Important Questions: The Three Orders | History Class 11 - Humanities/Arts PDF Download

Very Short Answer Type Questions

Q1: What was the achievement of Marc Bloch?
Ans: He had composed a book on “The Feudal Society”. Here he gives a detailed account of social relations, hierarchies, land management, and culture of the French society between 900 and 1300 CE.

Q2: What do you understand by the medieval era?
Ans: It is the period between the fifth and the fifteenth century i.e. history of above 1000 ( a millennium) years.

Q3: Why did the social organization was centered on the control of land in Europe?
Ans:

• There was a lack of any integrated political force.
• Continuous military conflict was witnessed.
• Fencing became important in order to protect one’s land.

Q4: What was the role of Christianity in the feudal system of society in Europe?
Ans:

• It was the religion when had survived the collapse of Rome.
• It was pervaded throughout Europe.

On this basis, a priest (Clergy) was the first order of feudal society in Europe. Pope was the supreme head of the Catholic Church and Christians in Europe were guided by Bishops and clergies. The church was the law-making body and independent from the king.

Q5: What is the meaning of feudalism from an economic angle?
Ans: It was based on the relationship between lords and peasants. Lords were the nobles with large estates, joined by the whole. Peasants were owners of smallholdings and they had to cultivate the land owned by their lords and military protection was given to them in exchange for such services to the lords.

Q6: Describe the typography of Gaul or France.
Ans: It was a province of the Roman empire. It had two coastlines, mountain ranges/long rivers, forests, and large tracts of plains.

Q7: Where was the island of England-Scotland located?
Ans: It was located across a narrow channel in Normandy province of the French empire.

Q8: Mention the essence of an article composed by Abbess Hildegard of Bingen in the twelfth century?
Ans: She had mentioned that as cows, donkeys, sheep, goats have certain different characteristics and cannot be put in a single enclosure, human being similarly; require different settings in society.

Short Answer Type Questions

Q9: What other functions apart from cultivating their own land were assigned with the peasants?
Ans: To render military service at least forty days every year.

• To work without wage in the fields owned by the lord at least three days a week. This labor was heated as rent for self-owned land.
• To dig ditches, gather firewood, build fences, and repair roads and buildings.

To engage women and children in works like spinning, weaning clothes, making candles, and press grapes to prepare wine for the lord.

Q10: Discuss the practice of vassalage under three orders?
Ans: This practice was earlier followed by Germans in which Franks were also a tribe. Hence, it is attributed to brought in by the Franks, a Germanic tribe. The noble i.e. second order was vassals c (the king and peasants were vassals of the landowners. The first order i.e. the church with its network of Bishops, Clerics, monks, etc. proliferated in monasteries cathedrals were independent of the king i.e. Seigneur (lord) of the nobility and actual law-making power was in its hands. The harangues delivered by the Abbey and Abbess including priests fixed an idea to the public that as cows, donkeys, sheep, goats require distinct enclosures/stables, the same way, division of society in people who pray, the others who fight, and a majority of others who possess the ability to act upon. Thus, as the king was lord to nobility, the nobility was the lord to the peasants. Land owning was the essence of such arrangement therefore, the third-order was called peasants otherwise; they were no better than slaves to the manor and his manorial estate. Thus, two orders in feudal society in another sense were oppressor and the third was oppressed.

Q11: Whether you see manual estates like the private states in India during the British regime? Justify your answer.
Ans: It has been truly stated that the history of every man, tribe, clan, etc. has a long-lasting impact because it becomes instincts and thus, repeated irrespective of the place, time, and circumstances. Britishers were from England and England was the part of Europe hence, the same feudal compositions, they made ready to rule India. Had they not acquired the instincts of Europe, they should have neither ruled India by dividing it into two parts i.e. British India and Princely states. We observe similarities in both cases. The feudal system in Europe was of three orders i.e. Priest, nobility, and peasants. In India, during the British regime; it was the crown, the company, and the masses. As nobility was owned large estates, the governors-general were representatives to the British crown in India and Common people were as third-order while the princely states were pari-passu to the second-order in the feudal society of Europe i.e. Peasants.

Q12: Describe some features of new agricultural technology?
Ans:

• Heavy iron-tipped plows and moldboards were used,
• Shoulder-harness of bullock came into use,
• Shod were fitted with horses to prevent their foot decay,
• Water and canal powered mills were set-ups,
• Three field system of land-use followed,
• Peas and beans were given preference,
• Arable land was used for growing crops.

Q13: What was Fief?
Ans: It was a smaller estate measuring between 1,000 and 2,000 acres awarded by the lord of a manorial estate i.e. nobleman. It was consisting of structures like a house for the knight and his family, a church, houses for dependents, a water mill, and a wine-press.

Long Answer Type Questions

Q14: ‘Three orders’ phrase signifies that there is involved religion in the ruling system of the community. To what extent, do you agree with his statement? Explain.
Ans: Three orders, on perusal of this term, we conclude the der of the society in three different sections i.e.
1. The Priests: It was the first and the supreme order of the society in Europe between the period fifth and the fifteen centuries. It was the Federal type of Administration whose network was made by the Feudal form of nobility. The church was the supreme authority. It was actually the law-making section. It had defined the supreme place of the Pope, the religious preceptor. He used to live in Rome and administration was run through Papal Bull by him in Europe with the machinery of the bishops and Clerics.

2. The Nobility: Nobility was the second order of European society. It has the executive powers of the Fevidal system of governance. Hereby the nobles i.e. the large Estate owners or manors used to nominate one among them as Seigneur (senior). All other nobles then became vassal to him while the peasants were the vassals of their landowners i.e. manors. The King or senior also had a large state, owned and cultivated by two kinds of peasants viz. one who was smaller peasants owned their lands and the others who were serfs i.e. slaves. Every manor had owned his large estate consisting of a number of buildings including the manor house, knight house, homes for peasants, and surfs. The land was constituted of meadows, pastures, cultivated land, an area under forest, roads, bridges, etc. This estate was like a castle and a smaller Kingdom in itself. Sources of income were the taxes imposed on peasants in the ratio of 1/10 of the gross agricultural production, the begar made by both peasants i.e. free peasants and the surfs. The manor or noble had to pay the taxes in cash or kind to the coffer or pool of the King.

3. The peasants: Peasants were of two types. Some were free while others were unfree or surfs. Free peasants held their farms as tenants of the Lord or manor. They were compelled to provide at least forty days of military services per annum, three days of the week in working or farming, cultivating the fields of their manor, but without getting any remuneration for their works so done. It was considered under the law as Iabourrent. Their women and children were all deployed in works like pressing grapes for King’s nobles, spun thread, wove cloth, made candles, etc. The serfs had not owned any lands. They had to cultivate the land of the manor but except for getting their food and daily needs, they were paid nothing. There were a number of restrictions imposed on them. They would not allow marriage or other ties unless a fee was paid for the same. Serfs would use only their lord’s mill to grind their flour, his oven to bake their bread, and his wine-presses to distill wine and beer. The economic relations, land use, and new agricultural technology, new towns and towns’ people all had witnessed a change in the society. We know that during the period from the fifth to the eleventh century, the environment was excessively cold hence, no progress, the agriculture could witness but from the eleventh century, the temperature began to change from cooler to warmer. Hence, a number: of species in the plant kingdom and animal kingdom started to grow. The vegetation cover made the environment fertile for the growth of several crops including wheat, peas, beans, oats, and barley. Thus, agriculture production increased manifold.
It subsequently, developed – trade and commerce, and people took a keen interest in the development, of new agricultural tools and machinery. They began to use heavy iron-tipped plows and moldboards in place of wooden plows drawn by a team of oxen. Oxen were got shoulder harness in place, of neck harness. More water-powered and wind-powered mills were set up all over Europe for purposes like milling corn and pressing grapes. The most revolutionary change in land-use was the shift from a two-field to a three-field system. They could plant one with is wheat or rye in autumn for human consumption.
The second could be used in spring to raise peas, beans, and lentils for human use. The third field lay fallow. Each year, they rotated the use among the three % fields. Trade started from the silk route and maritime route. An increase, in agricultural production, resulted in an increased population from 62. millions of 1200 to 73 million in 1300 CE. An increase in population and agricultural yield both resulted in the revival of the towns which were deserted along-with the decline of the Roman Empire. In towns, people instead of services paid a tax to the lords who owned the land on which the town stood. Towns offered the prospect of paid work and freedom from the lord’s control, for young people from peasants. families. Trade and Commerce made the merchant section of society very prosperous and they began to donate money to the clergy to construct the Cathedrals i.e. worshipping place of monasteries.
There were grand buildings sometimes, made within the complex of Churches. Soon, there developed markets around these Cathedral structures and craftsmen guilds settled towns.
Thus, in the above description, we see that the feudal system in England was developed, nourished, and administered by the religion i.e. Christianity. People were linked with vassalage similar to the practice among Germanic people. Nobles were vassals of the King who himself (i.e. the king) was a noble and peasants were vassals of nobles (manors) but the power of the Church was supreme.

Q15: Do you think, the new monarchy was a modified form of feudalism?
Ans: Yes, it was actually a modified form of feudalism owing to, contrary circumstances, the nobility faced. These were-sudden changes in climate, agricultural production plummeted, land overused hence, marginal fertility, and the catastrophe of bubonic plague which distorted the system of feudalism. Scarcity of labor caused an escalation in the rate of wage, laborers some way became independent and it brought peasants revolt in Flander, France, and England.
In these circumstances, the Kings did some contingent arrangements like a standing army, permanent bureaucracy, and taxation system at the national level. The nobility first revealed its dissent which was witnessed as rebellions of 1536, 1547, 1549, and 1553. These all crushed mercilessly by the Kings, eg. Louis XI of France. It then surrendered and transformed into loyalists. We see, the same class of people i.e. noblemen continued to dominate the political scene. They were given permanent positions in the administrative set-up.
Thus, on the above counts, we can state that a new monarchy was just a modified form of the feudal system.

Q16: Do you think New towns and towns’ people can be considered as a fourth-order? Explain.
Ans: Yes, it was really considered as a fourth-order in the feudal setup of European society on the following grounds:

• Towns were developed initially with the fair and small market centers as a result of expansion and increase of agricultural production.
• The social and political conditions of the town were absolutely distinct and different from the former three orders. If a serf could stay for one year and one day in a town (without his lord discovering him), he would be treated as a free man.
• There were bankers and lawyers in the towns. Thus, tertiary occupations had ample scope there.
• There was a distinct economic organization in the form of the guild. Each craft or industry was organized into a guild, an association that controlled the quality of the product, its price, and its sale.
• Craftsmen found it easier to settle in one place where goods could be produced and traded for food.
• The rich town merchants were developed better than the position of nobility but they were generous to the people engaged in their businesses.
• Later on, Cathedral towns were formed. Cathedrals have belonged to monasteries and rich merchants. The craftsmen contributed generously, their labor, money, and expertise. These were built in a number of years and became centers of pilgrimage. Gradually, small towns were developed around them and they were called Cathedral towns.

On the basis of an above distinct entity, we can state the towns and towns’ people, as the fourth-order of the social set-up in Europe.

Q17: Discuss the structure of the new monarchy established on the ruins of feudalism.
Ans: The King in the new monarchy was at the center of an elaborate courtier society and a network of patron-client relationships. The prosperous nobles were needed the kings in a monarchy because but for their cooperation, it was felt difficult to sustain their status as a King. In brief, money was directly needed hence, the bankers and merchant classes became the members of that assembly. Administrative expenses and salaries to soldiers were paid mainly from the contribution and support given by that section of society to the King. Later on, there was constituted a consultative assembly known as Estates-General consisting of three houses, i.e. clergy, nobility, and the common people. It was called only once in 1614 in the regime of child-king Louis’s XIII of France and the period between 1614 to 1789 remained in consultation to the Estates-General as no meetings were called by the succeeding Kings. In England, there was a great council in the regime of Anglo-Saxon tribes even before the Norman conquest.
That ‘ Council was consulted regularly to decide the assessment of taxes etc. issues. That council was developed into the Parliament consisted of the House Of Lords and the House of Commons. Lords and Clergy v were the members of the house of Lords while town and rural area people were the representatives of the house of commons. Gradually, the Parliament became powerful enough as it executed King Charles I who did not call Parliament session for as long the period as, eleven years. Thus, a republic was established in England. However, it could not run for long and soon there was, the monarchy restored but regular sessions of Parliament were called since that event i.e. execution of King Charles I had taken place.

Q18: Discuss how the new monarchy replaced the feudal set-up of European society?
Ans: In this context, we would like to say that everything or action or arrangement has its climax and nothing is perpetual in this transitory world or in other words, nature. Like the birth, youth, old, and death stages of each organism, each set-up has to pass through different stages. Something similar had happened to the feudal society also. Christianity got its birth on fall of the Roman empire, it became stronger or youth when the church, monasteries, Cathedrals were built, and a network of three orders made successfully by the Catholic church and had to die with the crisis of the fourteenth century, i.e. change in environment, depletion of gold and silver stock, marginal fertility of the soil and spread of bubonic plague all over Europe.
These situations made feudal set-up tougher to maintain as starving conditions had emerged. It brought revolts of peasants in and the European Kings began to strengthen their military and financial power. The Kings have duly understood the situation and took * immediately these changes. These new Kings were called new monarch by the historians because they were no more feudal lords. These were autocratic absolutist rulers. Louis XI of France, Maximilian of Austria, leary VII of England, and Isabelle and Ferdinand of Spain were these autocratic rulers.

Measures opted by new monarchs:

• Organization of standing armies on modern lines,
• Permanent bureaucracy in place of nobility and manors,
• Formation of national policy for taxation and
• exploration of new lands outside Europe.

These rulers had ruled out the earlier system of feudal levies and introduced professionally trained infantry equipped with guns and siege artillery under their direct control. The nobility first resisted monarchy through rebellions but became loyal subsequently, when they were badly defeated. They were given permanent positions by the new monarchs.

Q19: “It is ignorance that generates fear of life and the man falls in a few shrewd hands for exploitation’. Do you agree with this statement? Justify your answer referring to the instinct of fear among common masses in Europe.
Ans: While perusing the feudal society in Europe, the above statement appears all correct. Actually, this fact was known to the Church, the supreme authority in Christianity. The vassalage was the creation of Bishops and Cleries whose supreme head was the Pope of Rome. After going over the pains and atrocities inflicted on the peasants, we would like to state them not religious people but shrewd. In order to bag all luxuries in their favor as we see, bishops owned large estates and called religious nobility, they befooled the mass and kept them in cages as an instrument to produce the luxurious living of the Clerics. We don’t see any efforts made by the lords for their subject except in monasteries, where only manner-how to sing prayers in church-was taught to the selected children of noblemen and not of the masses. Instead of doing this, all children in manorial estates were engaged on begar for preparation of wine for the lords. The priests and noblemen deliberately killed their childhood by their murderous instinct so that nobody could oppose the feudal system in the future and they should enjoy from one generation to another in perpetuity, the luxurious.
The ignorance imposed on people made them fearful and they realized wars made them frightened. If a man of average mind, sees the controls of a nobleman; he would have preferred living in a forest instead of the estate or die at the hands of invaders. That fear was thrust in their heart and being illiterate, they posed blind faith on clerics and the lords. Thus, it was ignorance that compelled them to live a life worse than wild-animals.

Q20: Describe the major features of a manorial estate and tell if each estate you see similar to a kingdom.
Ans: The manorial estate according to its feature was a kingdom in itself. We see here a manorial estate accommodating Church, Knights, families of manor or nobleman including more than fifty families and an area measuring several thousand acres.
Like a Kingdom, the manorial house was built in the middle as Hf its capital. A manor had employed on his fields, two kinds of peasants, some were free while some others were serfs. The women and children of these peasants were also engaged in works like spinning the thread and wearing fabric and press the grapes to prepare wine for the lord or manor.’There were blacksmiths and carpenters for maintenance of the lord’s implements and repair his weapons.
There were knights given accommodation and land measuring between 1000 and 2000 acres or more in order to fight in wars which had become a routine affair those days. The manor has absolute rights to charge rent- levies from the peasants by employing them in begar. He had absolute power to establish the judiciary in order to dispose of the petty disputes between peasants or his vassals. The estate consisted of a consolidated region with meadows, pastures, forestland, plains, rivers, reservoirs, churches, colonies, etc.
On the basis of the above, features and the powers conferred to the manor or nobleman in Europe exhibit that manorial estate was a smaller kingdom in itself with exclusive judiciary and administrative powers.