THE FEUDAL SYSTEM

BACKGROUND
In most of medieval Europe, society was dependent on the feudal system,
which was based on allocation of land in return for service. The king would
give out grants of land to his most important noblemen (barons and
bishops) and each noble would have to promise to loyally follow him and
supply him with soldiers in time of war.
The nobles then divided their land among lower lords, or knights who also
had to become their servants. In the lowest spot in society sat the peasants
(villeins) who worked on the land.
When William the Conqueror became King of England in 1066 he introduced
a new kind of feudal system into Britain. William confiscated the land in
England from the Saxon lords and allocated it to members of his own family
and the Norman lords who had helped him conquer the country. These
people were known as tenants-in-chief. Unlike the older Anglo-Saxon form of
feudalism these people did not own the land because the ownership
remained with William the Conqueror himself. The land allocated to a
tenants-in-chief was known as a manor and they tended to be dispersed
across the country rather than being one large area. The tenant-in-chief had
to provide for himself and his family and to support a number of knights. To
do this, the lord sub-let his land to other lords lower on the social ladder. At
the bottom the common people worked on the land growing crops and
raising animals.

THE SYSTEM
William of Normandy needed a way of governing the whole country which
was not easy as he forced his way into England and so was unpopular with
the people and so he needed to use force to maintain his control
Furthermore, he was still Duke of Normandy and so would be in Normandy
for many weeks at a time to regain control of his land there too and thus
needed a way of controlling England whilst he was away so the people
remain loyal
William had to ensure there were obvious signs of power such as building
castles and introducing the feudal system
William created the feudal system where he split up his country into large
areas of land (similar to our counties today) and allocated noblemen to
each piece they had to swear an oath to William and to God that they
would remain loyal
The noblemen (180 of them) that were awarded these pieces of land were
barons/earls/dukes and in their area were considered the most important
and powerful person they were known as tenants-in-chief
These barons divided their land into further pieces and underwent the
same process with knights (3000-5000 of them) who also fought well in the
conquest and were trusted these were called sub-tenants
The job of the barons and knights were to keep the English people in their
place, collect taxes for the king and provide soldiers from their land when
necessary. They also had to provide arms, armour and warhorses to William
and needed to be able to horse ride - requiring them to have been from a
rich background.

The word tenants is associated with land that doesnt belong to you
they had to provide services to the real owner of all the land, William
Many young, Norman men joined the royal household, providing the king
with a nucleus of trained soldiers at the heart of the army. These household
knights aimed to gain power and social status by mixing with the great
nobles of the time.

Benefits of the system:

Based on allegiance and
oaths
Network of kinship
reaching out from the king at
the centre all the way out to the
most insignificant soldier
Clear set structure
people knew where they stood
The classes depended
on one another
Problems with the system:
Peasants were very
heavily taxed
They would often give all their seeds as tax then not have any left
for next farming season
No income and no food
They were forced to work on the churchs land without pay
Couldnt uphold their own crops
Didnt go to school, started work as soon as possible instead
In reality, many tenants-in-chief didnt provide their knights so they
ended up paying taxes instead not as useful as manpower
Differences pre and post 1066:
Land confiscated from Saxon lords and given to Williams family and
nobility who had helped him conquer England
Society not used to warfare, kings avoiding war when possible
Saxon England was disconnected; people only concerned with their
village then Williams feudal system connected everyone
Helped William spread his influence:
Trusted Noblemen as Barons
Hierarchy of People to maintain Control
Allowed him to leave England, trusting that it would stay safe and in
Control over land
Influence of Religion and Church

LINKS:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks3/history/middle_ages/feudal_system_dom
esday_book/revision/1/
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/feudalism.htm
http://wccshoeing.wordpress.com/2011/11/10/the-feudal-system-peasantsand-how-the-feudal-system-ended/