The Medieval Feudal System In Medieval Europe
History 107
Medieval Feudalism The feudal system was medieval Europe’s prevailing form of political organization. It was based on a hierarchical series of relationships. A noble lord would grant land (called a fief) to a free man, and then the man would swear fealty to his lord. The man then became a vassal, and agreed to provide military service, as well as other obligations, to his lord. This is feudalism in a short, highly generalized nutshell; but to truly understand this or any other system, one must first look at the facets of its composition. The system was subjected to much corruption and little centralization, and resulted in much political, social, and economic reform.
By establishing feudal relationships with their lords, aspiring …show more content…
There were several ways medieval agriculture improved upon previous farming methods, and one of the ways was technological innovation. Although the plow had been prevalent in the previous years, its efficiency was dramatically increased in the middle ages. A reason for this was the makings of heavier plows, allowing for easier cultivation of land that was previously unable to be farmed. These heavy plows required teams of oxen to pull, but were later replaced with horses. The use of horses was brought on by the creation of the horse harness, made possible by the introduction of iron in the medieval …show more content…
A merchet was a sum of money paid by a tenant to his lord to allow his daughter to marry. When a woman married, a lord lost a worker, so her father would essentially purchase the ability to give away his daughter. This “tax on marriage” provided incentive to keep workers from leaving the workforce. As if the life of a tenant was not hard enough, after death his lord could take back military equipment or his finest horse as another form of tribute. As feudalism and manorialism were both economic and political systems, two things were for sure in medieval Europe: hierarchy and
Medieval Feudalism The feudal system was medieval Europe’s prevailing form of political organization. It was based on a hierarchical series of relationships. A noble lord would grant land (called a fief) to a free man, and then the man would swear fealty to his lord. The man then became a vassal, and agreed to provide military service, as well as other obligations, to his lord. This is feudalism in a short, highly generalized nutshell; but to truly understand this or any other system, one must first look at the facets of its composition. The system was subjected to much corruption and little centralization, and resulted in much political, social, and economic reform.
By establishing feudal relationships with their lords, aspiring …show more content…
There were several ways medieval agriculture improved upon previous farming methods, and one of the ways was technological innovation. Although the plow had been prevalent in the previous years, its efficiency was dramatically increased in the middle ages. A reason for this was the makings of heavier plows, allowing for easier cultivation of land that was previously unable to be farmed. These heavy plows required teams of oxen to pull, but were later replaced with horses. The use of horses was brought on by the creation of the horse harness, made possible by the introduction of iron in the medieval …show more content…
A merchet was a sum of money paid by a tenant to his lord to allow his daughter to marry. When a woman married, a lord lost a worker, so her father would essentially purchase the ability to give away his daughter. This “tax on marriage” provided incentive to keep workers from leaving the workforce. As if the life of a tenant was not hard enough, after death his lord could take back military equipment or his finest horse as another form of tribute. As feudalism and manorialism were both economic and political systems, two things were for sure in medieval Europe: hierarchy and