Chapter 24
Feudal Society
A.D.
700 – A.D. 1200
(Pages 366–379)
Setting a Purpose for Reading Think about these questions as you read:
• Why did feudalism develop in western Europe?
• What roles did lords and vassals play?
• What were the duties of a knight?
• What was life like on a manor?
As you read pages 366–379 in your textbook, complete the diagram below to
show the organization of government under feudalism. Each of these groups
should appear on the chart: serfs, landowning nobles, freemen, knights.
Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Most Power
Least Power
Match each event with the correct date.
_____ 1. A.D. 814
_____ 2. A.D. 900
_____ 3. A.D. 1000
_____ 4. A.D. 1200s
Chapter 24
a. Nobles begin protecting their lands and
people from the Vikings
b. most nobles live in stone castles
c. Charlemagne dies
d. peasants begin to learn better farming
methods
e. western Europe divided into feudal territories
167
Section 1: Land and Government
(pages 367–369)
As you read, ask yourself what details from this lesson are
important. Write several details for each topic in the
spaces below.
Land and Government
The Rise of Feudal Territories
Lord and Vassal
____ 1. feudalism
a. warrior on horseback
b. religious leaders
____ 2. clergy
____ 3. fief
c. noble who served a lord of
higher rank
d. estate
____ 4. vassal
e. military service
____ 5. act of homage
f. system in which landowning
nobles protected the people in
exchange for services
____ 6. knight
g. another name for a Greek citystate
h. special ceremony between lord
and vassal
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Chapter 24
Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Match each key term from this section with its correct
definition.
Define the following terms that you studied earlier.
city-state
(Chapter 3, Section 1)
military
(Chapter 10, Section 2)
Section 2: The Nobility
(pages 369–373)
Analyze the information in this section by answering the
following questions.
1. Why did nobles build palisades around their houses?
Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
2. How were people in castles able to hold out against attackers for as
long as six months?
3. How was marriage viewed?
4. Who defended the castle when the noblemen were away?
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169
Use these terms from this section to complete the sentences
below.
castles
palisades
keep
portcullis
ladies
1. After they were married, ______________________ were under the
complete authority of the nobleman.
2. Nobles lived in ______________________ that gave them security.
3. People in the entire household lived in the ______________________,
which held a great hall, many rooms, and a dungeon.
Define each of the following academic words from this
section.
benefit
secure
(pages 373–374)
Write the main idea of this section and three or more
details that support that idea.
Main Idea: ______________________________________________________
Supporting Details: ______________________________________________
170
Chapter 24
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Section 3: Knighthood
Match each key term from this section with its correct
definition.
____ 1. code of chivalry
a. ceremony for becoming a knight
b. rules that knights had to follow
____ 2. page
c. sword holder
____ 3. squire
d. what a knight in training became
after being a page
____ 4. dubbing
e. contests of strength
f. war-horses
____ 5. tournaments
____ 6. joust
Section 4: The Manor
g. helped knights care for their
horses
h. popular event during which
knights tried to knock each other
off their horses
(pages 375–378)
As you read, evaluate the following statements from the
section by writing O before each opinion and F before each
fact.
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1. Everyone depended on the land in feudal times.
2. Poor transportation isolated people from one another.
3. Family members did not like sleeping on piles of straw.
4. Serfs worked long hours.
____ 5. Peasants thought the three-field system of farming was the
best.
Define or describe each of the following key terms from
this section.
manors
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171
seneschal
bailiff
freemen
Define the following terms you studied earlier.
descendants
(Chapter 6, Section 2)
method
(Chapter 23, Section 1)
Why did feudalism develop in western Europe?
What roles did lords and vassals play?
172
Chapter 24
Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Now that you have read the chapter, write the answers to
the questions that were included in Read to Discover at the
beginning of the chapter.
What were the duties of a knight?
Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
What was life like on a manor?
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173