The Three Orders class 11 history MCQ & SAQ

The Three Orders class 11 history NCERT SOLUTION:

Describe two features of early feudal society in France.

Answer:

(i)In the feudal society, the peasants cultivated their own land as well as that of the lord. The peasants performed labor services for the lords, who in exchange provided military protection.

(ii)French priests believed in the concept that people were members of one of the three 'orders', depending on their work. Priests placed themselves in the first order, nobles in the second order and peasants, free and unfree groups in the third order.

 

How did long-term changes in population levels affect the economy and society in Europe?

Answer:

1. Expansion in agriculture resulted in the growth of population, trade and towns. Europe's population increased from 42 million in 1000 to 73 million in 1300.

2. Surplus food production increased lifespan. Many new cities emerged. They became important trade and commercial centers. The bigger towns had populations of about 30,000.

3. Peasants sold their surplus grain in the cities and bought tools and cloth.

 

Why did knights become a distinct group, and when did they decline?

Answer:

1. From the ninth century, frequent localized wars in Europe demanded good cavalry because the amateur peasant-soldiers could not provide better defense.

2. A new section of people, the knights, provided the cavalry. They were linked to the lords who were under the control of the king.

3. The lord gave the knight a piece of land (called 'fief') and promised to protect it.

4. The knights declined when the feudal order started declining.

 

What was the function of medieval monasteries?

Answer:

1. Apart from the Church, deeply religious Christians chose to live isolated lives, in contrast to clerics who lived amongst people in towns and villages.

2. They lived in religious communities called abbeys or monasteries; they were built in places very far from human habitation.

 

Answer in a short essay

Imagine and describe a day in the life of a craftsman in a medieval French town.

Answer:

1. Craftsmen played a vital role in the feudal economic order. The basis of economic organization was the guild. Each craft was organized into a guild, which controlled the quality of the crafts, its price and its sale.

2. The 'guild-hall' was a feature of every town; it was a building for ceremonial functions, and where the heads of all the guilds met formally.

3. In France, by the twelfth century, commerce and crafts began to grow.

4. Earlier, craftsmen used to travel from manor to manor; now they found it easier to settle in one place where goods could be produced and traded for food.

 

Compare the conditions of life for a French serf and a Roman slave.

Answer:

Conditions of French serf:

1. Serfs cultivated plots of land that belonged to the lord. Much of the produce from this was taken away by the lord.

2. They also had to work on the land which belonged exclusively to the lord.

3. They were paid no wages and could not leave the estate without the lord's permission. The lord controlled the serfs in every way.

4. Serfs could use only their lord's mill to grind their flour, his oven to bake their bread, and his winepresses to distill wine and beer.

5. The lord could decide whom a serf should marry, or gave his blessing to the serf's choice, but on payment of a fee.

6. When the towns and cities emerged, many serfs craving to be free ran away and hid in towns. If a serf could stay for one year and one day without getting caught by his lord, he would become a free man.

Conditions of Roman slaves:

1. Slavery was an institution deeply rooted in the Roman Empire. During the rule of Augustus, there were still 3 million slaves in a total Italian population of 7.5 million.

2. In the Roman Empire, slaves were an investment; they were used as living-tools for services and labour. The Roman upper classes were brutal towards their slaves.

3. When there was a shortage of slaves, the users of slave labour turned to slave breeding- the practice of encouraging female slaves and their partners to have more children, who could be used as slaves in future.

The Three Orders class 11 history MCQ 

1. The first king who was declared the 'Holy Roman Emperor' was

(a) Charlemagne.

(b) Louis I.

(c) Louis II.

(d) Louis III.

► (a) Charlemagne.

 

2. The land granted by the lord to the knights was called:

(a) Fief

(b) Feud

(c) Seigneur

(d) Manor

► (a) Fief

 

3. We see the rise of absolute monarchy in Europe in the

(a) 15th & 16th centuries.

(b) 13th & 14th centuries.

(c) 12th & 13th centuries.

(d) 16th & 17th centuries.

► (a) 15th & 16th centuries.

 

4. There was a growing uncertainty about the value and purpose of monasticism by the

(a) thirteenth century.

(b) fourteenth century.

(c) fifteenth century.

(d) sixteenth century.

► (b) fourteenth century.

 

5. A guild was an association of

(a) monks.

(b) farmers.

(c) craft and industry.

(d) lords.

► (c) craft and industry.

 

6. The king who was declared the ‘Holy Roman Emperor’ was

(a) Charlemagne

(b) Louis I

(c) Louis II

(d) Louis III

► (a) Charlemagne

 

7. According to French priests the basis of classification among the three orders was

(a) education.

(b) race.

(c) wealth.

(d) nature of work.

► (d) nature of work.

8. One of the gradual changes that affected the social and economic ties between the lords and the vassals was

(a) agricultural technology.

(b) environment.

(c) land use.

(d) new towns.

► (b) environment.

 

9. The famous book Feudal Society, which dealt with the French society, was written by:

(a) James Cunnigham

(b) Alexander Cunnigham

(c) James Bloch

(d) Marc Bloch

► (d) Marc Bloch

 

10. Europe witnessed change in land use “switch from a two-field to a three-field system” during the

(a) 10th century.

(b) 11th century.

(c) 12th century.

(d) 13th century.

► (b) 11th century.

 

11. Fertile land was known as _____.

(a) Franks

(b) Gaul

(c) Manor

(d) Fief

► (c) Manor

 

 

 

 

 

12. The knight was given a piece of land by the lord. This piece of land was called _______

(a) Franks

(b) Toll

(c) Manor

(d) Fief

► (d) Fief

 

13. The Church was given the right to take one tenth of the total produce of the peasant over the course of a year which was called a _____.

(a) Taille

(b) Toll

(c) Tithe

(d) Franks

► (c) Tithe

 

14. Monks who moved from one place to another, preaching to the people and living on charity. These monks were known as ______.

(a) Manor

(b) Friars

(c) Tithe

(d) Serfs

► (b) Friars

 

15. Who was William I?

(a) Duke of Normandy

(b) Duke of Exeter

(c) Duke of Somerset

(d) Duke of Darlington 

► (a) Duke of Normandy

 

16. What were Cathedral towns?

(a) Towns developed around plains

(b) Towns developed around Churches

(c) Towns developed around industries

(d) Towns developed around Capital

► (b) Towns developed around Churches

The Three Orders class 11 history SAQ

Q.1. Which province of the Roman Empire became France and how?

Ans. Gaul province of the Roman Empire became France. A German tribe, ‘The Franks’, gave their name to Gaul and made it France.

Q.2. Write down any two privileges enjoyed by the nobles in France.

Ans. (i) The nobles had absolute and permanent control over their property.

(ii) They held their own court of justice.

Q.3. What was Manor?

Ans. Fertile land was known as Manor. A lord had his own palace within the manor. People living in manor had to survive on the manor land. Lord of the manor lived a life full of leisure but the life of peasants was full of sorrows.

Q.4. Why did castles develop in medieval Europe? Why were they made bigger from the thirteenth century?

Ans. Under the feudal system, in medieval Europe, Castles developed as centers of military power and political administration. From the thirteenth century, they were made bigger for use as a residence for a knight’s family.

Q.5. What was ‘Fief’ under the feudal system?

Ans. The knight was given a piece of land by the lord. This piece of land was called ‘Fief’. For this land, the knight had to pay his lord a regular fee and a promise to fight for him in war.

Q.6. What role did minstrels play in twelfth century France?

Ans. In twelfth-century France, minstrels traveled from one manor to another, singing songs which told stories about brave kings and knights. Thus, they encouraged warriors.

Q.7. What was a ‘tithe’?

Ans. The Church was given the right to take one tenth of the total produce of the peasant over the course of a year. It was called a ‘tithe’.

Q. 8. “Some of the important ceremonies conducted by the Church copied formal customs of the feudal elite.” Explain with examples.

Ans. (i) While praying, the act of kneeling with hands clasped and head bowed was just an exact replica of the way in which a knight used to conduct while taking vows of loyalty to his lord.

(ii) The use of the word ‘Lord’ for God.

Q. 9. Name two of the more well-known monasteries of Europe.

Ans. (i) St. Benedict Monastery (Italy) established in 529 CE.

(ii) Cluny Monastery (Burgundy) established in 910 CE.

Q. 10. Who were called Friars?

Ans. From the thirteenth century, some groups of monks decided not to live in a monastery. They moved from one place to another, preaching to the people and living on charity. These monks were known as Friars.

Q. 11. What was ‘taille’? Which people were exempted from this?

Ans. Taille was a kind of direct tax that kings sometimes imposed on peasants. Priests (clergy) and nobles were exempted from paying this tax.

Q. 12. Who was William I? How did he occupy England?

Ans. William I was the Duke of Normandy. He crossed the English Channel in the eleventh century, with an army and defeated the Saxon king of England. In this way, he occupied England.

Q. 13. Write two problems related to agriculture in medieval England.

Ans. (i) There was a wooden plow which was drawn by a pair of oxen. This plow was only able to scratch the earth’s surface. It was not possible for this plow to completely draw out the natural productivity of the soil.

(ii) An ineffective method of crop rotation was in use.

Q. 14. Why did serfs try to run away to towns?

Ans. Many serfs were running away and hiding in towns to become free men. If any lord was unable to discover his serf for one year and one day then the serf would become a free man.

Q. 15. Discuss two reasons for the development of towns in the medieval age.

Ans. (i) Importance of towns increased in the medieval age with the progress in commerce and trade. That is why many traders settled in towns.

(ii) There was no feudal control in towns. People, living in cities, were free to move from one place to another. This freedom in cities also helped in the development of towns.

Q.16. Which factors had given the first opportunity to kings to increase their control over their powerful and not so powerful subjects?

Ans. (i) The dissolution of the feudal system of lordship and vassalage.

(ii) The slow rate of economic growth.

Q.17. Write two features of life of monasteries of medieval Europe.

Ans. (i ) Life of monasteries was completely organized. Monks and Nuns living in them had to live in a strict discipline.

(ii) Monks and Nuns were not allowed to keep property or to marry.

Q.18. What were Cathedral towns?

Ans. Large Churches, called Cathedrals, were built in France. With the passage of time, towns developed around these churches. These towns were called Cathedral towns.

Q.19. Why did the peasant revolts take place in Europe in the fourteenth century?

Ans. In the fourteenth century, the lords tried to give up the money-contracts they had entered into with the peasants and revive labor services. The peasants opposed it violently and began to revolt.

Q. 1. What do you mean by ‘Feudalism’? Write its economic features.

Ans. The term ‘Feudalism’ is derived from the German word ‘Feud’ which means a ‘piece of land’.

In this way, feudalism was a system associated with land. It refers to a type of society which developed in medieval France and later in England and in southern Italy.

From an economic point of view, feudalism refers to a type of agricultural production which was based on the relationship between the lord and peasants.

Peasants not only cultivated their own land but of their lord as well. The lord provided military protection to peasants in exchange for their labor service. The lord also had extensive judicial rights over peasants. In this way, feudalism not only affected economic life but social and political aspects as well.

Q. 2. How did Gaul become France? What was the position of France by the eleventh century?

Ans. Gaul was a province of the Roman Empire. It had mountain ranges, extensive coastline, forests, long rivers and large tracts of plains good for agriculture. One Germanic tribe, the Franks, gave their name and made it ‘France’. From the sixth century, this region was ruled by Franckish/French Christian Kings. The French had very strong relations with the Church. These relations were further strengthened when in 800 CE, king Charlemagne was given the title of ‘Holy Roman Emperor’ by the Pope to ensure his support. In the eleventh century, a duke from the French province of Normandy, conquered the island of England-Scotland across a narrow channel.

Q. 3. Which was the first order of medieval western Europe? Discuss its role in the Catholic Church.

Ans. The clergy was the first order of medieval western Europe. It included the Pope, bishops and the clerics. They enjoyed a significant place in the Catholic Church. The Pope was the head of the western Church. He lived in Rome. The bishops and the clerics used to guide the Christians in Europe.

Most of the villages had their own Churches. Every Sunday, people assembled in the Church to listen to the sermon by the priest and to pray together.

The Church had its own rules. According to these rules, every person could not become a priest. Serfs, physically disabled and women could not become priests. Men, who became priests, could not marry.

In the religious field, the Bishops were the nobles. The Bishops also had vaste estates like the lords. They lived in splendid palaces. The Church had the right to take one-tenth of the total produce from the peasants. It was known as ‘Tithe’. Another source of income of the Church was the endowments made by the rich for their own welfare and welfare of their deceased relatives in the afterlife.

Q. 4. How did feudalism develop in England?

Ans. From the eleventh century, feudalism developed in England. In the sixth century, the Angels and Saxons had settled in England. Name of the England is a variant of the ‘Angle-land’. In the eleventh century, the Saxon king of England was defeated by the Duke of Normandy, William-I, who crossed the English Channel with an army. In this way, he conquered England. He mapped the land and then distributed it into 180 Norman nobles who came with him. These lords became the main tenets of the king.

The lords were expected to give the king military help. They also had to supply a few knights to the king.

That is why lords started to give some of their own lands to the knights. In exchange they were expected to serve the lord just as they in turn served the king.

But they could not use knights for their private warfare. Anglo-Saxon peasants became tenants of different levels of land holders. In this way feudalism developed in England.

Q. 5. Describe the classes that existed in European society during feudalism. Which new classes emerged during the later years of medieval age, and why?

Ans. There were two classes of social organization—the ruling class and the ruled class— under the feudal system. The ruling class consisted of big feudal lords (earls), who had been given land by the king. They had distributed this land among knights. So the feudal lords and the knights were included in the ruling class. Peasants and slave peasants fell into the category of the ruled class. The slave peasants worked on land and the feudal class spent their earning on luxurious way of life and mutual battles. No attention was paid towards the welfare of the hard working peasants.

New Class. Trade flourished during the later years of the medieval age. Consequently, a new class of traders developed. This class developed due to the following reasons:

(i) Demand for luxurious goods increased in Europe because of the Crusades. So many people began to trade in these goods. It greatly developed the traders’ class.

(ii) Peasants began to exchange agricultural goods for non-agricultural goods due to development of agriculture. It also encouraged the development of the traders’ class.

Q. 6. Discuss the condition of peasants under feudalism in Europe.

Or

Which main categories were there in medieval European society? Explain the condition of one of them.

Ans. Medieval European society was mainly divided into two categories and these were:

(i) Big landlords (ii) Peasants.

Condition of Peasants.  In the medieval age, feudal life was based on agriculture but the peasants had a very hard life. They lived in houses built of mud and grass. They had to work on the private land of their masters. They were paid no wages for this work.

They were given only a part of the produce. Their wives and daughters did weaving, spinning, etc., at the feudal lord’s house.

They used the lord’s oven to bake their bread and his mill to grind their flour, but they had to pay for it.

Thus, we see that the condition of peasants in medieval European society was very pitiable.

Q. 7. Describe the relationship among various classes of feudalism in medieval Europe.

Ans. Dukes or earls, barons and knights were various classes of feudalism in medieval Europe.

Besides these feudal lords, there was also a class of peasants. There were two categories of peasants. In the first category came free peasants and the second category consisted of serfs. Each lord acknowledged the higher lord as his master and he himself was considered as the master of the lords under him. No feudal lord owned any piece of land. He managed the land on behalf of his master. In time of a war, the king received military aid from the dukes and earls, the earls from the barons and the barons from knights.

Even the king could not establish direct contact with a baron or knight. Free peasants paid only a tax, but serfs had to beggar.

Q. 8. Discuss the main features of European feudalism.

Ans. Feudalism refers to a kind of agricultural production which is based on the relationship between lords and peasants. The king divided his estates among lords. The lords distributed this land amongst feudal lords. The feudal lord was loyal to his master and gave him military aid and gifts. The feudal lord was given formal rights by his master. In the peasantry feudal hierarchy, peasants were the lowest class. They were of two kinds: free peasants and serfs. The peasants worked as bonded laborers on the piece of land obtained from his master. Thus, there was decentralization of authority in feudalism. But the king lost any contact with the common man.

Q. 9. Discuss the political and economic significance of feudalism.

Ans. The medieval European society witnessed a large number of political and economic changes due to feudalism. Politically, a new system of government developed. There was no central power and real power was exercised by the feudal lords. Law and justice enjoyed no respect in this system. Economically, people’s lives were backward. Serfs were exploited in this age. Trade came to a standstill because there were not many towns. In fact, economic life was mostly rural in the feudal set-up. Peasants worked but a major part of the produce was taken by feudal lords.

Q. 10. Describe the manor-dependent life in feudalism.

Ans. A fertile tract of land near a village was called a manor. There was a castle of the feudal lord in the middle of the manor. There was also a pasture. People inhabiting the manor made their livelihood from the manor land. Their land was divided into tracts. Each peasant was given some tracts for cultivation.

Peasants led a very hard life. The manor owner could interfere in their social and personal life and led a very luxurious life.

What other functions apart from cultivating their own land were assigned with the peasants?

Answer:

1. To render military service at least forty days every year.

2. To work without wage in the fields owned by the lord at least three days a week. This labor was heated as rent for self-owned land.

To dig ditches, gather firewood, build fences, and repair roads and buildings.

To engage women and children in works like spinning, weaning clothes, making candles, and press grapes to prepare wine for the lord.

 

Imagine the background for the origin of Feudalism in Europe?

Answer:

We have come to know that the eastern part of the Roman empire gradually declined and fell into pieces under a number of tribes that came down from the north. In the western part of that empire comprising Portugal, Spain, Corsica, Sardinia, Italy, Austria, German States, Normandy, Gaul (France), Burgundy, etc. in the north of the Mediterranean, Christianity made its hold and saved it from ruination. It had become the official religion of the Roman Empire from the fourth century.

It is plausible to mention that religion always is felt on a nerve by human beings. Being its scope infinitesimal, a few people shrewd in society or known to manage the mass had always resorted to the most sensitive issue of religion and established social organizations. History is evident of such a phenomenon of religion. A similar thing, we can see in the regeneration and organization of society under the feudal system during the fifth to fifteen century CE.

The three orders are the symbol of the three-prong management of the masses. It was knitted by the church whose head was Pope of Rome with Bishops and Clerics in Europe. The Pope's orders were called Papal-bull and followed by the masses. It was the first order, the second order was nobility including the king, and the third-order was the peasants.

Conclusion-Thus, on the above grounds, we can state that it was the phenomenon of the Church which had developed the practice of vassalage and established a feudal system.

 

Discuss the practice of vassalage under three orders?

Answer:

This practice was earlier followed by Germans in which Franks were also a tribe. Hence, it is attributed to brought in by the Franks, a Germanic tribe.

The noble i.e. second order was vassals c (the king and peasants were vassals of the landowners. The first order i.e. the church with its network of Bishops, Clerics, monks, etc. proliferated in monasteries cathedrals were independent of the king i.e. Seigneur (lord) of the nobility and actual law-making power was in its hands. The harangues delivered by the Abbey and Abbess including priests fixed an idea to the public that as cows, donkeys, sheep, goats require distinct enclosures/stables, the same way, division of society in people who pray, the others who fight, and a majority of others who possess the ability to act upon.

Thus, as the king was lord to nobility, the nobility was the lord to the peasants. Land owning was the essence of such arrangement therefore, the third-order was called peasants otherwise; they were no better than slaves to the manor and his manorial estate. Thus, two orders in feudal society in another sense were oppressor and the third was oppressed.

 

Do you see manual estates like the private states in India during the British regime? Justify your answer.

Answer:

It has been truly stated that the history of every man, tribe, clan, etc. has a long-lasting impact because it becomes instincts and thus, repeated irrespective of the place, time, and circumstances. Britishers were from England and England was the part of Europe hence, the same feudal compositions, they made ready to rule India. Had they not acquired the instincts of Europe, they should have neither ruled India by dividing it into two parts i.e. British India and Princely states.

We observe similarities in both cases. The feudal system in Europe was of three orders i.e. Priest, nobility, and peasants. In India, during the British regime; it was the crown, the company, and the masses. As nobility was owned large estates, the governors-general were representatives to the British crown in India and Common people were as third-order while the princely states were pari-passu to the second-order in the feudal society of Europe i.e. Peasants.

 

Describe the major features of a manorial estate and tell if each estate you see is similar to a kingdom.

Answer:

The manorial estate, according to its features, was a kingdom in itself. We see here a manorial estate accommodating Church, Knights, families of manor or nobleman including more than fifty families and an area measuring several thousand acres.

Like a Kingdom, the manorial house was built in the middle as Hf its capital. A manor had employed on his fields, two kinds of peasants, some were free while some others were serfs. The women and children of these peasants were also engaged in works like spinning the thread and wearing fabric and pressing the grapes to prepare wine for the lord or manor.’There were blacksmiths and carpenters for maintenance of the lord’s implements and repair of his weapons.

There were knights given accommodation and land measuring between 1000 and 2000 acres or more in order to fight in wars which had become a routine affair those days. The manor has absolute rights to charge rent- levies from the peasants by employing them in begar. He had absolute power to establish the judiciary in order to dispose of the petty disputes between peasants or his vassals. The estate consisted of a consolidated region with meadows, pastures, forest-land, plains, rivers, reservoirs, churches, colonies, etc.

On the basis of the above, features and the powers conferred to the manor or nobleman in Europe exhibit that manorial estate was a smaller kingdom in itself with the exclusive 

Discuss examples of expected patterns of behavior between people of different social levels, in a medieval manor, a palace, and in a place of worship.

Answer:

(a) BehaviOur pattern in a medieval manor-The manor or the nobleman was an autocrat to the people housed in his estate. He never provided the children of peasants opportunity of schooling and education. Instead, they were exploited for pressing grapes and preparing wine for the manor. Similarly, women were also engaged in begar for spinning the thread and weaving cloth for the manor.

He has a monopoly in the estate. He used to charge fees from the Knights and military services against the fief awarded. Peasants were compelled to provide military services at least forty days in a year and do beggars three days a week. The manor had given this free service in the name of labor rent. The serfs were more oppressed than the peasants. There were a number of restraints and restrictions imposed on them.

(b) Behavior pattern in a palace–Every person entering in the palace had to sit on knee bent, with hands clasped and head bowed.

The King was addressed as lord (i.e. God) or signer. A poem “Doon de Mayence” refers to the allegiance of the Knights as-“If my dear lord is slain, his fate I’ll share if he is hanged, then hang me by his side….”:

(c) Place of the worship-The church was the supreme power, feudal society of Europe. Church had its own laws independent of the king. Christians in Europe were guided by bishops and clerics. Women, serfs, and persons physically handicapped were not eligible to become a priest. The priest was not allowed to marry. The church has the right to collect “Tithe” vis a tax assessed as a one-tenth share of whatever the peasants produce in their field in a year. Bishops were luxurious people and awarded .with large estates. Feudal etiquette and ceremonies were followed in the church.

Conclusion-On the basis of the above behavior patterns, it can be stated that feudal organization of society was merely a facade of religion and assurance to provide protection from the localized wars to the masses, was nothing else but a device to exploit the third order by the Church as also by the nobility. We do not see educational institutions except a few classes on Christianity in churches. In brief, there were only two orders in feudal society i.e. A class of oppressors and another of the oppressed under one or other tactics.

 

“It is ignorance that generates fear of life and the man falls in a few shrewd hands for exploitation’. Do you agree with this statement? Justify your answer referring to the instinct of fear among common masses in Europe.

Answer:

While perusing the feudal society in Europe, the above statement appears all correct. Actually, this fact was known to the Church, the supreme authority in Christianity. The vassalage was the creation of Bishops and Cleries whose supreme head was the Pope of Rome. After going over the pains and atrocities inflicted on the peasants, we would like to state that they are not religious people but shrewd. In order to bag all luxuries in their favor as we see, bishops owned large estates and called religious nobility, they befooled the masses and kept them in cages as an instrument to produce the luxurious living of the Clerics.

We don’t see any efforts made by the lords for their subject except in monasteries, where only manner-how to sing prayers in church-was taught to the selected children of noblemen and not of the masses. Instead of doing this, all children in manorial estates were engaged on begar for preparation of wine for the lords. The priests and noblemen deliberately killed their childhood by their murderous instinct so that nobody could oppose the feudal system in the future and they should enjoy from one generation to another in perpetuity, the luxurious.

The ignorance imposed on people made them fearful and they realized wars made them frightened. If a man of average mind sees the controls of a nobleman; he would have preferred living in a forest instead of the estate or dying at the hands of invaders. That fear was thrust in their heart and being illiterate, they posed blind-faith on clerics and the lords. Thus, it was ignorance that compelled them to live a life worse than wild-animals.

 

What were the main factors for the crisis of the fourteenth century? Discuss.

Answer:

The major factor was that of change in the climate. By the end of the thirteenth century, the warm summers of the previous 300 years had given way to bitterly cold summers. The crop growing season was reduced by a month and it became difficult to grow crops on higher ground. Storms and oceanic flooding destroyed the major part of the fertile plains.

Result-The income from taxes was reduced.

The second factor was that of marginal utility on agricultural production because regular cropping had made the fertility of the soil marginal. Soil conservation was not taken care of, during two hundred years of regular farming. Meadows lost grasses and it reduced the number of cattle.

The third factor was that of unprecedented growth in population during the last two hundred years of farming.

Result-Over population but less agricultural production brought starving conditions between 1315 and 1317 coupled with massive deaths of cattle in the 1320s.

The fourth factor was the depletion of the silver stock in the mines of Austria and Serbia. This situation barred minting and coinage thereby loss of trade and commerce.

The fifth and the worst factor was the spread of the bubonic plague (Black Death) between 1347 and 1350.

Result-This catastrophe took a toll on 20 percent of the total population in Europe.

Conclusion-The degeneration of agricultural yield and de-population conditions provided the major cause for the destruction of feudal set-up in European society.

Question 9.

“Social unrest in Europe immediately after the crisis of the fourteenth century was an indication of certain political changes there”-Do you agree with this statement? Justify.

Answer:

Yes, this statement is all justified. The de-population caused by the catastrophe of the plague, changes in the environment, oceanic floodings, and shortage of metal money, proved an indication of certain political changes as the society at that juncture, took notice of the situation in its apparent form. The so-called lords suffered a price decline for food grains as millions of people have succumbed to the bubonic plague. Again, wages of laborers increased because of the short supply of man-power.

The lords gave-up the money contracts and revived labor services i.e. Begar. It was met with severe opposition by the better educated and more prosperous peasants. Their annoyance to the system has appeared in revolts of 1323, 1358, and 1381 in Flanders, France, and England respectively. It is true that revolutions were crushed but they again took a violent turn shortly. Thus, the peasants ensured that the feudal privileges of earlier days could not be reinvented.

The Three Orders class 11 history long question

Q. 1. Throw light on the influence of the Church on medieval European society.

Ans. The Church had great influence on the society of medieval Europe. It brought significant changes in Europeans’ old beliefs in magic and folk traditions.

(i) Christ’s birthday is celebrated on 25 December. It replaced an old pre-Roman festival whose date was calculated with the help of a solar calendar.

(ii) Easter is the symbol of the crucifixion of Christ and his rising from the dead. But the date of Easter is not a fixed one because it replaced an older festival to celebrate the coming of spring after a long winter, dated by the lunar calendar. Traditionally, on this day, people of each village visited their village lands. They even continued to do so, even with the coming of Christianity, but they called the village ‘parish’ (the area under the supervision of one priest).

(iii) Holy days (holidays) were welcomed by the overworked peasants because they were not required to do work on that day. These holy days were meant for prayers, but generally, people spent most part of that day having fun and feasting.

(iv) Pilgrimage was an important part of the life of Christian. Many people went on long journeys to big Churches or to shrines of martyrs.

Q.2. Examine the technological changes that occurred in Europe by the eleventh century. Also discuss the effects of these changes.

Ans. By the eleventh century, Europe saw several technological changes in the fields of agriculture and land use. These changes were as follows:

(i) Cultivators started to use heavy iron tipped plows and mold boards. It made possible for these plows to dig much deeper and for mold-boards to turn the topsoil properly. It helped in the better utilization of nutrients of soil.

(ii) Change came in the method of harnessing animals to the plow. The shoulder-harness came into use instead of the neck-harness. This method enabled the animals to exert more power.

(iii) Horses were shed with iron horse-shoes. It prevented foot decay.

(iv) Use of wind and water energy for agriculture increased.

(v) For milling corn and pressing grapes, more water-powered and wind-powered mills were set up all over Europe.

(vi) A two-field system of land use was changed into a three field system. In this system, peasants could use a field for two years out of three if they planted it with one crop in autumn and another crop in spring one and a half year later. It means that farmers could divide their land into three parts. Wheat or rye could be planted by them in one part for human consumption. The second could be used to raise peas, beans and lentils in spring for human use. Oats and barley could be raised in the second part for the horses. The third part lay below. Each year they used to rotate the use among the three fields.

Effects. (i) Food production from each unit of land uses increased almost immediately. Food availability also doubled with this.

(ii) People began to make greater use of plants like peas and beans. It provided more vegetable proteins in the diet of the average European. It also proved a better source of fodder for their animals.

(iii) Technological changes provided better opportunities to cultivators. Now it became possible for them to produce more food from less land. By the thirteenth century, the average farm size of a peasant was reduced to 20–30 acres from about 100 acres. Less holdings could be cultivated more efficiently and less labor was also required for this. It gave the peasants time for other activities.

Q.3. What were the effects of expansion of agriculture in medieval Europe?

Ans. There occurred a number of changes in agricultural technology and land use in medieval Europe. These changes led to the expansion of agriculture which cast the following effects in medieval Europe :

(i) Europe witnessed a high growth in population. In 1000 CE, its population was about 42 million which stood at 62 million around 1200 CE and 73 million in 1300 CE.

(ii) Expansion in agriculture provided better food to people. The meaning of better food for people was a longer life span. By the thirteenth century, the average age of an average European increased upto 10 years as compared to the 8th century. Women and girls had a shorter span of life as compared to men because men used to eat better food.

(iii) With the fall of the Roman Empire, its towns had become deserted and ruined. But from the eleventh century, towns began to grow because of expansion of agriculture and growth of population. A place was required for the peasants where they could sell their surplus grains and where they could buy tools and cloth. This need helped in the emergence of periodic fairs and small marketing centers. Town like features were developed in these centers like a Church, a town square, roads where merchants built homes and shops, an office where administrators of the town could meet. At other places, towns grew around large castles, large churches or around bishops’ estates. New opportunities of employment were offered by towns. Control of lords decreased as well.

Q. 4. Explain the factors which slowed down Europe’s economic expansion by the early fourteenth century. What were its consequences ?

Ans. Europe’s economic expansion slowed down by the early fourteenth century because of the following factors:

(i) Changes in Climatic Conditions : By the end of the thirteenth century, the warmth of the previous 300 years of northern Europe had been replaced by the bitterly cold summers. Seasons for growing crops were reduced at least by a month. On higher altitudes, it became almost impossible to grow crops. Many agricultural farms were destroyed by storms and oceanic flooding. As a result, the government's income, in taxes, was reduced.

(ii) Intensive Plowing : The favorable climate before the thirteenth century had converted many forests and pastures into agricultural land. But the soil was exhausted with intensive agriculture despite the practice of the three field rotation of crops. It happened because of lack of proper soil conservation. Number of cattle was also reduced due to shortage of pastures.

(iii) Shortage of Metal Money : Output from the silver mines in Austria and Serbia was reduced which resulted in the severe shortage of metal money. Consequently, trade was hit. This shortage of silver forced the government to reduce the silver content of the currency. The government started to mix cheaper metals in the silver to make coinage.

(iv) Bubonic Plague Infection : Trade expanded in the 13th and 14th centuries. Ships carrying goods from far off countries started arriving in European parts. Rats came along with the ships. These rats were carrying deadly bubonic plague infection. As a result, Western Europe was greatly affected by this infection between 1347 and 1350. The epidemic killed 20% of the people of the whole of Europe. At some places, the number of the dead was as much as 40% of the population. Cities were the hardest hit. The plague affected infants, the young and the elderly. Many other minor episodes of the plague also took place in the 1360s and the 1370s. As a result, the population of Europe reduced to 45 million in 1400 CE from 73 million in 1300 CE.

Consequences : 

(i) The epidemic combined with the economic crisis caused great social dislocation.

(ii) Major shortage of labor occurred with depopulation.

(iii) Serious imbalances were created between agriculture and manufacturing.

(iv) There were very few buyers available due to which prices of agricultural goods dropped.

(v) Wage rates increased because of the rise in demand for labor.

Q.5. How did powerful new states (nation states) emerge in medieval Europe? Why were these states resisted by the aristocracy?

Ans. In medieval Europe, changes also came in the political field as well as in the social process. In the fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries, European kings consolidated their financial and military power. They became absolute rulers. These absolute rulers included Louis XI in France, Maximilian in Austria, Henry VII in England and Isabella and Ferdinand in Spain. They organized standing armies, a permanent bureaucracy and national taxation system. The Spanish and Portuguese rulers began to play a role in Europe’s expansion overseas. Reasons for the Emergence of New States: Following were the reasons for the emergence of powerful new states:

(i) Social Changes : The twelfth and the thirteen centuries had witnessed several social changes. Feudal system of lordship and vassalage were dissolved and the rate of economic growth slowed down. It gave the kings an opportunity to increase their control over nobles and general masses. The system of feudal levies for the armies was dispensed by the rulers. Instead they introduced professionally trained infantry equipped with guns and siege artillery under their direct control. Thus, the kings had become so powerful that the aristocracies could not dare to resist them.

(ii) Increase in Taxes : Kings got enough revenue by increasing taxes. It helped them to support large armies. With the help of the armies they defended and expanded their frontiers. It also made it easy for them to overcome internal resistance to royal authority.

Resistance by Aristocracy : The powerful new states faced a heavy resistance by aristocracy. The question of taxation was the basis of all types of resistance to the new states. Rebellions occurred in England in 1497, 1536, 1547, 1549 and 1553 CE and were suppressed. In France, Louis XI fought a long struggle against princes and dukes. Lesser nobles were generally members of local assemblies and they also resisted royal usurpation of their powers. The religious wars of France in the 16th century were a part of competition between royal privileges and regional liberties.

Three orders’ phrase signifies that there is involved religion in the ruling system of the community. To what extent, do you agree with his statement? Explain.

Answer:

Three orders, on perusal of this term, we conclude the der of the society in three different sections i.e.

1. The priests,

2. The nobility and

3. the peasants.

A brief account of these orders can be given as under:

1. The Priests–It was the first and the supreme order of society in Europe between the fifth and the fifteen centuries. It was the Federal type of Administration whose network was made by the Feudal form of nobility. The church was the supreme authority. It was actually the law-making section. It had defined the supreme place of the Pope, the religious preceptor. He used to live in Rome and administration was run through Papal Bull by him in Europe with the machinery of the bishops and Clerics.

2. The Nobility-Nobility was the second order of European society. It has the executive powers of the Feudal system of governance. Hereby the nobles i.e. the large Estate owners or manors used to nominate one among them as Seigneur (senior). All other nobles then became vassal to him while the peasants were the vassals of their landowners i.e. manors.

The King or senior also had a large state, owned and cultivated by two kinds of peasants viz. one who was smaller peasants owned their lands and the others who were serfs i.e. slaves. Every manor had owned his large estate consisting of a number of buildings including the manor house, knight house, homes for peasants, and surfs. The land was composed of meadows, pastures, cultivated land, an area under forest, roads, bridges, etc. This estate was like a castle and a smaller Kingdom in itself.

Sources of income were the taxes imposed on peasants in the ratio of 1/10 of the gross agricultural production, the beggar maid by both peasants i.e. free peasants and the surfs. The manor or noble had to pay the taxes in cash or kind to the coffer or pool of the King.

3. The peasants-Peasants were of two types. Some were free while others were unfree or surfs. Free peasants held their farms as tenants of the Lord or manor. They were compelled to provide at least forty days of military services per annum, three days of the week in working or farming, cultivating the fields of their manor, but without getting any remuneration for their work. It was considered under the law as Iabourrent. Their women and children were all deployed in works like pressing grapes for King’s nobles, spun thread, wove cloth, made candles, etc. The serfs had not owned any lands.

They had to cultivate the land of the manor but except for getting their food and daily needs, they were paid nothing. There were a number of restrictions imposed on them. They would not allow marriage or other ties unless a fee was paid for the same. Serfs would use only their lord’s mill to grind their flour, his oven to bake their bread, and his wine-presses to distill wine and beer.

The economic relations, land use, and new agricultural technology, new towns and towns’ people all had witnessed a change in the society. We know that during the period from the fifth to the eleventh century, the environment was excessively cold hence, no progress, the agriculture could witness but from the eleventh century, the temperature began to change from cooler to warmer. Hence, a number: of species in the plant kingdom and animal kingdom started to grow. The vegetation cover made the environment fertile for the growth of several crops including wheat, peas, beans, oats, and barley. Thus, agricultural production increased manifold.

It subsequently developed – trade and commerce, and people took a keen interest in the development of new agricultural tools and machinery. They began to use heavy iron-tipped plows and moldboards in place of wooden plows drawn by a team of oxen. Oxen were given shoulder harnesses in place of neck harnesses. More water-powered and wind-powered mills were set up all over Europe for purposes like milling corn and pressing grapes. The most revolutionary change in land-use was the shift from a two-field to a three-field system. They could plant one with wheat or rye in autumn for human consumption.

The second could be used in spring to raise peas, beans, and lentils for human use. The third field lay fallow. Each year, they rotated the use among the three % fields. Trade started from the silk route and maritime route. An increase in agricultural production, resulted in an increased population from 62. millions of 1200 to 73 million in 1300 CE. An increase in population and agricultural yield both resulted in the revival of the towns which were deserted along-with the decline of the Roman Empire.

In towns, people instead of services paid a tax to the lords who owned the land on which the town stood. Towns offered the prospect of paid work and freedom from the lord’s control, for young people from peasants. families. Trade and Commerce made the merchant section of society very prosperous and they began to donate money to the clergy to construct the Cathedrals i.e. worshiping places of monasteries.

There were grand buildings sometimes, made within the complex of Churches. Soon, there developed markets around these Cathedral structures and craftsmen guilds settled towns.

Conclusion-Thus, on the above description, we see that the feudal system in England was developed, nourished, and administered by the religion i.e. Christianity. People were linked with vassalage similar to the practice among Germanic people. Nobles were vassals of the King who himself (i.e. the king) was a noble and peasants were vassals of nobles (manors) but the power of the Church was supreme.