Winter Exams Medieval Times❄️ Flashcards
Explain the feudal system
• TheNormansintroducedthefeudalsysteminEngland.
• It was a system of rulers who divided their land among
their followers
• Followers were called “nobles” or “vassals”.
• They were given land, which was called “fief”.
• Inreturn,they swore an”oathofallegiance”to the king, promising to fight for him, provide him with troops, and pay taxes.
• The nobles gave part of their land ,who swore the same oath to the nobles.
• Then the knights took care of the peasants who cultivated the land.
The lords gave part of the land to professional soldiers, called knights, who fought for the lords and the king.
Food, protection and shelter A little land
Fighting in the army, loyalty
What perecent of people in the Middle Ages lived in the countryside
About 95% of people in the Middle Ages lived in the countryside
Where did peasants live
Most were peasants and lived in villages called Manors.
• These were owned by a Lord or Knight.
• Peasants lived in a wattle and daub house with a thatched roof in the village
Who where the peasants
The peasants were either freemen or serfs.
• Freemen paid rent and could move away
whenever they wanted to.
• Serfs were not free. They needed the lord’s permission to travel to the nearest town.
• They also had to pay a tithe (one-tenth) of their produce) to the parish priest.
The medieval manor
A manor house for the lord or knight to live in. Here are some of the features
A church
• A mill to make wheat for
bread.
• A blacksmith’s forge to
make tools.
• A house for the bailiff. This man ran the manor when the lord wasn’t there. He collected taxes and kept order.
• Fields to farm.
• Woodland for peasants to
build their houses.
Farming in medieval times
Around the village were three large, open fields. Peasants were given strips of land in each field. They grew wheat, oats and barley.
• The crops were rotated each year. One field was left fallow (empty)
• This was to allow it to recover.
• There was a common for grazing sheep and
cattle.
• Peasants produced most of the food and clothes they needed.
• They had porridge for breakfast and pottage in the evening.
Norman towns
Most towns in the Middle Ages were very small They would’ve had between 1,000-5,000 people living in them.
• A town would have needed a charter from the king
• A charter was like a contract between the king and the people.
• The town had freedom to run its own affairs, but would pay taxes to the king.
• Towns were run by a corporation and a mayor.
• They would be like the council today; they
would maintain the walls, clean the streets and pay the town guards.
The features of Norman towns
Norman towns would be built beside rivers for water trade
Some of them were built beside castles for protection
-they had high walls for protection
-A gate they would close at sunset and open at dawn, they where also the only way in or out
-the Main Street this went from the gate to the market square (rich people lived here)
-narrow streets for houses and shops
And the church was at the centre of the town
What was the biggest danger of a medieval town
Fire was the biggest danger as they used wood to build the houses so at a certain time people had to cover their fires with a bell looking instrument
Disease was also common as the towns where often cramped together and people where very dirty
Getting hit by waste was very common as there was no toilets so people would just dump their waste onto the streets
Why did people build castles
Lords and other noblemen built castles.
• They built them to protect the fief that they had been given from the King.
• Castles were key to the defence of the Lord’s lands.
• War and conflict was widespread in the Middle Ages and lords had to be able to protect their land quickly.
The original castles
• The first castles built in Norman times were temporary castles called Motte and Bailey castles.
• The motte was an artificial hill with a wooden tower at the top, called a keep.
• Below was an enclosed area, where the soldiers stayed, called a bailey.
• The bailey was protected by
a wooden fence, called a pallisade.
• The castle was usually surrounded by a ditch or moat.
