom.
The vassal owed fealty to his lord. A breach of this duty was a felony, regarded as so heinous
an offense that in England all serious crimes, even those that had nothing to do with
feudalism proper, came to be called felonies, since, in a way, they were breaches of the fealty
owed to the king as guardian of the public peace and order.
The vassals' rights over the fiefs grew larger and larger in course of time, and soon fiefs
became hereditary in the sense that investiture could not be withheld from an heir who was
willing to do homage. The rules of inheritance tended to safeguard an undivided fief and
preferred the eldest among the sons (primogeniture). This principle was far from absolute;
under pressure from younger sons, parts of an inheritance might be set apart for them in
compensation (appanage;). Vassals also acquired the right to alienate their fiefs, with the
proviso, first, of the lord's consent and, later, on payment of a certain tax. Similarly, they
obtained the right to subinfeudate, that is, to become lords themselves by granting parts of
their fiefs to vassals of their own. If a vassal died without heir or committed a felony, his fief
went back to the lord.
Source: http://history-world.org/feudalism.htm
homage and fealty, in European society, solemn acts of ritual by which a person became a
vassal of a lord in feudal society. Homage was essentially the acknowledgment of the bond of
tenure that existed between the two. It 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.
Fealty was an oath of fidelity made by the vassal. In it he promised not to harm his lord or to do
damage to his property. Although homage had to be rendered directly to the lord, fealty could
be given to a bailiff or steward. The lord then performed a symbolic investiture of the new
vassal, handing over to him some object representing his fief. The whole procedure was a
recognition of both the assistance owed by the tenant to his lord and the protection owed by
the lord to the tenant.
Source: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/270032/homage
FIEF
fief, in European feudal society, a vassal’s source of income, held from his lord in exchange for
services. The fief constituted the central institution of feudal society (see feudalism). It normally
consisted of land to which a number of unfree peasants were attached; the land was supposed
to be sufficient to support the vassal and to secure his knight service for the lord. Its size varied
greatly, according to the income it could provide. It has been calculated that a fief needed from
15 to 30 peasant families to maintain one knightly household. Fief sizes varied widely, ranging
from huge estates and whole provinces to a plot of a few acres. Besides land, dignities and
offices and money rents were also given in fief.
Source: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/206138/fief
Feudalism
Feudalism, the prevailing form of political organization in western and central Europe from 900
to 1300. After the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century A.D. it had become increasingly
difficult for any government to rule effectively over a large area. Feudalism—a special method
of local, rather than central, government—saved Europe from anarchy.
Feudal government depended on personal agreements between a number of individuals who
possessed military power. These individuals usually had landed estates. They owed loyalty not
to a nation, but only to those individuals with whom they had made agreements. The methods
by which they received the products of their estates and ruled their workers constitute another
aspect of feudalism, called the manorial, or seignorial, system.
Many historians believe that the term feudalism cannot be restricted to the government of
medieval Europe. Russia, China, the Byzantine Empire, India, and, particularly, Japan had at
certain times institutions resembling those of European feudalism.
Features of Feudalism
Feudal practices varied in different regions of Europe and at different times. The features of
feudalism listed below are characteristic of 11th- and 12th-century France, and are considered
typical.
Lord and Vassal
The feudal hierarchy was an arrangement of rank resembling a pyramid. At the top of the
pyramid was the king. In the feudal relationship the king was the suzerain, or lord, of a group of
dukes and counts who were his vassals. Each of these vassals was in turn lord to lesser vassals,
who had even less important vassals. At the bottom of the pyramid were the knights, who had
no vassals.
Lord and vassal owed certain obligations to each other. The vassal pledged to perform certain
services for his lord, and in return the lord granted him a fief, or fee.(The fief was also called a
feud, or feod, from which historians derived the term feudalism.)
The Fief
A fief was anything that was considered useful or valuable. Usually, a fief was a piece of land,
jurisdiction over the peasants who lived on the land, and ownership of the goods they
produced. All fiefs were technically owned by the king, but a vassal held, in effect, all the rights
of ownership of the fief as long as he performed the services required by his lord. (This method
of holding another's land is called feudal tenure.) The entire kingdom was divided into fiefs,
except for the land held by the king personally.
Feudal tenure was hereditary. When a vassal died, his heir did homagefor his fief and swore an
oath of fealtyto his lord, promising to be faithful and render service. In the ceremony of
investiture, the lord handed his vassal some symbol—such as a sword or a clod of earth—in
token of title, and promised to defend the vassal's fief.
If a vassal died leaving a minor heir, the lord usually became the guardian of the fief and
managed it. If the heir was an unmarried daughter, the lord could select a husband for her
because only a male could perform the services of the fief.
Feudal Services
The services that a vassal owed his lord varied, but the following were common:
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Military, or Knight, Service. A vassal was expected to serve his lord in war. Usually he
served 40 days a year at his own expense if engaged in an offensive action against his
lord's enemy. In a defensive action the term of service was unlimited. A knight was
expected to furnish only his horse and armor, but great vassals had to supply hundreds
of knights and men-at-arms.
Court Service. Vassals had to serve, when summoned, in the lord's court. They were
called upon to give the lord advice. They also met in assembly to settle disputes
between vassals. This was the origin of the principle of trial by a jury of peers, or equals.
(Commonly, however, disputes between vassals were settled by combat.) Vassals were
also summoned for ceremonial occasions, such as investitures.
Financial Obligations. They included:
A relief, or gift, to the lord when the fief passed to an heir. It amounted usually to a
year's income.
Aids, payments made by vassals when their lord needed additional resources. A
common aid was to help ransom the lord when he was taken prisoner in war. Other aids
were given when the lord's eldest daughter was married and when his eldest son
became a knight.
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Obligation to entertain the lord when he paid a visit.
A great lord would sometimes ennoble officials in his household and give them fiefs in return
for their services. Among these officials were the sheriff, steward, bailiff, constable, marshal,
butler, and chamberlain of a large estate. Their obligations consisted of the fulfillment of their
responsibilities as household officials. They enjoyed the same feudal rights as other vassals. This
type of tenure was called sergeanty.
Feudal Warfare
A powerful vassal who did not fulfill his obligations could usually withstand his lord's wrath if he
owned a strong castle, since medieval castles were almost impossible to overrun. Forty days'
service—the usual limit for knights in the attacking force—left insufficient time for siege
operations.
Private warfare between nobles who were neither lord nor vassal to each other was common in
France, since the king could not control the vassals of his vassals. The church sought to limit
strife by forbidding warfare on certain days of the week and during church festivals. Chivalry
developed as a code of conduct for knights.
The Manorial, Or Seignorial, System
The social and economic organization of a fief was based upon the manor, a district held by a
feudal lord (seigneur). A manor could be an entire fief or only part. Generally, it included a
village and fields, barns, mills, granaries, and sources of water. From the manor's production, a
lord derived the resources he needed to support his family and to meet his obligations to his
lord. For peasants, the manor provided protection and basic necessities.
The non-noble residents of a manor belonged to two main classes, freemanand serf.Various
classes of peasants, at different times and in different places, were called villeins.Depending on
time and place, a villein's status ranged from that of freeman to that of slave.
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Freeman. Freemen were tenants of the manor who paid rent, usually in produce.
Sometimes they had to perform labor service for the lord. They were free to leave the
manor, but while living there were subject to the lord's jurisdiction.
Serf. Serfs were semifree peasants who worked a feudal lord's land and paid him certain
dues in return for protection and the use of land. They were subject to the lord's
jurisdiction at all times. A serf could not be married or leave the manor without the
lord's consent. A serf's personal possessions could be taken by the lord as taxes.
However, serfs were not slaves and could not be sold. Most peasants in western Europe
during the Middle Ages were serfs.
The Manorial Economy.The manor was a self-sufficient economic unit. Artisans made essential
goods. The land was divided into closed(fenced) and common(shared) lands.
Closed Lands
consisted of two or three fields, one of which was left fallow in rotating order. The lord's land,
called the demesne, was between one-third and one-half of the total. Serfs usually owed from
one to three days a week labor on the demesne. The remaining area was divided into many
strips and distributed among the serfs so that they could farm it for themselves. In all a typical
serf had perhaps 30 acres (12 hectares) of farmland. A certain amount of the serf's crops went
to the lord as rent.
Common Lands
included the meadows, pastures, and forests. The serfs harvested hay from the meadow for the
lord's livestock and, in return, were permitted to harvest some for their own use. A similar
arrangement existed for the gathering of firewood. If a serf's cow grazed on the pasture, the
serf paid a fee to the lord in the form of meat or dairy products.
The lord owned all the mills and ovens in the village. Operating a private mill or oven was
illegal. Thus, peasants had no choice but to grind their grain in the lord's mills and bake their
bread in his ovens. For each of these services, they had to pay a fee in the form of grain or
bread.
The standard of living on a manor was poor, even for nobles. Castles and manor houses were
damp and poorly heated. Peasants lived in flimsy huts with dirt floors and no windows. Diet
varied, but if the harvest was bad, the entire manor suffered.
Seignorial Jurisdiction
The lord was the sole authority over the residents of the manor. He presided over the manorial
court, where disputes between serfs were settled and individuals accused of committing crimes
were tried. The rank of a feudal lord was reflected in the types of punishments he was
permitted to impose; low justicemeant that the lord was limited to ordering punishment for
misdemeanors, while high justiceallowed him to order punishment for serious crimes. Lords in
France could impose the death penalty. In England, only royal courts could impose this
sentence.
Source: http://history.howstuffworks.com/european-history/feudalism.htm/printable
Common Resources
The Feudal System: http://themiddleages.tripod.com/feudal_system.htm
FAITH
he Catholic Church was the only church in Europe during the Middle Ages, and it had its
own laws and large coffers. Church leaders such as bishops and archbishops sat on the king's
council and played leading roles in government. Bishops, who were often wealthy and came
from noble families, ruled over groups of parishes called "diocese." Parish priests, on the other
hand, came from humbler backgrounds and often had little education. The village priest tended
to the sick and indigent and, if he was able, taught Latin and the Bible to the youth of the
village.
As the population of Europe expanded in the twelfth century, the churches that had been built
in the Roman style with round-arched roofs became too small. Some of the grand cathedrals,
strained to their structural limits by their creators' drive to build higher and larger, collapsed
within a century or less of their construction.
Monks and Nuns
Monasteries in the Middle Ages were based on the rules set down by St. Benedict in the sixth
century. The monks became known as Benedictines and took vows of poverty, chastity, and
obedience to their leaders. They were required to perform manual labor and were forbidden to
own property, leave the monastery, or become entangled in the concerns of society. Daily tasks
were often carried out in silence. Monks and their female counterparts, nuns, who lived in
convents, provided for the less-fortunate members of the community. Monasteries and
nunneries were safe havens for pilgrims and other travelers.
Monks went to the monastery church eight times a day in a routine of worship that involved
singing, chanting, and reciting prayers from the divine offices and from the service for Mass.
The first office, "Matins," began at 2 A.M. and the next seven followed at regular intervals,
culminating in "Vespers" in the evening and "Compline" before the monks retired at night.
Between prayers, the monks read or copied religious texts and music. Monks were often well
educated and devoted their lives to writing and learning. The Venerable Bede, an English
Benedictine monk who was born in the seventh century, wrote histories and books on science
and religion.
Pilgrimages
Pilgrimages were an important part of religious life in the Middle Ages. Many people took
journeys to visit holy shrines such as the Church of St. James at Santiago de Compostela in
Spain, the Canterbury cathedral in England, and sites in Jerusalem and Rome. Chaucer's
Canterbury Tales is a series of stories told by 30 pilgrims as they traveled to Canterbury.
Source: http://www.learner.org/interactives/middleages/religion.html
Middle Ages Religion
Medieval Lives in the Middle Ages as dominated by the Catholic Religion
In Europe during the Middle Ages the only recognised religion was Christianity, in the form of
the Catholic religion. The lives of the Medieval people of the Middle Ages was dominated by
the church. From birth to death, whether you were a peasant, a serf, a noble a lord or a King life was dominated by the church. Various religious institutions became both important, rich
and powerful. The lives of many Medieval people were dedicated to to the Catholic church
and religion. These are all detailed in the following links all of which relate to Middle Ages
Religion.
Religion during the Middle Ages
The Great Schism
Medieval Monks
Religious Festivals
Medieval Nuns
Daily Life of a Monk in the Middle Ages
Anchoress
Daily Life of a Nun in the Middle Ages
Monasticism
Medieval Monastery
Benedictine Rule
Medieval Convent or Nunnery
Benedictine Monks
Middle Ages Religion - The Christian Religion (Christianity)
The Christian religion, or Christianity, is the name given to the system of religious belief and
practice which was taught by Jesus Christ in the country of Palestine during the reign of the
Roman Emperor Tiberius (42 BC - AD 37). Christianity took its rise in Judaism. Jesus Christ, its
founder, and His disciples were all orthodox Jews. The new Christian religion emerged based
on the testimony of the Scriptures, as interpreted by the life of Jesus Christ and the teaching
of His Apostles, which were documented in the Bible.
Middle Ages Religion - The Rise of the Christian Religion (Christianity) in the Roman Era
Christianity began among a small number of Jews (about 120, see Acts 1:15). Christianity was
seen as a threat to the Roman Empire as Christians refused to worship the Roman gods or the
Emperor. This resulted in the persecution of the early Christians, many of whom were killed
and thus became martyrs to the Christian religion. The prosecution of adherents to the
Christian religion ended during the reign of the Roman Emperor Constantine. Emperor
Constantine I (AD ca. 285 - AD 337) of the Roman Empire legalised Christianity and
Constantine the Great proclaimed himself as an 'Emperor of the Christian people'. Most of
the Roman Emperors that came after Constantine were Christians. Christianity then became
the official religion of the Roman Empire instead of the old Roman religion that had
worshipped many Gods.
Middle Ages Religion - The Rise of the Christian Religion (Christianity) in the Dark Ages
In the 5th century, the Roman empire began to crumble. Germanic tribes (barbarians)
conquered the city of Rome. This event started the period in history referred to as the Dark
Ages. The period of the Dark Ages saw the growth in the power of the Christian Church which
was then referred to as the Catholic religion.
Middle Ages Religion - The Catholic Religion
During the Dark Ages and Early Middle Ages the only accepted Christian religion was the
Catholic religion. The word Catholic derives from the Middle English word 'catholik' and from
the Old French 'catholique' and the Latin word 'catholicus' meaning universal or whole. Early
Christians, such as Saint Ignatius of Antioch, who was martyred in c110, used the term
'catholic' to describe the whole Church - the literal meaning being universal or whole. Any
other sects were viewed as heretical. The Catholic religion was seen as the true religion. The
Christian church was divided geographically between the west (Rome) and the east
(Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch).
Middle Ages Religion - The Power of the Catholic Church
With it's own laws, lands and taxes The Catholic church was a very powerful institution which
had its own laws and lands. The Catholic Church also imposed taxes. In addition to collecting
taxes, the Church also accepted gifts of all kinds from individuals who wanted special favors
or wanted to be certain of a place in heaven. The power of the Catholic Church grew with its
wealth. The Catholic Church was then able to influence the kings and rulers of Europe.
Opposition to the Catholic Church would result in excommunication. This meant that the
person who was excommunicated could not attend any church services, receive the
sacraments and would go straight to hell when they died.
Middle Ages Roman Catholic Religion - The Great Schism and the Great Western Schism
In 1054 there was a split between the Eastern and Western Christian Churches prompted by
arguments over the crusades. This split was called the Great Schism. The Great Western
Schism occurred in in Western Christendom from 1378 - 1417. This was caused by an Italian
pope called Pope Urban IV being elected and establishing the papal court in Rome. The
French disagreed with this and elected a French Pope who was based in Avignon. The schism
in western Christendom was finally healed at the Council of Constance and the Catholic
religion was referred to as the Roman Catholic Religion.
Source: http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/middle-ages-religion.htm