The Feudal System

Question 1

Name the order of the feudal system (5)

Answer 1

1. King
2. Tenants-in-chief
3. Under tenants
4. Free men
5. Peasants

Question 2

Describe the King (2)

Answer 2

1. Owned all land in England but granted most of it to tenants in chief
2. His duty was to detect people from invasion and enforce laws

Question 3

Describe the tenants in chief (6)

Answer 3

1. Vassals of the King
2. Most were noble and clergy such as bishops
3. In return for fief they paid homage and provided knight service to the King
4. Most powerful nobles were barons
5. Barons advised the King and helped govern England
6. They granted some of their land to under tenants

Question 4

Describe the under tenants (5)

Answer 4

1. Vassals to tenant in chief
2. Most were knights and lesser clergy
3. In return for lad they paid homage to lord and provided knight service
4. Granted some land to peasants
5. Most knights were lords of a manor

Question 5

Describe free men (4)

Answer 5

1. Could travel and work wherever they wanted
2. Included merchants, craftsmen and farmers
3. They had to obey and pay rent to their lord
4. Sometimes worked on their lord’s land but were paid for this

Question 6

Describe Peasants (3)

Answer 6

1. Unfree peasants provided labour service to their lord in return for his protection, shelter and small strip of land to provide food for their families
2. Lords could buy and sell them but couldn’t leave without permission
3. Few peasants were free (not bound to the land) but most didn’t leave the local lord

Question 7

Describe landholding (4)

Answer 7

1. King kept 20% of land in England for himself
2. His land was known as demesne
3. The rest of the land was run by barons, noble and knights
4. Remaining land controlled by the Church making it very wealthy

Question 8

Fief of feud

Answer 8

Land held by a vassal in return for service to a lord

Question 9

Tenant-in-chief

Answer 9

Someone who held their fiefs directly from the King

Question 10

Under-tenant

Answer 10

Someone who held their fiefs from a tenant in chief

Question 11

Vassal

Answer 11

Someone who held land from someone else in the feudal system

Question 12

Describe paying homage (4)

Answer 12

1. All landholders paid homage to lord by swearing an oath of loyalty
2. Oath was sworn in a public ceremony
3. once sworn landholder became the vassal of his lord and had to provide service to him
4. If a vassal broke his oath he could be punished by forfeiture or even death

Question 13

Describe forfeiture (3)

Answer 13

1. Land become forfeit and the lord would take it away
2. Land could then be granted to someone else for their loyalty
3. It helped maintain feudal hierarchy and the King’s power

Question 14

Describe knight service (3)

Answer 14

1. Ensured King had an army to protect his kingdom
2. Amount of land held by tenant in chief determined how many knights he owed the King
3. Barons allowed to pay scutage to the King instead of providing knights

Question 15

Describe labour service (2)

Answer 15

1. Work unfree peasants expected to do on their lord’s land

2. Helped ensure enough food and other essential items was produced to provide for everyone in the country

Question 16

Duties of knight service (3)

Answer 16

1. Serving in the King’s army for 2 months per year
2. Raising money to pay the ransom of their lord if he was captured during battle
3. Guarding castles of their lord or the King for up to 40 days per year

Question 17

Duties of labour service (2)

Answer 17

1. ‘Boon-work’ - working on the lord’s land gathering in the harvest
2. ‘Week-work’ - working on the lord’s land on certain days every week, doing jobs such as looking after animals, sowing crops and ploughing land

Question 18

Importance of religion (3)

Answer 18

1. Most believed God would decide whether they went to heaven or hell
2. The Church told people how to please God
3. The Pope was God’s representative on Earth

Question 19

Influence of the Church (4)

Answer 19

1. Spiritual - clergy taught people to live according to the Church and performed daily services including mass and baptisms
2. Economic - Church was wealthy as everyone paid a tithe (tenth of their produce) to the Church each year
3. Political - King was under the authority of the Pope who could influence the King’s policies and actions
4. Social - Priest’s and monks taught people to read and write and monasteries looked after the elderly and the sick