Focus Questions
Law & Order
Questions1. What was the common council, and what did it do?
2. Were there legal bonds between a lord and his vassal? 3. What was the court system of the middle ages composed of? |
Answers1.The common council, or court of common council, was made up of councilmen over the age of 21, who was born in England Scotland, or surrounding territories. They were elected every four years, and worked in the court, making verdicts and performing in trials.
2. Yes, there was a written contract establishing an engagement between the lord and vassal. It consisted of all of the vassal's obligations to the lord and the rules he must follow in order to remain his vassal. 3.For the everyday trials such as settling disputes between lords and their vassals, the principal manorial court, or the court of honor, as well as the court baron were used. However, when trials for villeins or unfree tenants were taking place, the customary courts were used. |
Hierarchy
Questions1. How did vassals react to the many rules they had to follow?
2. What citizens were considered vassals? 3. How was life for a peasant different from life for a Lord? 4. What was the rank of classes, and what roles did each level of hierarchy perform? |
Answers1. Vassals, having obliged to work the land and do the Lord's biddings in exchange for protection, knew that they had to follow the rules set out for them to get said protection. Therefore, while life did not always meet their standards, peasants remained loyal.
2. Any citizen who required the protection of a Lord's Manor and who possessed a certain quantity of the lord's land could pledge himself and his posterity as a vassal. 3. A peasant's life was much harder than their Lord's. They had to do many tasks throughout the day, including farming, cleaning, and doing whatever the Lord bid them to do. Overall, as one may expect, the feudal lord was granted many more luxuries than the rest of society. 4. The highest level of hierarchy was the king who ruled over all of the land. Second were the feudal lords who each ruled over a given manor of land. Below this class were vassals who gave service to their lords in return for land. Vassals could also be lords of fellow vassals, as he or she could give a portion of his or her land to the other in return for service. There was also a class separation of vassals. Highest were those who prayed followed by those who fought followed by those who worked. |
Manorialism
Questions1. Was the self-sufficiency of the Middle Ages preserved? If not, what lead to its fall?
2. Why was Manorialism so widespread? 3. Was someone allowed to leave his or her Lord's manor? |
Answers1. The self-sufficiency of the Middle Ages, especially in Manorialism, was not preserved. This was mainly due to the Bubonic Plague, which killed over a third of the population, leaving little people to work the fields of the Manors. There were also many peasant revolts as living conditions worsened and as discontent spread throughout the medieval world. This then lead to Lords having to let the remainder of their workers go, because they could no longer keep a Manor running.
2. Manorialism was so widespread because after the fall of Rome, England was left independent and alone, without a secure form of government. Manors were extremely self-sufficient, so citizens relied on that for a more structured, independently working lifestyle. 3. There were several laws stating that if someone successfully ran away and hid from their master for a year and a day, then they could be free. Additionally, almost all of the citizens were allowed to leave the manor except for serfs. This was because these people were not free, therefore needing the lord's approval of their every move. |