In other words, people believed that God had chosen him to be king, and rebellion against him was a sin. In the Middle Ages, the king ruled by divine right. By the 15th century, the system of serfdom or villeinage had broken down in England.
Parliament tried to fix wages by law to prevent them from rising but this was impossible to enforce. So many people died there was a serious shortage of labor and lords were willing to ‘poach’ workers from other lords by offering them higher wages. The Black Death of 1348-49 killed about one-third of the population of England.
LIFE IS FEUDAL WIKI ROPE SERIES
However, in the early 14th century, the climate of the world cooled and there were a series of famines. By the end of the 13th century, it had probably risen to about 6 million. At the time of the Domesday Book, the population of England was around 2 million. Moreover, the Black Death severely weakened the villeinage system. However, if you could escape from your village to a town for a year and a day you then officially became free. In some places, they also had to bake their bread in the lord’s oven. Usually, peasants had to grind their grain to flour in the lord’s mill (and give him a portion of their grain). For instance when a villein died his son had to give the lord the best animal before taking over his father’s land. (Although in time more and more lords allowed them to pay money rents instead of doing labor service). They also had to work extra days for him at busy times like harvest. Furthermore, as well as working on their own land they had to farm the lord’s land for 2 or 3 days a week.
LIFE IS FEUDAL WIKI ROPE FREE
They were not free and could not leave their land without the lord’s permission. They used the money to pay soldiers when they needed them.Īt the bottom of society were peasants. Kings began to allow the barons to pay ‘shield money’. If a knight had to fight, say, 40 days a year when the 40 days were up he would return home even if the king were in the middle of a campaign. In return, they had to fight for so many days a year. They also had to swear an oath of loyalty to the king and they became his vassals. The king granted them land and in return, they had to provide so many soldiers to fight for so many days a year.
Below him were the barons or tenants-in-chief. Under the feudal system, introduced by the Normans society was like a pyramid. By Tim Lambert Society In The Middle Ages
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