EARLY MIDDLE AGES
Previous to the Middle Ages, Celt peoples lived there and at the Early Middle Ages three powerful
Germanic tribes began not only to invade but also to settle in that territory. The tribes were the Angles
the Saxons and the Jutes.
The Anglo-Saxons established a number of kingdoms Essex (East Saxons), Sussex (South Saxons),
Middlesex (probably a kingdom of Middle Saxons), East Anglia (East Angles) and Northumbria, Mercia
and Wessex, which by the middle of the seventh century were the three largest and most powerful
kingdoms.
Evidence shows that these peoples organized in family villages. Most people believed, that a man' s first
duty was to his own family and that was the reason why a king’s power, as it depended on the loyalty of
his followers, was difficult to build or rebuild after the death of a king.
The Saxon kings began to replace loyalty to family with loyalty to lord and king.
The Saxons divided the land into new administrative areas, based on shires. or counties. Over each shire
was appointed a shire reeve, the king's local administrator which was a manager of a manor and
overseer of the peasants. In each district a shire was in a large house. Where local villagers came to pay
taxes, where justice was administered. and where men met together to join the Anglo-Saxon army. the
fyrd. The lord of the manor or shire reeve had to organise all this. and make sure village land was
properly shared. At the same time he served to the purposes of the King.
It was the beginning of a class system, made up of king, lords, soldiers and workers on the land.
HIGH AND LATE MIDDLE AGES
At the end of the eleventh century King William organised his English kingdom according to the feudal
system which had already begun to develop in England before his arrival.
The central idea was that all land was owned by the king but it was held by others called "vassals", in
return for services and goods. The king gave large estates to his main nobles in return for a promise to
serve him in war for up to forty days. The nobles also had to give him part of the produce of the land .
The greater nobles gave part of their lands to lesser nobles, knights and other "freemen". Some freemen
paid for the land by doing military service . while others paid rent. The noble kept "serfs" to work on his
own land. These were not free to leave the estate, and were often little better than slaves.
William gave parts of it as a reward to his captains. This meant that they held separate small pieces of
land in different parts of the country so that no noble could easily or quickly gather his fighting men to
rebel. At the same time he kept enough land for himself to make sure he was much stronger than his
nobles. Of all the farmland of England he gave half to the Norman nobles, a quarter to the Church, and
kept a fifth himself. He kept the Saxon system of she riffs, and used these as a balance to local nobles.
Previous to the Middle Ages, Celt peoples lived there and at the Early Middle Ages three powerful
Germanic tribes began not only to invade but also to settle in that territory. The tribes were the Angles
the Saxons and the Jutes.
The Anglo-Saxons established a number of kingdoms Essex (East Saxons), Sussex (South Saxons),
Middlesex (probably a kingdom of Middle Saxons), East Anglia (East Angles) and Northumbria, Mercia
and Wessex, which by the middle of the seventh century were the three largest and most powerful
kingdoms.
Evidence shows that these peoples organized in family villages. Most people believed, that a man' s first
duty was to his own family and that was the reason why a king’s power, as it depended on the loyalty of
his followers, was difficult to build or rebuild after the death of a king.
The Saxon kings began to replace loyalty to family with loyalty to lord and king.
The Saxons divided the land into new administrative areas, based on shires. or counties. Over each shire
was appointed a shire reeve, the king's local administrator which was a manager of a manor and
overseer of the peasants. In each district a shire was in a large house. Where local villagers came to pay
taxes, where justice was administered. and where men met together to join the Anglo-Saxon army. the
fyrd. The lord of the manor or shire reeve had to organise all this. and make sure village land was
properly shared. At the same time he served to the purposes of the King.
It was the beginning of a class system, made up of king, lords, soldiers and workers on the land.
HIGH AND LATE MIDDLE AGES
At the end of the eleventh century King William organised his English kingdom according to the feudal
system which had already begun to develop in England before his arrival.
The central idea was that all land was owned by the king but it was held by others called "vassals", in
return for services and goods. The king gave large estates to his main nobles in return for a promise to
serve him in war for up to forty days. The nobles also had to give him part of the produce of the land .
The greater nobles gave part of their lands to lesser nobles, knights and other "freemen". Some freemen
paid for the land by doing military service . while others paid rent. The noble kept "serfs" to work on his
own land. These were not free to leave the estate, and were often little better than slaves.
William gave parts of it as a reward to his captains. This meant that they held separate small pieces of
land in different parts of the country so that no noble could easily or quickly gather his fighting men to
rebel. At the same time he kept enough land for himself to make sure he was much stronger than his
nobles. Of all the farmland of England he gave half to the Norman nobles, a quarter to the Church, and
kept a fifth himself. He kept the Saxon system of she riffs, and used these as a balance to local nobles.
