Lecture 25: From Roman Empire to Holy Roman Empire
the master (serfs) or those who were indirectly his clients
(peasants/knaves).o Technology from the classical period was adapted and
developed within this agricultural setting, including the
heavy plough, horse collar, horseshoes, water mill, tide mill,
winepress, grindstone, artesian well, heating through ducts,
chimneys, and wheelbarrows.o In the towns and small cities of the early medieval period,
guilds eventually formed for masons, carpenters, painters,
clothing makers, tanners, bakers, shoemakers, apothecaries,
and candlemakers. Exquisite art was practiced in brass, silver,
gold, stone, and wood.• The larger societal system called “feudalism” extended the pattern
of manorialism to the level of the kingdom: as the serf was to the
master, so was the vassal (the individual landowner and master) to
his lord (the king).• The king served as patron and master, supporting individual
landowners and offering them protection from external and internal
threats through his royal resources. The vassals owed the king
payment (feudal = “fee”) either in tribute or, in times of trouble, the
warriors from their estates to form the king’s army.
o A major technological development, the stirrup, enabled the
development of metal-armored and heavily weaponed knights.
Small arms, such as the sword, bow, and lances, were buttressed
by heavier weapons, such as the crossbow, the catapult, and
other siege engines.o The knight and his entourage of squires, as well as foot soldiers,
formed the “fee” of the vassal to a king as an expression of
fealty (loyalty).o The greater the king, the greater the number of vassal knights
whose fealty he could command.