❇️ The Three Orders 🏰
🔹 In Europe, French society was mainly divided into three orders (वर्ग):
🔶 1️⃣ Clergy (पादरी वर्ग) ✝️
- Guided the Christian society (ईसाई समाज का मार्गदर्शन).
- Preached in churches (चर्च में धर्मोपदेश).
- Monks (भिक्षु) followed strict rules (निश्चित नियमों का पालन).
- Lived in religious communities (धार्मिक समुदायों में निवास).
- Resided in monasteries (मठों) far from common people (आम आदमी).
🔹 Features of Clergy 🕍
- Owned lands granted by the king (राजा द्वारा दी गई भूमि).
- Collected taxes (कर) from their lands.
- Delivered sermons and led communal prayers every Sunday (सामूहिक प्रार्थना).
- Enjoyed privileges (विशेषाधिकार) as the first order.
- Collected Tithe (टाईथ) – a religious tax.
- Priests (पादरी) were not allowed to marry.
- Bishops (विशप) were considered nobles (अभिजात) and had extensive lands (जागीरें).
🔹 Monks and Monasteries 🧘♂️🏞️
- Some devoted Christians lived separately in monasteries.
- Lived a secluded (एकांत) life far from common population.
- Famous monasteries:
- St. Benedict Monastery, Italy, 529
- Cluny Monastery, Burgundy, 910
🔹 Features of Monks 👨🦳👩🦳
- Followed strict (विशेष) rules.
- Lived far from general population.
- Dedicated life to prayer (प्रार्थना), study (अध्ययन), and physical labor (शारीरिक श्रम) like farming (कृषि).
- Unlike priests, both men and women could become monks (Monk / पुरुष भिक्षु) or nuns (Nun / स्त्री भिक्षुणी).
- Separate monasteries for men and women.
- Could not marry.
- Traveled to preach (उपदेश) and depended on donations (दान) for livelihood (जीविका).
🔶 2️⃣ Nobility (अभिजात वर्ग) ⚔️👑
- Held military power (सैन्य क्षमता).
- Controlled wealth and property (संपदा पर नियंत्रण).
- Had the right to hold courts (न्यायालय का अधिकार).
- Issued currency (मुद्रा का प्रचलन).
- Knights (नाइट) emerged due to cavalry (अश्वसेना) needs.
🔶 3️⃣ Peasantry (कृषक वर्ग) 🌾
- Two types:
- Free peasants (स्वतंत्र किसान) – cultivated their land as tenants under lords (लॉर्ड के काश्तकार).
- Serfs (कृषि दास / सर्फ) – worked on lord’s land (भूखण्डों).
❇️ Sources of European History 📜
- Documents about landowners (भू-स्वामी), their property, and legal cases (मुकदमे).
- Church records of births, deaths, and marriages.
- Chronicles, songs, and stories that reflect festivals (त्योहार) and community life (सामुदायिक गतिविधियाँ).
❇️ Feudalism (सामंतवाद) 🏞️
- Originates from German word “Feud” meaning land (भूमि का टुकड़ा).
- A system of agricultural production (कृषि उत्पादन) based on relationships between lords (सामंत) and peasants (कृषक).
- Peasants provided labor (श्रम सेवा) in exchange for military protection (सैनिक सुरक्षा).
- First studied by French scholar Marc Bloch (मार्क ब्लॉक), emphasizing geography (भूगोल) in shaping human history (मानव इतिहास).
1️⃣ The First Order – Clergy ✝️
❇️ Guidance of Christian Society by Priests and Bishops 🙏
- Members of the first order (प्रथम वर्ग) who preached in churches (चर्च में धर्मोपदेश).
- Extremely religious people (अत्यधिक धार्मिक) living in communities outside the church were called monks (भिक्षु).
- Monks lived in monasteries (मठ) and followed strict rules (निश्चित नियमों का पालन).
- They owned lands granted by the king (राजा द्वारा दी गई भूमि) from which they could collect taxes (कर).
- Villagers gathered every Sunday for sermons (धर्मोपदेश) and communal prayers (सामूहिक प्रार्थना).
❇️ Features of Priests and Bishops 🕍
- Owned land granted by the king to collect taxes.
- Preached every Sunday and led communal prayers.
- Part of the privileged first order (विशेषाधिकार प्राप्त वर्ग).
- Collected Tithe (धार्मिक कर).
- Male priests could not marry.
- Bishops were considered nobles (अभिजात) with extensive estates (जागीरें) like lords.
❇️ Monks and Monasteries 🧘♂️🏞️
- Some devout Christians lived separately in monasteries (मठ), leading a secluded (एकांत) life.
- Famous monasteries:
- St. Benedict Monastery, Italy, 529
- Cluny Monastery, Burgundy, 910
❇️ Features of Monks 👨🦳👩🦳
- Lived in monasteries far from the general population.
- Followed strict and special rules (विशेष नियम).
- Dedicated life to prayer (प्रार्थना), study (अध्ययन), and physical labor (शारीरिक श्रम) like farming (कृषि).
- Both men and women could become monks (Monk / पुरुष भिक्षु) or nuns (Nun / स्त्री भिक्षुणी).
- Separate monasteries for men and women.
- Could not marry.
- Traveled to preach (उपदेश) and relied on donations (दान) for livelihood (जीविका).
❇️ Contribution of Monasteries in French Society 🎨🏥
- Monasteries grew into communities with large buildings, lands, schools, and hospitals.
- Contributed to the development of arts (कला).
- Hildegard of Bingen, a talented musician, enhanced communal singing (सामुदायिक गायन) in church prayers.
- From the 13th century, some monks called Friars (फ्रायर) chose to live outside monasteries.
2️⃣ The Second Order – Nobility ⚔️👑
❇️ Nobility (अभिजात वर्ग)
- Played a vital role in European social processes (सामाजिक प्रक्रिया).
- Controlled important resources like land (भूमि पर नियंत्रण).
- Based on Vassalage (वैसलेज) – a system where nobles and lords owed allegiance to the king.
- Large landowners and nobility were under the king, while peasants were under landlords.
- Nobles considered the king their lord (स्वामी) and were bound by mutual obligations (वचनबद्ध).
❇️ Lord / Seigneur 🏹
- Lord (लॉर्ड) means “bread giver”.
- Protected the vassal (दास) who remained loyal in return.
- Relationships maintained through oaths and formal customs (रीति-रिवाज और शपथ).
❇️ Features of Nobility 🏰
- Permanent control over their property (संपदा पर पूर्ण नियंत्रण).
- Could maintain military strength (सैन्य क्षमता) with their own feudal army (सामंती सेना).
- Had the right to establish courts (न्यायालय).
- Could issue currency (मुद्रा).
- Considered lords of all people living on their lands (भूमि पर सभी के मालिक).
🌾 The Third Order – Peasantry
❇️ Peasantry (कृषक वर्ग)
- Comprised free peasants (स्वतंत्र) and serfs (बंधक/दास).
- This class formed a large group supporting the first two orders – clergy (पादरी वर्ग) and nobility (अभिजात वर्ग).
❇️ Types of Peasants 👩🌾👨🌾
- Free Farmers (स्वतंत्र किसान)
- Serfs (कृषि दास / Surfs)
❇️ Role of Free Farmers 🌱
- Viewed their land as tenants (काश्तकार) under the lord (लॉर्ड).
- Men required to serve in military (सैनिक सेवा) for at least 40 days per year.
- Peasant families worked on lord’s estates 3+ days per week; produce called Labour Rent (श्रम अधिशेष) went directly to the lord.
- Other labor tasks included digging ditches, collecting wood, building fences, repairing roads & buildings – unpaid.
- Women & children assisted with spinning, weaving, candle-making, wine production for the lord’s use.
❇️ Taille (Direct Tax) 💰
- Direct taxes imposed by the king on peasants were called Taille (टैली).
❇️ Labour Rent (श्रम-अधिशेष)
- The produce from peasants’ mandatory labor days went directly to the lord.
❇️ Serfs (कृषि दास)
- Worked only on lord’s property; legally bound to the lord.
❇️ Agricultural Innovations by 11th Century ⚙️
- Wooden plows replaced by iron-tipped heavy plows with mouldboards.
- Harness moved from neck to shoulders.
- Iron horseshoes used.
- Wind and water power used for farming and mills.
- Two-field system replaced by three-field system, increasing crop production.
- Food availability doubled.
- Peasants had better opportunities.
- Smaller plots enabled efficiency and less labor.
- More time for other activities.
❇️ Crisis of the 14th Century ⚠️
- Early 14th century Europe faced economic slowdown:
- Hot summers replaced by cooler summers in Northern Europe.
- Crop damage due to storms and floods; reduced tax revenue.
- Soil exhaustion from intensive plowing & 3-field rotation.
- Shortage of pastures reduced livestock numbers.
- Population growth strained resources.
- 1315–1317 – famine; 1320 – livestock deaths; silver mines in Austria & Serbia declined.
- Metal currency shortage affected trade.
- Rats on ships spread Bubonic Plague (काला मृत्यु रोग); millions infected.
- Economic decline caused social displacement; labor shortages increased wages by 250%.
❇️ Political Changes 🏛️
- Emergence of powerful states: permanent armies, bureaucracy, and national taxation system.
- New governance different from old feudal pyramid:
- Ruler no longer just at pyramid top relying on loyalty (भक्ति) and mutual dependence (आपसी निर्भरता).
- Became central point of a wider courtly society (दरबारी समाज) with structured hierarchy of patron and followers.
