The main functions of the monasteries were to provide service and shelter to the God-fearing people. Those people could devote themselves to the service of God in the way Catholic churchmen thought fit.
(i) In the feudal society, the peasants cultivated their own land as well as that of the lord. The peasants performed labour services for the lords, who in exchange provided military protection.
(ii) French priests believed in the concept that people were members of one of the three ‘orders’, depending on their work. Priests placed themselves in the first order, nobles in the second order and peasants, free and unfree groups in the third order.
Craftsmen played a vital role in the feudal economic order. The basis of economic organisation was the guild. Each craft was organised into a guild, which controlled the quality of the crafts, its price and its sale.
In France, by the twelfth century, commerce and crafts began to grow. Earlier, craftsmen used to travel from manor to manor; now they found it easier to settle in one place where goods could be produced and traded for food.
Conditions of French serf:
Conditions of Roman slaves:
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