Chapter 8

Economic and Social Changes

Manorialism economic organization of agricultural production and to the organization of the lives and
labour of peasants farming
Feudalism the relationship between lord and vassal (though term is very debatable)
Feudalism
Vassal a free person who put himself under the protection of a lord
Originated probably from invasions of vikings and decline of Carolingian Empire
Found primarily in Loire and Rhine rivers, but spread around (though form is not quite accurate)
homage the act of establishing a relationship
Relationship you get it...I protect, I give money for ransom/dowry, you give me housing, you give me
witness
Fief Lord's concession of land, a conditional piece of land, just like rent
To make things more complicated, vassals can fief off their land to other people and thus, become a
Lord themselves!!
Life of the Nobility
Noble sons first to inherit the fief (primogenture)
Age 21 knighthood
Song of Roland lauded the awesomeness of being a knight
Noblewomen had marriages arranged, knowledgeable of embroderies
Manorialism
manor a community of serfs living under the lord
demesne reserved only for the lord and peasants must work it for him
lord had control over everything in his land buying goods, trespassing, courts, etc.
Expansion of Europe
infrastructure began, settlers moved to the East
Commercial Expansion
Mediterranean, Baltic, overland
Basically, Europe is getting even more connected (do remember though that transportation is very
slow...)

Governments of Europe
England
Norman conquest brought about the shire system
William dispersed land throughout kingdom and called them fiefs
curia regis many officials assembled around king to give him advice
Capetian France
central government disappeared, Capetians established rule around the area and called hereditary right to
be king
German Empire
Otto
Ottonian Renaissance
Gerbert of Aurilac very intelligent, had a hand in Arab mathematics and astronomy, served as pope
(though I don't see this as awesome as the Carolingian Renaissance)
Reform of Western Church
high positions in church were bought and sold
Cluniac Monastaries monastic community elected abbot directly, monks advocated return to strict
observance of Benedictine Rule
Papal Reform
College of Cardinals elected the Pope, thus pulling power away from Emperor of electing the figure
Pope Gregory VII elected not by cardinals but by the citizens + clergy of Rome
Investiture Controvery the issue in which great laymen invested bishops with their fiefs by using
spiritual symbols of office
Henry IV sends letter to Pope, Pope wants to exercise his power and excommunicates Henry's bishops,
Henry doesn't like it and claims pope is a fraud, Henry IV gets excommunication, Henry begs for mercy
at Canossa
Concordat of Worms - emperor can be present when Pope elects imperial bishops, lay rulers cannot
invest prelates
Ecclesiastical courts try the taboos, etc of common people, very powerful institution
Papal curia bureaucracy of the chuch, the camera handled the finances
The Crusades
Seljuk Turks imposed taxes on pilgrims
Byzantine empire appealed for military support

Motives of Crusaders
Religious fervor, economic expansions (expansion of Europe, but these were the only warrior classes of
Europe who moved along, but Italian merchants $$$), oversupply of knights
First Crusade
Peter the Hermit, lame army
The formal army came about, some leaders: Raymond, Robert, Godfrey, Baldwin
took down Jerusalem, had to set up government, a bit hard due to social differences, interestingly, some
posts survived for 200 years!
Later Crusades (maybe just influx of population)
4th Crusade, sacking Constantinople, Byzantine fall
Results
Warfare better castles, better defense
Economy very $$$$, maybe partially recovered from raids
Exploration principalities in East, then moving deep into central Asia
Summary: If we say order is that feudalism is order, then there was order. Feudalism was the relationship
that a Lord had with his Vassal. It entailed many responsibilities. It seemed that not many people gained
much freedom during this time. Serfs were tied to their land and peasants could make their best profit by
staying on the Lord's land. In government, a same trend as stated in the book occurred. Norman
England created a gigantic feudal structure. However, France seemed to try to have a centralized
government (obviously impossible to achieve). The Church continued to seek a separation of their
powers from the secular world. The Concordat of Worms helped establish more power for the Church.
Probably the most evident exertion of Church power was the Crusades, especially the First.
Overall, although this chapter is title restoration of an ordered society, I can't see it. Feudalism just
breaks a central power from control and with all these Crusades, Europe is just messed up.