Secondary 2 History | Medieval Europe, Feudalism and the Manor — Tutor Lesson Prep Guide

Secondary 2 History | Medieval Europe, Feudalism and the Manor — Tutor Lesson Prep Guide | Land, labour and the Black Death

2026-11-11

Tutor lesson-prep guides · Secondary History

Students think feudalism means a king handing out land. This lesson makes them state the bargain: land in exchange for forty days of cavalry service, paid for by a serf working three days a week without wages.

Objectives — By the end students can: (1) state what each side gives in the feudal contract, land and protection against forty days of military service and court attendance; (2) use the three-field system to explain why a third of the land lay fallow and why three days in seven is 43 per cent of working time; (3) explain how the Black Death of 1348 cut the population, raised wages and led to the revolt of 1381.

01 Prerequisites (3-minute check)

If any of these fails, fix it before the lesson starts.

Skill	Quick check	Pass mark
Placing a timeline	The western Roman empire fell in 476. When does the medieval period conventionally end?	1453 with the fall of Constantinople, so 977 years
Map location	What kind of land did manors usually occupy?	Farmland between river plains and hills, near water and a mill
Farming basics	What happens if the same crop is grown in a field every year?	Nutrients run down and yields fall, so fallow or rotation is needed

02 Lesson flow (45 minutes)

Time	Stage	Tutor does	Student does
0-5 min	Diagnose the word	Ask what feudalism means and write the answers on the board unchanged	Give their own working definition
5-13 min	Bargain diagram	Draw lord, vassal and serf in three tiers and have students fill in what each gives and receives	Fill in land for service and labour for a holding
13-28 min	Three scripts	Teach the feudal contract, the manor and three fields, then the Black Death; pause after each	Say back that fewer people meant dearer labour and stronger bargaining
28-36 min	Four question types	Model a date calculation, a concept explanation, a source inference and a causal explanation	Do one of each and write the steps
36-41 min	Error contrast	Put the four common mistakes up and have students correct them	Correct each sentence and name who gave the labour
41-45 min	Exit check	Collect the three answers and sort the errors on the spot	Complete three questions alone

03 Teaching script (read it out)

Scene 1: Script 1: feudalism is a bargain, not a feeling

\”A lord handed over a fief, and the vassal returned forty days of cavalry service, attendance at the lord court, and aid money when required. The bargain stacked in layers: the king to great lords, great lords to knights, and under the knights the people who actually ploughed. So the workable definition is one sentence: land for service. Holdings were inherited, but inheritance cost a relief payment, which is why knights and peasants were both tied to the same ground.\”

What does each side give in the feudal contract?

Scene 2: Script 2: a manor is a business run tightly

\”A manor split its land three ways: the lord demesne, the peasant holdings, and common woodland. Fields ran on a three-field rotation, one field fallow while the other two carried winter wheat and spring beans; beans fix nitrogen, so wheat after beans yields more than wheat every year. A serf was not a slave: there was a holding, a household and protection in customary law, but three days a week of unpaid labour on the demesne, which is three days in seven, or 43 per cent. Only the remaining days worked the family plot, so the harvest decided whether the household ate.\”

Why does the three-field system leave a third fallow, and how much is that?

Scene 3: Script 3: the Black Death made labour expensive

\”Plague reached Europe along trade routes in 1348 and carried off between a third and a half of the population within a few years. The land stayed, the people did not, so survivors could demand higher wages and lighter labour dues. England froze wages by statute in 1351 and could not enforce it. Only 33 years separate 1348 from 1381, when the peasants revolt reached London demanding the end of serfdom. Institutions do not change because an argument is won; they change because population and prices move.\”

Why did a falling population raise the bargaining power of serfs?

04 Question types and worked steps

Type	Example	Steps	Answer
Date calculation	How long is the medieval period from 476 to 1453?	(1) Both dates are CE. (2) Subtract 476 from 1453. (3) Unit years.	977 years
Concept explanation	What does each side give in the feudal relationship?	(1) The lord gives a fief and protection. (2) The vassal gives forty days of service and court attendance. (3) Summarise as land for service.	Land and protection for military and judicial service
Source inference	A manor account records eighteen man-days on the demesne this week. What does that show?	(1) Labour is counted in days. (2) It is concentrated on the lord land. (3) Tenants pay no cash rent.	Serfs paid in labour rather than rent, so the lord controlled the workforce directly
Causal explanation	Why did the manor system loosen after the Black Death?	(1) Population collapsed. (2) Labour was scarce and wages rose. (3) Wage statutes could not be enforced, so serfs bargained.	Labour became dear, unpaid dues could not be held, and serfs bought their freedom

Sanity check (teach this): Sanity check: 1453 minus 476 gives 977 years, while 1929 means the dates were added. A third of the land fallow is 100 divided by 3, about 33 per cent, and 50 per cent means the two-field system has been mixed in. Three days in seven is 3 divided by 7, about 43 per cent, and 3 per cent is a unit slip. From 1348 to 1381 is 33 years, and 67 means addition. Work every percentage with a division, never by feel.

05 Independent practice (3 questions)

Question	Answer	What to watch
How many years separate Domesday Book in 1086 from Magna Carta in 1215?	129 years	Whether they subtract rather than add
Roughly what share of land lies fallow under a three-field system?	About a third, 100 divided by 3	Whether they divide rather than answer one half
What directly raised serf bargaining power after the plague?	A smaller workforce and rising wages	Whether they name population and labour price, not a kinder lord

06 Common mistakes and what to say

Mistake	Student writes	Say this
Treating feudalism as loyalty alone	\”Feudalism just means nobles were loyal to the king\”	\”Loyalty is the wrapping. The content is a contract: land for forty days of service, and the fief is taken back if the service fails.\”
Calling a serf a slave	\”A serf was a slave with no rights at all\”	\”A serf held land, had a household and was covered by customary law, but was tied to the manor and owed three days of unpaid labour. Not a slave, still not free.\”
Reading fallow as waste	\”Fallow just means the field was useless\”	\”Fallow restores nutrients. Three fields leave only a third out, against half in a two-field system, so more land carries beans and wheat.\”
Explaining change by kindness	\”People became more humane so serfdom was abolished\”	\”Give population and price: after the plague labour was scarce and dear, dues could not be held, and the revolt of 1381 was the pressure breaking out.\”

07 Homework (paper, section and question numbers)

History chapter index: this chapter, redo one date calculation and one causal explanation — Medieval Europe chapter, questions 1 and 4
History chapter index: the Islamic Civilisation chapter, preview the Hijra of 622 and the expansion — Islamic Civilisation chapter, questions 2 and 3

08 Exit check (last 5 minutes)

Question	Answer	Decision
How many years from 476 to 1453?	977 years	Wrong: reteach the timeline in script 1 next lesson
What share of land is fallow in a three-field system?	About a third	Wrong: reteach the manor in script 2
Why did the manor system loosen after the plague?	Fewer people made labour dear and dues unenforceable	Wrong: reteach script 3

09 Tutor FAQ

Do students need every date?

Only 476, 1086, 1215, 1348, 1381 and 1453. Everything else can be given as about.

Students confuse serfs with slaves. What helps?

A four-row table: holding, household, freedom to move, labour owed. Filling it in separates the two answers.

Is there practice material?

Yes. The homework rows link to the Medieval Europe and Islamic Civilisation chapters in the history index, with question numbers matching this lesson.

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A TutorZone lesson-prep guide. Written by the TutorZone team; questions and lesson flow are original and are not taken from any school or publisher material.