They did, however, have a few more rights than slaves, but they were bound to the lord and the land they served for life. At the bottom of the social hierarchy were the serfs who were practically slaves. The peasants, who were in charge of farming and raising live stock, leased land from the lord or the knights. They would protect the land and the lord from outside invasions, and they could also be summed into battle at anytime by their Lords. The Knight was loyal to the Lord, who was loyal to the king. From there, the Nobles, also known as Lords of the Manor, could further divvy up the land to Knights who offered military protection in exchange for land. The nobles were loyal to the king, but in their fiefdom, they were in control. Since it was impossible for a king to maintain in control of all of his subjects, he gave, or awarded, pieces of his land called fiefs to noble whom he trusted. At the top of the social ladder was the King who ruled all of the land in the kingdom. One of the main characteristics of feudalism was its social hierarchy. Conclusionįeudalism was the government, social, and political structure of Medieval Europe and it greatly affected society, ranging from how a country was run, to the rights and responsibilities of the people, all the way down to the intricacies of a family. They couldn’couldn’t travel or read and write. They barely had access to or knew about the outside world, and they rarely met anyone from outside of their village. When a serf died, his son had to make a payment to the lord of the manor. Being a peasant or a serf was typically hereditary. The serf was also required to give payments, on top of the payments of crops the lord already receives at harvest time, at special times of the year-Christmas, Easter, ECT. They also did various chores for the lord, such as cutting firewood, fixing the castle’s walls, and cleaning the moat. The serfs worked a few days a week on the lord’s fields. This means that they are bound by law and custom to plough the field of their masters, harvest the corn, gather it into barns, and thresh and winnow the grain they must also mow and carry home the hay, cut and collect wood, and perform all manner of tasks of this kind.” “It is the custom in England, as with other countries, for the nobility to have great power over the common people, who are serfs. The position of a serfs and peasants were made clear when Jean Froissart, a French medieval writer, wrote: Lords did not simply give away their serfs if a serf was to marry a serf from another manor, the lord usually demanded payment for his loss. Serfs belonged to the estates and in which they were born and were totally dependent upon their lords. Many of the peasants were serfs-that is, they were not free. Although a serf had some freedoms, they were close to being slaves. Below the peasants were menial workers called serfs. Peasants had hard lives and not many privileges, but they were still not the lowest class. The tournaments were an essential part of feudalism as they acted as a necessary training ground for the knights.Īn estate manager and serfs during Medieval Europe. Sometimes a knight could even make a living form it. Tournaments were also popular outdoor pastimes. This expedition could take days and a hunting group usually consisted of many people including friends, household members, and visitors, plus a large number of servants. A common pastime of knights was hunting with a bow and arrow. The Knights, like the lords, also had some leisure time. The Squire served in this role for seven years and became a Knight at the age of twenty-one. Squires also practiced wearing heavy armor to get used to the weight and using weapons. Besides carrying out their duties in the lord’s household, squires learned the martial arts of being a knight. The squire was an apprentice to the knight who handled the knight’s armor, served his meal, tended his horse and cleaned his weapons. At the age of 14, a page became a squire.
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