The Feudal System

Question 1

Who introduced the Feudal system and when?

Answer 1

The Normans, in 1066.

Question 2

List the ranks of the Feudal system.

Answer 2

1. King
2. Lords/tenants-in-chief/nobles/barons ( + high ranking Church members)
3. Knights/vassals/under-tenants
4. Peasants: villeins, cottars, freemen

Question 3

What were the 3 types of peasant?

Answer 3

Villiens, cottars and freemen.

Question 4

In simple terms, how was land organised in the Feudal system?

Answer 4

1. The royal demesne was the land the king kept for himself.
2. He shared out land between his barons, who kept some for themselves and divided out the rest between Knights.
3. Knights divided this out to peasants.

Question 5

What was the name for the land which the king kept for himself?

Answer 5

The royal demesne.

Question 6

The king was at the top of the hierarchy. What was his role within the Feudal system? Give at least 2 examples.

Answer 6

1. He demanded obedience in return for protecting his people. To do this, he needed an army. The feudal system was a way of recruiting soldiers without paying them.
2. He granted land and tax concessions.
3. He retained stability and demanded loyalty through oaths that people were expected to take.

Question 7

What was a Lord’s role within the Feudal system? Give 2 examples.

Answer 7

1. They held their land in return for providing services to the king, the most important one being to provide knights for the king’s army. The amount of land a baron held determined how many knights he owed the king. This quota was known as servitium debitum.
2. They served as advisors to the King.

Question 8

The amount of land a baron held determined how many knights he owed the king. What was the term for this quota?

Answer 8

Servitium debitum.

Question 9

What was a knight’s role in the Feudal system? Give 2 examples.

Answer 9

1. They provided their fighting skills in return for being granted land.
2. They were usually lords of manorial estates: several villages surrounding a manor house. As many lords held land in different parts of the country, many estates were managed by bailiffs (caretakers of the land).

Question 10

How did Knights become Knights?

Answer 10

In an official ceremony where they were presented with a sword and gently struck on the back of their neck.

Question 11

Give at least 2 features of Knight service.

Answer 11

1. Serving in the king’s army for ≥2 months per year, providing their own horse and weaponry.
2. Spending 40 days per year guarding a Lord’s castle.
3. Raising money to pay the ransom of their lord if he was captured during battle.

Question 12

As many knights held land in different parts of the country, many estates were managed by __ (caretakers of the land).

Answer 12

Bailiffs.

Question 13

What was a peasant’s role in the Feudal system? Give 2 examples.

Answer 13

1. Peasants were a large and largely powerless class of people at the bottom of the hierarchy.
2. They did not have to provide military service in return for the land they lived on; all peasants (except freemen) had a duty to perform labour for Knights and the Tenants-in-Chief. In return, knights protected them from the threat of invasion.

Question 14

What was “paying homage” and who had to do it?

Answer 14

It was the act of swearing an oath of fealty (loyalty) in a public ceremony which landholders had to do.

Question 15

What did it mean to have paid homage?

Answer 15

The landholder became the vassal of his lord. If he broke his oath, he could be punished by forfeiture or even death.

Question 16

What was forfeiture and when would it happen?

Answer 16

If a vassal failed to provide knight service to his lord, or committed a crime, his oath was broken and his land was forfeit (taken away). The land was granted to someone else to reward their loyalty.

Question 17

What was the significance of forfeiture in the Feudal system?

Answer 17

It helped the system to function properly and the king to maintain power.

Question 18

Give at least 2 features of labour service.

Answer 18

1. Villeins had to work for the lord on certain days of the week (known as “week-work”) and during harvest (known as ‘boon-work’).
2. Cottars were only expected to do one day of week-work.
3. Freemen didn’t have to provide any days of work, but paid rent to live on the land.

Question 19

Villeins had to work for the lord on certain days of the week (known as “__”) and during harvest (“__”).

Answer 19

1. Week-work
2. Boon-work