Feudal System in Medieval Europe - 2265 Words

The Feudal System in Medieval Europe (7th†14th Century A.D.) 1 A Summary by kiplangat cheruiyot An Introduction At the beginning of medieval age in Europe, based on a feeble resource of data, it is believed that between 80†90% of the economic activity was agriculture. Nearly everybody therefore, earned a living through agriculture as an economic activity. The economic structure prevailing then became known as Feudalism, a term which has come to mean, an economic system based on Lordship (ownership) of vast Land (also known as the ‘manor’ or ‘estate’), owned by a senior lord, who gave the right of cultivation (fief) to a lower rank of people called the†¦show more content†¦The men below of lower rank were not slaves as such but in effect were workers without any rights (given to servitude). They had no economic recourse other than the land and could not leave it. If they did, the life away from the land was vandalism and adventure such as that of â€Å"Robin Hoodâ €  which was rather much worse. In effect Feudalism was a political system which decentralized and localized power. The system came to its Zenith at the beginning of the 12th Century. At this time most of the farming land belonged to most senior people, dioceses and monasteries. It turned out that administration of these estates became very difficult owing to the fact that most land owners had come into possession through various, hereditary paths. They owed loyalty to various warring vassals and thus administration of estates became very difficult. Politically, economically and socially, the feudal system was a way of making administration and communication easier especially to reach the furthest corners least populated or far stretched away from the centre. Those who gained most were the lords and the higher vassals. 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