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Feudal Society

Feudal Society. After the fall of Rome. Between the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West around 500 CE and the rise of the nation state of the 17th century European society was relatively stable.

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Feudal Society

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  1. Feudal Society

  2. After the fall of Rome • Between the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West around 500 CE and the rise of the nation state of the 17th century European society was relatively stable. • Part of reason for the stability was the structure of society. The keystone of the structure was feudalism.

  3. Definitions • Feudalism was the social system in which Western European society functioned. It was a mix of obligations and understandings between the various stratified groups. • Manorial System was the economic system centred on the Fief or holding.

  4. Top Dog Kings: • Top of the pyramids and ultimate arbitrator in any dispute. • However, their ability to influence contrary noblemen was limited as they had no forces to make them obey.

  5. The Not So Noble Nobles: • This was never a homogenous group as nobility was ranked within this group. Counts are the top of the chain and knights are at the bottom. Starting with the knights, each level is tied to the next level through personal oaths. In this was a knight will serve a noble who is in conflict with a direct relative.

  6. The Little People • Commoners: This group is the largest and the most disadvantaged. Free men are those who may own small plots of land and are not subject to serving a nobleman. They have no political rights, but they are left alone.

  7. Serfs on the other hand, are those people who are tied economically to nobleman. • Serfs were granted sections of land on which to cultivate and in return they must either donate part of their crop to the noblemen or work their fields for them on prescribed days. • The level of autonomy varied in each nation

  8. Regional Variances - England • In England, the average commoner enjoyed little political freedom. • Compared to those on the continent, they did have more freedom due to the relative instability of the nobility and kings. • They did however, have some economic freedoms such as gleaning and access to common land.

  9. Regional Variances - France • In France conditions worsened for most commoners and there were fewer actual free men as a percentage of society. • As well as economic shackles, the law courts ensured an unequal society. • Nobles had privileges guaranteed under the law at the expense of those who worked for them.

  10. Regional Variances – The East • Further east in places like Prussia and Russia there were no free men. • There were no free men as all peasants were economically and legally tied to the nobility. • In these cases the nobility literally held their lives. • They could exploit them with the full sanction of the law.

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