feudalism

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These vassals were not members of the nobility and thus could not rule. The political power in feudalism, these individuals claim, was treated as an individual possession and held by those who owned the land. Those that were trained in using the stirrup to spear his enemy became valuable to the lords, who made these men take oaths of allegiance to them. Just as there is confusion over the precise definition of feudalism, there is confusion over its origins. Thus the government was ruled by the lords and royal officials who ruled over their land. Marxism’s main emphasis is that of the plight of the worker thus in his view of feudalism only the peasants contributed to society. This started the dependency of the lower class on the aristocratic lords. In a time of civil war and danger from barbarian invaders, feudalism provided protection and a way of life to the peasants of Europe. While peasants were, from a modern view, owned by the lords, in the sense that they were indebted to the lords, the peasants were willing to sacrifice complete freedom for the protection. In the more widely held, modern view, Martel purchased the loyalty of subjects with land or other wealth. The lords became their rulers as opposed to the kings. Some scholars claim that with the invention of the stirrup, the bodyguards or retainers became more important. In this sense feudalism takes on a form of government, the vassals and retainers making up the lower class and the counts making up the aristocracy. In another major view, feudalism is largely a political term. The ruling counts were below kings in early feudalism, however when the kings failed to protect, the counts stepped in and protected their people for a price, that of subservience.

Common topics in this essay:
Karl Marx, Feudalism Feudalism, Marc Bloch, Mifflin Company, view feudalism, definition feudalism, retainers vassals, modern view, indebted lords, life peasants, lower class,

Approximate Word count = 538
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

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