The Pyramid in England -

Feudalism: A political, economic, and social system based on and military service. How it worked- the main reason that Feudalism was put into place was to provide all people with protection.

Feudalism in England can be easily described through a pyramid: ! At the top of the Feudalism Pyramid was the King. ! The King claimed ownership of the land. ! When the King granted land to important nobles (also known as ), they became his . This land was called a . It contained either a castle or a and included all animals and serfs living there. ! These nobles then pledged their loyalty by swearing to serve and protect the king. This was called the Oath of . ! The king and nobles also granted land to the less powerful, military men-- the . Because they received land, they were also called vassals. ! All vassals agreed to fight for the king in exchange for their land. Nobles supplied a quota of knights and led those knights into battle. ! The land was worked by the or serfs. They legally belonged to the land and could not leave without permission - the bottom of the Feudalism pyramid. (Remember the Feudalism play.)

Here is an example of an Oath of Fealty: “Hear you my . . . that I. . . shall be to you both faithful and true, and shall owe my Fidelity unto you, for the Land that I hold of you, and lawfully shall do such Customs and Services, as my Duty is to you, at the times assigned. So help me God and all his Saints.” —from The Manner of Doing and Fealty

Memorize this pyramid. It will be on your test.

The second part of this system was economic. Money was scarce in the . The ownership of land was everything. Having land was the way you accumulated wealth, not how much money you had.

Manorialism: An economic and social system in which the oversees peasants/serfs who work for him. Land given to a was called a fief. • Kings are not vassals. Everyone who receives land from another person is a vassal. So, lords, nobles, clergy, and knights can be vassals if they have received land from another. • Agriculture was the basis for wealth. • On a manor, barter was the way to pay for things. (I'll give you my eggs for one of your chickens.) • Land was divided into self-sufficient manors. Everything people needed to survive could be found on the manor- a blacksmith, a cobbler (who made shoes), a mill (to grind flour), a church, a bake house (to make bread- serfs didn't have ovens in their hovels.) This is why towns didn't really exist until 1000 CE. • Most serfs were farmers. They were given plots of land and a portion of what was grown was given back to the lords as payment for rent. • Serfs were legally tied to the manor. They could not leave and find their fortune elsewhere.