The Origins of Feudalism: After death of Charlemagne, the Carolingian Empire was discomposed by the civil wars between his sons and the new invasions and attacks were done by Muslims, Northmen, Hungarians, and Bulgarians who were attacking Empire borders. This chaotic situation propitiated occurrence of the feudalism. Because Counts and Duchess usurped fiefs and them became in hereditary properties of the Lords. Before when the power of the Emperor was strong they couldn’t usurped this fiefs and they only rule them in the name of his Emperor but the civil wars and the attacks weakened the Emperor’s power. The peasants needed protection and they became in serfs who were adscript farmer in the land, it is they couldn’t to move from their village to other places.
Fief and Vassalage: The Fief was a Lord’s land property; he could be a nobleman or churchman, the Feudal Lord could rule, judge and collect ground rents in his fiefs also, the fief were composed by mills, villages, farms, ways, bridges, forests, fields, pastures and the demesne which was the personal Feudal Lord’s property near his castle. Then the feudalism was a world of Feudal Lords and vassals, because great Lords gave to other noblemen smaller fiefs in order descendent from the King to his noblemen and knights. Also the vassals had to fight for their Feudal Lord and help him. The fief was composed by the castle, where live the Feudal Lord with his family, servants and warriors. The Keep was in the castle, it was the strongest and most fortified tower, the lord’s home; the homage was done in there by the vassals and the Lord. The rest of the fief was lord’s lands which were divided in two areas, first the demesne close to the castle, it was the best fields, and the rest were the farmhouses where’re living the farmer with their families and some village, the people pay taxes and ground rents to the Feudal Lord and he had to protect them in his castle and with his warriors. In the middle Ages we can difference the free peasants, who could move to other fiefs, cities and villages and the serfs who were farmers but they couldn’t to leave their lord’s lands because they were fix on there.
The Great Lords of the Kingdom swore loyalty and fidelity at the King and he gave them fiefs to rule in his name. It is the vassalage which was expressed in a ceremony the Homage. This ceremony was repeated from the Lord to other smaller vassals.
The Feudal Society was divided in three estates, first the noblemen who were the warriors to protect the other estates, second the churchmen who were praying to serve God, and third estate who were the peasants to keep the other estates. This society is named feudal pyramid, on the top was the King followed by great Lords, laics and church, after them the gentry, and in third the peasants. Then from the king everybody was lord and vassal.
In this age the King wasn’t powerful because he could rule in his own fiefs, in the rest of his kingdom he could to rule the host, collect some taxes and he was the last judicial court but nothing more. The most important activity was the war; these kings were always in war or fighting with other kingdoms or with different factions in their own kingdoms because they were warriors. They were conquering and fighting because it was the principal function for them. All the noblemen were knights, because about the cavalry was developing some ideals, brave, honour, loyalty and fidelity and knights were the most powerful warriors in this age, because they were riding horses with strong armours then the infantry could to do nothing front them.
Maybe the most important character of the feudalism is privatization public authority, because that disappeared and the King and feudal Lords became in owners of the estate, it wasn’t public, it was the lord’s property or the king’s property, the peasants didn’t pay taxes for the public estate, they were paying taxes and ground rents for the king or their lord or church, the most important with our society or the ancient society is that. In the time of the Roman Empire the estate was the res publica, the meaning is the public thing, like now.
Today, we're going to focus in the origins of the feudalism.
Take a look at this video: What happens in century VIII?
© Copyleft 2016, Content and Language Integrated Learning and ICT Group