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Feudalism in Europe
MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES

POWER AND AUTHORITY The rights and duties of feudal lord serf
Feudalism, a political and relationships helped shape fief manor
economic system based on todays forms of representative vassal tithe
land-holding and protective government. knight
alliances, emerges in Europe.

SETTING THE STAGE After the Treaty of Verdun, Charlemagnes three feud-
ing grandsons broke up the kingdom even further. Part of this territory also
became a battleground as new waves of invaders attacked Europe. The political
turmoil and constant warfare led to the rise of European feudalism, which, as you
read in Chapter 2, is a political and economic system based on land ownership
and personal loyalty.

TAKING NOTES Invaders Attack Western Europe

Analyzing Causes and
Recognizing Effects Use
From about 800 to 1000, invasions destroyed the Carolingian Empire. Muslim
a web diagram to show invaders from the south seized Sicily and raided Italy. In 846, they sacked Rome.
the causes and effects Magyar invaders struck from the east. Like the earlier Huns and Avars, they
of feudalism. terrorized Germany and Italy. And from the north came the fearsome Vikings.
The Vikings Invade from the North The Vikings set sail from Scandinavia
Cause Cause (SKANduhNAYveeuh), a wintry, wooded region in Northern Europe. (The
region is now the countries of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.) The Vikings, also
Feudalism
called Northmen or Norsemen, were a Germanic people. They worshiped warlike
Effect Effect gods and took pride in nicknames like Eric Bloodaxe and Thorfinn Skullsplitter.
The Vikings carried out their raids with terrifying speed. Clutching swords
and heavy wooden shields, these helmeted seafarers beached their ships, struck
quickly, and then moved out to sea again. They were gone before locals could
mount a defense. Viking warships were awe-inspiring. The largest of these long
ships held 300 warriors, who took turns rowing the ships 72 oars. The prow of
each ship swept grandly upward, often ending with the carved head of a sea mon-
ster. A ship might weigh 20 tons when fully loaded. Yet, it could sail in a mere A sketch of a
three feet of water. Rowing up shallow creeks, the Vikings looted inland villages Viking longboat
and monasteries.

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Invasions in Europe, 7001000

0 500 Miles
To Iceland
58
N 0 1,000 Kilometers
W
24

SCANDINAVIA
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Paris e R.

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FRANCE ALPS
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NE Genoa
ES Pisa
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CALIPHATE
OF CRDOVA Corsica Rome Viking invasion routes
Constantinople
Viking areas
Sardinia Muslim invasion routes
BYZANTINE EMPIRE Muslim areas
34
N Magyar invasion routes
Sicily

48E
Magyar areas
16E

32E
24E
0
8W

8E

GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Maps

1. Location What lands did the Vikings raid?
2. Movement Why were the Viking, Magyar, and Muslim invasions so threatening to Europe?

The Vikings were not only warriors but also traders, farmers, and explorers.
They ventured far beyond western Europe. Vikings journeyed down rivers into the
heart of Russia, to Constantinople, and even across the icy waters of the North
Atlantic. A Viking explorer named Leif (leef) Ericson reached North America
around 1000, almost 500 years before Columbus. About the same time, the Viking
reign of terror in Europe faded away. As Vikings gradually accepted Christianity,
they stopped raiding monasteries. Also, a warming trend in Europes climate made
farming easier in Scandinavia. As a result, fewer Scandinavians adopted the sea-
faring life of Viking warriors.
Magyars and Muslims Attack from the East and South As Viking invasions
declined, Europe became the target of new assaults. The Magyars, a group of
nomadic people, attacked from the east, from what is now Hungary. Superb horse-
men, the Magyars swept across the plains of the Danube River and invaded west-
ern Europe in the late 800s. They attacked isolated villages and monasteries. They
overran northern Italy and reached as far west as the Rhineland and Burgundy. The
Magyars did not settle conquered land. Instead, they took captives to sell as slaves.
The Muslims struck from the south. They began their encroachments from their
strongholds in North Africa, invading through what are now Italy and Spain. In the
600s and 700s, the Muslim plan was to conquer and settle in Europe. By the 800s
and 900s, their goal was also to plunder. Because the Muslims were expert seafar-
ers, they were able to attack settlements on the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts.
They also struck as far inland as Switzerland.
The invasions by Vikings, Magyars, and Muslims caused widespread disorder
and suffering. Most western Europeans lived in constant danger. Kings could not
European Middle Ages 359
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effectively defend their lands from invasion. As a result, people no longer looked
to a central ruler for security. Instead, many turned to local rulers who had their Recognizing
own armies. Any leader who could fight the invaders gained followers and politi- Effects
cal strength. What was the
impact of Viking,
Magyar, and
A New Social Order: Feudalism Muslim invasions
In 911, two former enemies faced each other in a peace ceremony. Rollo was the on medieval
Europe?
head of a Viking army. Rollo and his men had been plundering the rich Seine (sayn)
River valley for years. Charles the Simple was the king of France but held little
power. Charles granted the Viking leader a huge piece of French territory. It
became known as Northmens land, or Normandy. In return, Rollo swore a pledge
of loyalty to the king.
Feudalism Structures Society The worst years of the invaders attacks spanned
roughly 850 to 950. During this time, rulers and warriors like Charles and Rollo made
similar agreements in many parts of Europe. The system of governing and landhold-
ing, called feudalism, had emerged in Europe. A similar feudal system existed in
China under the Zhou Dynasty, which ruled from around the 11th century B.C. until
256 B.C. Feudalism in Japan began in A.D. 1192 and ended in the 19th century.
The feudal system was based on rights and obligations. In exchange for military
protection and other services, a lord, or landowner, granted land called a fief. The
person receiving a fief was called a vassal. Charles the Simple, the lord, and Rollo,
the vassal, showed how this two-sided bargain worked. Feudalism depended on the
control of land.
The Feudal Pyramid The structure of feudal society was much like a pyramid. At
the peak reigned the king. Next came the most powerful vassalswealthy
landowners such as nobles and bishops. Serving beneath these vassals were
knights. Knights were mounted horsemen who pledged to defend their lords lands
in exchange for fiefs. At the base of the pyramid were landless peasants who toiled
in the fields. (See Analyzing Key Concepts on next page.)
Vocabulary
Social Classes Are Well Defined In the feudal system, status determined a per- Status is social
sons prestige and power. Medieval writers classified people into three groups: ranking.
those who fought (nobles and knights), those who prayed (men and women of the
Church), and those who worked (the peasants). Social class was usually inherited.
In Europe in the Middle Ages, the vast majority of people were peasants. Most
peasants were serfs. Serfs were people who could not lawfully leave the place where
they were born. Though bound to the land, serfs were not slaves. Their lords could
not sell or buy them. But what their labor produced belonged to the lord.

Manors: The Economic Side of Feudalism

The manor was the lords estate. During the Middle Ages, the manor system was
the basic economic arrangement. The manor system rested on a set of rights and
obligations between a lord and his serfs. The lord provided the serfs with housing,
farmland, and protection from bandits. In return, serfs tended the lords lands,
cared for his animals, and performed other tasks to maintain the estate. Peasant
women shared in the farm work with their husbands. All peasants, whether free or
serf, owed the lord certain duties. These included at least a few days of labor each
week and a certain portion of their grain.
A Self-Contained World Peasants rarely traveled more than 25 miles from their
own manor. By standing in the center of a plowed field, they could see their entire
world at a glance. A manor usually covered only a few square miles of land. It

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Feudalism FEUDAL FACTS AND

FIGURES
Feudalism was a political system in which nobles were granted the use of
land that legally belonged to the king. In return, the nobles agreed to give In the 14th century, before the
bubonic plague struck, the
their loyalty and military services to the king. Feudalism developed not only population of France was
in Europe but also in countries like Japan. probably between 10 and 21
million people.

European Feudalism King In feudal times, the building of

a cathedral took between 50 to
150 years.

In feudal times, dukedoms

were large estates ruled by a
Church Noble duke. In 1216, the Duke of
Official Anjou had 34 knights, the
Duke of Brittany had 36
knights, and the Count of
Flanders had 47 knights.
Knights Knights In the 14th century, the nobility
in France made up about 1
percent of the population.

The word feudalism comes

from the Latin word feudum,
meaning fief.
The Japanese word daimyo
Peasants Peasants comes from the words dai,
meaning large, and myo
(shorten from myoden),
meaning name-land or
private land.

Emperor * SOURCES: A Distant Mirror by Barbara

Tuchman; Encyclopaedia Britannica
Japanese Feudalism

Daimyo Daimyo

Samurai Samurai

Artisans

Peasants
1. Comparing What are the similarities
between feudalism in Europe and
feudalism in Japan?
See Skillbuilder Handbook, Page R7.

2. Forming and Supporting Opinions

Merchants
Today, does the United States have a
RESEARCH LINKS For more on system of social classes? Support
feudalism, go to classzone.com your answer with evidence.

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The Medieval Manor

The medieval manor varied in size. The
illustration to the right is a plan of a typical
English manor.

1 Manor House
The dwelling place of the lord and his
family and their servants

2 Village Church
Site of both religious services and
public meetings

3 Peasant Cottages
Where the peasants lived

4 Lords Demesne
Fields owned by the lord and worked
by the peasants

5 Peasant Crofts
Gardens that belonged to the peasants

6 Mill
Water-powered mill for grinding grain

7 Common Pasture
Common area for grazing animals

8 Woodland
Forests provided wood for fuel.

typically consisted of the lords manor house, a church, and workshops. Generally,
15 to 30 families lived in the village on a manor. Fields, pastures, and woodlands
surrounded the village. Sometimes a stream wound through the manor. Streams
and ponds provided fish, which served as an important source of food. The mill for
grinding the grain was often located on the stream.
The manor was largely a self-sufficient community. The serfs and peasants
raised or produced nearly everything that they and their lord needed for daily life
crops, milk and cheese, fuel, cloth, leather goods, and lumber. The only outside
purchases were salt, iron, and a few unusual objects such as millstones. These were
huge stones used to grind flour. Crops grown on the manor usually included grains,
such as wheat, rye, barley, and oats, and vegetables, such as peas, beans, onions, Analyzing Causes
and beets. How might the
decline of trade
The Harshness of Manor Life For the privilege of living on the lords land, peas-
during the early
ants paid a high price. They paid a tax on all grain ground in the lords mill. Any Middle Ages have
attempt to avoid taxes by baking bread elsewhere was treated as a crime. Peasants contributed to the
also paid a tax on marriage. Weddings could take place only with the lords self-sufficiency of
the manor system?
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consent. After all these payments to the lord, peasant families owed the village
priest a tithe, or church tax. A tithe represented one-tenth of their income.
Serfs lived in crowded cottages, close to their neighbors. The cottages had only
one or two rooms. If there were two rooms, the main room was used for cooking,
eating, and household activities. The second was the family bedroom. Peasants
warmed their dirt-floor houses by bringing pigs inside. At night, the family hud-
dled on a pile of straw that often crawled with insects. Peasants simple diet con-
sisted mainly of vegetables, coarse brown bread, grain, cheese, and soup.
Piers Plowman, written by William Langland in 1362, reveals the hard life of
English peasants:

PRIMARY SOURCE
Analyzing Primary What by spinning they save, they spend it in house-hire,
Sources Both in milk and in meal to make a mess of porridge,
What problems To cheer up their children who chafe for their food,
did peasant families And they themselves suffer surely much hunger
face? And woe in the winter, with waking at nights
And rising to rock an oft restless cradle.
WILLIAM LANGLAND, Piers Plowman

For most serfs, both men and women, life was work and more work. Their days
revolved around raising crops and livestock and taking care of home and family. As
soon as children were old enough, they were put to work in the fields or in the home.
Many children did not survive to adulthood. Illness and malnutrition were constant
afflictions for medieval peasants. Average life expectancy was about 35 years. And
during that short lifetime, most peasants never traveled more than 25 miles from
their homes.
Yet, despite the hardships they endured, serfs accepted their lot in life as part of
the Churchs teachings. They, like most Christians during medieval times, believed
that God determined a persons place in society.

SECTION 2 ASSESSMENT

TERMS & NAMES 1. For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance.
lord fief vassal knight serf manor tithe

USING YOUR NOTES MAIN IDEAS CRITICAL THINKING & WRITING

2. What is the main reason 3. What groups invaded Europe in 6. COMPARING How were the Vikings different from earlier
feudalism developed? Explain. the 800s? Germanic groups that invaded Europe?
4. What obligations did a peasant 7. MAKING INFERENCES How was a manor largely self-
have to the lord of the manor? sufficient both militarily and economically during the early
Cause Cause 5. What were the three social Middle Ages?
classes of the feudal system? 8. DRAWING CONCLUSIONS What benefits do you think a
Feudalism medieval manor provided to the serfs who lived there?
9. WRITING ACTIVITY POWER AND AUTHORITY Draw up a
Effect Effect contract between a lord and a vassal, such as a knight, or
between the lord of a manor and a serf. Include the
responsibilities, obligations, and rights of each party.

CONNECT TO TODAY WRITING A NEWS ARTICLE

Research modern marauders, who, like the Vikings of history, are involved in
piracy on the seas. Write a brief news article describing their activities.

European Middle Ages 363