Bellwork

1
Bellwork

• In the last lesson, what occurred to
  Charlemagnes empire? What affect did this have
  on their government system?

2
World History

• Middle Ages pt. 1
• Rise of Feudalism and Chivalry

3
Objectives

• Compare the Middle Ages system of feudalism to
  the Japanese style of feudalism.
• Describe the new social stratification system
  formed in Medieval Europe
• Explain the role of Chivalry in everyday life of
  a knight
• Examine the manor system and the purposes behind
  it.

4
Treaty of Verdun

• After the Treaty of Verdun, Charlemagnes three
  feuding grandsons broke up the kingdom even
  further.
• Part of this territory became a battleground as
  new waves of invaders attacked Europe.

5
Invasions

• Between 800 and 1000, invasions completely
  destroyed the Carolingian Empire.
• Muslims seized Sicily and raided Italy.
• Magyar invaders struck from the east and
  terrorized Germany and Italy.
• Vikings sailed from the north and terrorized all
  of Europe.

6
Vikings

• The Vikings hailed from the cold climate of
  Scandinavia, which was north of Eastern Europe.
• They were Germanic peoples, who were often called
  Northmen or Norsemen and worshipped warlike gods.
• The Vikings even took pride in nicknames like
  Eric Bloodaxe and Thorfinn Skullsplitter.

7
Vikings

• Vikings carried out raids extremely quickly.
• They struck and then headed out to sea again and
  by the time troops arrived, they were usually
  gone.
• Viking ships were extremely well crafted. They
  could carry enormous amounts of weight, but still
  sail in water that was 3 feet deep this allowed
  them to traverse across Europe completely by
  boat.

8
Vikings

• Vikings were not only warriors, but also traders,
  farmers, and explorers.
• Vikings ventured far beyond Europe and went into
  Russia, to Constantinople, and even across water
  into the North Atlantic.
• The Viking Leif Erikson more than likely reached
  North America at least 500 years before Columbus
  did.

9
Vikings
Map of Viking Explorations

• Around 1000, Viking terror faded away.
• The Vikings gradually accepted Christianity and
  stopped raiding monasteries.
• As well, a warming trend in Europe made farming
  easier in Scandinavia and this caused many
  Scandinavians to stop raiding other villages.

10
Magyars

• As the Viking assaults lessened, Europe became
  the target of new assaults.
• The Magyars, a nomadic peoples, attacked on
  horseback.
• They swept across western Europe and sold those
  who were captured as slaves.

11
Muslims

• The Muslims struck from the south. From there,
  they controlled the Mediterranean and disrupted
  trade.
• The Muslims got so far as to establish a
  territory in southern Spain, but also took
  control of Sicily.

12
Effects of Invasions

• The invasions caused western Europeans to fear
  for their lives.
• Central authority proved powerless to help them
  and they looked to local leaders who had
  armies-- for protection.
• These local leaders often had armies and those
  who could defend their lands attracted followers
  and gained strength.

Question How is this similar to the lords in
Japan?
13
Structured Society begins

• In 911, two enemies met in a peace ceremony.
• Rollo was a Viking leader who had been plundering
  the lands of Charles the Simple, of France.
• Charles gave Rollo a huge piece of French
  territory (present-day Normandy), and, in return,
  Rollo pledged his allegiance to Charles.

Question What was Japanese feudalism based on
the control or trade of?
14
Structured Society

• Between 850 and 950 during the worst years of
  attack many leaders made similar agreements to
  that of Charles and Rollo.
• The system of governing and landholding called
  feudalism emerged in Europe.

15
Feudal System

• The feudal system was based on mutual
  obligations.
• In exchange for military protection and other
  services, a lord landowner is granted land
  called a fief.
• The person receiving this land is called a
  vassal. Feudalism depended on the control of
  land.

16
Feudal Pyramid
King
Population Increases
Increases
17
Feudal Pyramid

• At the top of the pyramid, the king ruled.
• Next came powerful vassals, known as nobles and
  bishops all of these people were wealthy.
• Below them were knights, who were warriors who
  pledged to defend their lords land in exchange
  for fiefs and below them were the peasants.

18
Feudal System

• In practice, the feudal system did not work so
  simply.
• Relationships between various lords and vassals
  were never clear cut and, in some cases, one
  noble might have several lords who gave them
  land.
• In some cases, the feudal system often became a
  complex tangle of conflicting loyalties.

19
Social Classes

• In the feudal system, status was determined by
  prestige and power.
• Medieval writers classified people into three
  groups
• Those who fought (nobles and knights)
• Those who prayed (those of the Church)
• Those who worked (peasants)
• Social class was usually inherited.

20
Social classes

• In Europe during the Middle Ages, the vast
  majority of people were peasants.
• Most peasants were serfs people who could not
  lawfully leave the place where they were born.
• Though bound to the land, serfs were not slaves.
• Lords could not buy or sell serfs, but all the
  wealth the lord had came from the serfs.

21
Manor System

• The manor was the lords estate.
• During the Middle Ages, the manor system was the
  basic economic arrangement.
• The manor system rested on a set of rights and
  obligations between a lord and his serfs.

22
Manor System

• The lord provided the serfs with housing, strips
  of farmland, and protection from bandits.
• In return, serfs tended the lords land, cared for
  his animals, and performed other tasks for the
  estate.
• Peasant women worked with their husbands.

23
Manor System

• All peasants, whether free or serf, owed a lord
  certain duties.
• These included a few days labor each week and a
  certain portion of their grain.

24
Manor System

• Peasants rarely traveled more than 25 miles from
  their own manor.
• A manor usually covered only a few square miles
  of land and consisted of the lords manor house, a
  church and some workshops.
• Fields, pastures, and forests surrounded the
  village and some streams ran through manors,
  providing fish, which was an important source of
  food.

25
Manor System

• The manor was largely a self-sufficient
  community.
• The serfs and peasants produced nearly everything
  that they or their lord needed.
• The only outside purchases were salt, iron, and a
  few unusual objects and millstones, which were
  used to grind flour.

26
The Manor System
Notice how almost everything the people would
need is in a localized area. Rarely did people
leave.
Question If the manor was largely
self-sufficient, what do you think happened to
trade in much of Europe?
27
Manor Life

• For the privilege of living on the lords land,
  peasants paid a high price.
• They paid a tax on all grain ground in the lords
  mill and any attempt to dodge taxes was treated
  as a crime.
• Peasants also could only get married with the
  lords consent and had to pay a tax on marriage.

28
Manor Life

• After all these payments to the lord, peasant
  families owed the village priest a tithe, or
  church tax.
• The tithe represented one-tenth of their income.

29
Manor life

• Serfs lived in crowded cottages with one or two
  rooms. They warmed their cottages by bringing
  pigs inside and the family huddled on a pile of
  straw at night.
• Peasants simple diet consisted mainly of
  vegetables, coarse brown bread, grain, cheese,
  and soup.

30
Feudal Life

• Despite their hardships, serfs accepted their lot
  in life as part of the churchs teachings.
• They, like most Christians at the time, believed
  that God determined their place in society.

Question Why might serfs have been so accepting
of their position in life?
31
Women

• The Church viewed women as inferior to men.
• In contrast, however, the idea of romantic love
  placed noblewomen on a pedestal where they could
  be worshipped.
• A true knight (as we will see in the next lesson)
  pledged to protect all women.

32
Women

• However, as feudalism developed, womens status
  actually declined.
• Their roles became increasingly limited to the
  home and convent.
• For the vast majority of women, their lives
  remained unchanged for centuries.

33
Noblewomen

• Under the feudal system, a noblewoman could
  inherit a state from her husband.
• Upon a lords request, she could also send knights
  to war and, when her husband was off fighting,
  she could act as a military commander or warrior.
  
• Some women went so far as to dress in armor,
  mount a warhorse, and mobilize a cavalry of
  knights.

34
Womens power

• As the Middle Ages progressed, however,
  noblewomen wielded less power.
• The Church played a major role in this and as it
  regained power and control, it weakened the power
  of women in medieval Europe.

35
Break

• Please take two minutes to relax and breath.

36
Setting the stage

• During the Middle Ages, nobles constantly fought
  one another.
• Their feuding kept Europe fragmented and people
  valued violence.
• By the 1100s, however, a code of behavior arose
  and high ideals guided warriors and glorified
  their roles.

37
Soldiers

• Mounted soldiers became valuable in combat during
  the reign of Charlemagnes grandfather, Charles
  Martel.
• Charles Martel had often observed the usefulness
  of cavalries in other armies, and began to
  organize his troops of armored horsemen, or
  knights.

38
Technology

• The leather saddle was developed on the Asian
  steppe around 200 B.C.
• Stirrups were developed in India around the same
  time and both technologies changed warfare in
  Europe in the 70os.

39
Technology

• With the use of this technology, knights became
  firmly placed on their horses.
• Frankish knights, galloping full tilt, could
  knock over enemy foot soldiers and riders on
  horseback.
• Gradually, mounted warriors became the most
  important part of an army.

40
Role of the Knight

• By the 11th century, western Europe was a
  battleground of warring nobles vying for power.
• To defend their territories, feudal lords raised
  private armies.
• In exchange for military service, feudal lords
  use their most abundant resource land.

41
Role of the Knight

• Lords rewarded knights, their most skilled
  warriors, with fiefs.
• Wealth from the fiefs allowed knights to focus on
  war and pay for the cost of weapons, armor, and
  warhorses.

42
Role of the Knight

• As the lords vassal, a knights main obligation
  was to serve in battle.
• From each of his knights, a lord required nothing
  less than 40 days of combat service.
• When a knight was not fighting, they often
  trained for war.

43
Chivalry

• Early in the Middle Ages, knights were expected
  to display courage and loyalty to their lord.
• By the 1100s, the code of chivalry, a complex set
  of ideals, demanded that a knight fight bravely
  for three masters
• Feudal lord
• Heavenly lord
• Chosen Lady

44
Chivalry

• A chivalrous knight protected the weak and poor
  and the ideal knight was loyal, brave, and
  courteous.
• Most knights, however, did not meet these
  standards. They often treated the lower classes
  brutally.

Question How is chivalry similar to the code of
honor that Samurai live by, bushido?
45
Chivalry

• Knights who failed to meet these standards faced
  public shame.
• First, his armor was taken, his shield cracked, a
  sword broken over his head.
• People then threw a knight into a coffin, dragged
  him to the local church, where a mock funeral
  service was held.

46
Glory

• Sons of nobles began to train for knighthood at a
  early age and learned the code of chivalry.
• After being dubbed a knight, most young men
  traveled with companions and gained experience
  fighting in local wars.
• Some knights took part in mock battles called
  tournaments.

47
Glory

• Tournaments combined recreation with combat
  training.
• Two armies of knights charged each other and,
  like in real battles, it could be fierce and
  bloody.
• Winners would often demand large ransoms from
  defeated knights.

48
Warfare

• By 1100s, stone castles were encircled by massive
  walls and guard towers.
• These castles dominated much of the countryside
  in western Europe.
• The castle was the home of the lord and lady,
  knights and other men-at-arms, and servants.
• It was also a fortress, designed for defense.

49
Warfare

• A castle siege was a gory sight.
• Attacking armies used a wide array of strategic
  weapons to force castle residents to surrender.
• Defenders of a castle poured boiling water, hot
  oil, or molten lead on attackers.
• Expert archers were stationed on the roof of the
  castle and could fire with deadly precision using
  crossbows.

50
Literature of Chivalry

• While the battles were gory, medieval literature
  downplayed the brutality of knighthood and feudal
  warfare.
• Many stories idealized castle life and glorified
  knighthood.

51
Literature of Chivalry

• Feudal lords and their ladies listened to epic
  poems that recounted the deeds and adventures of
  many heroic knights.
• Some stories were about legendary heroes, such as
  King Arthur and Charlemagne.
• These stories often represent courage, faith, and
  chivalry.

52
Literature of Chivalry

• Under the code of chivalry, a knights duty to
  his lady became as important as his duty to his
  lord.
• In many poems, the heros difficulties resulted
  from a conflict between those two obligations.

53
Authority

• While medieval life centered around the great
  deeds of knights and heroic tales, behind the
  scenes lay the Church.
• The Church, as we will see in the next lesson,
  controlled or influenced practically every aspect
  of medieval life.

54
Review Objectives

• Compare the Middle Ages system of feudalism to
  the Japanese style of feudalism.
• Describe the new social stratification system
  formed in Medieval Europe
• Explain the role of Chivalry in everyday life of
  a knight
• Examine the manor system and the purposes behind
  it.

55
Questions

• If you have a question, please ask now.

56
Next lesson

• In the next lesson, we will be discussing the
  pervasive role of the Church in medieval Europe.

57
Review

1. What was feudalism and why might it have been
   beneficial to the Europeans at the time (consider
   why it might have been created).
2. What two technologies allowed medieval Europeans
   to invest more in horseback warriors? How did
   they make horseback riding more efficient?
3. How did knights practice their military skills?
4. Who were a knights three masters?
5. What five groups made up the pyramid of the
   feudal system? You may draw the pyramid if you
   want.
6. What did the vassal provide for the lord in
   return for land?
7. Why did serfs along with everyone else in
   society accept their role in life?
8. How is warfare for a knight different from the
   literature describing their lives?
9. Comparison How is a knight similar to or
   different from the Japanese Samurai? Explain.