CCSS2 UNIT 6: Feudal Europe

UNIT 6: Feudal Europe p.103

Part 1: The Feudal System

-Carolingian empire disintegrated

-Kings got armed men to fight against foreign invaders (Muslims, Vikings, Magyars)

- Kings paid those men with land

Protection Needed---à FEUDALISM: (10^th-13^th centuries) the political, economic + social system in W. Europe. Free person depended on his lord + became his vassal.

-Act of homage: lord/vassal commitment

            -Vassal gave lord loyalty, troops + advice

            -Lord protected vassal + gave him resources (a fief /feef/)

à Pyramid System = everyone is interdependent

–       ppl. bound by vassalage to higher ranking ppl.

–       Ex: noble could be vassal of king AND lord of lower ranking noble

–       Ecclesiastics (Nobles/Bishops) became lords w/fiefs too

–       Monarch was at top

Part 2: Daily Life on the Fief p.106

FIEFS

-rural estates w/lots of land

-self-sufficient à produced everything they needed

-lord owned bridges, ovens + mills; peasants has to pay to use them

-2 parts:

            1. Demesne /duh-mén/ :land used by the lord + farmed by serfs

            2. Tenements/Holdings: small plots of land lord rented to peasants; peasants had to give him part of their harvest + work for him in the demesne.

THE LIFE OF A LORD

-Lived in a walled castle, in the tower (keep)

-had courtyard w/blacksmith, laundry, bakery, chapel etc.

entertainment: jousting, chess; women: embroidery, singing/dancing

THE LIFE OF A PEASANT

-very hard

-lived in simple dwellings of wood/adobe/straw

-1 room w/hearth + hole in roof

-food scarce

Part 3: Economy p.110

-based on fiefs’ agriculture/livestock

-trade almost nonexistent

AGRICULTURE

-cereals + pulses (legumes)

-low productivity b/c of rudimentary technology

            -Roman plough (wooden)

            -2 year crop rotation

LIVESTOCK

-cow/pig/sheep rearing, bee-keeping, horse-breeding

-acorn fed pigs = main food

-milk, wool, meat, hides

TRADE

-local markets/fairs – peasants could sell some produce

-foreign trade by sea

-wine, salt, textiles, cereals, weapons, iron tools

                                                                                                            

Part 4: Society p.111

-Ppl. organized into 2 kinds of “estates of the realm”:

1. Privileged estates: nobility + clergy; subject to different laws

A. Nobility- dedicated to fighting wars

               a.Higher: dukes, marquises, counts; vassals of king + lords of other men; lived in castles, administered justice, collected taxes.

               b. Lower: knights who owned nothing but their horse + weapons; vassals of feudal lords

B. Clergy

               a. Secular: depended on a bishop

               b. Regular: members of an order, lived in monateries

                        1. Higher: bishop/abbots (noble families)

                        2. the rest

2. Non-privileged estates: all others; peasants, craftsmen etc. = 90%; all had to pay tithe to church; all paid taxes to lord

A. Free peasants: worked tenements, free to leave

B. Serfs: tied to land; needed lord’s permission for things; worked demesne land or in house

              

Part 5: Religion

-In middle ages, the most important thing in society

5.1 The Church

-Church was ony authority in areas of barbarian invasion

-kings/emperors looked to church for authority

-1^st monasteries founded in W.Europe in 5^th century (Benedictines, Cistercians)

-monks lives set by regulation: prayer, manual labor, intellectual work

5.2 THE CRUSADES p.114

-Religious expedition to recover Jerusalem/the holy land from Muslims

-1095 Pope Urbane called 1^st –until 13^th century

-produced military orders: orders of knights/monks àfought against Christianity’s enemies + lived monastic lives (Order of Hospital of St. John, Order of the Temple/Templars = wealthy)

5.3 Pilgrimages

-10^th century Church stats promoting trips to holy places; people could ask for forgiveness or favors from God:

1. Rome: Pope

2. Jerusalem: Jesus’ crucifixion + resurrection (pilgrims were protected by military orders)

3. Santiago de Compostela – tomb of St. James the Apostle

Part 6: Culture, Architecture + Art p.116

6.1 Culture

-In Middle Ages cultural centers reduced to monasteries à monastic/cathedral schools imitating model of Palatine Academy at Aachen (Charlemagne)

-Cathedral schools à universities (Bologna 1088, Oxford 1096)

6. 2 Architecture + Art

Romanesque = characteristic style of Christian Europe

-religious

-rural

-monastic orders + pilgrims spread it throughout Europe

ARCHITECTURE p.117

-predominant buildings churches/monasteries

-barrel vault, groin vault, semicircular arch

-thick walls, few windows + doors

-basilica plan, Latin-cross plan or central plan

SCULPTURE p.118

-used on exterior of buildings (doorways)

-took shape of architectural frame

-meant to teach illiterates about Christianity

-figures rigid, static, inexpressive

PAINTING

-Murals in fresco; illustrated manuscripts in tempera

-didactic purposes

-plain colors, scenes w/out depth

-rigid, unemotional figures