Feudalism

Features of feudalism

Feudalism was mainly due to the decentralised power structure in most medieval kingdoms. Monarchs often had to secure the loyalty and allegiance of Lords and, by extension, their knights, vassals, and peasants to maintain power and order. The feudal system was largely based on the social and political interactions of the following features:

• Kings
• Lords (vassals)
• Knights (Vassals)Fig. 1 - A pyramid portraying the hierarchy in a feudal society, 2019, Judith 018, CC-BY-SA-4.0, Wikimedia Commons
• Peasants (vassals)
• Fief (Land)

In Medieval Europe, most lands were owned by the king, while some belonged to the church. The king would give large portions of his land to high-ranking society members known as 'nobles' or lords. These lords were often military leaders and held absolute power over the 'fief' (land). They would perform the administrative and judicial functions of the fief while defending the land and the people who lived there. In a sense, they had more direct power over the people than the king. In exchange for the fief, lords would swear an oath of allegiance to the king, which included a mutual set of legal and military agreements, such as providing the king with Knights for his cavalry.

Lords would further divide the land and give possession to lesser lords, such as Knights or local lords and peasants. Anyone who received land from an 'overlord' (the person who gave them the land) could be referred to as a vassal. For example, the nobility were vassals of the king, whilst knights were vassals of the lord. In exchange for the fief distributed to them, knights would offer their military services. Peasants were allowed to live on the land under the protection of the lord and his knights and cultivate the fief for food. In exchange, they would offer a range of services to the lord and knights, from providing labour or payment in the form of money or produce. A lower class of peasants were also known as 'serfs'; they would commonly belong to the lord and be tied to his land for generations doing challenging labour until they died or were transferred or sold to another lord.

Types of feudalism

Within the system of feudalism, the fief was given to vassals by overlords in exchange for some form of payment. These were called feudal land tenures, where the vassals were tenants on their overlord's land. There were two types of tenures, free and unfree. Free and unfree land tenures would determine how the vassal was to pay for their tenancy on the land.

Unfree tenures:

Unfree tenures had no predetermined terms and conditions. Essentially, those with unfree tenures had no specified job description and could be required to do anything by their overlords. These tenures were for the lower class peasants. Villeins (or 'serfs') were peasants who lived within the manorial system under unfree tenures. They could not leave their overlords land without his permission, but could also be ejected from his land at a moments notice, without reason. They differed from slaves as slaves were not tied to the land and could be bought and sold unrelatedly. Eventually, when the royal courts became more involved with the relations between overlords and vassals in England, they ruled that villeins could not be ejected without a cause.

Manorial system vs. feudalism

Manorialism and feudalism are closely related; however, they do not mean the same thing. The manorial system was essentially a system that organised the economic system within the fief of the nobles concerning their vassals. This is a way to distinguish between manorialism and feudalism; feudalism describes the socio-political system of the kingdom during the medieval period, principally the relationship between the king and the nobles.

Manorial System

Under the manorial system, the king gave nobles fief. These fiefs often had multiple manor castles and houses, all of which would be under the lord's authority and would be leased to lesser lords. The manors would be the heart of the society, often placed in the center of a community, with knights and high walls to guard it. The lord would live in the manor with his family, alongside several vassals, who would maintain the house, see to the family's needs and work in the manor gardens, farms, stables, and kitchens.

In the forms mentioned above, the lord would give smaller land tenures to people within his manorial fief and run his manor accordingly. The Knights and sergeants would provide military and protection services in return for riches in the form of fiefs, houses, and horses, while villeins would pay rent or provide services in return for living on the land. As the land was self-sufficient, villeins could cultivate the land to provide food as long as they kept their overlords happy (either by paying rent or doing whatever they were told) but could not leave. In return, they were also guaranteed legal and military safety within their lord's manor.

Fig. 3 - Depiction of a peasant ploughing the outer grounds of a manors fief painted by famous Dutch miniature painter brothers, the Limbourg Brothers, Circa 15 century, Condé Museum, CC-PD-Mark, Wikimedia Commons

Feudalism Example:

Although feudalism can be said to have a series of identifiable characteristics, some details generally differed between feudal societies. These are best portrayed through examples.

Another example of a feudal system was the North American colonies during the 16th and 17th centuries often referred to as semi-feudalism.