Scribd
Upload
85 views2 pages

History of Feudalism

The document discusses feudalism in medieval Europe, describing how it was organized through hierarchical lord-vassal relationships and estates. It provides examples of feudalism in the Holy Roman Empire, England, and France. In the Holy Roman Empire, feudalism developed from Roman and Germanic social structures. In England, feudalism was established by William the Conqueror and structured political and military power. In France, society was divided into three estates and feudalism led to decentralization of power and conflicts over liege lords.

Uploaded by

aman.abdullah
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
85 views2 pages

History of Feudalism

The document discusses feudalism in medieval Europe, describing how it was organized through hierarchical lord-vassal relationships and estates. It provides examples of feudalism in the Holy Roman Empire, England, and France. In the Holy Roman Empire, feudalism developed from Roman and Germanic social structures. In England, feudalism was established by William the Conqueror and structured political and military power. In France, society was divided into three estates and feudalism led to decentralization of power and conflicts over liege lords.

Uploaded by

aman.abdullah
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Feudalism in Medieval Europe

 The word ‘Feudalism’ was an invention of 16th century French and English Lawyers to describe
certain traditional obligations between members of the warrior aristocracy.
 Feudal communities in Europe were organized using two hierarchical systems: Lord-Vassal
connection and the Estate of the realms
 Among other countries France, Germany, England, and The Holy Roman Empire serves as the
example of the dual paradigm of Feudal Society

Examples of some Feudal Societies

Feudalism in Holy Roman Empire:

 Feudalism first appeared in Europe based on the Roman clientship and the Germanic social
structure of lords and retainers
 Roman patronage was the practice of a patron (a wealthy Roman citizen) automatically keeping
his freed slaves in a subordinate position.
 All the land often belonged to the monarch during the latter years of the clan culture with
Germanic kingdoms on Roman territory. He was the only one who could give his subjects land.
Typically, these subjects were members of the family, distinguished warriors, and noblemen.
 The Roman patron-client relationship and the early clan-based feudal relationship in the
Germanic kingdoms combined during the Middle Ages into the feudal law, or Lehnsrecht, a legal
and social set of relationships, which effectively formed a pyramid with the king at the top.

Feudalism in England:

 In the Kingdoms of England, Feudalism was practiced as a structured political and military
leadership and power around a tiered formal structure based on land tenure
 Feudalism took root in England with William of Normandy's conquest in 1066 A.D. Prior to that,
from around the seventh to the eleventh century, the seven relatively tiny individual English
kingdoms, together known as the Heptarchy.
 Throughout the high medieval era, England was ruled and economically supported by a feudal
system, in which the affluent benefited while the underprivileged toiled on the land with little
prospect of economic independence or democratic representation.
 In the English feudal system, the only true "owner" of land was the monarch (acting in the
exercise of his allodial power). The monarch was at the apex of the "feudal pyramid," followed
by all nobles, knights, and other tenants, who were referred to as vassals.
 Beneath the king in the feudal pyramid was a tenant-in-chief (generally a baron or knight) who,
as the king's vassal, held and drew profit from a piece of the land. Then below them was mesne
tenants and finally the peasants or serfs
Feudalism in France:

 France under the old regime classified society into 3 estates: The First Estate (Clergy), The
Second Estate (Nobility) and The Third Estate (Commoners).
 The monarch was outside of the estates system.
 France experienced a "feudal revolution" or "mutation" and a "fragmentation of powers" in the
11th century that was distinct from the growth of feudalism in England, Italy, or Germany at the
same era or later.
 France was getting more and more decentralized in power and in other regions, where it caused
significant confusion because vassals could and frequently did pledge themselves to two or
more lords, the system was a major source of conflict. The concept of a "liege lord"—where the
duties owed to one lord are prioritized—was created in the 12th century as a response to this

You might also like