How Successful Was Sweden A Feudal Country

This war was cause by the unstable king of Sweden Erik XIV and wouldn’t have happened with a stable king in charge. The signing of Peace of Stettin ended a war that should have never been aroused between the two countries. This signing brought peace to both countries and informed Denmark that Sweden did not want this war to occur as it was from the insane kings

Feudalism was a unique and efficient system. Farmers were in the lowest class socially but still contributed and were important to making feudalism function. The lords manors were extremely important to the structure of feudalism. Feudalism also allowed peoples needs to be met. This system allowed kingdoms to be controlled which made it so

Monarchs liked the decrease in feudalism because they were able to gain more towns and land, which ultimately gave them more power.

The Danish Intervention started out with the Protestant Union in pursuit of the support of the Scandinavian kingdoms; Denmark led by Christian IV and Sweden which was led by Gustavus Adolphus who entered the war in 1630. The Danish and Sweden Interventions together lasted from 1625-1635 with the Edict of Restitution that occurred in between the parts. At the start of the Danish intervention Christian IV was given the title of Director of Lower Saxon District and a bitter defeat in a battle in the sea as an outcome, “Christian had to withdraw from the conflict and signed the Peace of Lübeck in 1629, giving up his claims to several prince-bishoprics in northern Germany but retaining Holstein and Schleswig” (Asch 31). Ferdinand II having issued the Edict of Restitution which essentially was the claim of all previous religious conventions and agreements, that did not follow religion of the ruler, within a set time null and void. The Swedish Intervention officially began on July 4th, 1630 in accordance with the Gustavus landed in Germany. When Gustavus entered the opposing forces were disorganized Gustavus had taken control of a city quickly. When the Swedish joined the Protestant side of the war there grew some more tension between the Swedes and the Danish as, “ Their marked rivalry… stood in the way of a joint enterprise,”(Friedrich 169) This settlement did not increase the

• they also began settlements of their own, particularly in Rus, which would become Russia, and in the British Isles.

Feudalism – a social structure and hierarchy containing mutual duties and obligations. Stability is maintained as long as the system doesn’t change. Physical power resides with the king and nobles through their knights. The Church’s power resides through controlling people’s beliefs. Serfs were tied to the land. The Black Death, however, brought about such massive changes in demographics / population that the demand for a limited labor source (the peasants) meant that this social group at the bottom of the social ladder grew in importance (as seen in the 1381 Peasants revolt) that drastic change and the end of the feudal structure was inevitable.

Vikings helped make Feudalism popular in medieval times in many ways. Their raids caused people to turn to local lords or nobles for protection instead of the kings, and that caused feudalism to grow rapidly, considering their raids were often and fast, and each raid made feudalism grow more and more.

Feudalism is defined as the dominant social system in post classical Europe. Land was passed down from the kings to the nobles, who gave it to the knights, who gave it to the peasants. These peasants farmed the land in turn for protection, a home and a share of the harvested food on the land. Peasants provide food and services to the warriors. Vassals provided military service and protection to the barons (nobles) in exchange for land. The barrons provided money and knights to the kings. European Feudalism came about in attempt to restore Europe after the fall of many different enormous and centralized empires, such as Rome Between between the 9th and 15th centuries, Feudalism led to changes such as new source of protection, as well as continuities

Hallenberg’s article was in itself fascinating, but there were a few specific points that caught my attention the most. First was the fact that Gustav Vasa started out as leader of a large-scale peasant rising and eventually became the king of Sweden. He is the perfect example of a boy’s tale in which the boy rises from rags to riches and becomes a man. Secondly, I was shocked by all the grievances against Bengt Nilsson. He committed such heinous and treacherous acts such as attacks on women, peasants, and at least one case of manslaughter. It’s also important to note that he’s just ONE example of nobles who constantly tried to assert their dominance over peasants through acts of aggression. There were four volumes full of grievances against

Feudalism started in France after Charlemagne was overthrown. Years later, the Duke of Normandy conquered England and brought the idea of feudalism with him. Feudalism gave England a more efficient government because citizens could not choose a king and the king had a considerable amount of power. Under feudalism no one was sovereign; kings, lords, vassals, and citizens all owed something to each other. It was because of these ideas that constitutional governments later developed in England and France. Because of England’s new government, it had more civil peace and security than before. Under feudalism towns where less independent, however, there was more balance between town and country. Towns in England and France were more structured. In the thirteenth century, England created its parliament. The parliament allowed citizens to have representatives of their own town further weaving the towns of Europe into one. This was the first time in history that the idea of a representative government came into being. These parliaments also allowed for the strengthening of the royal rule. They showed power and also rights. The English government was also the first country to start a form of a tax, showing their new ideas of government and allowing for an improvement in balance between citizen and government. Kings could now use that tax to improve their lands and expand on their lands. Contrary to Germany and

In terms of economic stability, feudalism was a mediocre method of exchanging amongst oneselves. In the hierarchical system, first there were the lords and ladies. They got the best of the best (except for the monarch) if they have a stable produce. Overall, lords got a steadier and more consistent supply from the peasant work (the peasants just get the “leftovers”, or even none). That would earn a B+ grade for the lords and ladies. The knights also got very fine goods from the production peasants below them; however it really depends on how the harvest goes, and if there are any major disasters nearby. The knights would get a B for stability, because while they have huge priority over the peasants, natural and unavoidable events still do happen.

First of all, melting glaciers, reduced snowfall, and warmer soil temperatures throughout central Norway and Sweden opened up new mountain regions to early forms of mining and the subsequent extraction of large quantities of iron ore. (Steinar 2015) Increased contact and trade with Europe as a result of the warming period also brought to the Vikings the adoption of new ironworking and smelting technologies that removed additional impurities and made large-scale iron production possible (Stenvik 2003) Archaeological remains in Sweden of sizeable furnace sites complete with kilns, bellows, and slag heaps point to the success of industrial batch processes in producing iron usable for tools and building materials. (Steinar 2015) Prominent among them was the introduction of the iron ploughshare which allowed farmers to cultivate larger areas of land and grow more crops, fueling population growth. The average Nordic farm went through roughly two kilograms of iron every year for the repair of agricultural tools critical to their survival. (Steinar 2015) Iron became the lifeblood of Scandinavian culture; without it they could never have reached the height of their political and military

Gustav I ruled for 37 years, leaving behind a centralized nation-state; he introduced the Reformation to Sweden- the Lutheran Protestant Church was under the king’s control

Feudalism is, thus characterized by political decentralization. The monarchs, having delegated such a substantial amount of authority to the nobles, were left essentially without any real power. The social order, which regulated virtually all of society, dictated the need for a king to maintain public peace. Thus, the monarchs remained in power, but only figuratively (Pirenne, pp. 147-150).

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.