FEUDALISM

INVESTIGATION
PROJECT

Daniella Chavez
Ariana Chunga
Rita Ampuero
Feudalism in Europe started between the 9th and 10th century. Feudalism was a
political system in which nobles were granted the use of land that belonged to the
king. The knights gave loyalty and military services in return. The social classes in
the feudal system were usually inherited.

The feudal system developed in Western Europe after the weakening of central
governments. The feudal system was a decentralized form of government that made
alliances between the king, the lords and the vassals.
The king was at the top of the pyramid, he depended on the church, that held most
of the power in that time, that is to say, the church decided who became the king.
However kings not really held power because the lords were the ones who managed
military aid. In the middle were the higher level nobles like the lords and vassals.
Lords were wealthy landowners who granted land. They gave protection, shelter,
and food to the vassals and knights in exchange for their military service and loyalty.
Vassals and knights pledged protection to the lord.

Finally at the bottom were the peasants and the serfs.

The peasants were extremely poor people yet,they were not tied up to the fief
whereas the serfs worked at the fief and could not leave without permission.
Peasants and serfs did not receive any education because their life was mostly
spent on farming and working on the fief. Peasants and serfs have no right to talk to
the king or any other high status yet, they needed to pay a tithe to the church, that
was like a tax. They produce everything that the lord needed in exchange for
shelter.Serfs needed to pay a tax to the lord if one of their relatives got married
outside the country.

Serfs believed that God was the one who determined a person's place in society
Peasants and serfs didn't receive education, therefore they were illiterate and spoke
some of the languages of the Germanic tribes like old french, proto-Germanic or
Lombardic. Feudalism was a mixture of the legacy of the Romans and from the
Germanic kingdoms. Quite a few people may have spoken Latin as it was the
standard language for Christian learning. Latin may have been spoken between the
church officials, the king, and the nobles. Grammar was really important in the
Middle Ages, yet not everyone could read and write.
Several investigations suggest vassals came from England so they may have
spoken Old English. Women were considered inferior to men and made duties as
maintaining the house and family.

A medieval woman that was at a high social status was able to read, write and spent
her time painting. Women spoke Latin. Communication in the middle ages was
based on your social status.
If you were a king you could talk to the nobles and members of the church. Lords
communicate with vassals and knights.

Bibliography:

Bellerby,R.(2017).Communication in medieval times.United Kingdom.Short History

Website.https://www.shorthistory.org/middle-ages/communication-in-medieval-times-
how-messages-were-sent/.

Fraumeni,C.(2015).Feudalism in medieval Europe-simple explanation.Retrieved

from:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq-DqtyDJqqrNikp1D8uhhg/videos

Hirst,K.(2019).Feudalism - A Political System of Medieval Europe and

Elsewhere.Thoughtco.https://www.thoughtco.com/feudalism-political-system-of-
medieval-europe-170918

Mcnally,R. (2012)World history pattern of interaction.Canada:Holt Mcdougal.

Prezzavento.J.(2015).Medieval Europe-Feudalism.Retrieved
from:https://www.youtube.com/user/shsHonWorldHist/videos