 There were many

small kingdoms in
Europe after the
fall of the Western
Roman Empire in
476.

Kingdoms in Europe in
about 1100

2
 Since the kings were not powerful enough to rule their
kingdom, they needed the nobles to help them.

 Thus, feudalism was developed.

A king granting
title to a noble

3
 Feudalism was a system of government under which a
lord gave land and protection to his vassals.

A vassal swearing
loyalty to his lord

4
 In return, the vassals fought for their lord, paid him taxes
and be loyal to him.

The vassals
promised to
fight for the
lords at their
commands.
5
 The land that a
vassal received
from his lord was
called a fief.

A painting showing a
vassal’s fief

6
  A vassal could not sell his fief. When he died, he passed
it on to his eldest son.

A succeeding vassal (right) swearing loyalty again to the king (left) 7

 King

nobles
 A feudal society was
like a pyramid.

knights

peasants
In a feudal society, the king was at the
top. Then, came the nobles. Peasants
were at the bottom.

8
 Under feudalism,
a noble could be
both a lord and a
vassal.

 His fief was like an

independent
kingdom.

Nobles in fief

9
You can also visit the following website to
know more about feudalism.
http://www.historyonthenet.com/Medieval_Life/
feudalism.htm

10
 There were different ranks of nobles.
 Nobles of higher ranks might have several hundred
manors as their fiefs.

An artist’s idea of a
medieval manor

11
  Most nobles lived in castles
that were usually built on top
of small hills.

Segovia Castle in Spain, built in the 12th century 12

 A castle had tall walls, and was surrounded by a moat.

A moat could
stop enemies
from getting
near the castle.

 A drawbridge over the moat was the only way into

castle.
13
You can also visit the following website to
know more about medieval castles.
http://www.medieval-castle.com/

14
 Inquiry topic: The castle of medieval Europe

It is a cross-section of a
medieval castle. Study it
carefully and answer the
following questions.

15
 Inquiry topic: The castle of medieval Europe

1. Where did a noble pray in the castle?

[Identify source]
In the chapel
2. Where did the guards watch out for enemies?
[Identify source]
On the guard tower
3. From where could a noble get water?
[Identify source]
From the well

16
 Nobles had a
luxurious life.

 They often gave

big feast to
their friends.

The nobles holding a

big feast

17
 They liked music and dancing.

Nobles
enjoying music

18
 They also went hunting or went to the tournaments.

Nobles hunting in the forest

19
 Knights were nobles
of the lowest rank.

 They provided
military service to
the lords and
fought for them.

Knights wearing armour and

riding horses

20
 Knights were given
land by the king or a
noble of higher rank.

 In return, they
promised to fight for
their lord.

The knighting ceremony

21
 Young men who wanted to become knights had to go
through a long period of training.

A boy had to serve his

master and learn various
fighting skills from him
before becoming a knight.

22
 In times of peace,
knights took part in
sporting events such
as jousts and
tournaments.

Two knights fighting with

each other in a joust

23
  A knight had to follow the rules of chivalry, including
being brave and honest, being a good Christian, being
loyal to his lord as well as protecting women and the weak.

 To a knight, his honour was more important than his life.

It was a knight's duty to protect women. 24

A painting showing a tournament
in medieval Europe

1. Who participated in the

event shown in the picture?

Knights

2. Why did they participate in

this event?

This event allowed knights

to keep a good fighting
condition and prepare for
war.

25
 There were many monasteries in medieval Europe.

A painting showing
a monastery in
medieval Europe

 Monks lived in these monasteries.

26
 Monks gave up all their belongings and promised to obey
the Christian Church and not to marry.

Monks receiving
a book of rules
for monastic
living
27
 Monks had a simple
life.

 They prayed a lot and

had much work to do.

Life of monks in
a monastery
28
 Most peasants in medieval Europe were serfs who had
no freedom.

 They had to farm for

their lord and provide
services to him.

Serfs were not allowed to leave

the lord’s manor without
permission.
29
 There were also some peasants who enjoyed freedom
and owned a little land.

Free tenants ( 佃農 ) in medieval Europe

30
 For two or three days
a week, a serf had to
work on his lord’s
fields.

Serfs harvesting crops for

their lord

31
 Serfs had a hard life, and they lived in simple huts and
ate poor food.

A peasant hut

32
  They could only rest during church festivals, at which
their lord would provide them with food and drinks.

Serfs enjoying the free feast provided by their lord at Christmas 33

 Inquiry topic: The life in a medieval feudal manor

The pictures below reflect the life in a medieval feudal manor. Study them
carefully and answer the following questions.
Source
Source B
A

34
 Inquiry topic: The life in a medieval feudal manor

1. The above pictures show the lives of two kinds

of people. What are they? [Identify source]

Nobles and peasants

2. What was the difference of their ways of life, as

reflected in the sources above?
[Compare difference]
Nobles had a luxurious life while peasants had
a hard life and had to work all day.

35
 Inquiry topic: The life in a medieval feudal manor

3. In a manor, if there were a lot of people as those

shown in source A, would it be a good thing to
the people as those shown in source B? Why?
[Analyze effect]

Not a good thing. This is because the nobles

relied on the production of peasants. More
nobles would burden the peasants.

36
  In the early medieval times, traders and craftsmen
settled outside the walls of castles.

 When more people came to live outside a castle, a town

was developed.

Carcassonne in France, a town built during the medieval times 37

  Early towns were small and crowded. Streets were narrow
and dirty.

An
An artist’s
artist’s idea
idea of
of
aa medieval
medieval town
town 38
 Since most houses were made of wood, fire was always a
serious danger.

A great fire in a
medieval town

39
 In the late medieval times, craftsmen and traders grouped
themselves into guilds.

 There was one

guild for each
craft or trade.

A guild sign of a blacksmith

in medieval Germany

40
 The guild set rules and fixed prices, wages and the quality
of goods.

 Shops selling
the same kinds
of goods were
all in the same
street.

A guild meeting during

the medieval times

41
 Inquiry topic: The influence of Christian Church
in medieval Europe

The pictures below show the influence of the Christian Church in medieval
Europe. Study them carefully and answer the following question.

Source A

The Pope was

the leader of
everyone,
including kings.
42
 Inquiry topic: The influence of Christian Church
in medieval Europe

Source B Source C

Most people were Christians. Churches The Pope was the leader of
and monasteries were everywhere. everyone, including kings.
43
 Inquiry topic: The influence of Christian Church
in medieval Europe

In medieval Europe, how great was the influence

of the Christian Church? Give evidence from the
sources to support your answer.
[Explain event through sources]

The Church played an important role on

everybody’s life from the king down to the
common people. For example, a king had to be
crowned by the Pope and most people were
Christians.

44
 During the medieval times, Christianity was the official
religion of many kingdoms in Europe.

Spread of Christianity
in Europe to AD 600

45
 The Christian Church had the power to crown the kings
and use its own Canon Law.

The Pope crowning King of Poland in 1025

46
 The Church could refuse to crown a king, and monks
could only be punished under Canon Law.

13th-century edition of Canon Law

47
 The Christian Church was very rich.
 The common people had to give a tenth of their crops
and income to the Christian Church.

Peasants paying tithe

( 什一稅 ) to the
Church

48
 Most of the books,
paintings and
sculptures were on
religious topics.

A 7th-century painting
showing Virgin Mary holding
child Jesus
49
 Monks started schools and taught people to read and
write in monasteries.

A monk teaching
children to read

50
 They also copied out
books by hand, helping
to spread knowledge and
education in Europe.

Monks coping the Bible

in a monastery

51
 Some serfs used the money they had saved to buy their
freedom from their lords.

Serfs leaving the

lord’s manor

52
 In the 14th century, a plague called the ‘Black Death’
broke out in Europe and killed many people.

People infected
by the Black
Death
53
  After that, there were not enough peasants
left to work on the fields.

A painting showing the destruction caused

by the Black Death in Europe 54
You can visit the following website to watch
a video about the Black Death.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwjtvqGPsjA

How did the Black

Death spread to human?

The Black Death bacteria

spread to human through
fleas ( 跳蚤 ) carried by
rats .
55
 Some of the townspeople became very rich and formed
the middle class.

The development of trade

allowing merchants in
towns to become rich

56
 They paid money to
the king so that their
town might become
independent.

The granting of a charter

( 特許狀 ) giving a town the
right of autonomy

57
 In the late medieval
times, kings grew
stronger.

 They took back the

land and power from
the nobles.

In the late 15th century, Louis

XI, King of France, started a
series of wars against the nobles
to seize their land.

58
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