Feudalism Essays

  • Land and Feudalism in Medieval England

    1619 Words  | 7 Pages

    Most people know that the feudal system controlled property ownership in England after the Norman conquest of 1066, but without a real understanding of what that means. Feudalism (the term was not actually used until the 17th century) was a social as well as an economic system. It combined elements of Germanic tradition with both Roman and Church law. It is a law of conquerors. [i] The basis of English feudalism was that every person's position in society was defined through a relationship with land, because land was the major source of revenue and the real source of power.

  • Feudalism in Medieval Europe

    361 Words  | 2 Pages

    FEUDALISM Feudalism is a political system where power dispersed and balanced between kings and nobles. This system refers to a general set of legal and military obligations among the warrior nobility of Europe during the middle Ages, revolving around the three key concepts of lords, vassals, and fiefs. Feudalism emerged as a result of decentralization following the fall of the Western Roman Empire. This governmental system characterized the medieval period in Europe. A lord was in broad terms a noble who held land.

  • Domesday Book Report

    983 Words  | 4 Pages

    Peasants also did all the land work. King William was on top of early England’s social latter (“Domesday Book Online”). The book was based on the feudal system, which was imposed by King William. It enabled King William the ability to ensure that all landowners and tenants swore allegiance to him. Swearing allegiance to the king was a major requirement in the feudal system ("Middle Ages").

  • Compare and Contrast Japanese and European Feudalism

    710 Words  | 3 Pages

    Compare and contrast Japanese and European feudalism in terms of economic, cultural, and social features. Japanese and European feudalism had many similarity and difference, in economic both of them were based on manor system and the manor would be inherited by the eldest son. In cultural feature the Japanese feudalism was based on the Confucianism while the European feudalism was based on the roman imperial law. In the society, the warrior class became more important. In economic, both of the Japanese and European feudalism were based on manor system and the manor would be inherited by the eldest son, the land lord and vassal organized their land and fief to a well-function manor.

  • Political and Social Elements: Japanese vs European Feudalism

    543 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Japanese classes were the shogun (similar to a king in Europe), who held all the power. Then the daimyo (samurai), who owned the land, (similar to the lords and nobles in Europe), divided their land to the lesser samurais (vassals), and the same to the peasants, artisans, farmers, and merchants (similar to the serfs in Europe). In both Europe and Japan, the hierachy was held together as a land-for-loyalty exchange. The land owned by the vassals were called fiefs, and later developed into manors. Both Japanese and European feudalism was based on mutual obligation, but the Japanese problems of internal attacks led to them begin using a feudal system for military aspects, while the Europeans foreign invasions led to them begin using a feudal system to protect and economically grow.

  • Role of Charlemagne in Early Medieval History

    828 Words  | 4 Pages

    (think cause and effect) -The Normans brought Feudalism and Fealty into Western Europe, they contributed to the basis for tax collection. Also, with feudalism came fiefs or property in return for battle work. Along with structure, the Vikings also brought art and construction such as the Song of Roland and the Bayeux Tapestry. Describe feudalism as a political and military contract. Which social classes did it engage?

  • The Order of Society in the Middle Ages

    432 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Order of Society in the Middle Ages Society in much of medieval Europe was organized into a feudal system, which was based on the allocation of land in return for services to the king. The king gave grants of land or fiefs, to his most important noblemen -barons and bishops- and in return each noble promised to supply the king with soldiers in time of war. A noble pledged himself to be the king's servant or vassal, at a special ceremony - kneeling before the king he swore an oath of loyalty with the words, "Sire I have become your man." The great nobles often divided their lands among lower lords, or knights, who in turn became their vassals. In this way feudalism stretched from the very top of the society to the very bottom.

  • The Evolution Of The Medieval Feudal Society

    1205 Words  | 5 Pages

    The information is arranged in such a way that the reader starts at the beginning of the feudal idea and follows its growth to the height of the medieval feudal society and its spread throughout Europe. The book clearly explains the role that each individual played in the feudal system, and their importance to the whole of society much like the inner workings of a well-oiled machine. One of the key components to this well-oiled machine was the vassal, and it could be argued that he was the most important piece in the machine. The feudal system would remain the governing system for many years, but in time it would fade away and give way to a new form of government. The content of this book is laid out in a manner that explains the evolution of medieval feudalism, from its beginnings to its downfall.

  • Feudalism in England

    261 Words  | 2 Pages

    After takeover, William 1 introduced Feudalism as the new system of governance in England. In order to understand the land well, he commissioned its thorough inspection and a report of the land’s worth was submitted to him. As earlier indicated in the essay, under the system of Feudalism, the King assumed sole ownership of the entire land in the king’s kingdom. In this regard, William 1 assumed sole ownership of the entire English land and subdivided it into large manageable pieces. Some of the land was awarded to the church and the other was put under the management of the Norman soldiers, knights and barons who had helped him win the Battle of Hastings.

  • Feudalism in England under William I

    393 Words  | 2 Pages

    Feudalism in England After takeover, William 1 introduced Feudalism as the new system of governance in England. In order to understand the land well, he commissioned its thorough inspection and a report of the land’s worth was submitted to him. As earlier indicated in the essay, under the system of Feudalism, the King assumed sole ownership of the entire land in the king’s kingdom. In this regard, William 1 assumed sole ownership of the entire English land and subdivided it into large manageable pieces. Some of the land was awarded to the church and the other was put under the management of the Norman soldiers, knights and barons who had helped him win the Battle of Hastings.

  • Organizational Structure: Feudalism in 13th Century Scotland

    383 Words  | 2 Pages

    Organizational Structure Scotland in the 13th century practice Feudalism in the society. Feudalism is a state of human society which was formally structured and stratified on the basis of land tenure. All nobles, knights and other tenants, termed vassals, merely "held" land from the king, who was thus at the top of the "feudal pyramid". A simple description of the society structure can be explained with the diagram below. Thus, it is clear that the organizaton structure is centralised and functional departmentalised.

  • Enlightened Despotism Essay

    3221 Words  | 13 Pages

    Enlightened Despotism, a movement of top-down reform that took place in some 18th-century European states—among them Prussia, Austria, Tuscany, Russia, and Portugal. Historically, the model for most enlightened despots was the powerfully centralizing, absolute monarchy of France’s Louis XIV (reigned 1643-1715). Philosophically, these rulers drew from strands of progressive political thought associated with the Enlightenment. Enlightened despotism was posed as a solution to varieties of social and political backwardness characteristic of early modern societies. Before the nation state became the dominant political form in the 19th century, monarchs often inherited a feudal patchwork of divided and overlapping sovereign entities, for example, provinces, duchies, and free cities, that claimed independent privileges against the power of the monarch.

  • Feudalism in France

    437 Words  | 2 Pages

    More and more, this service-and-protection contract came to involve the granting of a beneficium, the use of land, which tended to become hereditary. Local royal officers and great landholders increased their power and forced the king to grant them rights of private justice and immunity from royal interference. Spread Feudalism spread from France to Spain, Italy, and later Germany and Eastern Europe. In England the Frankish form was imposed by William the Conqueror, although most of the

  • Japanese and European Feudalism

    518 Words  | 3 Pages

    The idea of feudalism is associated with the idea of decentralized power. In these early ages there was little to no government present in Japan and Europe. People fell into classes in order to make the kingdom survive; however it was not an organized system. Feudalism was somewhat of an unknown idea, however this idea help shape Japan and Europe into becoming centralized. Japanese and European feudalism have many similarities as well as differences.

  • Comparison of European and Japanese Feudalism

    419 Words  | 2 Pages

    Japanese feudalism was based on the ideas of Confucius while European feudalism was based instead on Roman Imperial laws and customs. In both feudal Japan and Europe the nobles were at the top, followed by warriors, with tenant farmers or serfs below. There was very little social mobility; the children of farmers became farmers, while the children of lords became lords and ladies. Both knights and samurai rode horses into battle, used swords, and wore armor. European armor was usually all-metal, made of chain mail or plate metal.

  • Feudalism in Europe

    590 Words  | 3 Pages

    Beneath him was a hierarchy of nobles, the most important nobles holding land directly from the king, and the lesser from them, down to the seigneur who held a single manor. The political economy of the system was local and agricultural, and at its base was the manorial system. Under the manorial system the peasants, laborers, or serfs, held the land they worked from the seigneur, who granted them use of the land and his protection in return for personal services. In Europe the gradual decline of Rome was call the middle ages. During the 5th century, Germanic tribes moved to Europe.

  • Serfdom in Russia

    2742 Words  | 11 Pages

    The purpose behind the granting of such powers to the Russian dvoriane (nobility of landowners) in 1649 had been to make the nobles dependent on, and therefore loyal to, the tsar. They were to express that loyalty in practical form by serving the tsar as military officers or public officials. In this way the Romanov emperors built up Russia’s civil bureaucracy and the armed services as bodies of public servants who had a vested interest in maintaining the tsarist state. The serfs made up just over a third of the population and formed half of the peasantry. They were most

  • The Decline of Feudalism

    670 Words  | 3 Pages

    In feudalism the King gives out land, Nobles receive land and take an oath of loyalty and also receive rent from peasants, knights take an oath of loyalty and are in the royal army. In feudalism peasants pay rent to nobles, and live and work on fiefs. The crusades had a great effect on the decline of feudalism. One effect the crusades had on the decline of feudalism was it gave more power to the King. Also an effect was to get money for weapons nobles sold their estates.

  • Role of Feudalism in the Middle Ages

    480 Words  | 2 Pages

    Feudalism played a big role in the Middle Ages, particularly between the 9th and 15th centuries. Feudalism also played a big role in modern day society. There are many parts in feudalism, some big and others small. The most important parts in feudalism are when and how it started, the rankings, and oaths with punishments if broken. First of all, when and how feudalism started.

  • European Feudalism vs. Japanese Feudalism

    853 Words  | 4 Pages

    Feudalism in both regions was based on a system of common responsibilities. For example, when a lord granted a land estate to a vassal, that vassal would pledge his loyalty to the lord and