Robin Hood and Feudalism Essay

As Tony Imperato points out, 'Medieval feudalism placed the monarch in the position of owner of all the lands in the realm, which he distributed to his nobles in return for their loyalty and service. As their overlord, the King could demand a payment whenever changes took place in landholding arrangements.' This paved the way for the exploitation of his nobles in order to gain revenue. There were many means in which he did this. One was the system of 'wardship', and 'relief'.

Document 1) A: The Feudalism provided protection and military services for their families. Nobles agreed to give their loyalty to the king. As the peasants worked the land for the knights and nobles and which they gave to them was protection and a portion of the harvest to feed their families. Document 2)

First, a vassal and fief holding is more than just someone of lower status being obedient to their ruler and using their land to pay them. According to Britannica, some vassals were apart of their lord’s court as household knights. Although, vassals who did not live in their lord’s court were required to have a fief in order to sustain his land and have a solid holding of his service for his lord and/or king. However, if the vassal did something to violate or break his allegiance to his lord then it could result is a felony. This could explain why Roland refused several times to use his horn to call Charlemagne. However, he mentioned several times that calling

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.

Under the feudal system, people would usually either work on manors or fields. According to document 4, vassals would give their loyalty, Military service, even a ransom if needed and in exchange, the Lord would give them both protection as well as land. Most people during the Middle Ages were vassals, very few were lords. If one was a lord, they then held absolute power over the fiefs. This meant the Lord could hold a court and decide the punishment for crimes. In this Age of Feudalism, the only people who had a higher status than the Lords was the King. In document 2 John of Toul the liege man of the count and countess of Champagne is promising to, "- aid the count of Champagne in my own person," as well as saying, "- whose service I owe to them for the fief which I hold of them." In these two statements, John of Toul is willing to fight in battle for the count of Champagne because he owes them service because of the land he was given by them. This statement shows how truly powerful the feudal system was at the time and how people did follow the rules of

During the middle ages the lack of protection and a stable government after the Fall of Rome created the need for a new political system. Feudalism was the political system that emerged and shaped the lives of people socially and politically. Manors were small communities that were made up of a castle, church, village, and land for farming. The structured society provided a place and responsibility for everyone. The feudal obligations showed that in exchange for one thing they would be provided with something else. Serfs and peasants would work and produce goods for the rest of the manor and in return had their land and promised protection. The vassals would need to obtain land from the Lord and in return would provide the Lord with military service, loyalty, and ransom if asked for (Doc. 4). To make clear the vassal’s specific allegiance to their lord whom they owed in for exchange for their fief they would take the Homage Oath (Doc. 2). This interdependent system required everyone to do their part and it created social classes that they were born into. Their daily lives were centered on the manor and that was how it stayed until towns began to

The serf provided material, military aid, and advice for the lord’s counsel. The lord provided protection for the serf, maintenance, and aid when the vassal requested. The land of the vassal, holder of he land through homage, was broken into strips of land called fief. After the homage ceremony, the lord then granted a fief to the serf. A man could then be a vassal to multiple lords and a lord could obtain multiple vassals, which thus introduced subinfeudation. This caused great complexity especially if the lords had different views and the vassals were divided. In this case, a contract was initiated swearing a serf to the main lord.

The decline of the western part of the old Roman Empire left Europe without the laws and protection the empire had provided. The vacuum was filled by the creation of a feudal hierarchy. In this hierarchy, the serf, or peasant, was protected by the lord of the manor, who, in turn, owed allegiance to and was protected by a higher overlord. And so the system went, ending eventually with the king. The strong protected the weak, but they did so at a high price. In return for payments of money, food, labor, or military allegiance, overlords granted the fief, or feudum – a hereditary right to use land – to their vassals. At the bottom was the serf, a peasant who

Robin Hood faces a myriad of problems that can potentially influence the changes that are crucial for Robin’s organization, as well as affect the effectiveness of the insurrection. As the CEO of his organization, Robin has the

Monarchs owned the land and he would divide the land that he did not need up between the men who were called lords in return for loyalty to him in times of war. The lords enlisted soldiers who were called knights to be the fighting force in these wars. The lowest people in the feudal system were called peasants; these people farmed the land to provide food and provided other services for the kingdom in exchange for protection.

Vassals were the very important nobles of the feudal system ranking directly after the king. Vassals’ had to swear in an oath of fealty and an oath of homage to serve the king. To become the overlords ‘man’, they have to join the overlord in an oath of loyalty . The vassal promises to his overlord that he will be loyal and never displease him as long as he is treated fairly (Nardo 18). This oath is a very crucial part of the vassal’s life which marks the beginning of his devotion to the king. When the vassal completed the oath, he officially had many jobs from the overlord he obliged to. The oath marked the military and social needs that he began to take authority of (Nardo 18). The vassal was now expected to supply money and valuables and

England was one of the countries that practiced feudalism for many years. The other two countries that were centrally involved in feudalism was France and Germany. Feudalism was a very profitable and easy way of life for the mighty and the rich. The poor, however, were under constant pressure and forced to work long, hard hours. The feudal system also involved mass amounts of honor at its core. Knights and lords fought bravely for land and rule. The knights were thought of as trustworthy and honorable in all they do. This lead to many people trusting them immediately. The lordship was only obtained through birth however. The lords of the manors would keep their power through their family lines. Therefore, the rich stayed wealthy, and the poor

During the ninth century, the land that was granted to a vassal was now known as a fief. After owning the land for a while, many vassals would possess the power to exercise rights of jurisdiction or political and legal authority within their fiefs. When the Carolingian political system began to fall, because of numerous invasions and internal differences, various powerful lords arose. Now it was the people’s job to keep order, they could no longer depend on the government. Since number of lords substantially increased, the number of vassals multiplied also. This abundant increase brought about the development of subinfeudation. This is where fief-holding became complicated. Vassals of a king might also have vassals who might owe them military service for land that was granted to them. These vassals sometimes also had other vassals under them who might only have enough land to provide their equipment. Even though this system brought about greater and lesser landowners, this relationship was still honorable. Since this was a willing relationship between free men, it was not based on servitude. This

Robin and the Merrymen is a company who are in business to steal from the rich and give to the poor. The organization had begun as a personal interest to Robin, and has grown with allies and new recruits to become a very large organization. Robin is the head of all operations with few delegates who have their own specific duties.

Robin Hood was not a thief. He was simply taking what was stolen from the common people and giving it back to them. The leader of the country was the true thief. He charged outrageous taxes that the people could barely pay, and oppressed them when they could not pay it. (“Robin Hood: The Folk Hero” 2). This is what makes him a thief. Charging outrageous taxes that almost no one can pay is unnecessarily and maliciously taking something that belongs to someone else for your own benefit.