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82-85 Feudalism and the Franks

Feudalism

  • Feudalism:
    • Definition: A social and political system used during the Middle Ages.
    • Origin of the term "feudum":
      • Root: Latin word "feudum" meaning fief or land grant.
      • Emergence: Appeared in medieval Latin around the 9th century.
      • Evolution: Became "féodal" in Old French (12th–13th century), relating to fiefs or the feudal system.
      • Modern usage: "Feudalism" coined in the 17th century by historians, widely used in the 19th century to describe the economic and social hierarchy.

Do Now: Following the Fall of Rome

  • Scenario: The Roman Empire has fallen, leading to a lack of public services, law, and order. People are vulnerable and need assistance.
  • Options for help:
    • Clergy (Priests):
      • Followers of Christianity, strictly adhering to the Bible.
      • Land: Have a lot of land but few farmers.
      • Military: No military means to defend themselves.
      • Resources: Few resources.
    • Wealthy Aristocrats:
      • Former nobles with vast amounts of land and many workers.
      • Safety: Interested in what will keep them safe and powerful.
      • Resources: Plenty of resources.
    • Former Military Officers:
      • Former soldiers in the Roman Empire, primarily interested in power.
      • Land: Do not have a lot of land.
      • Military: Plenty of military strength.
      • Resources: Small amount of resource supplies.
    • Criminal Gangs:
      • Accumulated a lot of resources but do not have much land.
      • Military: Plenty of military stores.
      • Interests: Obtaining more resources and power.

The Feudal Order

  • The Feudal System
    • Social and political system that was used during the Middle Ages.

Manorialism

  • Manor System:
    • Definition: Economic system used during the Middle Ages.
    • Connection to feudalism: Deep connections but a distinct regime.
    • Control: Lord exercises legal and economic control over the peasants.
    • Trade declined after the Fall of Rome, so manors filled an economic need.
  • Elements of a Medieval Manor:
    • Lord's manor house: A large stone house where the lord lived.
    • Peasants' gardens: Small gardens near their houses where peasants grew vegetables.
    • Harvest: Peasants harvested crops like wheat in the fall.
    • Village church: Built on a small piece of land belonging to the lord.
    • Sheep: Grazed on grassy fields; villagers used sheep's wool to make clothes.
    • Mill: Harvested wheat was ground into flour at the mill, used to make bread.
    • Blacksmith: Made iron tools for farming.
  • Noble and workmen painting reflection: clothing of the three people in the painting reflect their status and responsibilities in medieval society.
  • Manors: The Economic Side of Feudalism
    • Basic economic arrangement: The manor system.
    • Rights and obligations: A set of rights and obligations between a lord and his serfs.
      • Lord's responsibilities: Providing serfs with housing, strips of farmland, and protection from bandits.
      • Serfs' responsibilities: Tending the lord's lands, caring for his animals, and performing other tasks to maintain the estate.
      • Peasant women: Shared in the farmwork with their husbands.
      • Duties: All peasants, whether free or serf, owed the lord certain duties including labor and a portion of their grain.
    • Self-Contained World:
      • Limited travel: Peasants rarely traveled more than 25 miles from their own manor.
      • Size: A manor usually covered only a few square miles of land.
      • Components: Typically consisted of the lord's manor house, a church, and workshops.
      • Families: Generally, 15 to 30 families lived in the village on a manor.
      • Surroundings: Fields, pastures, and forests surrounded the village.
      • Water source: Streams and ponds provided fish.
    • Self-sufficiency: The manor was largely a self-sufficient community
      • Serfs and peasants raised crops, produced fuel, cloth, leather goods, and lumber. The only outside purchases were salt, iron, and a few unusual objects such as millstones.
    • Harshness of Manor Life:
      • High price for living on the lord's land in the form of taxes on grain and marriage. Weddings could take place only with the lord's consent.
      • Tithe: After all these payments to the lord, peasant families owed the village priest a tithe, or church tax, representing one-tenth of their income.
    • Living conditions: Serfs lived in crowded cottages with only one or two rooms.
    • Diet: Peasants' simple diet consisted mainly of vegetables, coarse brown bread, grain, cheese, and soup.
    • Accepted their lot in life as part of the Church's teachings because they believed that God determined a person's place in society.

Key Terms:

  • Clergy: the body of people ordained (officially give someone religious duties) priests, bishops, deacons, etc.
  • Laity: the body of religious worshippers
  • Doctrine: an official body of teachings from the Church
  • Secular: non-religious; worldly things

Timeline of the Franks

  • Clovis I (509-511):
    • First Christian King of the Franks.
  • Charles Martel (718-741):
    • "Mayor of the Palace."
    • De facto (in effect) ruler of Francia.
  • End of Merovingian Dynasty (751)
  • Conversion of Clovis:
    • Clovis went to war with the Alemanni (a Germanic tribe) and Long was the battle.
    • King looked up to heaven humbly, and spoke thus:
      • "Most mighty God, whom my queen Clothilde worships and adores with heart and soul, I pledge you perpetual service unto your faith, if only you give me now the victory over my enemies."
    • The King made his confession of faith from his heart, and with right good will.
    • The King showed vast zeal for his new faith.
    • Built a splendid church at Paris.
  • Definitions:
    • Idolatry: in Christianity, worshipping figures which are not God.
    • Render: cause to be; make.
    • Tributary: subject which obeys a ruler.
    • Valor: bravery; courage.
    • Zeal: energy; enthusiasm; passion.

The Fleur-de-Lis

  • Symbolism and Legends:
    • Early legend: At his baptism, the priest presented Clovis with a golden lily (representing purity) while a dove flew in delivering an anointing oil.
    • Heraldic legend: Clovis used a banner charged with toads before his conversion to Christianity, toads were considered as pagan and devilish animals.

Partition of the Frankish Kingdom

  • The partition of the Frankish kingdom among the four sons of Clovis with Clothilde presiding.

Carolingian Dynasty

  • Charles Martel (718-741):
    • "The Hammer” de facto (in effect) ruler of Francia.
  • End of Merovingian Dynasty (751)
  • Childeric III (741-751): King of the Franks.
  • Pepin the Short (751-768): (Son of Charles Martel) King of the Franks.

Early Kings of the Franks (509-613)

  • Clovis I united all the Frankish petty kingdoms as well as most of Roman Gaul under his rule.
  • Upon his death, his four sons split the kingdom among them.

The Moorish Conquest of Spain (711 to 732)

  • Between 409-20, the Visigoths invaded Roman Spain across the Pyrenees.
  • After their defeat at the hands of the Merovingians at the battle of Vouillé in 507, the Visigoths were pushed into the Spanish peninsula.

Battle of Tours (732 CE)

  • The Islamic invasion of France is halted at the Battle of Tours by Charles Martel leader of the Franks.
  • Charles gave most careful instructions that the Roman method of singing and studies should be both taught and learnt by all boys throughout the realm.

Correctio

  • Charlemagne and the establishment of 'A.D.' as the basis for calculating dates.
  • A universal Christian order, such as Charlemagne was laboring to raise, required a universal chronology.
  • Clerics in Charlemagne's service had accordingly begun to measure dates from 'the year of our Lord' -- 'anno Domini.'

Carolingian Renaissance

  • Charlemagne valued knowledge and education.
  • Wanted to make his capital, Aachen, a “Second Rome”.
  • Set up a palace school and brought scholars from all over the world to Aachen.
  • Alcuin of York ran the palace school.
  • Copied ancient manuscripts and Latin works of history & science.

Division of Charlemagne’s Empire

  • Treaty of Verdun divided Charlemagne's empire in 843 AD.
  • Splits Europe along lines of Germanic and Romance cultures.
  • WW1 - trench warfare followed almost the same lines of division between French and Germanic societies
  • WW2 - territory of Alsace-Lorraine contested by Nazis – reclaimed.
  • Today Belgium remains a culturally divided nation with Frenchspeaking culture in the Legacy of Division of Charlemagne’s Empire.

Catholic Beliefs

  • Sacraments: religious rites/ceremonies that followers had to perform if they wished to God/heaven (baptism, confirmation, priest conducts marriage).
  • Canon law: Church law; applied religious teachings to clergy, marriages, moral behavior.
  • Excommunication: exclusion from the church. Not allowed to get sacraments (and thus can’t get to heaven).
  • Interdiction: denial of sacraments (a whole town, kingdom, etc could be denied).

Monasteries & Convents

  • Monasteries/Convents: places of strict religious worship. Usually located in isolated areas.
  • Benedictine Rule (530 AD): A set of humility
  • The lifestyle and values of monks in the Middle Ages.
  • The role of monasteries reinforce the role of the church in the Middle Ages
  • The Divine Office: The Divine Office: a set of prayers that were said by every monk according to the schedule
  • Monasteries became best education centers in the medieval world; translated works of the ancients.
  • Provided lodging /hospital care too and Became best education centers in Monasteries.