Feudalism in Medieval Europe (What is Feudalism?)

Lecture Notes and PowerPoint Available:

Modern historians have coined the term, feudalism, to describe the political and social system of the Middle Ages – particularly in medieval Europe, but it can also be applied to medieval Japan. No one actually said “feudalism” or “feudal system” in the Middle Ages. It was just something that developed in the centuries following the Fall of Rome when centralized government had fallen apart.

The Roman Empire included a network of cities that were connected by well-maintained roads. As the power of Rome declined, people began to leave the decaying cities, which were increasingly filled with disorder and crime, and settled in rural areas. The network of well-maintained roads that made the Romans famous ceased to be maintained and trade collapsed. As a result, rural communities formed that had to be increasingly self-sufficient. A central authority, in the person of a king, united these communities under one leader, but that leader did not have a lot of power. Most people in medieval Europe never saw a king and lived their life in their own self-sufficient community, known as a manor, relying on the local lord to protect them, administer justice, and settle disputes between residents. Many medieval peasants lived on the manor as serfs who were legally tied to the land and not allowed to leave even if they wanted to do so.

Anyone who has played chess knows that the king is one of the weakest pieces on the board and is dependent on the support of other pieces on the board. These other pieces on the board symbolize the Church, the nobility, the knights, and the peasants. Medieval kings held some of their own lands, but the lands that they reigned over resembled more of a patchwork quilt than it did a modern nation the way we think of it today. Kings would enter lord-vassal contracts with nobles, who would swear an oath of loyalty, or vassalage, to the king and receive a land grant, known as a fief, in return. The loyalty sworn by the vassal was most commonly delivered in the form of military service. When medieval kings went to war, they required each of their vassals to send a certain number of knights, as kings did not have the means to maintain large personal armies.

Those who entered into lord-vassal contracts directly with the king, known as great lords, would then enter into similar contracts with lesser lords, making themselves both lords and vassals. Each feudal lord was expected to maintain a certain number of non-noble knights, who also received land. Peasants who lived on the manor would receive the lord’s protection and would, in return, pay dues to their lord in the form of money, crops, or by doing manual labor on the manor for a certain number of days each year.

In the Late Middle Ages, feudalism began to decline as kings began to grow more powerful (partly as a result of the Crusades), global trade increased, and more people started to move to towns, which were outside of the control of feudal lords. With the wealth that came into royal treasuries during the Age of Exploration, kings began financing their own armies and allowed nobles to pay money instead of raising their own men.

While feudalism began to decline significantly between 1400-1700, some elements of feudalism remained in Europe into the modern era. In 1789, the French National Assembly formally abolished the legal privileges of the nobility in the early stages of the French Revolution. Serfdom continued in Russia until a reforming tsar abolished it in the 1860s.

This lecture should be helpful to those taking courses in World History and European History, including AP World History and AP European History, who need to understand feudalism in Europe to succeed on their exams.

[michaelpisciarino]

0:00 The Feudal System
0:12 Developed in Medieval Europe and Medieval Japan
0:48 Europe vacated the cities and ran to ----> Rural Society
Roman Roads were breaking down, Trade was breaking down

1:17 They lived on Medieval *Manor Houses*
People of The Manor
2:29 It's a little like Chess
- The Lord: Keeper of The Manor
- Knights: Protectors of The Manor
- Bishops: The Church Support of The Manor
- Serfs: Workers of The Manor,

2:50 Feudalism was a sort of Patchwork, like a quilt.
Many Lords swore an oath to a King, but most Lords had autonomy over their lands
3:34 Fiefs= Feudal Land Contracts
Lord Land Loyalty

4:26 The Feudal Hierarchy
- Land and Legal Privileges
in exchange for
- Loyalty

*The Decline of Feudalism*
5:42 Medieval Towns
Growth of Royal Power
Centralized Tax Collection
6:35 *The Black Death*

[slbdnkrmpc]

Thank you, I am way past my school years but suddenly learning history has become important to me to better understand my own indentity.

[Silverturtle]

"Ha ha ha ha ha. I should take a quick sip to that one."

[robertmoore]

thanks from Canada. Very solid explanation compared to most YT feudalism explanations.

[syedamahambatool]

sir your lectures are quite helpful literally! I've been preparing from your lectures for quite a long time . stay blessed. you are helping us alot

[mrfudd]

A concise, well-informed lecture, yet just the right amount of humor and warmth which connects very well. Excellent balance of overall concept, and detail - brilliant! I am a fan.

[kentmichaelgalang]

...




(they don't know i'm watching this for D&D worldbuilding, not for history class)

[ginacodding]

Thanks for the video! I'm homeschooling my first grader and we're learning lots about the middle ages this year.

[CharlieIII]

As King of England, I approve of this video (love your country accent btw 😁)

[martinschulz]

Well done. My dad saw semi feudalism in Poland toward the end of the second world war. The peasants were actually bowing down to the clergy as they walked through the estates.

[hector_cg]

Thanks a lot!!! I'm watching this from Spain in 2022 for history class, it helped me, thank you again!!!

[TheOldBlackShuckyDog]

Thanks man, that was a good effective summary of feudalism which really helped me with my A-level a couple years back, I was just really struggling to get my head round the concept lol.

[diekluge]

It's been 30 years since I've been in high school, but I still enjoyed your video. Good stuff!

[skiteufr]

English Kings were French nobles (Normans, Angevins), that's why they had to pay hommage and loyalty to the King of France for their lands in France.
They were vassals in France and equals to the French Kings as Kings of England
This complicated situation and brought wars between France and England
And in France, feodalism was less strong in times of strong centralisation, like in the 13th and beginning of 14th centuries and at the end of 100 Years war, the French Kingdom began a definitive centralisation of the country, still very visible today (Paris decides, regions apply)

[erwinmanzano]

Thanks for elucidating FEUDALISM. I appreciate your English diction and pronunciation. I understood them well. Best concise video ever. I'm an Asian and I was upset by the British accents from other videos.

[majorgear]

This helped me explain to my landlord that feudalism is over, so he can’t make me grow crops and give him half of what I grow.

[BiglerSakura]

"Inability of nobility resulting in peasant revolts" - this is exactly the Lenin's definition of a revolution situation: it is when "the lower classes no longer want, and the upper classes are no longer able to live the old ways".

[duckwithbread]

Hi from England! using loads of your vids for history gcses in a week.😅 there so helpful thank you! :)

[lisamadison]

I would have loved to have him as a teacher but now that I think of it all of my history teachers were also pretty cool 😎

[whitneymacdonald]

Well done. Thank you from a fellow teacher.