middle ages part 2

Middle Ages, Part 2

Feudalism

Organized government collapsed after the death of Charlemagne.

Small, independent governments replaced the idea of the large empire.

Feudalism is what we call the system in which kings and powerful nobles granted land and military aid to 'lesser nobles' (weaker) in return of loyalty and military assistance.

By mid 1000s, feudalism was a established way of life throughout Western Europe.

Because vikings and other tribes made holding one large empire under control hard, it became easier to divide and hold smaller, but more organized and better protected territories

It works like this:

A king with more land that he can handle gave a part of his land for loyal nobles to protect, these nobles in turn gave part of this land to their own knights to protect.

Who's who?The guy giving the land is a Lord.

The person receiving this land is a vassal.

The land is called the fief.

If a noble lord "A" gives land to another noble "B", and this noble "B" gives land to his knights, Noble "B" is both lord and vassal.

Fiefs and the titles associated became hereditary. The eldest son being the one to receive the land.

This is called primogeniture. It prevented lands from being subdivided more than necessary.

In this system, the king himself acted as just another feudal lord, and every lord himself became a local lord, with governmental authority over his land.

Though technically every person in a kingdom was a vassal of the king, in reality the kings of the middle ages had authority over their direct vassals.

The feudal relationship is a contract of honor that can only occur among nobles.

The same man can be lord and vassal.

The relation was very personal and close, lords and vassals being related directly in hierarchy.

Obviously, on this contract the vassal has more obligations than the lord.

With each contract came requirements from the vassals in term of expected number of cavalry and infantry units.

Vassals were in charge of covering certain expenses for their lords, including ransom if the lord was captured by an enemy.

The vassal also had to serve on the lords court and to house his lord for a determined period of time each year.

Justice

There were three ways to dispense justice:

Trial by combat, the accused and accuser or representatives would fight in a duel. Winner is innocent, loser is wrong.

Compurgation: this was oath taking, each the accuser and the accused gathered people who swore on the honesty of the person. They acted as character witnesses.

Trial by ordeal: the accuser carried a piece of hot iron in his hand, walked through fire or dug for a stone in a pot of boiling water. If the wound healed easily, instant innocence... Very scientific...