• The word ‘Feudalism’ is derived from the German word ‘feud’ which means ‘a piece of land’. Feudalism was a division of society that initially developed in medieval France, then in England and southern Italy.
• It was a kind of agricultural production relationship between lords and peasants.
• The nobility had a privileged role in the social process with absolute control over his land. They raised troops that were called ‘Feudal Levies’. The King of France was linked to his people through the system of ‘vassalage’. The King was accepted as Seigneur, i.e. lord. The nobility lived in manor houses.
• The cavalry and peasant soldiers were called knights. Minstrels and bards toured France, singing tales of brave kings and knights.

When William the Conqueror became King of England in 1066 he introduced a new kind of feudal system into Britain. William confiscated the land in England from the Saxon lords and allocated it to members of his own family and the Norman lords who had helped him conquer the country. Feudalism was introduced in England in 1066 following the Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest. The Normans, led by William the Conqueror who was crowned King William I of England introduced Feudalism to England. Feudalism was based on the exchange of land for military service.

Slavery in ancient Rome played an important role in society and the economy. Besides manual labor, slaves performed many domestic services, and might be employed at highly skilled jobs and professions. Accountants and physicians were often slaves. Slaves of Greek origin in particular might be highly educated. Rome's economy depended on slaves to till its fields and work as craftsmen, and its military might had traditionally provided a fresh influx of conquered peoples to put to work. But when expansion ground to a halt in the second century, Rome's supply of slaves and other war treasures began to dry up.

Martin Luther’s birth took place in 1483 AD in Germany. His interest was in analysis of holy tenets. In 1517 AD he created ‘Ninety Five Thesis’. In 1522 AD he translated Bible in German language. Martin Luther was disappointed with the Pope’s grand, unrestricted or dictatorial type of lifestyle. In his heart he developed the feelings of revolt. Another reason was the greed of Christian Popes to collect money on account of or through the medium of apology letter from people. Martin Luther opposed this and started a movement against Catholic Church. He assured people that in order to connect with God there was no significance of Pope as a medium. He published three pamphlets containing thoughts of Martin Luther for distribution.

• Address of German Feudalistic sect: Through this pamphlet Luther sought to end the special powers of Christian Clergy.
• The Bablonian imprisonment of God’s church : By this pamphlet Luther attacked Pope and his methods.
• Liberation of Christian Faith People : In this pamphlet he explained his principles of liberation. Martin Luther gave the name to his movement as protestant improvisation.

He advised rulers of Germany, Switzerland to get free from foreign influence. Pope and Church authorities told Martin Luther to stop anti-church propaganda, but Martin Luther clarified that he could do this only when any of his thoughts is proved against religion. This way he placed belief system in place of assigned work of church. With the result the support base of Martin Luther increased. Each ruler had the choice of freedom for choosing religious faith of people. Before 1552 AD the wealth snatched by Protestants of church was recognized. This way the contribution of Martin Luther in Reformation movement was appreciable.

Until the 1970s, historians used the term ‘industrial revolution’ for the changes that occurred in Britain from the 1780s to the 1820s.
From then, it was challenged, on various grounds. Industrialisation had actually been too gradual to be considered a ‘revolution’. It carried processes that already existed towards new levels. Thus, there was a relatively greater concentration of workers in factories, and a wider use of money. Until well into the nineteenth century, large regions of England remained untouched by factories or mines and therefore the term ‘industrial revolution’ was regarded as inaccurate: England had changed in a regional manner, prominently around the cities of London, Manchester, Birmingham or Newcastle, rather than throughout the country. Could the growth in the cotton or iron industries or in foreign trade from the 1780s to the 1820s be called revolutionary? The impressive growth of cotton textiles, based on new machinery, was in an industry that relied on a non-British raw material, on sales abroad (especially India), on non-metallic machinery, and with few links to other branches of industry. Metallic machinery and steam power was rare until much
later in the nineteenth century. The rapid growth in British imports and exports from the 1780s occurred because of the resumption of
trade with North America that the War of American Independence had interrupted. This growth was recorded as being sharp only because it started from a low point.

Indicators of economic change occurring before and after 1815-20 suggest that sustained industrialisation was to be seen after rather than before these dates. The decades after 1793 had experienced the disruptive effects of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Industrialisation is associated with a growing investment of the country’s wealth in ‘capital formation’, or building infrastructure and installing new machinery, and with raising the levels of efficient use of these facilities, and with raising productivity. Productive investment, in these senses, grew steadily only after 1820, as did levels of productivity. The cotton, iron and engineering industries had accounted for less than half of the industrial output until the 1840s. Technical progress was not limited to these branches, but was visible in other branches too, like agricultural processing and pottery.

• City life began in Mesopotamia (Mesopotamia is derived from the Greek words ‘mesos’, meaning middle, and ‘potamos’, meaning river.)
• It is a flat land between the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers that is now part of the Republic of Iraq.
• Mesopotamian civilization was based on definite plan. 
• The first Mesopotamian tablets, written around 3200 BCE, contained picture-like signs and numbers.
• Mesopotamians wrote on tablets of clay.

Realism, in the arts, the accurate, detailed, unembellished depiction of nature or of contemporary life. Realism rejects imaginative idealization in favour of a close observation of outward appearances. As such, realism in its broad sense has comprised many artistic currents in different civilizations. The movement aimed to focus on unidealized subjects and events that were previously rejected in art work. Realist works depicted people of all classes in situations that arise in ordinary life, and often reflected the changes brought by the Industrial and Commercial Revolutions.  Realism revolted against the exotic subject matter and exaggerated emotionalism and drama typical of the Romantic movement. In favor of depictions of real life, Realist painters often depicted common laborers, and ordinary people in ordinary surroundings engaged in real activities as subjects for their works.

Slaves were included in the family in Roman society.

1. THE CLERGY

• Church was a powerful institution. The Pope, the head of the Catholic Church, lived in Rome. Bishops were religious nobility.
• The church played a major role in influencing the Medieval European society.
• They collected the tithe, a tax from the peasants.
• Church ceremonies copied several formal feudal customs.
• Some Christians chose to live in isolation in abbeys. (‘Abbey’ is derived from the Syriac abba, meaning father. An abbey was governed by an abbot or an abbess)

2. NOBILITY

• The word ‘Feudalism’ is derived from the German word ‘feud’ which means ‘a piece of land’. Feudalism was a division of society that initially developed in medieval France, then in England and southern Italy.
• It was a kind of agricultural production relationship between lords and peasants.
• The nobility had a privileged role in the social process with absolute control over his land. They raised troops that were called ‘Feudal Levies’. The King of France was linked to his people through the system of ‘vassalage’. The King was accepted as Seigneur, i.e. lord. The nobility lived in manor houses.
• The cavalry and peasant soldiers were called knights. Minstrels and bards toured France, singing tales of brave kings and knights.

3. THE PEASANTRY

• Peasants and Serfs were two kinds of cultivators in medieval Europe.
• Free peasants laboured for cultivating the lord’s fields to provide labour rent. They paid a direct tax, called taille, to the king. European monarchs were called New Monarchs.

The Anglo-Saxons had a Great Council, which the king consulted before imposing any tax. This developed into the Parliament, with the House of Lords (its members – the lords and the clergy), and the House of Commons. The English monarch, Charles the First, ruled England from 1629 till 1640 without calling the Parliament.

. Industrialisation changed the form of urbanisation in the modern period.
. The early industrial cities of Britain such as Leeds and Manchester attracted large number of migrants to the textile mills set up in the late 18th century.
. The city of London was a powerful magnet for migrant populations, even though it did not have large factories.
. London was a colossal city and its population expanded four-fold from 1 million to 4 million; as the Industrial Revolution attracted more and more people.

Crusades were the holy wars that were fought between the Muslims and the Christians for taking control of the ancient holy sites. 

• It led to the decline of feudalism in Europe
• While fighting holy wars against the Turkish Muslims, the crusaders learnt the use of guns and gunpowder. This discovery greatly undermined the importance of feudal lords and armoured knights.
• It now became difficult for them to defy the authority of the king, leading to the decline of feudalism and the consolidation of the powers of the king. 
• When the Europeans went to Asia to fight crusades, they learned several new ideas from the Muslims. It also increased the desire for trade with other parts of the world. This lead to the rise of the merchant class and the end of serfdom.
• The crusaders in their fight with the Muslims came into contact with several manuscripts pertaining to the Roman and Greek culture. Thus, began the process of learning these cultures leading to the beginning of the Renaissance in Europe.
• As a result of the Crusades, direct trade contacts were opened between the East and West. Trade began to flourish and the European economy started to improve.
•  As traders, bankers and artisans began to pay taxes, the wealth and the power of the king improved.

The Islamic prophet Muhammad came to Medina following the migration of his followers in what is known as the Hijra (migration to Medina) in 622. He had been invited to Medina by city leaders to adjudicate disputes between clans from which the city suffered. He left Medina to return to and conquer Mecca in December 629.

The term ‘Abbasid revolution’ refers to the Dawa Movement initiated by Abu Muslim from Khurasan against the Umayyad dynasty. This revolution put an end to the Umayyad dynasty, which ruled from 661 to 750. With the fall of Umayyad dynasty in 750, the Abbasid came to power and ruled till 1258.

The Term "feudalism" has been used by historians to describe the economic, legal, political and social relationships that existed in Europe in the medieval era.

The feudal system was a pyramidal or a hierarchical system which flourished during medieval period in Europe. Its four main features were:

• The king was at the topmost level of the feudal system. Below him were nobles known as barons followed by knights.
• The serfs or the peasants occupied the lowest strata in the feudal system.
• The Castle was the chief characteristic of feudalism. The feudal Lords lived in huge castles or forts. The living house and court of the Lord existed inside the castle.
• The king gave lands to barons and the latter provided troops to the King.

The Crusades had a bitter impact on the Muslim-Christian relations. The horrors of wars forced the Muslims to constrain all ties with the Christians. The need to protect the areas inhabited by mixed populations compelled the Muslims to further act more strictly with the Christians.

Apart from violence and terror, the Crusades had some positive impacts too. The Crusades gave a huge boost to commerce. The long-drawn-out wars created a constant need for the transportation of men and goods from the East to the West and vice versa. Goods from Damascus, Alexandria and Cairo flowed into the sea ports of Italy to be further shipped to Europe. The trading activities helped in increasing the influence of the Italian mercantile class on international trade. Thus, we can say that the Crusades had diverse effects on both Asia and Europe.

Renaissance meant revival of the ancient Greek and Latin culture. It first began in Italy, followed by Rome, Venice and Florence. The term 'Renaissance Man' is often used to describe a person with many interests and skills, because many of the individuals who became well known at this time were people of many parts.