Feudalism and Middle Ages Test Study Guide

Flashcards reviewing key concepts, figures, conflicts, and developments of the Middle Ages, including feudalism, church architecture, the Hundred Years' War, the Magna Carta, the Crusades, and the Black Death.

What major catastrophic event led to the start of the Middle Ages?

The collapse and fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE, which led to political fragmentation, instability, and a decline in centralized authority across Western Europe.

What is feudalism, and what are a vassal and a fief?

Feudalism was a political, military, and social system based on land ownership and personal loyalty. A vassal was an individual who promised loyalty and military service to a lord in exchange for land, and a fief was the grant of land given to the vassal.

What role in feudal society is represented by this heavily armed, mounted warrior?

A knight, who served as a military vassal to a lord in exchange for land or sustenance, swearing to uphold chivalric duty and provide armed defense.

How was feudal society structured hierarchically?

It was structured as a pyramid with the King at the top, followed by powerful nobles and church leaders (clergy), then knights (vassals), and finally peasants and serfs at the bottom who made up the majority of the population.

Who was Charlemagne and what did he accomplish?

Charlemagne (Charles the Great) was the King of the Franks who united much of Western and Central Europe, was crowned Emperor of the Romans in 800 CE, and fostered the Carolingian Renaissance by promoting education, literacy, and Christianity.

How did the relationship between Charlemagne and Pope Leo benefit both leaders?

Pope Leo III received military protection and security against his political rivals in Rome, while Charlemagne gained divine legitimacy and the imperial title of Emperor of the Romans, strengthening his rule across Western Europe.

What happened to Charlemagne's empire after his death?

The empire became fractured among his heirs and was formally partitioned among his three grandsons by the Treaty of Verdun in 843, leading to regional fragmentation and vulnerability to foreign invasions.

Can a person be both a lord and a vassal? Explain why or why not.

Yes; feudal ties were multi-tiered through subinfeudation. A noble could receive a large fief from the king (making him the king's vassal) and then subdivide portions of that land to lesser knights (making him their lord).

What were the primary roles of the different groups of people in feudal society?

The monarch ruled and claimed ownership of the realm; lords administered territory and managed defenses; knights provided military protection and warfare; peasants and serfs farmed the land, produced food, and performed manual labor.

What is manorialism, how does it work, and who does it benefit?

Manorialism was the self-sufficient economic system of the Middle Ages centered on a lord's estate (manor). Serfs and peasants worked the land and paid taxes/tributes to the lord in exchange for physical protection and small plots to sustain themselves, disproportionately benefiting the lord economically.

How was a medieval manor typically laid out?

It centered on the lord's manor house or castle, surrounded by a parish church, peasant village huts, a mill, common pastures, woodlands, and arable agricultural fields divided into open strips managed under a crop-rotation system.

What physical structure represented the power of God (and the Church) on Earth?

The cathedral, whose monumental height, monumental scale, and intricate architecture stood as a visible symbol of God's presence and the supreme authority of the Roman Catholic Church.

Why were medieval cathedrals filled with so much art, such as stained glass and sculptures?

Because most common people were illiterate, art served as a visual Bible to teach Christian theology, scripture, and moral lessons, as well as to inspire religious awe and glorify God.

What architectural shape were medieval cathedrals built in?

In the shape of a cross (cruciform plan), symbolizing the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.

What are the nave and the transept of a cathedral?

The nave is the long, main central body or aisle where the congregation sits, while the transept is the transversal aisle crossing the nave at a right angle to form the arms of the cross.

What is a flying buttress and how does it work?

An external arched masonry support that extends from the upper part of a wall to a heavy outer pier, carrying the outward lateral thrust of the vaulted ceiling away from the walls so they could be built thinner, taller, and with large stained-glass windows.

What was the feud between King Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII about?

The Investiture Controversy, a struggle over whether the secular monarch or the Pope had the supreme authority to appoint and invest local church officials (bishops); Pope Gregory VII excommunicated Henry IV until Henry made a penitent walk to Canossa in 1077.

What is a pilgrimage and why were pilgrimages important to local economies?

A pilgrimage was a sacred religious journey to a holy shrine or relic. Pilgrims supported local economies by purchasing food, lodging, transportation, pilgrim badges, and making financial donations to local shrines and town businesses along travel routes.

Who wrote The Canterbury Tales and what was the book about?

Geoffrey Chaucer wrote the book, which portrays a diverse group of pilgrims traveling from London to Canterbury Cathedral while sharing entertaining, moral, and satirical tales.

Who was murdered inside Canterbury Cathedral?

Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was assassinated in 1170 by four knights loyal to King Henry II after resisting the king's efforts to control church courts.

When did the Hundred Years' War take place and how long did it last?

It took place from 1337 to 1453, lasting for a total of 116 years (with periodic truces).

Who fought in the Hundred Years' War and what was its core conflict?

It was fought between the kingdoms of England and France over territorial control of English-held lands in France and rival claims to the French throne.

How did technology play a major role at the beginning and the end of the Hundred Years' War?

At the beginning, the English longbow gave English archers decisive tactical superiority by piercing armor and decimating French cavalry; by the end, French gunpowder artillery (cannons) destroyed fortifications and defeated English forces.

Why did the English believe they had legitimate claims to French lands?

English kings trace back to William the Conqueror (Duke of Normandy) and held extensive lands in France through marriage alliances (such as Aquitaine); additionally, King Edward III claimed the French crown directly through his French mother, Queen Isabella.

What role did Joan of Arc play in the Hundred Years' War?

She was a French peasant girl who rallied French troops under claimed divine guidance, lifted the critical Siege of Orléans, boosted French morale and nationalism, and enabled the coronation of King Charles VII at Reims.

What technological innovations helped bring an end to feudalism?

The English longbow, the pike, and especially gunpowder and cannons, which rendered heavily armored mounted knights and thick stone castle walls militarily ineffective.

How did the Hundred Years' War help weaken the feudal system?

Monarchs created permanent standing national armies composed of paid soldiers rather than relying on feudal obligations of knights, while the conflict stimulated national unity and allegiance to a central king rather than to local feudal lords.

What was the Magna Carta?

The 'Great Charter' agreed to by King John of England in 1215 at Runnymede, which established the constitutional principle that the monarch was not above the law and set limits on royal authority.

Whose rights did the Magna Carta originally protect?

It originally protected the feudal privileges, land rights, and liberties of the English barons and nobility against arbitrary royal tyranny, though its protections eventually expanded to all free subjects.

What were some of the fundamental rights protected by the Magna Carta?

Protection against unlawful imprisonment without due process of law, the right to a speedy and lawful trial by peers, and limitations preventing the monarch from imposing taxes without the consent of the realm's council.

In what ways did the Magna Carta weaken the feudal power dynamic of the Middle Ages?

It curbed absolute monarchical power, institutionalized the rule of law, and laid the foundations for representative governance and parliamentary authority over unilateral royal decrees.

How does the Magna Carta continue to impact us in modern times?

It serves as the historical foundation for modern constitutional democracy, guaranteeing principles such as due process, the writ of habeas corpus, trial by jury, and limits on government power found in modern legal frameworks like the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.

What were the primary causes of the First Crusade?

The Byzantine Emperor Alexios I asked for military assistance against the advancing Seljuk Turks, and Pope Urban II gave a speech at the Council of Clermont in 1095 calling on European Christians to liberate Jerusalem and holy sites from Muslim rule.

Who won the First, Second, and Third Crusades?

The First Crusade was won by European Christians (who took Jerusalem); the Second Crusade was a victory for Muslim forces (Crusaders failed to take Damascus); the Third Crusade was a strategic victory for Muslim forces under Saladin (who retained control of Jerusalem, while granting unarmed Christian pilgrims access).

What events concluded the First, Second, and Third Crusades?

The First ended with the Crusader capture of Jerusalem in 1099 and creation of Crusader states; the Second ended in 1148 after the disastrous Crusader siege of Damascus; the Third ended in 1192 with the Treaty of Jaffa between Richard the Lionheart and Saladin.

Who were Salah al Din and Richard the Lionheart?

Salah al-Din (Saladin) was the Muslim sultan of Egypt and Syria who recaptured Jerusalem in 1187, and Richard the Lionheart (King Richard I of England) was the European monarch who led the Third Crusade against Saladin.

What was the Black Death?

A catastrophic pandemic of plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis that devastated Eurasia and swept through Europe between 1347 and 1351, killing an estimated one-third to one-half of Europe's population.

What are the common symptoms of the Black Death?

Painful, swollen lymph nodes called buboes in the armpits, groin, and neck; acute high fever; chills; vomiting; and dark necrotic spots on the skin caused by internal bleeding.

What are the three different forms of the Black Death and how do they differ?

Bubonic plague (infects the lymphatic system, causing large buboes); Pneumonic plague (infects the lungs, highly contagious via airborne droplets); and Septicemic plague (infects the bloodstream directly, causing rapid tissue necrosis and swift death).

What role did rats, fleas, and living conditions play in spreading the Black Death?

Oriental rat fleas carried the Yersinia pestis bacterium and lived on black rats; filthy, cramped medieval towns with open sewage, uncollected garbage, and poor hygiene allowed rat and flea infestations to multiply rapidly near human populations.

Who were the Mongols and what role did they play in the spread of the plague?

The Mongols were nomadic pastoralist conquerors who established the vast Mongol Empire; their unification of the Silk Road facilitated trade and enabled the bacterium to travel across Asia, while their siege of the Genoese trading post at Kaffa in 1346 directly introduced the plague to Mediterranean trade networks.

How was the plague transmitted from the Mongol siege to Italy?

Genoese merchant vessels fleeing the besieged trading city of Kaffa sailed across the Black Sea and Mediterranean, carrying infected crew, fleas, and black rats directly into ports in Sicily and mainland Italy in late 1347.

How did trade networks spread the Black Death from Italy throughout Western Europe?

Busy maritime shipping lanes and overland commercial highways connected Italian trading hubs (like Genoa and Venice) to major European marketplaces, transporting infected goods, travelers, and vermin north and west across Europe.

Who were the flagellents and why did they beat themselves?

They were extreme religious zealots who marched in public processions whipping their own bare backs; they did this as penance to atone for humanity's sins, believing the plague was God's divine punishment that could be averted through self-inflicted suffering.

How did the Black Death help end the feudal system?

By killing a massive percentage of the working population, it created a severe labor shortage, which empowered surviving serfs and peasants to demand cash wages, lower rents, and freedom of movement, ultimately collapsing manorial bondage.

How did the revival of trade weaken the feudal system?

Trade stimulated a money-based market economy instead of a land-and-labor barter economy, allowing peasants to buy their freedom and monarchs to tax trade revenue directly rather than relying on feudal obligations from nobles.

How did trade fuel the growth of cities and urban centers in the late Middle Ages?

Thriving commercial crossroads and river ports attracted merchants, artisans, and craftsmen who settled permanently to form marketplaces, guilds, and autonomous towns free from direct lordly control.

Which social class lost power as kings grew more powerful from trade revenues?

The feudal nobility (landowning lords and barons), whose traditional territorial monopolies and private military roles were superseded by centralized royal monarchs allied with the wealthy urban merchant middle class.

What direct impact does a shrinking population have on a feudal economic system?

A shrinking population reduces the supply of agricultural laborers, making labor far more valuable than land; this destroys the feudal lord's leverage, raises wages, and leads to the breakdown of serfdom.