Feudalism and Fiefs
Land in medieval times was broken up into pieces of land called fiefs. A fief was a
trust, rather than an ownership (like renting). Your oldest son could inherit the fief,
but you could not sell a fief in early medieval times.
A fief meant more than land. Each fief was a complete unit. That unit included at
least one village, huts for the serfs, the manor house or castle, and areas set aside to
grow, feed, or catch food - the fields, pasture land, and woods.
Fiefs with streams were greatly prized as streams insured fresh water and added fish
to the diet of those who lived on the fief.
The only outsiders allowed to live on a fief were peasants. Peasants were freemen.
They could come and go as they wished, but where would they go? War was
everywhere. Peasants received protection and the use of a small piece of land on
which to build a home in exchange for work.
Frankish kings, starting with Charlemagne's grandfather - Charles Martel - had
always rewarded military service with land. If a noble died without heirs, the
king would reassign that land to someone else. The noble's family would be
tossed out, to make room for the new family coming in. The serfs stayed with
the land. They were part of the fief. Their job was to do the work for whoever
owned the fief. In exchange, the fief owner promised the serfs would receive
food, shelter, and protection.
Although fiefs were given to military men (knights) as rewards, fiefs came with
certain obligations, obligations beyond feeding and protecting the fief workers,
the serfs. In exchange for ownership of a fief, you had to promise certain things.
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You had to promise loyalty to the king or to the lord who gave you the
fief.
You had to provide military service. You did not have to fight yourself,
but you had to send men when needed.
You had to act as a host when your king or lord came visiting.
You had to contribute funds for a ransom if your king or lord was
captured in battle.
You had to provide gifts of cash to help offset the costs of any of your
lord's special occasions, such as a wedding.
Fiefs were also awarded to counts and local officials. There was a lot of land
available. Every time two barbarian tribes went to war, the losers lost their land,
and usually their lives. Their families were tossed out, and their fiefs were
reassigned to new owners. That is one of the reasons war was so popular. War
was the way to riches.
In medieval times, there were three major groups of people - the nobility,
the church, and the commoners. Relationships between groups and
people were based on a balance system
It's easy to understand the job of the common people. Their job was to
do all the work. But what about the lord of the manor? His job was to
defend the common people. How did he plan on doing this? There were
thousands of armed warriors across Europe who would like his land and
who would have no problem killing him for it.
When the Frankish Empire collapsed, things really got bad for a while.
Without a strong central government to act as a control, people were
always fighting. Many fief owners were former warriors. They thought
of terms of battle. If they wanted more land or more workers, they would
start a war with someone.
Around 900 CE, the continued lack of a strong, central government led to a
new form of government called feudalism. Manorialism had to do with the
land. Feudalism had to do with organizing an army quickly. But it went far
beyond that. Feudal obligation was a huge thing.
In the feudal system, everyone was a vassal. The word vassal means
servant. At the top of the secular heap was the local king. At the bottom
were the knights, the professional fighting men. In the middle were the
lords, other nobles, counts and officials.
Vassals could promise their loyalty to more than one person. A vassal might
pledge their support to 10 or 12 lords. Problems arose when lords went to
war. For example, let's imagine you have pledged your support to the lord
on either side of your land. These two lords are both counting on you. Both
have given you gifts of land, weapons, and goods. What happens if these
two lords go to war? You have promised your support to both. You could
find yourself quite literally in the middle, and you would lose no matter
who won.
Being a vassal was taken quite seriously. Written agreements were rare, as
very few vassals could read. But a ceremony, called a homage, was held
and witnessed.
It was critical for everyone's survival that the lord had strong vassals. The
peasants were not armed. They had no defense. They had to count on the
lord of the manor to protect them. The lord had to count on his vassals.
Everything circled around violence - preparing, defending, recovering from
battle. The people were terrified and exhausted.
The Catholic Church tried to limit the battles. First, the church issued a
decree (a law) that said no one could fight in church. Then they decreed that
no one could fight on a holiday or on a weekend. Then they issued a decree
that made fighting legal on only 80 days a year. Since the Church had no
army of its own to enforce these decrees, private wars continued to ravage
Western Europe.