What is Feudalism?

Feudalism was a form of government that was used in Europe during medieval times.

The main things in Feudalism are: The lord(owner of the land), the fief(the land), and the vassal(the person who is receiving the land).

In feudalism the king or owner of the country owns all the land, the king can give some of that land to someone else in exchange for military service. That person becomes the vassal and the king becomes his lord. Then if the vassal want to he can give part of his land to someone else and become their lord. This can go on until there’s no land left to give.

The person who is getting the land was made into a vassal through a ceremony called a commendation ceremony. This ceremony had two parts, the homage and the oath of fealty. During the homage the lord and the vassal would enter a contract in which the vassal promised to fight for the lord.