2 ESO UNIT 2 FEUDAL EUROPE

UNIT 2 FEUDAL EUROPE

CONTENTS:

• Life in Europe - feudal society

• Historical figures
• Functioning of feudal system
• Its effects on individuals, society, economy.

Charlemagne

• Son of Pepin the Short, King of the Franks, he was born circa 748 and died in 814.

• He is considered the father of Europe since he unified most ot Western Europe for the first time in History.

• He arranged an effective administration to manage and control his territories.
• He developed a legal code and a single currencly , the Caroligian pound. It is said it is the precedent of the Euro.

Charlemagne - Education

- He initiated the educational reform known as 'Carolingian Renaissance'

- He opened monastic and cathedral schools.

- It is said that his commitment to education, literature and art laid the foundations for European culture.

- He brought scholars to his court.

- A new, clearer type of writing called 'Carolingian miniscule' was created, so it was easier for scholars to copy and transcribe documents.

Activity 1

ACTIVITY 1 IN THE ALTILLO VIRTUAL * Analyse the map in the activity and answer the questions in your notebook.

Charlemagne

* After his death in 814 there was political instability, porverty and loss of military strength.

* As a result, Europe was fragmented again into many kingdoms.

* Each king believed their power came from God and that they had full authority over the entire kingdom.

* Soon after they began to adopt the feudal system to control and defend their territories from invasions.

Feudal Society

* The feudal society is usually represented as a pyramid with the King at the top.

* The nobility and clergy were in the middle of the pyramid, vassals were below and the peasants were at the bottom.

Activity 2

Activity 2 in the Altillo Virtual

The Nobility

Higher Nobility: * Direct vassals of the King. They were given titles such as duke, marquis, count and baron. We refer to them as Lords.

Lower Nobility: * People who owned a property, a horse and arms. Most of them were knights.

A social group formed by a small number of people.

The Nobility

Noblemen: Centered on military activity. They fought in war times and practiced combat, haunted and held tournaments.

Noblewomen: Had to marry the person chosen by her parents and completely obey their husband. They managed the home, the children, prayed and embroidered.

The Clergy

Higher Clergy: The Pope, bishops, abbots and abbesses of the great monasteries. They enjoyed large fiefdoms and high income. They also gave advice to the kings as part of the Curia Regis.

Lower clergy: Priests, monks and nuns. They lived in poverty with similiar living conditions to the peasants.

The Clergy

Feudal society was extremely religious, so the clegy held very strong influence in the community.

• Political: they gave advice to the kings and introduced the 'Peace of God', which forbid violence on Sundays and holydays.
• Economic: did not pay taxes, received donations including 1/10th of harvests.
• Social: controlled the behaviour of peoplem attended the poor, sicks and orphans.
• Cultural: organised education and financed works of art.

The Commoners/peasants

The majority of the population and the lowest class in society.

• Serfs: were not allowed to leave the fiefdom they worked on. The lord owed them protection and justice. Children inherited their parents condition.

The Commoners/peasants

• Villeins/free people: could leave the fifdom and live where they wanted.

• Craftspeople and merchants: they made and traded essential items, such as pottery, tools and textiles.

Feudalism

* From 9th-15th centuries. A system based on the exchange of land and services.

* Medieval Europe was an agrarian world, thus wealth was based on land ownership.

* Fiefs or manors were large territories which belonged to the King.

* Land was granted from one social statement to the lower one in exchange for services, military support and loyalty.

Activity 3

ACTIVITY 3 IN THE ALTILLO VIRTUAL

Fiefdoms

* Fiefdoms were self-sufficient, they grew and made everything they needed, thus there was little trade, only a few merchants. Forests were used for hunting and gathering firewood and rivers provided water and fish.

* They included: - A Castle or Manor House: where the Lord lived. - A Demesne: all the farmland surrounding the Manor. - Meadows or pastures: where the livestock lived. - Dependent holdings: small plots of land the lord leased to peasants.

Activity 4

* Draw in your notebook a map of a Medieval Manor.

Feudalism Timeline

Europeans created new forms of government.

Feudalism spreads across Europe.

Middle urban class grew. Money helped people to become independent.

9th-12th Centuries

Year 1347

Year 814

9th Century

14th-15th centuries

Safety and order. People traded and traveled. Money was used and vassals paid their lords with money not military service.

Black Death. Less peasants to work - better working conditions negotiated.

12th-14th Centuries

Charlemagne died.Europe fragmented into kingdoms.

Activity 5.Timeline

12th-14th Centuries

9th-12th Centuries

14th-15th centuries

Year 1347

Year 814

9th Century

Draw your own Feudalism Timeline in your notebook using also images, photos, or your own drawings.

The decline of Feudalism

* Later Middle-Ages: feudalism largerly disappeared from Europe due to different factors:

1. Medieval kings less dependent on their lords to provide soldiers, they pay for them. Bonds of loyalty become weaker.

2. Black Death reduced population. The survivors could choose where to work and negotiate better working conditions. Nobility lost control.

3. Middle urban classes prospered in the cities, merchants and craftsment. Peasants abandoned fiefs. Nobility's power was gradually reduced.

Activity 6. Unit review

* Watch the video and answer the questions in the worksheet you have in the Altillo Virtual.