Feudalism
a political and social system in Western Europe from the end of CHARLEMAGNE 's empire (late 9th cent. A.D.) to the rise of absolute monarchies. It had a local agricultural economy with the manor as its unit. In the MANORIAL SYSTEM the VILLEIN and SERF held land from the lord of the manor, the seigneur or suzerain, in return for services, dues, and an oath of fealty. The king owned all land. Under him came a hierarchy of nobles, the highest holding land from the king, and those of lesser rank from the nobles above them. Landholding was by fief and was ceremonially acquired by INVESTITURE .The unsettled conditions of the time necessitated warriors for the lord and protection for the vassal. Gradations of vassalage were based on landholding and military service, from the single serf to private armies of hundreds. The KNIGHT was the typical warrior, with the squire below him and counts, dukes, and other nobles above him. The system, rooted in the decay of Roman institutions, spread from France to Spain, to Italy, and later to Germany and E Europe. WILLIAM I (the Conqueror) brought (1066) the Frankish form of feudalism to England. Feudalism waned as powerful monarchies broke down local systems, but it lingered in France until the French Revolution, in Germany and Japan until the 19th cent., and in Russia until 1917 (although serfdom was abolished officially in 1861).
Crusades
wars undertaken by European Christians between the 11th and 13th cent. to conquer the Holy Land from the Muslims. At the Council of Clermont (1095) Pope URBAN II exhorted Christendom to war, and the Crusaders took their name from the crosses distributed there. Religious motives dominated the Crusades at first, but worldly aims were never absent: The nobles hoped to capture land and loot; the Italian cities looked to expand trade with the Middle East. The First Crusade, 1095-99, was led by Raymond IV, count of Toulouse, GODFREY OF BOUILLON ,BOHEMOND I ,and TANCRED .Their victorious campaign was crowned by the conquest of Jerusalem (1099). The establishment of the Latin Kingdom of JERUSALEM and the orders of the KNIGHTS HOSPITALERS and the KNIGHTS TEMPLARS followed. The Second Crusade, 1147-49, preached by St. BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX after the Christians lost EDESSA (1144) to the TURKS ,ended in dismal failure. After SALADIN captured (1187) Jerusalem for Islam, the Third Crusade, 1189-92, led by Holy Roman Emperor FREDERICK I ,PHILIP II of France, and RICHARD I of England, failed to recapture the city. A three-year truce, however, gave Christians access to Jerusalem. The Fourth Crusade, 1202-4, was diverted for the benefit of Venice, and the Crusaders seized Constantinople (see CONSTANTINOPLE, LATIN EMPIRE OF ).In the pathetic Children's Crusade (1212), thousands of children set out for the Holy Land, only to be sold as slaves or to die of hunger or disease. The Fifth Crusade, 1217-21, was aimed at Egypt, but failed. The truce arranged with the Muslims by Holy Roman Emperor FREDERICK II in the Sixth Crusade, 1228-29, was short-lived. Three later crusades in the 13th cent. failed to reverse the Muslim gains. In 1291 the last Christian stronghold of Akko (Acre) fell.
Scutage
feudal payment, usually cash, by a vassal to his lord, especially to a king, instead of military service. Its incidence increased in the 12th cent. with the rise of professional military knights. Kings of England financed wars for their French lands by scutage. In the MAGNA CARTA (1215), King JOHN of England pledged not to impose scutage without the consent of his barons. The growth of taxes after the reign of EDWARD III displaced scutage in England.
Magna Carta
[Lat., (= (great charter], the most famous document of British constitutional history, issued (1215) by King JOHN at Runnymede under compulsion by the barons. The purpose was to insure feudal rights and to guarantee that the king could not encroach on baronial privileges. The document also guaranteed the freedom of the church and the customs of the towns; implied laws protecting the rights of subjects and communities, which the king could be compelled to observe; and vaguely suggested-at least to later generations-guarantees of trial by jury and HABEAS CORPUS .After John's death (1216) the charter was reissued with significant omissions. In later centuries parliamentarians portrayed it as a democratic document, but in the 19th cent. some scholars maintained that it was reactionary in that it merely guaranteed feudal rights. It is now generally recognized that the charter showed the viability of opposition to the excessive use of royal power. There are four extant copies of the original.
Knights Templars
members of the military religious order of the Poor Knights of Christ, also called Knights of the Temple of Solomon. Like the KNIGHTS HOSPITALERS and the TEUTONIC KNIGHTS ,they rose during the CRUSADES .From a band of nine knights united (c.1118) to protect pilgrims, the order grew large and rich. They were famous for dashing military exploits. After the city of Akko fell (1291), they went to Cyprus. Their wealth made them the bankers of Europe and led to persecution (1308-14) by PHILIP IV of France. The last grand master and their other leaders were burned as heretics (1314), and the order came to an end.
Knights Hospitalers
members of the military religious order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, called also the Knights of St. John, of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, or of Malta. The order grew out of an 11th-cent. pilgrims' hospital in the Holy Land (see PALESTINE ).As a military order it grew rich and powerful. After the Saracen conquest (1291) of Akko, the Knights took RHODES (1310), which they defended (1480) against the Ottoman sultan MUHAMMAD II but yielded (1522) to SULAYMAN I .Emperor CHARLES V gave them Malta (1530), which they defended against the Turks. After the Turkish defeat (1571) at LEPANTO ,the Hospitalers engaged peacefully in hospital work until Napoleon seized Malta (1798). The order as constituted in the 19th cent. bears little relation to the old order
Teutonic Knights
German military religious order founded (1190-91) in the Holy Land during the Third CRUSADE .It was made up of nobles, and its knights took monastic vows. It moved to E Europe in the early 13th cent. and in 1226 began a crusade against the heathen Prussians. Within 50 years the order established itself as the ruling government of PRUSSIA ,which it Christianized by exterminating the native population and repopulating it with Germans. Its governments in East Prussia, West Prussia, and (after 1309) Pomerelia were under the protection of both pope and emperor. Despite that, Poland seized (1446) West Prussia and Pomerelia. The order's own grand master, Albert of Brandenberg, accepted (1525) the Reformation and declared Prussia a secular duchy with himself as duke, thereby stripping the Teutonic Order of all importance.
Knights of Caldwell Home Page
Knights Roster
