Europe's Middle Ages After King Charlemagne
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Europe’s Middle Ages After King Charlemagne Let’s Review… Rise of the Franks Under the leadership of Charlemagne What remained after Rome fell? After the fall of Rome, barbarians had taken over. Not much from Rome’s glory days were left. There was no central government or system of defense. Times were dark and dangerous. There was still: Christianity Germanic tribes converted and began to grow in power. Created monasteries – The only places that kept literacy alive. Charlemagne Charlemagne was a king who wanted to restore Rome’s glory. His Goals: Stop barbarian invasions and spread Christianity For his spread of the Christian faith, two forces were needed: – Spiritual – already existed as the Western Church – Secular – the political authority to rule A New Chance for Empire Under his rule, the empire survived many attacks. However, after his death things were different… Charlemagne’s grandsons Mess It Up After his death, they fought over the land and eventually split it up into sections. His empire quickly fell apart. Lack of a single leader or administration and the need for protection from invaders led to a new form of government… Feudalism Europeans Under Constant Attack Vikings, Magyars, and Muslims raided Europe. There was a need for order and protection. Average people were not safe! Remember, there is no government or soldiers right now. Lords (aka the land owners) defended the peasants. In return, the peasants worked the land for the lords. Let’s find out how this Feudalism thing worked… Feudalism Overview: Feudalism developed out of peoples' need for protection against invaders, and landowners' need for defense. It was a system in which powerful lords commanded the obedience of less powerful nobles. People received protection in exchange for services or for turning over total ownership of their land to larger landowners. Hierarchies developed: less powerful nobles became vassals (persons under the protection of a feudal ruler) of the more powerful lords. Feudalism Vocabulary lord—landowner, governed manor & castle – near total authority within fief… He was in charge! Fief (fife)—land granted to a vassal or knight to oversee/ live on/ take care of vassal—wealthy landowner who runs the fief for the lord knights—mounted horsemen who pledge to defend their lord's lands in exchange for fiefs, armored cavalry serfs—bound to the land, could not leave it and all their labor produced belonged to the lord Feudalism Political and economic system/ agreement dependent on land ownership and personal loyalty. how Feudalism worked… Fifes or plots of land were given out for “services and loyalty” to nobles Nobles gave out the right to work the land to serfs No central government (like a democracy, monarchy,etc). Each manor had it’s own hierarchy or levels of power and ran independently. Peasants were loyal to the lord they worked for. In exchange, they were also taken care of. Castles Roles of Feudalism A manor was the area of land (fief) over which a lord had control. Serfs owed their lord three days of work each week; such as farming, tending animals, maintain the manor. Also paid to grind grain, get married, or anything else that required the lord’s approval. As we mentioned, the Lord’s role was to govern/ run the manor, provide housing, farmland, and protection. Roles of Feudalism Knights Knights were the warrior class in charge of defending the manor. Armed and armored. Chivalry was their code of conduct. – Loyal – Brave – Courteous Constructing the Pyramid of Feudal Power KING LOYALTY LOYALTYAND AND LANDD SERVICESERVICE POWERFUL NOBLES LOYALTYLOYALTY AND AND LAND AND MILITARYMILITARY SERVICE SERVICE PROTECTION LESSER NOBLES (KNIGHTS) LABOR LABOR PROTECTION SERFS AND PEASANTS (FREEMEN) 18 Serfs pay to grind their grain at the mill… Water mill- Outside how it works- http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=old+water +mill&&view=detail&mid=448D593D6842D750F B83448D593D6842D750FB83&FORM=VRDGA R Water mill- inside how it works- http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=mill+to+gr ind+grain+into+flour&&view=detail&mid=05A3B BB61F7F2699A17405A3BBB61F7F2699A174& FORM=VRDGAR Manor System- What it looked like… Video Clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6vum 9IsDp8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQq6O eiEfrg.