The Rise and Fall of Feudalism

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.

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.

During the medieval times Kings had absolute power and the Catholic Church made sure God help the King retain this power. During this time feudalism was the structure that shaped society. In the feudalism structure the people that work the land the poor got cero power and live at the mercy of the barons. Barons where the owners of the land that people where let to work and make really low amounts of money while the baron sells and exchange the goods produced by the land and makes a fortune. At the end of the day the land belongs to the king and the king taxes the barons and collects money from all the land making him very, very wealthy and powerful.

Feudalism was a contrasting system dealing with political and military relationships existing among members of the higher social class, Kings, Lords and other owners of large lands in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. The Feudal system started by the granting of fiefs, chiefly in the form of land and labor, in return the lord would receive political and

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.

The political influence of feudalism during the Middle Ages was to keep a powerful, organized, effective central government. The government had grew because the empires during the Middle Ages fell and kings like Charlemagne were not strong rulers. In order to keep a centralized government, developments or customs of some type of order, helped people live together. These customs had included

Many events in Europe lead to the decline of feudalism and the rise in democratic thought. First, the Magna Carta and the Model Parliament helped to give everyone more rights which created equality, and gave everyone a voice in government. Next, the Hundred Years War also helped to push peasants to war who wanted to fight. This then created a shortage of workers. Last, the Bubonic Plague also assisted in creating a rise of democratic thought and the end of feudalism.

Feudalism makes sure everyone gets and gives what they need, making it an organized structure. The system made it easier to protect land and assured everyone had a role. When the wealthier people can't protect their land that they own, a problem arises. Why should lesser people be the ones taking the land? Enter, feudalism. The lesser people can now work for the manor and contribute to it's success instead of stealing other’s land and just being unproductive in general. Well, isn't it just a great day to be a serf? Instead of living your life for yourself, you now have to help somebody else live their life (King, Armstrong). Serfs, such as farmers and bakers, would spend time working for the lord or for the manor in general. They received food

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”).

Feudalism is the word used to describe a complex set of relationships which appeared following the reign of Charlemagne. I came to find that basically there isn’t a book to tell you exactly about feudalism, no rule book or handbook. Because of this feudalism is sometimes difficult to describe and just as difficult to understand, I had problems understanding the topic myself. I actually found myself having to think harder and require more resources spending multiple hours just researching on the matter just to understand the system as much as possible and its apparently nonexistent rules. On top of that, also attempting to learn how feudalism first started and why of its popularity for many years. As I continued to gather information, I noticed the difficulty of finding just how and where feudalism made its first appearance. It was rare I would find two credible sources with the same historical dating for feudalism.

Feudalism was a very important aspect in developing the political organization in medieval England. It was one of dominant governments used by the nobles. Feudalism was when one of the king’s noblemen would give land to a man known as a fief and give the fief people to work the land for him. These people are known as serfs. The fief would then protect the serfs from being attacked as long, as long as the serfs worked the land to provide an income for the fief. If the fief accepted the nobles offer he would have to swear his allegiance to the king. After he swore to the nobles the fief would become a vassal to the noblemen. When the fief became a vassal he would have to provide military services or any other type of service to the king. A fief could also become a noble lord and could give some of his land away to other people known as fiefs. This process would be known as subinfeudation and this could go all the way up to the king. Feudalism was pretty much the only government at the time of medieval England. Feudalism came about because of the weak political groups and non-existent governments. The king would use feudalism as a way to show his power and make sure his military strength was strong. The use of this political organization slowly died out. “With an eye toward discovering the nature of the Marxists “transition from feudalism to capitalism” most of them concluded that marx was right; the old feudal aristocracy of the middle ages was gradually being

Feudalism was an effective system of organization in the Middle Ages for many countries. The system of feudalism made it possible for everyone to get what they needed, Feudalism relied on the manor, it’s major economic force to keep the economy of feudalism going. Feudalism would have fallen apart without each role providing the feudal society with their goods and services, the shepherd was only one of these vital roles. Feudalism was an effective social, political and economic organization of the chaos in the Middle Ages, which was made up of many vital roles such as shepherds. Feudalism is a social, political and economic system.

Feudalism and serfdom is looked at through the lens of modernity is viewed as an institution that goes against modern values. Marx and Engel’s view feudalism as an economic system that forced the proletariat into poverty and despair in order for the bourgeois to profit and maintain their power in a shift political environment. In the economic theory of microeconomics is that institutions and incentives matter, and if those two cannot provide the means for the economy to grow then society will be adversely affected. Feudalism could be an institution that was created to ensure that stability could be created and maintained. However, this paper will seek to understand feudalism as a product of its time mainly because there was a lack of centralization

Feudalism is the economic and political system in the Middle Ages, which is usually represented by a triangle. The order of the triangle from most power to least power is monarch, lords, knights, peasants, and serfs. The Magna Carta, the Bubonic Plague, and the Hundred Years’ War all contributed to the decline of feudalism. The Magna Carta led to the decline of feudalism.

Feudalism, an order which had arisen from the urge for strength through possessions and status, had been founded by the desires of those in power, who had taken advantage of the needs of the weak, creating the system which had dominated Medieval Europe for centuries. Developing due to the kings’ inabilities to hold and protect their lands, there was no dominant political power or effective central leadership within feudalism—no state or empire. Unlike the ancient civilizations of old, political decisions and economics were controlled primarily by local leaders, who commanded private military forces of their own power (Smith). The word feudalism originates from feudum, the medieval Latin word for fief, or possession. Feudalism emerged in the middle of the 9th century, peaking in the 12th and 13th centuries (King 25). The social hierarchy which rose in consequence of the very being of feudalism was one in which those born within the Middle Ages were born into a permanent position in society, unable to defy the fate which had been believed to be given to them, as they believed they were undeserving of anything other than the life and status which God had given them