Feudalism

• The break-up of Charlemagne's empire ushered in a period where central authority was almost nonexistent. This paved the way for the emergence of feudalism
• Feudalism was a social and economic system in Medieval Europe where land was exchange for military service and loyalty
• Feudalism was a hierarchial system that dominated Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries
• KEY COMPONENTS:

  1. Lords
  2. Vassals
  3. Fiefs
  4. Serfs
  5. Manor
• Lords are landowners who granted land (fiefs) to vassals in exchange for loyalty and military services
• Vassals are lesser nobles or knights who received land from lords and pledged loyalty and service in return
• Fiefs are the lands that is granted by a lord to a vassal, often accompanied by peasants who worked the land
• Serfs are peasants who worked the land and were bound to it, providing labor and a share of the produce to the lord
• Manor is a self-sufficient estate run by a lord and worked by peasants, forming the economic heart of feudal society
• SOCIAL STRUCTURE:

  1. Nobility
  2. Clergy
  3. Peasantry
• Nobility consisted of kings, lords, and vassals who held political and military power
• Clergy included religious leaders such as bishops and priests who held significant influence in society
• Peasantry made up of serfs who worked the land and had little to no social mobility
• IMPACTS OF FEUDALISM ON SOCIETY:

  1. Political Fragmentation
  2. Economic System
  3. Social Hierarchies
  4. Cultural Influence
• Political Fragmentation

  • Feudalism led to a decentralized political system with power held by local lords rather than central authority
• Economic System

  • The manorial system provided economic stability but limited social mobility for peasants
• Social Hierarchies

  • Feudalism reinforced social hierarchies and limited the rights and freedoms of the lower classes
• Cultural Influence

  • Feudalism influenced art, literature, and architecture during the medieval period, shaping European culture
• Feudalism was essentially anchored on "personal bonds of loyalty"
• An elaborate ceremony was developed wherein the vassal pledged allegiance to his lord known as homage
• The vassal was officically granted his fief by his lord known as investiture
• Ceremonies that sealed the bond between the feudal lord and his vassal:

  1. Homage
  2. Investiture
• Primogeniture was a German custom for the first-born son to inherit all of his father's property and titles
• Primogeniture meant that the younger sons had to fend for themselves and forge their own path to gain their own land and riches
• Subinfeudation was the practice of vassals dividing their fiefs and granting these to other nobles which would make them both vassals and lords at the same time
• The practice of subinfeudation, however, would complicate the feudal relationship among the lords and vassals. Receiving a fief meant that they pledged allegiance to that lord.
• The Liege Lord was the lord whom a vassal would pledge complete loyalty over and above any other lord
• The Code of Chivalry defined the desirable characteristics that a knight must possess: bravery, courtesy, respectfulness, and loyalty to God and his lord.
• The Song of Roland provides a glimpse of chivalry in action
• Behind the success of the manor was the serf
• Being a serf didn't only mean being tied to the land and a life of toil and hardship but it also provided him the right to live on the manor until he dies
• Living in the manor meant protection and security
• Some scholars argue that at a time of great peril and uncertainty this "right to stay was more important than the freedom to leave"