WHO WERE THE FEUDAL LORDS? - HISTORY - 2025

The feudal lords, almost always men with noble titles, were the lords and masters of the land in medieval western Europe.

Feudalism, the dominant political and economic system between the 9th and 15th centuries, consisted in the valuation of land as a basis and where exchange relations are established between the parties, mainly, the feudal lords, vassals and peasants.

This structure was based on small communities formed around a feudal lord who controlled everything under his jurisdiction and, in exchange for work, guaranteed the security of his servants.

The local nature of this system made it perfect for a time when threats were also small in scale.

The peasants worked the lands in exchange for food, the vassals were in charge of the protection of the inhabitants of the territory in exchange for money, the feudal lords administered the fiefdoms in exchange for absolute power over them and the monarchs ensured greater political and economic strength.

The dynamic established by the feudal model guarantees all its components, security and food in the midst of austerity and deterioration that prevailed in society.

It was then a system of cooperation based on promises, where despite the lack of freedom or social mobility, subsistence could be assured.

The context in the time of the feudal lords

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 with the arrival of the barbarians, Western Europe was plunged into an era of misery and demographic decline.

This is what we know today as the Middle Ages, alluding to this period as a passage between the Post-classical Era and the Modern Era, which begins with the Renaissance in the 16th century.

Also known as "the dark years", due to the little cultural and scientific production and scarcity of historical records, this time meant a break in the patterns of life in Europe.

The structure of the empire and the metropolis ended to give way to a local dynamic, in which the communities turned towards themselves and isolated each other.

The Middle Ages was a period of monarchies and ecclesiastical paternalism. The crisis derived from the fall of the empire resulted in a significant decline in the population of the area.

The eastern part of the recently fallen emporium was fragmented into Germanic kingdoms. This would be a key stage in the consolidation of Europe as a unit.

The effort to protect the continent from external threats and increasing counter-urbanization led to what we now call the feudal system, which was established in Europe for almost the entire Middle Ages.

Feudalism and its hierarchy

Feudalism was the dominant political and social system during the Middle Ages and was based on fiefdoms: contracts by means of which the nobles, known as feudal lords, granted territories rents in exchange for services, such as land work or protection and fidelity.

Feudal lord and servants.

It was born as a mechanism through which the kings, who did not have the economic resources or the political force to protect the kingdom, divided their territories into small parts that would be administered by the nobles who, in return, paid taxes, promised fidelity and they made their subordinates available.

The feudal lords received lands proportional to fidelity to the king and the importance of his family.

These were in charge of managing and governing the fiefdoms - a name also used for the designation of the lands - and their power over these territories and their inhabitants was unlimited.

However, to keep out external threats like bandits and invasions, they needed servers to protect them.

The vassals or knights, free men often coming from noble families, swore to the feudal lords fidelity, obedience and protection.

When the king demanded it, they also constituted the army. In return, they were granted fiefdoms and a percentage of the spoils of war.

The peasants, the lowest echelon in the feudal hierarchy, worked the land in exchange for a portion of the food produced and the security offered by the knights.

They sacrificed their freedom in exchange for the protection and security that belonging to these communities meant.

This political system was based on reciprocal relations between the different degrees. In the same way that knights became lords of their fiefdoms, feudal lords were in turn vassals of other more important, the greatest being the king.

However, feudal contracts were established exclusively between feudal lords and vassals, the breach of these being the most serious crime.

The fiefdom or contract was sealed through a theatrical loyalty rite called homage, which was performed in the lord's castle in front of relics and books belonging to him.

Some interesting facts

• The feudal lords had the right to everything that belonged to their territory, including the vassals who had to give them their virginity on their wedding night. This is known as "right of pernada."
• Each feudal lord had the power to establish his own currency and justice system.
• In times of war, knights would go out to fight for an approximate period of 40 days, which could be extended to 90 if necessary, since staying on the battlefield forced them to abandon the lands they had to protect.
• When a vassal died, his children were under the guardianship of the feudal lord.
• There were, within the different scales of the hierarchical system, subcategories with different degrees of power.
• 90% of the workers and inhabitants of the fiefdoms were peasants.
• Social mobility did not exist in feudalism. A peasant could never become a feudal lord.
• The Catholic Church was the most powerful institution in the feudal system and, therefore, had to obtain part of the profits of each kingdom.
• The median age of survival was 30 years.
• In this period, farmers made great advances and innovations such as plows and windmills.
• Feudalism disappeared from much of Europe in the early 16th century, although in some eastern areas it remained until the 19th century.

References

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5. Historyonthenet.com. (2017). Medieval life and feudalism system. Recovered from: historyonthenet.com.
6. Historiaybiografias.com. (2017). Vassals and Feudal Lords The Feudal Contract Obligations. Recovered from: historiaybiografias.com.