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.The investigation does not assess feudalism in the Japan societies including Kamakura, Kemmu, Muromachi, Sengoku, and Azuchi-Momovama.Summary of EvidencePrior to the eleventh century, major distinctions between social classes did not exist in the western European societies, and in the later Middle Ages, clearer social classes developed. In the Middle ages, feudalism was the basis by which the upper nobility class maintained control over the lower classes, as a result of the collapse of the Roman Empire.
It was an economic, and social system in which the king gave a portion of his land and protection to a peasant in return for the service on the manor. The system came about, for the most part, because during his reign of England, King William had two major hardships: he couldn't keep the people from rebelling and he couldn't take care of all the land.This social structure became known as the feudal system. In most of medieval Europe, society was dependent on the feudal system. It typically consisted of kings, lords, peasants, and others who held influence in the kingdom.
The king claimed ownership of the land, and provided fiefs (land) to nobles, called lords, in exchange for loyalty to the King. Lords lived on a manor and controlled a large amount of land. They provided income and soldiers, called vassals. The vassals also agreed to fight in exchange for land. They started training as a Paige at the age of seven, became a Squire at thirteen, began Knighthood at eighteen years old, and lived by the code of Chivalry for the rest of their life.
The land was worked by the peasants or serfs. They belonged to the land, and had no rights, thus becoming property to the king. The clergy served a lord and a manor. They lived in monasteries, or churches, and focused on serving the church.However, the peasants did not receive the same respect as the people in higher social classes, and did not belong to themselves.
Everything they owned, their food, homes, and animals all belonged to the lord of the manor. Also known as serfs, peasants were required to worked for their lord and in return were allowed to farm their own piece of land. Many struggled to produce enough food to feed their families, much less fulfill the duties required from their lord.The peasants were not free to leave the manor and were required to ask for permission, if they wanted to do so.
To gain freedom a peasant had to save money for his own land, or marry a free person. Peasants were divided into several groups: independent plowmen who lived and worked on their own land; laborers who worked on the land of others for wages, and serfs who were compelled to the land as tillers of the soil. Peasants worked the land and produced the goods that the lord and his manor needed. They were heavily taxed, were required to give away most of their crops, and did not have many rights.Unless you were a king in society it looked as if you had no power, but there were many positive aspects of living on a manor.
For example, it was possible for everyone to move higher up in the ranks of society, and that is what everyone aspired to do, although it was very unlikely. A knight who proved that he was brave in a battle or was successful at jousting in tournaments could become wealthy. His wealth could pay for a castle, and his importance in the land would increase and then he then could join the nobility. Powerful nobles aspired to be king, and so on, but unlike many jobs in society, it was hard for peasants to move higher.Evaluation of Sources Feudalism compiled by Joseph R.
Strayer is an in-depth article on feudalism in the Middle Ages. Feudalism was written with the purpose to display feudalism in the Middle Ages. This article shows an unbiased opinion towards all of the social classes in the Medieval time period, and evidently shows the difference between them. Needless to say, this article distinctly shows the significance of feudalism in the Middle Ages. However, this article does not state if the church was involved in society, or not.
However, Social Classes: The Middle Ages by William Chester Jordan compares the societies of both the Byzantine Empire, and Western Europe during the Middle Ages. This article does not show a biased opinion towards each of the societies, and briefly describes feudalism and how it differs in each society. This article shows how the social classes defined the societies during the Medieval time. This article also does not state if the church was was involved in society, or not.AnalysisFeudalism in England was established by William the Conqueror and the Normans at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
The system and structure of feudalism had been well established in Europe, but the Normans enforced feudalism in England. Feudalism was based on the exchange of land for military service, and King William the Conqueror used the concept of feudalism to reward his Norman supporters for their help in the conquest of England. This demanded that everyone owed fealty to the King and their immediate superior.Feudalism had a dramatic effect on Europe during the Middle Ages. The pyramid of power, which was the Feudal system, ran to a strict order, and during the Medieval period of the Middle Ages everyone knew their place. The emergence of the Medieval Feudal System of the Middle Ages affected all areas of Medieval society: a land-based economy, the judicial system and the rights of the feudal lords under the feudal system and the lack of rights for the serfs and peasants.
In the early Middle ages, lords controlled most of the land and earned their income from it without having to actually work it. However, peasants were subject to the will of the lord, and together these two groups made up about ninety percent of the population. There were two distinct groups of knights: those who could afford their equipment and to train themselves, and those who could not. Those who became knights were considered aristocrats. Those who could not afford to become knights shortly became peasants. The noble class was the dominant group in the Medieval society.
They had many privileges and responsibilities within their civilizations.The peasants were mainly affected by this because they had the least amount of power in society, and many resulted to the church. Religion was an important part of the life for the peasants. The church had strict laws, and a severe punishment that was guaranteed if they were broken. The hierarchy of the church was often mixed with the feudal system of the town.
In general, medieval political institutions involved three basic elements: a personal element, called lordship or vassalage, by which one nobleman, the vassal, became the loyal follower of a stronger nobleman, the lord; a property element, called the fief, which the vassal received from his lord in order to enable him to fulfill the obligations of vassalage; and a governmental element, meaning the private exercise of governmental functions over vassals and fiefs. These elements are what shaped a medieval society, and helped to improve it, as well.Conclusion Therefore feudalism substantially affected the society in the Middle Ages. Kings were at the top of the social pyramid, and peasants were at the bottom, slaving over the lords, while they tried to make their living for their families. It was based on the division of land by the king to nobles and vassals in return for the military service. Land was the main source of the economy and was dependent on the peasants who worked the land.
The Medieval Feudal system, worked well for many hundreds of years. The decline of feudalism occurred due to a number of events which occurred during the Medieval era of the Middle Ages.
