What was Feudalism in Medieval Europe?

Did you know that the Black Death was a major factor for the end of feudalism in medieval Europe? Hello and welcome to World History Encyclopedia. My name is Kelly and today's video is all about the concept of feudalism in medieval Europe. Don't forget the easiest way to support us is by giving this video a thumbs up, subscribing to our channel and hitting that bell icon for notifications so you don't miss out on any new uploads. World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization and you can find us on Patreon, a brilliant site where you can support our work and receive exclusive benefits in return. Your support helps us create videos twice a week so make sure to check it out via the pop-up in the top corner of the screen or via the Patreon link down below. During the high middle ages in Europe between the 10th and 13th centuries there was a system of social society now known as feudalism. Feudalism can be understood as a hierarchical society where king owned most of the land. He would distribute it out to lords who would then lease the units of land to the peasants and serfs. The units of distributed land are known as fiefs. The king would give fiefs to the nobles and those who received it were known as the vassals. The serfs and peasants were tied to the land they leased and in return for the land and protection given to them by the lord they would give regular payment of produce. This social hierarchy is often displayed as a pyramid with the king at the top then the lords knights and peasants and serfs at the bottom. Well at the top of the social hierarchy of course was the king who owned most of the land other than some land that would have been owned by the church. For example William the Conqueror who reigned in England between 1066 and 1087 considered all of the lands of England his personal property and so he could give out parcels of land to a noble who would in return promise their loyalty and service and become the king's vassal. The king would most often require military service and the noble land owner and his men-at-arms would be obliged to fight in the monarch's army or protect the crown's assets like a castle. Below the king you have the nobles that become vassals of the king when they are given the land. The process of becoming a vassal was known as homage since they would kneel before their lord and swear fealty meaning their loyalty which in return they received the land as well as their lord's protection through military or legal services. They are often called suzerain vassals and the land they were given was much more than needed for one person or one family and were more like small villages and independent communities. The lord would live in the manor house or castle and usually between 35 and 40 percent of the land would be theirs and the rest would be divided into fiefs. The lord received any income from the land they had authority over the inhabitants of the rest of his land and he would pass on his position to his heirs. The owners of the fiefs were known as tenant vassals and their service could take the form of military service often given by knights or if the tenants were of a lower social class but were still freemen who didn't have the necessary military skills or equipment they usually offered a percentage of revenue from their land through either money or produce. A serf was the lowest level of the social hierarchy. They were the unfree laborers who would work land. They did not earn wages and did not have to pay their lord and they made up the majority of the population. Serfs shouldn't be mistaken for slaves though since it was only their labor that could be bought not their person. Serfs had a right to live on the land they were given to them by their lord but in saying that they were also tied to that land and were expected to stay on it. The land would remain in the family with the eldest son inheriting the land from his father although a daughter could inherit it if they had no brothers. However the relationship between the landowner or tenant and the serfs is referred to as the manorial system rather than feudalism. Feudalism is generally applied to the relationship between kings lords and vassals. The feudal system resulted in a small community who owed their loyalty to a specific lord who had absolute authority over his land. Since the fiefs given to lords were hereditary it caused a permanent class divide between the owners of the land the lords and the tenants knights and freemen with no opportunity for social movement. In the event of a noble dying without an heir the land would go back to the monarch who would either keep the land or redistribute it to another noble. It became difficult to keep track of the fiefs and so in England the Domesday Book was created. The Domesday Book is a comprehensive list of all the landowners property tenants and serfs in medieval Norman England and was compiled under the orders of William the Conqueror. Vassals were also present in the local courts which deliberated on courts pertaining to their lords which caused a pretty clear conflict of interest. Even though in this video we focus on feudalism in England the system was common all across medieval Europe. Since medieval feudalism was built on the reciprocal relationship between lord and vassal it only makes sense that as the system became more complex their relationship weakened. Loyalties became a confusing mess as lords came to own multiple fiefs and vassals were tenants of multiple lords. This meant that vassals started making decisions on who to honor based on which relationship suited them best. Another big thing that rocked the feudalism boat was the Black Death which really peaked between 1347 and 1352 and caused dramatic population decline plus peasant revolts notably in England in 1381. Both the Black Death and revolts meant that there were less laborers and estates were abandoned because of the shortage of workers. Laborers also had the new freedom of leaving the countryside to find new jobs and a better life especially since they were in demand and held more power. Eventually by the 13th century with the rising popularity in coinage money was paid by the lords to their sovereign instead of offering military service which worked out fine since the monarch could use the money to pay for mercenaries instead. Money was distributed by the monarch instead of land and both a rich merchant class grew and serfs were able to buy their freedom. All of these factors working together gradually weakened the medieval system of feudalism built on land ownership and reciprocated loyalty. How different is the feudal system from our modern society really? Would you have liked to live in the feudal system? Let us know what you think in the comments below. If you enjoy this video make sure to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel so you don't miss out on our new videos every Tuesday and Friday. This video was brought to you by World History Encyclopedia. For more great articles and interactive content head to our website via the link below. If you like my shirt you can find this design and a bunch more in our shop at worldhistory.store or you can find the link for it under the merch tab down below. Thank you so much for watching and we'll see you soon with another video.