Feudalism

Overview

Feudalism was an economic system in Medieval Europe, in which a monarch would grant land or financial privileges to supporters in return for military support or payment. This process would repeat down the social ladder so that land would be increasingly subdivided. Feudal divisions and boundaries form the basis of many modern European provinces and counties. These pieces of lands which were granted in return for service to dukes, barons and lords were known as feuds, or feifs. These local rulers used their lands and attendant incomes to support a feudal communities heavily basis around agriculture, farmed by peasants known as serfs, these landlords would rule these lands in the monarch's name. In return for this the monarch was paid homage by his landed servants. Homage usually took the form of taxes paid when required, in times of war the feudal lord or vassal was expected to provide his liege with a retinue of soldiers in order to fight the monarch's military goals. The feudal system created the European aristocracies which would form the landed nobility of a variety of distinct kingdoms. The feudal system created a regimented and frozen social order,divided into the peasantry, the clergy and the aristocracy and subsequentlyprovided little opportunity for upward mobility. Feudalism has been portrayed across many media formats, including video games. Feudalism has been a theme in many games which occur during the Middle Ages, especially strategy titles, such as Civilization, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and Crusader Kings II. Although feudalism as a system of social organisation is synonymous with Medieval Europe, similar feudalistic approaches to government were common in Muslim and East Asian societies (Japan in particular) until well into the early modern period.