Feudalism
Feudalism is the system of governing whereby semiautonomous nobility have certain responsibilities to the king, in return for the use of grants of land, known as fiefs, in which semi-free peasants, known as serfs, are employed to labor the land. As the Roman Empire crumbled, emperors granted land to nobles in exchange for their loyalty. These lands eventually developed into manors. A manor is the land owned by a noble and everything on it. A typical manor consisted of a castle, small village, and farmland. A definite class system existed in these medieval communities. Also, these early feudal states were self-sufficient, trading little with outsiders. Eventually though, smaller villages grew together increasingly. Nobles would combine forces to wage war and acquire larger kingdoms. Often these leaders wo . . .
German, Viking and Magyar tribes overran homes and farms throughout Europe. Other serfs worked as sharecroppers. Elaborate ceremonial procedures were slowly developed to make this military force a permanent feature of medieval life. By the 9th century, it was apparent that this system provided a more superior fighting force than that provided by levied infantry men. Gradually these fortifications turned into elaborate castles. Europe was being invaded by a large Muslim army which came from Spain and Martel could not have gathered a strong enough fighting force without giving the fighters something substantial in exchange for their service. He could not leave without buying his freedom, an unlikely occurrence in the Middle Ages. The knights were few in number at first. Due to the dispersed population that resulted from feudalism, there was a lack of opportunities for “unit” training, which increased the importance of individual skills. Thus, aristocracy of knights gradually came into being. The cavalry supplanted the infantry. The only difference was that a serf could not be sold to another manor. These organized knights succeeded in repelling the more loosely structured Vikings and Hungarians in the ninth century. During the Middle Ages, peasants could no longer count on the Roman army to protect them.
Common topics in this essay:
Roman Empire, Spain Martel, Ages Life, Vikings Hungarians, Viking Magyar, , Charles Martel, Middle Ages, fighting force, roman empire, middle ages, |
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