Feudalism was the way people lived in medieval Europe and is something people should look upon, even Alexander Haig public servant says so, “You have to look at the history of the Middle East in particular. It has been one of failure and frustration, of feudalism and tribalism” ("Alexander Haig Quotes"). In the Middle Ages people lived a systematic lifestyle that allowed for an easier life by establishing stable order, this system is called feudalism. Seignorialism later known as manorialism is a system that revolves around a manor, this system is essential to feudalism that helped provide for a working military and economy. Lords are of the noble class in the feudal system, there work is vital to feudalism and the manor allowing them to properly …show more content…
Vassals / lords were looked upon by kings as they were the providers of the king’s army. The reality of society in medieval Europe was that wealth and power differed, even with kings, some worked to maintain control and very few had enough wealth to have their own standing army (Frey 23). Kings who didn’t have enough wealth or power to provide a standing army relied on their lords to provide knights and soldiers (Frey 23). Lords promised to supply the monarch whether it be a king or queen with knights in times of war (Frey 22). Kings owned all the land in a kingdom and granted territories to his nobles in exchange for their military service, the nobles who got the land would then do the same and give the right to the land to other men who fought for him and the king (Manco). Therefore, if a king was to grant fiefs to a dozen barons, being lords, and the barons are said to supply the king with 10 knights, and then the baron grants 10 more fiefs to vassals, then they will be able to provide the king a standing army and fulfill his needs (Smith 3). Many contracts / promises are known as feudal oaths, one could be with a lord and his vassal with the idea that the knight will promise loyalty and military service to his lord in exchange of a fee or gift (Biel 9). This oath was called the oath of homage, which was for military purposes and has advanced to a political …show more content…
Once again, vassals / lords were looked upon to fulfill the needs of another level in the feudal system. Around 90% of Europe’s population during feudal times were made up of peasants (Hazen). Farming is a major part in medieval life as it is a way of surviving and to do so people needed land ("Focus on Feudalism and Manorialism"). Bandits were in the countryside looting and killing people at will, as a result of the fall of the Roman Empire peasants had no way of protection (Hazen). However, during the Middle Ages land ownership provided protection and land to farm (Manco). Vassals having gotten land from the king or a lord would then give it to other vassals until it reached the lowest level in society called a serf, serfs are a type of peasant that wasn’t exactly a slave but was literally tied to the property ("Focus on Feudalism and Manorialism"). Serfs would be granted along with the land, that is if the land was to be granted (Hazen). Peasants were grateful to live under the lords protection although they lived in horrible conditions, as they were able to sign with a lord acquire land to farm, and provide for their livelihood and family, but not only that they were able to be protected by the landowner being a lord or vassal, overall having their needs fulfilled from the feudal system (Jovinelly 6). On the other hand, serfs in return helped the lord fulfill certain obligations he
Others were more like slaves. They owned nothing and were pledged to their local lord. They worked long days, 6 days a week, and often barely had enough food to survive”(“Middle Ages History”). Knights were above the peasants and they were given land granted by the barons in exchange for their military services if the king needed it. They were responsible for protecting the baron who granted them land as well as the baron’s family and the manor they lived at. The knights were able to keep any amount of land they were given, and they gave out the rest to the serfs. The lord, or baron, was above the knight in the social class divide. They were given land by the king and in return they showed loyalty to the monarch. They provided the king with fully equipped knights if the king needed some to serve. If the baron “did not have an army, sometimes they would pay the king a tax instead. This tax was called shield money”(“Middle Ages History”). The king was at the top of the feudal system and held the most power and wealth. The king could not maintain control over all the land in England so he divided the land up to the barons which eventually
There was a hierarchy of people with feudalism. At the top were powerful lords who split their lands amongst lesser lords. These lords were called vassals If someone was a vassal to a powerful lord, that meant they would pledge his service and loyalty to the more powerful lord. Once this pledge was completed, the powerful lord would grant an estate to the vassal. These estates were called fiefs. .
Imagine having to keep a promise to support a lord for exchange for land. Or having to work on land in transaction for protection and a bit of the harvest for your family. This is one effect of the rules of feudalism and the manor system (OI). For Europeans in the Middle Ages, the social, political and economic lives were influenced by the feudal system.
Feudalism dominated European social life during the Middle Ages (Doc.1). “Feudalism was a political, economic, and social system in which nobles were granted the use of land that legally belonged to the king” (Doc. 1) "Social" life in the Middle Ages was the only kind of life people knew. Whether nobility, craftsperson or peasant, your life is defined by your family, your community and those around you (OI). “The Church protected the Kings and Queens (OI).” “The King is above Nobles, Nobles above Knights, and the Knights are above serfs (Doc.1).”
Feudalism helped large land owners protect their land from Germanic invaders and Vikings. In Feudalism the Nobles promised to help fight the kings enemies. The King gave land to nobles under him. The Nobles were called Vassals of the King and the Vassals fought for their King and other Nobles who were Knights. A serf was someone who farmed the lands and serfs had to pay rent and taxes to nobles. The King gave fiefs that were large land grants to Vassals. Vassals also gave fiefs to Knights and Knights gave protection to serfs. Knights were heavily armed soldiers who rode horsebacks. The manor was isolated. Mostly all of the people in the Feudal system lived on the manor which included the castle, church, village, and the surrounding farm land
All throughout history and even in modern day countries have been structured by a social class system, however sometimes terrible disasters can set off this social balance. The Black Death was an appalling pandemic that swept through Europe killing thousands of medieval Europeans. Feudalism was a social system based on each level giving and getting products and services to keep the medieval society and it’s people alive. All classes during the Black Plague were affected, noble or serf, this caused a monumental power shift and the social classes never to be the same again. With feudalism’s tight social structure, the Black Death in the late 1300s demolished the population and feudal ties in medieval Europe.
Feudalism is a system of land ownership and duties that were used in the Middle Ages. Under feudalism, all the land in a kingdom was the king's. However, the king would give some of his land to the lords or nobles who fought for him. Rulers in all society wanted to create law and order and ensure that people make good use of the society’s resources. That is why feudalism was created. Monarchs had to accept limits on their own personal power. They also needed to respond to expectations that other groups in society have a say in decision-making. People began to use medieval courts for problems that had previously been solved by trial by combat.
When I think of the development of early Medieval European culture, after having read the chapter, along with references from a few websites, the first thing that comes to mind is Feudalism. Feudalism is the dominant social system of Medieval Europe, in which a group referred to as nobility exchanged the use of their land for military service. Feudalism seems to be a fundamental idea in the area of social order or an early form of systematic government. According to the text, it was adopted from the Roman custom of patronage.
In the Middle Ages, there was something called Feudalism. Feudalism was a political and social system. Nobles were granted the use of land by a king and in return nobles had to give military services and loyalty to the king. The serfs and peasants worked on land and they would get food and protection (Doc. 1).The order of the chart was kings,nobles,knights then serfs. When serfs provide food and protection for the knights they would get land granted to them. Then, when knights provided protection and military services to nobles they would also get land. When nobles provided money and knights for a king they would get land in return (Doc 1). As you can tell, feudalism affected many people's lives on the daily basis.
The feudal system was one that arose in England after the invasion and conquest of William I. It has been said that this was the perfect political system for this time period. Life was really hard back in the Middle Ages and safety and defense were really hard to come by after the empire fell. There were no laws to protect the poor, so they turned to their lords to keep them safe. The king was in complete control of the system and he owned all the land. One quarter was kept as private property and the rest was given to the church or leased
A large majority of people living in villages had to work in fields in order to grow food. These people who needed to work the fields were known as serfs or peasants. There was no mechanization of agriculture in the Middle Ages, “so a very high proportion of the population-probably around 90 percent-was needed to raise food” (Singman 65). Although many people lived and spent their lives in the villages, others spent their days in the manor house. “Daily life in the Middle ages was dictated by wealth, power and status and the feudal system” (Lords and Ladies). The manor was a very organized area, with roads connecting everything, so if someone needed to get from the manor house to the fields, they could easily without getting lost (Singman 67). Even though the villages mainly housed serfs and peasants, it was very organized. A typical village was located “in the center of an open-field was the living space of the inhabitants, consisting of a cluster of homes, often gathered around a village green or a dirt street, and in many cases with a church and manor house in the same area” (67). In conclusion, daily life was always filled with hard work, no matter what social group someone was
As time progressed the feudal system was created. It was designed to divide the lands and protect from attack. The king first gave a fief or a piece of land to a royal vassal. As proof for this exchange in land a vassal would swear to the lord to be his man all the days of his life and protect him against "all men who may live or die." Next came investiture. Investiture was a symbolic gesture when a King or a lord presented a royal vassal or a vassal a stick, a small rod, or a clod of earth to show that he has given him a fief. Now this royal vassal was in charge of a huge piece of land. In order to defend it he would then divide his land into smaller pieces. He would take these smaller pieces and give them to warriors or who agreed to be his own vassals. Thus, the royal vassal became a lord to other vassals. The vassals now under this lord would now divide their lands and grant fiefs to warriors of their own. Last in the dividing of land was the knight whose parcel of land was too small to be divided.
Feudalism was a set of political and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries (“Feudalism”). “The feudal system was not planned but, rather grew and developed in response to the social chaos that followed the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It provided order where there no longer was any, and it created new chains of command to replace those that were gone” ( James 58). Feudalism was introduced by King William I to England; this system organized power, land, and divided people into classes. The king, who owned all the land, gave some land to the church and to the barons in return for large blocks of land, the barons promised to fight for the king. Lent land to the knights and also common people (Susie 5). Feudalism test was also to defend against invaders (John 32). In the absence of centralized government authority, people look to personal relationships to bind society together. An individual with military power to offer gave his services to a feudal lord (Hay 170). Feudalism was created to put society, land, and power into order. In the economic system, landlords would force laborers to work on the lord’s manor to the lord’s profit (Medieval 65).
The first major part of the ceremony was the Oath of Fealty in which the vassal would wear allegiance to the king. ( "Vassals." Vassals.) After which the Investiture would begin the king would give the vassal a fief and then touch the vassal’s hand and announce his acceptance of the vassal. ( "Vassals." Vassals.) This ceremony sealed the vassal placed in the king corner. The vassal’s fief was the land he was given by the king. However, the vassal was not the one on the land.
...arge tracks of land (fiefs) in the rural areas. The individuals that had no land were used as laborers in these farms. The peasant laborers (serfs) worked for the landowners in exchange for residence as well as protection from enemies. However, around 11th century, the feudal system began failing as a result of introduction of new farming methods and implement. The invention of implements such as the plough and crop rotation rejuvenated agriculture that led to increased food supply. In essence, the population increased resulting to increased rural urban migration.