Feudalism in Medieval Europe

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FEUDALISM Feudalism is a political system where power dispersed and balanced between kings and nobles. This system refers to a general set of legal and military obligations among the warrior nobility of Europe during the middle Ages, revolving around the three key concepts of lords, vassals, and fiefs. Feudalism emerged as a result of decentralization following the fall of the Western Roman Empire. This governmental system characterized the medieval period in Europe. A lord was in broad terms a noble who held land. A vassal was a person who was granted possession of the land by the lord, and the land was known as a fief. In exchange for the use of the fief and the protection of the lord, the vassal would provide some sort of service to the lord. . There were many varieties of feudal land tenure, consisting of military and non-military service. The obligations and corresponding rights between lord and vassal concerning the fief form the basis of the feudal relationship. Before a lord could grant a fief to someone, he had to make that person a vassal. To commend someone to vassalage, one had to go through a formal ceremony known as the commendation ceremony. This is composed of a two part oath in which you swear homage and fealty. With the swearing of homage, one agrees to fight for the lord at his command, while the lord promises to protect him from external forces. The fealty part solidifies the oath of homage. Feudalism had begun as a contract, the exchange of land tenure for military service. Over time, as lords could no longer provide new lands to their vassals, nor enforce their right to reassign lands which had become de facto hereditary property, feudalism became less tenable as a working relationship. Over time, gold was incorporated into the economy as an alternative to land, thus undermining the basis of feudalism. Following the hundred year war,
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