Written by Feudalism was a social and political system based on the exchange of land for military service.
It was a system of government in which lords grants land to the vassals in exchange for their pledge to provide military service or other necessary services.
In feudalism, the lords, who are the landowners give lands to the vassals, who are landless, in exchange for their service and loyalty.
The lands given by the Lords to the vassals for their services are known as fiefs.
Feudalism was mostly practised in Europe but may have now become extinct due to the emergence of democracy and monarchy.
Features Of Feudalism
1. Feudalism has three classes exist: In a feudal society, there are usually three classes, namely nobles, clergy, and peasants.
The nobles were the landowners and they usually offer their lands to the vassals in exchange for their services. Nobles include lords, knights, and other high-ranking officials.
The clergy was mostly religious leaders, such as Bishops and priests.
The peasants were usually hired by the lords. The peasants make up the bulk of the population in a feudal society. The peasants are sometimes called vassals.
2. Based on the land tenure system: In feudal societies, land serves as a symbol of wealth and power.
Feudalism implies that the nobles grant lands to the peasants in exchange for their loyalty and military service.
3. Decentralization of power: Although most feudal societies usually have a queen or king as the head of government, power is usually decentralized among the lords and knights.
These lords usually have some degree of autonomy, which allows them to make decisions that affect their own lands.
4. Vassalage: This is another important feature of feudalism.
Vassalage is the contractual relationship between the lord and the vassal.
It was normally established and formalized through a ceremony known as homage.
Homage is a ceremony in which the vassal takes a formal oath to serve his lord faithfully and honour his or her lord’s rights.
In the ceremony of homage, the vassal would kneel before his lord and swear an oath to serve his lord and remain loyal to him.
5. Hierarchical structure: The hierarchical structure of feudalism is pyramid-like.
The King or the queen, who has the power to make laws and collect taxes, is at the top of the hierarchy, the lords are at the middle of the hierarchy, and the peasants were at the bottom of the hierarchy.
6. Mutual obligations and duties: In feudal society, the lords and the vassals have mutual obligations to each other.
The lords were expected to protect and provide for the vassals, while the vassals were expected to provide military service and swear allegiance to their lords.
Indeed, mutual obligations serve as the basis of the lord-vassal relationship in a feudal society.
7. Allegiance: The allegiance of the vassals is to their lords, not the government.
The reason is that feudalism is based on the relationship between the vassals and the lords, rather than on a system of laws.
Advantages of Feudalism
1. Stable system: Feudal societies were relatively stable because they were based on a system of mutual obligations and duties between the vassals and the lords.
The vassals supported the system by providing military services, and other forms of labour services.
The lords supported the system by providing protection and resources to the vassals.
As a result, the feudal society was stable, as the various social class relied on one another for their survival.
2. Protection for the common men: Feudalism, to a great extent, saved the common man from foreign invaders.
As long as the vassal stays loyal to his lord, the lord is under obligation to protect him and his family, and defend them from foreign invaders.
3. Sense of security: Another advantage of feudalism is the sense of security that it brought to the vassals.
Feudalism put an end to the worries of the vassals since they know that they will continuously be protected by the lords as long as they fulfilled their obligations to the lord
4. Improvement in Agriculture: Feudalism led to the improvement in agriculture as the feudal lords and their vassals worked together to cultivate lands and grow plants.
Since agriculture could potentially serve as a source of revenue for the feudal lords, they provided resources and other necessary support to the vassals in a bid to improve crop yields.
This led to an improvement in agriculture techniques and an increase in agricultural production.
Disadvantages of Feudalism
1. Favoured the lords: As a system of government, feudalism highly favoured the lords to the detriment of the vassals.
Feudalism created a system where only the lords were allowed to own land and resources.
The vassals were at a disadvantage in that they do not have the same power as the feudal lords and were not allowed to hold any land, except that given to them by the lords.
Vassals were required to serve their lords and were completely dependent on the lords for almost everything.
This resulted in a situation where the feudal lords continue accumulating wealth and power.
2. Chaos and Conflict: In feudalism, power was decentralized in the hands of the feudal lords, who each had control over their lands and subjects.
This decentralized structure resulted in chaos and conflict as there was no central authority to settle disputes.
3. Lack of a fair legal system: In most feudal societies, the clergy and the nobles serve as judges in legal matters.
This resulted in bias in judgement in favour of the nobles, and make it difficult for the vassals to get fair treatment in the legal system.
4. Oppressive and exploitative: Another disadvantage of feudalism is that it created both an oppressive and exploitative system.
Feudalism created an exploitative system in that it gave too much power to the lords which allow them to treat the vassals as property.
The feudal lords treated the vassals as property, rather than people with rights and feelings.
Feudalism also created an oppressive system as the feudal lords are notorious for oppressing the vassals.
Oppressive activities done by feudalism includes ordering the vassals to work for long hours with food and giving the vassals only a little time to rest.
Conclusion
We have just learned about the meaning, features, advantages, and disadvantages of feudalism.
To recap, feudalism is a social and political system based on the exchange of land for military or other essential services.
Feudalism was characterized by a decentralization of power, a three-class system, a land tenure system and a pyramid-like hierarchical structure.
The advantages of feudalism include a stable system, protection for common people, and provision of a sense of security to the vassals, whereas the disadvantages of feudalism were that it was an exploitative and oppressive system, and favoured the feudal lords to the detriment of the vassals.
As time passed, feudalism declined and became extinct as a result of the emergence of modern systems of government such as democracy and monarchy.
