1. Medieval Christian Europe (330–1450)
Lesson 2 Feudalism and the Manor Economy

2. Medieval Christian Europe (330–1450)
Lesson 2 Feudalism and the Manor Economy
Learning Objectives
Describe the development of the political and social system of feudalism.
Summarize the life of knights and nobles.
Analyze how the economic system of manorialism worked and how it affected peasants and nobles.

3. Medieval Christian Europe (330–1450)
Lesson 2 Feudalism and the Manor Economy
Key Terms
Feudalism
vassals,
feudal contract.
fief
knight,
tournaments,
Eleanor of Aquitaine,
chivalry.
Troubadours,
manor,
manor system,
serfs,

4. Feudalism Develops
In the face of invasions by Vikings, Muslims, and Magyars, kings and emperors were too weak to maintain law and order. People needed protection for themselves, their homes, and their lands. In response to this basic need for protection, a decentralized political and economic structure evolved, known as feudalism. Feudalism was a loosely organized system of rule in which powerful local lords divided their landholdings among lesser lords. In exchange, these lesser lords, or vassals, pledged service and loyalty to the greater lord.

5. Feudalism Develops
Mutual Obligations
A Complex System

6. Feudalism Develops
A monarch dubs a kneeling young man a knight. Two knights sponsor and stand by him in this French illustration from the late 1200s.

7. Feudalism Develops
Feudalism was based on mutual loyalty and obligations. Analyze Information What were some of feudalism’s advantages and disadvantages for medieval knights and peasants?

8. Nobles, Knights, and Warfare
During the Middle Ages, warfare was constant. For medieval lords and vassals, it was a way of life. Rival lords battled constantly for power. Both greater and lesser nobles trained from boyhood for a future occupation as a knight, or mounted warrior.

9. Nobles, Knights, and Warfare
The Life of a Knight
Castles and War
The Lives of Noblewomen
The Code of Chivalry

10. Nobles, Knights, and Warfare
The Frankish knight Godfrey of Bouillon helped lead the First Crusade. He refused the title of king of Jerusalem but accepted the crown. Songs described him as a “perfect Christian knight.”

11. Nobles, Knights, and Warfare
Castle warfare in the Middle Ages was brutal. As shown in this illustration, battering rams, catapults, and fighters on ladders assaulted stone walls. Defenders shot arrows and poured hot oil on attackers.

12. Manorialism
The heart of the medieval economy was the manor, or lord's estate. Most manors included one or more villages and the surrounding lands. Peasants, who made up the majority of the population in medieval society, lived and worked on the manor.

13. Manorialism An Economic System
The Mutual Obligations of Lords and Peasants
A Self-Sufficient World
The Life of a Peasant
Seasons and Celebrations

14. Manorialism
This diagram of the lands of a manor during Middle Ages shows where the lord's family and peasants' families live. Contrast How does this compare with the bird's-eye view shown later in the lesson?

15. Manorialism
A bird’s-eye view of a typical medieval manor, which might include a manor house, a village church, a grain mill, storage barns, a blacksmith's shop, clustered peasant huts, and fields for crops and grazing.

16. Quiz: Feudalism Develops
How did a lord MOST benefit from granting a fief to his vassal?
A. He received loyalty and military service.
B. He collected fees from tournaments.
C. He provided protection and money.
D. He encouraged better farming methods.

17. Quiz: Nobles, Knights, and Warfare
Which positive effect might the rules of chivalry have had on feudal society?
A. established the right of women to fight in wars
B. required fair treatment of captured commoners
C. softened the daily brutality of a warlike society
D. promoted equal treatment of lords and vassals

18. Quiz: Manorialism
How did the manor system serve the needs of the early Middle Ages?
A. It ensured the humane treatment of peasants and curbed the excesses of their lords.
B. It supported the spread of peasant trade and the increased wealth of their lords.
C. It encouraged peasants to become independent and their lords to give up some of their rights.
D. It provided safety and security for peasants and wealth and prestige for their lords.