Today I did a review. I also had to write essays answering two of the following questions.
- Describe the ninth- and tenth-century invasions. Apart from the physical destruction involved, how did they affect life in the West?
- Describe feudalism and manorialism.
- What changes did William the Conqueror introduce in England?
I chose to answer the first and second questions, as I believe one would complete the other.
Many invasions ravaged countless cities in countries from France to Italy over the ninth and tenth centuries. Looking beyond the physical damage done by the invaders, there were lots of changes to life in the West.
Let’s start by looking at the damage the Vikings did. The Vikings attacked France, starting with coastal cities then moving further inland. They were able to do so because they exploited the weaknesses of the Franks. While the Franks were good fighters, they were quite slow to assemble, making them weak against surprise attacks. They also had no navy. On the contrary the Vikings were master navigators and ship-builders that quickly left destruction in their wake.
To add to that the kings were too weak to provide protection for their people. Yes, people couldn’t even rely on their kings to protect them. This led to the development of feudalism and manorialism. As I’ll also be doing an essay describing in depth what those two things are, for now all I’ll say is people began looking to the local strongmen for protection. In the year 911, a king named Charles III decided to let the vikings live in a part of his kingdom, giving them free reign within it so that it felt like it was practically theirs. This land of the Norsemen became known as Normandy.
Meanwhile there was another group of invaders called the Magyars who came from Asia. They attacked Germany, Italy, and parts of France, looting and pillaging just like the vikings. However the Magyars had become Christianized by 1000 and went on to form the Kingdom of Hungary.
Now for the second essay.
With a seemingly endless onslaught of vikings threatening their livelihoods, and the king nowhere in sight, people had to come up with a solution. Their solutions became known as feudalism and manorialism. The basis of both is upon finding someone who appears to be able to fend off the vikings
Let’s start with manorialism. Manorialism at its most basic form is an exchange of labor for protection. At this time a local strongman would have to focus on preparing for an attack. This is important because it means that he isn’t focusing on making an income for himself. Meanwhile there are those that need the protection and are willing to work for it.
Now there are terms for each individual involved in this trade. The lord would be the one who has control over all this land. A serf would be someone who would work the land for the lord. Getting more into the technicality of this “relationship”, the serf would be allocated a small plot of land, which while still owned by the lord would serve as the serf’s own. Basically allowing them to grow their own food and such. The serf is also bound to the land, they can’t just up and leave at any point they want. This is not to say there aren’t certain restrictions on the lord, the lord can’t beat the serf or their family. So that’s manorialism, the trade of the labor of a serf for the protection of a lord.
Let’s move on to feudalism. Feudalism refers to the relationship between lords and vassals. In this case the lord already has serfs working his land, however he needs help defending it. So the lord will keep a part of his land as his own demesne with his own serfs working there. The rest of the land would be dispensed to his knights or vassals in the form of what would be called a fief. These vassels will then use this land as their own income sources whilst becoming more skilled as fighters.
Now as the kings of this time were pretty much useless in terms of protecting their people, anyone who could protect them became a political powerhouse. It was such that they became the ones who would enforce justice and collect taxes. So instead of one king governing the entire country, there would be many lords each ruling over their own land.
Going back to the vassals. They needed resources to buy equipment, and time to practice with it. This need was fulfilled in the form of fiefs given to them by their lords. This is the essence of feudalism.
Connor's corner 