Life was very organized in medieval Europe. People were divided into four main groups and each group had different jobs to do. This way of life was known as the feudal system.
Kings:
Kings were at the top of the social system within their kingdom. The only people above them were the emperor and the pope. Kings ruled large areas of land. To protect this land from invasion, the king gave parts of it to local lords, who were called vassals. In return, his vassals promised to fight to defend the king's land.
Kings were at the top of the social system within their kingdom. The only people above them were the emperor and the pope. Kings ruled large areas of land. To protect this land from invasion, the king gave parts of it to local lords, who were called vassals. In return, his vassals promised to fight to defend the king's land.
Edward the Confessor, one of England's Anglo-Saxon Kings
Nobles:
Nobles came after the king in the social system. Nobles were people who pledged their allegiance to the king. In return for their loyal service, they were given large areas of land within the kingdom. Titles of nobility include: duke, count, lord and baron.
During the middle ages, there was also a practice called feudalism around which the social structure of the Middle Ages was organized. Feudalism meant that a country was not governed by the king but instead by individual lords, or barons, who managed their own estates, decided punishments for crimes, minted their own money, charged taxes and tolls, and demanded military service from vassals. In feudalism, nobles were required to pay homage, or pledge allegiance, to the king. In turn, peasants were expected to pay homage to the lord of the country that they lived in.
Nobles came after the king in the social system. Nobles were people who pledged their allegiance to the king. In return for their loyal service, they were given large areas of land within the kingdom. Titles of nobility include: duke, count, lord and baron.
During the middle ages, there was also a practice called feudalism around which the social structure of the Middle Ages was organized. Feudalism meant that a country was not governed by the king but instead by individual lords, or barons, who managed their own estates, decided punishments for crimes, minted their own money, charged taxes and tolls, and demanded military service from vassals. In feudalism, nobles were required to pay homage, or pledge allegiance, to the king. In turn, peasants were expected to pay homage to the lord of the country that they lived in.
Nobles
Knights:
Knights were considered vassals and were given land, or a fief (fief - a piece of land that is owned by a noble), by nobles as payment for their help in battle. They were trained for war and fought for nobles and kings. Only boys from noble families could become knights. First, he worked as a page (page - similar to a servant) who worked in the castle. Then he became a squire (squire - a knight's helper). Finally, if he proved he was a brave warrior, he was knighted by a king or noble and became a knight.
The 11th century embraced the concept of a knight as a social rank. There is a code of conduct that all knights must live by.
The Knights' Code of Conduct:
Knights were considered vassals and were given land, or a fief (fief - a piece of land that is owned by a noble), by nobles as payment for their help in battle. They were trained for war and fought for nobles and kings. Only boys from noble families could become knights. First, he worked as a page (page - similar to a servant) who worked in the castle. Then he became a squire (squire - a knight's helper). Finally, if he proved he was a brave warrior, he was knighted by a king or noble and became a knight.
The 11th century embraced the concept of a knight as a social rank. There is a code of conduct that all knights must live by.
The Knights' Code of Conduct:
- To fear God and maintain His Church
- To serve the liege lord in valor and faith
- To protect the weak and defenseless
- To give succor to widows and orphans
- To refrain from the wanton giving of offence
- To live by honor and for glory
- To despise pecuniary reward
- To fight for the welfare of all
- To obey those placed in authority
- To guard the honor of fellow knights
- To eschew unfairness, meanness and deceit
- To keep faith
- At all times to speak the truth
- To persevere to the end in any enterprise begun
- To respect the honor of women
- Never to refuse a challenges from an equal
- Never to turn the back upon a foe
A knight from the 11th century
(wears chainmail)
(wears chainmail)
A knight from the 14th century
(wears platemail)
(wears platemail)
Peasants:
Peasants were at the bottom of the social system. They farmed he land of the knights, nobles, and kings. In return, the landowners protected the peasants from enemy attacks. Some peasants were freemen, who paid money or food for their land, but others, called villeins, had to work part-time for their lord.
Most peasants were serfs or servants. Serfs lived in small communities called manors that were ruled by a local lord or vassal. They were bound to the manor and could not leave it or marry without the manor lord's permission. Serfs did all the work on the manor farm. They tended the crops, cared for the livestock, built and maintained the buildings, made the clothing, and cut firewood. Men, women, and children worked side by side. Serfs had small plots of land they could work for themselves. Sometimes a serf saved enough money to buy their freedom and become a freeman. Servants, on the other hand, were peasants who worked in the lord's manor house, doing the cooking, cleaning, laundering, and other household chores.
The peasants, including serfs, freeman, and villeins, on a manor lived close together in one or more villages. Their small, thatch-roofed, and one-roomed houses would be grouped together in an open space or on both sides of a single, narrow street. The only important buildings in a villages were the parish church, the parsonage, a mill, a stream if one ran through the manor, and possibly a blacksmith's shop. The population of one of these villages often did not exceed 100 people.
Medieval village life during the Middle Ages was self-sufficing. The inhabitants tried to produce at home everything they required, in order to avoid the uncertainty and expense of trade. The land gave them their food, the forest provided them with wood for their houses and furniture. They made their own clothes of flax, wool, and leather. Their meal and flour were ground at the village mill and at the village smithy, their farm implements were manufactured. The chief articles which needed to be brought from some distant market were salt, iron, and millstones. Cattle, horses, and surplus grain also formed common objects of exchange between manors.
Life in a medieval village was rude and rough. The peasants labored from sunrise to sunset, lived in huts, and suffered from frequent pestilences. They were often the helpless prey of the feudal nobles. If their lord happened to be a quarrelsome man, given to fighting with his neighbors, the peasants might see their lands ravaged, their cattle driven off, their village burned, and they themselves might be slain. Even under peaceful conditions, the narrow, shut-in life of the manor was degrading for peasants. Under feudalism, the lords and nobles of the land had certain rights over medieval serfs and peasants, which included the right of jurisdiction, which gave judicial power to the nobles and lords and the right of hunting.
Peasants were at the bottom of the social system. They farmed he land of the knights, nobles, and kings. In return, the landowners protected the peasants from enemy attacks. Some peasants were freemen, who paid money or food for their land, but others, called villeins, had to work part-time for their lord.
Most peasants were serfs or servants. Serfs lived in small communities called manors that were ruled by a local lord or vassal. They were bound to the manor and could not leave it or marry without the manor lord's permission. Serfs did all the work on the manor farm. They tended the crops, cared for the livestock, built and maintained the buildings, made the clothing, and cut firewood. Men, women, and children worked side by side. Serfs had small plots of land they could work for themselves. Sometimes a serf saved enough money to buy their freedom and become a freeman. Servants, on the other hand, were peasants who worked in the lord's manor house, doing the cooking, cleaning, laundering, and other household chores.
The peasants, including serfs, freeman, and villeins, on a manor lived close together in one or more villages. Their small, thatch-roofed, and one-roomed houses would be grouped together in an open space or on both sides of a single, narrow street. The only important buildings in a villages were the parish church, the parsonage, a mill, a stream if one ran through the manor, and possibly a blacksmith's shop. The population of one of these villages often did not exceed 100 people.
Medieval village life during the Middle Ages was self-sufficing. The inhabitants tried to produce at home everything they required, in order to avoid the uncertainty and expense of trade. The land gave them their food, the forest provided them with wood for their houses and furniture. They made their own clothes of flax, wool, and leather. Their meal and flour were ground at the village mill and at the village smithy, their farm implements were manufactured. The chief articles which needed to be brought from some distant market were salt, iron, and millstones. Cattle, horses, and surplus grain also formed common objects of exchange between manors.
Life in a medieval village was rude and rough. The peasants labored from sunrise to sunset, lived in huts, and suffered from frequent pestilences. They were often the helpless prey of the feudal nobles. If their lord happened to be a quarrelsome man, given to fighting with his neighbors, the peasants might see their lands ravaged, their cattle driven off, their village burned, and they themselves might be slain. Even under peaceful conditions, the narrow, shut-in life of the manor was degrading for peasants. Under feudalism, the lords and nobles of the land had certain rights over medieval serfs and peasants, which included the right of jurisdiction, which gave judicial power to the nobles and lords and the right of hunting.
Outside of a cottage that peasants would have lived in
Inside of a cottage that peasants would have lived in
Life in a Village