Feudalism in Medieval Europe (What is Feudalism?)
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- Опубліковано 3 лип 2024
- Lecture Notes and PowerPoint Available:
www.tomrichey.net/blog/feudalism
Modern historians have coined the term, feudalism, to describe the political and social system of the Middle Ages - particularly in medieval Europe, but it can also be applied to medieval Japan. No one actually said “feudalism” or “feudal system” in the Middle Ages. It was just something that developed in the centuries following the Fall of Rome when centralized government had fallen apart.
The Roman Empire included a network of cities that were connected by well-maintained roads. As the power of Rome declined, people began to leave the decaying cities, which were increasingly filled with disorder and crime, and settled in rural areas. The network of well-maintained roads that made the Romans famous ceased to be maintained and trade collapsed. As a result, rural communities formed that had to be increasingly self-sufficient. A central authority, in the person of a king, united these communities under one leader, but that leader did not have a lot of power. Most people in medieval Europe never saw a king and lived their life in their own self-sufficient community, known as a manor, relying on the local lord to protect them, administer justice, and settle disputes between residents. Many medieval peasants lived on the manor as serfs who were legally tied to the land and not allowed to leave even if they wanted to do so.
Anyone who has played chess knows that the king is one of the weakest pieces on the board and is dependent on the support of other pieces on the board. These other pieces on the board symbolize the Church, the nobility, the knights, and the peasants. Medieval kings held some of their own lands, but the lands that they reigned over resembled more of a patchwork quilt than it did a modern nation the way we think of it today. Kings would enter lord-vassal contracts with nobles, who would swear an oath of loyalty, or vassalage, to the king and receive a land grant, known as a fief, in return. The loyalty sworn by the vassal was most commonly delivered in the form of military service. When medieval kings went to war, they required each of their vassals to send a certain number of knights, as kings did not have the means to maintain large personal armies.
Those who entered into lord-vassal contracts directly with the king, known as great lords, would then enter into similar contracts with lesser lords, making themselves both lords and vassals. Each feudal lord was expected to maintain a certain number of non-noble knights, who also received land. Peasants who lived on the manor would receive the lord’s protection and would, in return, pay dues to their lord in the form of money, crops, or by doing manual labor on the manor for a certain number of days each year.
In the Late Middle Ages, feudalism began to decline as kings began to grow more powerful (partly as a result of the Crusades), global trade increased, and more people started to move to towns, which were outside of the control of feudal lords. With the wealth that came into royal treasuries during the Age of Exploration, kings began financing their own armies and allowed nobles to pay money instead of raising their own men.
While feudalism began to decline significantly between 1400-1700, some elements of feudalism remained in Europe into the modern era. In 1789, the French National Assembly formally abolished the legal privileges of the nobility in the early stages of the French Revolution. Serfdom continued in Russia until a reforming tsar abolished it in the 1860s.
This lecture should be helpful to those taking courses in World History and European History, including AP World History and AP European History, who need to understand feudalism in Europe to succeed on their exams.
0:00 The Feudal System
0:12 Developed in Medieval Europe and Medieval Japan
0:48 Europe vacated the cities and ran to ----> Rural Society
Roman Roads were breaking down, Trade was breaking down
1:17 They lived on Medieval *Manor Houses*
People of The Manor
2:29 It's a little like Chess
- The Lord: Keeper of The Manor
- Knights: Protectors of The Manor
- Bishops: The Church Support of The Manor
- Serfs: Workers of The Manor,
2:50 Feudalism was a sort of Patchwork, like a quilt.
Many Lords swore an oath to a King, but most Lords had autonomy over their lands
3:34 Fiefs= Feudal Land Contracts
Lord Land Loyalty
4:26 The Feudal Hierarchy
- Land and Legal Privileges
in exchange for
- Loyalty
*The Decline of Feudalism*
5:42 Medieval Towns
Growth of Royal Power
Centralized Tax Collection
6:35 *The Black Death*
Timbrado
@@elpoleas5739 Wouldn't the decline of feudalism be when the peasants were so oppressed that just breathing air was a gift from the "lords"?
5:15
This really hepls! Thanks :)
Thank you! I needed to find what time the Black Death was being talked about :)
Who else is on this for school
Me
No
No
Me
I'm always late but me 🥲
A concise, well-informed lecture, yet just the right amount of humor and warmth which connects very well. Excellent balance of overall concept, and detail - brilliant! I am a fan.
sir your lectures are quite helpful literally! I've been preparing from your lectures for quite a long time . stay blessed. you are helping us alot
"Ha ha ha ha ha. I should take a quick sip to that one."
@King Saeed\ ملك سعيد stop being rude 😡
...
(they don't know i'm watching this for D&D worldbuilding, not for history class)
Lol it’s amazing how much history can help towards creative endeavors.
Same
Same but not for d&d, just world building.
Thanks man, that was a good effective summary of feudalism which really helped me with my A-level a couple years back, I was just really struggling to get my head round the concept lol.
Thanks for the video! I'm homeschooling my first grader and we're learning lots about the middle ages this year.
So glad I can help homeschooling mothers!
@@tomrichey Hey, I am a homeschooler too!
Thanks a lot.
FIRST GRADE???
why is a first grader learning the same material as juniors in high school 😳
bruh i'm learning this as a freshman
Thanks a lot!!! I'm watching this from Spain in 2022 for history class, it helped me, thank you again!!!
Great video as always, Tom!
Thanks!
Amazing video!
Great video, thanks for the information!
Hi from England! using loads of your vids for history gcses in a week.😅 there so helpful thank you! :)
Thank you so much this really helped me out!!
It's been 30 years since I've been in high school, but I still enjoyed your video. Good stuff!
well-explained, thankyou so much
Good video I appreciate this dope information! :)
Thank you so much... it's very helpful 💓💓
Gotta love that outro!
Yeah, what's the music?
Well done. Thank you from a fellow teacher.
Thanks Mr. Richey
Thank you, sir!
thanks from Canada. Very solid explanation compared to most YT feudalism explanations.
That was really interesting.
Thank you so much for your lecture sir......you have no idea that to what extent you have relieved me ......
It’s an honor!
that was really useful thank you.
very useful, thanks!
Your lecture is very didactic. Thank you.
I would have loved to have him as a teacher but now that I think of it all of my history teachers were also pretty cool 😎
It was very interesting
Thanks Jim Varney!! (Ernest P. Worrell)
Thank you so much sir.
Thank you so much
Damnit Tom, I was tested on this a month ago! I could’ve used the help. Anyway great vid! Love the content
I’m honored that you’d watch even after your test!
You're lucky you watched this after your test. It's rife with misinformation and errors.
Absolutely not ! he did and amazing explanation of the feudal society ! Its easy to understand and haters like you will not see the gold cause u only do is hate
Thanks for elucidating FEUDALISM. I appreciate your English diction and pronunciation. I understood them well. Best concise video ever. I'm an Asian and I was upset by the British accents from other videos.
Thank you SO MUCH
English Kings were French nobles (Normans, Angevins), that's why they had to pay hommage and loyalty to the King of France for their lands in France.
They were vassals in France and equals to the French Kings as Kings of England
This complicated situation and brought wars between France and England
And in France, feodalism was less strong in times of strong centralisation, like in the 13th and beginning of 14th centuries and at the end of 100 Years war, the French Kingdom began a definitive centralisation of the country, still very visible today (Paris decides, regions apply)
The angevins and normans were Just during the the 12th century after that not really, nobody COnsider them french nobles
sooo good
Are there any videos that explain where titles came from? I've watched a lot of documentaries and played games based in the middle ages, and titles are often brought up, but I wonder where they came from, or where the concept started / originated?
The fact that he does take a sip of a drink when he says " hahaha ha I should take a quick sip of that one". Unless there's no drink in the cup and drinking air then that takes the mick lol ( 6:50 )
Ayo imagine having a verified youtuber as your teacher
Good info
Thanks for this. With the word 'feudalism" being thrown around all the time these days,(politically), I went looking for a good overview, and here it is.
This helped me explain to my landlord that feudalism is over, so he can’t make me grow crops and give him half of what I grow.
One nobleman in Russia came to tell the serfs they were free, and they would have to pay rent. They declined, saying the land had always been theirs, so they'd rather remain as serfs. The nobleman was furious.
The Serfs were smart, when you consider how bad it got in Ireland when it worked off rents form greedy merchants, instead of knights who are meant to protect and grow the community... many people lost their lands, and starved as beggars. Farmers tend to love their land, and will fight for it, or even work themselves to death to keep it, as happened many times in England's industrial revolution (the street urchins were the lucky ones, as the farmers couldn't eat their own fruit or drink their own milk, selling it to pay for taxes).
Sir i from India, I loved your teaching thank u sirrrrrrrrrr so much
Me also 😊😊❤
Hi Tom. Thanks for your videos. I love them and use them often in my class. I teach 10th and 11th grade History here in Indonesia. Thanks again and keep up the great videos. Ish
It's so interesting.
"Inability of nobility resulting in peasant revolts" - this is exactly the Lenin's definition of a revolution situation: it is when "the lower classes no longer want, and the upper classes are no longer able to live the old ways".
thank you for this amazing video. the ncert book is very confusing [im an indian] therefore these videos helped me a lot
i use this for assignments
Good vid richey, i like the way you turn from ancient era to early medieval. in short romans are over in the west, they aint maintaining their roads, kingdoms start coming up left right and center.
Pretty much!
Well done. My dad saw semi feudalism in Poland toward the end of the second world war. The peasants were actually bowing down to the clergy as they walked through the estates.
Informative. Love from India.
You’re telling me this isn’t just a mechanic from Mount and Blade?
Can you make videos for AP World History, please? I'm struggling to try to understand and remember all the material.
As King of England, I approve of this video (love your country accent btw 😁)
Thanks
Really nice analogy of chess ♟️. Explained things really well 😊
thanks bro
With the exception of southern Italy, where feudalism continued to exist for centuries on end.
Another exception to the rule that kings offer vassalage to no one else, and unlike the symmetrical "vassalage" of the English Kings to the French Kings, the Holy Roman Empire contained a rank above the few vassal-kings: the Emperor, to whom the kings owed vassalage in the same way dukes offered theirs to their king.
Notwithstanding the Eastern Roman Empire, the Holy Roman Emperor was meant to be the *only* emperor in (Western) Christendom, at least to begin with.
Wrong ! The holy Roman empire had no kings, only electors. The highest rank they had was Duke or arshibishop. But they were called sometimes princes electors but had no kingdom.
@@antoinemozart243 wrong lol
Cities were not ""outside the feudal hierarchy". They were a part of the system and acted as collective feudal lords. E.g. Venice called herself "Most Serene" which is a ducal title and elected a ruler called a doge to substitute a duke, or Novgorod had the full title "Great Master Novgorod" and invited a prince/duke-ranked nobleman to serve as a nominal head of the city.
what is the name of the song in the end?
Why couldn't I get a teacher as passionate about history as I am.
6:50 that was low key funny the way he just "hahahahahahah" :)))
GSAQSJHAS fr tho
Dang, dude... these are really good videos. Love it.
I'm here because of Naruto and I learned a lot. Thanks.
great lecture, but I missed you talking abou the church. It had power during feudalism, right?
So it was essentially like the United States but with the States having more power being more independent but still technically part of the same nation? Makes sense
great content here. I would encourage viewers who are students to embrace this knowledge as a critical critique of the world that needs many solutions rather than merely a way to pass a test and gain a career... knowledge and wisdom are of far greater significance than one's own practical purposes...too...we should be inspired to challenge and change the paradigm.
OMG THANK U A LOT
the rook according to my friend doesn't represent nobility, he says it represents guards or something like that
like....seneca misouri? wow i live right near there
To what extent did feudalism
contribute to the French
Revolution?
tahnk you
I’m coming to your class in like 3 minutes
Does anyone know what the 3 main ideas of this video are-
LMAO how was the assignment 😭
@@noyasenpai7431 i dont even knowwwwww
What century was this?
Why bother with details. Middle ages in some country. Didn't you watch the vid?
Sir if possible please post a video on ambedkar vs gandhi...
Read Dr Anand Ranganathan's essay in Swarajya magazine for that.
This UA-cam channel is about US and European history.
correct me if I'm wrong but are those alcohol bottles on his bookshelf ( 2:03 to the right)
also this was really helpful
Technically, one of them is what used to be a bottle of Slovakian mead. But it’s there as a sentimental item - not intended in any way to promote alcohol consumption. The other is just decorative glass.
So glad you found the video helpful!
Our system is this, if not it's moving towards it
The center is controlled by the most powerful. The one with the most supports is the king
Would you say that society is experiencing a form of Feudalism at the moment?
I definitely would say that
👍
the roads are the first to go
help me
Thank you so much for the explanation of feudalism. The USA 🇺🇸 seems like a feudalist country
00:38 This is actually why humans never learn from history. We are too busy classifying and categorizing everything by simply creating "new" academic labels and terms that we never get to the "understanding" part in any meaningful way per Capita wise.
In other words it's very important to understand, not just hear the words, that they had no idea they partook in a feudal system back then. In that very real way it was not a system per se. Humans however want a system and to homogenize, categorize, organize and make efficient everything. It's an ideal that meets with it's opposite in outcome
i still find the title Landlord to be funny and outdated..
We got Theo Von lecturing on Feudalism?
Nice.
Is it just me or does this teacher kinda look like Harrison Ford 🤔
the spiderman one
France in 1477 is the worst example possible. Louis XI king of France put a sudden end to feudalism. Burgundy returned to the king after the defeat of the Duke and Brittany became part f France with the wedding of Louis XI son with the young duchess. You should have chosen the XI th century when France was a chaos of feudal States where the vassals always switched sides when they had more to gain.
Medieval Richey gang is rising
Guess what's back, back again.
It is definitely back. I completely agree 👍🏿
So, basically a bunch of poor people owed a bunch of rich people, who owed a smaller bunch of richer people, who owed an even smaller bunch of even richer people, who ultimately owed to one ultra-rich dude who technically ruled all of them...why does this sound familiar?
This wasn't debt as we understand it and comparing modern systems of credit and debt to feudalism is wholly dishonest and disrespectful to the peoples who lived under these systems.
@@Longlius I realize that, I was just making a joke.
Did peasant had lands??
Isn't this
The European caste system
Are you related to Theo Von? You all should look up his videos where you’ll hear a Louisiana accent on a very funny comedian and I swear they grew up in the same town, just probably on different sides lol