Medieval Society and Feudalism Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards defining social hierarchy, feudal terms, knighthood stages, medieval housing, and farming practices from the lecture notes.

Three Estates

The social order believed to be created by God, comprising those who fought battles, those who prayed, and those who worked.

Feudalism

The social organisation of Europe during the Middle Ages, based on a pyramid of loyalty, land ownership, and service.

Fiefs

Lands granted by the king to his most important nobles, barons, and bishops.

Vassal

A person granted land by a lord, to whom they owed allegiance and service.

Serfs

Peasants at the bottom of the feudal structure who worked on the land, owned no land, and subsisted only on what they grew.

William the Conqueror

The Norman leader who defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and established feudalism in England.

Battle of Hastings

The 1066 battle in which William the Conqueror defeated the English, leading to Norman rule in England.

Fealty

The sworn loyalty or allegiance owed by a vassal or page to a lord.

Page

A nobleman's son who, starting at about seven years of age, served a knight for six or seven years to learn basic knighthood skills.

Squire

A stage of knighthood training starting at about fourteen or fifteen years of age, where a young man aided his knight in battle and cared for horses, armour, and weapons.

Dubbing

The ritual ceremony where a squire was made a knight, culminating in a lord patting him on each shoulder with the flat side of a sword.

White Tunic (Knighthood)

A garment worn during the knighthood ceremony that signified the knight's purity.

Red Robe (Knighthood)

A garment worn over the white tunic during the knighthood ceremony to symbolise willingness to shed blood for God and lord.

Black Shoes and Hose (Knighthood)

Footwear and tights worn during the knighthood ceremony symbolising death.

Tournaments

Military exercises carried out by knights for practice and the display of prowess, including jousts and melees.

Joust

A formal martial contest where knights fought each other on horseback using weapons like lances.

Melees

Big, free-for-all practice fights between knights during tournaments.

Statute for Tournaments

A set of regulations established in 1292 by Edward I of England to make tournaments safer for knights.

Statute of Labourers (1495)

An English statute specifying that labourers must work from 5 o'clock in the morning to 7 o'clock in the evening in summer, and all daylight hours in winter.

Wattle and daub

A building material consisting of straw and wet mud applied to a wooden frame, which hardened when dry to form cottage walls.

Destriers

Enormous warhorses ridden by medieval knights in battle.

Manors

Estates owned by lords where serfs lived in villages and worked land in exchange for protection.

Three-field system

A system of medieval farming where land was divided into three fields rotated annually, with one field planted with wheat/barley, one with oats/rye, and one left fallow.

Fallow

A field left empty in the crop rotation system to allow the soil to recover and replenish its nutrients.