Feudalism Meaning and European feudalism

FEUDALISM IT'S MEANING AND ITS DEVELOPMENT IN EUROPE

1. WHAT IS FEUDALISM? Feudalism was a system in which people were given land and protection by people of higher rank, and worked and fought for them in return.

2. FEUDALISM IN EUROPE Definition of Feudalism - “A social system that existed in Europe during the Middle Ages in which people worked and fought for nobles who gave them protection and the use of land in return”. The feudal society in western Europe - This society developed into a hierarchal order, in which every person was assigned a place according to a graded order. The king stood at the top of the hierarchal order.

3. FEUDALISM IN EUROPE The king bestowed land (fief or estate) on a number of subordinates they were called feudal lords and they themselves bestowed a portion of their fief to the lesser lords. These grants were conditional and were given in return for military service or other forms of assistance. Below the lesser lords were the knights. The latter did not have any vassals under them. Every feudal lord, except the knight, was a vassal of his superior and himself a lord as well. The peasants constituted the lowest segment of the society. The bulk of the peasants consisted of serfs who were allowed to use the lord’s land for cultivation on a set of conditions imposed on them by the feudal lords. This relationship of duties and obligations of the serfs for their master-lord constituted the most important aspect of feudalism.

4. FEW FACTS ABOUT FEUDALISM The peasants did not enjoy property rights and they were not legally free though they were given the right to use the land on certain conditions. Feudalism was based on the concept of fief. The word feudalism comes from the word feud, feudal or fief. This was a form of property. The classical fief was a piece of landed property held by a vassal from a lord in return for military service and other forms of assistance. The lords exercised power in feudal society by holding court for their vassals. The market demand of the feudal lords included luxury items- small in bulk but high in cost. The money needed to purchase them was obtained through rent. The decentralization of authority under feudal lords led to the imposition of obligation over the villagers by the lords such as forcing all inhabitants to grind their corn in the lords mill, bake their bread in his oven and each time they did so they had to contribute a part of their product either in kind or in money.

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