What was feudalism in France?

Answer 1

France saw large properties broken down into smaller properties with lesser nobility in charge. The nobles worked out various fee structures for use of land, mills, and fees to use woodlands. France's structure was so loose, that it was possible for a vassal to pledge to two or more overlords. This prompted the development of the 'liege lord' concept, which was sort of a pecking order in terms of who would be the primary lord the vassal would commit to.

Answer 2

Feudem is a Latin word meaning to give land in return for services, and feudal has originated from this word. William was crowned king of England when he defeated Harold at the battle of Hastings in 1066. He owned all the land in England. He could not manage it on his own, and he wanted to reward those supporters who had helped him beat Harold in The Battle of Hastings. So he shared the land with his loyal followers.

William lent large estates of land to powerful barons. They gave smaller areas of this land, called manors, to knights. Knights were fighting men with little knowledge of farming. So they shared their manors among peasants, or villeins, who worked on it.

Lending land in this way was called the feudal system. In the system, each person made promises in return for their land.

The feudal system was totally new, however before 1066 their was system to organise people in ranks. But unlike the feudal system the people did not have to make promises for their land, they had to pay money for their land. As in both systems there was ranking of the people and the king was at the top and then to follow was the church.

In the system before 1066 the ranking was in the following order

The king and the Church were at the top , then the earls, then thegns, after them the ceorls, then finally the cottars and the serfs.

After 1066 in the feudal system the land was shared out this way.

The king kept 20% of the land and the Church had been given 25% of land by the king, the rest of the 55% of the land was shared amongst 180 barons , the knights got some land from the barons in return for army services, the villeins got some land for living on and growing crops, in return they had to obey the lord of the manors and give him part of his crops. They even needed permission for their sons and daughters to get married!

The feudal system (or, "feudalism") is a combined political and economic system. At its basis, it is a barter system, with the primary barter being made between those with arms and those with food. That is, those who grew the food exchanged a portion of it for protection provided by those with weapons.

Feudalism derives its name from the "feud", the basic unit of land ownership; a feud consisted of a area of land which was "owned" by a single individual. Generally, feuds were no smaller than several dozen square miles, and most consisted of at most a few hundred square miles

Feudalism's political organization was based around a series of service-for-protection agreements. People residing on the feud provided the owner with food and labor, with the understanding that the feud-owner was required to maintain order and protect all feud-residents from outside attack. Feud-owners, in turn, pledged service to a higher noble (generally, a promise to provide a certain amount of military force when asked or a yearly tribute in goods), who, in exchange, adjudicated all conflicts between his vassals (those pledging service to him) and protected all his (the noble's) vassal's feuds from outside attack. This pyramid of service-for-protection continued for several levels, usually with a king sitting at the apex.

As an economic system, the feud-holder was assumed to own everything on his or her property, which usually included all people working that land. The base economics were a barter system of trade, with the feud-owner taking in tax some significant portion (usually 40-50%) of all resident's yearly production. This pool of goods was used to pay retainers and tradesmen, who also generally engaged in a goods-for-service exchange. Virtually all economic activity consisted of trading either a good or service for another good or service. Thus, a person would trade a term of service (say 10 years) for being taught a trade by a master (this was called an apprenticeship). Money, if it existed at all, was valued only for its metal content.

Usually, about 90% of all feud residents were farmers or herdsmen of some type. They were usually bound to the land (that is, they were considered part of of the land, and could not leave of their own free will), and would be required to stay with the land, if that portion of land was sold/exchanged/conquered by another feud. These people were referred to as serfs; frankly, they had status only slightly better than livestock, with very few rights of any kind, and thus only just a bit better off than slaves. The remaining 10% of the population were called "freemen", as they were free to move around and could both leave the feud, and had some rights of property ownership (primarily, the right to own items, but not actual land). Tradesmen and merchants were freemen, as were most (though not all) retainers of the feud owner.

Answer 3

As a part of that system, they were tax exempt, and that was a contributing factor to the economic problems of France that created the French Revolution.