Activity 3
What was feudalism?
Feudalism is the name given to the system of government William I introduced to England after he defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings. It was a way of organising and controlling society with a strict hierarchy of different groups with specific roles and responsibilities.
Your Task
Answer the questions below on screen or in this Word Doc version to save your answers.
Feudalism became a way of life in Medieval England and remained so for many centuries. To understand how the feudal system worked you need to first know the respective roles of the people living in this structured society.
Find out the different roles in medieval society by ranking these people in order from top to bottom and matching the correct descriptions to the respective persons.
Select an option:
- Lords / nobles
- King or queen
- Bishop
- Knights
- Peasant or serfs
Select an option:
- They were the highest ranking among the nobles who maintained an army to protect the king or queen, and if they did not have an army they paid taxes to the king or queen. They owned land and divided it up into individual manors.
- The highest ranked person in the land. They divided the land and distributed it to their followers in return for protection and wealth.
- These were the majority of the people. Some were free and worked their trades as carpenters, bakers, and blacksmiths. Others were virtually slaves working 6 days a week in the effort to eke out survival.
- The highest ranked church leader in the kingdom who received taxes from all the people. At this time the Catholic Church was dominant.
- They ran the local manors and owned the peasants, crops and villages.
- King or queen Choose a description
- Bishop Choose a description
- Lords / nobles Choose a description
- Knights Choose a description
- Peasant or serfs Choose a description
King William gave away some 80% of the land he ruled to nobles and bishops who swore loyalty to him. They in turn granted land to barons and lords who pledged armies and taxes to the king.
In the eleventh century, a sworn oath on the Bible was a very important thing and one which few men would dare to break as it would condemn them to Hell.
The barons and lords had to further divide up their land to make the estates manageable. Knights were given segments of land to govern but not own. They had to swear an oath to the baron, duke or earl, collect taxes and provide soldiers from the manor if there was a call to arms.
Effectively a sworn oath to their baron was an oath to the king. These lords worked to maintain law and order, collect taxes for the King and the church and ward off threats from local tribes and invaders.
Illustration of life on a manor
Carefully examine the following sketch of a typical feudal manor. Click on the hotspots to learn more.
with crops
Is there any evidence of the role or importance of religion?