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2024 US ELECTION SERIES [2/10]
Feudalism & Liberalism
Focusing on the evolution of political philosophy and current party policies, we have you covered for November 5th
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Feudalism & Manorialism
Feudalism comes from the word ‘fief’ meaning an estate, or land, property essentially, and was constructed hierarchically from monarch at the top, down through ever broadening tiers of lords, to peasants — peasants being the lowest social class — those who worked the land.
Manorialism is the organisation of this system at the lower tiers, centring on a lord’s manor where peasant and serfs worked the land in exchange for military protection and a place to live. This was the socio-economic and political scaffolding of medieval Europe.
Capillary action
It was, as you might have realised, a pyramid scheme. The peasants worked the land owned by a lord, and gave that lord a huge percentage of what they produced. It had to be a big percentage because the lord had to, in turn, give a percentage of that income to the lord above them called, wait for it, an overlord. And so it went, like this, up the chain of lords until the monarch got a slice too. Like I said, a pyramid scheme.
This was a time, up to around the 13th Century, devoid of public authority. All authority came from above. At the top of the pyramid the monarch had either another monarch above them who ruled over monarchs, or alternatively, God Himself. So the authority ruling over these peasants wasn’t seen as just Dave from round the way, it was the emissaries of the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth! Mix that in with the church’s demands for free work — also in the name of God — and you’ve got yourself a relentless work schedule for a huge majority (around 85% of the population).
The peasants owned very little, if anything, with absolutely no chance of moving up the hierarchy, as they were legally bound to the land. Yet, they were the ones generating all the wealth. The peasants grew the food and they made up the armies…
