Feudalism, Vassalage and the Manorial Estate

A knight kneels before his lord. He places his hands between the lord’s hands and promises loyalty. In return, he receives land. This simple scene sits at the heart of feudalism, the system that shaped medieval Europe.

In this lesson, we meet the lord, the vassal, the knight and the peasant. We also see how the system grew in France and reached England.

1What does “feudalism” mean?

The word comes from the medieval Latin feudum, meaning a fief. People of that time never used the word “feudalism”. Later historians created it to describe the system.

It describes the economic, legal, political and social ties of medieval Europe. It first took shape in France. It then spread to England and other lands. Historians usually place it between the 9th and the 15th centuries.

At its core was one idea. Land was held in return for service or labour.

• From Latin feudum, a fief.
• Land held in return for service or labour.
• Strongest in France, later in England.

2Who were the three orders?

Medieval thinkers saw society as three groups. Each had its own job.

The Latin names were oratores, bellatores and laboratores. They mean those who pray, those who fight, and those who work. The idea appears in a poem by Bishop Adalberon of Laon, who died around 1030.

The clergy placed themselves first. Nobles came second. Peasants, who fed everyone, came third.

• Clergy pray. Nobles fight. Peasants work.
• Source: poem of Adalberon of Laon.

3How did vassalage work?

Feudalism ran on promises. A lord gave land and protection. A vassal gave loyalty and service. The chain began with the king. Big nobles were his vassals. Lesser nobles served them in turn.

A vassal swore homage in a ceremony. He knelt and placed his palms together. The lord covered the vassal’s hands with his own. The vassal declared that he belonged to the lord. The lord then handed over a symbol of the land, in a rite called investiture.

One rule matters for exams. A man could swear fealty to many lords for different lands. But he could do homage to only one liege lord.

The word “lord” itself goes back to the Old English hlaford. It meant “loaf-ward”, a keeper of bread. A lord was expected to feed his followers.

• Lord gives land and protection. Vassal gives loyalty and service.
• Homage: one liege lord only.
• Fealty: could be sworn to many lords.
• “Lord” comes from hlaford, “loaf-ward”.

4What was life like on a manor?

A manor was a lord’s estate. It had a manor house or castle, fields, and villagers who worked the land. Villagers gave labour or a share of the harvest. Later, many paid in cash instead.

The lord had great power on his land. He raised troops, ran a court, and judged disputes. Peasants worked both their own plots and the lord’s fields.

Many manors made much of what they needed. Grain grew in the fields. Smiths and carpenters made and mended tools. Women spun and wove cloth. But few manors were fully self-sufficient. Items like salt and millstones often came from outside.

• Manor: house, fields, villagers.
• Peasants gave labour or produce to the lord.
• Lord held court and raised troops.
• Few manors were fully self-sufficient.

5Why did knights rise?

Feudalism often grew out of a broken empire. The Carolingian Empire of the 9th century had few officials. It could not pay for cavalry. So rulers granted land to mounted soldiers instead.

These mounted warriors became knights. They held a fief from a lord. In return, they fought for him. By the middle of the 10th century, fiefs had largely become hereditary. The eldest son inherited, after doing homage and paying a fee called a relief.

The peasants on the fief did the farming. That freed the knight to train and fight.

• Land for mounted soldiers began in the 9th century.
• Knight held a fief and gave military service.
• Fiefs turned hereditary by the mid-10th century.

6How did feudalism grow in France?

The story starts with the Franks. Clovis became king of the Salian Franks in 481, aged just 15. He was baptised sometime between 498 and 506. Historians cannot fix the exact year.

In 751, Pepin the Short became king of the Franks, with the support of Pope Zachary. He was the first Carolingian king. His son Charlemagne was crowned emperor in Rome by Pope Leo III in 800.

After Charlemagne’s line weakened, local lords gained power. A charter of Charles the Fat from 884 is the earliest known use of the word feudalis.

• Clovis: king in 481, baptised between 498 and 506.
• Pepin: king in 751, first Carolingian.
• Charlemagne: emperor in 800, crowned by Pope Leo III.

7How did it reach England?

In January 1066, King Edward the Confessor died. Harold Godwinson became king. William, Duke of Normandy, claimed the throne too.

William beat Harold at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066. Harold was killed. William became king.

He then gave English land to his Norman followers. By the time of Domesday Book in 1086, only about 5 per cent of land south of the Tees was left in English hands. The new landholders were tenants-in-chief. They owed the king knights and soldiers.

• Hastings: 14 October 1066. William beats Harold.
• Land went to Norman followers.
• Domesday Book: 1086.
• Tenants-in-chief owed the king knights.

8How do historians study it?

Marc Bloch was a French historian, born in 1886. He helped found the Annales School. Its followers looked at ordinary people and daily life, not just kings.

His book Feudal Society used a wide definition. It covered the duties of all three orders, not only the nobles. The first volume came out in 1939.

Bloch joined the French Resistance. The Gestapo captured him in Lyon in 1944. He was murdered in a summary execution.

Records help too. Land lists, court cases and church registers tell us about village life. Songs sung by minstrels show how the nobles liked to see themselves.

• Marc Bloch (1886-1944), Annales School.
• Feudal Society, volume one, 1939.
• Bloch counted all three orders in feudalism.

9What are the exam traps?

• Homage goes to one liege lord. Fealty can go to many.
• Feudalism is not only about knights. Bloch included peasants and clergy.
• Do not mix Clovis (481) with Charlemagne (800).
• Hastings is 1066. Domesday is 1086.