EL FEUDALISMO

FEUDALISM
WHAT IS FEUDALISM?
The political, economic and social system
that predominated in Western Europe
between the 9th and 14th centuries.
FEUDALISM: ORIGINS AND CAUSES
The fall of the Roman Empire because of the
Germanic invasions
+
The lack of security in the borders
Many asked for protection to powerful people
The Germanic
kingdoms in the 6th
century
FEUDALISM: ORIGINS AND CAUSES
Charlemagne encouraged FEALTY (=vasallaje)
between his nobles. That implied two things:
1. The vassal offered services to the lord.
2. In exchange, the lord must maintain economically
to the vassal.
ACTIVITY
Translate into Spanish the following text:
Feudalism was the medieval model of
government. Feudal society is a military
hierarchy in which a ruler or lord offers
mounted fighters a fief (beneficium), a unit of
land to control in exchange for a military
service.
FEUDALISM: ORIGINS AND CAUSES
• To maintain economically a vassal, the lord gave
him a piece of land.
• This piece of land is called FIEF.
• The fief consisted of a rural estate composed of
extensive areas of arable land, pastures and
forests where people hunted and obtained
firewood and other products (fruit, timber,
medicinal plants, honey, etc.)
The fief
• The fief was divided into two parts:
– Demesne: land exploited directly by the lord. It
consisted of farmland, pastures and wood. It was
farmed by serfs.
– Tenements: plots of land the lord gave to free
peasants in exchange for rent, services or a part of
the harvest.
THE SECOND ASSAULT TO CHRISTIAN
EUROPE
• During the 9th-11th centuries there was a
second wave of invasions to Europe. The
invaders were…
THE VIKINGS
THE MAGYARS
• Also known as HUNGARIANS…
THE SARACENS
Also known as MUSLIMS…
• Do you remember this from the ISLAM UNIT?
THE SECOND INVASIONS
THE SECOND INVASIONS…
• …helped to spread the political, social and
economical system of feudalism throughout
Western Europe.
THE FEUDAL SYSTEM
• Eventually, the fief became hereditary…
• … and a ceremony was established:
The commitment between the
vassal and the lord was sealed
with an act of homage.
The act of homage consisted in four
parts:
1. inmixtio manum
2. The oath of fealty.
3. The osculum
4. Sign the documents
ACTIVITY
Do a commentary on the next image:
ACTIVITY
• Investigate about some authentic, historical
act of homage.
THE FEUDAL SYSTEM
• The vassal swore fealty (=loyalty) to his
lord, and swore to provide him with
military help (troops) and advice.
• The lord swore to protect his vassal and
provide him with resources he needed to
make a living: a fief.
• It is very important not to forget that this
agreement was between FREE MEN.
THE FEUDAL SYSTEM
• Gradually, a pyramidal system was created.
For example, a noble could be a vassal of a
king and, at the same time, he could be the
lord of another noble.
• That made the kings weak. Can you see why?
THE FEUDAL SYSTEM
THE FEUDAL SOCIETY
• At the same time, the feudal lords exercised
their authority over the peasants who worked
on the fief.
THE FEUDAL SOCIETY
• The feudal society sets up in close groups. You
belong to a group by birth.
• Those groups are the ESTATES OF THE REALM.
There were two kinds of estates:
– PRIVILEGED ESTATE: nobility and clergy.
– NON-PRIVILEGED ESTATE: all the people who
were not members of the clergy or nobility
belonged to this group. They were peasants,
crafstmen, traders…
THE FEUDAL SOCIETY
THE FEUDAL SOCIETY
• The PRIVILEGED ESTATE justifies this
organization thanks to the THEORY OF THE
THREE ORDERS:
PRIVILEGED ESTATE: NOBILITY
Nobles dedicated their time to fighting wars,
hunting and leisure. There were two different
groups within this estate:
1. Higher nobility – dukes, marquises, counts,
etc. They were vassals of the king and lords of
other vassals. They lived in castles, collected
taxes and administered justice in their fiefs.
PRIVILEGED ESTATE: NOBILITY
2. Lower nobility: knights, who possessed
nothing except their weapons and their horse.
They were vassals of the feudal lord. .
ACTIVITY
• Use the following link to tag the parts of an armour
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Components_of_medi
eval_armour
PRIVILEGED ESTATE: CLERGY
• Clergy: a group of persons dedicated to a
religion.
• There were two kinds of clergy:
1. Secular clergy: priests who depended on a
bishop.
2. Regular clergy: members of a religious order
who lived in a monastery.
PRIVILEGED ESTATE: CLERGY
• Within the clergy, there were two different
groups:
Higher clergy: bishops and abbots, who
generally belonged to noble families. They
were feudal lords.
Lower clergy: the rest of the clergy: priests,
monks, nuns…
PRIVILEGED ESTATE: CLERGY
NON-PRIVILEGED ESTATE: PEASANTRY
•
•
•
•
•
They represented about 90% of the population.
All peasants had to pay a TITHE to the Church.
Peasants could be free or serfs.
Free peasants cultivated the tenements.
Serfs could not leave the fief. Most of them
worked on the demesne lands.
THE FEUDAL ECONOMY
• The economy was mainly based on agriculture
and livestock.
• Trade almost disappeared. Communications
were cut off because of the frequent wars.
• Agriculture was based on the two-year crop
rotation.
• At the end of the 10th century, they began to
use watermills and windmills.
THE FEUDAL ECONOMY
• The lords exploited the peasants thanks to the
control of the MANOR. In Spanish, manor
means señorío.
• This is the key of the feudal system!
ACTIVITY
• According to the explanation of manor, try to
give an explanation of the following term:
MANORIALISM
THE FEUDAL ECONOMY
• The lord exercised his authority in two ways:
–Territorial
(Señorío
territorial):
Peasants worked the land. They also paid
taxes (in kind, money or labor).
–Jurisdictional (Señorío jurisdiccional):
The lord has judicial power, political
power and economic power (collecting
taxes).
Señorío jurisdiccional
PORTAZGOS
(GATE TOLL)
PONTAZGOS
(BRIDGE TOLL)
The castle, residence of the lord…
ACTIVITY
• Draw a plan of your own manor. Do not forget
to include all its elements.
• Draw your own castle, tagging its main parts.
SUMMING
UP
THE IMPORTANCE OF RELIGION
• Religion during Middle Ages played a very
important role, affecting directly to:
– DAILY LIFE
– SOCIETY ORGANIZATION
– POLITICS
– CULTURE
– ART
THE IMPORTANCE OF RELIGION
• The leaders of the Catholic Church (popes,
bishops) supported kings and emperors.
• THINK ABOUT THAT: Do that sound logic to
you?
The monastery: The
first monasteries were
founded during the
5th
century.
A
monastery is under
the authority of an
abbot/abbess
ACTIVITY
Go to the next link and locate the main parts in
a monastery:
http://www.berkshirehistory.com/kids/abbey_pl
an.html
LA IMPORTANCIA DE LA RELIGIÓN
THE IMPORTANCE OF RELIGION
The life of monks/nuns are determined by
three rules:
1. Poverty.
2. Obedience.
3. Chastity.
ACTIVITY
• Do a research about the main religious orders
during the feudal age.
THE CRUSADES
CHRISTIAN KINGDOMS
IN NEAR EAST AFTER
THE FIRST CRUSADE
ACTIVITY
• Investigate about the first three crusades:
– Why did they happen?
– Which were the consequences of the Crusades?
– Why do these attacks receive the name of
“crusade”?
THE END
By Daniel Quijano Ramos
Geography & History teacher
IES Puerta de la Axarquía