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fealtyĪn oath, from the Latin fidelitas (faithfulness) a pledge of allegiance of one person to another. In the Middle Ages this was the ceremony in which a feudal tenant or vassal pledged reverence and submission to his feudal lord, receiving in exchange the symbolic title to his new position.

While modern writers such as Marx point out the negative qualities of feudalism, such as the exploitation and lack of social mobility for the peasants, the French historian Marc Bloch contends that peasants were part of the feudal relationship while the vassals performed military service in exchange for the fief, the peasants performed physical labour in return for protection, thereby gaining some benefit despite their limited freedom.This ceremony bound the lord and vassal in a contract.

Before a lord could grant land to a tenant he would have to make him a vassal at a formal ceremony.In England, the feudal pyramid was made up of the king at the top with the nobles, knights, and vassals below him.Feudalism in England determined the structure of society around relationships derived from the holding and leasing of land, or fiefs.Feudalism flourished in Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries.With that much land, the church became very powerful and with power comes the abuse of power. By the end of the Medieval period, the church was largest landowner in the Europe owning one-third of the land. Land was given to the church by Nobles as indulgences(to buy their way into heaven). If you were a peasant, you and your descendants would always be peasants. If you were a king, you and your descendants would always be kings. This meant that each person was born into their divinely determined position in society. The church taught that God appointed the pope and kings (divine right of kings). Most important the church with its structure helped to legitimize the feudal system structure. They were called upon to help the secular leaders as advisors on political, financial, judicial, and military issues in addition to spiritual matters. The church leaders were the most educated individuals in society. Do you see something missing in the diagram to the left? Where are the believers, the average Christians? In many ways, they were considered so unimportant that they did not need to be on the chart. The church was organized in much the same way the feudal system was with the pope on top, then bishops and abbots, then priests and superiors of convents and monasteries, then friars, monks, and nuns.

With this protection, the church grew in numbers and influence and became the most powerful institution in the Europe. But how did the church relate to this system.Ĭhristianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in 391AD. To review: Feudalism was a system created to provide land, resources(food), and service(military) to those who needed it. This week we want to look at the role of the church in feudalism. In the last post, the system of feudalism was explained.