3.3 Feudalism - T -

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AGE 3: The Time of monks and knights

3.3 Feudalism 

Word Duty

Feudal system - medieval government system based on the bond between a lord and his vassal.

Fief - the land a lord lent to a vassal

Nobles - the most important lords that served under a king

Pledge fealty - to swear loyalty

Knights - vassals who became military specialists

Manor - large piece of land where the lord and the peasants lived.

Serfs - farmers who depended entirely on their lord an were not allowed to leave the manor

Servile duties: free work that serfs needed to do for their lord

Self-sufficient - when people are able to produce everything they need themselves

KEY WORDS

What you can explain after this lesson:

• why the Frankish kings used the Feudal System to rule their empires.
• how the Feudal System pyramid works
• the relationship between a lord and the people on his manor.
•  the difference between free peasants and serf peasants.
• why a manor tried to be self-sufficient.
• what the Three Estates system is.

In this lesson:

• In the eighth century, the Franks established the feudal system.
• Lords gave a fief in loan to their vassals.
• Knights were vassals who did not have a fief, but became military specialists.
• a manor was the part of the fief where the lord and the peasants lived.
• Serfs were peasants who were bound to their lord's land. They were protected, but they had little freedom and had to do servile duties.
• A manor tried to be self-sufficient.
• Bad weather could cause famine.

Medieval society was structured by the Three Estates.

In the Early Middle Ages, most people were engaged in agriculture. But did they really own the land they farmed?

Feudalism

In the eighth century, the Franks established the feudal system. This meant that the king (or lord) gave large areas of land as a fief to his most important nobles.  The nobleman then became the king's vassal. As the king's vassals they could rule their fief. They were also allowed to keep its produce. The feudal system can be seen as an agreement to strengthen the personal bond between the king and his nobles.

For a king, giving land in fief to a vassal was a good way to secure their loyalty. In return for the land, the vassal had to pledge his fealty to his lord. This was a promise to stay loyal to the lord, to provide military support in times of war and to give the lord advise whenever he asked for it. The vassals had to remain loyal to the lord, otherwise he could take back his land at any time.

Sometimes a nobleman gave a part of his fief in loan to a lower nobleman. He then became that lower vassal's lord.This means that someone could be both a lord and a vassal at the same time. 

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Feudal System

Pyramid

Knights

Some vassals did not hold lands in fief. These vassals lived at the court of their lord. They spent much time practising sword fighting on horseback. They became military specialists. They were called knights, from the German word for servant: Knecht. At first, knights received little respect: they were vassals who did not possess any land. This changed in the twelfth century when it was considered an honour to become a knight. This change was partly brought by the Church who used knights to fight against Islamic peoples in the Crusades. You will learn more about the Crusades in lesson 4.3

Manors

The king had given a fief (as a loan) to his nobles. 

A fief was a large piece of land. A smaller part of the fief was the manor. This was the part where most of the inhabitants of the fief lived and worked. It included farm houses, a church, farmland, a blacksmith, a bakery, orchards, a mill and the manor house.

This was the house in which the nobleman and his family lived. Sometimes it was a big house, sometimes it was more like a castle.

Further away, outside the manor, were forests and barren lands, such as marshlands. These were used to collect wood and to develop into farmland.

If you look at the picture, you can see that the manor house is walled. In times of danger or war, the people who lived on the manor, could find safety and protection inside the walls of the manor house. Of course, the nobleman did not give this protection for free, as you can read in the next part.

a fief 

the manor

free peasants

serf peasants

manor house

manor house

The place where the lord lived and from where he ruled the village. 

Many times the manor was fortified by walls. Sometimes the manor was built on top of a small hill and surrounded by a palissade. 

The manor farm consisted of the manor (= fortified farmhouse / castle) + some land with orchards, farming fields and work places around it. 

mill

The mill was where people grounded wheat and grain. 

It was owned by the lord.

Serf peasants could use the mill to grind their grain, but of course they had to pay the lord for this. The payment was not money, but a percentage of the produce of the peasant.

farm

The houses the peasants (= farmers) lived in were not as nice as the manor house. They were thatched roofed

The palissade surrounds the manor farm. If the domain is attacked the peasants can find shelter within the walls of the manor farm.

Peasants worked on farm land for the lord in exchange for protection and land.

church

The church is where holy events took place (weddings, sermons, funerals). The church is also where the sick would be taken care of.

Sometimes the lord used this place to speak justice. He could hand out punishments to criminals.

A Shepard worked with the livestock in the fields. This would help produce food and cloth for the village

orchard

the manor's orchard. 

servile duties

This meant that serfs needed to work for the lord two or three days a week. They worked the lord's fields, or built and repaired his palissade.

The Manor

Serf peasants

Farmers and their families used the manor to work and live on. These farmers depended entirely on their lord. They were called serf peasants or serfs. Serfs were bound to the manor. They could not leave the manor to settle elsewhere without the permission of their lord.

In return for protection and the right to farm their lands, the serfs had many obligations. They paid rent for their land. This often happened in kind: corn, chicken or products such as bread or timber for example were used to pay this rent. Serfs also had to perform certain services for their lord for free: Men had to build and repair buildings and tend the lord's animals. Women had to weave clothes for example. These services were called servile duties

Unlike slaves, serfs were not the property of the lord. They could not be bought or sold as a person. But they could be sold together with land. 

Self-sufficient

In many cases a manor was self-sufficient, as many of the products that were needed as necessary were grown or made by the serfs on the manor. Because of this, trade took place on a very small scale. Farmers offered their surpluses on local markets. They exchanged them for tools or other objects. Lords could afford to purchase luxury items. Sometimes they did not even have to leave the manor to buy jewelry. On a manor in Geldrop (North Brabant) there was even a silversmith. This shows that every manor was different from the next.

Beyond the manor, there were places where free farmers lived. Free farmers could do their work without much involvement from a lord, especially in areas where people concentrated more on livestock than on arable farming.

Famine

Agricultural surpluses were not self-evident. Heavy weather and war violence led to crop failure. This did not prevent greedy lords from demanding payment of rent however. This could cause a food shortage. If there was no reserve from previous harvests, then there would be famine. This often happened. Charlemagne issued laws to prevent emergency situations. His vassals were obliged to help the poor. They had to distribute grain. Food had to be sold at ordinary prices and people who lent money were not allowed to demand high interest on the loans of farmers.

3.2.1

Some Bedouins today make their living by giving desert tours [Wojtek Arciszewski/Al Jazeera]

Summary 3.3

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