Short Questions with Answers - The Three Orders

Very Short Question  With Answer (1 Mark Each) 

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Q.1. Which province of the Roman Empire became France and how?
Ans. Gaul province of the Roman Empire became France. A German tribe, 'The Franks', gave their name to Gaul and made it France.

Q.2. Write down any two privileges enjoyed by the nobles in France.
Ans. 

(i) The nobles had absolute and permanent control over their property. 
ii) They held their own court of justice and were exempted from paying taxes.

Q.3. What was Manor?
Ans. A manor was the estate of a lord that included agricultural land, villages, pastures, and the lord's residence. It was the basic unit of feudal organisation.

Q.4. Why did castles develop in medieval Europe? Why were they made bigger from the thirteenth century?
Ans.Castles developed as centres of military power and administration under feudalism. From the thirteenth century, they were made larger as they began to be used as residences of lords.

Q.5. What was 'Fief' under the feudal system?
Ans. A fief was a piece of land granted by a lord to a vassal in return for military service and loyalty.

Q.6. What role did minstrels play in twelfth century France?
Ans. In twelfth-century France, minstrels travelled from one manor to another, singing songs which told stories about brave kings and knights. Thus, they encouraged warriors.

Q.7. What was a 'tithe'?
Ans. The Church was given the right to take one tenth of the total produce of the peasant over the course of a year. It was called a 'tithe'.

Q. 8. "Some of the important ceremonies conducted by the Church copied formal customs of the feudal elite." Explain with examples.
Ans.

(i) While praying, the act of kneeling with hands clasped and head bowed was just an exact replica of the way in which a knight used to conduct while taking vows of loyalty to his lord.
(ii) The use of word 'Lord' for the God.

Q. 9. Name two of the more well-known monasteries of Europe.
Ans. 

(i) St. Benedict Monastery (Italy) established in 529 CE.
(ii) Cluny Monastery (Burgundy) established in 910 CE.

St. Benedict Monastery 
Q. 10. Who were called Friars?
Ans. From the thirteenth century, some groups of monks decided not to live in a monastery. They moved from one place to another, preaching to the people and living on charity. These monks were known as Friars.

Q. 11. What was 'taille'? Which people were exempted from this?
Ans. Taille was a kind of direct tax that kings sometimes imposed on peasants. Priests (clergy) and nobles were exempted from paying this tax.

Q. 12. Who was William I? How did he occupy England?
Ans. William I was the Duke of Normandy. He crossed the English Channel in the eleventh century, with an army and defeated the Saxon king of England. In this way, he occupied England.

Q. 13. Write two problems related to agriculture in the medieval England.
Ans. 

(i) There was a wooden plough which was drawn by a pair of oxen. This plough was only able to scratch the earth's surface. It was not possible for this plough to completely draw out the natural productivity of the soil.
(ii) An ineffective method of crop rotation was in use.

Q. 14. Why did serfs try to run away to towns?
Ans. Many serfs were running away and hidding in towns to become free men. If any lord was unable to discover his serf for one year and one day then the serf would become a free man.

Q. 15. Discuss two reasons for the development of towns in the medieval age.
Ans. 

(i) Importance of towns increased in medieval age with the progress in commerce and trade. That is why, many traders settled in towns.
(ii) There was no feudal control in towns. People, living in cities, were free to move from one place to another. This freedom in cities also helped in the development of towns.

Q.16. Which factors had given the first opportunity to kings to increase their control over their powerful and not so powerful subjects?
Ans. 

(i) The dissolution of the feudal system of lordship and vassalage.
(ii) The slow but certain growth of an urban economy.

Q.17. Write two features of life of monasteries of medieval Europe.
Ans. 

(i) Life of monasteries was completely organised. Monks and Nuns living in them had to live in a strict discipline.
(ii) Monks and Nuns were not allowed to keep property or to marry.

Q.18. What were Cathedral towns?
Ans. Large Churches, called Cathedrals, were built in France. With the passage of time, towns developed around these churches. These towns were called Cathedral towns.

Q.19. Why did the peasant revolts take place in Europe in the fourteenth century?
Ans. In the fourteenth century, the lords tried to give up the money-contracts they had entered into with the peasants and revive labour services. The peasants opposed it violentely and began to revolt.

Q.20. What environmental change occurred in Europe from the eleventh to thirteenth centuries, and how did it impact agriculture?
Ans. There was a warmer climate that allowed peasants to cultivate lands that had previously been marginal, leading to expansion of cultivation and increased agricultural production.

Q.21. What were guilds in medieval towns? 
Ans. Guilds were associations of craftsmen or merchants that controlled the quality of work, regulated prices, and had a monopoly over trade in towns.

Q.22. What was the Black Death, and what was its immediate effect on Europe's population?
 Ans. The Black Death was a form of bubonic plague that spread across Europe from 1347-50, killing between one-fourth and one-third of the population.

Short Question  With Answer (2 Mark Each) 
Q. 1. What do you mean by 'Feudalism'? Write its economic features.
Ans. 

• The term 'Feudalism' is derived from the German word 'Feud' which means a 'piece of land'.
  In this way, feudalism was a system associated with land. It refers to a type of society which developed in medieval France and later in England and in southern Italy.
• From economic point of view, feudalism refers to a type of agricultural production which was based on the relationship between the lord and peasants.
• Peasants not only cultivated their own land but of their lord as well. The lord provided military protection to peasants in exchange of their labour service. The lord also had extensive judicial rights over peasents. In this way, feudalism not only affected economic life but to social and political aspects as well.
  
  

Q. 2. How did Gaul become France? What was the position of France by the eleventh century?
Ans. Gaul was a province of the Roman Empire. It had mountain ranges, extensive coastline, forests, long rivers and large tracts of plains good for agriculture. One Germanic tribe, the Franks, gave their name and made it 'France'. From the sixth century, this region was ruled by Franckish/French Christian Kings. The French had very strong relations with the Church. These relations were further strengthened when in 800 CE, king Charlemagne was given the title of 'Holy Roman Emperor' by the Pope to ensure his support. In eleventh century, a duke from the French province of Normandy, conquered the island of England-Scotland across a narrow channel.

Q. 3. Which was the first order of the medieval western Europe? Discuss its role in the Catholic Church.
Ans. 

• The clergy was the first order of medieval western Europe. It included the Pope, bishops, and clerics. They enjoyed a significant place in the Catholic Church. The Pope was the head of the western Church in Rome. Bishops and clerics guided Christians in Europe.
•  Most villages had churches where people assembled every Sunday for sermons and prayers. 
• The Church had rules: serfs, the physically challenged, and women could not become priests; priests could not marry. 
• Religiously, bishops were nobles with vast estates and lived in grand palaces. 
• The Church collected a tithe (one-tenth of peasants' produce). Another income source was endowments from the rich for welfare in the afterlife.

Q. 4. How did feudalism develop in England?
Ans. 

• From the eleventh century, feudalism developed in England. In sixth century, the Angels and Saxons had settled in England. Name of the England is a variant of the 'Angle-land'. In the eleventh century, Saxon king of England was defeated by the Duke of Normandy, William-I, who crossed the English Channel with an army. In this way, he conquered England. He mapped the land and then distributed it into 180 Norman nobles who came with him. These lords became the main tenants of the king.
• The lords were expected to give the king military help. They also had to supply few knights to the king.
• That is why lords started to gift some of their own lands to the knights. In exchange they were expected to serve the lord just as they in turn served the king.
• But they could not use knights for their private warfare. Anglo-Saxon peasants became tenants of different levels of land holders. In this way feudalism developed in England.
  
  

Q. 5. Describe the classes that existed in European society during feudalism. Which new classes emerged during the later years of medieval age, and why?
Ans.  Medieval European society was divided into three main orders:

1. Clergy - Those who prayed. They included priests and Church officials who guided religious life and enjoyed special privileges.
2. Nobility - Those who fought. They consisted of kings, lords and knights who owned land and provided military protection.
3. Peasantry - Those who worked. They included peasants and serfs who cultivated land and supported the entire feudal system through their labour.

Q. 6. Discuss the condition of peasants under feudalism in Europe.
Or
Which main categories were there in medieval European society? Explain the condition of one of them.
Ans.  Medieval European society was divided into three orders: clergy, nobility and peasantry.
Condition of Peasants: In medieval age, the feudal life was based on agriculture, but the peasants spent a very hard life. They lived in houses built of mud and grass. They had to work on private land of their masters. They were paid no wages for this work.
They were given only a part of the produce. Their wives and daughters did weaving, spinning, etc., at the feudal lord's house.
They used the lord's oven to bake their bread and his mill to grind their flour, but they had to pay for it.
Thus, we see that the condition of peasants in medieval European society was very pitiable.

Q. 7. Describe the relationship among various classes of feudalism in medieval Europe.
Ans. Dukes or earls, barons, and knights were various classes of feudalism in medieval Europe. Besides these feudal lords, there was a class of peasants divided into free peasants and serfs. Each lord acknowledged a higher lord as master and was master to those below. No feudal lord owned land outright but held it on behalf of a superior. In war, the king received military aid from dukes/earls, earls from barons, and barons from knights. The king had no direct contact with barons or knights. Free peasants paid a fixed rent, but serfs had to provide labour services.

Q. 8. Discuss the main features of European feudalism.
Ans. Feudalism refers to a kind of agricultural production which is based on the relationship between lords and peasants. The king divided his estates among lords. The lords distributed this land amongst feudal lords. The feudal lord was loyal to his master and gave him military aid and gifts. The feudal lord was given formal rights by his master. In the peasantry feudal hierarchy, peasants were the lowest class. They were of two kinds: free peasants and serfs. The peasants worked as bonded labourers on the piece of land obtained from his master. Thus, there was decentralisation of authority in feudalism. But the king lost any contact with the common man.

Q. 9. Discuss the political and economic significance of feudalism.
Ans. The medieval European society witnessed a large number of political and economic changes due to feudalism. Politically, a new system of government developed. There was no central power and real power was exercised by the feudal lords. Law and justice enjoyed no respect in this system. Economically, people's life was backward. Serfs were exploited in this age. Trade came to a standstill because there were not many towns. In fact, economic life was mostly rural in the feudal set-up. Peasants worked but a major part of the produce was taken by feudal lords.

Q. 10. Describe the manor-dependent life in feudalism.
Ans. A fertile tract of land near a village was called a manor. There was a castle of the feudal lord in the middle of the manor. There was also a pasture. People inhabiting the manor made their livelihood from the manor land. Their land was divided into tracts. Each peasant was given some tracts for cultivation.
Peasants led a very hard life. The manor owner could interfere in their social and personal life and led a very luxurious life.

Q.11. Explain the impact of the 'Little Ice Age' on fourteenth-century Europe. 
Ans. From the early fourteenth century, Europe entered a 'Little Ice Age' with long winters and reduced growing seasons. This led to poor harvests, famines, and malnutrition, weakening the population and making it more susceptible to diseases like the Black Death. Agricultural output declined, causing economic hardship and contributing to social unrest.

Q.12. Describe the causes and consequences of the fourteenth-century crisis in Europe. 
Ans. The crisis was caused by environmental cooling leading to famines, overpopulation straining resources, and the Black Death plague spreading via trade routes. Consequences included massive population decline (up to 50% in some areas), labor shortages raising wages, abandonment of marginal lands, and peasant revolts against lords' attempts to reimpose serfdom. It weakened feudalism and accelerated social changes.