Ashna Sisodia is teaching live on Unacademy Plus
World History Presented by : Ashna Sisodia
About me: From Chandigarh, India CSE Btech, UIET kurukshetra Appeared for UPSC CSE mains 2017 Rate, Review and Recommend https://unacademy.in/user/AshnaSiso dia
200 WORLD BEFORE 18TH CENTURY
1.1 Feudalism Word feud', which means 'conditional ownership of land" New social and economic system-prevailing in Western Europe Medieval period (600-1500 AD) Society was divided into rigid classes Politically-no central authority-numerous Feudal Lords controlled the affairs of the society King was not powerful Economy decline in trade as well as towns influence of the Church Main Source of power: Land (not money) self-sufficient villages and produced little surplus for trade. extended beyond religious affairs in Europe.
1.2 Why Feudalism developed? Due to lack of a single central political authority I disintegrated into many small and big kingdoms Western Europe was Local Lords controlled the affairs of the society became more powerful than the King
1.3 Features of Feudalism O The peasants worked on the land of the Feudal Lord, which was organized into many Estates or Manors. Each Manor had a Castle (home of the Lord), farms for peasants to work, houses for peasants to stay, workshops for peasants to produce non-agricultural goods and common woods for lumberjacks to cut. Whatever was produced on the Manor was consumed by the Lord and the inhabitants, while very little was traded. The workers on the Manor included the Serfs (slaves) and the Tenant farmers. The farm was divided into strips of land. While some were given to the tenants who paid a share ofthe produce as tax to the Lord, rest of the land belonged to the Lord
Peasants Hierarchy O The Peasants were classified into following: l. Seris: they worked on the land for free and had to perform all labor for him as he desired. They were not free and were tied to the land. This meant that their owners changed with the change in ownership of the land from one Lord to another. This system came to be known as Serfdom. 2. Freeholders: free and only paid a tax fixed by the Lord. 3. Villeins: For a fixed number of days they worked for the Lord but otherwise they were free and paid tax in form of a part of their agricultural produce. Freemen: they were the Serfs freed by their Lords on their discretion 4.
Feudal Hierarchy King Dukes and Earls Barons Knights Peasants
The Feudal Hierarchy King at the top. Noblemen below the King (hierarchy of overlords and subordinate lords). Hierarchical system was unbreachable i.e. a lower Lord would only follow commands of his immediate overlord and not of Lords further higher in the hierarchy. O The King could only order the Dukes and the Earls who would then order their subordinate Lords and so on. The Dukes and Earls got military support from the Barons who were like Military Generals who further depended on the Knights, the actual warriors
1 Lord himself vas not the direct owner of the land under him. He held land in the name of his overlord. Thus legally, authority to grant Knighthood to son of a Nobleman who could then affix 'Sir' to his name Each Lord had his own soldiers and was the sole authority in his estate. Thus there was no central authority in functional terms and King was a central authority only in legal terms resulting in very little political unity. Gradually, this Hierarchy became Hereditary. The sons of a Lord would become the next Lords. all territory belonged to the King It was the King who only had the