The Middle Ages

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The Middle AgesMyth and Reality
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The Middle Ages The Myth

• We think of knights in shining armor, lavish
  banquets, wandering minstrels, kings, queens,
  bishops, monks, pilgrims, and glorious pageantry.
  
• In film and in literature, medieval life seems
  heroic, entertaining, and romantic.

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The Middle Ages The Reality

• In reality, life in the Middle Ages, a period
  that extended from approximately the 5th century
  to the 15th century in Western Europe, could also
  be harsh, uncertain, and dangerous.

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The Lord of the Manor

• For safety and defense, people in the Middle
  Ages formed small communities around a central
  lord or master.

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The Manor

• Most people lived on a manor, which consisted of
  the castle (or manor house), the church, the
  village, and the surrounding farm land.

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Self-Sufficiency

• Each manor was largely self-sufficient, growing
  or producing all of the basic items needed for
  food, clothing, and shelter.
• To meet these needs, the manor had buildings
  devoted to special purposes, such as
• The mill for grinding grain
• The bake house for making bread
• The blacksmith shop for creating metal goods.

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Isolation

• These manors were isolated, with occasional
  visits from peddlers, pilgrims on their way to
  the Crusades, or soldiers from other fiefdoms.

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The Feudal System

• Under the feudal system, the king awarded land
  grants or fiefs to his most important nobles,
  barons, and bishops, in return for their
  contribution of soldiers for the king's armies.

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Nobles and Vassals

• Nobles divided their land among the lesser
  nobility, who became their vassals. Many of these
  vassals became so powerful that the kings had
  difficulty controlling them.