Feudalism is a hierarchical political, economic and military system whereby a king exchanges land or a gift for protection in the Middle Ages. There was instability due to the fall of Rome and trade, security and communication came to a halt and this forced the kings to strike a deal with the nobles with land in exchange for military service, taxes and food from the peasants. This system helped European civilization lift itself out of the Dark Ages. The feudal system was a bond in which people were linked in a chain of common obligations to each other. Even though the conditions for the bond were different regarding the place and time, the object of the bond in feudalism was always the same; exchange of land for military service and protection.
During feudalism, communities flourished and the manorial system developed. Manorialism is the social and economic system whereby the peasants during the medieval age were made dependent on the vassals land (Sarris 285). The vassals’ had a lot of land which they could not manage on their own and so the peasants worked for the vassal’s lands in exchange of food and other harvested resources. Manorialism is an important constituent of feudalism as it was the organizing principle of the rural economy which emerged in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire. Lords gave lands to serfs in exchange for food.
For the duration of feudalism, flourishing of communities known as manors took place. They consisted of churches, mills, lord’s homes with barns and peasants villages with woodlands and pastures. Everything in the manors was controlled by the lord’s security although everyone was connected in ties to obligations from the lowest to the highest title and so not everybody had equal duties. Manorialism was used to organize aristocratic estates and the clergymen in the middle ages and this made feudalism possible which is a system that allowed the upper class clergy and noble supremacy and authority (Sarris 297).
Feudalism and manorialism emerged out of the decline of the Roman Empire into the medieval period as a result of invasion by German tribes (Reynolds 56). Most cities were abandoned and many people shifted to the rural areas. Due to the lack of centralized governance, there was need for a new social order, the manors became the main economic unit and this led to the development of the feudal system with a king on top as their leader and mutual obligations linking the lords, vassals and peasants. The king gave his land to the lords to maintain it who in turn fought for the king and to protect him in times of war and. There was no communication, trade and security and there was need for all these things. There was instability after the fall of the Roman Empire and the lords were forced to use the land in exchange of support and loyalty. It was brought about due to the barbarian invasions of the German tribes and the kings were unable to protect their subjects.
Feudalism and Manorialism worked hand in hand as they are linked to one another. One starts followed by the other in the Middle Ages. Feudalism deals with power, rights and lifestyle of the military elite whereas manorialism is concerned with the service and obligations of the peasants. Manorialism was a natural product of medieval feudalism and it was the smallest unit of the feudal system government.
Works Cited
Sarris, Peter. "The Origins of the Manorial Economy: New Insights from Late Antiquity", The English Historical Review 119 (2004): 279–311. Print.
Reynolds , Susan. Fiefs and Vassals: The Medieval Evidence Reinterpreted. Oxford: Clarendon press, 1994. Print.
