Feudalism in Europe — Feudal Pyramid
Feudalism can be traced in history to the 8th century. During this era, Charles Martel gained manpower for the army in exchange of granting land rights to his nobles. This system of barter was stamped with an oath of loyalty pledged in gratitude towards the patron. This bonding between the lord and the vassal embodied the concept of feudalism. The vassal obtained income for sustenance, in virtue of which he offered his integrity to the lord.
The political and social system in Western Europe experienced a tremendous transformation between the fall of Charlemagne and the ascent of the monarchies. This time period symbolized the evolution of feudalism in Europe. The conflicts with the Vikings from the north, the Magyars from the west and Muslims from the south, resulted in shattering the central authority in Europe. Civil liberties were curtailed leading to the prevalence of private hierarchical arrangements. All these modifications paved way for the emergence of feudalism in Europe in the 10th century BC.
Feudalism highlighted land as the chief entity of financial worth. The three fundamental facets of feudalism encompassed the disintegration of political authority, private hold over public authority and attaining security of defense forces via private conventions. The system of feudalism was comparable to the structure of a pyramid. At the pinnacle of this pyramid was the papacy. The next person in power was the king. While the king was only accountable towards the pope, everyone else part of the system owed their loyalty to the king itself. In lieu of the pledged integrity towards the king, land was granted to significant nobles and military personnel. In exchange of the land, the nobles owed their service to the king and the knights called vassals were ready to fight for him. The base of the feudal pyramid was formed by the medieval serfs and peasants. This sect of people labored hard on the lands and survived on the products of cultivation.
The most positive feature of the feudal pyramid was that it did not confine any individual to a certain social stance for a lifetime. Whether it were the nobles, knights, medieval serfs or peasants; all had the liberty to aim for a higher position in the pyramid. However, with the passage of time, the feudal pyramid became rather complicated initiating the descent of feudalism. Factors adding to the decline of the system incorporated the hereditary aspect of the fiefs, associated problems at the bureaucratic level, the disintegration of the bond of integrity between the lords and the vassals, and centralization of royal power.
