Preview

Feudalism In The Middle Ages

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1563 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Feudalism In The Middle Ages
Thousand and thousands of years ago, the Middle Ages came to be after the fall of Rome, and both feudalism and manorialism supported each manor’s function, providing hope during the dark ages. During medieval times, feudalism contributed to the success of its efficient economy, it formed a strong military, and lastly, it kept the religion of christianity alive by protecting the culture of its people. Medieval manors were able to support each level due to its efficiency of labor and organization. More specifically, farmers, one of the branches of the medieval society, played a huge role in creating success in both the military and economy as well as feudalism. Without a doubt, feudalism supported the needs of each level while forming a solid …show more content…
Feudalism was an advancement for the many kingdoms of medieval times. During the Middle Ages, the system of feudalism predominated the society. Feudalism was an economic and government system organization that helped form modern Western Civilizations (Biel 8). The feudal system of the Middle Ages was a system of landholding. Therefore, nobles held the responsibility of ownership and control of their lands in this system (Melani 25). For example, a knights authority was based on how much land he owned (Biel 8). The richest and strongest knight was the one who would have the most of political power in the system of feudalism (Biel 8). In addition to that, local leaders controlled the political decisions and economic power, they commanded military power, and they ruled in the cultural realm during the feudal period (King 1). Feudalism was based on contracts (feudal oaths) between lords and vassals. A vassal was typically a knight (Biel 9). Feudalism served many purposes on the manor, keeping the society in check and running properly. Europe was in desperate need of recovery so when feudalism stepped in, the society’s hope brightened up. Feudalism served a variety of purposes. One of the major purposes it had was to build a strong military. In order to do this, feudalism required men to be trained as knights. As a result, the chivalry of the knights brought hope to the people of the feudal society (Melani 37). Another purpose feudalism served was making sure the people of each manor felt safe and secure. Peasants felt secure under feudalism because they knew if they followed their oath with their lord by providing labor and loyalty, they would be supplied with shelter and food (Melani 37). Lastly, feudalism kept the religion of Christianity alive which was extremely important during the Middle Ages to Christians.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Under feudalism there was a noble (lords), vassals (knights), and workers (peasantry) (The Legacy of the Roman Empire and the Middle Ages in the West, 2012). The lords were usually large land owners, since there was no central government to provide protection they needed some. The vassals were usually knights that provided this protection in return for land. The vassals would then divide their lands amongst peasants in return for labor and military service when called upon. Once again instead of a central authority, Europe was broken down into several smaller ones.…

    • 1431 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In medieval Europe, country life was governed by a system call “feudalism.” In a feudal society, the king gave large pieces of land called fiefs to noblemen and bishops. Peasants without land were known as serfs, they did most of the work on the fiefs: They planted and harvested crops and gave most of the produce to the landowner. In exchange for their labor, they were allowed to live on the land.…

    • 1526 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    (AGG) Fighting for the welfare of their kingdom, knights have always been feared by their enemies. (BS-1) The training to become a knight and all the other activities he engaged in were very hard and required a lot of training. (BS-2) Feudalism and manorialism benefited knights, by giving them food and land in return for loyalty and protection. (BS-3) Feudalism also enabled the kingdom to build a functioning military. (BS-4) Lastly the church adapted and used the great chain of being to their advantage. (TS) Knight would affect feudalism by giving protection to the kingdom in exchange for food and land.…

    • 2289 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Feudalism was a concept in the Middle Ages that was based on the exchange of land for military service or protection. The concept of feudalism was simplified into a pyramid of hierarchy were peasants or serfs were at the bottom. Pieces of land, or fiefs, were given to serf in exchange for their loyalty. An unhealthy amount of taxes were imposed on the serfs and on top of that serfs were not allowed to leave the place that they were born. During this time religion became very important because it gave humans during this sad time hope.…

    • 4055 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    The benefit of feudalism was the protection granted by the king in exchange for services as traveling around was very dangerous. However, servicing the king was a long-time commitment and people became bound to the king, almost as slaves. It was very hard to rise socially in feudalism; people were born as what they would be for the rest of their lives. The poor and unhealthy were given menial jobs while lords and nobles benefited the most from feudalism.…

    • 1559 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    People lived their entire lives according to the church. The church played a huge role in education and daily life (Hinds 14). All Medieval christians marked important stages of life with the sacraments of the church (Hinds 14). After the fall of the Roman Empire, Europe was a mess (Richardson).They could not defend themselves and there was no trade (Richardson). The church was the only institution to survive the fall of Rome (Richardson). Everyone in the church could communicate because no matter where they lived, all church officials spoke Latin (Richardson). Because of this, most people turned to religion and the church for hope (Richardson). The church was the only organized institution in Europe so they tried to instill order on everybody else. They came up with the idea of an order in the universe and that not all people are created equal (Richardson) and everything has a given place on God's hierarchy (Melani). This philosophy was called the Great Chain of Being. The items that were higher on the hierarchy had less "matter" and more "spirit" and lower items had more "matter" and less "spirit" (Melani). Inside groups on the chain there were sub-hierarchies (Melani). They said that nobles were better than serfs (Richardson). To fight this order would be going against God so very few people in medieval Europe tried to fight it (Melani). The system of feudalism was created based on the Great Chain of Being…

    • 1525 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The War of the Roses was a tumultuous period of time during the late Middle Ages and there is no doubt that it was affected by the feudal system. The Middle Ages was a period of time from 5th century to the 15th century characterized by the technological advancements in warfare, the artistic developments of the time, and the societal organization of the feudal system. The feudal system dictated the political and social allegiances a vassal had to a lord or king. Vassals received an area of land in the lord’s estate and had to care for it, and if the vassal did very well, they would be given their own fief, or area of land. Most lords and knights were very obedient to the feudal system but when their power was abused to such an extent as during the War of the Roses, it exposed the fatal flaw of feudalism and was its demise.…

    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Medieval Feudalism

    • 940 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Medieval Europe or the Middle Ages, is a time period during c.500 AD to c. 1500 AD. There are many societal aspects that can be observed during this time period that served Medieval Europe's function and growth, two of which are crime and punishment and towns, cities and commerce. These two societal aspects contributed to the functioning of the feudal system, the power of rulers and prosperity of nations. Feudalism was introduced to England and Europe when William the Conqueror successfully invaded England in 1066 and enforced the idea that In order to be successful one must be loyal to the King. To many a historian this is where the strength of Europe, particularly England grew. Punishment and commerce are two important societal aspects that…

    • 940 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As feudalism was introduced, society changed. The social classes changed; the king was the top then came church officials and nobles then came knights then peasants. A status of a person in the feudal system influenced a person’s power. Many serfs lived on their lord’s manors and carried out services for him. Feudal lords had armies of knights that protected the lord’s manor.…

    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Medieval Ages was a difficult time period for ancient Europe. The villages had trouble thriving due to lack of protection from conquering invaders. Europe was struggling to stay intact as many invaders took advantage of the poor armies and leaders. As a result, the government decided to go to feudalism where every individual was a serf, knight, noble or lord. This lead to the lords to get rich and greedy while the serfs struggled from lack of food, poor living conditions and disease striking the villages.…

    • 1435 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Feudal Europe

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Feudalism ran deep in parts of Western Europe and went as far as Japan. These places differed greatly. Society, religion and art demonstrated how different they really are. Their economies, however, illustrates how similar these two countries can be.…

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Middle Ages

    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Age of Feudalism was when people started to become wiser. A social structure established which kept the peasants protected. A relationship between lords and vassals developed where the kings and lords were on top, vassals below them, knights below them, and serfs on the bottom. They all relied on each other because they all provided for each other. The kings gave the vassals land and vassals gave the knights land and the knights provided protection for everyone. The serfs paid taxes and provided food and services for everyone else. (Document 4) The vassals pledge to the lords that they will provide knights and aid. (Document 2) This social structure worked for everybody because they all had what they needed. The Age of Feudalism ended the dark ages of European history by introducing order to the common person's life.…

    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Middle Ages

    • 1539 Words
    • 7 Pages

    When all the knights left for the Crusades, the serfs were the only ones left on the manors. The manors quickly became poorly conditioned and the serfs wanted something new. Also with the increased amount of trade during the Commercial Revolution, the new towns needed more workers for their increased amount of business. The serfs decided to flee the manors and head for the new towns. At the new towns all the serfs cooperated to make the businesses in the towns successful. They set up guilds which was when the workers cooperated to make all the prices the same in each store. This way everyone could basically make a fortune. When the serfs left for the new and growing towns, manorialism was destroyed and deserted. Although the serfs made more money, they were also taxed more. The king made a lot of money of this and the feudal system declined because of the amount of power the king had. Not only did feudalism and manorialism decline but so did The Roman Catholic Church because the king gained more power than the Pope and the king did not have to do everything the Pope said. The growth of towns set off a huge line of events that ended up significantly impacting the Middle…

    • 1539 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Middle Ages was a time where people tried to gain back the knowledge they previously lost due to the collapse of the Roman Empire. The most common system that they would use was Feudalism. Every level in feudalism benefitted each other, and everything would collapse if one level didn’t do their part. Feudalism is a military based system depending on loyalty to meet the needs of its people because if everyone is loyal to their obligations because everyone would benefit in some way. The Hundred Years’ War was the start of the decline of Feudalism.…

    • 388 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Middle Ages Dbq

    • 527 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Feudalism was very popular in the Middle Ages. Feudalism was when land owning nobles became independent of kings and princes. The classes of feudalism defined the classes of the Middle Ages these classes include, lords, vassals, fiefs, manors, and serfs. The feudal obligations between a lord and his vassal were simple. The lord provided the vassal with land and protection and the vassal provided the lord with military service and ransom.(Doc. 4) For example “I, John of Toul. Make known that I am the liegeman of the count and countess of Champagne… I will aid the count.”(Doc. 2)…

    • 527 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays