WEBVTT 00:00:11.800 --> 00:00:15.594 The Middle Ages began when the western Roman Empire fell in the 5th century. 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:18.652 This period lasted for hundreds of years. 00:00:20.067 --> 00:00:21.671 Without the Romans to provide protection, 00:00:22.288 --> 00:00:25.114 medieval Europe became a violent and dangerous place. 00:00:30.032 --> 00:00:34.689 Frequent foreign invasions by Vikings, Magyars, Muslims and other raiders 00:00:35.530 --> 00:00:40.120 weakened European rulers so that they could not maintain law and order. 00:00:44.008 --> 00:00:49.352 Ceasing the opportunity, wealthy nobles seeking to expand their power and land holdings, 00:00:49.990 --> 00:00:52.435 began fighting one another for territory. 00:00:54.133 --> 00:00:59.183 Out of this chaos emerged a new political and social system called feudalism. 00:00:59.892 --> 00:01:05.067 Because European kings weren't strong enough to control the battling nobles who were challenging their power, 00:01:05.716 --> 00:01:07.860 they struck a deal with them instead. 00:01:12.430 --> 00:01:17.574 In a formal ceremony, a monarch would give a noble a 'fief' or grant of land. 00:01:18.117 --> 00:01:20.655 The monarch also promised to protect the noble. 00:01:23.873 --> 00:01:29.912 In exchange, the noble swore an oath of loyalty, vowing to be faithful to his lord, the monarch, 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:34.152 and to supply him with armed warriors and other services. 00:01:35.087 --> 00:01:39.527 Through this feudal contract, the noble became the vassal of the king or queen. 00:01:41.196 --> 00:01:45.500 The monarchs vassals became lords themselves by subdividing their fiefs 00:01:45.830 --> 00:01:47.977 and acquiring vassals of their own. 00:01:48.463 --> 00:01:53.087 Like their over lords, these lesser nobles had to publicly promise their loyalty and support 00:01:53.480 --> 00:01:55.243 in return for land and protection. 00:01:55.891 --> 00:01:58.484 Often the same man was both lord and vassal; 00:01:59.390 --> 00:02:01.705 lord to a less powerful noble below him, 00:02:02.185 --> 00:02:04.692 and vassal to a more powerful noble above him. 00:02:05.590 --> 00:02:07.974 Feudal society had a strict social order. 00:02:08.579 --> 00:02:10.319 The monarch was at the top. 00:02:10.641 --> 00:02:12.693 Directly below him were the upper nobility. 00:02:13.370 --> 00:02:18.835 Even though they were below the king, it was these local lords who controlled most people's lives. 00:02:21.373 --> 00:02:24.910 The social hierarchy continued down through the rest of society. 00:02:25.613 --> 00:02:30.149 Just under the nobility were the knights, mounted warriors who did battle for their lords. 00:02:33.943 --> 00:02:39.024 Nobles also sometimes hired 'men at arms', soldiers who had the same equipment as knights, 00:02:39.630 --> 00:02:41.626 but not their social standing. 00:02:44.815 --> 00:02:47.321 The peasants were at the bottom of the social order. 00:02:49.437 --> 00:02:55.451 They were generally poor, uneducated laborers who lived and worked on the land owned by the nobles. 00:02:58.052 --> 00:03:00.372 The peasants were the economic backbone of society, 00:03:01.338 --> 00:03:03.877 growing the crops and producing the other goods that everyone needed. 00:03:05.058 --> 00:03:07.670 The peasants were considered part of the land they lived on. 00:03:08.373 --> 00:03:12.867 When a noble received a fief of land, he received the peasants who lived on it too. 00:03:14.255 --> 00:03:16.917 Peasants couldn't leave the land without the lord's permission, 00:03:17.565 --> 00:03:19.646 and they had to obey the lord's laws. 00:03:21.122 --> 00:03:23.567 They also had to work for the lord, farming his lands 00:03:24.087 --> 00:03:25.950 and giving him regular payments of what they produced. 00:03:28.073 --> 00:03:32.152 In return the peasants were allowed to farm some of the lord's land for themselves. 00:03:35.202 --> 00:03:37.552 Perhaps more important during this chaotic period, 00:03:38.192 --> 00:03:42.761 they enjoyed the stability and protection of the lord's laws and his armies. 00:03:45.490 --> 00:03:47.390 These were big benefits during the Middle Ages 00:03:47.867 --> 00:03:52.743 when competing lords, bandits, and raiders from outside Europe were a serious threat. 00:03:54.778 --> 00:03:57.710 A main source of protection during the Middle Ages was a castle. 00:03:59.380 --> 00:04:04.257 An army that was barricaded inside a castle was incredibly difficult to defeat, 00:04:05.223 --> 00:04:08.796 and nobles safe inside their castles were able to build up their armies 00:04:09.281 --> 00:04:11.077 and expand their power. 00:04:13.553 --> 00:04:16.869 But the castles were more than just strongholds for the nobility. 00:04:17.506 --> 00:04:20.143 They also protected the entire community. 00:04:20.819 --> 00:04:25.964 During times of trouble, the local peasants gathered for safety inside the castle walls, 00:04:26.377 --> 00:04:28.432 and often helped to defend the castle. 00:04:30.264 --> 00:04:37.079 Under feudalism, the over lords, lesser lords, knights, and peasants all depended on one another for survival. 00:04:39.165 --> 00:04:41.384 Life may not have been easy for most people, 00:04:41.777 --> 00:04:44.020 but feudalism turned chaos into orrder, 00:04:44.602 --> 00:04:49.935 and offered stability during a violent and uncertain age.