Materials

• Textbook
• Preferred teacher materials
• Notes on the duties of lords, vassals, and/or serfs, and the concept of mutual obligation for mutual benefit
• Primary source materials on the feudal contract and investiture
• Drawing of a manor in text or on overhead
• A copy of “Manors of the Early Middle Ages Essay” (Attachment D) for each student
• Vocabulary list (see #6, below)

Instructional Activities

1. Review content from previous sessions.
   
   
2. Provide students with a definition of feudalism that reflects its overall importance as a political, military, economic, and social system based on the holding of land.
   
   
3. Display a picture of a manor and ask students to study it and then complete the following activity:
   Distribute the “Manors of the Early Middle Ages Essay” handout (Attachment D), and instruct students to complete steps 1, 2, and 3. They should include only things they see on a manor in step 2, and actions they observe occurring on a manor in step 3. Prompt students, if necessary, to remark on how nearly everything is provided for and that the manor is self-sufficient.
   
   
4. Have students complete step 4 by creating a topic sentence that reflects their understanding of how a manor is self-contained. If desired, students can then complete steps 5 and 6 by writing supporting facts for their topic sentence and then composing an expository essay on “Manors of the Early Middle Ages” either in class or for homework.
   
   
5. Provide for students a primary source example of a contract between a lord and his vassal or other description of the duties and obligations of lords, vassals, and/or serfs. Discuss with students the concept of mutual obligation for mutual benefit.
   
   
6. Assign for homework the following list of vocabulary words that they should define, using their textbook reading: lord, vassal, knight, serf, peasant, fief, aid, and investiture.