Shareware Overload Trio 2/Shareware Overload Trio Volume 2 (Chestnut CD-ROM).ISO/dir33/1798_r.zip/FEUDAL.LAW

Text File | 1993-12-26 | 11KB | 163 lines

        Feudalism was a medieval contractual relationship among the
        European upper classes, by which a lord granted land to his man in
        return for military service.  Feudalism was further characterized
        by the localization of political and economic power in the hands
        of lords and their vassals and by the exercise of that power from
        the base of castles, each of which dominated the district in which
        it was situated.  The term feudalism thus encompasses a division
        of governmental power spreading over various castle-dominated
        districts.  It does not, however, refer to the social and economic
        relationships between the peasants and their lords, which are
        defined as MANORIALISM.

        Analogies to European feudalism have been sought in non-European
        countries, and medieval Japan is commonly described as a feudal
        society. The cited similarities, however, are less striking than
        the dissimilarities.  The Japanese had no contract theory (or
        practice) between ruler and ruled, proceeded by unwritten (rather
        than clear oral or written) custom, and had no schematic hierarchy
        clearly defining the roles of lords and underlords.

        Origins and Early History

        The origins and early history of feudalism defy precise accounting.
        Clearly, feudalism was, in its origin, a blend of Roman custom (for
        example, conditional tenure of land dependent upon the fulfilling
        of named obligations) and Germanic elements (for example, sworn
        fealty, or faithfulness).  Because the military service of KNIGHTS
        was a central element of feudalism, some historians find the
        introduction of heavy cavalry during the 8th century a key factor
        in its development;  others point to the introduction of the
        stirrup, which greatly increased the efficiency of fighting on
        horseback.  Both schools agree that the knight had to be able to
        maintain expensive equipment and a horse.  Moreover, he could
        practice fighting only if he was supported by land and labor and
        was thus free to engage in the martial skills.

        Systematic feudalism is generally thought to have emerged in the
        Frankish territories during the 9th and 10th centuries. Civil wars
        and the last wave of invasions of Europe by the Magyars and the
        Vikings accelerated the devolution of defense to the local level.
        These developments were catalyzed by the abandonment of royal
        rights into the hands of lesser officials, usurpation of these
        rights even against the monarch's will, and willing submission of
        people to men of local power who could defend them. During this
        period of breakdown of centralized royal control, the church came
        to govern its own holdings, and effective secular government
        contracted to the small units ruled by castles, in which lords and
        their men were bound together by service-and-protection contracts.

        In theory, diagrammatic feudalism resembles a pyramid, with the
        lowest vassals at its base and the lines of authority flowing up
        to the peak of the structure, the king.  In practice, however, this
        scheme varied from nation to nation.  In the East Frankish (German)
        kingdom, which became the nucleus of the HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE, the
        pyramid ended at the level below king or emperor, that of the great
        princes.  In other words, the German kings were never able to
        impose themselves at the top of a system that had developed out of
        royal weakness.  They were recognized as feudal suzerains but did
        not exercise sovereignty.  In the West Frankish kingdom (France)
        the kings finally overcame the same handicap, using their positions
        as feudal suzerains to become feudal sovereigns.

        In England, where feudalism was imposed by the Normans (although
        some elements were already present), the kings were at the top of
        the pyramid, ruling by grace of their offices rather than by the
        grace of their feudal positions.

        The extent of feudalism must not be exaggerated, however.  Many
        portions of Europe were never feudalized;  feudalism as described
        here was largely confined to northern France, western Germany,
        England, the Norman kingdom of Sicily, the Crusader states, and
        northern Spain.  Other parts of Europe experienced some feudalism,
        but it was never a dominant form of sociopolitical organization.

        Feudal institutions varied greatly from region to region, and few
        feudal contracts had all the features here described. Common to
        all, however, was the process by which one nobleman (the vassal)
        became the man of another (the lord) by swearing homage and fealty.
        This was originally done simply to establish a mutually protective
        relationship, but by the early 11th century vassalage brought with
        it a fief--land held in return for military service.  With the
        vassal's holding of a fief went rights of governance and of
        jurisdiction over those who dwelt on it.

        Lord and vassal were interlocked in a web of mutual rights and
        obligations, to the advantage of both.  Whereas the lord owed his
        vassal protection, the vassal owed his lord a specified number of
        days annually in offensive military service and in garrisoning his
        castle.  The lord was expected to provide a court for his vassals,
        who, in turn, were to provide the lord with counsel before he
        undertook any initiative of importance to the feudal community as
        a whole--for example, arranging his own or his children's marriages
        or planning a crusade.  In addition, the lord frequently convened
        his vassals "to do him honor."

        Financial benefits accrued largely to the lord.  A vassal owed his
        lord a fee known as relief when he succeeded to his fief, was
        expected to contribute to the lord's ransom were he captured and
        to his crusading expenses, and had to share the financial burden
        when the lord's eldest son was knighted and his eldest daughter
        married.  In addition, a vassal had to seek his lord's permission
        to marry off his daughter (lest the land conveyed as dowry fall
        into the hands of an antagonist) and for himself to take a wife.
        Should the vassal die leaving a widow or minor children, they were
        provided for by the lord, who saw to their education, support, and
        marriage.  Should the vassal die without heirs, his fief escheated,
        or reverted to the lord.

        The decline of feudalism is both more complex and better understood
        that its origins and rise.  Indeed, feudalism had hardly begun
        before its first important sign of decline appeared.  This was the
        inheritance of fiefs, replacing the previous original individual
        feudal contract;  when a lord was no longer able to enter into an
        agreement with his vassal, freely accepted by both parties, then
        the personal nature of the feudal contract was seriously
        undermined.  This transformation occurred before 1100, as did the
        beginning of the commutation of personal military service into
        money payments (called scutage in England), which further
        undermined the personal loyalty central to original feudalism.
        A late medieval outgrowth of this commutation was contract service
        in return for land or money, embodying loyalty to a lord in return
        for help (maintenance) and protection--what was known in England
        as bastard feudalism.  This form of social bond enabled wealthy
        lords to field an army quickly when needed and gave them tangible
        and effective means to assert their own private influence in
        political and social life, to the detriment of orderly central
        government.  Something else that appeared early in the history of
        feudalism was liege homage, by which a man who was the vassal of
        more than one lord chose one as his paramount lord, thus again
        subverting the original feudal idea of personal loyalty between
        lord and vassal.

        The centralization of strong lordships, whether as kings (as in
        England and France) or territorial rulers (as in the Holy Roman
        Empire), obviously undercut the localization of government so
        essential to feudalism.  So too did new forms of warfare during the
        14th and 15th centuries, which made the limited service of the
        feudal army of knights anachronistic.
        Other reasons for feudalism's decline were familial and social.
        Family ties came to be seen as more important than particularistic
        territorial concerns;  the economic and social gulf between greater
        and lesser nobles grew wider;  and respect for historical ties of
        mutual relationships between lord and vassal steadily weakened.
        These circumstances, as well as the increasing division of
        inheritances, all combined to destroy feudalism, slowly and
        inexorably.  The process was largely complete by the end of the
        14th century.

        Significance

        The historical significance of feudalism defies brief statement;
        it was a trunk with deep and wide-spreading roots.
        Feudalism afforded the structure by which most medieval European
        monarchies centralized.  Constitutionally, the English-speaking
        world owes to feudalism the right of opposition to tyranny,
        representative institutions, resistance to taxation levied without
        consultation, and limited monarchy -- since the king was bound by
        custom, by his own law, and by the necessity to practice self-
        restraint lest he be restrained by the community.  Feudalism also
        contributed the contract theory of government--the idea that both
        the government and its citizens have reciprocal rights and
        obligations.