Was the feudal system a good system?

Answer 1

While this question would seem to require a subjective answer depending on what one regards fairness as being, I think we can feel confident in saying the feudal system was not fair to everyone.

The idea that a person could advance based on his or her own merits was not really developed, there were slaves in some feudal societies, and serfs were not allowed to live where they wished.

There were tradeoffs. The serfs were theoretically protected by their lords, and this meant they should have been kept safe in times of war or famine, and they were defended from criminals. Whether this actually happened was another issue.

The lords were given lands in exchange for promises of loyalty and support. The amount of land depended on what the king wanted to give, and while the support was proportional to the ability of the land to produce, the loyalty was absolute regardless of the amount of land or the titles. Fairness did not actually come into the picture.

The monarchs had great demands placed on them and did not necessarily have much freedom. Their obligations to protect their people may have been clear, but the political pressures they were under usually were not. The system itself produced some of the problems they had, and if their lifestyles compensated them for this, I think they were lucky.

The writers of the time talked of three groups of people, one (peasants) feeding everyone, one (nobility) protecting everyone, and one (clergy) praying for everyone. They said this in part to illustrate the fairness of the system.

But to my way of thinking, the question should be whether the feudal system was fair to anyone at all.

Answer 2

It depends if you were the Lord or the serf.

If you were the Lord of the Manor, it was generally good. If you were a serf, not so good.

The peasants were expected to work the land and most of what they produced went to the local head man, Prince, Lord, whatever. Depending on how greedy the lord was, the serfs lived reasonably well, or barely got by.

In return for the goods and services provided by the serfs, the lord was expected to provide security in time of conflict and possibly aid in time of economic hardship.

Answer 3

well it was complicated and successful because everyone had some produce.