Feudal System in Western Europe

Feudalism in Western Europe

TCI Lesson 4

After the Fall of Rome

• When Rome fell to invading barbarians in 476 C.E., Europe was left with no central government or system of defense.  

• The most powerful rulers were those who controlled the most land and had the greatest warriors.

• One powerful group during this time was the Franks (from whom modern-day France takes its name). 

Multiple Choice

Which of these was a result of the fall of Rome?

• the decline of Christianity

• a lack of a central government

• an end to attacks by barbarians

• the growth of a strong economy

Charlemagne

• Known as the greatest Frankish king.

• The Church was an important part of society and he promised to protect the Church from attack. In exchange, Pope Leo crowned him Holy Roman Emperor.

• Charlemagne unified nearly all the Christian lands of Europe into a single empire.

• After his death, the empire fell back into chaos.

Multiple Choice

For which achievement is Charlemagne most remembered?

• He declared war against England.

• He became the first Christian ruler.

• He united much of Europe.

• He taught his people to write.

Western Europe was threatened by three main groups:

• Muslims, or the followers of the religion of Islam, advanced from the Middle East and northern Africa into what is now Spain. 

• The Magyars, a central Asian people, pressed in from the east.

• Vikings swept down from present-day Norway and Denmark.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following best describes the Vikings?

• Northern people who made fierce raids on European villages.

• Muslim nomads who traded in goods from the Middle East

• Germanic people who swept south to topple the Roman Empire

• Central European people who originally migrated from Asia

Multiple Choice

What belongs in the empty box to complete the cause-and-effect diagram?

• Development of farming

• Expansion of freedoms

• Rise in prosperity

• Increase in attacks

Establishing Order

• Feudalism provided people with protection and safety by establishing a stable social order.

• Under this system, people were bound to one another by promises of loyalty. 

• All the land belonged to the monarch (usually a king, but sometimes a queen). A large amount of land was also owned by the Church. 

Multiple Choice

What was the purpose of feudalism?

• it spread democracy by giving the people a voice in their own government

• it provided people with protection and safety by establishing a stable social order

• it created a fair society by balancing the powers of the monarch and the people

• it looked after the welfare of all the people by making sure they had all the necessities of life

Strict Social System

• The king kept some land for himself and gave fiefs (FEEFS), or land grants, to his most important lords, who became his vassals.

• A lord then enlisted lesser lords and knights as his vassals.  

• At the bottom of the social system were peasants or serfs. Lords rented some of their land to the peasants who worked for them.  

Multiple Choice

A king gave his most important lords fiefs, which were

• grants of land.

• large celebrations.

• war horses.

• market licenses.

The Manorial System

• Most lords and wealthier knights lived on manors, or large estates.

• A manor included a castle or manor house, one or more villages, and the surrounding farmland.

• Manors were in the country, far from towns, which required peasants to produce everything the people on the manor needed.  

Multiple Choice

Manors were self-sufficient, which means that they produced everything that people on the manor needed to live.

• True

• False

• The monarch granted fiefs to the lords. In exchange, lords promised to provide protection and taxes to the monarch.

• Lords provided land and food to knights who, in exchange, promised to protect the manor.

• Lords provided land to farm to live and farm to peasants, who in return, produced food for the manor and paid their rents and taxes.

Ties of Loyalty

In the feudal system, people pledged loyalty to a lord—a ruler or powerful landholder. In return, they received protection from that lord. Warriors fought on behalf of their lords, and peasants worked the land. At the bottom of the system were serfs, or peasants who were not free to leave the lord's land without permission.

Multiple Choice

Which shows the correct order ranked from highest to lowest within the Feudal system of Medieval Europe?

• lords, monarch, peasants/serfs, knights

• knights, monarch, lords, peasants/serfs

• monarch, lords, knights, peasants/serfs

• monarch, knights, lords, peasants/serfs