Feudalism: Society, Architecture, and the 14th Century Crisis
Feudalism: Dependency Ratios and Social Structure
Dependency Ratios:
- King and Feudal Lords: A relationship of servitude existed between the King and the feudal lords (nobles). The feudal lords provided military aid to the king and council in return for fiefs.
- Feudal Lords and Knights: Lords used knights to help the king and defend their own fiefdoms. Knights became vassals of the lords in return for support. This divided the nobility into upper and lower classes.
- Feudal Lords and Peasants: Feudal lords promised to protect farmers in exchange for their labor and taxes. This relationship was unequal.
Social Groups
- Privileged (Insiders): Composed of the nobility and higher clergy, who enjoyed tax privileges and were judged by special laws.
- Not Privileged: The lower clergy, free peasants, servants, artisans, soldiers, and small businesses. None of these groups had privileges.
Feudal Knights
- Feudal lords became as powerful as kings within their fiefdoms, charging penalties and taxes, dispensing justice, and organizing their own armies.
- Knights were warriors who served a feudal lord for survival, as they possessed arms and horses. They protected the lord’s property and aided in war. They adhered to values such as humility, courage, and a disposition to protect the helpless, including orphans and women.
Parts of a Fief
- Pasture: Land for grazing cattle.
- Forests: Areas for wood gathering and hunting.
- The Demesne (Reservation): Land directly operated by the lord, worked by serfs.
- The Tenements (Glebe): Parcels of land given to free peasants, where they located their homes.
Cultural Work of Monks
Society was largely illiterate. Monasteries preserved and transmitted culture, thanks to monks who knew Latin and copied books.
Romanesque and Gothic Architecture
Romanesque Architecture
- Dominates the horizontal plane.
- Looks solid, with thick walls constructed of stone blocks and small windows to facilitate the gathering of the faithful.
- Uses the Latin cross or basilica plan with three naves and semicircular apses.
- Employs barrel vaults and groin vaults.
- Features rounded arches.
- Utilizes buttresses on the exterior.
New Agricultural Inventions
- Collar harness
- Three-field crop rotation
Craftsmanship Levels
- Master: Owner of the shop, tools, raw materials, and product.
- Journeyman (Official): Employee of the master, able to establish himself independently.
- Apprentice: Assistant who often lived in the master’s house.
Farmers moved to the city along with the king. The king brought some feudal lords, building them palaces where they began to live a life dominated by craft, art, and dance.
Gothic Architecture
- Used blocks of stone as the primary material.
- Buildings were taller than Romanesque structures, with large openings in the walls decorated with stained glass windows.
- Employed pointed arches and vaults.
- Featured flying buttresses and pinnacles on the exterior.
- The apse was extended and included small chapels.
- Facades often included a rose window.
The Crisis of the Fourteenth Century
A period of crisis began due to crop failures, leading to increased hunger and decreased population. The Black Death wiped out a third of the European population. Conflicts arose among various peoples, including wars. This resulted in an increasing number of beggars, thieves, and robbers, as well as rebellions by disadvantaged groups against the nobles in both the countryside and the city.