The Decline Of Feudalism From An Economic Standpoint Essay

There were four major causes for the the decline of feudalism by the early fifteenth century. They were economic changes as more countries gained strength, the religious reasons were greed in the Catholic Church looking for riches, the third was the Black Death or

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 feudal system began to decline after the Black Death struck Europe in the late 1340’s. The feudal system joined politics and grouped together the social classes of that period. It began with the “relationship between two freemen (men who are not serfs), a lord and his vassal. Vassal derived from a Celtic word for servant, but in feudal terms vassal meant a free person who put himself under the protection of a lord and for whom he rendered loyal military aid.” This relationship was mutually beneficial at first, but throughout the development of the system, great restrictions were endured.

The population losses among the previously overpopulated peasant class, who at this time were underemployed due to this overpopulation, were able to haggle for higher wages and better terms when it came to working, renting, and owning land. At the same time, the sudden loss in population meant the nobles could not demand high prices for product which weakened their power of wealth. This coupled with the higher earning wages of the peasant class meant they could move up in the social order to become farmers themselves or merchants of equal social standing. This period of social mobility didn’t last long, but it allowed for the end of feudalism as it was known during the Middle Ages. The end of feudalism meant the end of kings and nobles being able to give land in return for anything they could ever need including food and protection from knights. While it was still an important part of social class, land was no longer in the very center controlling every decision. In the years before the Black Death, it was the peasants who gave food and work to the knights. The knights then gave protection to nobles which gave money and the knights’ protection to the kings. In return, the king passed down land throughout the social classes. Although, the lower classes had the opportunity to accumulate land for the services they provided, in the end

The societal mindset that was prevalent in medieval Europe, feudalism, phased out due to the bubonic plague and the religious beliefs of the people.

Why did the feudal order of Medieval society fall apart? The feudal order of the Middle Ages was a system of local rule, where powerful lords gave land and protection in exchange for loyalty and military service from lesser lords. Tradition dictated that this exchange would be held in place by the feudal contract, consisting of multiple pledges. This resulted in small communities consisting of one powerful lord, peasants, and serfs who worked for the lord. These people gave their loyalty locally, and had no sense of nationalism. This type of society was predominant in the Early Middle Ages, but soon started to fall apart during the Late Middle Ages. One major event that contributed to the fall of the feudal society was the Hundred Years’ War. This war was fought between England and France, lasting for a total of 116 years. During the war, peasant uprisings became frequent, as the inordinate cost of military campaigns resulted in heavier taxes. Events such as these were caused by the Hundred Years’ War and further contributed to the decline of feudalistic society. The Hundred Years’ War was the most important cause of the fall of the feudal order, acting as a turning point in Medieval society by marking the transition from feudal knights to the masses of common foot soldiers, changing the balance of power within Medieval social hierarchies, and strengthening nationalism while creating a more modern militaristic society.

In the Medieval times, feudalism has advantages and disadvantages that impacted many people throughout Europe. The Black Death had killed and infected thousands of people and the disease was spreading all throughout Europe. The Feudalism System have impacted people throughout Europe and they were put in social classes based on their wealth and what they could do. The Black Death has led to the decline of feudalism because a lot of workers have died so business started to run out and that wasn’t good to the economy of Europe. Feudalism creates a safe economy for the social classes because of the Lord’s training their vassals to fight for protection of the villages but, the Black Plague has harmed many people throughout Europe and Asia and made business harder to

When Louis the Pious’, the son of Charlemagne, empire was divided, the subsequent actions of his sons led to the necessary creation of a new social and political structure. The structure that was embraced across western Europe became known to historians as feudalism. According to historians and legal scholars, feudalism is categorized as a political system in which warriors and religious figures swore their than allegiance, in the form of of loyalty, aid, and military assistance to the most powerful noble, in the area. In exchange for their allegiance, these warriors and religious figures, better known as vassals, were given protection and material reward, often in the form of a fief, from their lord (UWS, 234-235). Another important aspect

The revival of commerce and the widespread use of money changed the relations between feudal lord and serf. Some lords began to rent out their lands to tenant farmers. Using those lands, serfs engaged themselves into trade, which allowed them to substitute a money payment for their feudal obligations and become tenant farmers. In the 14th century, the labor shortage caused by the Black Death led to a rise of bargaining power of serfs; many serfs’ wages raised and became able to purchase their freedom while feudal lords lost their power by the end of the Medieval Europe. At third, as stability and security in Europe gradually came back, the existence of a feudal knight’s military service became unnecessary. What monarchs were more willing to do is assemble large mercenary armies at relatively low cost. Based on all of the factors above, feudalism was replaced by a system of government that brought the birth of modern capitalism.

In order to put this into perspective, analyzing a feudalistic society such as Flanders, is in order. During the first age of feudalism, state power was fragmented, divided between different lords who ruled and exploited their serfs and peasants (Dumolyn). However, after the 1200s, Flanders saw an increase in mortality rates within the labor class which led to a decrease in the amount of revenue the nobility received from feudal rents leading to a decrease in the purchasing power of the noble class. Landowning classes were no longer able to increase their income which led to nobles seeking to gain fortune in princely service (Dumolyn). Counts from the Alsatian dynasty began to consolidate power by raising state taxes.This led to a more centralized administrative network, a growing money economy, and a generalized commodity circulation

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

The power of that this gave the working class contributed to the decline of feudalism. Queen Elizabeth’s efficient, centralised government was another contributing factor, as was the transition from a land-based economy to a money-based economy. Peasants’ newfound purchasing power and freedom of movement created a greater demand

Europe was in a light age due to high accomplishments and power. Although there were some rough times there were a lot of great times. For example, there was a system called Feudalism to keep order in the town. The king was at the top, lords, knights, and lastly, the serfs or peasants. Previously anyone could read or write, only the monks could read or write. Until one day in Bologna, Italy, the University of Bologna was the first university that was established, so now everyone is able to read and write instead of the monks. According to the rise of the universities, it states, “However, universities introduced a new system of education, eventually replacing the monastery and church schools.” They were also making very big Cathedrals at the

In Medieval times during the 10th and 13th centuries, a form of political and social organization called feudalism was a way of life that had great effect on people of the time and on the modern world. Feudalism was developed because of the weakness of Europe and it's kings. The word feudalism comes from the word fief, which was the land held on condition of feudal service, similar to an estate (English). The fiefs bound together lords and vassals. Feudalism was a structure in which a lord divided his land into smaller parts to give to lesser lords (“Feudalism”).

Economic processes are those involving the production and distribution of goods and services. However, they do not alone determine this production and distribution. There is an interrelationship of economic, cultural, environmental, and political processes that all help to shape each other. Nothing that we do can be defined as a single process, for it is the interaction itself that helps to produce the final results that we observe. To understand this more fully the following basic definitions may be of use: