Life On A Medieval Manor - Cabarrus County Schools

WARM UPWrite HW: work on project!!! Exam Review due TOMORROW Please get out your worksheet from yesterday. Read until class begins

LIFE ON A MEDIEVAL MANOR

THE END Manor System: Basic economic arrangement where: Lord gives land/protection to peasant (by hiring knights) peasant gives their services or works the land

THE MANOR A manor includes the castle and the land and buildingssurrounding it.Villages on a Manor usually had less than 600 residents(About 15-30 families).They were self-sufficient, which means they producedeverything they needed: Food, Clothing, and FarmingTools.Peasants lived in simple homes, or a not-so-well puttogether cottage with dirt floors.The Manor House was where the lord and his familylived. An interesting fact is that the kitchen was outsideof the main building in case of a fire.

WHAT IS ON A MANOR? The people living on the manorwere from all “levels” ofFeudalism: Peasants, Knights,Lords, and Nobles.There were usually large fieldsaround the Manor used forlivestock, crops, and hunting.The only people allowed to huntin the manor’s forests werenobles.Buildings usually present on amanor were: a church and avillage that had blacksmiths,bakers, and peasants’ huts.

SELF-SUFFICIENCY Each manor was largely selfsufficient, growing or producingall of the basic items neededfor food, clothing, and shelter.To meet these needs, themanor had buildings devoted tospecial purposes, such as: The mill for grinding grainThe bake house for making breadThe blacksmith shop for creatingmetal goods.

LIFE AS A PERSON ON A MANOR People living on a manorwere either peasants, tradespeople, women/children, or ahigher class official.Peasants would farm andgrow food for the manor tomake money.Trades people would bemillers, bakers, smiths, orcarpenters to sell and tradetheir products.Women and children wouldmake clothes and meals ortend gardens and look afterlivestock.

LIFE ON A MANOR: THE LORDLords were in charge of running the manor andgiving out land. They were sometimes previous knights who mostlyhad more than one manor to look over. Theirwealth came from the food, rents, fines, and feesthey collected from the peasants. If a lord wasn’t looking after his land, the overlordwould reassign a lord to look after the manor. The lord and his family usually lived in large stonehouses called the manor house, it was alsosometimes a castle. It had several rooms thatwere kept clean and nice at all times.

RUNNING THE MANOR The lords with large manors usuallyhad several hired people to helpthem. The most important assistantswere the bailiff (legal advisor), andthe reeve (manager).The steward supervised all of themanors the lord had.The bailiff was the lord’srepresentative on the manor andwould instruct duties for thepeasants.The reeve was a wealthy peasantinstructed to help the bailiff.

LIFE ON A MANOR: PEASANTS LIVES Worked from sunrise tosundown growing food andmaking other products fortheir families, lords, or tosell to towns.Peasants were usually serfsand were not allowed toleave the manor without thelords permission.Serfs were given land and ahouse in order to do workfor the lord. Free peasantsrented land from the lordand didn’t have to work forhim.

MANOR LIFE—GREAT? NOT GREAT?Peasants paid for “privilege” of serving lord Tax on all grain ground into flour at the millIt was a crime to get your bread elsewhereMarriage was taxed and you had to have lord’spermissionChurch charged a tithe, or church tax of 10% of theirincomeCottages were small and crowded with dirt floorsThey lived with their pigs inside because they werewarm!Straw beds were infested with bugsWork, work, work for your lord and your own foodBut, you were guaranteed land, food, and protection

AGRICULTURE Three Field System Plant two fieldseach year andleave third fallow(empty)Increased foodproductionIncreasedpopulation

SEASONAL DUTIESSpring-planted many crops, sheared sheep Summer- weed gardens, harvest many crops,breed cattle Fall- Plowing, sowing wheat, slaughter pigs, cutwood Winter- indoor activities (crafts, clothes, dorepairs), animals born

THE CHURCH Christianity was common inEuropean manors.The church was usually thesecond largest building in themanor.People went every Sunday topray and mark important timesin their lives.The church was also used as ameeting place for communityevents.Peasants/Serfs paid a tax oneverything. A tithe was churchtax amounting to 1/10 of theirincome

CELEBRATIONS Peasants would restfrom hard days work byjoyfully celebratingfestivals.They would celebrateChristmas, Easter,Saints’ Days, and theSeasons.Saints day was a day tohonor their overseercalled a saint.

DIFFICULT TIMES IN A MANOR Famine, Diseases, and PeasantRebellions were forms of hardtimes in Medieval life.Peasants would produce enoughfor their lords but sometimes notenough for everyone. If crops weredamaged famine would be a result.Diseases such as the Plague, orthe Black Death, traveled on shipsby rats. There were both thebubonic and pneumonic plagues.(we will learn more about this later)Peasant rebellions were commonwhen their conditions of workinggot worse.

Medieval Manor

The Medieval Manor

MEDIEVAL MANORWhat do you notice these manor pictures ordiagrams have in common? If you were to create a manor, what would youHAVE to include? Discuss

ASSIGNMENTYou will be completing an activity that asks youto create your own manor. I have handouts to help you if you need them. Create/draw your own manor. It must includethe 15 items listed on the worksheet and yourmap must be neat and complete. This will be apractice grade out of 20 questions so eachitem will be worth 5 points.

were from all “levels” of Feudalism: Peasants, Knights, Lords, and Nobles. There were usually large fields around the Manor used for livestock, crops, and hunting. The only people allowed to hunt in the manor’s forests were nobles. Buildings usually present on