3.3 Feudal system -TEACH-

• History
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 1

AGE 3: The Time of monks and knights

3.3 Feudalism and the Manorial system

clerics

aristocrats / nobles

peasants

boeren

geestelijken

edelen

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First make a note in your notebook.

Lesson 3.3: Feudalism and the Manorial system

• The three estates (de drie standen)
• Estate : a group to which you belonged from birth.

• There were 3 estates:
• 1st estate: CLERGY (geestelijkheid)
•           Who? everybody who worked for the Catholic Church (= clerics)
•           For example: monks, priests, bishops, the pope
•           Task: PRAY for the people

First make a note in your notebook.

• 
  
• 2nd estate: NOBILITY  / ARISTOCRACY (de adel)
•           who? rich land owners
•           for example: a count (graaf), a duke (hertog), the king
•           task: PROTECT the people

• 3rd estate: PEASANTS (de boeren)
•           who? everybody else
•           for example: peasants, craftsmen, merchants, soldiers...
•           task: WORK (mainly provide all the food)
• NOTE: About 95% of the population belonged to the 3rd estate.

THE FEUDAL SYSTEM

MONARCH

(KING/EMPEROR)

THE FEUDAL SYSTEM

MONARCH

(KING/EMPEROR)

HIGH NOBLES

(DUKE, COUNT)

THE FEUDAL SYSTEM

MONARCH

(KING/EMPEROR)

 HIGH NOBLES

(DUKE, COUNT)

A PIECE OF LAND (FIEF) ON LEASE

THE FEUDAL SYSTEM

MONARCH

(KING/EMPEROR)

HIGH NOBLES

(DUKE, COUNT)

A PIECE OF LAND (FIEF) ON LEASE

LOYALTY / ADVISE / MILITARY SERVICE

THE FEUDAL SYSTEM

MONARCH

(KING/EMPEROR)

HIGH NOBLES

(DUKE, COUNT)

LOWER NOBLES & KNIGHTS

A PIECE OF LAND (FIEF) ON LEASE

THE FEUDAL SYSTEM

LOYALTY / ADVISE / MILITARY SERVICE

MONARCH

(KING/EMPEROR)

HIGH NOBLES

(DUKE, COUNT)

LOWER NOBLES & KNIGHTS

A PIECE OF LAND (FIEF) ON LEASE

PART

 OF THEIR FIEF 

ON LEASE

THE FEUDAL SYSTEM

LOYALTY / ADVISE / MILITARY SERVICE

MONARCH

(KING/EMPEROR)

HIGH NOBLES

(DUKE, COUNT)

LOWER NOBLES & KNIGHTS

A PIECE OF LAND (FIEF) ON LEASE

PART

 OF THEIR FIEF 

ON LEASE

LOYALTY /  

MILITARY SERVICE

LOYALTY / ADVISE / MILITARY SERVICE

THE FEUDAL SYSTEM

MONARCH

(KING/EMPEROR)

HIGH NOBLES

(DUKE, COUNT)

LOWER NOBLES & KNIGHTS

PEASANTS / SERFS

A PIECE OF LAND (FIEF) ON LEASE

PART

 OF THEIR FIEF 

ON LEASE

THE FEUDAL SYSTEM

LOYALTY / ADVISE / MILITARY SERVICE

LOYALTY /  

MILITARY SERVICE

MONARCH

(KING/EMPEROR)

HIGH NOBLES

(DUKE, COUNT)

LOWER NOBLES & KNIGHTS

PEASANTS / SERFS

A PIECE OF LAND (FIEF) ON LEASE

PART

 OF THEIR FIEF 

ON LEASE

THE FEUDAL SYSTEM

PART

 OF THEIR FIEF 

ON LEASE

&

PROTECTION

LOYALTY / ADVISE / MILITARY SERVICE

LOYALTY /  

MILITARY SERVICE

MONARCH

(KING/EMPEROR)

HIGH NOBLES

(DUKE, COUNT)

LOWER NOBLES & KNIGHTS

PEASANTS / SERFS

A PIECE OF LAND (FIEF) ON LEASE

PART

 OF THEIR FIEF 

ON LEASE

THE FEUDAL SYSTEM

PART

 OF THEIR FIEF 

ON LEASE

&

PROTECTION

LOYALTY

FOOD & SERVICES

LOYALTY / ADVISE / MILITARY SERVICE

LOYALTY /  

MILITARY SERVICE

First make a note in your notebook.

In the Feudal System:

• the person above you was your lord ( = leenheer)
• the person below you was your vassal (= leenman)

• So from the bottom upwards, everybody was loyal to   the monarch.

First make a note in your notebook.

Free Peasants ( vrije boeren) & Serf Peasants / serfs (horige boeren)

• They are both farmers. 
• The difference:

• Free peasants have their own farmland. But they must pay taxes to their lord
• Serfs are not-free peasants. They are bound to the manor and they must work for the lord in exchange for protection

A

A

Feudal System

Manor System

First make a note in your notebook.

The Manor System:

• = a deal between the serfs and their lord.

• The manor = the land on which the lord and the serfs lived.
• In short: the serfs used the lord's land and worked for him in exchange for protection

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

A. where the lord lives

B. Domain: where the peasants live

The manor system:

a deal between the lord and his serfs

Self-sufficient

In many cases a manor was self-sufficient = Produces everything it needs by itself.

• Trade took place on a very small scale > Farmers offered their surpluses on local markets. They exchanged them for tools or other objects. 

Beyond the manor, there were places where free farmers lived. 

• Free farmers could do their work without much involvement from a lord = More on livestock than on arable farming.

Famine

Agricultural surpluses were not self-evident. 

Heavy weather and war violence > crop failure > greedy lords still demand rent > food shortage > famine

Charlemagne issued laws to prevent emergency situations:

1. His vassals were obliged to help the poor. 
2. They had to distribute grain. 
3. Food had to be sold at ordinary prices 
4. 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]

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