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podcast transcript
For centuries, European power was measured not by money or elections, but by land, loyalty, and the ability to command armed troops.
Out of the ruins of the Roman Empire and the chaos of invasions arose a system that gave birth to castles, knights, peasants, kings, and the medieval world itself.
It was an unequal, highly local, and surprisingly durable system.
Learn more about the rise and fall of feudalism in this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
Feudalism was not a single formal system created by one person at a time. It was a loose set of political, military, legal, and economic relationships that developed in medieval Europe after the collapse of powerful, centralized Roman authority.
In essence, feudalism was a way of organizing power in a world where land was the primary source of wealth, armies were expensive, government institutions were weak, and local protection was more important than abstract national citizenship.
In the Middle Ages, people didn’t use the term feudalism to describe what they were doing. The term comes from the Latin word: chargeThis roughly translates to land granted to a lord in return for certain obligations.
The term “feudalism” did not come into use until the 16th and 17th centuries, when it was coined by scholars trying to describe the economic and social systems of medieval Europe.
The term feudalism provides a simple and practical definition of the social structure of the period, but it has limitations. By lumping all feudal practices under one term, we assume that all feudal systems functioned in the same way but varied from place to place.
So today, when I discuss feudal practices, it is important to note that it is a generalization about several practices, not a comprehensive description that covers all cases.
Feudalism was a highly hierarchical system often depicted as a pyramid. At the top was the monarch. They designated large tracts of land and granted titles of nobility. In return, nobles owed debts to their monarchs for military and political services.
Nobility had various levels, with lesser nobility having allegiance to greater nobility. Nobility at all levels often had knights, lords who owed their loyalty.
Below the nobility were peasants who lived and worked the land. During this period, peasants were commonly called serfs. The nobles promised them protection and small plots of land in their estates in return for their labor.
To be honest, life as a serf was terrible. They were not free workers who could travel to and from different countries and work as they pleased. Instead, they were legally tied to the land and had little ability to move up in society.
Serfs could not own land, and the only land they could work was land designated by the lord. They had to grow their own food and live off it, and give the remainder of their harvest to their lord.
Serfdom is similar to slavery, but is fundamentally different. Although the two practices are certainly similar, the differences are important.
Serfs are usually divided into two groups: semi-villains and villains. Villein does not refer to a bad person and is spelled differently.
Villeins and Half-villeins had essentially the same occupation: agriculture. The only difference is that half the villains have half as many lands as their opponents. Both groups performed similar labor tasks and were expected to meet the same quotas.
Serfs also needed permission from their lord to marry or change jobs.
Both groups belonged to the lowest classes of society. They lived in mud houses with straw beds and generally had few rights. Peasants were the backbone of feudal society, making up the majority of the population and forming the center of the economy.
If you were a member of the peasant class and not a serf, your only choice was to be free. Freemen were not legally bound to the land like serfs, but rather behaved like tenants who leased the land. They owed little to their lords and remained largely independent.
The key difference between serfs and slaves is that serfs are tied to the land whereas slaves are considered personal property. As a result, serfs were separated from their families and could not be sold. The whole group had to stay together because they were also stuck to the ground.
Nobles were also required to do certain tasks for their serfs. The nobles had to protect them from raids, could not require them to work on Sundays or holy days, ensured they had adequate accommodation and food, and generally could not require them to serve in the army.
Serfs generally did not perform military service because they lacked training and could not afford the armor, weapons, and horses needed for medieval combat.
The origins of serfdom and feudalism date back to the fall of the Western Roman Empire around the 5th century. The first serfs are believed to be descendants of Roman slaves after slavery was abolished with the spread of Christianity.
After the fall of Rome, there was little organized government in Europe. The lack of an organized government was dangerous because the people faced raids from hostile neighbors, foreign threats, bandits, and other outside forces. People turned to large landowners for help to protect them from these threats.
The landowner agreed in return for a promise of loyalty and service. This exchange gave the lords more power and consequently centralized their control. This practice became known as: fief, A grant of land is given by someone in exchange for service and loyalty.
The system between serfs and nobles was also known as the manorial system or manorialism. Because the manor you worked on had to be self-sufficient and provide everything the serfs needed.
The earliest writings on feudal practices in Europe are: book of discord Or “Book of Gnosis.” First codified in Italy between 1100 and 1250, this work defined its place within feudal and civil law.
The book basically deals with what I just described: the ownership of land by nobles and the ability of peasants to live and work there by agreement with their lords.
Besides the nobility, the church also played an important role in the feudal system. As a religious group it often exercised political power in the country.
The social influence of the church was powerful enough to establish the legitimacy of the feudal system. The church thought it was legal, so the peasants accepted the terms.
As mentioned earlier, different countries implemented the feudal system in different ways.
The French and Russian versions of feudalism were largely similar to what I have just described. The French version was led by a king, while the Russian version was led by a tsar. Both leaders had absolute power over the country, and land-owning nobles were granted land in return for their loyalty and expected to provide labor or military support to maintain their lands and titles.
However, there were differences between French and Russian feudalism. The Russian version includes more direct participation by the Church, as the Russian Orthodox Church was the main landowner at the time and had a more direct role in the state. In France, the church was certainly powerful, but it was considered a separate institution from the royal court.
The main difference between Russian and French feudal societies lies in the way serfs were tied to the land.
Even though the French feudal system was very limited, the Russian version was much worse. In Russian feudalism, a 1649 law bound serfs to their own land. This code permanently tied farmers and their descendants to the land.
This benefited the Russian state not only by providing conscripts for the war effort, but also by creating a large source of revenue.
In contrast, French peasants had more rights. Although they were still tied to the land, they had some mobility and legal protection from the state. But Russian serfs had almost no political or property rights at all.
Moreover, the beginnings of feudalism were different between the two countries. In France, this practice developed in a dispersed network of treaties among local nobles after the fall of the Roman Empire. The power of the system was then consolidated and inherited through the Catholic Church.
In contrast, Russian serfdom was more centralized. The Tsar created a system to secure profits on a firm basis that would not change over time. That secure base enabled him to maintain dictatorial rule over the nobles and peasants who served him loyally.
Another major difference between French and Russian feudalism was how long each system lasted.
France abolished feudal practices during the French Revolution in 1789. Feudal duties and privileges disappeared overnight and were replaced by new property laws and civil rights.
In Russia, the feudal system was abolished quite later. Tsar Alexander II freed the serfs in 1861. However, despite the end of the practice of serfdom, little actually changed in Russian society.
Although the system was nominally abolished, many of its practices remained. Newly freed serfs had to purchase land from their former landlords through government loans. They had to pay back to the government for the next 49 years, leaving them with no opportunity to improve their social status.
In general, the insistence on maintaining the feudal system in Russia was the main reason why Russia was not able to industrialize as quickly as other European powers.
The end of feudalism was a gradual process in most other regions. As the Middle Ages ended, many free peasants began purchasing land. Although this land was small, it allowed for increased trade and production.
As trade increased, governments began to realize that areas still under feudalism were less profitable than areas with free people. It became clear that a healthy workforce of workers performed better than a group of depressed serfs.
This led to a gradual transformation of serfs into free workers.
One of the first countries to completely abolish serfdom was England. In the mid-14th century, the Black Death killed one-third of Europe’s population.
An estimated 2 to 3 million people died in the UK. Those who survived the plague rose to much more powerful positions as their labor became more valuable. This meant they could demand better working conditions and more money.
In England this process was accelerated by the Peasant Revolt of 1381. This event led the peasant class to march on London to demand that the nobility abolish serfdom and free all workers.
To force the government’s hand, the rioters began burning buildings and destroying homes until their goal was achieved.
Although the peasant revolt was eventually suppressed by Richard II, the movement drew considerable attention to the plight of the serfs. Over the next few years, fewer and fewer peasants entered serfdom.
In 1571, Queen Elizabeth I finally ended this practice and freed all remaining serfs. This served as a model for other countries, such as France and Scotland, to eventually end serfdom.
Feudalism was a system created out of necessity. In an age when central power was weak, protection was local, and land was the basis of wealth, it provided structure to a fragmented world.
It bound kings, nobles, knights, and peasants to the lands they worked, creating a society based on duty, hierarchy, and survival.
Although feudalism eventually died out, its legacy can still be seen in European castles and noble families dating back to the Middle Ages.
In a very real sense, feudalism defined the Middle Ages, and its end marked the beginning of the modern world.
