Medieval Europe: Feudalism

Political Structure

Feudalism is a political system where people receive protection in return for their services. Feudalism came to exist at the end of the Roman Empire. When the Roman Empire fell, the Roman army did as well. There was no one to defend the people. Germanic tribes split the land the empire had and turned them into kingdoms that had to fend for themselves. Fearing that barbarians would come and destroy the people, the people started demanding protection instead of money, thus creating feudalism.

In Medieval Europe, the system of government was a monarchy; the kingdoms were ruled by a king (sometimes a queen) who had total power. The second political structure in Medieval Europe was a hierarchy: orders of rank and authority within different classes of people; a caste system. The king, at the top of the hierarchy, had several roles to play. First, one responsibility was to maintain control of their kingdom and make sure everyone was doing their job.

Also, one of the king’s most important jobs are to provide knights as protection for the kingdom when needed. Next in the hierarchy are the nobles. One job the nobles did were hiring officials to make sure the villagers did their daily duties and work. Secondly, the nobles acted as judges, and had the power to fine and punish people who broke the law or behaved licentiously. The ladies ran the households and trained the children for the future. Most importantly, the nobles had to manage and send knights to defend their land(s). Even lower in the hierarchy are the knights. Knights did various tasks such as train their squires to become knights one day. Knights also solved any problems the public had. The most important job of the knights were to fight off enemy attackers and defend the land they are assigned. It was the knights that everyone depended on to live. And at the bottom of the hierarchy are the peasants. All of the peasants worked to receive protection from the knights. The main job of the peasants was to work in the fields and to harvest and raise crops. Peasants also raised cattle and animals to use as food or other things. Other less common jobs some peasants had were jobs such as shoemaking and metalworking.  

Three new laws were created in the Middle Ages: Magna Carta, common law, and Habeas Corpus. Magna Carta was a written agreement from 1215 that limited the English king’s power and strengthened the rights and power of the nobles. Common law is a body of rulings made by judges that become part of the nation’s legal system. Habeas Corpus is the principle that accused persons cannot be held in jail without the consent of a court.