Social Structure
What was the name of the code of conduct of knights?
Code of Chivalry
What are the levels of hierarchy within the Catholic church?
Pope - Cardinals - Archbishops - Bishops - Priests
What are the four social classes within feudalism?
Monarch, Nobles/Lords, Knights, Peasants
What is habeas corpus?
Anyone arrested had to actually be brought to court to judged for their crimes by a jury or a judge in an official court of law.
What are the two preliminary stages of becoming a knight?
A page, and a squire.
What sort of food did peasants usually eat?
Bread, porridge, vegetables, and some meat. Main crops were wheat, beans, barley. Sometimes cows, goat, or pigs.
Why did the church play such a huge role in education? What did they teach?
The clergy were almost the only people who could read and write. Along with reading and writing, lessons mainly focused on religious teachings, prayers and memorizing passages from the Bible. University studies expanded eventually to cover rhetoric, logic, geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, and music.
What is the main form of "currency" passed down within the feudal system?
Land
What caused knights to lose their position of power and usefulness during war?
The development of the longbow made their armor much less essential. It was much faster, cheaper, and quicker to train archers than to train and equip a knight.
What is the name for a gift of land passed down within the feudal system?
How were marriages arranged for nobles?
Marriages were almost never based on love, instead they were arranged by parents to strength ties or gain land. Girls as young as 12 could be married, men were usually 20-50 years old.
What were the sacraments of the Catholic Church? What sort of role did they play within peoples' lives?
Baptism - Confirmation - Eucharist - Matrimony - Holy Orders - Penance - Extreme Unction
They were essential parts to achieving salvation and entrance to heaven after you die.
What is a "vassal"? Give an example.
A person who serves another.
Nobles are vassals of monarchs.
Knights are vassals of nobles.
Peasants are vassals of knights.
How did King Edward I and the Model Parliament help contribute to downfall of feudalism?
It was the first time commoners could participate in the government and no longer had to simply listen to rules and regulations handed down by feudal lords.
How did feudalism lead the development of French, Spanish, Romanian, Italian, and Portuguese?
Latin, spoken under Roman rule, mixed with all the local barbarian languages. They were isolated communities so completely new languages eventually emerged.
What sort of training did noble boys and girls receive at a young age?
Boys were sent to another castle to be trained as a knight or a monastery if unsuited for fighting.
Girls were sent to another castle learn how to become a "lady" - how to manage a household, care for children, weave, sew, play an instrument, dance and sing.
How did the church influence all art forms (painting, music, architecture) during the middle ages?
Since most people couldn't read, the church used imagery (paintings, drawings, sculptures) to tell the story of the Bible. Cathedrals were built to show the power of God and inspire people. The bigger and more intricate the better!
Explain why the monarch didn't necessarily hold ultimate power within the feudal system?
Nobles provided the majority of the monarch's army when called upon during times of war. This gave them a lot of power and leverage to make demands of the monarch.
Monarchs raised their own armies and more and more people were drawn in to fight for their monarchs instead of small feudal lord conflicts. Joan of Arc inspired a whole nation and gave people something greater than themselves to believe in. The scope of this war also gave a "common enemy" to entire nations and bonded them together against a threat to their entire country.
What is the name for the portion of a castle where the noble and his/her family slept?
The innermost section of the castle, the "keep".
What sort of typical house would a peasant inhabit?
They would love on their lord's manor in a stone or wood house with a thatched roof. Dirt floors, small windows without glass, an open fireplace were common. One common room, that could be shared with livestock during the winter months, and one bedroom for all family members.
How did the church become such a political and economic force during the middle ages?
Much of their economic power came from tithes. Collecting land and taxes from nobles and monarchs made them the single largest landowners at this time. The church also became the center of life for people of all classes by controlling information and knowledge, especially how to gain salvation and entrance to heaven, providing services and charity, and functioned as a social gathering point as well.
What were the main conditions that lead to the rise of feudalism?
There was chaos after the fall of the old Roman Empire. People needed protection and safety but with no central government, there were no big threats so everyone organized into small self sufficient communities.
Why did the bubonic plague actually increase the rights of peasants during this time?
Since so many people died, there was a shortage of workers. The workers who remained could move to find better paying work, abandoning feudal manors to return to cities and towns. The scarcity of workers allowed them to demand more rights, better pay and treatment as well. This greatly lessened the power of feudal lords.
What is the difference between a monastic and a mendicant way of life?