Feudal Europe

"Feudal Europe", "European feudalism" or "feudalism"

European feudalism overview[edit | edit source]

largely from the 9th to 15th centuries
- not a uniform system across place and time
- for example, feudalism arose in England after the Norman invasion of 1066, but it existed in France since the AD 800s
generally, a system of shared power between and among a hierarchy of authorities
- as in, knights, lords, vassals
- can be thought of as "chains" of allegiances and duties and obligations
feudal systems are an important contributing origin to today's parliamentary governments in Europe

the noun "feudalism" is a modern invention (18th century)
- Adam Smith discusses the "feudal system" in his "Wealth of Nations"
during the "feudal" period, people did not refer to themselves as living under feudalism
- the word "feudal" may have been used, but as an adjective not a noun
"feudalism" is unrelated to the word, "feud"
- "feud" is from Old English, "gefea" or "gefa" which means "enemy" or "foe"
- however, "feud" is easy for students to remember "feudalism" in terms of a system of allies and enemies
most directly derived from the Latin feodum for "fief"
Proto-Indo-European word origin = "peku" for cattle
- Latin "pecus",
- Old German, "fehu", Old English "feoh"
  - these languages shifted "P" to "F", as in the Latin "pater" > to English "father"
- see Indo-European word origins
the Roman term "beneficium" (for a grant of land or rights; see "Origins" section below)
- starting in AD 984, Medieval writers began to use Latin "feudum" instead of "beneficium" in reference to grants
in the Medieval system, property could be used as a form of exchange instead of money or gold
- thus the ancient word for cattle, "pecu", which became in Frankish, "fehu", was used with "od" which meant "goods"
- fehu-od" = an exchange or payment with property instead of money
  - cattle, horses, clothing, arms, etc.
  - which became "feos"
so "feudalism" is derived from the exchange of goods and services

the primary words of feudalism are "fief," "lord" and "vassal"
- fief = land or rights granted to a "vassal" by an overlord (higher rank), generally heritable (passed on by hereditary birth)
- lord = a person holding authority over certain people and places
  - in England, the word "lord" became the title "Lord" (as in the House of Lords in Parliament)
vassal = a person who owes allegiance, duty, taxes, and homage (an oath of submission and/or a public respect) to another person of higher rank
- vassals were generally knights, who acquired their own fiefs with peasants to work the land for them
- "vassal" comes from Celtic for "young boy" or "servant"
  - the Romans adopted the word from Celtic and called it vassal, which became valet in French
related terms
- chivalry
  - from cheval
- fealty
  - for "in fee" which means what is due to the lord in exchange for a grant (usually of land but also of offices, trade rights, etc.) to a vassal
- knight

in exchange for some service, the Romans would grant a beneficium, which was a property, title or privilege
- the words "benefit" and "beneficial" a derived from beneficium
a precaria was a temporary land grant that had few obligations
- for example, to give someone land that needed to be cleared for farming
- ownership of the precaria would revert to the landlord upon death of the tenant
- since the obligations were loose, the precaria was not a secure grant, thus the word "precarious", which means "uncertain" or "dangerous"
- tenant = someone who lives on land owned by someone else

also known as "Francia," "Kingdom of the Franks", or "Frankish Empire"
- Frankish kingdoms were the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties
  - Franks were Germanic tribes which ruled much of Europe, centered around modern France, following the collapse of the Roman Empire
under Charles Martel ("Charles the Hammer") land grants became a dominant form of alliance building
the practice developed into feudalism under the subsequent Frankish kingdoms starting in the AD 800s
- as result of extensive conquests that required hierarchical control
however, with the collapse of the Frankish Empire in 843,following Charlemagne's death
- the empire was divided into three main kingdoms
- the Capetian Dynasty arose in 987 (by Hugh Capet)
- maintained control over France by sharing power with local lords

around the 700s, the Franks adopted the stirrup, which enabled small calvaries that could easily defeat infantry
the stirrup enabled the rider to wield swords and other weapons (lances were enabled by advances in saddles but their development followed skills and tactics developed using stirrups)
horses and riders began to add armor for protection and additional power
thus creating the prototypical horse-mounted, armored knight, which was the equivalent of a modern tank

equipment and horses of the knights were very expensive and required extensive training
knights began to take on not just military but social, economic and political power
local lords began the practice of granting land to knights in exchange for military service and allegiance
as knights gained power, wealth, and property, they employed peasants to manage their lands and farms
- these properties were known as "fiefs"

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