WH1-FEUDALISM AND THE MAGNA CARTA
In every case of institutional growth in history two things are to be clearly distinguished from the
beginning for a correct understanding of the process and its results. One of these is the change of
conditions in the political or social environment which made growth necessary. The other is the already
existing institutions which began to be transformed to meet the new needs. In studying the origin and
growth of political feudalism, the distinction is easy to make. The all-prevailing need of the late Roman
and early medieval society was protection—protection against the sudden attacks of invading tribes or
revolted peasants against oppressive neighbors, against the unwarranted demands of government
officers, or even against the legal but too heavy exactions (demands) of government itself. In the days of
the decaying empire and of the chaotic German settlement, the weak freeman, the small landowner, was
exposed to attack in almost every relation of life and on every side. The protection which normally it is
the business of government to furnish he could no longer obtain. He must seek protection elsewhere
wherever he could get it, and pay the price demanded for it. This is the great social fact—the failure of
the government to perform one of its most primary duties, the necessity of finding some substitute in
private life—extending in greater or less degree through the whole formative period of feudalism, which
explains the transformation of institutions that brought it into existence.
In later Roman days…the poor landowner, likely to lose all he had from one kind of oppression or
another, went to the great landowner, his neighbor, whose position gave him immunity from attack or
the power to prevent official abuses, and begged to be protected. The rich man answered, “I can only
protect my own.” Of necessity the poor man must surrender to his powerful neighbor the ownership of
his lands, which he then received back as a precarium (literally in Latin “depending on the will of
another” or “obtained back by entreaty, begging, or prayer”)—gaining protection during his lifetime at
the cost of his children, who were left without legal claim and compelled to make the best terms they
could. Applied to this use the precarium found extensive employment in the last age of the empire. The
government looked upon this practice with great disfavor, because it transferred large areas from the
easy access of the state to an ownership beyond its reach. But it could not be stopped…the motive was
too strong on both sides…the need of protection on one side, the natural desire to increase large
possessions and means of self defense on the other…UNDER A GOVERNMENT TOO WEAK TO
PRESERVE ORDER, THE GREAT LANDOWNER FORMED HIS ESTATE INTO A LITTLE
TERRITORY WHICH COULD DEFEND ITSELF. HIS STRONG NEIGHBORS DID
LIKEWISE…HIS WEAK ONES CAME TO HIM FOR PROTECTION.
(These quotes are from the Encyclopedia Brittanica, 11 th Edition Volume 10, 1911)
“Fee” is a word bequeathed to modern English by the feudal system, and indeed it is closely related
etymologically to feudal. It came via Anglo-Norman “ fee” from medieval Latin “feodum” or “feudom”
(also the source of “feudal”) denoting “land or other property whose use was granted as a reward for a
service,” which also persists in modern English as “payment for work done.”
Arcade Dictionary of Word Origins
1)
FEUDALISM was based on the need of a LORD for
soldiers to protect his land and the poor to obtain
PROTECTION from a powerful Noble. This system
differed from the MANORIAL system in which the
relationship between the lord and the worker was
ECONOMIC; and so, under the manorial system military
service was not required. Both the feudal and manorial
systems were based on contracts between PEASANTS
and NOBLES.
2)
The characteristics of feudalism include: (1) Strict
division into SOCIAL CLASSES (e.g., clergy, nobility,
peasantry; (2) private ADJUDICATION of disputes
based on local custom; and (3) a system of landholding
based on the FIEF or FEE.
3) In a FEUDAL SOCIETY, the KING owned all lands.
Under the king were the NOBLES, the most important of
which held land based on a madate from the king.
However, remember that at this time central authority
was very WEAK. And so, it was not difficult for many
feudal Lords to MINIMIZE the King’s AUTHORITY
and even his INCOME. Originally, a poor landowner
transferred his land to a PROTECTOR and then received
it back to farm minus his children’s HEREDITARY
RIGHTS.
4) In the manorial system, the peasant laborers, or SERFS,
held the land they were working from the SEIGNEUR,
who held a single manor. The seigneur granted the serfs
the use of the land and PROTECTION in exchange for
personal services on his DEMESNE (the land he retained
for his own use) and for DUES, typically in the form of
CROPS.
5) As an institution, Feudalism first appears in FRANKISH
lands during the 9th and 10th centuries, and emerged as a
result of the breakdown of the CENTRAL ROMAN
AUTHORITY—i.e., the fall of the Roman Empire.
6) The CHURCH also helped to shape feudalism, in part
because it owned such a great quantity of LAND that
carried feudal obligations—nobles had given much of it to
the church or the church had otherwise acquired it from
them, and so the clergy likewisebecame participants in
the feudal system.
7) Feudalism spread from the Frankish territories to
SPAIN, ITALY, GERMANY, and ENGLAND after the
invasion by WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR (1066).
8) The seeds of its own destruction were present in the
Feudal system, mainly since so much POWER was
concentrated in the hands of so FEW people. The rise of
strong, centralized, MONARCHS throughout Europe
also took priority over local organizations. MONEY (both
coinage & paper) increased in circulation, thus making it
possible for centralized authority to purchase military
force and other services. Professional classes also arose,
as did the ability to more easily disseminate IDEAS.
9) However, Perhaps the greatest destructive impact on
Feudalism was the multiple waves of BLACK DEATH
(Plague) that spread throughout Europe. With the
population thinned in many places by 60-80%, there were
fewer people to work the land, and so LABOR became a
valuable commodity. It is argued by some that, in France,
the French Revolution (1789) marked the formal end of
feudalism, while it was not completely eliminated in
RUSSIA until the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.
However—and this is significant for the next part of our
discussion—the end (or close to it!) of feudalism
throughout most of Europe was reached towards the close
of the 13th century.
10)
Now, let’s temporarily shift gears just a bit. In 1776,
the Founding Fathers of the United States needed to
identify a historical PRECEDENT for claiming their
rightful liberties from King George III and the English
Parliament. They found it in the MAGNA CARTA (Great
Charter), which had been signed on June 15th, 1215 (note
the early 13th century date here!) on the plans of
Runnymede, England, which is not far from the current
location of Windsor Castle.
11)
England’s despotic KING JOHN, who was
desperately short of CASH, was confronted by a group of
angry feudal BARONS (English Nobility) who insisted
upon the recognition of their traditional feudal RIGHTS.
This served as a tremendous inspiration for the American
colonists in their fight against King George.
12)
Historically, the Magna Carta resulted from John’s
poor FOREIGN policy and horrific financial
MISMANAGEMENT. John had suffered a terrible
military defeat at the Battle of BOUVINES against the
French King Philip Augustus during the previous year
(this cost him essentially all of the French ancestral lands
that he had inherited), and had then attempted to rebuild
his funds by demanding SCUTAGE (a fee paid in lieu of
military service) from the Barons who had not
participated in the war.
13) The
Barons PROTESTED, arguing that it was John’s
bad policies for which they were being made to pay.
However, John REFUSED to relinquish his demands, and
the opposing side began to BACK DOWN. However,
LONDON fell to the rebel army in 1215, and so John was
compelled to grant the charter. His strategy was to issue
the charter himself, so that it would appear to be a FREE
GRANT of the king instead of something that had been
IMPOSED upon him.
14) It
was, however, all a HOAX. The charter itself lasted
about THREE MONTHS. First, John appealed the
LEGALITY of the charter to his ally, the POPE, who
ANNULLED it immediately as the work of TRAITORS
against their ANNOINTED LORD. The result was a
CIVIL WAR.
15) John
fought back by laying siege against his father’s
castle that was occupied by the REBEL ARMY. Through
much of the year 1216, John fought a war on TWO
FRONTS---one against a French incursion onto English
soil—the first successful invasion of England since
WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR in 1066, and against his
own BARONS. In May, the French had taken the city of
LONDON, and it appeared that the next king of England
would be FRENCH. However, John DIED and his 9 yearold son was placed on the throne.
16) The
original “Magna Carta” was not the Magna Carta as
we know it today; it was a statement of baronial rights
known as the ARTICLES OF THE BARONS. The
Magna Carta refers to the FINAL VERSION with the
additional wording and terms that was finalized on June
19th 1215.
17) The
change in the wording “any BARON” to “any
FREEMAN” broadened the application of the Magna
Carta’s provisions to somewhat larger parts of the
population. The term would eventually come to include
all the ENGLISH, just as the term “We The People”
applies to all Americans. Likewise, the Magna Carta
became the basis for the BRITISH CONSTITUTION,
although UNIVERSAL protection of ancient liberties was
not the goal of its creators.
18) Remember---The
Charter itself was actually a FEUDAL
document that was designed to protect the RIGHTS and
POWER of the feudal lords and their families and to
restrain the king from raising money by using “harsh and
arbitrary” (Britannica, 1911) methods. And so, they
wanted the following powers RESTORED: (1) to force
King John to recognize the supremacy of ancient
liberties; (2) to LIMIT the ability of the king to raise
funds; (3) to reassert the principle of DUE PROCESS;
and (4) to introduce the concept of MAJORITY RULE.
After the Pope ANNULLED this agreement, the resulting
civil war ended only with John’s 1216 DEATH.
19) John
was succeeded by Henry III who had not yet come
of age to rule. On November 12, 1216, the Earl of
Pembroke (Henry’s regent) reissued the charter in the
name of Henry III. However, significant ALTERATIONS
had been made. First, since the Barons were no longer in
conflict with JOHN, the provision authorizing the
appointment of 25 nobles to insure that John complied
with the charter was eliminated. Also, since England at
that time was at war with FRANCE, limitations on the
raising of SCUTAGE were also relaxed. The charter was
reissued again in 1217 with even more revisions; this was
the revision confirmed by Henry III in 1225 after he had
come of age. And so, power once again gravitated in a
changing Europe towards CENTRAL AUTHORITY.
20) Remember—as
important as the Magna Carta is for
subsequent history, it is important to recognize what it
did NOT do. It did not extend rights to SERFS, and
protected them only insofar as they were the PROPERTY
of the feudal lords. “FREEMEN” essentially referred to
landholders of large ESTATES; the smaller landholders
essentially received NOTHING. It did not establish
freedom from ARBITRARY ARREST or TRIAL BY
JURY. Further, it did not give people the right to control
their own TAXATION. And yet, many politicians and
historians alike view the Magna Carta as providing the
basis for equal rights to all Englishmen—and, by
abstraction—to Americans as well. “It was regarded as
having conferred upon the nation nothing less than the
English constitution in its perfect and completed form”
(1911 Britannica). “Magna Carta, if it did not give us a
House of Commons, gave us at least a House of Commons
of weight and consequence” (Sir Edmund Burke).