Rather than a contrived political system, feudalism was really just a series of loyalties.
For near a millennia, civilization was held together by the oaths of honorable men...
After the breakdown of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th and 6th centuries, society went through a restructuring. The political and social infrastructure provided by Rome ceased to function, creating a power vacuum that needed to be filled.
Enter Feudalism.
Rather than a planned political system, feudalism can best be understood as an emergent phenomenon that occurred where there was no overarching political entity running the show.
When institutions fail, oaths between men are all that’s left.
Loosely defined, it was a way of structuring society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labor. A combination of legal, economic, military, and cultural customs, it flourished in Western Europe between the 9th-15th centuries.
Some credit Charles Martel with laying the groundwork for the feudal system. According to German historian Heinrich Brunner, Martel “secularized church lands for the purpose of leasing to his followers in return for their military service.”
As his military became more expensive due to reliance on cavalry, Martel turned to granting followers Church lands to maintain their support.
This theory is contested though, and others view Feudalism as a more gradual development over time.
But enough speculation—how did it work?
Medieval feudalism revolved around three key concepts: lords, vassals, and fiefs (lands).
A lord was a noble who owned lands; a vassal was someone the lord granted possession of land In exchange for service to the lord. Vassals would get land and protection, while the lord would get a vassal he could call upon for military service—this was the “feudal relationship.”
A wider conception of feudalism also incorporated the peasantry into the structure. Not only were vassals bound to their lords, but peasants were bound to the vassals through manorialism, a type of land ownership.
In manorialism, or the “manor system,” peasants supported the owner of a manor with resources supplied by the land, while the owner promised them protection.
Feudalism was all encompassing, from the lords down to the serfs. Each had certain obligations and rights.
It’s best envisioned as a pyramid with a king (the ultimate “lord”) at the top, and a series of vassalages cascading down to the peasant class.
Lower classes granted upper classes resources or military service, while upper classes granted lower classes protection and land.
Before the feudal relationship could commence and the lord could grant his vassal a fief, a formal ceremony had to occur called a commendation ceremony.
This ceremony consisted of two parts: an act of homage, and an oath of fealty.
During the act of homage, the vassal promised to fight for the lord upon command, while the lord pledged to protect the vassal from external threats. Fealty, from the Latin fidelis (“faithful"), refers to the recitation of an oath that confirmed promises made during homage.
Besides military obligation, vassals might be called upon for other duties like counsel—when facing decisions regarding both mundane matters like agricultural policy or gravely serious matters like declaring war, the lord might find it valuable to obtain his vassals’ input.
Seems like a reciprocal system, right? So what are some drawbacks of feudalism?
One popular critique of feudalism is that little social mobility existed.