Read by 13 October 2010

This week we will look at Medieval Life with a focus on Feudalism.

If someone asked you what it is like to live in the United States, you would immediately recognize that there is a great deal of individual variation. It is very different to live in a high rise apartment in New York City, a farm in Nebraska, an affluent suburb outside of Los Angeles, or in northern Alaska. Yet all of these places are part of the United States of America. It is important for us to remember these local variations when we look back in history. We are easily tempted to say something really silly like, "Ancient Jews believed", or to act as though there was a system of feudalism that everyone in Europe lived under in the 10th century. That simply isn't true. Remember that there was a LOT of local variation.

Where are we and what has happened?

Within a generation of Charlemagne's death, the Carolingian "Empire" was breaking up. We will be looking at the period from 900-1100 A.D. While the culture in the Frankish territories continued to reflect the imprint of Charlemagne's lengthy reign - there was a temporary disintegration of central power in favor of local control. A few questions to think about before class:

1. What difference would the loss of centralized power have meant for farmers? What difference would it have made for business traders?
2. Can you define feudalism? If not, look up the definition prior to class.
3. Did anyone benefit from this loss of a very strong centralized civil government?
4. How was feudalism similar to the governments of Charlemagne and Henry the Fowler that we looked at last week?

Please note that the discussion of feudalism relates to lands outside of modern Germany and Italy. In 962, the pope crowned Otto as the Holy Roman Emperor. The reality on the ground led to this saying that the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy nor Roman nor an Empire.

Were there any aspects of life for the common people under feudalism that seem particularly attractive to you?