Feudalism is arguably the most important and recognizable characteristic of Medieval life. Feudalism was a form of political and social organization which evolved from the dissolution of Charlemagne’s empire and the rise of absolute monarchies. Feudalism remains the common model of European society in the Middle Ages.

Urban life for most citizens declined significantly after the dissolution of the Roman Empire and the rise of Christianity. Lands once controlled by the Romans were overrun by an assortment of barbaric tribes such as the Goths and the Vandals, as described by the historian Tacitus in his famous work, Germania.

The development of feudalism evolved from the Roman institution of patricinium, by which the wealthy and powerful noblemen surrounded themselves with faithful subjects and slaves.

Frankish statesman Charles Martel began his political career as part of a family of feudal landowners. The Martels controlled the hereditary office of ‘Mayor of the Palace’ in the Frankish kingdom, and thus they held the real power. Under Charles ‘The Hammer,’ the Carolingians halted the Muslim advance across the continent at the Battle of Poitiers in 732, and they collaborated with other noblemen to undermine the powerful Merovingian dynasty.

The concept of feudalism emerged from the political chaos which followed the collapse of the Carolingian Empire. In the wake of Charlemagne’s death in 814, Europe was thrown into a state of utter and complete turmoil. Gregory of Tours, in his epic History of the Franks, presents evidence of the sad state of affairs which quickly ensued.

In the absence of any truly dominant, centralized secular government feudal society offered peasants the opportunity to establish some sense of structure out of the chaos and disorder that surrounded them. The Western Heritage refers to feudal society as the “social, political, military, and economic system” which emerged from this power vacuum.

Under feudalism, a lord would grant his subjects – vassals – physical protection, and he would provide them with a small piece of land in return for various services. Principal among these was the military protection provided by the vassals to the lord. They became his private mercenary army.

The political economy of the feudal system was primarily agricultural, and at its core was the manorial system. Under the manorial system peasants, laborers and serfs held the land they worked from the lord who granted them his protection in return for fealty (“I promise not to kill you…”).

Feudalism sanctioned these endeavors through a class of landed nobles. The nobles were bound by a feudal contract which established relations between lord and vassal. The most important of these was allegiance. The noble classes eventually developed a value system that evolved into the ‘chivalric code’. The origins of this code can be found in the epic poem The Song of Roland (1100).

The Feudal Documents speak of the mutual duties of lords and vassals to “serve and protect one another.”

In an effort to preserve their feudal rights, a coalition of noblemen developed the Magna Carta – a document which ensured freeman the right to trial by jury and limited power. This later became the foundation of parliamentary government, consisting of a House of Lords and a House of Commons.

The Catholic Church also played a major role in promoting feudalism. Although the ecclesiastical hierarchy was not feudal in character, the church owned huge tracts of land. This property was occupied by monasteries, church dignitaries, and by the churches themselves. The clergy became active participants in the feudal system and many bishops and abbots behaved like lords. Religion was used as means for control and subjugation.

The most importance aspect of the feudal system was the stability and relative safety it provided to its inhabitants: the only alternative was anarchy. Or death. Under feudalism, life was short, brutal and unfulfilling.

The political concept of ‘federalism’ derives from the feudal model, which holds that local control is better than taking orders from some distant authority which can only make decisions based on information which is days, weeks, or even months old. The ascent of the merchant class and the rise of city-states was a time when the population grew and the European economy began to slowly expand.

The success of the feudal system resulted in the creation of communes and republics where commoners could live in relative freedom. Feudalism hailed a new age of prosperity and progress for human civilization, and feudal institutions gradually became obsolete.

[Edited repost from 2015]