feudalism

Examples of feudalism in the following topics:

• Feudalism

  • There were many varieties of feudal land tenure, consisting of military and non-military service.
  • Many societies in the Middle Ages were characterized by feudal organizations, including England, which was the most structured feudal society, France, Italy, Germany, the Holy Roman Empire, and Portugal.
  • Each of these territories developed feudalism in unique ways, and the way we understand feudalism as a unified concept today is in large part due to critiques after its dissolution.
  • The king was the absolute "owner" of land in the feudal system, and all nobles, knights, and other tenants, termed vassals, merely "held" land from the king, who was thus at the top of the feudal pyramid.
  • In the king's feudal court, such deliberation could include the question of declaring war.

• Preindustrial Societies: The Birth of Inequality

  • Medieval Europe was a pre-industrial feudal society.
  • Instead of producing crops for a market, workers exchanged the crops they grew for access to land, which was owned by a feudal lord.
  • Two specific forms of pre-industrial society are hunter-gatherer societies and feudal societies.
  • Broadly speaking, feudalism structured society around relationships based on land ownership.
  • This painting from feudal time shows how fields surrounded the feudal manor where the noble who owned the farms lived--a good depiction of how society was oriented around the agricultural economy.

• Society Under the Zhou Dynasty

  • Under the initial period of the Zhou Dynasty (called the Western Zhou period), a number of innovations were made, rulers were legitimized under the Mandate of Heaven, a feudal system developed, and new forms of irrigation allowed the population to expand.
  • A number of important innovations took place during this period: the Zhou moved away from worship of Shangdi, the supreme god under the Shang, in favor of Tian ("heaven"); they legitimized rulers, through the Mandate of Heaven (divine right to rule);  they moved to a feudal system; developed Chinese philosophy; and made new advances in irrigation that allowed more intensive farming and made it possible for the lands of China to sustain larger populations.
  • The feudal system in China was structurally similar to ones that followed, such as pre-imperial Macedon, Europe, and Japan.
  • Under this feudal (fengjian) system, land could be passed down within families, or broken up further and granted to more people.
  • Most importantly, the peasants who farmed the land were controlled by the feudal system.

• Issues In Property Rights

  • It is called "feudalism."
  • But the feudal system had a strong interest in assuring that property holders within that system not weaken feudalism by liberating people or property within their control to the free market.
  • Feudalism depended upon maximum control and concentration.
  • Our only choice now is whether that information society will be free or feudal.
  • The trend is toward the feudal (Lessig, Free Culture, p 267).

• Traditional Authority

  • In comparison to patrimonalism, feudalism has one major similarity and several important differences.
  • First, feudalism replaced the paternal relationship of patrimonalism with a contract of allegiance based on knightly militarism.
  • In feudalism, these individuals are replaced with vassals, who have contractual freedom, personal allegiance, and socioeconomic prominence.
  • Compare patrimonial government with feudalism within the context of traditional authority

• Class Conflict and Marx

  • For example, in the feudal stage, feudal lords owned the land used to produce agricultural goods, while serfs provided the labor to plant, raise, and harvest crops.
  • When the serfs rose up and overthrew the feudal lords, the feudal stage ended and ushered in a new stage: capitalism.
  • In feudal society, means of production might have included simple tools like a shovel and hoe.
  • In feudal times, feudal lords owned the land and tools used for production.
  • Feudalism ended with class struggle between serfs and lords, and gave rise to a new stage, capitalism.

• The Manor System

  • The manor system was an element of feudal society in the Middle Ages characterized by the legal and economic power of the lord of a manor.
  • Manorialism was an essential element of feudal society and was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire.
  • Serfdom was the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism.
  • The manor formed the basic unit of feudal society, and the lord of a manor and his serfs were bound legally, economically, and socially.
  • Serfs formed the lowest class of feudal society.

• Economic Systems

  • The ideas of "progress," economic development and economic growth came with the development of the commercial world that replaced the feudal society of the medieval world.

• The Eastern Zhou Period

  • The lords under feudalism gained increasing power, and ultimately the Zhou King You was assassinated, and the capital, Haojing, was sacked in 770 BCE.
  • During this time, power became increasingly decentralized as regional feudal lords began to absorb smaller powers and vie for hegemony.
  • By the end of 5th century BCE, the feudal system was consolidated into seven prominent and powerful states—Han, Wei, Zhao, Yue, Chu, Qi, and Qin—and China entered the Warring States period, when each state vied for complete control.

• Japanese Architecture in the Momoyama Period

  • The ornate castle architecture and interiors of the Momoyama period were a reflection of both a feudal lord's power and a new aesthetic sense.
  • The ornate castle architecture and interiors, adorned with painted screens embellished with gold leaf, were a reflection of both the power of the feudal lord (known as a daimyo) and a new aesthetic sense that marked a clear departure from the somber monotones favored during the previous Muromachi period.