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Year 8 History · Medieval European society

Name: ______________________

Date: ____________

1. Who made up the largest group in medieval European society?
- ☐ (a) Kings
- ☐ (b) Peasants
- ☐ (c) Knights
- ☐ (d) Bishops
2. What was a serf?
- ☐ (a) A peasant bound to a lord's land
- ☐ (b) A wealthy merchant
- ☐ (c) A type of knight
- ☐ (d) A Church leader
3. What did knights provide in exchange for land?
- ☐ (a) Taxes in gold only
- ☐ (b) Books
- ☐ (c) Loyalty and military service
- ☐ (d) Nothing
4. What did Magna Carta (1215) do?
- ☐ (a) Ended the Middle Ages
- ☐ (b) Started the Black Death
- ☐ (c) Created the Catholic Church
- ☐ (d) Placed limits on the English king's power
5. Why do some historians avoid the term 'feudalism'?
- ☐ (a) It oversimplifies a varied system
- ☐ (b) It was invented in 2000
- ☐ (c) Nobody lived on manors
- ☐ (d) There were no kings
6. A payment of one tenth of produce to the Church was called a ____.
7. In what year was Magna Carta sealed?
8. An estate controlled by a lord, including a village and farmland, was a ____.

Answer sheet

1. Peasants — Peasants were the vast majority of the population.
2. A peasant bound to a lord's land — Serfs were bound to the manor and could not freely leave.
3. Loyalty and military service — Knights owed military service and loyalty.
4. Placed limits on the English king's power — Magna Carta limited royal power and became a symbol of the rule of law.
5. It oversimplifies a varied system — Many argue it does not fit the variety of medieval arrangements.
6. tithe — A tithe was one tenth.
7. 1215 — King John agreed to Magna Carta in 1215.
8. manor — The manor was the basic unit of rural life.