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Key Terms: Lord: A landowner Fief: The piece of land that is being granted Vassal: The person that the land is being granted to Knights: Mounted horsemen that pledged to defend their lords lands in exchange for fiefs. Serfs: Peasants who could not leave the land they came from, but couldn't be bought or sold, so they weren't slaves. Manor: The lord's estate Tithe: A church tax. Peasants were required to pay their priests 1/10 of their income.

Invaders Attack Western Europe
 * There were many invaders from the south (Muslims), the east (Magyar), and the north (vikings).

The Vikings Invade from the North
 * The vikings lived in Scandinavia, worshiped war-like gods, and were a Germanic people.
 * The vikings, who looted monastaries and inland villages, raided quickly, and before the natives could build a defense, they sailed away on their 20 ton ships.
 * The Vikings were also traders, farmers, and explorers, and in 1000, Leif Ericson and his warriors settled in North America. They also adopted Christianity.

Magyars and Muslims attack from the East and South
 * The Magyars, a group of nomatic peoples, conquered lands, but did not settle there. Instead they took captives and sold them as slaves.
 * The Muslims invaded Italy and Spain, and in the 600s and 700s, their goal was to conquer and settle in Europe, but in the 800s and 900s, they also wanted to plunder.
 * The invasions caused lots of chaos and suffering, and when the kings couldn't defend their lands, many turned to the local rulers.

A New Social Order: Feudalism
 * In 911, Rollo, leader of the vikings, was granted a huge piece of land by the french king Charles the Simple, and in return swore his loyalty to the king.

Feudalism Structures Society
 * Many rulers and landowners made similar exchanges that Rollo and Charles made, and this became known as Feudalism.
 * In exchange for military protection and other services, a landowner gave a piece of land called a fief to a vassal (the person receiving the land).

The Feudal Pyramid
 * At the top was the kings, then powerful vassals such as nobles and bishops, then knights, and finally landless peasants.

Social Classes are Well Defined
 * Medieval writers split society into three groups: Those who fought (nobles and knights), those who prayed (memebers of the Church), and those who worked (the peasants). Social classes were inherited.
 * Most people were peasants, and most peasants were serfs, who couldn't leave the land they were born into. They weren't slaves, because they couldn't be bought or sold.

Manors: The Economic Side of Feudalism
 * The lords provided the serfs with housing, farmland, and protections from bandits in exchange for tending of his land, animals, and a portion of their grain.

A Self Contained World
 * Peasants rarely traved more than 256 miles from their home because they produced and were provided with everything they needed.
 * The only outside items purchased were salt, millstones, and other unusual items.

The Harshness of Manor Life
 * The peasants had to pay many taxes, including a grain tax, a marriage tax (marriages could only take place with the lord's consent), and a tithe, or church tax.
 * Peasants lived in small, crowded cottages with no heat (they had to bring pigs in for warmth), and only straw for bedding, which was crawling with bugs.
 * For peasants, life was work and more work. Life expectancy was 35 years, and many children didn't make it to adulthood.
 * Serfs were content with their lives anmd relied on God to determine their fate.