Feudalism

We went over a PowerPoint created by the book people, and I can’t even count how many times we looked at a stupid iron plow.  Anyways, the Roman Empire gone, but the Byzantine Empire was still there.  Feudalism is a term used by historians to describe the governmental system and the relationships between landowners and warrior.  Warriors, also known as knights, pledged his allegiance to a lord, who would in turn give that knight land.  Fief: Property Lord would grant fief to the knight, who would then become the lord's vassal: servant (more like a star baseball player on a team).  That was called a feudal compact.  A vassal must fight for the lord when he needs it and attend his court once a month.  A vassal was required to pay homage: special honor or respect shown publicly.  Men were apprenticed to older knights before they could become a full knight themselves.  When a knight died, his fief would revert to his son, though his lord would be protector of that son if he was underage, or if it was a daughter.  A rich person could have many knights.  Barons: lords of large territories who usually paid homage to a king.  Baron’s army could outnumber that of a king, it kept a check on the king’s power.  Order: king, baron, lord, knight, regular folk.  Lords live on the manorial estate.  There are 3 estates: the clergy, the nobility, and the common people.  Peasantry farmed on large plantations known as “manors” which were owned by a lord, or lady of the nobility (or member of the clergy).  Iron plows and water-powered grinding mills helped with agricultural production, but the yield was still miniscule by today’s standards.  The three field system was used were two fields were planted on in the fall and one in the spring.  One field was left to reconstitute its fertility—then they were rotated.  The lady of the house ran household operations, oversaw servants, entertain guest and ran the manor when the husband was away.  The men oversaw the fields.    Most peasants were serfs: they were bound to the land and to the lords for labor service a few days each week.  Servants would feed birds.  Most medieval towns and villages were surrounded by fortified walls because it was dangerous.  Their use was to keep people in and keep people out.  Suburbs: people who lived outside of the walls.  Towns were dominated by a main church and a central marketplace.  All of their churches were super dark because there were no windows.  Guilds: unions.  Townspeople were free, but there was still a hierarchy: Merchants at the top, then skilled craftsmen and artisans, then unskilled laborers and apprentices.  Merchants, craftsmen and artisans formed their own groups call guilds which regulated their trade and protected its members.  Craftsmen were classified as masters, journeymen, and apprentices.  Once became a master after spending years learning as an apprentice, working as a paid journeyman for a number of years, and completing his “masterpiece”.  I didn’t get everything but that’s it.  Oh, then Mr. Schick threw my eraser out the window.