1. The Middle Ages

2. The Battle of Hastings
In October 1066, a daylong battle known as the Battle of Hastings ended the reign of the Anglo-Saxons and began the Norman Conquest.

3. William the Conqueror
In the battle, Duke William of Normandy, known as “William the Conqueror”, defeated King Harold of England, the last of the Anglo Saxon kings. William did not want to kill the Anglo Saxons, he just wanted to rule them. The new group under William’s reign became known as the Anglo-Normans.
William inventoried every piece of land in England for tax purposes and recorded this information in the “Doomsday Book.”

4. The Feudal System
The Anglo-Normans brought a new language, French, and a new social system, feudalism, to the country.
Feudalism was not just a social system, but also a caste system, a property system, and a military system.

5. The Feudal System The basic chain of feudalism was as follows: 1. God
2. Kings
3. Nobles (Barons, Bishops, etc.)
4. Knights- who did not own land
5. Serfs or peasants- who did not own land

6. The Three Estates
Estate #1: Clergy~ those who prayed or worked for the church
Estate #2: Nobility~ the wealthy or those who fought
Estate #3: Peasantry~ the poor, working class
Feminine: virgins, wives and widows
Estates 2 and 3 are determined by birth
Estate 1 can be entered into by individuals regardless of status

7. Knighthood
The primary duty of males above the serf class was military service. Boys were trained at an early age (7 years) to become warriors.
After training was complete, the boy was “dubbed” or ceremonially tapped on the shoulder. He was then a knight, had the title of “sir”, and the had full rights of the warrior caste.

8. Knighthood Knighthood was grounded in the feudal ideal of loyalty.
Knights had a system of social codes that they were not permitted to break.

9. Women in the Middle Ages
Women had no political rights because they were not soldiers in a primarily military system.
Women were always subservient to men.
A woman’s husband or father’s position in the feudal system determined her position.

10. Chivalry
Chivalry was a system of ideals and social codes governing the behaviors of knights and gentlewomen.
Chivalry codes included oaths of loyalty to the overlord, observing certain rules of warfare and courtly love.
Courtly love was nonsexual.
Chivalry brought about an idealized attitude about women, but did not improve their actual position in life.
Chivalry gave rise to a new form of literature- romance.

11. The Effect of Cities and Towns
Eventually, the increasing population in cities and towns made the feudal system virtually obsolete.
The city classes were lower, middle and upper-middle.

12. The Crusades
The Crusades ( ), a series of wars waged by European Christians against Muslims, were fought during this period.
The Catholic Church upheld the idea that Jerusalem and other places in the Middle East (The Holy Land as we know it) were sacred to Christians, but Muslim people occupied them. Pope Urban II urged soldiers to fight and recapture these cities for God.

13. Crusade Map

14. St. Thomas a Becket
King Henry II and Thomas a Becket were best friends. Because the English kings were ruled by the Pope of the Catholic Church, King Henry gave his friend Thomas the title of archbishop of the church in Canterbury. Henry hoped he could better control the Pope with one of his friends in this role.
Thomas a Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury, began to take his role more seriously than Henry had predicted. Becket even began siding with the Pope on major issues. King Henry became angry and asked who would rid him of this “problem?” Four knights murdered Becket in the church during the service with parishoners present.
Becket’s murder enraged the common people who deemed him a martyr and they lashed out against King Henry which weakened the king’s power in his struggle with Rome.

15. The Magna Carta
The Magna Carta was signed by King John in 1215 at Runnymede.
The Magna Carta was a document that limited the Church’s power and became the basis for English law today.

16. The Hundred Years’ War
The English and French entered into the “Hundred Years’ War” ( ) because two English kings were claiming they had rights to the French throne.
This first national war showed that England was no longer represented by the armor clad knight, but by the green clad yeoman. Common people were taking up the fight for their country rather than the knights alone.

17. The Black Death
The Black Death, or Bubonic plague, struck England in
The Black Death was highly contagious, spread by fleas from infected rats, and killed approximately one third of the population.
This plague was a contributing factor in eliminating feudalism because most of those who died were serfs or peasants. Those who survived The Black Death could now be paid for their labor due to a shortage of workers.