Feudalism was an integral part of the European Middle Ages. In this socio-political system, large landowners enjoyed enormous powers and influence. The support of their power was a enslaved and powerless peasantry.
The origin of feudalism
In Europe, the feudal system arose after the fall of the Western Roman Empire at the end of the 5th century AD. e. Together with the disappearance of the former ancient civilization, the era of classical slavery was left behind. On the territory of the young barbarian kingdoms that arose on the site of the empire, new social relations began to take shape.
The feudal system appeared due to the formation of large land ownership. Influential and wealthy aristocrats close to royal authority received plots that only multiplied with each generation. At the same time, the bulk of the West European population (peasants) lived in the community. By the 7th century, a significant stratification of property occurred within them. Communal land passed into private hands. Those peasants who did not have enough allotments became poor, dependent on their employer.
The enslavement of the peasantry
The independent peasant farms of the early Middle Ages were called allods. At the same time, conditions of unequal competition developed, when large landowners oppressed their opponents in the market. As a result, the peasants went bankrupt and voluntarily passed under the protection of aristocrats. So gradually a feudal system arose.
Interestingly, this term appeared not in the Middle Ages, but much later. At the end of the 18th century, revolutionary France called feudalism the “old order” - the period of the existence of absolute monarchy and nobility. Later, the term became popular with scientists. For example, it was used by Karl Marx. In his book Capital, he called the feudal system the forerunner of modern capitalism and market relations.
Beneficiaries
The state of the Franks was the first in which signs of feudalism appeared. In this monarchy, the formation of new social relations has accelerated due to beneficiaries. So called land salaries from the state to service people - officials or the military. At first, it was assumed that these allotments would belong to a person for life, and after his death, the government would be able to again dispose of the property at its discretion (for example, transfer it to the next applicant).
However, in the IX – X centuries. free land fund is over. Because of this, the property gradually ceased to be sole and became hereditary. That is, the owner could now pass flax (land allotment) to his children. These changes, firstly, strengthened the dependence of the peasantry on their overlords. Secondly, the reform strengthened the importance of medium and small feudal lords. They for a long time became the basis of the West European army.
Peasants who lost their allod took land from the feudal lord in exchange for the obligation to carry out regular work in its plots. Such temporary use in jurisdiction has been called the precocious. Large owners were not interested in driving the peasants from the land completely. The established order gave them a noticeable income and became the basis for the well-being of the aristocracy and the nobility for several centuries.
Strengthening the power of the feudal lords
In Europe, the features of the feudal system also consisted in the fact that large landowners eventually gained not only large lands, but also real power. The state transferred to them various functions, including judicial, police, administrative and tax. Such royal letters became a sign that the land magnates received immunity from any interference with their powers.
Peasants against their background were helpless and powerless. Landowners could abuse their power without fear of government intervention. So the feudal-feudal system actually appeared, when peasants were forced into labor duties without regard to the law and previous agreements.
Corvee and quitrent
Over time, the responsibilities of dependent poor people changed. There were three types of feudal rent - corvee, natural rent and cash rent. Gratuitous and forced labor was especially common in the early Middle Ages. In the XI century, the process of economic growth of cities and the development of trade began. This led to the spread of monetary relations. Prior to this, the same natural products could be in place of the currency. This economic order was called barter. When the money spread throughout Western Europe, the feudal lords switched to cash dues.
But even so, the large estates of the aristocrats participated in trade rather sluggishly. Most of the products and other goods produced on their territory were consumed domestically. It is important to note that aristocrats used not only the labor of the peasantry, but also the work of artisans. Gradually, the share of the land of the feudal lord in his own farm decreased. The barons preferred to give land to dependent peasants and live off their rent and corvee.
Regional features
In most countries of Western Europe, feudalism was finally formed by the XI century. Somewhere this process ended earlier (in France and Italy), somewhere - later (in England and Germany). In all these countries, feudalism was almost the same. The relations of large landowners and peasants in Scandinavia and Byzantium were somewhat different.
The social hierarchy in medieval Asian countries also had its own characteristics. For example, the feudal system in India was characterized by the great influence of the state on large landowners and peasants. In addition, there was no classical European serfdom. The feudal system in Japan was distinguished by actual dual power. Under the shogunate, the shogun had even more influence than the emperor. This state system was based on a layer of professional warriors who received small land plots - samurai.
Production expansion
All historical socio-political systems (slave system, feudal system, etc.) changed gradually. So, at the end of the 11th century, slow production growth began in Europe. He was associated with the improvement of working tools. At the same time, the specializations of workers are divided. It was then that the artisans finally separated from the peasants. This social class began to settle in cities that grew along with the buildup of European production.
The increase in the number of goods led to the spread of trade. A market economy began to take shape. An influential merchant estate appeared. Merchants began to unite in guilds in order to protect their interests. In the same way, artisans formed urban workshops. Until the fourteenth century, these enterprises were advanced in Western Europe. They allowed artisans to remain independent of the feudal lords. However, with the beginning of accelerated scientific progress at the end of the Middle Ages, the workshops became a relic of the past.
Peasant Uprising
Of course, the feudal social system could not but change under the influence of all these factors. The boom of cities, the growth of monetary and commodity relations - all this happened against the backdrop of the intensification of the people's struggle against the oppression of large landowners.
Peasant uprisings became a mundane event. All of them were brutally suppressed by the feudal lords and the state. The instigators were executed, and ordinary participants were punished with additional duties or torture. Nevertheless, gradually, thanks to the uprisings, the personal dependence of the peasants began to decrease, and the cities turned into a bastion of a free population.
The struggle of feudal lords and monarchs
The slaveholding, feudal, capitalist system - all of them, one way or another, influenced state power and its place in society. In the Middle Ages, the large landowners (barons, counts, dukes) who had strengthened practically ignored their monarchs. Feudal wars took place regularly, in which aristocrats sorted out relations among themselves. At the same time, the royal power did not intervene in these conflicts, and if it did, it could not stop the bloodshed because of its weakness.
The feudal system (the heyday of which occurred in the XII century) led to the fact that, for example, in France, the monarch was considered only "the first among equals." The state of things began to change along with the buildup of production, popular uprisings, etc. Gradually, in the Western European countries, national states formed with firm royal power, which acquired more and more signs of absolutism. Centralization has become one of the reasons why the feudal system has remained in the past.
The development of capitalism
The grave digger of feudalism became capitalism. Rapid scientific progress began in Europe in the sixteenth century. He led to the modernization of work equipment and the entire industry. Thanks to the great geographical discoveries in the Old World, they learned about new lands lying over the ocean. The emergence of a new fleet led to the development of trade relations. Unprecedented goods have appeared on the market.
At this time, the Netherlands and England became the leaders in industrial production. In these countries, manufactories appeared - enterprises of a new type. They employed hired labor, which was also divided. That is, trained specialists worked in manufactories - primarily artisans. These people were independent of the feudal lords. So new types of production appeared - cloth, cast iron, printing, etc.
Decay of feudalism
Together with manufactories, the bourgeoisie was born. This social class consisted of owners who owned the means of production and big capital. At first, this population was small. Its share in the economy was tiny. At the end of the Middle Ages, the bulk of the goods produced appeared in peasant farms dependent on feudal lords.
However, the bourgeoisie gradually gained momentum and became richer and more influential. This process could not but lead to a conflict with the old elite. So in the XVII century in Europe began the social bourgeois revolution. The new class wanted to consolidate their influence in society. This was done with the help of representation in the highest state bodies (General States, Parliament), etc.
The first was the Netherlands Revolution, which ended with the Thirty Years War. This uprising was also of a national character. The inhabitants of the Netherlands got rid of the power of the powerful dynasty of the Spanish Habsburgs. The next revolution took place in England. It is also called the Civil War. The result of all these and subsequent similar upheavals was the rejection of feudalism, the emancipation of the peasantry and the triumph of a free market economy.