In the middle ages, the way that land was ruled and controlled is very different from the way our land is organised in the present day. They had something called the Feudal system, which is basically a series of grants of land in return for a service and supplies.
The Feudal System started with the King, who owned a lot of land. Naturally, he couldn’t control and farm it all, so he granted some of it to the highest ranking of his nobles and church members- barons, bishops etc. In return, these people had to provide the King with an army for a maximum of 40 days a year and swear their loyalty to the king. They also had a lot of land, so when they built their army, they granted the land to the Knights. In return, the Knights fought for them and swore loyalty to them- not the king, but the noblemen. Also, the …show more content…
However, I do believe that, in some ways the Feudal System was fair. For example, even though the peasants had to work hard- especially villeins, who have to work at least three days a week on the demesne, as well as paying money instead of completing services, they do get their own land to farm and they get a house and protection. For freemen, they only have to do a bit of work, but they have to work on their own farms whilst the farming the demesne to achieve that status. But, in reality, I believe that the peasants had to do a lot of work, and in an everyday situation, didn’t get much compensation. On top of work and complementary payments instead of other services, the villeins also had to get permission to have their daughters marry and had to pay money for the ‘privilege’. They would also have to pay money if the land was passed from the parents to their children. Sometimes, instead of money it would be supplies from their own lands. But then again, perhaps, for them, this wasn’t much of a price to pay for protection and
The Feudal System started with the King, who owned a lot of land. Naturally, he couldn’t control and farm it all, so he granted some of it to the highest ranking of his nobles and church members- barons, bishops etc. In return, these people had to provide the King with an army for a maximum of 40 days a year and swear their loyalty to the king. They also had a lot of land, so when they built their army, they granted the land to the Knights. In return, the Knights fought for them and swore loyalty to them- not the king, but the noblemen. Also, the …show more content…
However, I do believe that, in some ways the Feudal System was fair. For example, even though the peasants had to work hard- especially villeins, who have to work at least three days a week on the demesne, as well as paying money instead of completing services, they do get their own land to farm and they get a house and protection. For freemen, they only have to do a bit of work, but they have to work on their own farms whilst the farming the demesne to achieve that status. But, in reality, I believe that the peasants had to do a lot of work, and in an everyday situation, didn’t get much compensation. On top of work and complementary payments instead of other services, the villeins also had to get permission to have their daughters marry and had to pay money for the ‘privilege’. They would also have to pay money if the land was passed from the parents to their children. Sometimes, instead of money it would be supplies from their own lands. But then again, perhaps, for them, this wasn’t much of a price to pay for protection and