Decentralization+and+medieval+society

 __FEUDALISM GAME CLICK [|HERE]__ __Medieval society:__
 * f//eudalism//: A political and economic system of Europe from the 9th to about the 15th century, based on the holding of all land in fief or fee and the resulting relation of lord to vassal and characterized by homage, legal and military service of tenants, and forfeiture.


 * majority of European men and women were peasants who were the land of their lords
 * slave and serf became less distinct
 * serf was required to perform labor services for his lord
 * rise of towns, the increased productivity of the land, long-distance trade, and the development of a money economy
 * Most medieval European peasants lived on vast estates called manors (from the Latin, meaning "dwelling" or "residence"
 * The land of the manor was divided into two parts: the //demense// was the lord's land worked by the peasants.
 * The other part was held by the peasants
 * land itself was divided into long strips and it was entirely possible that one serf would have to work in number of strips spread out across the manor.
 * <span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px;">serf's life was basically the life of the manor on which he or she was born
 * <span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px;">Most serfs never traveled beyond the estate of their lord
 * <span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px;">Christian religion as practiced by ordinary men and women
 * <span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px;">medieval men and women saw Christian belief and practice permeate all aspects of everyday life. In other words, Christianity was a matrix of ideas and modes of behavior not easy to dislodge from the mind set of medieval men and women.
 * <span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px;">The village Church was the center of the medieval community
 * <span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px;">Popular medieval religion was shot through with rituals and symbolism.
 * <span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px;">The nobility influenced all aspects of medieval politics, economics, religion, and culture
 * <span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px;">As the second Estate, the medieval nobility had special legal status. A man who was a member of the nobility was free in his person and in his possessions. His only limitation concerned his military obligation to his lord. As a member of the nobility, he had certain rights and responsibilities: he could raise troops and command them in the field, he held his own courts of justice, he could coined his own money. He was the lord of all those people who settled on his land.
 * <span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px;">The medieval nobility lived without working
 * <span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px;">At the top of medieval society was the first Estate, the clergy, those who pray.
 * <span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px;">monasticism was firmly entrenched in medieval society by the time of Charlemagne
 * <span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Century Gothic'; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 4px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 4px;">increase in the number of cities in large towns after Renaissance



SOURCES: Princeton Review book [] MR. DELARMES HUGE OUTLINE ||