Exercises on Feudal Society

(FUVEST)

What is the difference between the obligations of a vassal and those of a serf in feudal society?

(UFPA)

In the dominant relationships of suzerainty and vassalage during European feudalism, it is possible to observe that:

a) serfdom represented, especially in France and the Iberian Peninsula, a true rebirth of slavery as it existed in Imperial Rome.

b) lay suzerains, formed by the great landed nobility, legally distinguished the serfs who worked in the fields from those who produced in the cities.

c) even having large territorial properties, ecclesiastical suzerains did not maintain servitude in their domains, but free labor.

d) the tax system fell heavily on serfs. The dead hand tax, for example, was paid by the heirs of a dying serf so that they could continue on the lands belonging to the suzerain.

e) the main social institutions that sustained the relations between masters and serfs were of Muslim origin, coming from the long Arab presence in Western Europe.

(FUVEST)

According to historian Robert S. Lopez (The Commercial Revolution of the Middle Ages 950-1350), “the status of the builders of medieval cathedrals represented a great advance over the miserable condition of the slaves who built the Pyramids and the convicts who built the Roman aqueducts” . Medieval cathedrals were built by:

a) free and paid artisans.

b) volunteer citizens working in a collective effort.

c) peasants who provided free labor.

d) specialized and foreign labor.

e) rural serfs rewarded with freedom.

(UFJF-MG)

The verses below demonstrate how feudal society was structured around relationships of personal dependence. Please read them carefully.

“If my lord is killed, I want to be killed,
If he is hanged, hang me with him,
If he is burned, I want to be burned,
And, if he drowns, throw me into the water with him.”

Quoted in BLOCH, M. Feudal society. Lisbon:Setenta, 1989.
Regarding this society, it is INCORRECT state that:

a) the king maintained a predominantly symbolic role, but, in fact, exercised his de facto power as the feudal lord of his own lands.

b) the serfs, who received plots of land from their masters to produce, were, on the other hand, subject to a series of taxes such as carving and banalities.

c) suzerains and vassals were linked by a relationship of dependence and mutual obligations to be fulfilled.

d) society was divided, basically, into two orders (states) dependent on each other:one brought together individuals descendants of the Romans and the other those of the Germans.

Making a brief comparison between these two types of social relationship, we note that the vassal has the obligation to militarily protect and economically exploit the lands donated to him through the organization of a new feudal property. On the other hand, the serf disposes of his work force to organize the agricultural production of the property on which he lives. In addition to working the land, this same serf has to obey the orders and pay the tributes established by the nobleman who owns the feudal lands.

LETER D . Marking the subordinate status of serfs, landowners held the right to impose other taxes, in addition to the already established use of serfs' labor power. Through taxes and obligations, feudal lords reasserted their authority and determined a very restricted living condition for the peasants who were under their dominions.

LETER A . Taking the context of the time as a reference, we can see that the buildings of the Low Middle Ages were already built by a class of free and paid artisans. The presence of this type of worker reveals the social transformations undertaken from the reheating of commercial activities and the development of urban centers. In this way, the other alternatives are very distant from the situation experienced at the time studied by the aforementioned historian.

LETER D . The division presented in the question is not equivalent to the criteria that determined the organization of feudal society. Instead of Roman or Germanic descent, land ownership was a fundamental point for recognizing and allocating each of the individuals who formed such a society.