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FEUDALISM
Feudal System
• Developed out of the need for protection from invaders
– People wanted land and protection, and there was no central gov’t (Rome had fallen)
• Nobles could no longer count on their king for protection, so they had to find a way to defend
their own lands
– Built castles for defense
• Early castles built out of wood, later castles built out of stone
– Needed trained soldiers for their own private armies, the most important of which were
knights
• Knight = highly skilled and heavily armored soldiers who fight on horseback
• Being a knight was expensive – had to purchase weapons, armor, and horses
• Knights demanded payment for their services
– Wealth was based on owning land – main source of income since there was little trade
• Most knights were paid with land for their services
• Vassal = person who owes military service to a lord who has given him land
• Fief = the land given to a vassal for service
• Feudal system = the system of exchanging land for service
Feudal Obligations
• Idea of Vassalage
– Vassalage came from Germanic society where warriors swore an oath of loyalty to their
leaders
• The relationship between a lord and vassal was made official by a public act of homage, such as
swearing an oath of fealty, or loyalty, to one’s lord
– This act of loyalty was at the heart of the feudal system
• Feudal contract – set of unwritten rules that determined the relationship between lord and vassal
– Both the lords and vassals had responsibilities
• Responsibilities of the vassal
– Owed the lord military service – usually 40 days a year
– Must promise to remain loyal to lord
– Helped to advise the lord
– Certain financial obligations, such as paying ransom for a captured lord and giving
monetary gifts on the wedding of the lord’s eldest daughter and knighting of the eldest
son
• Responsibilities of the lord
– Supported the vassal with a grant of land
– Protected the vassal against enemies and in court
– Treat vassal fairly and not demand too much of their time and money
– Act as judge in disputes between knights
Feudalism Gets Complicated
• A person could be a lord and a vassal at the same time
– Some knights were given large fiefs, which they in turn subdivided into smaller fiefs
– They would then use these fiefs to get their own vassals
– Many levels of subdivision and obligation
• One knight could serve many lords
– There was no law that forbid a knight from taking fiefs from different lords
– If two of his lords went to battle, he had to choose which one to fight for
• Everyone in a country was supposed to be loyal to the king
– However powerful nobles (lords) found themselves as strong, if not stronger, than the
king
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– Some even ignored their duties as vassals to the king
– In their lands the authority of the king gradually faded
Nobility and Knights
• Nobles dominated European society and their main concern was warfare
– They formed a wealthy aristocracy with political, economic, and social power
– Nobles were: kings, dukes, counts, barons, bishops
• Knights became the dominate part of warfare
– Held great prestige and the institution of knighthood united the nobility
– Young knight, with no responsibilities, participated in tournaments in which knights
showed off their skills, with the joust being the main event
• Chivalry = ideal of civilized behavior among knights and nobility
– Knights were expected to:
• Defend the Church and defenseless people (especially women)
• Treat captives as honored guests (ransoming other knights = money)
• Fight for glory and not material rewards
• Noble women could legally hold property, but they still remained under the control of men
– The lady of the castle usually managed the large household, the estate, and the financial
accounts
– Usually when the lord of the castle was away, he left his wife in charge
The Manorial System
• The feudal system was basically a political and social system
• The manorial system was the heart of medieval economics
– Built around large estates called manors
– These manors were usually owned by wealthy lords and knights
– These landowning nobles needed the leisure to pursue war and their feudal obligations –
no time to farm
• Instead peasants worked the lands of these estates
– Manor lords gave the peasants protection and plots of land for themselves and their
families
– In return, the peasants had to farm the lord’s land, along with other services
• Most of the peasants were serfs
– Serfs = peasants who are legally bound to the land, the manor on which they serve
– They were not slaves (could not be sold), but they were not free to leave the manor or
marry without the lord’s permission
– Serfdom was hereditary
– Serfs worked the lord’s land, helped maintain the estate, paid rent, and were under the
lord’s control
– The manor lord also had the right to try serfs in his own courts
• Legal rights of serfs
– Land usually could not be taken away
– Responsibilities of the serfs were fixed
– The lord was obligated to protect them
• Most of a manor’s land was occupied by fields for crops and pastures
– Half the land usually belonged to the lord, the rest the serfs and free peasants raised food
on for themselves and their families and paid rent by giving a share of what they raised
– Serfs and free peasants also had to work the lord’s land, and pay to use the lord’s
pastures, ponds, and mills
– Farmers left part of a field empty for a year so that the soil would be rested and more
fertile
• Developed the three-field system of crop rotation
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Each manor included a fortified manor house for the noble family and a village where the
peasants and serfs lived
– The goal was for the manor to be self-sufficient and to provide economic support for the
nobles
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