6th grade · Social Studies · Unit 8 of 15
Medieval Europe
Feudalism, towns and the Black Death
What your child practices
How medieval Europe was organized (kings, nobles, knights and peasants), the role of the Church and guilds, the Magna Carta, the Black Death, and how change came to the feudal system.
New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 6.6a; 6.6d · feudalism, manors, the Church, towns and the Crusades in medieval Western Europe
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- Feudalism: the king gave land to nobles for loyalty and soldiers; peasants worked the land of a lord's manor.
- Monasteries were communities where monks prayed and copied books, keeping learning alive.
- The Black Death (1340s) spread by fleas on rats along trade routes. Kings and the Church sometimes clashed over power.
Example: In the feudal system, who gave land to nobles? Nobles promised loyalty and soldiers. They got their land from the ruler at the top. Answer: the king
Medieval Europe in New York
In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 8 of 15 in 6th grade Social Studies, after Rome's Fall & Byzantium and before The Islamic World.
Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
What was a serf?
- A peasant tied to the lord's land who owed him work and a share of the harvest
- A merchant who traveled far
- A kind of knight
- A scholar in a university
A peasant tied to the lord's land who owed him work and a share of the harvest
Hint: Serfs could not leave the manor without the lord's permission.
Question 2
What was the tithe?
- A tax, about one tenth of a person's income or crops, paid to the Church
- A fine for being late
- A tax paid only by nobles to the king
- A payment to a guild for a loan
A tax, about one tenth of a person's income or crops, paid to the Church
Hint: The Church used tithes to support priests, churches and help for the poor.
Question 3
Put the feudal pyramid in order, from the most powerful to the least.
- 🏰Nobles (lords)
- 👑King
- 🌾Peasants and serfs
- 🛡️Knights
King → Nobles (lords) → Knights → Peasants and serfs
Hint: In the feudal system the king was at the top, followed by nobles, then knights, then peasants who worked the land.
Question 4
Why were monasteries important for learning?
- They were only farms.
- Monks copied and kept books, and some ran schools.
- Monks burned all books.
- They banned reading.
Monks copied and kept books, and some ran schools.
Hint: Before the printing press, books were copied by hand, often in monasteries.
Question 5
Why were castles built?
- To protect people and control the surrounding land
- To hold fairs only
- To store books
- To train sailors
To protect people and control the surrounding land
Hint: Castles gave lords a safe base with defenses such as walls and moats.
Question 6
A medieval town charter gave a town certain rights. What might it allow?
- Keeping its own army of knights only
- Avoiding all laws
- Ruling the whole country
- Running its own markets and courts
Running its own markets and courts
Hint: Charters let townspeople manage their own affairs and encouraged trade.