Feudalism (word comes from the Latin feudum or fief)
was the dominant political and social philosophy of Western Europe between the
9th and 15th centuries. Feudalistic societies were
structured along the lines of land and labour. While some historians have
debated whether it is a useful to understand the Middle Ages there is no doubt that
Medieval societies developed around a framework that was intrinsically
feudalistic and hierarchical.
Feudal societies emerged in Western Europe after the
decentralization of the vast Carolingian Empire set up by Charlemagne. Classic
Feudalistic societies revolved around three key elements – lords, vassals and
fiefs.
The lord or noble held the land, the vassal was granted land
on behalf of the lord in exchange for services provided to the lord and the
fief was the land under consideration. Vassals swore an oath of fealty and
homage to the lords and could be used by the lords for both military and
non-military service (largely involving agricultural labour and produce). In
exchange the lord offered to protect the vassal. The economic structure is often
term Manorialism (after the manor – the home of the lord).
There was no single type of feudalism that served as the
model for European society but almost all systems gave the lord tremendous
power with respect to sentencing for criminal offences, the initiation of
capital punishment and rigid control of agricultural policy.
By the year 1500 Feudalism had effectively disappeared in
much of Western Europe although it maintained a strong grip in Eastern Europe
and Russia. With the latter only abolishing serfdom – bonding of a peasant to
the lord’s land – in the 1850s.
Free Market Trade and the movement away from an
Agrarian based economy would serve to weaken the grip of feudalism in the West
towards the end of the High Middle Ages
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