Betty Jean Lindstrom, age 16, Jackson, Miss., for her question:
WHAT IS FEUDALISM?
Feudalism was the political and military system of western Europe during the Middle Ages. It was a period when there was little security. Feudalism fulfilled the basic need for government, justice and protection against attack.
Feudalism was an arrangement between feudal aristocrats: a lord and his vassals. The lord gave vassals land in exchange for military and other services. The lord and the vassals were honor bound to be faithful and to fulfill their obligations to each other. The peasants had no part in such arrangements.
Feudalism is often confused with "manorialism." Manorialism was primarily a system for making a living from the land. It was an economic relationship between a lord and his peasants. Feudalism, on the other hand, was mainly a political and military system.
Feudalism was a useful system for its time. It helped to create order out of the disorder that existed in Europe in the early Middle Ages. Under feudalism, a capable ruler could bring efficient government and peace to all his people.
Feudalism started in about A.D. 700. During the 1000s and 1100s, it spread from northern Europe into England and southern Europe. The crusaders also introduced feudalism into Syria. It reached its height in the period from the 800s to the 1200s. During the 1400s it very quickly disappeared from Europe.
The word "feudal" comes from "feodum," the Latin term for "fief." In the Middle Ages, a fief was an estate granted by a lord in return for military or political service.
Feudalism had two main roots. One was a relationship of honor that existed among the German war bands that roamed over much of Europe in the early Middle Ages. When they settled in the lands that had been part of the Roman Empire, they found the second main . root already established: a system where a lord would give a small plot of land in exchange for labor.
European rulers, needing men to fight off invaders, started granting fiefs to noble warriors for their service. These fiefs included land, the buildings on it and the peasants who worked it. The warriors receiving the fiefs were called vassals, from the Latin "vassalluys," meaning "military retainer."
The relationship of honor that existed between leader and warrior in the German war bands was combined with a system for holding the land. Vassalage was joined to fief holding. This was feudalism.
Only noblemen or aristocratic warriors could take part in feudal practices. These practices centered on the fief. No man could receive a fief until he became a vassal of the lord.
Two things happened in the 1200s that led to the decline of feudalism. The economic rivalry of Europe put money back into use, and new methods of warfare were developed. Since the services of soldiers could now be paid for with money, fiefs became unnecessary. The coming of gunpowder, of new weapons and of effective infantry ended the usefulness of knights.