Chapter 13 Section 2

Lord Fief VassalKnightSerfManorTithe

• Came from Scandinavia– Norseman– Northmen– Worshipped warlike

gods• Raided at terrifying

speed– Swords – Heavy wooden shields– Small wooden ships– Gone before a defense

could be mounted

Longest warship carried 300 warriors

Ship had 72 oars Could sail in three

feet of water Looted inland

villages and monasteries

Also traders farmers and explorers

• Traveled rivers into Russia

• Across North Atlantic• Leif Ericson reached

North America 500 years before Columbus

• Accepted Christianity and stopped raiding

• Warming trend made farming easier

Magyars nomads from the east (Hungary)

Invaded western Europe 800’s

Superior horseman Isolated villages

and monasteries Took captives and

slaves Did not settle

• Muslims struck from the south

• Invaded through Italy and Spain

• Wanted to conquer Europe 600-700’s

• 800-900’s goal was to plunder

• Attack on Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts

Invasions caused suffering and disorder

No longer looked to central authority

People turned to local rulers

911 Rollo and Charles the Simple faced each other

Charles gave Rollo a large piece of French territory

Became Normandy Rollo pledged no to attack the king

850-900 worse years for invasions

Feudalism- governing and landholding

Zhou Dynasty in China had feudalism

Was in Japan from 1192 to 19 century

Based on right and obligations

Lord- landowner Fief a grant of land Vassal- the person

receiving the fief Two sided bargain Worked on who

controlled the land

• King at the top• Powerful vassals– Wealthy landowners

and bishops• Knights- mounted

horsemen who pledged to defend the lord in exchange for a fief

• Landless peasants- who worked the fields

Status determined prestige

Manor system- set of rights and obligations

Three groups Those who fought-

nights and nobles Those who prayed-

men and woman of the church

Those who worked -peasants

Europe Middle Ages Majority were

peasants Serfs-

Could not leave the place they were born

Bound to the land Not slaves Could not be bought

or sold Labor belonged to

lord

Manor- the lord’s estate

Manor system- basic economic arrangement

Rights and obligation between lords and serfs

Lord provided housing, farmland and protection

Serf maintained the estate

Peasants rarely traveled more than 25 miles

Center of plowed field could see their world

15-30 families Manor house,

church, workshops Streams provide fish Mills for grain

Manor largely self sufficient

Serf’s raised and produced everything

Out side purchase was iron, salt and millstones

Crops were wheat, barley, oats and vegetables

Peasant paid a high price

Paid a tax on all their grain ground at lord’s mill

Baking bread elsewhere was a crime

Tax on marriage Weddings needed

lord’s consent

Owed village priest a tithe- church tax

One tenth of income

Serfs lived in crowded cottages One or two rooms One for cooking one

for sleeping Warmed house by

bringing pigs inside

Family lay down on a straw pile full of insects

Peasant diet Vegetables Coarse brown bread Grain, cheese, and

soup Most serfs life was

hard

Typical day Raise livestock Taking care of your

home Children worked in

the field Most did not survive

to adulthood Illness and

malnutrition Life expectancy 35

years