What is Feudalism? Feudalism was a combination of legal and military customs in medieval Europe. It was also a way of structuring society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labor.
The Feudal Pyramid The Feudal pyramid of the Middle Ages is most similar to our own food pyramid. The Feudal pyramid has a certain order from top to bottom. In the Feudal pyramid, the highest people(of the "most" importance) are on the top, and the lowest people(the MOST important) are placed at the very bottom. Obviously, the middle class are placed in the middle of this Feudal pyramid. This pyramid sort of re-enforces the royal families to the most poor families. The order of the feudal pyramid is shown below. The order occurs from top to bottom, just like the feudal pyramid. Pope King and Queen Nobles Knights Peasants and Serfs The Rise of Feudalism The rise of feudalism began mostly after the fall of the Roman Empire. European leaders no longer attempted to restore Roman institutions, but adopted whatever would work. The result was that Europe developed a new set of institutions that led to a moneyless economy, poor transportation and communication and a constant threat of attack by the Vikings, Magyars, and Saracens. Feudalism was one of the well known institutions of the aristocracy. The Decline of Feudalism A few different things contributed to the decline of feudalism. One of the most common reasons was the Black Plague. Since the Black Plague killed nearly millions of England's people, this led to economic and social changes. The second reason for the decline of feudalism was the Magna Carta. As most know, the Magna Carta was a signed document that limited the king's powers. If not signed by the king, the king was forced to give his throne away. In other words, the king was forced to resign. The over all most important reason for the decline of feudalism was the fact that the lower class especially were not treated well. Upper class members gave the lower class tons of work to do with little pay. Also. the upper class was greedy when it came to who got what. For example, the rich were serving themselves to feasts with the crops that the lower class made. While all of this was going on, the lower class members barely fed themselves. These are the three most common suspected reasons for the decline of feudalism.