Unit 6

Feudal Europe

Oxford University Press Espaa S.A., 2013

What do we know?

OBJECTIVES
1 Understand the main characteristics of feudalism.
2 Explain what life was like in a fief.
3 Learn about the defining features of feudal economy and society.
4 Recognise the influence of the Church in medieval society and
explain what the Crusades and pilgrimages were.

5 Value the role of the medieval Church in the conservation and

transmission of knowledge.
6 Distinguish the main features of Romanesque architecture and art.

7 Obtain historical information from the analysis of different

sources.

CONTENTS
The feudal system.
Daily life in the fief.
Economy and society in feudal Europe.
Religion in the Middle Ages.
Culture, Romanesque architecture and art

The Feudal System

Armed men helped the kings against foreign invaders (9th century)
Kings gave them LAND in exchange
Monarch: vassal to nobody
Lord (nobles, ecclesiastics):

Beginning of Feudalism
Pyramidal system

protection, fief (land) to vassals

ACT OF HOMAGE
Vassals (peasants, nobles of
lower rank): fealty, help, advice
to Lord

The feudal system

When and why did feudalism originate?

Which aspect of the feudal system is shown in this image?

Feudal Europe

Which of these kingdoms were Christian?

Daily life in the fief

Extensive rural estate arable land, pasture, forests (fruit, timber,
plants, etc)
Self-sufficient
Divided into two parts:
DEMESNE
TENEMENTS

Exploited directly by the LORD (farmed by SERFS)

Plot of land given to free peasants in exchange for rent/part of

the harvest or some other service for the lord

The fief

What was a fief? What was its economy like?

What different types of economic activities can you see in the image?

Daily life in the fief

THE LIFE OF THE LORD
He lived in a castle
Several buildings around the castles courtyard: blacksmiths workshop, carpenters workshop,

laundry, bakery, chapel, etc.

His entertainment consisted of hunting and jousting, playing chess, music, poetry

THE LIFE OF A PEASANT

He/she had a very hard life
They lived in simple houses with only one room (hearth/bed)
Food was scarce (soup, garlic, onions, bread)

Peasant house

Economy
MAIN ECONOMIC ACTIVITES
AGRICULTURE Main activity
Crops: - cereal (wheat, rye, barley, oats) & pulses (lentils, chickpeas, beans); vines (10th century)
Low productivity due to rudimentary techniques:
wooden plough
Hoe
sickle
scythe
crop rotation (every two years); animal excrements (fertiliser)

LIVESTOCK
pig (meat), cow (milk, meat and hides), sheep (milk & wool), oxen (ploughs and carts)
poultry: chickens, ducks
bee-keeping (wax & honey)
Horse-breeding (wars)

TRADE
Local markets and fairs & foreign trade
Main commercial products: wine, salt, textiles, cereal, weapons, iron tools.

Agriculture

PEASANTS REAPING

Society

Organisation into estates of the realm (closed social groups given by birth)
PRIVILEGED ESTATES CLERGY, NOBILITY (MINORITY)

NOBILITY

CLERGY

Higher nobility: dukes,

marquises, counts

Secular *: priests
depending on a bishop

Nobility: knights

Regular: members of
religious orders living in
a monastery

HIGHER CLERGY:
Bishops, abbots
LOWER CLERGY:
Monks, priests

NON-PRIVILEGED ESTATES THE REST OF THE PEOPLE (peasants, craftmen, traders, etc)

PEASANTS

-90% of the population

- Had to pay a tithe (tax) to Church

Free peasants:

Cultivated the
tenements and could leave the fief
when they wanted

Serfs:

Cultivated the demesne lands

and couldnt leave the fief when they
wanted

Closed and hierarchical society

the only way to pass from one estate to another was by becoming a member

of the clergy

* The term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not
monastics or members of a religious institute.

Religion
THE CHURCH:
Barbarian invasions: bishops were often the only authority in a geographical area

Kings and emperors searched the support of leaders of the church (popes, bishops)
First monasteries 5th century first religious orders (Benedictine, Cistercian)
Life of the monks determined by strict regulations (rest, work, divine office, eating of meals)
Monks: dedicated to praying, manual labour & intellectual work
Monasteries had different parts: cloister, church, chapter-house (daily meetings), refectory

(dining room), dormitory, scriptorium (intellectual work), guest quarters (pilgrims/travellers),

kitchen, infirmary, stable, granaries (harvest), arable land (around monastery)

 THE CRUSADES

Religion

Main reason Religious sentiment

Military orders/expeditions:
Formed by thousands of Christians (from peasants to kings)
Composed of knights/monks. E.g. the Order of the Hospital of St.John; the Order of the Temple; The
Order of the Teutonic Knights
Objective Recover the Holy Land (places where Jesus had lived and taught)- which was now occupied
by the Muslims
Duration From the year 1095 (Pope Urban II) till the 13th century
Consequence New commercial routes connecting the East and the West

 PILGRIMAGES

Religion

From the 10th century onwards, promoted by the Church

Objective: pardon for sins or ask God for a favour.
Places:
Rome (Pope)
Jerusalem (Jesus Christ crucifixion)
Santiago de Compostela (Tomb of St James Apostle)

Culture, architecture and art

CULTURE

Cultural activity: only in the Monasteries

Monks: dedicated to copy ancient manuscripts to prevent their disappearance

Monastic schools and cathedral schools Model of Palatine Academy at Aachen
Subjects: Latin, grammar, music, maths, sciences.
Cathedral schools first universities
University of Bologna (1088)
University of Oxford (1096)

ARCHITECTURE AND ART

10-13TH: Romanesque art

Culture, architecture and art

ARCHITECTURE AND ART

10-13TH: Romanesque art
Religious art
Developed in rural areas

Expanded in Europe thanks to monastic orders and pilgrim routes

Architecture
Religious buildings (churches, monasteries) made of stone
Different kinds of vaults (barrel, groin vaults) and semicircular arches
Thick walls with buttresses on the outside
Doors and windows with archivolts
Pillars and columns with elaborated capitals
Basilica plan, Latin-cross plan or central plan; one or several apses in the chancel.
Sculpture
exterior or buildings: archivolts, tympana, capitals.
It had a didactic purpose: to teach the Christian beliefs to the people (illiterate)
Figures were static, rigid and inexpressive
Painting

Mural painting done in fresco; manuscripts in tempera

It also had a didactic purpose: predominantly religious themes (Pantocrator, Evangelists, etc)
Plain colours and no perspective; rigid poses of characters and no emotion

Architecture

Can you name these different types of vaults?

What were the other main features of architecture in this period?

Culture

Why did many cultural centres disappear during the early Middle Ages?

Architecture

What type of building is shown in this image?