Feudalism
is a decentralized organization that arises when central authority
cannot
perform its functions and when it cannot prevent the rise of local
powers.
In the isolation and chaos of the 9th and 10th centuries, European leaders no
longer attempted to restore Roman institutions, but adopted whatever would work.
The
result was that Europe developed a relatively new and effective set of
institutions,
adapted to
The
most well-known of the institutions were:
In
a feudal society, civil and military powers at the local level are
assumed
by great landowners or other people of similar wealth and prestige,
Much
as churchmen assumed governmental authority with the fall of the Roman
Empire
in the West, local leaders, such as Count Robert of Paris, assumed the
role
previously exercised by government officials at the local level. Other
individuals
in other areas gathered retinues of fighting men and took over the
role
of the government in those territories they could control. Often enough
these
were imperial officials whom the imperial government could no longer keep
in
check, but others also emerged as local leaders.
These
local leaders and their retinues begin to form a warrior class
distinct
from the people of their territory
The
local leaders who emerged during the decay of the Carolingian Empire were
generally
armed men, particularly armed men mounted on horseback and possessing
a
fortified residence. As the Frankish empire conquered their neighbors, the
Carolingian
monarchs had to develop a means of holding and governing these new
territories.
They accomplished this by entrusting aspects of local government to
favored
followers and paying them with grants of land and revenues in the
territories
they were expected to fortify, garrison, defend and govern.
When
the empire ceased to expand, these "class" of fighting men still
needed
new
lands. They had been accustomed to raising large families so that, if one
son
were to die, there would be another to inherit the father's position.
Consequently,
their numbers steadily increased, and they found themselves forced
to
seize the lands of others to provide for their second and third sons. They
first
took control of the lands on which they were resident and, by doing so,
weakened
the monarch still further. They then took whatever lands they could
from
the imperial estates and, finally, began to seize nearby church lands. For
the
most part, the people of these lands welcomed the change, since they were
trading
a distant and ineffectual imperial government for a local and effective
one.
The distinction between private rights and public
authority disappears,
and local control tends to become a personal and even
hereditary matter.
Perhaps the "aristocracy" that emerged as the local leaders in the feudal age
were doing no more than the Merovingian and Carolingian monarchs had done by
considering their "territory" their private possession. This was not unusual
during the middle ages; Various kings named Louis frequently signed their names
as FRANCE. In any event, the feudal leaders began to treat governmental
functions as private property that they could loan, give, away, or pass on to
their children. It should be noted that money -- silver or gold coins -- had
gradually vanished from use and that Europe and had adopted a barter system to
meet their basic economic needs. Without legal tender, however, it was
impossible to hire someone to provide needed services. The fact that the feudal
leaders could lend someone a territory from which he could derive rents
and renders in kind and services was an important factor in the new organization
of Western Europe. The feudal structure of society emerged as local leaders gave
their followers the income from the dues owed by the residents of a given
territory in payment for their services -- which could vary considerably.
The
feudal leaders often take over responsibility for the economic
security
of their territories, and dictate how resources are to be used, while
at
the same time establishing monopolies over some activities. This strengthens
their
presence at the local level and also makes their possessions even more
valuable
The
feudal lords of Western Europe, through the men to whom they had
distributed
fiefs, began to exert economic control over the villages and
districts
under their control. The woods became the lord's possession, and
hardwoods
-- useful for building and weapons -- could not be cut except with the
lord's
express permission. All fuel had to be used sparingly, and the lord was
paid
for wood taken from the woodlands, game caught there, pigs put to pasture
there,
and so on. The lords also build ovens, baths, grain mills and the like as
monopolies.
Villagers had to patronize the lord's monopolies and pay for the
privilege.
This gave the lords the opportunity of granting fiefs other than
land,
such as the income from a mill in a certain village, or the revenue from
fishing
rights in a certain stream.
The
feudal aristocracies are usually organized on the basis of private
agreements,
contracts between individuals
By
the 900's, some local lords -- the duke of Aquitaine, the count of
Toulouse,
the count of Flanders, and other -- had become powerful enough that
they
began to absorb the lesser lords and territories around them. Sometimes
this
was a simple matter of conquest, but more often the result of a feudal war
was
an agreement between the two opponents in which one turned his lands over to
the
other and received them back as a fief in exchange for service.
The
private agreements that formed the network of mutual services were called
contracts
of homage and fealty, "homage" because one of the contractants
agreed
to become the servant homme, or "man" of the other, and
fealty,
because he promised to be "feal, faithful" to him. Homage and
fealty
became formalized, romanticized, and overlaid with symbolism,
but
it is most easily understood as a simple contract.
The
Party of the First Part - the dominus, often translated as
"lord,"
but
just as easily (and accurately) translated as "boss" - made an
arrangement
with the Party of the Second Part - the vassal, a word
derived
from the Celtic word for "boy," or miles, a word meaning
"soldier".
The Party of the First Part gave the Party of the Second
Part
"something of value" (a fief, something that would produce an
income
in services and kind over a long time), and promised him
"respect"
(meaning that he would not interfere with his enjoyment
of
the fief except for a very good reason) and justice (meaning that
he
would protect him against both other lords and, if necessary,
other
vassals of his.
The
Party of the Second Part promised a number of things in return.
The
three main items were "relief," a payment of some sort that he
gave
the Party of the First Part for having agreed to take him on;
"aid
and counsel," which obligated him to attend the court of the
Party
of the First Part whenever he was called upon to do so, and
to
support and advise him; and "vassalage," which was usually but
not
always a period of military service when called. Some men got
fiefs
for service as accountants at the Treasury, or for acting as
diplomats,
or even for some rather silly things. It is said that one
English
noble held a nice fief on condition that he appear before
the
king each year at the royal Christmas court and simultaneously
whistle,
hop, and break wind. English kings were not noted for
the
subtlety of their humor.
The
Party of the Second Part might additionally pledge to render
one
or more of a number of traditional services: to give the lord
and
his retinue three nights hospitality if they were in the neighborhood;
to
help ransom the Party of the First Part if he were captured and held
prisoner;
to contribute presents for the wedding of the Party of the
First
Part's eldest daughter and the knighting of his eldest son, and
to
contribute money to help defray the cost of the festivities.
There
was frequently a ritual of bonding once the contract had been
agreed
upon by both sides. The Party of the Second Part would
kneel
before the Party of the First Part, who would take both the
vassal's
hands between his own as the vassal promised to love and
respect
the lord. The lord, in turn, would promise to honor and protect
the
vassal. They would then both rise, kiss, and exchange gifts, the
Party
of the Second Part giving the Party of the First Part the relief
payment,
and the Party of the First Part giving the Party of the Second
Part
a sword or some similarly "honorable" gift. The vassal then became
a member
of the lord's "familia" (family).
This
was a powerful bond. Many of the medieval legends and tales
turned
upon the relationship between the lord and vassal; Lancelot's
tragedy
was that his love for Guenevere conflicted with his love for
Arthur,
while king Alfonso, the Cid's lord, consistently failed to keep
his
promises to love, respect and protect his outstanding vassal.
Indeed,
the feudal tie was so powerful that the rituals have persisted
in
many Western societies. The rituals of homage and fealty, for instance,
have
persisted in the traditional manner of proposing marriage.
Many
people think of feudalism as a primitive and inefficient system,
but
it did not appear to be so. Organized in this fashion, the Western
Europeans
succeeded in holding off the raiders and restoring a measure
of
peace that permitted a revival of trade and commerce about 1000.
