A system of governing and landholding
A similar system existed in the Zhou Dynasty in China
Based on rights and obligations
In exchange for military protection and other services, a lord, or landowner, granted land called a fief. The person receiving a fief was called a vassal.
The Feudal Pyramid
King
Wealthy landowners (Nobles and Bishops)
Knights (Mounted horsemen who pledged to defend their lords’ lands in exchange for fiefs.
Peasants
Status determined a person’s prestige and power
Medieval writers classified people into three groups:
Those who fought (Nobles and Knights)
Those who prayed (Men and Women of the Church)
Those who worked (Peasants)
Most peasants were serfs (People who could not lawfully leave the place where they were born)
Manor- the lord’s estate
The lord provided the serfs with housing, farmland, and protection from bandits.
Crusades
The numerous clashes between Christians and Muslims for control of the Holy Lands of the Middle East
Had economic, social, and political goals as well as religious motives.
(Muslims controlled Palestine (Holy Land) and threatened Constantinople. Byzantine emperor in Constantinople appealed to Christians to stop Muslim attacks. The pope wanted to reclaim Palestine and reunite Christendom which had split into Eastern and Western branches)
Kings and the church saw the Crusades as an opportunity to get rid of knights that fought each other.
Those who participated in the Crusades were younger sons who, unlike eldest sons, did not stand to inherit their father’s property. They were looking for land and position in society or for adventure.
Concordat of Worms The First Crusade and Second Crusade
Pope Urban II launched the first Crusades (He called on Christians to drive the Turks out of Anatolia and recover Jerusalem from Muslim rule)
The Crusaders captured Jerusalem and massacred its Jewish and Muslim inhabitants.
They established a Latin