Manorialism In The Middle Ages

The people in the Middle Ages needed some sort of structure to follow and had come up with feudalism and manorialism which helped them live a better life. Feudalism was the way of life for people back in the Middle Ages. Manorialism was a crucial aspect of society that was created. Serfs were very important in the Middle Ages due to the fact they did all the manual labor. Feudalism and Manorialism were key parts of the civilizations and would not exist without serfs.

Feudalism was the political system in the Middle Ages that helped create order in societies. Feudalism is a system of government that helped civilizations become more powerful and stable (Levi Biel 9). In feudalism, people depended on people. Even though feudalism was unfair in

Knights helped put the economy in a good place. Knights protect and give to the society. Once a knight swore his loyalty to the king, he had obligations to the king like supplying money or other valuables, or the vassal will perform various favors. However, it was mostly just military service (Nardo 19). The knights usually spent 40 days a year guarding the castle (Nardo 32). They protected the manor from invaders and they kept everyone safe. They supplied items to the king since they lived on the manor. In return, they received loyalty and had a very good reputation in the society. Knights were idolized (Nardo 31). People also viewed knights as honorable and heroic (Nardo 29). They were in a very good place in society. They not only got loyalty and a good reputation, they also received items from the serf like food and they got a place to live (Richardson). Vassals contributed a lot to the economy. The vassals helped enforce rules. They ruled everyone who lived on the land given to him (Levi Biel 9). They gave loyalty to the classes above them and sometimes granted military services. Vassals also got many things in return. They received fiefs. The early fiefs given to vassals were gifts like armor, weapons, or horses (Levi Biel 9). By the year 1000 a fief was usually a piece of land which the vassal would hold as long as he lived as long as he served his lord faithfully. Sizes of fiefs varied. In order to get a fief vassals agreed to an oath. In this oath the vassal promised loyalty and military service to his lord (Levi Biel 9). Other fiefs could be making a vassal mayor of a town (Nardo 20). Knights and vassals gave and received many things that impacted the manor that kept it running for so