Political system – monarch &nobles make alliances (land exchanged for loyalty & military aid)

Central government became weak.

King (monarch) gives land/fief (and peasants/serfs) to

Nobles who give loyalty and military aid

King Lords/nobles

Vassals (each lord serves someone of higher rank)

Knights Peasants/serf (farmers,

artisans)

There was lots of warfare (remember, no central govt) so they were 1st begun for protection/defense

Wood 1st, then stone w/ thick walls and towers (turrets)

Built on a hill or mound Moat and drawbridge major

defenses against invaders Keep (square building) Open area around keep (bailey)

includes: barracks, storerooms, workshops, chapel

Lord – total control; governs manor & castle

Collected rent from peasants (goods)

Noblewoman/lady• Jobs – needlework, making medicines, supervise estate

Land/fief can be passed on to heir (sons) – land stays in the family

They get land (called fiefs) and the income lets them buy horses and battle gear

7 – page (lord’s assistant) 15 – squire (help knight, learns

to use weapons) Knight – prove self in battle;

trained to fight on horseback

Defend Christian church Be brave in battle Fight fair Treat noble women with

gentleness

Mock battles (jousting, sword fighting)

Entertainment (minstrels sing, storytelling)

Agricultural system - nobles/lords, serfs/peasants get food, shelter, and protection.

Nobles/lords give peasants protection, food, shelter

Serfs/peasants give lord part of what they produce (satisfy lords material needs)

Serfs are bound to the land, but they are not slaves. They cannot be sold without the land.

Farmers (most) Some days – laborers (repair

roads/bridges) Blacksmiths, carpenters,

shoemakers, millers, vinters, brewers

Women – make candles, cloth, sew

PLOW – took less time New system of planting (3 fields

vs 2 fields); new system left 1 field fallow – unplanted and 2 fields were planted

Serfs/peasants get little freedom or opportunity, but they do get protection/security

Spiritual, political, social leader in Europe Catholic Pope – authority over all Christians God’s grace earned by sacraments Service in Latin People couldn’t read – learned religion

from statues, paintings, stained glass windows

Pope, bishops, priests = secular – lived “in the world”

Monks, nuns = live monastic life (life dedicated to God, apart from rest of society). Monks – cannot own property or marry, must

follow monastic rules (simple clothes, plain food, vows of silence & poverty)

Nuns – convent, prayer and making things with their hands

Monks –

copy religious works and classical writings (preserved ancient knowledge & religious information alive when few could read/write)

Schools, hospitals, food for poor, place for travelersTeach carpentry, weaving, farmingMissionaries – results? Mid 1000s most of western Europe is Christian

“Great Charter” – limits absolute power of king, some trace our Constitution to this document.

King John was forced to sign it by his nobles.

Why did they do that? The King raised their taxes

&put his enemies in jail w/o a trial.

Put limits on the power of the kingNo taxes w/o agreement of a council

Freemen are guaranteed right to trial by jury

Ultimately, it came to guarantee rights for all Englishmen (instead of just the nobles)