Chapter 24 Medieval Society
Words, Terms and People to Know
 Squire
 Fiefs
 Serf
 Dubbing
 Act
 Code
of Homage
 Seneschal
 Palisades
 Page
 Keep
 Joust

of Chivalry
 Clergy
 Nobles
 Portcullis
 Bailiff
http://www.learner.org/resources/series58.html
1
Chapter 24 Feudal
Society: Life in the
Middle Ages
…Or , why I’m glad I’m not them!
2
Things to Consider
 “If
cats could write history…”
 6th thru 14th cen. Princes, monks and
clerks-- commoners rarely written
about.
 Average town size 40,000
 In 1300 AD Paris 200,000
 During the height of Roman Empire
50% of the population could read and
write

During the Dark Ages roughly 3% were
literate
3
The significance of the widespread belief in ghosts, asking who returned, to
whom, from where, in what form, and why. Through this vivid study, we can
see the ways in which the dead and the living related to each other.This
author argues that beliefs and the imaginary depend above all on the
structures and functioning of society and culture, and he shows how the
Christian culture of the Middle Ages enlarged the notion of ghosts and
Medieval
woodcut
created many opportunities for the dead to appear.
Also points
outshowing
that theunseen forces
effecting
human
life.
church happily proliferated ghost stories as a way to promote the liturgy of
the dead, to develop pious sentiments among parishioners, and to solicit
alms on behalf of a relative or friend's salvation.
William of Ockham (1280-1349),
Oh, to be alive in 1100 A.D.

The rich were overfed/poor were underfed
 People were extraordinarily prone to visions
and seeing supernatural phenomena, perhaps due to
hunger
 Emotional
societies in which devils and
saints intervened
 Irrational
societies—people were at the
mercy of “forces” totally beyond their control.
 Time (as measured today) was irrelevant


No clocks, no way to measure accurately
Dates—offered complete confusion. Even
Christmas was celebrated at different times in
different places.

4
 Youth was a characteristic of most
societies during the middle ages

Average age was 21
 Idea
of exactness was foreign to
medieval world where everything was
approximate.
 Disease was common place and deadly
 Small pox, plagues and leprosy
• 5% of the population in 12th and 13th centuries had
leprosy.
 Between
1340-1370 A.D. 1/3 of
population in the west died of plagues.
In the cities the number was ½ of the
population
5
6
The Culprits
7
The Disease Cycle
Flea drinks rat blood
that carries the
bacteria.
Bacteria
multiply in
flea’s gut.
Human is infected!
Flea bites human and
regurgitates blood
into human wound.
Flea’s gut clogged
with bacteria.
8
The eruption column of Mount Pinatubo
during the 1991 eruption. Mt. Pinatubo
Also erupted in 1315. However it is not known
For certain that this caused the cooling.
The Famine of 1315-1317
 By 1300 Europeans were farming almost all
the land they could cultivate.
 A population crisis developed.
 Climate changes in Europe produced three
years of crop failures between 1315-17
because of excessive rain.
 As many as 15% of the peasants in some
English villages died.
 One consequence of
The bookstarvation
covers the cataclysms
suffered by Europe in
& poverty
the 14th century: the Hundre Years' War, the Black
was
susceptibility
to
Plague, the
papal
schism, pillaging mercenaries,
and
popular revolts.
disease.
9
ThePneumonic
Symptoms
Form -95-100% Fatal
The disease appeared in three forms:
bubonic [infection of the lymph system -- 60% fatal]
pneumonic [respiratory infection -- about 100% fatal], and
Bulbous
septicaemic [infection of the blood and probably 100% fatal]
Septicemic Form:
almost 100%
mortality rate.
10
From the Toggenburg Bible, 1411
11
Medieval Art & the Plague
Bring out your dead!
12
Attempts to Stop the Plague
A Doctor’s
Robe
“Leeching”
13
Attempts to Stop the Plague
Flagellanti:
Self-inflicted “penance” for our sins!
14
A Little Macabre Ditty
“A sickly season,” the merchant said,
“The town I left was filled with dead,
and everywhere these queer red flies
crawled upon the corpses’ eyes,
eating them away.”
“Fair make you sick,” the merchant said,
“They crawled upon the wine and bread.
Pale priests with oil and books,
bulging eyes and crazy looks,
dropping like the flies.”
A Little Macabre Ditty
cont.
“I had to laugh,” the merchant said,
“The doctors purged, and dosed, and bled;
“And proved through solemn disputation
“The cause lay in some constellation.
“Then they began to die.”
“First they sneezed,” the merchant said,
“And then they turned the brightest red,
Begged for water, then fell back.
With bulging eyes and face turned black,
they waited for the flies.”
16
A Little Macabre Ditty
cont.
“I came away,” the merchant said,
“You can’t do business with the dead.
“So I’ve come here to ply my trade.
“You’ll find this to be a fine brocade…”
And then he sneezed……….!
The effects of that plague and its successors on the men and women of
medieval Europe were profound: new attitudes toward death, the value of
life, and of one's self. It kindled a growth of class conflict, a loss of respect
for the Church, and the emergence of a new pietism (personal spirituality)
that profoundly altered European attitudes toward religion.
The plague lasted in each area only about a year, but a third of a district's
population would die during that period.
18
Mortality Rate
35% - 70%
25,000,000 dead !!!
The Dance of Death (1493) by Michael Wolgemut
20
Dance Macabre 1 : a medieval dance or procession in which
a skeleton representing death leads
other skeletons or living persons to the grave -- called also dance of
death

In the Middle Ages, death, and its universal
embrace, was constantly on peoples’ minds.
In fact, life was uncertain for the young, the
old, and everyone in-between. People alive in
the Middle Ages were made aware of their
mortality every day by the real possibility of
dying from any number of diseases for which
there were no effective cures (other diseases); the
difficult quality (medieval hygiene) of their lives, or the
violent nature of medieval society.
Consequently, what becomes known as the
‘dance of death’ was an especially ubiquitous
motif in medieval European art and literature.21


This intimate awareness of the presence of
death hovering over even the most joyous of
occasions translated itself into a visual and
literary type known as the “dances of death”,
or the “dance macabre”. Visual
representations of this are to be found on the
outside walls of cloisters, cemeteries, in
mortuary chapels, ossuaries and even in
churches. These frescoes (paintings made in
wet plaster) usually include an emaciated
corpse or a skeleton coupled with a living
representative of a certain social class. The
number of characters and the composition of
the dance may vary according to time, place
and purpose of the artist, 24 being a popular
figure.
22

The dance of death often takes the form of a
farandole. There are words exchanged
between death and its victims which are
painted as verses below the corresponding
pictures. The death speech is threatening ,
cynical, or sarcastic while the man cries for
mercy in a last attempt to save his life.
Everyone gets into the dance: from the whole
clerical hierarchy (pope, cardinals, bishops,
abbots, canons, priests), to every single
representative of the laic world (emperors,
kings, dukes, counts, knights, doctors,
merchants, usurers, robbers, peasants, and
even innocent children). Death does not care
for the social position, nor for the richness,
sex, or age of the people it brings into its
dance.
23
 Death
is often represented with a
musical instrument. Music has
always been associated with the
various death and life rituals. Music
provides an enchantment, the
passage from Earth to the
unknown. The Sirens were great
musicians, Orpheus delivered
Eurydice from Hades thanks to his
beautiful songs.
24
 Origin:
The dance of death of the Innocents
in Paris, painted in 1424, is considered the
starting point of this pictorial tradition. The
theme of Death seizing all men from
emperors to peasants became popular
during all the 15th century and there were
numerous dances of death painted across
Europe. Unfortunately, few have survived the
centuries. There are also traces of theatrical
plays that were played in the same fashion.
Different traditions converge in the origin of
these Dances: beliefs, popular legends and
pious or scholar sources.
25
 The
dance of death was preceded and
prepared by a literary genre called
Vado Mori (I prepare myself to die) in
vogue during the 13th century. They
include short sentences (like haiku) of
people from various strolls of life who
are going to die. The most popular
were the king, the pope, the bishop,
the knight, the physicist, the logician,
the young man, the old man, the rich,
the poor and the insane.
26
 Those
alive in the middle ages were
The Holy
Trinity, with the Virgin
and Saint
John medical
and donors is a fresco by the
unable
to
postpone
death
with
Early Italian Renaissance painter Masaccio. Florence.
technology.
They
to usedevotion
the for
Paintings such
as thiswere
served asunable
models of religious
viewers but,modern
because they life
are located
closer
to sublimate
the sacred figures
distractions
offers
to
than the viewers are, they also lay claim to special status. The tomb
its impact.
may in the
consists ofConsequently,
a sarcophagus on whichalthough
lies a skeleton. it
"Carved"
above the skeleton is an inscription: "I once was what you
seemwall
morbid
to those alive today, people
are and what I am you also will be”. This memento mori
of theunderlines
Middle
hadwaslittle
choice
but
to to the
thatAges
the painting
intended
to serve as
a lesson
viewers--since
they all would
die,
only their
faith in
the Trinity and
embrace
the
thought
of
death
and
make
Christ's sacrifice would allow them to overcome their transitory
the most
of their lives while they were
existences.
among the living. The Dance Macabre
reflects this understanding.
27
The distinction between what makes up matter (the primary
Once again proving the point that
the
elements)
and its form became a medieval Christian
preoccupation, with the sinfulness of the material world
world isn’t what the world actually
opposed is—
to the holiness of the heavenly realm (which is
interesting since modern cosmology is heavily consumed
it’s what you think it is (or what
withothers
the issue of dark matter). The medieval Christian
cosmology placed the heavens in a realm of perfection,
can make you think it is)!
derived from Plato's Theory of Forms
A heliocentric Universe was impossible for the
Church to adopt. In the end, medieval
cosmology centers on the balance of angelic
sphere and the earthy realm. One such
cosmology is found in Dante's `The Divine
Comedy'
Hey!!! What happened to my
heliocentric solar system?
28
Italian researchers believe they have found the remains
of a female "vampire" from 16th-century Venice, buried
with a brick in her mouth to prevent her from feasting
Aries
Avoid incisions in the head and face and cut no vein in the head.
on plague victims. Matteo Borrini, a forensic
Taurus
Avoid incisions
in thesaid
neck
and throat and cut no veins there.
anthropologist
from the University
of Florence,
the
discovery was
the first confirmation
of a Medieval
Gemini
Avoid incisions
in the shoulders, arms or hands and cut no vein.
belief that vampires were behind the spread of
Avoid
incisions in the breasts, sides, stomach and lungs and cut no vein
epidemics, Cancer
such as the Black
Death.
that goes to the spleen.
Cosmology of the Middle Ages
Read more: "Archeological wonders" -
Avoid incisions of the nerves, lesions of the sides and bones, and do not
cut the back either by opening and bleeding.
ww.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/galleries/archeological_wonders/archeological_wonders.html#ph3#ixzz0G3HM0mhttp://wRX
&A
Leo
Virgo
Avoid opening a wound in the belly and in the internal parts.
Libra
Avoid opening wounds in the umbellicus and parts of the belly and do not
open a vein in the back or do cupping.
Scorpio
Censored by your teacher!
Sagittarius
Avoid incisions in the thighs and fingers and do not cut blemishes and
growths.
Capricorn
Avoid cutting the knees or the veins and sinews in these places.
Aquarius was also
Avoidinfluenced
cutting theby
knees
or the veins
andcharts
veins in these places.
Diagnosis
astrology.
Medical
informed
not
tofeet.
do for people born under a certain
Pisces physicians
Avoid what
cutting
the
start sign. There were people in the time of the plague (the Black
Death) who believed that they had sinned. They believed that the
only way to show their true repentance was to inflict pain on
themselves. These were the so-called flaggellants who whipped
themselves to show their love of God and their true sorry at being a
sinner. Diagnose and treat a medieval patient yourself!
Yikes! The Things People
Believe!
29
Death Triumphant !:
A Major Artistic Theme
30
Three Classes of People
 In
relationship and theory, the feudal
system was simple—but relationships
were not clear-cut.
 1.
Those Who fought—”Bellatores”
 Those who prayed—”Oratores”
 Those who worked—peasants “Laborares”
31
CHAPTER 24
FEUDAL SOCIETY
700 A.D.-1200 A.D.
Bamburgh Castle
Feudalism and
Transitions
3. Describe the conditions that gave
rise to feudalism, as well as
political, economic and social
characteristics of feudalism, in Asia
and Europe.
4. Explain the lasting effects of
military conquests during the
Middle Ages including:
a. Muslim conquests;
b. The Crusades;
c. The Mongol invasions.
Dramatically situated on a crag jutting out over the North Sea, Bamburgh is one of Britain's
most photogenic castles. Henry II built a massive keep on the site of what had been the capital of the
Anglian kingdom of Bernicia in the 7th century. The main highlight indoors is a superb collection of 17 th
century arms and armour from the Tower of London.
32
Section One: describes the
origins of feudalism






Terms to Learn: Fiefs
Terms to Learn: Vassal
Terms to Learn: Act of Homage
Terms to Learn: Knight
Terms to Learn: Feudalism
Term to Learn: Catholicism



I. Land and Government
A. power based on ownership of land
B. Charles Martel gives fiefs to his soldiers
as reward for service
 C. After 800, the kings of Europe followed
Martel’s example establishing ties of loyalty
among the nobles

1. land tied to military service which was the
most important duty of a feudal vassal
Feudalism
A political, economic, and social
system based on loyalty and military
service.
In theory the feudal system of vassalage would seem to be clear-cut.
However, due to overlapping vassalage claims-- and time-- the system
became very complicated and often produced strange alliances and
betrayals. The movie Braveheart recounts the history (sort of, the
film is filled with inaccuracies) of Scotland’s William Wallace (12721305) and how he was betrayed by Scottish lords who also owned
lands in England and therefore had allegiances to the English king.
(Read Feudalism and Medieval Life-- Word Document)

I. Cont.
 D.
The Rise of Feudal Territories
• 1. after 814 Europe had no central government
• 2. nobles become more powerful than the king
becoming independent rulers

(a.) many nobles maintain their own army and coin
their own money
• 3. around 900 nobles protect their lands from
Vikings






(a.) peasants work for their noble in exchange for
protection.
(b.) Peasants lose their land and their freedom
(c.) 1000 western Europe divided into thousands of
small territories
(d.) noble who owned land had political and military
power
(e.) peasants had no say in government
(f.) church and noble dominated society with little
35
to no societal mobility for the lower classes
36
I. Cont.

E. Lord an Vassal
The
Oath
the Form
of Homage
: "I become
liege man
life

1. and
Vassal
was
a noble
whoyour
served
a oflord
and limb and truth and earthly honors, bearing to you against all men
ofmove
higher
and
loyalty
that love,
or die, rank
so help me
Godgave
and the him
Holy Dame.
"
act of homage—vassal promised to serve
in battle,
vassal
a fief
Single plates
of metal lord
armourgave
were again
used from
the late 13th
a glove,
stick
or stone
waswere
the worn
sign a
lord’s
century on, to (a.)
protect
jointsaand
shins,
and these
over
a
word could
beend
trusted
full mail haubergeon.
By the
of the 14th century, larger and

(b.) failure
to provide
protection
need
for
complete full
plates
of armour
had been
developed.negated
Full plate
armor
was expensiveloyalty
to produce and remained therefore restricted to the
 of
(c.)
vassals
required
to bring
to remained
battle with
upper strata
society;
lavishly
decorated
suitsknights
of armour
them
takenobles
part inand
military
service
40-60
days
the fashion with
18thand
century
generals
long after
they
hada
year. useful on the battlefield due to the advent of
ceased to be militarily

(d.) Vassals required to ransom lord if captured in
powerful muskets.
battle
•
1. failure to pay homage would cause the lord
to pull the vassal’s fief
37
Section Two: discusses the
feudal social hierarchy


Terms to Learn: Castles
Terms to Learn: Keep
Terms to learn: Ladies
Terms to Learn: Clergy

II. The Nobility




A. 800-1000 lived in wooden houses
surrounded by palisades
B. The Castle
•
•
•
•

(1.) 1100 nobles living in stone castles
(2.) the keep was located in the middle and could be
defended even if the rest of the castle fell and was the
noble’s household quarters
(3.) servants and officials were responsible for castle’s
care and defense
(4.) castle’s could hold out for as long as 6 months
C. Castle Life
•
•
(1.) nobles hunted, fished and held court
(2.) wandering minstrels came to entertain
39
Be careful who you give
a castle to—they’re
hard to take!
40
II. Continued
• 3. noblewomen, once married
were under the authority of their
husbands
• 4. dowry very important
• 5. most women married by 12-13
(if not by 21 usually never
Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122 – 1 April 1204) was one of the wealthiest
married)
and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle
Ages. One of her many children was son, Richard the Lionheart.
• 6. expected to train young girls in
household duties and run the
castle household and care for the
poor and sick.
Eleanor of Aquitaine
The Statutes of Arms were concerned with checking
the excesses
of mass tournaments that
A Squire's
Training
often ended in the pillage, rape, and slaughter of local villagers and townspeople (See: Noël
Denholm-Young, "The Tournament
the Thirteenth-Century,"
in Studies
Medieval
And asinlordes
sonnes bene sette,
at fourinyere
age, History
Presented to Frederick Maurice Powicke,
pp.to
260-261,
264).
To scole
lerne the
doctryne of letture,
Section Three: describes the
duties of feudal knights
Here begin the Statutes of Arms.And after at sex to have thaym in language,
And sitte at mete semely in all nurture;
“At the request of the Earls and Barons and of the Chivalry of England, it is
At ten and twelve to revelle in thair cure,

Terms
Learn:
ordained
andtoby
ourPage
Lord the King commanded, that from henceforth none be so
To daunse and synge, and speke of gentelnesse;

Terms to Learn: Code of Chivalry
hardy,
whether
Earl,
Baron,
or other Knight, who shall go to the Tournament, to

Terms to Learn: Squire
At fourtene yere they shalle to felde I sure,
havemore
than
three
Esquires in Arms to serve him at the Tournament; and that
Terms
to Learn:
Dubbing
At hunte the dere, and catch an hardynesse.
Terms to do
Learn:
Tournaments
every Esquire
bear
a Cap of the Arms of his Lord, whom he shall serve that day,

Terms to Learn: Joust
For dere to hunte and slea, and se them blede,
for Ensign.
 III. Knighthood Ane hardyment gyfffith to his corage,
And no Knight or Esquire serving
at the
Tournament,
shall
bear a sword
And also
in his
wytte to takyth
hede

A. must follow the
code of
chivalry
Ymagyninge
take thaym
at avauntage.
pointed, or Dagger pointed,
or Staff ortoMace,
but only
a broad sword for

B.
Training
At Banners
sextene yere
tobe
werray
andwith
to wage,
tourneying. And all that bear
shall
armed
Mufflers and
•
1.
training
begins
at
7
when
he
learns
to
be
a
page
To juste
ryde, and castels
tomore.
assayle,
Cuishes, and Shoulder-Plates,
andand
a Skull-cap,
without
• 2. at 14 could
a lance
andmake
sword
while
on horseback
Tohandle
scarmyse
als, and
sykur
courage,
And if it happen
EarlAnd
or Baron
or other
do go
against this statute,
sette
his
wacheknight,
for perile
nocturnayle;
• 3.that
at any
15 becomes
a squire
that such knight, by
assent of all the Baronage, shall lose Horse and Harness, and
 (a.) expected to rescue the knight if wounded of falls off horse
And
day
his armure
to assay
abide in prison at the
pleasure
ofbecome
our every
Lord
Sir
Edward
the King's
son,as
and
Sir
(b.)
squires
knights
in
a
ceremony
known
dubbing
In fete
of armes with
of his
Edmund his brother, and the Earl
of Gloucester,
andsome
the Earl
of meyne,
Lincoln. And the

C.
Tournaments
His might against
to preve,
and
what here
that he
do may
Esquire who shall be found offending
the
statute
devised,
in any
•
1.
special
contests
to
train
for
war
Iff
that
we
were
in
such
a
jupertee
point, shall lose Horse and Harness, and be imprisoned three years. And if any man
werrethey
by falle,
by(everything
necessite
• http://www.chronique.com/histour.htm
could
shall cast a knight
to the ground,Of
except
who that
are armed
for their you
Lord's
possible
want
to
know
about
medieval
tournaments)
Hehis
might
algates
with
wapyns
hymbe
defende:
service, the knight
shall have
horse,
and
the
offender
shall
punished as the
Thus should he lerne in his priorite
• 2. jousts
Esquires aforesaid.”
His wapyns alle in armes to dispende.
The text for this poem is found on p. 17 THE BLACK PRINCE, R.P. Dunn-
Section Four: explains the lifestyles of
the people in feudal society and the
organization of the manors




Terms to Learn: Manor
Terms to Learn: Seneschal
Terms to Learn: Bailiff
Terms to Learn: Freeman
 IV.
The Manor
The 14th century great hall at Penshurst Place Kent, mid 14th
century, showing the screens passage. The Great Hall was of
central importance to every manor, being the place where the lord
expressed his position of dominance
43
The Manor

Manors usually had four parts to
them: arable land, meadow land,
waste land, and the village. Each
part had a specific purpose and
none could be dispensed with if the
manor was to survive.
44

The arable land was utilized by the threefield rotation system which prevailed in most
of Europe. This meant that one third of the
arable land always remained fallow in order
not to exhaust the soil. There was plowing
the year round, except when the ground was
frozen or at harvest time. This made
maximum use of the most important tool the
serfs had, the moldboard plow. The value of
a manor was determined for the most part by
the number of plows and teams of oxen it
possessed.
45
 Each
individual peasant strip was
about one acre in size. It took
about one day to plow a single
strip. Crops and peasant field
assignment were scattered in 3
fields throughout the manor.
Plowing and planting was fixed by
custom. There was also uniform
cropping. Thus no innovation was
possible. It kept things the way
they were for almost one
thousand years.
46

Meadow land was as important as
arable land. It was necessary to
feed the draught animals. The
idea of sowing and harvesting hay
to feed the animals had not yet
occurred to them. There was thus
a chronic shortage of winter
fodder. This meant that there was
a constant danger of losing the
cattle and sheep. It was never
successfully overcome.
47

The waste land was used for summer pasture for
animals of the whole manor, watched by children or
lowly attendants. So-called wasteland also provided
wood for fuel and building materials for peasant huts.
In addition it provided an important part of the food
supply: nuts, berries, honey, rabbits. So, it should be
obvious that the manors were relatively small
clearings among large stretches of forest (forest laws) and
wastelands. The vast expanse of the fertile European
Most English forests were owned by the king. The monarch’s workers
plainthewas
never
fully exploited
and
helps
to account
managed
forest and
were expected
to keep poachers
away.
The
penalties
for trespass
could be severe. Even
the ‘underwood’,
the fallen
for the
backwardness
of medieval
economic
life. Most
branches, grass and fruits which grew at ground level was protected.
of central and northern Europe was blanketed with a
vast forest of tall trees or unhealthy swamps.
48

The village itself was usually located in the center
of the arable land, somewhere near the most
convenient water supply: rivers, natural lakes or
drained swamps. Although it should be
What remembered
a cruck house may that
have there was precious little draining
looked like - minus the wattle and daub
of swamps until well into modern times. The
cottages where the serfs lived were made of mud
brick reinforced with straw and had earthen floors
and thatched roof. Usually they consisted of single
rooms not very large in floor space or height. There
were usually small adjoining gardens where some
vegetables and fruits were grown. Little time and
ground was wasted on flowers or decorative
shrubs. Chickens, dogs, and ducks maintained a
precarious existence in the streets.
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IV. Continued

A. Daily Life




1.
seneschal looked after the noble’s fiefs
bailiff made sure the peasants worked hard in the fields
2.
3. manors were self sufficient
B. Freemen and Serfs

1. Freeman—peasant who paid the noble for the right to farm
land
• (a.) worked their own land and had rights under the law—noble
had right to throw off land without warning
• (b.) serfs—were a noble’s property





(1.) could not move to another area and could not own land
(2.) could not marry without the noble’s permission
(3.) could not be driven off land and did not have to serve in military
(4.) a serf who ran away to a city and was not caught for a year gained
his freedom
(5.) Toward the end of the Middle Ages, farming became more
productive because of heavy iron plows coming into use and other
innovations like the three field system of rotation.
50
Essay Questions

The feudal system was based upon the often
times complex lord vassal relationship. What
were the advantages of being a vassal rather
than a lord? What were the disadvantages of
being a lord’s vassal?
 Explain how medieval tournaments were similar
to the Olympic games in Ancient Greece? How
were they different?
 Why do you think the lives of noblewomen were
so restricted? What advantages and
disadvantages did their limited roles have for the
society?
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