The Middle Ages: Feudalism & Manorial System – Flashcards

After fall of _____, Byzantine empire became center for trade & Greco-Roman culture; in West, Europe grew weak & fell into Middle Ages 500-1300 AD; when barbarian kingdoms conquered Rome was plagued by constant warfare, this disrupted trade , cities (forced people to rural areas), learning declined (few could read/write), common language was lost, Latin, which mixed w/ languages to form Spanish, French, Italian.

W/out unity of Roman empire, it divided into _____ _____; Germanic people lived in small communities led by chiefs & his loyal warriors; Family ties & loyalty were more important than citizenship.

During Middle Ages, Germanic kingdoms slowly converted to Christianity; the Catholic ____ became involved in secular (non-religious) issues like road repair, aiding the poor, & helping Christian kings expand their power.

The largest & most powerful of Germanic kingdoms in early Middle Ages; Frankish kings allied w/ the Catholic church & expanded their power; in 771, Charlemange (Charles the Great) became king of the ______.

Greatest Medieval king because he did something no other king was able to do, create an organized empire- Holy Roman Empire (1st Reich); he expanded the Frankish empire & spread Christianity - Missi Dominici; he created schools to train future priests in which he valued learning; after his death in 814, his Frankish empire was weak & lost power....this was the last opportunity to provide unity in Medieval Europe

from 800-1000, a 2nd major wave of invasions struck Europe led by Vikings, Muslims, & Magyars (the 1st wave were barbarians the attacked Rome); these invasions caused widespread fear & suffering; kings could not defend against invasion...people stopped looking to kings for protection.

_____ began in Europe as a way to offer protection; based on land & loyalty; land-owning lords offered land (a fief) to knights in exchange for their loyalty & promise to protect the lord's land; ____ came to England w/ Norman Invasion in 1066

Look at Feudalism pyramid

specially trained soldiers who protected the lords & peasants- vassals took an oath of fealty (loyalty) to lord and their land

upper class land owners; had inherited titles (Duke, Earl, Sir); owned manors or farms with peasants that did all farm work & could not leave the manor; ____ paid peasants, but they paid taxes in which the money went back to the ____. Manors had everything the lord, peasants, knights, and church officials needed to survive; built castles to protect territory from invasions

Initiated Feudalism which called for less protection from ____ in which it weakened the ____ power (more power went to the people and building cities); had land, but very little power.

Main workers of a lord's manor; did ALL farm work and were paid very little for work, the money ended up going back to the lord through taxes; ____ lived on manor and could not leave lord's estate; had to get permission to be married and were subject to the manorial local church w/ a local priest

Way in which people survived; lord's land was called a manor, the lord provided peasants or serfs with housing, farmland, & protection; in exchange, peasants repaid the lord by working his land & providing a portion of the food they produced; Manors were self-sufficient communities, meaning everything that was needed was produced on the manor; peasant life was hard, they paid taxes to use the mill, had to get permission to marry, & life expectancy was 35 years old.