S4- Medieval Flashcards
Who were the four parties in the feudal system?
King- owned all land, gave 3/4 to followers, kept ‘demense’
Vassals- Kings followers eg. Count, earl, bishop etc
Knight- gave loyalty+ bravery
Peasants- farmed land, paid heavy taxes and rents. Serfs/Freemen
Freemen
- were paid for work
- could travel and marry
- paid taxes
Serfs
- worked w/o waged
- belonged to Lord
- couldnt leave manor w/o permission
- majority of people
Layout of medieval manor
Manor House - Lord lived, (very rich lived in castles)
Serfs- had one acre strip in 3 different fields
Commons - big field for collective grazing
Forge - blacksmith worked here
Water mill- Miller,wheat->flour
Alehouse- poor -> beer. (Only taverns sold wine)
River- washed clothes+drank
Forest- firewood, berries, nuts, pig food, building wood
Bailiff’s house- did lord’s A/Cs, kept law+order, collected taxes
Church- village centre, priest lived, said mass, baptised+buried
- peasants paid 10% income as ‘tithe’
Farming for medieval people
- men, women and children all helped out
- three fields divided into one strip per fam
- commons for their animals
How did the Middle Ages come about? Also when.
- AD 500-1500
- Roman Empire fell, which means in Europe there was..
- no central government
- no central currency
- roads and towns wernt maintained
- bandits and outlaws attacked people
- travel and trade became difficult
- local lords became v powerful
