(U2) PRESENTATION 3 (Feudalism and the Black Death)

FEUDALISM
1. Describe clearly Feudalism and Feudal system in England.

Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic,
military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th
and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structuring society around relationships
that were derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.

The word, "feudalism", was not a medieval term, but an invention of sixteenth century
French and English lawyers to describe certain traditional obligations between members of
the warrior aristocracy

2. What are the fief and the manor?

Fief was a small piece of land granted to someone for their services. Labor services by
peasants were often included with the land. Fiefs were used as a source of income for
vassals, who were the subordinates of high-ranking lords or nobles within society, or the
king himself.

Synonyms of the word “fief” include territory, land, terrain, realm, domain and field

A manor was usually comprised of tracts of agricultural land, a village whose inhabitants
worked that land, and a manor house where the lord who owned or controlled the estate
lived.

Manors might also have had woods, orchards, gardens, and lakes or ponds where fish
could be found. On the manor lands, usually near the village, one could often find a mill,
bakery, and blacksmith. Manors were largely self-sufficient.

3. Show the Feudal System Pyramid and describe it.

Is divided into 4 social classes.

Kings: They were also know as monarch and their roles were to keep order and provide
protect to their vassals.

Lords and Ladies: Are nobles and are the second highest rank in medieval hierarchy.

Knights: First of all to be knights takes years, boys regularly start out as servants. Knights
are warriors in the army that rode on horse back.

Peasants and Serfs: Peasants were freemen who worked their noble’s land, and serfs were
not free. Serfs worked the land and performed services for him. They would work for the lord
for 3 days then they would be allowed to grow their own crops th rest of the week, but they
had to give a portion

4. What was the Domesday Book?

Is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales
completed in 1086 at the behest of King William I, known as William the Conqueror.

Written in Medieval Latin, it was highly abbreviated and included some vernacular native
terms without Latin equivalents. The survey's main purpose was to record the annual value of
every piece of landed property to its lord, and the resources in land, labour force, and
livestock from which the value derived.

The manuscript was originally known by the Latin name Liber de Wintonia, meaning "Book
of Winchester", where it was originally kept in the royal treasury.

The name "Domesday Book" came into use in the 12th century

5. Explain the decline of Feudalism

For centuries, feudalism had been the dominant form of the social organization of much of
Europe. But with the population growth and the economic development, the feudal system
was eventually replaced by capitalism.

The Catholic Church was a major factor in the decline of feudalism. The Church opposed the
rich and powerful nobles; their wealth was a severe threat to their power and authority. The
Church wanted to be more influential than the nobles, so they started to oppose them.

The “Magna Carta” was the first thing that caused the downfall of feudalism. King John
signed the document while on a campaign against Phillip II in 1215, but it wasn’t until 1297
that it became valid in England.

6. Reasons for the Decline of Feudalism

The feudal system, from a political point of view, began its decline when the Crusades
began. The absolutist predominance of the kings and with the acquisition of freedoms
by the cities ends the system. This is one of the main reasons but there are others,
among them:

● Rise of the bourgeoisie.

● Demographic decline.
● New forms of economic development.
● Discontent of the peasants.
● Growth of cities.

THE BLACK DEATH

1. What was the Black Death? Where did it come from?
It was the most devastating bubonic plague pandemic in human history. It was caused by the
bite of infected fleas (it was the most common form).

The bacteria Yersinia pestis was passed from black rats to humans by fleas, when they
inserted their proboscis into human skin and regurgitated the infectious microorganisms. Poor
hygienic conditions and ignorance helped spread this pandemic, attributed to a divine curse.
It produced a painful death: the lymph nodes swelled until they formed buboes (large pupae
or swellings), they turned black, crusted over and, if they did not burst to suppurate, they
produced rapid death for the sick.

The starting point was located in the commercial city of Caffa (present-day Feodosia), on the
Crimean peninsula, on the shores of the Black Sea.

2. Explain and tell stories about the Black Death in England.

a) THE FLAGELLANT SECTS GAINED MEMBERS AT THE TIME

It was during the Black Death epidemic that flagellant sects sprang up throughout Europe.
These radical Catholic groups saw illness as a punishment from God and performed the act of
self-flagellation as “atonement” for their sins.

These groups, which had between 200 and 1,000 members, traveled from city to city, where
they formed large circles and flagellated themselves with whips in a way that was as painful
as it was enormously scarring. These flagellants sought to purify themselves. The public self-
flagellation of these groups could be very disturbing to the surrounding community.
Therefore, the authorities used to repress them.

b) THE ICONOGRAPHY OF THE BLACK DEATH LED TO THE

CREATION OF THE GREAT REACTOR

The most popular image to emerge in iconography during this era was perhaps that of the
Grim Reaper, a skeletal figure in a hooded black cloak and carrying a scythe; a tool
consisting of a long curved blade attached at an angle to a long handle. The Grim Reaper's
black cloak can be seen as an omen of bad luck and evil forces. His long, oversized scythe is
the tool with which he harvests souls. Many paintings show Death swinging his scythe
through a crowd of people, reaping souls like grain. Sometimes the Grim Reaper was also
shown with an hourglass, which could symbolize the notion that “time has run out” for the
dead person whose soul the Grim Reaper is harvesting.

c) THE PLAGUE DOCTORS WITH THEIR BEAK-SHAPED MASKS COULD BE

SEEN ALL OVER EUROPE

With their typical long, dark robes, gloves and hats, along with their unique beak-shaped
masks, they were unlike anyone else in medieval society. These masks were designed to
protect them from “bad air,” which was considered the cause of infection.

In times of epidemic, these doctors were hired specifically by the cities where the plague had
taken hold. They treated both the rich and the poor and were paid by the city authorities.
However, these doctors, like their suits, were extremely limited in their effectiveness; and
they often accidentally spread the plague instead of treating it.
 3. Explain how it spread in the different continents and how it arrived on the Isle.

Transmission occurred through ships and people who carried the fateful agents, infected rats
and fleas, among goods or on their own bodies, thus spreading the plague in the places where
they landed without realizing it.

Transmission occurred through ships and people who carried the fateful agents, infected rats
and fleas, among goods or on their own bodies, thus spreading the plague in the places where
they landed without realizing it.

The rats scampered the ropes that connected the ship to the docks, ports or berths, which
were surrounded by people.

The contagion could have occurred through merchant ships coming from the city of
Amsterdam. The plague spread south and north into the English countryside in the early
1590s, contaminating rodent reservoirs around farms and towns until finally reaching London
in the summer of 1592.

4. Explain what they did on the island to treat it. Methods to keep the disease
outside.

The infected houses were closed with their inhabitants inside for thirty days, during which
two guards were posted day and night, acting as messengers. These guards closed the
houses with padlocks. Many families died because it was enough for one person to catch the
disease to infect the rest. There was no other known way to isolate a disease whose causes
doctors ignored for centuries. Something like quarantine.
If a group of 21st century doctors had been able to travel to London in 1665 in a time
machine with a shipment of penicillin, they would have ended the plague in a matter of days.
It would have been so easy... They would have been enough to point out that the rats served
as incubators, the fleas were their missiles and that a tiny weapon of mass destruction called
yersinia pestis lived inside them.
Although in the Middle Ages there was no specific cure, the most effective methods to
combat it were phytosanitary measures such as quicklime, fire and better sanitation.