Hello, and thanks for joining me for this Oak Academy history lesson.

My name is Mrs. Knox, and today I'll be guiding you through the resources and materials associated with this lesson.

So let's begin now.

Our lesson today is part of a unit of work on the Peasant Revolt.

We are asking why do historians disagree about the causes of the Peasant Revolt? And in our lesson today, we'll be focusing on the decline of the feudal system.

By the end of the lesson, you'll be able to describe the different historical interpretations relating to the decline of the feudal system.

Our lesson today, we'll use a couple of key words.

Let's take a look at those now.

The first word we'll use is feudal system, which is the system of landholding introduced by William the Conqueror.

We'll also use the word tenant, which is a person who occupies or looks after property owned by another.

Our lesson today is in two sections, so let's get started now with section one, which will look at the lord's reaction.

Historians have often described England before the Black Death as feudal.

Although the feudal system, also known as feudalism is a controversial idea, in England, it usually describes a system in which all land was simply borrowed from the king and those who borrowed it became his vassals by paying homage for the land.

Vassal was a person holding land from a superior in the feudal system, and paying homage was a ceremony in which a vassal publicly swore royal to their lord.

The feudal system was an idea which had first been introduced to England by William the Conqueror in the 11th century.

Within the funeral system, a huge class of people at the bottom of society had no wealth and no property rights.

These working labourers, sometimes referred to as peasants were effectively the property of their lords.

Most historians agree that the feudal system ceased to exist in 14th and the 15th centuries, but there is a debate about why.

Historians do not currently agree on whether the Black Death itself caused feudalism's decline.

Okay, let's have a quick check now of your understanding so far.

I'd like you to answer this question.

Which group of people had no wealth and no property rights in the funeral system? Was it A, the lords, B, the knights, or C, the peasants? Press pause now and then press play when you're ready to hear the correct answer.

You should have said The correct answer was C.

The peasants had no wealth and no property rights under the feudal system.

As a result of the Black Death, the population of England fell by around half.

This meant that there was a shortage of workers to bring in the harvest.

Labourers who worked on the land used this opportunity to negotiate higher wages.

Some historians have argued that the lords refused to negotiate and tried to force their tenants, the labourers, back into their feudal social position.

For these historians, the lords wanted to keep the feudal system in place doing everything in their power to prevent the peasants from negotiating better wages and more freedoms. Historians who have taken this view have often believed that human history can be explained as a series of conflicts between different groups or classes of people.

As the lords and the peasants belong to different classes, it logically follows that they had competing aims And would often be in conflict with each other.

For a historian like Rodney Hilton who has expressed this view, the lords did everything they could to stop the peasants negotiating higher wages.

This was an inevitable result of their class position.

Many historians who have argued this, including Hilton, have conducted their research on villages in the West Midlands.

Looking at the documents from local courts, they have found evidence that lords treated peasants even more harshly after 1348 than before.

For instance, peasants were forced to pay fines whenever they wanted to marry or to move away, and peasants' children had to give the lord money when their parents died.

Furthermore, sometimes peasants continue to be for to work on the lord's land and were forcibly brought back if they tried to escape.

All this evidence suggests that the feudal system was strengthened by the Black Death.

In a panic, the lords acted as a class to take away any freedoms the peasants had come to enjoy.

All right, let's have another check of your understanding now.

Where have historians who argued that the lords wanted to keep the feudal system in place taken the evidence from? A, court records from villages in the south of England.

B, court records from villages in the West Midlands.

Or C, Court records from villages in North Wales? Press pause now and then press play to hear the correct answer.

You should have said that the correct answer was B.

Historians have used court records from villages in the West Midlands to argue that the lords wanted to keep the federal system in place.

Here's another quick question now, true or false.

Historians who believe history is a series of conflicts between groups argue that the lords gave up control of their peasants after 1348.

Is that true or false? Press pause now and then press play to hear the answer.

The correct answer is false.

I'd like you to pause the video once more and write an explanation about why the answer is false.

As part of your explanation, you could have said that these historians believe that the lords refused to give up control of their peasants after 1348.

Finally, in this section, I'd like you to complete this task.

You need to take the two statements which most closely match what historians like Rodney Hilton have argued.

Press pause now to complete your answer and then press play to hear the two correct statements.

Welcome back.

You should have said that statement A matches what historian Rodney Hilton might have argued.

Statement A reads documents from local courts suggest that lords treated their peasants even more harshly after 1348.

You should also have ticked statement D, Rodney Hilton possibly would also have argued that lords forcibly returned peasants who try to run away.

We've now reached the end of the first section of our lesson, so let's move on now to section two, which will cover growing peasant freedom.

Some historians have challenged the view that the Black Death led to a rebirth of feudalism.

Mark Bailey in particular, has conducted research looking at the court records from villages in East Anglia, he has noticed a very different pattern.

For him, there is limited evidence that lords with extensive landholdings were ever able to force the peasants back into their feudal position.

Rather than leading to a rebirth of feudalism, the Black Death may have accelerated its decline.

Here's a quick check now of your understanding.

Where have historians who argue that the lords could not keep the funeral system in place taken their evidence from? Was it A, court records from villages in East Anglia? B, court records from villages in the West Midlands, or C, Court records from villages in North Wales? Press pause now and then press play for the correct answer.

You should have said, the correct answer is A.

Historians who argue that the lords could not keep the funeral system in place have taken their evidence from court records from villages in East Anglia.

For these historians, the records of local courts show that the peasants were already becoming freer and more assertive before the Black Death arrived.

In some places, there was a decline in the number of fines being issued, and lords were not keeping a close eye on peasant movement.

After 1348, the records show that this trend accelerated.

In some areas, fines for marriage or moving away stopped being charged entirely.

In other areas, there was a slow decline before they disappeared.

It has also been pointed out that lords were almost entirely unsuccessful in forcibly retrieving peasants who had run away.

Similarly, there are records of more peasants buying free land and becoming richer.

In this view, the feudal system was already close to collapse before the arrival of Black Death.

By leading to the deaths of half the population, the Black Death gave peasants the freedom to negotiate higher wages and to gain control of more land.

The feudal idea that peasants were the property of their lords was simply swept away by the plague.

Here's another question now.

Which of the following most closely matches the argument of historians like Mark Bailey? A, the funeral system was strengthened by the arrival of the Black Death.

B, the feudal system was already in a weak position before the arrival of the Black Death or C, the Black Death was less important than other factors when explaining the decline of the federal system.

Press pause and then when you're ready for the answer, press play.

You should have said the correct answer was B.

Mark Bailey would argue that the federal system was already in a weak position before the arrival of the Black Death.

Here's another quick question now.

Which one of the following suggests that the Black Death gave the peasants greater freedoms? A, the lords tried to reimpose feudal fines and to restrict peasant movement after 1348.

B, the Black Death led to the deaths of around half the population.

C, lords were almost entirely unsuccessful at retrieving peasants who'd run away or D.

The lords in East Anglia behaved more leniently.

Press pause and then press play for the correct answer.

Well done if you said the correct answer was C, lords were almost entirely unsuccessful at retrieving peasants who had run away.

Next, I'd like you to complete this task.

You need to select the two statements which most closely match what historians like Mark Bailey have argued.

Press pause to complete this task, then press play for the correct two statements.

Welcome back.

Let's see how you got on.

You should have ticked statement A Mark Bailey might have argued that the decline in the number of fines being issued suggests that feudalism was already in a weak position before 1348.

Mark Bailey might also have said that the Black Death accelerated the decline of feudalism.

Well done if you got both correct.

Finally, in today's lesson, I'd like you to answer this question.

You need to explain why historians like Mark Bailey have argued that the Black Death accelerated the decline of the feudal system.

Try to use the word peasant, feudal system, tenant, and lord in your answer.

Press pause now and then press play to see what you could have written.

Welcome back.

Let's see how you got on.

You could have said that historians like Mark Bailey have argued that the feudal system was already in a weak position before the arrival of the Black Death.

As the decline in population allowed the peasants to negotiate with the lords for more land and higher wages, they began to enjoy more freedom.

As a result, the feudal system collapsed as tenants became wealthier and more assertive.

We've now reached the end of today's lesson, so it's time for a summary of everything you should have learned.

Historians have often described English society before the arrival of the Black Death as feudal.

Historians disagree on the extent to which England was still a feudal society by 1348 and how far this affected the lives of the peasants.

Some historians argue that the Black Death accelerated the decline of the feudal system and gave peasants greater rights and freedoms. And finally, records from some parts of England like East Anglia suggest that lords charge their peasants fewer fines after 1348.

Many thanks for your hard work in our lesson today.

I hope that you feel confident that you've understood the material and hope that you'll join me for a future Oak Academy history lesson.