- Feudal society:
- Based on land ownership and reciprocal obligations
- King at top of hierarchy, vassals below, then serfs
- Nobility:
- Govern lands, provide military service, protect vassals
- Chivalry and courtly love
- Jousting, tournaments, Crusades
- Clergy:
- Spiritual leaders, administer sacraments, educate
- Monasticism: Benedictine rule, Cistercians
- Pilgrimages, Crusades
- Peasants:
- Worked land, paid rent, provided labor to lord
- Limited mobility, tied to land
- Townspeople:
- Artisans, merchants, traders
- Guilds: regulate trade, ensure quality
- Town charters, self-government
2. Religious beliefs
- Christianity:
- Dominant religion in Europe
- Catholic Church: centralized authority, pope as head
- Sacraments, saints, Virgin Mary
- Religious rituals, pilgrimages, Crusades
- Religious wars:
- Crusades against Muslims in Holy Land
- Reconquista in Spain
- Heresies:
- Cathars, Waldensians, Lollards
- Suppression by Church and state
3. Economic activities
- Agriculture:
- Main economic activity
- Manorial system, three-field system
- Subsistence farming, limited surplus
- Trade:
- Long-distance trade: spices, silks, luxury goods
- Trade routes: Mediterranean, Baltic Sea, Silk Road
- Fairs and markets
- Hanseatic League: network of trading cities
4. Political institutions
- Monarchy:
- King or queen as head of state
- Limited power, shared with nobles and clergy
- Feudal courts and councils
- Magna Carta (1215)
- Parliament:
- Representative body in England
- House of Lords, House of Commons
- Estates-General:
- Representative body in France
- Three estates: clergy, nobles, commoners
- City-states:
- Independent cities in Italy and Germany
- Self-government, republican institutions
5. Cultural achievements
- Art and architecture:
- Romanesque and Gothic styles
- Cathedrals, castles, illuminated manuscripts
- Literature:
- Epic poems (Beowulf, Song of Roland)
- Courtly romances (Tristan and Isolde)
- Dante's Divine Comedy
- Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
- Music:
- Gregorian chant, polyphony
- Troubadours and trouvères
- Philosophy and science:
- Scholasticism: blend of faith and reason
- Universities (Paris, Oxford, Cambridge)
- Scientific discoveries (Roger Bacon, Albertus Magnus)