CLEP Western Civilization Test Questions

Answer - A - The self-sufficient economic system developed in Western Europe in the time period 600 to 1450 is known as manorialism.

Key Takeaway: Manorialism was the organizing principle of the rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire. Manorialism was characterized by the vesting of legal and economic power in a lord. It was supported economically from the lord’s own direct landholding and from the obligatory contributions of the peasant population in his jurisdiction. These obligations were payable in several ways: in labor (note that the French term corvée is often used), in kind, or, in rare occasions, in actually currency.