And in the 13th century it is linked with France because the pope, intervening again, is now opposed to the Germans.Ĭomplexity and decline: 12th - 15th century In the 12th century the island is joined to distant Germany because the German king marries a Sicilian princess. In the 11th century the Normans seize it by invitation of the pope. More complex, but equally typical of Christian feudalism, is the case of Sicily. Stretching from Northumberland to the south of France, it has been brought together by a process of inheritance and dynastic marriage. Generations of marriages, carefully arranged for material gain, result in an immensely complex web of relationships - reflected often in kingdoms of very surprising shape on the map of Europe.Ī simple example is the vast swathe of land ruled over in the 12th century by Henry II. Similarly Rome lets it be known that the Holy See is on the side of William when he invades England in 1066.Īnother important form of justification is a dynastic claim to a territory. In 1059 the pope virtually commands the Normans to attack Sicily, by giving them feudal rights over territory not as yet theirs. One excellent excuse for warfare is the approval of the church. And the possession of a good justification is almost as reassuring to a knight as a good suit of armour. The Normans in England or in Sicily rule by right of conquest, and feudal disputes are regularly resolved in battle.īut feudalism also provides many varieties of justification for force. Indeed bishops can often be found on the battlefield, fighting it out with with the best.Īs in any other context, the strongest argument in feudalism - transcending the niceties of loyalty - is naked force. As a great feudal lord with moral pretensions, holding the ring between secular sovereigns, the pope can be seen as Europe's headmaster.īishops and abbots are part of the small feudal aristocracy, for they are mostly recruited from the noble families holding the great fiefs. The top players in feudal Europe come from a small group of people - an aristocracy, based on skill in battle, with a shared commitment to a form of Christianity (at once power-hungry and idealistic) in which the pope in Rome has special powers as God's representative on earth. But certain actions and qualifications bring a distinct advantage. The rules are complex, and to an outside eye deeply mysterious. By the end of the 12th century the papacy has more feudal vassals than any temporal ruler.Īlthough feudalism develops as early as the 8th century, under the Carolingian dynasty, it does not prevail widely in Europe until the 10th century - by which time virtually the entire continent is Christian.įor the next 500 years, great accumulations of power and landed wealth pass between a few favoured players as if in a vast board game. At the very peak of European feudal society is the pope. Only in this way, sharing out both the benefit and the obligation, can the king's vassals be sure of bringing their promised contingent of armed men into the field.Ī pyramid of loyalty is thus created, in which each man - except at the very top and bottom - is a vassal to one lord and a lord to several vassals. The largest fiefs are those given directly by monarchs to noblemen or barons, who then subcontract parts of these fiefs to vassals of their own. The vassal does homage to the lord, formalizing the relationship.
The lord gives the vassal an income-yielding fief ( fehu-od in Frankish, the basis of the word 'feudal'). Thus there develops the relationship between lord and vassal which is at the heart of feudalism. This act of generosity, ultimately for his own benefit, requires an oath of loyalty in return. Charles Martel grants his nobles rights over tracts of land, to yield the income with which they can provide fighting men for his army. The feudal system comes into focus during the 8th century, when the Carolingian dynasty is expanding its territory.
Transcending that, and dependent upon it, is the interconnecting network of loyalties and obligations which make up feudalism. The central economic feature is the manorial system. In medieval Europe the system is more complex.
#FEUDAL KINGDOMS FREE#
In ancient Sparta, where all free men are warriors, the support comes from the defeated and enslaved peasants of Messenia, known as the helots. In a simple economy this means that the produce of an appropriate number of peasants or serfs must underwrite the expenses of the fighting man. At the heart of feudalism is a basic idea common to any society with a warrior caste.
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