Feudalism Vocab

Question 1

A special obligation of a vassal to provide money for such occasions as his lord’s ransom, the marriage of his daughter, the knighting of his son, or for going on Crusade.

Answer 1

Aid

Question 2

Manorial official, overseer of the manor, chosen by the lord.

Answer 2

Bailiff

Question 3

fees which a feudal lord imposes on his serfs for the use of his mill, oven, wine press, or similar facilities. It sometimes includes part of a fish catch or the proceeds from a rabbit warren.

Answer 3

Banalities

Question 4

a heavy, wheeled plow with an iron plowshare.

Answer 4

Carruca

Question 5

Feudal duty to accompany the lord on a minor expedition or as an escort.

Answer 5

Chevauchee (cavalcade)

Question 6

in the Middle Ages, the ideal of civilized behavior that developed among the nobility; it was a code of ethics that knights were supposed to uphold.

Answer 6

Chivalry

Question 7

a uniform system of law that developed in England based on court decisions and on customs and usage rather than on written law codes; replaced law codes that varied from place to place.

Answer 7

Common law

Question 8

Count; highest English title in the Middle Ages.

Answer 8

Earl

Question 9

The right of a king (or justices acting in his name) to visit and inspect the holdings of any vassal. It was done periodically, usually at irregular intervals of a few years.

Answer 9

Eyre

Question 10

In feudal law, any grave violation of the feudal contract between lord and vassal. Later it was expanded in common law to include any crime against the King’s peace and came to mean any serious crime.

Answer 10

Felony

Question 11

under feudalism, the unwritten rules that determined the relationship between a lord and his vassal.

Answer 11

Feudal contract

Question 12

political and social order that developed during the Middle Ages when royal governments were no longer able to defend their subjects; nobles offered protection and land in return for service.

Answer 12

Feudalism

Question 13

under feudalism, a grant made to a vassal; the vassal held political authority within this.

Answer 13

Fief

Question 14

Term applied to trade associations. The aim of such groups was to protect members from the competition of foreign merchants and maintain commercial standards.

Answer 14

Guilds

Question 15

In theory, a fief which provided sufficient revenue to equip and support one knight. This was approximately twelve hides or 1500 acres, although the term applies more to revenue a fief could generate than its size; it required about thirty marks per year to support a knight.

Answer 15

Knight’s Fee

Question 16

Fine paid by unchaste bondwoman, normally when discovered to be pregnant but unmarried.

Answer 16

Leywrite

Question 17

the “Great Charter” of rights, which King John was forced to sign by the English nobles at Runnymede in 1215.

Answer 17

Magna Carta

Question 18

political, economic, and social system by which the peasants of medieval Europe were rendered dependent on their land and on their lord.

Answer 18

Manorialism

Question 19

in medieval Europe, an agricultural estate that a lord ran, and peasants worked.

Answer 19

Manor

Question 20

The act by which a lord free a serf.

Answer 20

Manumission

Question 20

A method of trial in which the accused was given a physical test (usually painful and dangerous) which could only be met successfully if he were innocent.

Answer 20

Ordeal

Question 21

in thirteenth century England, the representative government that emerged; it was composed of two knights from every county, two people from every town, and all the nobles and bishops throughout England.

Answer 21

Parliament

Question 22

The right of the eldest son to inherit the estate or office of his father.

Answer 22

Primogeniture

Question 23

in medieval Europe, a peasant legally bound to the land and had to provide labor services, pay rents, and be subject to the lord’s control

Answer 23

Serf

Question 24

English county.

Answer 24

Shire

Question 25

Knight-aspirant.

Answer 25

Squire

Question 26

A tax levied by a manorial lord upon his unfree tenants.

Answer 26

Tallage

Question 27

A notched stick, which was split in two, one half being kept by the seller and the other half by the receiver.

Answer 27

Tally

Question 28

Payment for leave to sell livestock.

Answer 28

Toll

Question 29

A free man who held land (fief) from a lord to whom he paid homage and swore fealty. He owed various services and obligations, primarily military. He was also required to advise his lord and pay him the traditional feudal aids required on the knighting of the lord’s eldest son, the marriage of the lord’s eldest daughter, and the ransoming of the lord should he be held captive.

Answer 29

Vassal