Feudalsim

Feudalism or the Feudal System was the system that was used during  medieval Europe to organise and control land use and population.  Feudalism was first used by Charlemagne in the eighth century in an  attempt to control large areas of land within Gaul. Eventually the  Feudal System spread throughout Europe.

As the Roman Empire fell, nobles were granted plots of land in  exchange for their loyalty to the emperor. They would then eventually  develop these lands into manors. A typical manor would consist of a  castle or manor house, small village, and farmland. This system of loyalty flowed  all the way down to the poorer people in medieval society for the Roman  army could no longer be counted on to protect the peasants in Europe, so  they were forced to turn to the landowners, which were often called  Lords, to protect them from German, Viking and Magyar tribes who would  overrun homes, farms and villages.

Feudalism was brought to England by William of Normandy (William the  Conqueror). After invading England and  winning a major battle in 1066 and being crowned king, he claimed all of  England's land as his own. He then divided the land and gave some of it  away to those who had been loyal to him and would promise to help  support him in the future if needed.




Exercises:

On a new page in your books put the Heading "The Feudal System".  Under the heading write a 1/4 - 1/2 page summary on Feudalism based upon  the information above and from this link.  After you have completed the summary, copy the Feudal System flow chart  into your books. Then write the following sub-headings and the  questions in your books and answer them in full sentences using  the links to the websites listed below.

The  Medieval Manor

1. Name the buildings that would be found within a medieval manor

2. Why do you think there are different fields?
3. Using these two links Yalding 1 and Yalding 2,  describe how the maps are different.
4. Which map, Yalding 1 and Yalding 2,  would be more useful to historians? Why?

Peasant  Life Under the Feudal System

1. Who did the peasants have to obey?

2. Who did the peasants have to pay rent and taxes to?
3.  What was a Tithe?
4. What is the name of the type of houses peasants lived in?
5. What materials were these houses made from?