Manors, Towns, kingdoms

Feudalism
- Feudalism is the relationship between landowners and warriors.
- Warriors, also known as knights, would pledge to a lord, who would in turn give that knight land
- The lord would grant property to the knight, a servant or slave . This was "Feudal compact"
- The vassal must fight for the lord when he needs it and attend his court once a month.

Homage and Knighthood:
- A vassal was required to pay homage to his lord. This meant kneeling down and taking his hands and spoke and oath of loyalty
- Men are apprenticed to older knights before they could become a full knight themselves
- When a knight died, the lord would take it and wait until a knight was old enough to have the land.

The feudalization of the Church:
- Some clergy fought as knights

Feudal States:
- Barons were territories who paid homage to the King
- Baron's army would some times be bigger than the Kings

The Manorial Estate:
- The medieval society was divided into three estates: The Clergy, the Noble, the Common people
- Peasants would work on huge farms own by the Lady or King
- Iron-plows were a revolutionary tool that helped farms.
- The Iron-plows still did not produce tons of food.
- The "Three field system" was were two fields were planted ( one in fall, one in spring) and one was left to reconstitute its fertility, then were rotated
- People lived in awful comfort, often bringing animals in to their homes for warmth

The People of the Manor:
- The lord oversaw the people
- the lady did "lady" jobs

Trade and Towns:
- Farms produced and animals were sold in towns and people with wealth bought luxury items there
- Most towns were surrounded by walls
- Towns were dominated by a main church and a central marketplace
- Residences also sprang up outside walls in the suburbs.

The life of Townspeople:
- Townspeople were free, unlike serfs, they still had a hierarchy: merchants at the top, then skilled craftsman and artisans.

The Guilds:
- Merchants, craftsman and artisans formed their own groups called guilds which regulated their trade and protected its members
- Craftsmen were masters, journeymen, and apprentices
- Once a master, after spending years learning as an apprentice, working as a paid journeyman for a number of years, and completing his "masterpiece"