A Violent TimeA Violent Time  Invaders threatened Western Europe from 800 to 1000  Viking invasions  From Scandinavia  700’s Began raiding monasteries in Scotland England, and Ireland  Ideal targets because they were often wealthy and poorly defended  Sailed up rivers into the heart of Europe  Attacked villages and burned churches in Paris  Viking exploration and trade  Farmers, traders, and explorers  Viking travel in Russia helped open up trade routes between southwest Asian and Western Europe

A Feudal SocietyA Feudal Society  In the early Middle Ages, kings and emperors were too weak to protect their people, so instead powerful local lords took over the responsibility  Lords and vassals  Feudalism was a system of rule in which powerful lords divided their lands among lesser lords (vassals)  In exchange for the land a vassal pledge his service and loyalty to the more powerful lord  A powerful lord granted a fief (estate) to a vassal  A fief included any town or building on the land as well as peasants to farm it  The lord also promised to protect the vassal  In return the vassal provided military support and money or food for the lord

 Knights and warfare  Knights= warriors mounted on horse back  Warfare was a way of life because lords often competed for power  Many boys and young men from noble families trained to become knights  Around the age of 7 a boy would leave his house for training to become a knight  Chivalry= a code of conduct to live by  Be loyal, generous, and brave  Early medieval knights wore armor made of chain mail which thousands of small metal rings

Chain MailChain Mail

The Medieval ManorThe Medieval Manor  Manor= agricultural estate of a medieval lord  Centered around the lord’s house or castle  Usually included one or more villages and surrounding fields and forests  Peasants and serfs  Peasants made up the majority of the medieval population  Many were serfs (peasants who were legally bound to the lord’s land)  The could not leave the manor without the lord’s permission  If the manor was given to a new lord the serfs went along with it

 Life on the manor  Manors produced a wide range of goods and services  Peasants on a manor worked together to plant, care for  Managing the manor  Lord’s wife ran the household (she was educated)  Male officials gradually took over running manor who judged minor crimes and settled arguments  Hired officials to look after day to day affairs