HWH p. 224, FQ, Vocab

Honors World

Section 2 Assessment p. 224

1)    Key Terms

2)  How did feudalism and the manor economy merge and shape medieval life?

Feudalism emerged to provide protection against invaders and local power struggles.  Lords exchanged land for loyalty and military service.  Land was often organized into manors.  The hierarchy of lord, lesser lord, knight, and peasant or serf stifled trade and the upward mobility of the majority of people

3)  How did a lord benefit from giving his lands away as fiefs?

He gained military support and loyalty.

4)  Compare the rights and obligations of noblemen and noblewomen during the Middle Ages.

Noblemen owed military service and loyalty to their lord.  They guided and protected their vassals.  Noblewomen owed loyalty and obedience to their husbands, but performed some of the lord’s duties if he was absent.  They provided day-to-day management of the household and were expected to bear children.

5)   How did the manor serve the needs of the early Middle Age?

It provided safety and security for peasants and wealth and prestige of their lords.  Since manors were self-sufficient, it did not matter that trade was limited.

 

Focus Questions

12)    What obligations did a vassal have to his lord?

Loyalty, military service, money, advice

13)    What obligations did a lord have to his vassals?

Fief, protection

14)    Why were castles also important to medieval warfare?

They were a good defense against knights and the weapons of the time, and could protect many people at once

15)    How did noblewomen contribute to this warrior society?

They took over their husband’s lordly duties if they were away; brought inherited lands to their marriages; ran the daily life of the manor or castle

16)    Explain how Eleanor of Aquitaine’s life as a noble woman was different from that of a peasant.

She held power, would not have been able to remarry, lived a “freer” life than a peasant; had limited rights

17)    What did peasants do for lords?

Worked their fields, repaired infrastructure, paid fees in the form of products

18)    What did lords do for the peasants?

Gave them land to farm and protection

19)    Why do you think peasants died so young?

Hard work, poor diet, poor sanitation, disease

 

Vocabulary

1)    Feudalism - loosely organized system of government in which local lords governed their own lands but owed military service and other support to a greater lord

2)  Vassal - in medieval Europe, a lord who was granted land in exchange for service and loyalty to a greater lord

3)  Feudal contract - exchanges of pledges between lords and vassals

4)  Fief - in medieval Europe, an estate granted by a lord to a vassal in exchange for service and loyalty

5)   Knight - a European noble who served as a mounted warrior

6)  Tournament - a mock battle in which knights would compete against one another to display their fighting skills

7)   Chivalry - code of conduct for knights during the Middle Ages

8)  Troubadour - a wandering poet or singer of medieval Europe

9)  Manor - during the Middle Ages in Europe,  a lord’s estate which included one or more villages and the surrounding lands

10)                     Serf – in Medieval Europe, a peasant bound to the lord’s land