Carolingian Empire and 2nd Wave of Invasions
In what year was Charlemagne crowed emperor?
800
What is a noble who receives land from kings (or higher lords) in exchange for personal loyalty and military assistance?
Vassal
What were the two types of peasants? Describe them.
Serfs were under complete authority of their feudal lord and were harshly treated.
Free peasants owned small plots of land and lived in villages.
Who were considered lower nobility?
Knights who sometimes owned only their horses and weapons.
Who had the highest authority in the Roman Catholic Church and had the power to excommunicate rulers from the Church?
The Pope
The Carolingian Empire was organized into two different types of administrative divisions. What were they? Describe them.
Counties were administrative units ruled by counts.
Marches were well-defended border regions.
Refer to map on page 28.
What is the area of land given to a vassal in return for military assistance?
Fief
What was the main crop that peasants farmed?
Cereal grains such as wheat and barley.
Who were considered upper nobility?
Great feudal lords with castles and large estates, who acquired hereditary titles such as Duke, Count, or Marquis.
What was the monk's role under the feudal system?
Monks copied manuscripts in the scriptorium off a monastery and created artwork for churches and cathedrals.
Describe how Charlemagne's empire was divided after his death.
Charles the Bald became ruler in the west.
Louis the German ruled in the east.
Lothair ruled in the center. He became the Emperor.
Discuss the three estates.
1. The nobility
2. The clergy
3. Peasants, merchants, craftsmen
What was the fertilizer used to plant their crops?
Cow excrement
What was the main role of a noblewoman under the feudal system?
A noblewoman's main role was to marry and have children in order to continue the family line.
Describe how the Church acquired land and wealth under the feudal system.
The Church received donations of land in exchange for prayers. The peasants paid the Church a tithe, which was a share of their harvest.
Who were the 3 prominent groups of invaders during the 9th and 10th centuries?
The Vikings from Scandinavia
The Magyars of modern day Hungary
Independent Muslim raiders based in North Africa
Who were the privileged social groups in feudal society? Why?
The noblemen and clergymen because they did not have to pay taxes or perform manual labor.
Were peasants self-sufficient? Defend your answer.
Yes. They produced everything that they needed. They grew their own food, made their own clothes, built their own houses, etc.
Describe the process of becoming a knight.
Young children began their education as pages and then became squires, who offered military service to a knight. They were made knights in a special ceremony at the age of about 20.
Describe the differences between the secular clergy and the regular clergy.
The secular clergy were priests and their bishops. They did not live outside society and provided religious services for the rest of the population.
The regular clergy lived in separate communities such as in monasteries and convents.
Discuss the weakness of royal authority after the break-up of the Carolingian Empire. Name 2 reasons why monarchs had little effective power during the 9th and 10th centuries.
Many royal decisions only affected the monarch's personal territory
When monarchs died, their kingdoms were further divided.
Royal armies were small, and monarchs depended on armies raised by powerful lords.
Kings lacked the power to collect taxes
What did the lord own on the fief that required payment from peasants and merchants to use?
The mill, the press, and the oven. Merchants had to pay a toll to cross the land or bridges on a fief.
Discuss two-year crop rotation and three-year crop rotation. Which one was more productive?
Two-year: Each year half the land was planted with crops. The other half was rested so the soil would become fertile.
Three-year: Fields only lay fallow once every three years.
What happened to unmarried noblewomen?
Unmarried noblewomen entered convents where they reached a high level of education, and studied foreign languages, including Latin.
In which European regions did Christianity continue to expand its influence from the 11th century onwards? Name two.
On the Iberian Peninsula, there were military expeditions against the Muslims.
In northern Europe, the Germans spread Christianity among people who still had pagan beliefs.
Missions from the Byzantine Empire spread Christianity among the Slavs of eastern Europe.