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During the medieval era, France had a feudal system of governance where the upper nobility siding with the kings controlled the lower classes. The social structure was fragmented into three unequal hierarchical groups consisting Kings, lords and peasants. The kings ruled the land and were believed to have been granted this right by God that they passed on through heredity. They incarnated the law and were the absolute monarchs. The Lords on the other hand hold fiefs that they rented to peasants in exchange of labor, fees and protection. The Lords consider themselves far more superior than the peasants or serfs and treated them unfairly as a result. Lastly the serfs, representing the vast majority of France population, approximately ninety percent, were the most neglected and most abused of all three classes.…
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In the Medieval Ages the daily life of a lord involved, attending mass, managing business matters and finances, solving political matters, weapon practice, prayers, hunting, hawking, and engaging in festivals. Furthermore, a lord's job was to manage, and protect large areas of land. In order to defend and manage his land efficiently, a lord gifted sections of land to vassals. Vassals had control of the land gifted to them, which were called fiefs. As compensation for the use of the lord's land the vassal had to defend the lord in a battle.The vassals were also responsible to pay the lord taxes and rent. Clearly, lords were an important, and respected part of society.…
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Feudalism was also a social and economics organization based on a series of reciprocal relationships. The king in theory owned the land which he granted to lords who in return would give service, usually in the form of military aid, to the king. The receiver of the land became a vassal, and these grants of land were known as fiefs. Sometimes these fiefs were larger than a lord could administer. So he, in turn, granted use of part of the land to lesser lords who pledged their service in return. This system continued…
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At the beginning of medieval age in Europe, based on a feeble resource of data, it is believed that between 80‐90% of the economic activity was agriculture. Nearly everybody therefore, earned a living through agriculture as an economic activity. The economic structure prevailing then became known as Feudalism, a term which has come to mean, an economic system based on Lordship (ownership) of vast Land (also known as the ‘manor’ or ‘estate’), owned by a senior lord, who gave the right of cultivation (fief) to a lower rank of people called the vassals, who in return paid a stipulated amount from the harvests or from services rendered or ‐ later on ‐ through money, to the Lord of the manor. The vassals also received security from the lord of the manor. The origin of feudalism is sometimes traced back to the expansion of the Roman Empire. In Italy for instance, there were present large portions of land owned by Roman soldiers who had received the allocation of land in return for military services rendered to the Caesar. There also existed ownership of large track of land in Gaul before the Roman…
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Feudalism - Nobles were given land owned by the king in exchange for loyalty and military services.…
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his lands and a fighting force when he calls for it. A vassal gets land and titles,…
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The king could grant pieces of land to other nobles in exchange for their service and loyalty to him. When a vassal received a fief, they agreed to take on certain responsibilities to their lord. Fiefs were pieces of land, with laborers bound to it, that were granted to vassals (Smith, Andrew 1). In England all the land belonged to the sovereign prince, but he granted fiefs to his barons and the barons granted portions of their fiefs to knights (Smith, Andrew 3). The granting of a fief was a contract that was sealed with an Oath of Homage (Smith, Andrew 1). The person who granted someone a fief became lord over them and the person who was granted a fief became a vassal (Smith, Andrew 1). The most important role of vassals was serving their…
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The investigation assesses the significance of the feudal system in the middle ages. In order to evaluate the feudal system’s significance, the investigation evaluates each role of the social classes in a Middle Ages society. This includes the kings, nobles and lords, knights, and peasants and serfs. Articles and secondary sources are mostly used to evaluate the feudal system’s significance. Two of the sources used in this essay, Feudalism by Joseph R. Strayer and Social Classes: The Middle Ages by William Chester Jordan are then evaluated for their origins, purposes, and limitations.…
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a. A lord granted land (a fief) to his vassals. In exchange for the fief, the vassal would provide military service to the lord. The obligations and relations between lord, vassal and fief form the basis of feudalism.…
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The Middle Ages brought about the rise of a governmental system known as feudalism. Although feudalism was a highly decentralized…
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During the Middle Ages David Ross specifies, "The social structure was organized around the system of Feudalism. Feudalism in practice meant that the country was not governed by the king but by individual lords, or barons, who administered their own estates, dispensed their own justice, minted their own money, levied taxes and tolls, and demanded military service from vassals. Usually the lords could field greater armies than the king. In theory the king was the chief feudal lord, but in reality the individual lords were supreme in their own territory. Many kings were little more than figurehead rulers." (Ross).…
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The Middle Ages was a period from about 500-1500; It was a time of cultural diffusion in Europe to create what was known as the medieval society. However, chaos and war were prevalent, and people needed a system of protection: feudalism. Feudalism is a loosely organized system of dividing and exchanging land for service and loyalty. Greater lords would divide their land into estates called fiefs and give it to multiple vassals while also promising protection to the vassals. The vassals would then provide their lords with forty days of annual military services, money, advice, and loyalty in exchange as part of the feudal contract. The term "vassals" is a more of a title than a name because anyone could be a vassal, including a king. Fiefs would…
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Feudalism in Western Europe had a hierarchy of power, with (Switch Slide) the kings and/or queens at the top, and then the serfs at the bottom. The structure worked with higher classes granting you fiefs, or pieces of land in exchange for swearing to be their vassal, or servant. However, going up the classes was hard, as you had to work a lot as a peasant and you had to have a personal bond with the…
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The hierarchy of European Feudalism occurred with peace. A single line that had shaped hierarchy had already developed headed by the king, who was surrounded by nobles. The urge for the great countries of Europe to fight and acquire new lands and territories led to the hierarchy of European feudalism and its main advantage which was that men who were not of noble birth could climb up the Feudalism pyramid of power. If a man proved himself in battle and as a loyal supporter he was rewarded with land, fief, In return for the land the loyal supporter or Vassal would swear an Oath of Fealty and pay homage to his lord or King.…
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Let us first look at the Feudal system itself. The Feudal system was introduced to England and spread throughout Britain by William the Conqueror after 1066 and the Battle of Hastings. Normandy and indeed most of France already had a form of Feudalism in place and King William required a hierarchical system of security which guaranteed him loyalty, particularly in the form of an army. Feudalism was the key. Essentially this was led by the monarch who sub divided his land downwards to Lords and Barons in return for loyalty, security and wealth. This was then passed by the Lords and Barons down to Knights and onwards down to Serfs, Villeins and Peasants at the bottom of this pyramid. The peasants may be given land for themselves in return for labour, produce, rent etc. The people occupying the various levels of feudal society each had advantages, or rights and privileges, offset by disadvantages, or obligations and duties. Typically, people closer to the top, the more powerful, such as the barons and knights, had on balance more advantages than disadvantages than less powerful people, like peasants and serfs, closer to the bottom of feudal society.…
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