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1.) Feudalism: the main form of political organization in western and central Europe from 900
to 1300. After the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century A.D. it had become increasingly
difficult for any government to rule effectively over a large area. Feudalism—a special method
of local, rather than central, government—saved Europe from anarchy.
2.) Feudal government depended on personal agreements between a number of individuals who
possessed military power. These individuals usually had landed estates. They owed loyalty not to
a nation, but only to those individuals with whom they had made agreements. The methods by
which they received the products of their estates and ruled their workers constitute another aspect
of feudalism, called the manorial.
3.) Feudal practices varied in different regions of Europe and at different times. The features of
feudalism listed below are characteristic of 11th- and 12th-century France, and are considered
typical.
4.) Lord and Vassal
The feudal hierarchy was an arrangement of rank resembling a pyramid. At the top of the
pyramid was the king. In the feudal relationship the king was the lord of a group of dukes and
counts who were his vassals. Each of these vassals was in turn lord to lesser vassals, who had
even less important vassals. Near the bottom of the pyramid were the knights, who had no
vassals. Below them was everybody else: Artisans, Peasants, and Serfs.
Lord and vassal owed certain obligations to each other. The vassal pledged to perform certain
services for his lord, and in return the lord granted him a fief. (The fief was also called a feud,
from which historians derived the term feudalism.)
5.) The Fief
A fief was anything that was considered useful or valuable. Usually, a fief was a piece of land,
jurisdiction over the peasants who lived on the land, and ownership of the goods they produced.
All fiefs were technically owned by the king, but a vassal held, in effect, all the rights of
ownership of the fief as long as he performed the services required by his lord. The entire
kingdom was divided into fiefs, except for the land held by the king personally.
Ownership of a fief was hereditary. When a vassal died, his heir (usually firstborn son) did
homage for his fief and swore an oath of allegiance to his lord. If the heir was an unmarried
daughter, the lord could select a husband for her because only a male could perform the services
of the fief.
6.) Feudal Services
The services that a vassal owed his lord varied, but the following were common:
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Military, or Knight, Service. A vassal was expected to serve his lord in war. Usually he
served 40 days a year at his own expense if engaged in an offensive action against his
lord's enemy. In a defensive action the term of service was unlimited. A knight was
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expected to furnish only his horse and armor, but great vassals had to supply hundreds of
knights and men-at-arms.
Court Service. Vassals had to serve, when summoned, in the lord's court. They were
called upon to give the lord advice. They also met in assembly to settle disputes between
vassals. This was the origin of the principle of trial by a jury of peers, or equals.
(Commonly, however, disputes between vassals were settled by combat.) Vassals were
also summoned for ceremonial occasions, such as investitures.
Financial Obligations. They included:
A relief, or gift, to the lord when the fief passed to an heir. It amounted usually to
a year's income.
Aids, payments made by vassals when their lord needed additional resources. A
common aid was to help ransom the lord when he was taken prisoner in
war. Other aids were given when the lord's eldest daughter was married
and when his eldest son became a knight.
Obligation to entertain the lord when he paid a visit.
7.) Feudal Warfare
A powerful vassal who did not fulfill his obligations could usually withstand his lord's wrath if
he owned a strong castle, since medieval castles were almost impossible to overrun. Forty days'
service—the usual limit for knights in the attacking force—left insufficient time for siege
operations.
Private warfare between nobles who were neither lord nor vassal to each other was common in
France, since the king could not control the vassals of his vassals. The church sought to limit
strife by forbidding warfare on certain days of the week and during church festivals. Chivalry
developed as a code of conduct for knights.
8.) The Manorial System
The social and economic organization of a fief was based upon the manor, a district held by a
feudal lord. A manor could be an entire fief or only part. Generally, it included a village and
fields, barns, mills, granaries, and sources of water. From the manor's production, a lord derived
the resources he needed to support his family and to meet his obligations to his lord. For
peasants, the manor provided protection and basic necessities.
The non-noble residents of a manor belonged to two main classes, freeman and serf.
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Freeman. Freemen were tenants of the manor who paid rent, usually in produce.
Sometimes they had to perform labor service for the lord. They were free to leave the
manor, but while living there were subject to the lord's jurisdiction.
Serf. Serfs were semi-free peasants who worked a feudal lord's land and paid him certain
dues in return for protection and the use of land. They were subject to the lord's
jurisdiction at all times. A serf could not be married or leave the manor without the lord's
consent. A serf's personal possessions could be taken by the lord as taxes. However, serfs
were not slaves and could not be sold. Most peasants in western Europe during the
Middle Ages were serfs.
9.) Manorial Jurisdiction (“Legal”/ “Judicial” System)
The lord was the sole authority over the residents of the manor. He presided over the manorial
court, where disputes between serfs were settled and individuals accused of committing crimes
were tried. The rank of a feudal lord was reflected in the types of punishments he was permitted
to impose; low justice meant that the lord was limited to ordering punishment for misdemeanors,
while high justice allowed him to order punishment for serious crimes. Lords in France could
impose the death penalty. In England, only royal courts could impose this sentence.
10.) Manorial Economy.The manor was a self-sufficient economic unit. Artisans made essential
goods. The land was divided into closed(fenced) and common(shared) lands.
11.) Closed Lands
consisted of two or three fields, one of which was left fallow in rotating order. The lord's land,
called the demesne, was between one-third and one-half of the total. Serfs usually owed from
one to three days a week labor on the demesne. The remaining area was divided into many strips
and distributed among the serfs so that they could farm it for themselves. In all a typical serf had
perhaps 30 acres (12 hectares) of farmland. A certain amount of the serf's crops went to the lord
as rent.
12.) Common Lands
included the meadows, pastures, and forests. The serfs harvested hay from the meadow for the
lord's livestock and, in return, were permitted to harvest some for their own use. A similar
arrangement existed for the gathering of firewood. If a serf's cow grazed on the pasture, the serf
paid a fee to the lord in the form of meat or dairy products.
The lord owned all the mills and ovens in the village. Operating a private mill or oven was
illegal. Thus, peasants had no choice but to grind their grain in the lord's mills and bake their
bread in his ovens. For each of these services, they had to pay a fee in the form of grain or bread.
The standard of living on a manor was poor, even for nobles. Castles and manor houses were
damp and poorly heated. Peasants lived in flimsy huts with dirt floors and no windows. Diet
varied, but if the harvest was bad, the entire manor suffered.