Germanic Kingdoms & Feudalism

Early Middle Ages

• Period in time after the collapse of the Roman Empire

• No consistent social unity or political connection among people

Clovis

First Christian King of the Franks

Left land to his heirs (French law prescribes that inheritance be split evenly among male children)

Charles Martel

Defeated Muslim invasion at the Battle of Tours

Battle of Tours

Stopped the expansion of Islam into Western Europe

Charlemagne (Charles the Great)

• Spread Christianity

• Crushed a rebellion against the Pope and earned religious loyalty

  • Pope crowned him “Holy Roman Emperor”

• Created the largest kingdom since the fall of Rome

• Treaty of Verdun

Treaty of Verdun

• Split Charlemagne’s kingdom into three parts

• Central authority breaks down

  • Lack of strong rulers led to a new system

Feudalism

A system of landholding and governing

Based on an exchange of land for loyalty and protection

Fief

land given from a king/lord to a vassal

Vassal

the person receiving the fief

Serf

Peasants who work on the land

The Manor

• People lived in a village controlled by a lord

  • Included Lord’s house, peasant housing, farming fields, church, mill, blacksmith, graveyard, etc.

Manorialism

Self sufficient economic system

Lord provided housing and protection to serfs in exchange for farm labor, estate maintenance, housework or other services

Three field system

Only use ⅔ fields in a growing season