The monarch also gave land to the clergy . In western European countries such as England, the clergy swore loyalty to the Pope in Rome rather than to their monarch. However, they also supported the feudal system by accepting the monarch and the lord as God’s earthly representatives. Well-educated clerical advisers were often assigned to the monarch’s service and helped keep social order. Maintaining the social order Feudalism helped monarchs control their nobles and lords. If the lords broke their oath, the monarch could take back their lands and remove their power. Everyone had control over those below them, down to the peasants at the bottom. Towards the end of the Middle Ages, trade-based towns and cities grew. Rich merchants could defy or ignore the monarch and the lords, and could even hire their own knights. This led to the decline of feudalism. The Domesday Book , ordered by William the Conqueror around 1085, recorded who owned what land and how much tax was owed. This helped him maintain control over the society, but it also now gives us a clear picture of how medieval manors functioned. 3.3 SkillBuilder activity USING HISTORICAL SOURCES Read the SOURCE3 extract from The Domesday Book closely and complete the following. a. Identify the tenant-in-chief of this village. b. Identify how many families of villagers are indicated (each number represents a family, rather than a single person). c. Identify how much land Hitchen has. d. Determine what resources this village has. e. Assess whether or not this was a thriving village.
SOURCE3 This extract from The Domesday Book gives information about a reasonably large village called Hitchen in County Hertfordshire.
Source Taxable units: Taxable value 5 geld units. Value: Value to lord in 1066 £4.
Value to lord in 1086 £6. Value to lord c. 1070 £1. Households: 45 villagers. 17 smallholders. 12 slaves. 29 cottagers. Ploughland: 38 ploughlands (land for). 7 lord’s plough teams. 1 lord’s plough teams possible. 22 men’s plough teams. Other resources: 2.5 lord’s lands. Meadow 4.25 ploughs. Woodland 600 pigs. 4 mills, value 2.66. 1 church.
Lords in 1066: Earl Harold; Hitchin, church of. Lords in 1086: Hitchin, church of; King William. Tenant-in-chief in 1086: King William.
TOPIC3 Medieval Europe 57
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