Essay On Feudalism

Feudalism was introduced into England when William I defeated Harold and won the Battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D. William I could not easily control all of his land, so he created feudalism so he wouldn't have to spend all of his time governing England. William of Normandy created several large pieces of land that he gave to his warriors that fought bravely. These men became earls, barons, and dukes, also called tenants-in-chief. William then had them swear loyalty to him. They, in turn, did the same, breaking up their land into smaller pieces so their rule could be more convenient. The people that the tenants-in-chief gave land to (also called sub-tenants) argued that since they swore oaths to the tenants-in-chief, who had swore oaths to the king, they really swore oaths to the king. Since they felt this way, there was no way they would think about breaking their oaths. The Normans respected and wanted fame, and part of that fame was keeping …show more content…
Feudalism started to decline because of many different things.The Normans slowly integrated into the English, but the English started to attack France. England moved away from an economy based on land and onto an economy based on money and trade. The Black Plague also took a toll on feudalism, reducing the population to a third of what it was, and increasing the value of labor. The peasants began to see the value of their labor, and wanted more benefits, but the nobles ignored them, which, along with the increase in trade, saw an increase in towns, which meant more people were moving away from the country and feudalism. The nobles became weaker, so the Kings started to take back the land, essentially destroying feudalism in England. The coup d'etat for feudalism in England though, was when King Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church after the Pope did not allow him to divorce his wife who did not give him a