KEY IDEA124 i
Changes in European Institutions
IN THIS CHAPTER
Summary: In the centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire, Western
Europe under went a period of political, economic, and social upheaval that
continued until about 900. The one stabilizing force throughout most of
Western Europe was the Roman Catholic Church. Only in Spain, dominated
by Muslim infl uences, did the learning of the Greeks and Romans thrive in
Western Europe.Key Terms
benefi ce* Magna Carta*
chivalry* manorialism*
excommunication* medieval*
feudalism* Middle Ages*
fi ef* moldboard plow
Gothic architecture* parliament*
investiture* vassal*Manorialism and Feudalism in Western Europe
Even before the fall of the Roman Empire, declining prosperity in the fi nal years of the
empire had caused small landowners to sell off their land holdings to the owners of large
estates. Although some peasants relocated to urban areas, others remained to work the
land, receiving protection from their landlords in exchange for their agricultural labor.
As trade continued to decline and political order disintegrated, manorialism became more
widespread. When a wave of Vikings from Scan dinavia invaded Europe in the ninth cen-
tury, Western Europeans turned to feudalism to provide a means of protection.CHAPTER