Feudalism In The Middle Ages

As the overlord, with no one ruling above him, the monarch owned all land within his domain, expressing his truly powerful position as the king of all his subjects. However, feudalism emerged as a result of the kings’ inabilities to protect great areas of land alone; therefore, the king entrusts his land to vassals in the form of fiefs. The distributed land is divided even further, with each lord giving fiefs to their vassals, and those vassals giving portions of those fiefs to their own vassals (Bishop 110). Those fiefs represented the vassal’s rights and obligations to his lord (Bishop 111). Usually, this piece of land would be a manor and all the lands within it. At the death of the lord, the fief would be returned to the king, however,

Having claim to no land, they often pledged their life to servitude to the master of the manor they resided within. Those who bound themselves to a lord and to a manor were known as serfs. Unlike the freemen, though not slaves, serfs were not free. Once they had signed the contract which binds them to their lord, they can no longer leave the manor, giving up their rights and their future children’s rights, forever chaining them to the manor (Jovinelly and Netelkos 7). Truly having no power over themselves, the lord is permitted to sell the serf and their family, as they were considered property, equal to the buildings and the lands on the manor (Jovinelly and Netelkos 9). Living and working on the manor came not only at a mental price, but also at a physical price. In return for the lord allowing them to use his land, they must return a portion of the goods they produced themselves, the lord often taking his own amounts at his own will. For using the land and the properties on the manor, they must pay in money as well. Tithes, a donation of approximately one-tenth of the eggs, wheat, chickens, and so forth to the church, were also culturally necessary. The village church served as a way to give the peasants hope, as well as to keep them obedient (King 34-35). The average age for a peasant was a mere thirty years. After the fall of the Roman Empire, safety was no longer guaranteed. These serfs and freemen alike seek protection, leading them to accept whatever treatment and labor, in return for a safe life. The Goths in the east, the Vikings of Scandinavia from the north, who lurking upon the coast, and the Muslims creeping from the Middle East and Africa were all formidable threats. Dangerous enough for peasants to sacrifice their freedom (Jovinelly and Netelkos 6). This sacrifice of rights drove feudalism to become such a strict hierarchical