Monarchs could distribute land for political purposes, fragmenting a noble's holdings or distancing him from the court. The system was often weighted in favour of the sovereign as when a noble died without an heir, his estate went back to the monarch to either keep for themselves or to redistribute to another noble. As fiefs were often hereditary, a permanent class divide was established between those who had land and those who rented it. The consequence of the feudal system was the creation of very localised groups of communities which owed loyalty to a specific local lord who exercised absolute authority in his domain. Rather, the relationship between serf and landowner or tenant is referred to as the manorial system after the most common unit of land, the 'manor'. The term feudalism, however, is generally applied by modern historians only to the relationship between lords and vassals, and not the peasantry. They were often treated as little more than slaves and could not leave the estate on which they lived and worked. The peasantry worked, without pay, on the land owned or rented by others to produce food for themselves and, just as importantly, food and profit for their masters.
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Unfree labourers were serfs, also known as villeins, who were at the bottom of the social pyramid and who made up the vast majority of the population.
IMPACT OF FEUDALISM IN THE MIDDLE AGES FREE
Thus there was a perpetual divide between the landed aristocracy (monarchs, lords, and some tenants) and those who worked the land for them who could be free or unfree labourers. The feudal system perpetuated itself as a status quo because the control of land required the ability to perform military service and, because of the costs involved (of weapons, armour and horses), land was required to fund military service. This system was officially abandoned in 1789 during the French Revolution.The feudal system perpetuated itself as a status quo because the control of land required the ability to perform military service & land was required to fund military service. The children of the peasant would automatically become peasants, so it was virtually impossible to leave this serfdom. The lord also needed services done, like repairing the stronghold or fence, or chopping wood for the fires. A peasant had to work the fields and give up a substantial proportion of the crop yield. They could no longer leave the land without the permission of the landowner, the lord. The first free farmers who submitted themselves to richer landowners had to give up all sorts of freedoms. Peasants and Feudalismīeing a peasant was hard work. The return of money and trade in the 11 th century made their struggle a little easier. Right from the start kings tried to expand their power, so very slowly and gradually some of them succeeded. Gradual changesįeudalism more or less operated between the 9 th and 15 th century. All the while, the peasants continued to work the fields to make a living. Soon, the system had become very complicated and no single king was really in control of his lands. The nobility saw this as an opportunity to start expanding their own influence. After his death, however, his descendants started to fight wars against each other to gain more power. He was a tall, convincing man, so he was able to keep his vassals under control. The Feudalsystem in the days of Charlemagne was well structured. At first this started out small, but soon a group of people called the Franks unified larger areas. Throughout the Middle Ages and Early Modern times, rich nobles tried to gain power and unify large areas of land again. There was no single government that had the power of Western Europe. In this way a large group of peasants was formed. It was agreed in many cases that the poor farmers could hide within the walls when robbers came pillaging, but in exchange the land of the poor farmer would go to the rich one. Some had protected their lands with a wall or fence.
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Poor farmers asked for help from richer farmers and landlords.
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The lack of safety was the biggest problem for most Europeans. When Roman control vanished, all these people continued to farm for their living. Most inhabitants of the empire were farmers. The Roman economy was based on agriculture. It is hard to say what this change meant for the common people. A new system, called Feudalism came in its place. Central government disappeared and the once famous and respected army stopped functioning. When the Roman Empire collapsed it changed Western Europe dramatically.