The Feudal System
Three Estates
 _______________
 _______________
 _______________
Land is Power
 Lord____________________________________
 Vassal___________________________________
 Fief_____________________________________
Oaths Required of a Vassal
 Homage___________________________________
__________________________________________
 Fealty_____________________________________
__________________________________________
 Allegiance_________________________________
__________________________________________
Feudal Titles
 Duke—Immediate relative of the king who receives
fief directly from the king
 Baron—Not a relative of the king, but receives fief
directly from the king
 Knight—All nobility are at least at the level of
knight. The title of a knight is “Sir.”
 Manor—Self-sufficient village ruled by a knight
 Serf—Commoner who lives in a manor
Life of a Serf
 Serfs were also known as “villeins.”
 Serfs belonged ____________________________
 Serfs worked the fields for the lord in exchange for
protection.
 Serfs paid taxes ___________________________
 Lord may be nobility or the church.
The Church as a Feudal Empire
 Christendom_______________________________
 Class Structure of the Church:
o Pope—The “Pontiff,” the bridge between heaven
and earth; rules ___________________________
________________________________________
o Cardinals— “Princes of the Church”; Rule over
________________________________________
o Archbishops— Rule over ___________________
o Bishops—home church is ___________________
o Abbots (Abbess) or Priors (Prioress) —rule over
abbeys or monasteries; an Abbess or a Prioress is
Opelika High School
AP & Honors English 12
Medieval History Notes
Dr. Hannah
the highest rank a woman could achieve in the
Church. Abbots and Priors answer to a Bishop.
o Parson—a priest, similar to what we think of as a
pastor. The word pastor is Latin for shepherd, and
that is his job, to care for the sheep of his “parish,”
the area he is assigned by the church. A priest
takes the vows of poverty and celibacy. He holds
mass and performs the rites of the Church in the
parish church for his parishioners. He also hears
confession. He then gives the person making
confession, the “penitent,” something the person
must do in order to show he is sorry for his sin,
“absolution.” When the person has completed the
task the priest has given him, he is “shriven.”
Bishops, Archbishops, Cardinals, and the Pope can
also hear confession, but not monks, friars, or
nuns. Priests answer to Bishops.
o Monk—a man who has joined a monastery.
Monasteries belong to different orders, groups of
monks with specific rules. He is “cloistered”—
withdrawn from daily life to spend his time
learning to read and write, studying scripture,
praying for the world, meditating on the goodness
of God, and in some orders, doing some sort of
physical labor so that there is no spare time for the
Devil to tempt him. A monk lives in a “cell” with
a simple bed or bench, a small table, and a candle.
He uses a candle to tell time so he knows when to
pray. Monks prayed together every six hours. A
monk takes vows of poverty and celibacy.
Sometimes a peasant boy was given to the church
to be raised as a monk as an infant if he was an
orphan or born to a family too large to care for
him. Monks answer to an Abbot or a Prior.
o Nun—a woman who is a servant of the Church. A
nun takes a vow of chastity and poverty. She
dedicates herself totally to the Church. She prays
at least four times a day. She lives in a nunnery or
in an abbey. Like a monk, she lives in a cell. She
also nurses the sick and the poor. Nuns cannot
perform the rites of the Church or hear confession.
A nun can enter the church as a young girl, or she
can enter the church later in life.
o Friar—similar to a monk in that he takes the vows
of poverty and celibacy. He differs from a monk in
that he lives among the poor and sick to care for
them. His job is to find those who cannot go to a
priest. He ministers to them, but he is not allowed
to hear confession. A friar is assigned an area by
the church, so he travels on foot through that area
looking for the poor and sick. A friar is allowed to
beg for food to support himself.