The Middle Ages. Учебное пособие

contributions of the peasant population who feel under the jurisdiction of the Lord and his court. These obligations could be payable in several ways, in labor, in kind, or, on rare occasions, in coin.

The main reason for the development of the system was perhaps also its greatest strength: the stabilization of society during the destruction of Roman imperial order. With a declining birthrate and population, labor was the key factor of production. Successive administrations tried to stabilize the imperial economy by freezing the social structure into place: sons were to succeed their fathers in their trade, councilors were forbidden to resign, and coloni, the cultivators of land, were not to move from the land they were attached to. The workers of the land were on their way to becoming serfs. As the Germanic kingdoms succeeded Roman authority in the West in the fifth century, Roman landlords were often simply replaced by Gothic or Germanic ones, with little change to the underlying situation or displacement of populations. Thus the system of manorialism became ingrained into Medieval societies.

Serfdom

Serfdom was the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism. It was a condition of bondage which developed primarily during the Middle Ages in Europe.

Serfs who occupied a plot of land were required to work for the Lord of the Manor who owned that land, and in return were entitled to protection, justice and the right to exploit certain fields within the manor to maintain their own subsistence. Serfs were often required not only to work on the lord’s fields, but also his mines, forests and roads. The manor formed the basic unit of feudal society and the Lord of the Manor and his serfs were bound legally, economically, and socially. Serfs formed the lowest social class of feudal society.

Many of the negative components of manorialism, and feudalism in general, revolve around the bondage of the serf, his lack of social mobility and low position on the social hierarchy. However, within his constraints, a serf had some freedoms. Though the common wisdom is that a serf owned “only his belly” — even his clothes were the property, in law, of his lord — a serf might still accumulate personal property and wealth, and some serfs became wealthier than their free neighbours, although this happened rarely. A well-to-do serf might even be able to buy his freedom. A serf could grow what crop he saw fit on his lands, although a serf’s taxes often had to be paid in wheat. The surplus he would sell at market.

The landlord could not dispossess his serfs without legal cause and was supposed to protect them from the depredations of robbers or other lords, and he was expected to support them by charity in times of famine. Many such rights were enforceable by the serf in the manorial court.

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Villeins

A villein (or villain) was the most common type of serf in the Middle Ages. Villeins had more rights and higher status than the lowest serf, but existed under a number of legal restrictions that differentiated them from freemen. Villeins generally rented small homes, with or without land. As part of the contract with the landlord, the lord of the manor, they were expected to spend some of their time working on the lord's fields. The requirement often was not greatly onerous, contrary to popular belief, and was often only seasonal, for example the duty to help at harvest-time. The rest of their time was spent farming their own land for their own profit.

Like other types of serfs, they were required to provide other services, possibly in addition to paying rent of money or produce. Villeins were tied to the land and could not move away without their lord’s consent and the acceptance of the lord to whose manor they proposed to migrate to. Villeins were generally able to hold their own property, unlike slaves.

Villeinage was not a purely uni-directional exploitative relationship. In the Middle Ages, land within a lord’s manor provided sustenance and survival, and being a villein guaranteed access to land, and crops secure from theft by marauding robbers. Landlords, even where legally entitled to do so, rarely evicted villeins because of the value of their labour. Villeinage was much preferable to being a vagabond, a slave, or an unlanded laborer.

In many medieval countries, a villein could gain freedom by escaping from a manor to a city or borough and living there for more than a year; but this action involved the loss of land rights and agricultural livelihood, a prohibitive price unless the landlord was especially tyrannical or conditions in the village were unusually difficult.

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Unit 6

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“Castles have a romantic connotation of princesses and princes, but real medieval castles more closely resemble fortresses than fairy tale illustrations.”

Simon Newman

CASTLE

The Middle Ages are known for being a particularly violent period in history, wrought with feuds and battles that sometimes lasted for years. During medieval times it became necessary to develop a kind of defense system and, thus, the castle was created.

The first castles were wooden structures that were prone to rotting and easily destroyed by fire. Over time, castles came to be made from stone and they began to make use of the well-known elements of middles ages’ castles such as towers and thick, impenetrable walls. The castle became a place of residence from which a lord could rule his fief and, over time, the castle came to be used a fortress.

Each castle began as a simple wooden structure and, over time, developed into the strong, stone fortress that is most commonly recognized today.

The Motte and Bailey castle was one of the first castles built by the Normans when they came to England and it consisted of two parts: the motte and the bailey. The motte was a large hill or mound of earth on which a wooden structure was built to serve as a keep or lookout tower. The bailey was built on the ground below the motte and was connected by a wooden bridge that could be removed if necessary.

Both the motte and bailey were surrounded by a wooden fence, or palisade, and some of these types of castles were surrounded by a ditch or moat.

The stone keep castle was one of the first types of castle to incorporate stone as the main building material. These castles centered around a tall stone structure called a keep which housed the kitchens where food was made as well as the living quarters. The keep was built in a rectangular shape at first but later developed to hold a more cylindrical shape that eliminated weak corners. Thick outer walls surrounded the keep and the bailiey, the open area between keep and wall, was used to shelter animals and workshops.

The most effective type of castle, in terms of defense, was the concentric castle which was developed during the 12th and 13th centuries. The key element of the concentric castle was its walls. The thick, high walls of the castle itself were reinforced by a border of lower but equally thick walls set at a short distance from the

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curtain. The varying heights of the walls made it possible for archers to be station on both sets of walls.

The entire structure of the castle was made even more protected by a ditch or moat which could only be crossed using the drawbridge.

Ex. 1. Answer the questions.

1.Why did it become necessary to create a castle?

2.What were the first castles like?

3.The castle came to be used as a fortress over time, didn’t it?

4.Who was the first castle built by?

5.What can you say about the motte and the bailey of the first castle?

6.What was a stone keep castle? What did it look like?

7.What was the most effective type of castle in terms of defense?

Ex. 2. Give the appropriate Russian variant of the words and expressions given below.

1.feud

2.to be prone to

3.impenetrable

4.shelter

5.fence

6.equally

7.height

8.drawbridge

9.ditch

10.reinforce

11.workshop

Ex. 3. Read and translate the sentences. Organize them in proper order to create a text.

1.Another function of most castles was to defend against the local population of peasants, who periodically rebelled against repressive lords, their taxes and duties expected.

2.Castles were built to control newly conquered land, important routes or defend the local lord against rivals.

3.From the castle, the inhabitants were protected against all but the more determined enemies, and could use it as a base to control the local population, defend the land against an enemy or levy taxes on an important trade route.

4.Many castles also had a bakery which served the local population, possibly due to the castles role as mill and grain storage.

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5.Most castles were the home of a local lord, from which he controlled the land around the castle.

6.Some were royal castles, while others simply held a garrison.

7.The castle was often made more important by its function as a centre of trade and commerce as well as food storage, and laws were sometimes passed making the castle’s mill the only one allowed to be used.

Ex. 5. Read some facts about castles

Originally towers were built with square tops, but later were replaced by round towers that offered better defense and visibility.

Many castles kept their ale in a room called the buttery.

Siege engines were used to attack castles. They included the battering ram, catapult, siege towers, and the ballista.

Many castles were built on a spring so they would have water during a siege.

The steward managed all the affairs of the castle.

Cats and dogs were kept in castles to help kill rats and keep them from eating the grain stores.

Ex. 6. Take a ten question quiz.

1) Why did Kings and Lords build castles to live in during the Middle Ages?

a.To stay warm and keep the snow out

b.To protect themselves and their people when attacked

c.Because they thought they looked cool

d.All of the above

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e. None of the above

2) What were the first castles made out of?

a.Wood

b.Iron

c.Stone

d.Clay

e.Bricks

f.Marble

3) Why did people stop building castles after the Middle Ages?

a. Because there were not any more wars and castles were no longer needed b. Because they were too expensive to build in the post Middle Ages recession c. Because there were no more kings and lords to live in them

d. Because new weapons such as cannons could easily knock down the walls e. Because there were already enough castles and they did not need any more

4) What defensive feature was a ditch or lake filled with water around the castle?

a.The keep

b.The battlement

c.The moat

d.The curtain wall

e.The buttery

5) What was the castle keep and what was its purpose?

a. It was a wall that soldiers could walk upon and fire down arrows at their attackers b. It was a tower where the people would retreat to as a last defense

c. It was a special tower around the gate to add protection at the gate d. It was a wide ditch around the castle filled with water

e. It was a deep tunnel under the castle where the king kept his treasure 6) What leader built the Windsor Castle and the Tower of London?

a.King Henry VIII Richard the Lionheart

b.King Arthur

c.King Edward II

d.William the Conqueror

7) What giant castle in Poland was built by the Teutonic Knights?

a. Leeds Castle

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b.Malbork Castle

c.Windsor Castle

d.Chateau Gaillard

e.Spis Castle

8) What was the title of the person in charge of the affairs of the castle?

a.Steward

b.Magistrate

c.Journeyman

d.Secretary

e.Accountant

9) True or False: Often times attackers would wait outside the castle hoping to force the people inside eventually to come out when they ran out of food.

a.TRUE

b.FALSE

10) Which of the following was a siege engine that armies would use to attack a castle?

a.Ballista

b.Catapult

c.Battering ram

d.Siege towers

e.All of the above

Ex. 7. Read the text about Windsor Castle filling in the words from the box below.

Windsor Castle’s design was a traditional ……….. and Bailey castle, which soon became reinforced with stone around the 12th century by Henry II. Unusually, the castle was built with two baileys, the Upper Ward and the Lower Ward. The original Norman keep was rebuilt in 1170 as the Round Tower, and over the next 60 years the outer perimeter was upgraded too, with large …………. towers. The square towers seen today are those of Henry II, whereas the semi-circular towers are from Henry III’s reign.

A large new chapel was erected by Henry III, and …………… were made to the royal apartments, wards and stone walls. By Edward III’s reign, Windsor Castle had been transformed from a …………… to a gothic palace.

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During the construction of the Upper Ward, which began in 1357, the inner Gatehouse with round ………… was built. This is known today as the Norman Tower, however, this is rather misleading, as it was built well after the Normans!

During Edward III’s reign, Windsor Castle played host to a number of …………….,

where elaborate costumes and crests were made for the events. Such was the magnificence of these, that today’s helms and banners of the ……………. originate directly from them.

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ADDITIONAL READING

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Supported by the brawn and taxes of the peasants, the feudal baron and his wife would seem to have had a comfortable life. In many ways they did, despite the lack of creature comforts and refinements.

Around the 12th century, palisaded, fortified manorial dwellings began to give way to stone castles. Some of these, with their great outer walls and courtyard buildings, covered perhaps 15 acres and were built for defensive warfare

Even in summer, dampness clung to the stone rooms, and the lord and his retinue spent as much time as possible outdoors. At dawn the watchman atop the donjon blew a blast on his bugle to awaken the castle. After a scanty breakfast of bread and wine or beer, the nobles attended mass in the castle chapel.

The lord then took up his business. He might first hear the report of an estate manager. If a discontented or ill-treated serf had fled, doubtless the lord would order retainers to bring him back — for serfs were bound to the lord unless they could evade him for a year and a day. The lord would also hear the petty offenses of peasants and fine the culprits or perhaps sentence them to a day in the pillory. Serious deeds, like poaching or murder, were legal matters for the local court or royal “circuit” court.

The lady of the castle had many duties as chatelaine. She inspected the work of her large staff of servants. She saw that her spinners, weavers, and embroiderers furnished clothes for the castle and rich vestments for the clergy. She and her ladies also helped to train the pages, well-born boys who came to live in the castle at the age of 7. For seven years pages were schooled in religion, music, dancing, riding, hunting, and some reading, writing, and arithmetic. At 14 they became squires.

The lord directed the training of squires. They spent seven years learning the practices of chivalry and, above all, of warfare. At the age of 21, if worthy, they

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received the accolade of knighthood. (For the ceremony of knighthood see Knighthood.)

Sometime between 9 AM and noon, a trumpet summoned the lord’s household to the great hall for dinner. They gustily ate quantities of soup, game, birds, mutton, pork, some beef, and often venison or boar slain in the hunt. In winter the illpreserved meat smacked fierily of East Indian spices, bought at enormous cost to hide the rank taste. Great, flat pieces of bread called trenchers served as plates and, after the meal, were flung to the dogs around the table or given to the poor. Huge pies, or pasties, filled with several kinds of fowl or fish, were relished. Metal or wood cups or leather “jacks” held cider, beer, or wine. Coffee and tea were not used in Europe until after the Middle Ages. Minstrels or jongleurs entertained at dinner.

Hunting, games, and tournaments delighted nobles. Even the ladies and their pages rode afield to loose falcons at game birds. Indoors, in front of the great open fire, there were chess, checkers, and backgammon. A troubadour would often chant and sing storied deeds of Charlemagne, Count Roland, or Arthur and his Table Round.

Dearest to the warrior heart of the feudal lord was the tournament, an extravagant contest of arms. Visiting knights and nobles set up their pavilions near the lists, or field of contest. Over each tent a banner fluttered to show the rank of a contestant — here a count, there a marquis or a baron (see Titles of Nobility). The shield of each armor-clad warrior was emblazoned to identify the bearer. The first day of the tourney was usually devoted to single combats, in which pairs of knights rode full tilt at each other with 10-foot (3-meter) lances. The tourney’s climax was the melee, when companies of knights battled in perilous mimic warfare. A tournament cost a lord a fortune for hospitality and rich prizes given to the victors by the “queen of the tourney”.

Tournaments had a grim value as practice for feudal warfare. Some battle or raid erupted almost daily, since medieval nobles settled their quarrels simply by attacking. If a lord coveted land, his couriers called his vassals to make a foray. The peasants, in quilted battle coats, trudged along to fight on foot with their pikes and poleaxes. Despite the innumerable outbreaks, casualties were surprisingly few, as long, exhausting battles were rare. Warring lords usually just burned the fields and villages of their enemies. After a skirmish, the defending lord and his vassals usually fled to the safety of the castle. The castle could withstand many a stubborn siege.

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Unit 7

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“When looking for insight into the values with which Middle Age men and women regarded their surroundings, we realise that Christianity, with its capacity to be interpreted through various philosophic prisms and its adaptability to social and economic evolution, has furnished values for constructing the ideology with which to create a cohesive memory of medieval identity.”

Flocel Sabaté

RELIGION IN THE MIDDLE AGES

Religion in the Middle Ages was dominated by Christianity. It is the era in which the great cathedrals of Europe were built and the Catholic Church started its universities in Paris, Tubingen, Cambridge and Oxford. During the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church was the only church in Europe. The laws of the land and leading roles in the government were all in the hands of the leading church leaders like bishops and archbishops.

It was an era when the vested powers in the hands of the Pope were so great that he could even excommunicate a king for a misdeed. From birth to death, the life of the medieval people was dominated entirely by the church and many religious institutions gained power and wealth. Large Cathedrals were built when the traditional Roman style churches became insufficient for accommodating the increased population by the twelfth Century. Lausanne Cathedral and Regensburg Cathedral are among the most famous one built during this age, they are known for their architecture.

Simon Newman

Ex. 1. Answer the questions.

1.What was religion in the Middle Ages dominated by?

2.The Catholic Church wasn’t the only in Europe, was it?

3.In whose hands were the laws of the land and leading roles in the government?

4.How great were the vested powers in the hands of the Pope?

5.What role did the Church play in the life of the medieval people?

6.Why was it necessary to build large cathedrals in the 12th century?

Ex. 2. Give the appropriate Russian variant of the words and expressions given below.

1. to be dominated by

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