Ap European Feudalism Research Paper

Prior to the deterioration of Europe’s stability, its “Economy was centered around manorial estates, but the onset of the crusades marked the decline of feudalism” (Clark). The downfalls of feudalism and the Byzantine Empire were two of the most significant political impacts of the Crusades. Not only was feudalism a political system, but it was also a social and economic hierarchy. Feudalism strictly stratified the common people from the nobles and wealthy merchants. In this system of government, a majority of the power lies in the hands of the king. And despite his supreme position, the king resides below the Pope in the feudal hierarchy. Some of the original Crusades endeavored to secure the Pope’s position by appointing a supportive ruler

The article, “European Feudalism” by Deborah Symonds, is a brief analysis of the political economy found in Europe in and around the year of 1500, more commonly known as the medieval ages. During said period, little to no established form of modern governance was visible, leaving a barbaric and bloodlust culture to find a means to controlling areas of land. This culture, mixed with a heavily strong presence of the Frankish ruling style lead to a system in which a ruling class divided the power to rule among lesser noble people. The system of a warrior aristocracy left an often impoverish group of persons underneath them to provide crops, products and labor as a means of economic stability to an unstable economy. Throughout her article, Symonds touches on the key areas of how the society was governed and the relationships between classes of people.

The bases of feudalism is best described as a social system in Europe throughout the Middle Ages where individuals worked and battled for upper class who gave them protection and the use of the land in return for their services (Merriam-Webster). “Feudalism” is not a medieval term and not even a translation of a medieval concept (Abels 2010; Brown 2010; Bouchard 1998). In our day and time Feudalism would be difficult and baffling in several ways, but some may feel that we would benefit from it.

Feudalism, during medieval society, was parallel to the existence of the Catholic Church and its influence over the population. Religion permeated all elements of society and the way in which they related to each other. The Church wasn’t only a spiritual power, but a political and economic one and the struggles between the political and religious leaders will be key factors in the development of the medieval world. The church will also be the primary keeper of knowledge in the Middle Ages, and they will accomplish most cultural advancements.

Feudalism was a unique form of government; the interdependent relationship of the monarch and vassal caused there to be an unequal balance of power. However, the monarch always remained strong. Feudalism was rooted in the church; there was no separation of church and state, but instead both government and church relied upon each other. There were two types of feudalism, Merovingian and Carolingian. Merovingian was very simple and it developed into a much more complex form, which was Carolingian.

The Catholic Church was by far the largest owner of land during the Middle Ages. While bishops and abbots occupied much the same place as counts and dukes in the feudal hierarchy, there was one important difference between the religious and secular lords. Dukes and counts might shift their loyalty from one overlord to another, depending on the circumstances and the balance of power involved, but the bishops and abbots always had (in principle at least) a primary loyalty to the church in Rome. This was also an age during which the religious teaching of the church had a very strong and pervasive influence throughout Western Europe. These factors combined to make the church the closest thing to a strong central government throughout this period.

This part of feudalism was just the beginning where Charlemagne appointed nobles to rule local areas, gave them land and in return they were expected to help with defense of his empire. “According to the feudal arrangements, vassals promised military service and loyalty to the nobles in return for land.” An answer to the question asked by document 2 , a stained glass picture of three vassals asking their noble for land. These pieces of land that each vassal owned was known as fief, and on those fiefs were serfs. Serfs were not slaves, but they were bound to the land- they could not leave without the lord permission.

5), which can be considered a political part in the feudal society. The church had a great deal of political power. However, leaders only had local political power (Doc. 3). “Every person was required to live by the Church’s laws and to pay heavy taxes to support the Church,” (Doc. 3). The people of the church would be shown in return “the way to everlasting life and happiness after lives that were often short and hard,” (Doc. 3).

Between the years of 500 and 1400, Europe had evolved into the Middle Ages. The Dark Ages was a period of time where barbarians killed others and burned villages. The kings and nobility granted land to the knights and serfs in exchange for crops and military service this was known as the Age of Feudalism. The Age of Faith relates to how strong the christian church was, the church was an important part of life for the people in the community.The Dark Ages, the Age of Feudalism, the Age of Faith all describe the Middle Ages between the era of 500 and 1400.

Western Europe suffered numerous hardships through the ninth and tenth centuries and this was the ultimate reason they established a new political organization which was known as feudalism. By providing honor, protection, and a sense of control, this new social system revived peace and order in Western Europe after the fall of the Carolingian Empire. Feudalism was a necessary ingredient to yield stability in during these times of calamity.

Feudalism, as a decentralized political system, flourished in Medieval Europe. In this essay, the main political and economic characteristics of Feudalism will be mentioned, while discussing the main historical factors to the rise and fall of feudalism.

Meanwhile in the western European government the king tried to use feudalism to help him keep control. As a result it didn’t work out as well as they thought it would. It just caused more conflicts because the government would run by the majority of votes and if one side didn’t like that there vote won then they would go into war and they had many civil wars.

Feudalism is a relationship between a lord and his vassals to provide service and resources for each other. The feudal system emerge as dominant political and social system in medieval Europe, because it provided the vassals with security by their lords. In one instance, “The fiscal burdens of feudalism took any form deemed suitable by the lords: payments in cash, in kind, in labor services, or in military services” (Goldsmith). After the Vikings raided many homes and cities, many people didn’t have much money to protect themselves.

Bernard and his successors were going to hold the stirrup when the abbot got onto his horse.

This paper will be explaining feudalism in the medieval ages from the 9th to the 15th century. Feudalism was the form of government that emerged during this time due to the lack of central authority and dominated rural life. After the fall of the Western empire, kingdoms began to emerge as effective centralized units of government but the true power lay in the hands of the local elites not the king . In the feudal society, the king granted large pieces of land called fiefs to noblemen and bishops, with their increased land holdings, it also increased their power over the local people who lived there . This power layout created the lord and vassal relationship.