2. Before you leave class, you must
complete the following:
List one of each: What benefits do
you think a medieval manor
provided to the serfs who lived
there? What were the drawbacks

3.  Europeans developed feudalism, a
political and military system of
protective alliances and
relationships
 The rights and duties of feudal
relationships helped shape today’s
forms of representative government.

4.  After the treaty of Verdun, Charlemagne’s
three feuding grandsons broke the kingdom up
even further.
 Part of this territory also became a
battleground as new waves of invaders
attacked Europe.
 The political turmoil and constant warfare led
to the rise of feudalism- a military and political
system based on land ownership and personal
loyalty.

5.  lord
 fief
 vassal
 knight
 serf
 manor
 tithe

6. Why do these NFL teams take the names of
European invaders from 1000 years ago?

7.  Vikings set sail from
Scandinavia, a wintry,
wooded region in
Northern Europe.
 The Vikings are also
known as Norsemen.
 They took pride in
violent names like
Eric Bloodaxe and
Thorfinn Skullsplitter
Modern-day Scandinavia

8.  Tuesday is named for the Norse god Tyr,
the Norse equivalent of the Roman god
Mars, the Spanish word Martes is based on
Tyr as well.
 Wednesday is named for the Norse god
Woden.
 Thursday is named for the Norse god Thor
 Friday is named for the Norse goddess
Frigg.

9. A Viking ship, known
as a Prow, held 300
warriors who took turns
rowing the ships 72 oars

10.  Vikings were traders, farmers and outstanding
explorers. Leif Ericson likely reached North
America 500 years before Columbus
 As Vikings accepted Christianity, they stopped
raiding monasteries.
 A warming trend in Europe’s climate made
farming easier in Scandinavia.
 As agriculture increased, the seafaring life of a
Viking became less necessary.

11.  The Magyars are
a group of
nomadic peoples
who were superb
horseback riders.
The Magyars
swept across the
Danube and
invaded Western
Europe.
 The Magyars
captured people
to sell as slaves.
 They overran
Northern Italy
and reached as
far west as the
Rhineland and
Burgundy The Magyars came from present day Hungary.
The Hungarians today speak the language of
Magyar.

12.  Muslims controlled the
Mediterranean Sea and disrupted
trade.
 The Muslims plundered Europe
during the 800s and 900s.
 They attacked Atlantic and
Mediterranean coasts and as far
inland as Switzerland

13.  In 911 Rollo the
Viking and King
Charles the Simple of
France made peace.
 This marked the
beginning of the end
of the Viking
invasions in Western
Europe.

14.  Feudalism is based on mutual
obligations.
 In exchange for military protection,
a lord or landowner granted land
which was called a fief.
 The person receiving the fief was
called a vassal

15.  At the peak of the
pyramid is the King.
 The next step are the
vassals and church
officials
 They were followed by
knights, mounted
warriors who pledged
to defend their lord’s
land in exchange for
fiefs
 The peasants who
worked the fields were
at the bottom of the
pyramid

16.  In the feudal system, status defined
a person’s prestige and power.
 There were three groups
 Those who fought (nobles and
knights)
 Those who prayed (Church Officials)
 Those who worked (peasants)

17.  Serfs were people
who could not
lawfully leave the
place they were born.
 They were not slaves,
they could not be
bought or sold.
 The wealth of the
feudal lords came
from the labor of
peasants

18.  The manor was the
lord’s estate.
 The lord provided
the serfs with
housing and fields,
in return the serfs
worked the fields.
 Men and women
alike worked in the
fields.

19.  Peasants pay a high price for life on a manor
 They pay tax on all grain ground in the lord’s
mill.
 Peasants also paid a marriage tax.
 Peasant families had to pay a tax to the church
known as a tithe.
 A tithe represented one-tenth of their income