The Feudal System

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.

Although the feudal system presented a mutually beneficial relationship at first, over time many burdens were placed on the vassals. A serf was bound to the land, thus resulting in a fixed income. Since he was unable to move to another lord, he was reliant on only what was originally agreed upon to provide monetary support. [Support was generally in kind, or in labor.] With no “right” to adjust the support needed for survival, the serf and his family experiences tremendous hardships.

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

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)

There were a number of conditions that would lead to the emergence of “feudal warfare” in the early Middle Ages and there would be an equal number that would lead to its decline in the later middle ages as well yet to find the meaning of “feudal warfare” one has to look first at where this notion came from, and that was Feudalism.

Everything in Medieval times everything was based on the Feudal System or the social class. It determined your rank, power, wealth,

The Middle Ages was a time of war and extreme poverty. While some empires were thriving, Western Europe struggled to maintain order and safety in the kingdoms during the ninth through fifteenth centuries. Food was a rarity and many people failed to support themselves and their families because of the inequality stemming from the feudal system. The feudal system, a way of ordering people based on their social and economic status, brought inequality to Western Europe, but also kept a sense of order during times of war and instability. In order for the Medieval feudal system to function properly, peasants, knights, and lords all had to fulfill their duties and stay within the boundaries of their given position.

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.

1.The serfs are the most important role in a feudal society.(A feudal society is a “ political and economic system of Europe from the 9th to about the 15th century”). Another word for a serf is a peasant which is a very poor person. If this role didn’t exist then the kings would have no one to rule. So that would mean there is no kingdom. Another reason why serfs are the most important is if the serfs weren’t there,who would feed the king, his knights and his vassals on their journeys. Serfs also did the lord's hard work so how would the lord get all of his work done. 2. I know this because the serf poster wrote the serfs feeds the king, his knights and the vassals on their journeys. Serfs also did the lord's hard work and labor.3.What this

Explain the feudal system in medieval Europe. The initial government and society in Europe during the Middle Ages was actually based around the feudal system, which was introduced to England by William of Normandy (1066). This feudal system was meant to be the symbol of loyalty and support for the King. In medieval Europe, small communities would form around the local lord and the manor.

Landowners claimed peasants as ‘property’ and had no virtually no moral compass when it came to the peasants well-being. Serfdom was simply accepted throughout Europe, until enlightened ideas and revolutions took place to ensure peasants gained complete citizenship – with Western Europe being the first to emancipate feudalism. Peasants, most importantly, gained new, enlightened ideas about what it was to be a citizen and demanded change. To put the change of peasants into ‘who’ or ‘what’ is too complicated, therefore this essay will look at the different factors surrounding the peasantry and how the turned into

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Feudal system was developed. Between the 9th and 15th Century, the Feudal system provided the model of the medieval class system. It defined the people who had wealth and comfort such as royal families, and those without wealth and comfort, the peasants. William I, better known as ‘William the Conqueror’, defeated Harold at the ‘Battle of Hastings’ and became King. He introduced the Feudal system. The people didn’t trust William I so he divided England into big plots of land and gave it to Noblemen who had fought bravely for him. These Noblemen swore loyalty and collected taxes from peasants on their land. The peasants worked hard to pay these taxes and produce enough food to survive. The Feudal System was an unfair way to organise society because peasants were trapped in their position in the Feudal

One way that feudalism divided society, was that it wasn’t equal in a way that peasants grew all the crops and did all the work, but they still got the least. For instance, most peasants were underfed, so they died at 30. However, nobility had longer lives, William 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”).

Under the feudal system, the crown provided land to the nobility for their own use. In exchange for the land, the nobility provided the crown with knights to serve in the military. At the bottom of the hierarchy was the peasantry who worked the on the nobles land to provide for them. While this social system provided several benefits it also had disadvantages.