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The Rise And Fall Of Feudalism
Feudalism topic simple
The rise Feudalism
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Imagine being tied to the land you lived on, only getting one day off a week. Or maybe have to work for a lord but, getting paid with land. Perhaps having to fight in wars or have to hide from other tribes trying to attack on the daily bases. This is what the social ,economic, and political life like back in the Middle Ages.
In the Middle Ages, there was something called Feudalism. Feudalism was a political and social system. Nobles were granted the use of land by a king and in return nobles had to give military services and loyalty to the king. The serfs and peasants worked on land and they would get food and protection (Doc. 1).The order of the chart was kings,nobles,knights then serfs. When serfs provide food and protection for the knights they would get land granted to them. Then, when knights provided protection and military services to nobles they would also get land. When nobles provided money and knights for a king they would get land in return (Doc 1). As you can tell, feudalism affected many people's lives on the daily basis.
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The economic side of feudalism was the manor.
Manors were “self-sufficient systems the which the lord’s land was farmed by serfs” (Doc. 2). And manors had farmers and artisans who hunted and pastured for farm animals(Doc 2). Serfs and peasants had no land and had to work 6 out of 7 days a week. On that 1 day they could farm to feed for their families and themselves. When they wanted to use the lord's land, it was be costly. Throughout the year there were different farming problems, such as in May, they had to worry about weeds growing and they had to scare away birds (OI). Another part of the economy was the Silk Road, or trade routes to foreign countries. The Silk Road established global trade. It increased trade connecting in Europe to places along the Silk Road. It was initiated by non-Christian merchants like Jews and Muslims (Doc.4)In conclusion,trading and farming affected the economic side of things
immensely. The Church was also a huge part of the Middle Ages. The Roman Catholic Church was the main and only Church in the Middle Ages. It had great political chaos. The RCC was the largest “unifying structure” (Doc. 3) in Europe during the Middle Ages. The Church touched everyone’s live no matter what class they were in. This affected social life because nearly everyone in Europe during the Middle Ages were Christian, except the Jews. Everybody was required to go to Church. They weren’t only required but they were supposed to support the Church. They had to follow the Church's law, pay heavy taxes to prove that they should got to heaven.Not only did they collect taxes, they collected gifts. They collected gifts because the people thought that would ensure their place in Heaven. The gifts included land,flocks,crops, and even serfs.(Doc 3) The Church has near equivalent power to the king which affected people’s political views. In summary, the Church affected not only social but, political lives of many people. In conclusion, the Middle Ages seem to be a very hard time to live in. And, it lasted from the 5th century to 1485 (OI)They had to do lots of work for not even getting much for it. Through, it was very rough back then it really influenced us today. There was even a man named Roger Bacon who apparently predicted the future (OI).The Church probably wouldn’t be as popular without the Middle Ages. Therefore, economic,political, and social life back in the Middle Ages affected our lives today.
Others were more like slaves. They owned nothing and were pledged to their local lord. They worked long days, 6 days a week, and often barely had enough food to survive”(“Middle Ages History”). Knights were above the peasants and they were given land granted by the barons in exchange for their military services if the king needed it. They were responsible for protecting the baron who granted them land as well as the baron’s family and the manor they lived at. The knights were able to keep any amount of land they were given, and they gave out the rest to the serfs. The lord, or baron, was above the knight in the social class divide. They were given land by the king and in return they showed loyalty to the monarch. They provided the king with fully equipped knights if the king needed some to serve. If the baron “did not have an army, sometimes they would pay the king a tax instead. This tax was called shield money”(“Middle Ages History”). The king was at the top of the feudal system and held the most power and wealth. The king could not maintain control over all the land in England so he divided the land up to the barons which eventually
The bird-like beak contained spices and vinegar-soaked cloth to mask the stench of death and decay.” And in the dark ages there was a lot of civil wars and invasions and to prove that (Doc 7) states “The barbarians have broken through the ramparts [defensive wall]. The Saracen [Moors] invasions have spread in successive waves over the South. The Hungarians [Magyars] swarm over the Eastern provinces….they sacked town and village, and laid waste in the fields. They burned the churches and then departed with a crowd of captives….There is no longer any trade, only unceasing terror….The peasant has abandoned his ravaged fields to avoid the violence of anarchy. The people have gone to cower [crouch down in fear] in the depths of the forests or in inaccessible regions, or have taken refuge in the high mountains….Society has no longer any government.” In the Dark ages life was hard as (Doc 2) states “The Manor was the economic side of feudalism. The manor was a mostly self-sufficient system in which the lord’s land (granted by the king) was farmed by his serfs (bound to the land). The manor included not just farmers, but also artisans who provided for the needs of the manor, a chapel, forest for hunting, and pastureland for farm
In the medieval times everything had an order to follow, a price that had to be paid, and a contract that had to be obeid. Each person had a rank, which decides on your lifestyle and future for you and your descendants to come. A serf was at the bottom of the pyramid, therefore they had to work at sunrise to sunset. The lords and the ladies lived conformably in their glorious castle, which was flooded with servants. Alot of things obviously had change, which is the more reason to learn more about our history.
According to this ideal, the duty of a knight was to unite Christian virtues with courage and spirit of battle, demonstrated by jousting. The lords attempted to regulate their lands and reduce the influence of the nobility and the Church. Their power, however, was dependent on their subjects in the economic system of feudalism, which defined power relations. A lord would lend a fiefdom to a vassal, which thus created a social relationship in that the vassal owed service and the lord owed protection. The kings delegated hereditary lands to the nobles who administered them from their well-fortified castles, which simultaneously separated them from the people they ruled. The majority of the people was farmers and was obliged to perform services for their rulers. Living conditions were poor, which contributed to high infant mortality rates. Epidemics spread by rodents erupted from the middle of the 14th century at irregular intervals and claimed the lives of millions of people...
Manorialism and Feudalism were weakened by the rise of merchant guilds, plague epidemics, and nationalism. The rise of merchant guilds facilitated long distance trade during the medieval period [1301 - 1500], and lasted into the 18th century. Guilds were social, political and economic organizations in medieval towns. They cared for social and economic welfare of members. Guilds assisted in the rise of new middle class. They enjoyed a trade monopoly in towns, allowed members to earn a living wage. Guilds bypassed or contravened feudalism and manorialism when they purchased self government charters for towns from nobles or started new towns.
In the middle ages lots of suffering and decentralization had occurred. There are many reasons as to why this had occurred and solutions to theses rising conflicts were feudalism and manorialism. But why were these ideologies used or caused? The reasons for the occurrence of medieval feudalism and manorialism is the political , social decentralization and economic problems that had occurred during and after the disappearance of the roman empire , invasions of the barbarians , rise of barbarian kingdoms , civil wars within the barbarian kingdoms and the need of stability and safety that made the people of that time desperate.
A hierarchical society of Kings granting land to nobles, who would then give a fief to a knight in return for service. The knight would then have peasants or serfs working on their fief. However, as the plague spread, many peasants died and their labour could not be replaced. This loss of workforce had a significant impact upon the economy as grain was not being harvested and livestock roamed free. The agrarian economy had been severely damaged, the land became uncultivated and returned back to its natural state.
They did not have an economic function, as slaves were not treated as workers, guild masters were not capitalist and the lord was not the landlord as slaves who were peasants or serfs and were subjects to ties and bonds discussed in the ownership. Whereas in the market economy factors of productions have economic functions and workers are not slaves but are free worker, able to end their dues when their work time is up.
The feudal system was one that arose in England after the invasion and conquest of William I. It has been said that this was the perfect political system for this time period. Life was really hard back in the Middle Ages and safety and defense were really hard to come by after the empire fell. There were no laws to protect the poor, so they turned to their lords to keep them safe. The king was in complete control of the system and he owned all the land. One quarter was kept as private property and the rest was given to the church or leased
During the Early Middle Ages, peasants were either free or semi-free people that worked in a relatively independent fashion. Peasants lived a hard and moderately simple life, paying their dues to their local lords and later on even become permitted to learn how to write and read. As according to A Short History of the Middle Ages, the lifestyle of the peasant would soon be forever changed. Comparing the role of the peasant during the Early Middle Ages to the High Middle Ages shows a huge difference in not only how the rest of society treats the peasants but also to how the peasants see themselves. The Early Middle Ages range from c. 400 -1050 when we begin to call it the High Middle Ages lasting from c. 1050 – 1350 (Taylor 1). Although many changes occur to make the transformation from Early-High that affects the people, it is the gradual change throughout the High Middle Ages that makes a very distinct difference between the peasants of these two time frames. The transformation into the High Middle Ages for the peasant class infers changes that are primarily negative with only a few temporary positive aspects in their social standing, political standing, and economic standing within medieval society.
The key to the feudal system was land, and luckily for the king, he owned almost all of it. Land was the currency of the Middle Ages, "Those who owned land [also] owned the possibility of building up military and political power, for on the land men could grow food, and men could be settled to serve and fight for their overlords. During these [medieval] centuries, free men... commended themselves in great numbers of their own free will to the power, service and protection of a strong lord [who owned vast amounts of land]" (Nardo 14,15). If you had land, you were worth a lot more to the people. Land meant food, peasants, and power. People with power were treated with respect because they had control over the people below them. Ownership and exploitation of land was the driving force behind feudalism (Nardo 14,15). The king controlled the feudal system, and the land. The control of this land, enabled the king to subdivide the land between the social classes. Kings gave land to the classes below him, which resulted in a domino effect. Once the king would receive the fealty of a vassal, the king was expected to pay. In most cases, the king would return the vassal with a fief, which was an estate or manor. The fief would include, a house, or a small castle. The fief would also come with peasants. Although the vassal did not own the peasants, he owned the land on which their houses were built, so they answered
Man was lonely during the Middle Ages. Life was very harsh and everyone worked except the king. The usual life expectancy was 35. People lived in small farming communities. Everyone lived in constant fear of being raided by foreign invaders such as the Vikings. When they were not worrying about being invaded they were scared of plague and other living conditions. Man's position in the world was unknown. Knowledge, wealth, and governing body had to be recreated. Cities were far and few between and much less populated and developed like today's cities. The Middle Ages was a religious age. Man clung to God as creator. People painstakingly built churches. Religion was what was the most important to people for a long time, and to be excommunicated was horrible.
There was very little or no shipping of excess crops to the other regions as the trade was limited. Further, due to the poor living conditions of the rural people, their life expectancy was on the lower side and the infant mortality rate was also high. The issues of plague or black death used to create a rift in the society as the people used to shun out the members of their neighbours in order to protect themselves. In the times of the plague the ill people were generally out casted from the villages and were also not given food. In such situations there was little or no support from the aristocrats. Additionally, children born with defects were also given up by their parents as they were believed to be unproductive in the future.
Life in the Middle Ages were like hell to some people and like heaven to others. The Middle Ages had three levels of society, The king, The Barons, and the peasants. Kings ruled by divine right and were believed to be chosen by god. People believed to rebel against the king was a sin but that did not stop them from rebelling. A great king would have had to have a strong personality or the barons would try to rebel against him. The king gave land to the barons in exchange for soldiers that would fight for so many days out of a year.
The feudal society was structured by a hierarchy. They were usually differentiated between four different groups. There was the kings, lords, knights, then lastly peasants and serfs. Once you were born into that class, you generally stayed there your entire life. It did not matter if you worked hard, followed all of the rules, or had great manners, you stayed into the class you were born in. You did not have many choices, pretty much everything was decided for you. For example, your clothing, food, marriage, homes, etc.