of a fief had to pay an inheritance tax.
Feudalism
During the period of history
known as the Middle Ages,
feudalism was the political system
of the land. It was the based on land
by which the nobles maintained
control over the lower classes. This
structure of government consisted of
kings, lords, and the peasants. The
structure first came about, and
remained for so long, because of the
great size of the land the kings had
under their control. The kings held
this land by what they believed was
"divine right", the right to rule
granted by God and then passed on
through heredity or investiture
(giving of land for services).
HOW DID FEUDALISM WORK?
Since there was no physical
way for a king to govern all the land
effectively because there was no
quick communication system, and it
often took several days to travel from
one part of the country to the other,
even in a relatively small countries
such as England and France. The
king needed a way to maintain
control over his lands. As a solution,
he formed a sort of contract with his
nobles. The nobles were given a title
and a large portion of the king's land,
known as fiefs, feuds and manors .
In turn, they had to pay "homage and
fealty" to the king. They did this by
giving their support to the king at all
times, governing the land that was
given them, and being ready to
provide troops and fight for the king
when the need arose. They also had
to pay taxes whenever the king called
for them. Also, whenever a noble
died, his fief was passed on to his
sons if the king allowed. The receiver
Whenever a noble was granted or
inherited a fief, he was made into a
vassal of the king. Also, the barons
became lords (landlords) of their fiefs.
However, the landlords had the same
problem the king had. Because they
governed large tracts of land, they
divided their land up too. They made
the same type of agreement the king
made with them, except with their
underlings, usually trusted knights or
warriors. In this way, they created
even more fiefs ruled by even more
lords. Sometimes these smaller fiefs
were divided up and made into more
fiefs.
THE WORKERS OF FEUDALISM
The lower classes consisted of
ninety percent of the people and
these people were called peasants
or serfs. The peasants turned to the
landowners, often called lords, to
protect them. Many peasants
remained free and had their own
business such as blacksmiths,
bakers, tailors, and the like. But most
became serfs. A serf was bound to
the land and farmed the land or
worked the pastures. He was given a
small portion of land that he could
work usually once a week so as to
feed his family. He could not leave
the manor without buying his
freedom, an unlikely occurrence in
the Middle Ages. Life for a serf was
not much better than the life of a
slave. The only difference was that a
serf could not be sold to another
manor.
MANORALISM
During the middle ages, an economic
system developed to provide food for
everyone. This system, called
MANORALISM, was centered
around the piece of land called the
manor, or large estate. The manor
was like a large village. On these
manors, the food and supplies
everyone could ever need was
produced, so the manor was self
-sufficient. This system also allowed
the rich to have a lot of control over
the poor people of the village.
PEOPLE OF THE MANOR
A manor was also a piece of
land under the control of a single
lord. The lord was given this manor
land from the king, usually for his
devotion to the king. A lord’s life
centered around running and
protecting his manor. But because
the lord was away from his manor
sometimes, he hired vassals to help
him run the manor in his absence.
Most lords had several vassals
working for them year-round.
The people of the manor worked very
hard to make sure they were self-
supporting. Everything they needed
had to be produced on the manor.
Cattle were raised for milk and meat.
Sheep were raised for wool. Several
fields were used to grow a variety of
foods like potatoes, corn and wheat.
A nearby windmill was used to grind
the grain into flour.
Besides the lord’s castle and vassal
homes, other buildings existed on the
manor. Blacksmith workshops,
bakeries, a mill, markets, and even a
church or chapel was present.
Peasants and serfs lived in huts or
very small homes around the edges
of the manor. Most of the work on
the manor was done by the peasants
and serfs. A serf “belonged” to the
manor, and was not allowed to leave
the manor lands without permission
from the lord. The serfs payment for
working the land was his hut and
some farmland to produce his own
food. The only difference between a
serf and a slave, was that the slave
did not have to pay taxes!
A peasant, though, was a free man
who lived in the manor village. They
were as poor as the serfs, but they
were allowed to come and go as they
pleased. Peasants worked as
blacksmiths, carpenters, millers,
bakers, weavers and shoemakers.
They also had to farm their own land
for their food. A peasant paid heavy
taxes to his lord. Peasants were also
expected to serve in the military if the
lord needed to defend his manor. A
lot of peasants gave up their
freedom, and became serfs, just to
avoid the heavy taxes and labor
imposed on them.
THE END OF MANORIALISM
Manoralism began to decline as society
in the middle age developed a money
system and towns developed. As serfs
and peasants saved some of their
money, some were able to buy their
freedom from the manor. As more and
more workers left for a better life, the
manor began to “break down”. It could
no longer produce all of the needed
materials, and therefore began to trade
with outside villages. Towns based on
COMMERCE, or trade, began to grow all
over middle age Europe.