Feudalism

THE LONG-HELD definition of feudalism as a European political and economic system in place from the 9th to the 15th centuries, in which a small elite cadre of lords with military support commanded the work of peasant farmers and held them in servitude, has recently come under scrutiny by medieval historians and has been rejected by many.

For some scholars the term has taken another meaning: a system of personal relationships among members of the military leaders of the time, which led eventually to the formation of formal government and Western democracy. For some contemporary medieval historians, the terms lord and peasant have been included within the manorial concept, the manor being the district over which the lord had domain.

The first definition, identifying a European political and economic system, has been the one most widely used to describe that period in history. In that sense, feudalism refers to a social organization in which peasant agriculture is the primary economic activity within the domain of a lord and the peasants are bound to the land and to the lord on condition of service and homage. Many social scientists signal the beginning of what has come to be known as the “cycle of poverty” with feudalism. The cycle of poverty identifies a condition in which people living in poverty tend to remain in that social status simply because there is no opportunity to significantly change the prevailing social and economic conditions.

Certainly there is a case to be made that poverty existed in human societies before the Middle Ages. There have always been poor people on the surface of the earth. However, the relatively formal structure of feudalism clearly documented the plight of the peasant in that social setting. The peasant farmer who worked the land paid most of the resulting crop to the lord as rent and taxes, keeping only enough to manage a subsistence lifestyle. With little or no opportunity to acquire savings or gain a reasonable income or property rights to the land, the peasant farmer was relegated to the rigors of poverty and a life that came close to sheer survival. Feudalism kept peasant families in this socioeconomic status for generations.

Feudalism gained prominence in Europe during the 9th century primarily through the absence of strong central governments. Without the guidance and leadership of a central authority, local centers of power will come into play. Europe in that period made no effort to restore the Roman forms of government and opted instead for expedient measures, resulting in the rise of microregional centers of power. In some sense, these centers were relatively isolated because of poor or nonexistent transportation corridors and communications systems across Europe, and the continued threat of attack [Page 360]by marauding groups from outside the region. In these situations, defense of the society fell to the lord and his military associates, and for this service the peasantry was obliged to serve at the will of the lord.

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