Chapter 13

Section 2

Feudalism in Europe

Vikings• Vikings were

Germanic sailors from the wintry, wooded region known as Scandinavia.

• Vikings worshiped warlike gods and chose nicknames like Eric Blood axe or Thornfin Skull splitter.

Leif Ericson • According to ledged a

Viking named Leif Ericson (Eric the red), explored a large land mass west of Greenland they called Vineland.

• Leif Ericson and other Vikings most likely reached north America 1000-500 years before Columbus.

• Vikings gradually accepted Christianity and stopped raiding villages and terrorizing Europe

New Social Order

• Feudalism- the political unit in which nobles are granted land in the name of the king.

• In return they gave loyalty to the king, military service and protection for the people who live there.

The Feudal PyramidLord- landowner who

granted land called a fief

Knights- mounted warriors who pledged to defend vassals

land for a fief.

Church official- official church of the lords land

Peasant- lower class laborer

who tended the lords field.

Serf- lowest of the peasants, who could not leave the place in which they were born.

Vassal-person receiving fief usually a noble

The Manor System

• Manor- the Lords estate (home)

• The Lord provided the peasant /serfs with housing, land to work on and protection from bandits.

• In return the serfs tended the lord’s land, cared for it’s animals and gave the lord a portion of their product, while paying taxes.

Manor Cont…• The manor was self-

sufficient, meaning all they needed to survive was found on the Lords land.

• The Peasants/serfs paid a tax to use the lords mill to ground their grain and paid a tax to marry.

• Peasant/serfs also paid a tithe, a tax of 1/10 of their income to the church.

Manor cont.….• Peasants lived in one or two

room cottages with dirt floors.

• At night pigs would be brought in to sleep on the floor to heat it up.

• To sleep, families slept together on a pile of straws often crawling with insects.

• Diets consisted of mainly vegetables, coarse brown bread, grain, cheese and soup.