for smart people only?

Question

what is feudalism and how did it developed?...also how did it affect medieval society?

Answer 1

Wow... that's a big one. First of all, it is the social organization in England inherited from the Normans who conquered the island in 1066 with the Battle of Hastings. It consisted of land division in feuds, or borgs, owned and ruled by feudal lords who employed a determined amont of countrymen. There were only two social classes then: Feudal lord and countrymen (aside we can find the church, and chivalry, who belonged to a rather privileged social class). Later on, with the growth of the feuds, a new division in the social structure was created with the young men who study and become "literate merchants": The Yeomen.
Feudalism affected mediaeval society in the way that it created new visions of the world in its people, new jobs and even new social classes!

Answer 2

feudalism was the little guy that built the castles and kept the land green and kept the barons's and their families well fed, because they farmed the lands for them too. It affected the medieval society in the way that the little guy were more people outside of the castle population and the little guy could not make any decision on their own, but they could go to church and share bread with their neighbor and even partake in the very popular Punch and Judy show that came around every now and then to entertain the little guy and not the castle folk too much.

Answer 3

Following the collapse of the Roman Empire, the West experienced a time in which all effective public authority vanished. Feudalism was a system whose ultimate goal was to create a decentralized government.

The system was based on a contractual relationship among members of the nobility in Europe, and it evolved around the most important warrior in the region — the Count.

The Count maintained strict control over all the lesser warriors (lords) in his region. The lords accepted the Count as their Lord (or were forced to do so), thereby becoming vassals of the Count. The Count’s duty was to protect the lords and settle any dispute that arose between them. Most importantly, the Count guaranteed that as long as the vassals remained loyal they would be allowed to remain in possession of their land or fiefdoms. This pattern was replicated all over Europe.

Consequently, a highly localized form of "government" evolved in medieval society. One of the principal purposes of feudal government was to combine political and military service with landholding in order to prevent Medieval Europe from disintegrating into thousands of independent estates run by different lords. In other words, government was essentially a system of cooperation that existed to protect and perpetuate the feudal system and to preserve order. Given society’s vulnerability to unpredictable harvests, to whatever type of governance prevailed at the time, and to frequent wars, government programs to improve the welfare of society simply did not exist. No one thought of a bureaucracy of government officials responsible for designing programs to provide people with a better standard of living.

Thus, the development of policy as we think of it today did not exist in feudal society. For much of the period in question, a person did not witness or expect significant changes in society during his or her lifetime. One’s position in that society was pre-determined and fixed at birth. Serfs, who worked for the vassals, could not "move up" and become knights or barons; such mobility was unheard of. Individuals viewed themselves as victims of their destiny and environment. It never occurred to the average person that his or her destiny could be tailored and that nature could be conquered.

Keep in mind that medieval society was not completely static. Change did occur. But not because of science and technology or the production of material goods, which started with the industrial revolution.

The transition to capitalism was driven by ambition and self-interest. Exactly what fueled the transition from feudalism to capitalism in its early stages is an issue that is hotly debated. We will probably never know.

Answer 4

Feudalism developed by one guy being strong or meaner than all the rest of the guys. He said - Do my farming, working etc, and I will protect youf rom other bad guys. (This is very over-simplified, but you get the idea) - Over time, more people wanted to work for this guy because he was good at protecting them, all they had to do was work their fingers to the bone all year long and give him the profits. Cool!

This developed the peasant classes and royalty, or the upper classes.

Answer 5

Feudalism is a system of government where the people are hierarchically organized according to heredity, with the serfs answering to the lord of the manor, the lord answering to the Count, ect. Primary capital production is in Agriculture.

Feudalism first developed during the Crisis of the third century, a period of Roman history that saw wide spread chaos and the near collapse of the Empire. Prior to the third century, Romans lived remarkably modern lives. They specialized, became businessmen, artisans, and politicians, while food and raw capital was shipped via trade routes, which due to the reforms of Caesar Augustus, were extremely safe. Piracy was virtually eradicated in this time, which allowed for massive shipping lanes from Hispania, Carthage, and Egypt. Like modern societies, the focus of their society was the city. Rome at its ancient peak held nearly 3 million people, a feat that would not be matched in the west until the Industrial Revolution.

During the crisis, this collapsed. Frequent civil wars, allong with numerous salary increases to the soldiers, put a tremendous strain on the Roman economy, although if that were the only problem, the economy probably would have endured. What truly caused the collapse was widespread debasement, where denarii went from nearly 100% silver to less than 1%. Hyperinflation caused mass unemployment. Roman security broke down, piracy resurged in the Mediteranean, and external threats such as the Germanic tribes and the Sassanid Persians pushed deep into the Empire.

The final blow that completely destroyed any semblance of an economy was the Emperor Diocletian's "Edict on Maximum Prices" which set price controls for every good in the empire. Though short lived, the damage was done; chronic shortages rose throughout the Empire, and people deserted the cities in order to work on farms for food. Furthermore, Diocletian created a top-heavy government with a crushing bureaucracy, which snuffed the life out of the economy and put more and more of the tax burden onto the farmers. Single family farms, unable to cope with the taxation, were forced to sell their land to the wealthy, who could afford to bribe tax collectors. As the economy worsened, laws were passed that legally tied tenant farmers to their lands, and prevented the landowners from firing them. Thus, the serf class was born.

As Roman authority slowly disintegrated, landowners were forced to rely on their own means of protection. This came in the form of private armies, called Bucellarii, which while ostensibly illegal, were in fact encouraged, as the state could "persuade" the land owner to help the state army, which at the time was in pitiful shape. Few Romans at this time served in the army, and laws were passed because Italian conscripts were cutting off their thumbs to avoid service. Most soldiers on the field were Germans, who differed little from the tribes they were fighting. When Alaric sacked Rome in the early 5th century, most of his army were Roman deserters. Rome's population during the 5th century and right up until the renaissance was around 20,000

The facade of influence was finally cast aside in 476, when the Western Roman Emperor was forced to retire. However the Eastern Roman Empire continued in what is now known as the Byzantine Empire, though the Byzantines shared the old Empire's perchant for a top-heavy bureaucracy, so the Byzantine economy never even came close to the level of prosperity that Rome enjoyed during the Pax Romana.

We can see how poor Roman economics lead to the development of a proto-feudalist state, with legally bound tenants working for their wealthy landowners, whose authority was absolute and his protection was based on his own army. Over the course of the dark ages, this evolved into what is classically known as feudalism.

Interesting fact: most feudalist titles are in fact old Roman titles! 'Count' comes from the Roman military rank 'Comte' which was a regional commander. 'Duke' comes from 'Dux', who was a commander of a specific region of the empire. 'Prince' comes from the word 'princep' which means 'First Citizen'. This is what Roman citizens called the Emperors; they never saw (or were slowly duped into accepting) the emperor as an absolute monarch nor their civilization as an empire or kingdom. Right up until the end, they saw themselves as a Republic, with the first citizen being a "helper".

Answer 6

This answer is for smart people only...
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