Key Aspects of Medieval Feudal Society
Feudalism and Medieval Society
1. What is Feudalism? How long did it last in Western Europe?
- a) Feudalism is a system of political, social, and economic organization.
- b) Approximately three centuries.
2. What was the significance of the Treaty of Verdun?
The Carolingian kingdom was divided into three parts.
3. Why did monarchs rely on armed men? What did they receive in exchange?
- a) To struggle against new invading peoples.
- b) Income or land (fiefs).
4. Describe the vassalage relationship between feudal lords and kings.
Feudal lords offered the king military assistance and gave advice. In exchange, kings granted them fiefs.
5. What were the dependency relationships between knights and feudal lords?
Armed knights served the lords, assisting the kings in war and defending their fiefdoms.
6. What relationship existed between feudal lords and peasants? Were dependent relationships equal? Did peasants choose freely?
- a) Lords provided protection to peasants.
- b) No, relationships were not equal.
- c) No, peasants typically did not choose freely.
7. Why is the feudal economy described as self-sufficient?
Because everything that was consumed was produced within the manor or kingdom.
8. Where did the feudal lord live? Where did the peasants live?
- a) The feudal lord lived in the castle.
- b) Peasants lived in houses located on the farms or land granted by the lord.
9. What happened to cities and trade during the feudal period?
- a) Cities lost importance.
- b) Trade declined until it was reduced primarily to the exchange of products (barter).
10. What was the demesne land? What were peasant holdings? Were they different?
- a) Demesne land was the land exploited directly by the lord, often worked by serfs.
- b) Peasant holdings were parcels of land granted to farmers (free or serf).
- Yes, they were different in ownership, labor, and purpose.
11. Who belonged to the privileged classes? Who were the non-privileged?
- a) The privileged included the high nobility and the high clergy.
- b) The non-privileged included the lower clergy, serfs, free peasants, artisans, soldiers, merchants, and shopkeepers.
12. Which two main groups existed within the clergy?
- a) The secular clergy and the regular clergy.
13. What were the tasks of the regular clergy?
Their tasks included praying multiple times a day, providing help to the people (such as food), taking care of the sick, working in the garden, and copying texts.
14. What were the differences among peasants at that time?
- a) Peasants could be free or serfs who worked for the feudal lords.
15. What tasks did domestic serfs perform?
- a) Tasks included cleaning, working in the kitchens, and other household duties.
16. What payments and services were required?
- a) Payments and services included working the lord’s land and giving a portion of their harvest.
17. What is Theocentrism?
- a) The idea that God was the center of everything.
18. What were the Crusades? Why were they organized?
- a) The Crusades were military and religious expeditions. They were organized to recover the Holy Places (Jerusalem and the Holy Land).
19. Name a notable pilgrimage city.
Santiago de Compostela.
20. What caused the loss of many cultural centers in the West during the Middle Ages?
Successive invasions and disruption in the countryside.
21. Describe characteristics of Romanesque architecture.
Characteristics include predominantly horizontal emphasis, thick walls, use of the basilica floor plan, semicircular apses, barrel vaults, and round arches.