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Hands, a Kiss and a Rod: An Oath of Loyalty in Bruges, 1127

Source an eyewitness account of a feudal ceremony and trace how manors, Crusades, towns and plague changed medieval Europe.

Lords, manors and change

Read the passage. Then answer the questions.

Bound by Promises

1In the 800s and 900s, Viking, Magyar and Muslim raiders struck many parts of Europe, and kings could not defend every village. Power passed to local lords who had armed men. A great lord granted land, called a fief, to a vassal. The lord promised to protect his vassal and treat him fairly. The vassal promised loyalty, came to his lord's court to give advice, and fought for him, often about forty days a year.

2Most people were peasants on manors. Many were serfs, who could not leave without the lord's permission. Serfs worked the lord's fields several days a week, and they paid him to grind their grain at his mill and bake bread in his oven. The lord's steward ran a manor court that settled quarrels and fined people who broke the manor's customs. Earlier, many villages left half their farmland unplanted each year so the soil could rest. Over time many switched to three fields: one for wheat or rye, one for oats, peas or beans, and only one left to rest.

3From 1095 to 1291, popes called for Crusades to win and hold Jerusalem and other lands in the eastern Mediterranean. Count Robert II of Flanders joined the First Crusade, which captured Jerusalem in 1099. Many knights sold or pawned land to pay for the journey, and many never came home. Muslims saw the crusaders as invaders, and in 1187 the sultan Saladin retook Jerusalem. Italian merchants who carried crusaders and supplies grew rich, and goods such as spices and sugar reached more European markets.

4Meanwhile, towns grew. Bruges, in Flanders, became a busy center of cloth making and trade. Many towns paid their lords for charters that let townspeople run their own markets and courts. In many places, a serf who lived in a town for a year and a day could claim his freedom.

5In 1347 the Black Death reached Europe. In about four years it killed perhaps a third to half of the people. With so few workers left, surviving peasants asked for wages and lower rents, and many moved to wherever lords would pay more. Some lords and kings passed laws to hold wages down. Peasants rose in revolt in France in 1358 and in England in 1381. Over the next century, serfdom slowly faded across much of western Europe.

1.
Based on paragraph 2, how did switching to three fields most likely help a manor?
  • A. Serfs no longer had to work on the lord's fields.
  • B. The soil no longer needed to rest, so no field was left empty.
  • C. More of the land was planted each year, so harvests grew.
  • D. The manor could stop using the lord's mill and oven.
2.
Use paragraphs 1 and 2. Sort each duty by who owed it.
Protect the people bound to himFight in the lord's battlesPay to grind grain at the millGrant a fiefGive advice at the lord's courtWork the lord's fields each week
The lordThe vassalThe serf
3.
A lord owns manors near Bruges as its cloth trade booms. Based on paragraph 4, what change on his manors should most worry him?
  • A. The town might send knights to attack his manor house.
  • B. His serfs might leave for the town and claim their freedom.
  • C. His vassals might stop coming to his court for advice.
  • D. His serfs might start to grow wheat instead of oats.
4.
Based on paragraph 5, why could surviving peasants ask for more after the Black Death?
  • A. Workers were scarce, so lords needed the ones who were left.
  • B. Crusaders had brought back gold to pay the peasants.
  • C. Lords had already freed their serfs before the plague.
  • D. Kings passed laws ordering lords to raise peasants' pay.

Source an oath

Read the sourcing note and the excerpt. Then answer the questions.

Sourcing note
Galbert of Bruges was a clerk who wrote documents for the count of Flanders. In March 1127, Count Charles the Good was murdered in a church in Bruges, and rival nobles fought over who would rule. Galbert began writing a day-by-day record of what he saw and heard. In April 1127 the new count, William Clito, received oaths from the nobles of Flanders in Bruges, and Galbert described the ceremony. Relics were objects linked to saints, which Christians of the time treated as holy.
Excerpt (adapted from an English translation of Galbert's record)
"First they did homage in this way. The count asked each man whether he wished to become completely his man, and the man answered, 'I wish it.' Then the man placed his hands together between the count's hands, and they were bound together by a kiss. Second, the man pledged his faith to the count's spokesman in these words: 'I promise on my faith that from now on I will be faithful to Count William, and I will keep my homage to him completely against all persons, in good faith and without deceit.' Third, he swore to this on the relics of the saints. Then, with a small rod that he held in his hand, the count gave investiture to all who had made these promises."
5.
What makes Galbert's account especially useful for learning how this ceremony worked?
  • A. He was the count himself, so he knew what each noble meant.
  • B. He wrote it centuries later, after studying many other oaths.
  • C. He copied it from an older book of Flemish laws.
  • D. He wrote it in the same town and the same weeks as the events.
6.
Homage means becoming the lord's man. Fealty means promising faithfulness. Investiture means the lord handing over the fief. Sort each step of the ceremony.
Placing his hands between the count's handsSwearing on the relics of the saintsThe count holding out a small rodAnswering "I wish it"Promising to be faithful "without deceit"
HomageFealtyInvestiture
7.
Use the excerpt and paragraph 1. What did the count's small rod most likely stand for?
  • A. The punishment for a vassal who broke his oath
  • B. The wages the count would pay each knight
  • C. The land the count was granting to his vassals
  • D. The count's own oath to the king of France
8.
Underline the part of the oath that shows loyalty to the count had to come before loyalty to anyone else.

I promise on my faiththat from now on I will be faithful to Count William,and I will keep my homage to him completely against all persons,in good faith and without deceit.

9.
Why did the ceremony most likely include an oath sworn on relics?
  • A. To let the nobles choose a different count later on
  • B. To make breaking the promise a sin as well as a betrayal
  • C. To show that the Church owned the land being granted
  • D. To replace the kiss, which the Church had forbidden
10.
Use the sourcing note. Why would a public ceremony of loyalty matter so much to William Clito in April 1127?
  • A. After a murder and a struggle for power, he needed nobles openly bound to him.
  • B. The townspeople of Bruges had already chosen a different count.
  • C. The Black Death had killed most of the nobles who once served Flanders.
  • D. He was leaving that week to join the First Crusade to Jerusalem.
11.
Word bank: vassal · serf · fief · manor · relic

By doing homage, each noble became the count's  , and at the investiture he received his  .

12.
Claim: By about 1400, the personal bonds shown in Galbert's account mattered less in western Europe than they did in 1127. Do you agree? Use the excerpt and at least two paragraphs of the passage, and explain your reasoning.