Almudena Corrales Marbán

UNIT 3FEUDAL EUROPE

Social Studies

2ºESO

1. THE FEUDAL SYSTEM

1.1. INTRODUCTION

The feudal system was a political, economic and social system that predominated in Western Europe between the 10th and the 13th centuries.

By this time, the Carolingian Empire was desintegrated, and as a result of that, kings armed men (noble men) and gave them land.

At the same time, Europe suffered from a series of attacks in the 9th century. Foreign invaders like Muslims, Magyars and Vikings.

FOREIGN INVASIONS

1.2. THE ACT OF HOMAGE

La ceremonia del homenaje

VASSAL. The vassal swore fealty/loyalty to his lord and provided him with help, this meant: troops and advice.

LORD. The lord provided the vassal with protection and resources: a fief (land), which was the main source of income.

KING. The king was never a vassal but he lost some of his power.

2 . THE FIEFE L F E U D O

The fief, this means the LAND of the lord or manor´s land was divided into two parts.THE DEMESNE AND THE TENEMENTS OR HOLDINGS

1. DEMESNE. Land that was exploited directly by the lord. It consisted of farmland, pastures and wood. It was farmed by serfs. The lord was also the owner of the mill, the press and the oven. All the peasants had to use and pay for the services if they needed to obtain products.

2. TENEMENTS OR HOLDINGS. Plots of land the lord gave to free peasants in exchange for rent or part of the harvest, and for carrying out different services for the lord on his land

3. THE FEUDAL SOCIETY

Note for the teacher: visit page 481. Book Modern World History.Available on the blog:LIBRARY

THE LIFE OF A…..

LORD RELIGIOUS ORDER PEASANT

• The lord lived in a castle.

• The castle had a wall around and it was reinforced by towers.

• The keep (homage tower) was his residence. And the main rooms were covered with tapestries. He slept in a bed while the rest on straw mattresses placed on the floor.

• The lord’s entertainment consisted on hunting and joustng.

• The Church was very important in medieval life.

• The first monasteries were founded from the 5th century ownwards.

• The life of the monks were determined by regulations, which cover edevery aspect of their lives.

• Monks shared their time between prayer, manual labour (cultivate drops) and intellectual work (copy ancient manuscripts)

• The life o a peasant was very hard.

• He spent most of his life time working in the fields.

• They lived in small houses made of clay and straw for the roof.

• They rested on the floor, that was covered with straw as well. Some animals were kept inside, like mules (mulas) to warm the rooms.

• Food was scarce. They didn’t eat meat regularly.

4. ECONOMY

• The economy was mainly based on agriculture and livestock and both activities were organised around the fiefs.

• Trade was not very active because communications were cut off due to the frequent wars.

THE MAIN ECO NO MIC ACTIVIT IES WER E

AGRICULTURE LIVESTOCK TRADE• Principal economic

activity.

• Crops like cereals ( wheat, barley, oats) and pulses (leguminosas)

• Low agricultural productivity.

• Why?

• Roman wooden plough

• Basic tools• Two year crop

rotation

• Main cattle: pigs, cows and sheeps.

• Sheeps milk and wood

• Cowsmeat, milk, hides.

• Poultry: hens and ducks.

• Bee-keeping (apicultura) was important.

• Horse breeding was a regular activity.

• Horses were their mean of transport.

• Foreign trade by sea

• They traded with wine, salt, textiles, cereals, weapons and iron tools.

• Products were sold in markets and fairs.

• Some peasants sold their surplus. (excedente)

• Trade was weak due to dangerous routes.

5. RELIGION

Religion played a very important role in all aspects of life.

5.1. THE CHURCH

• It was very important in medieval life. During the barbarian invasions the bishops were often the only authority in a locality, while the former authorities fled or died in the fighting against the invaders.

• The first monasteries were founded from the 5th century onwards in Western Europe and the first religious orders were established, like the Benedictines.

• The lives of the monks were determined by a set of regulations (Rule of St. Benedict) which covered every aspect of their daily lives: time they could spend resting, working, eating.

• Monks shared their time between:

PRAYER: Communally or privately.

MANUAL LABOUR: work the land.

INTELLECTUAL WORK: copying manuscripts.

5.2. THE CRUSADES

• The religious sentiment was the main reason for the crusades.

• The crusades were military expeditions formed by thousands of Christians of all ages and social classes, from peasants to kings.

• Their objective was to recover the Holy Land, which had been conquered by the Muslims.

• In the year 1095, Pope Urban II called on Christians to recover the Holy Land, so the first Crusade began.

• The military orders grew out of the crusades. They were orders consisted of knights, who were, at the same time!, monks.

Pope Urban II also read that letter. Shortly after this appeal, he issued a call for what he termed a “holy war,” a Crusade, to gain control of the Holy Land. Over the next 300 years, a number of such Crusades were launched.Goals of the Crusades The Crusades had economic, social, and political goals as well as religious motives. Muslims controlled Palestine (the Holy Land) and threatened Constantinople. The Byzantine emperor in Constantinople appealed to Christians to stop Muslim attacks. In addition, the pope wanted to reclaim Palestine and reunite Christendom, which had split into Eastern and Western branches in 1054.

In addition, kings and the Church both saw the Crusades as an opportunityto get rid of quarrelsome knights who fought each other. Theseknights threatened the peace of the kingdoms, as well as Church property.

TO KNOW MORE…….

• Among the first military orders were the Order of the Temple and the Order of the Teutonic knights.

5.3. PILGRIMAGES (peregrinaciones)

From the 10th century, the Church, began to promote pilgrimages to places considered to be Holy by Christians.

• ROME• JERUSALEM• SANTIAGO

Why are these cities so important? Find the information in your student’s book and write it down in your notebook.

6. ARCHITECTURE AND ART

Romanesque style expanded to Christian Europe from the 10th century to the 13th century.

The main features are: (Las principales características son)

• Religious art• Developed in rural areas• Monastic orders and pilgrim routes, like Saint

James Route in Spain, helped it to spread throughout Europe.

6. 1

. AR

CH

ITEC

TUR

E• Buildings: churches, monasteries

• Materials: stone and wood (ceilings)

• Vaults (bóvedas): barrel and groin vaults.

• Arches: semicircular.

• Walls are thick (gruesos) and reinforced on the outside with buttresses (contrafuertes)

• Use of pillars (squared)

• Basilical plan, latin-cross plan with apses and ambulatory.

6. 2

. SC

ULP

TUR

E

• Frequently used on the exterior of the buildings (churches) in tympana and capitals

(en tímpanos y capiteles).

• Adapted to the architectural frame (adaptación al marco)

• Didactic purpose

• Themes: Pantocrator, Evangelists, Christ, Virgin with Child.

• Figures were rigid, static and inexpressive,

6. 3

. PA

INTI

NG

• Mural painting. This is called fresco

technique.

• Didactic purpose.

• Same themes as sculpture.

• Plain colours.

• Scenes depicted have no depth (no tienen profundidad ni perspectiva)

Describing pictures of art I have chosen picture letter…………………………………………..This picture represents……………………………….It was built/made during the………………….century and it belongs to the…………………………………….style. It is located in……………………………,……………………………This building/sculpture /painting is made of……………………………………..it has……………………….. and ……………………………………In its interior we can see characteristic elements of the …………………………style, like……………………………………and…………………………….It was done with the purpose of………………………………In conclusion…………………………………………………………………………From my personal point of view/I believe/ in my opinion……………………………………