Definition of feudalism in English English dictionary
A social system based on personal ownership of resources and personal fealty between a suzerain (lord) and a vassal (subject). Defining characteristics are direct ownership of resources, personal loyalty, and a hierarchical social structure reinforced by religion
The feudal system; a system by which the holding of estates in land is made dependent upon an obligation to render military service to the kind or feudal superior; feudal principles and usages
the social system that developed in Europe in the 8th C; vassals were protected by lords who they had to serve in war
Féodalisme System of governing whereby semi-autonomous landed nobility had certain well defined responsibilities to the King, in return for the use of grants of land (fiefs) exploited with the labour of a semi-free peasantry (serfs)
The social and political order of allegiance, land tenure and military service which gradually developed over large parts of Central and Western Europe after the collapse of the Roman Empire The land was divided into fiefs or feuds, each with a manor occupied by a vassal or noble (member of the Second Estate) who was beholden for his tenancy to a superior lord, king or emperor to whom he owed tribute and military service Below each vassal were the subtenants, known as serfs or villeins Its main characteristic was that all political and military power was vested in the hands of the owners of the land It slowly disappeared step by step as the modem ages replaced the Middle Ages B 15
A system of economic and social organization founded on a web of military obligations between powerful overlords and their vassals Vassals, who were usually landlords of knightly rank, owed duties of military service in return for grants of land (fiefs) from the overlord The serfs were required to work the central manorial farm and to provide the lord with produce and money payments in return for their own rights to land use The lord was obligated to provide for the peasants social welfare, however minimal that may have been Landowners had an obligation to ensure that everyone on their land had food and shelter This meant that people lived on the land and were supported by the produce of the land
A social and political system existing in Europe during the Middle Ages, based on the relationship between lord and vassal
Feudalism was a system in which people were given land and protection by people of higher rank, and worked and fought for them in return. a system which existed in the Middle Ages, in which people received land and protection from a lord when they worked and fought for him. Term that emerged in the 17th century that has been used to describe economic, legal, political, social, and economic relationships in the European Middle Ages. Derived from the Latin word feudum (fief) but unknown to people of the Middle Ages, the term "feudalism" has been used most broadly to refer to medieval society as a whole, and in this way may be understood as a socio-economic system that is often called manorialism. It has been used most narrowly to describe relations between lords and vassals that involve the exchange of land for military service. Feudalism in this sense is thought to have emerged in a time of political disorder in the 11th century as a means to restore order, and it was later a key element in the establishment of strong monarchies. "Feudalism" also has been applied, often inappropriately, to non-Western societies where institutions similar to those of medieval Europe are thought to have existed. The many ways "feudalism" has been used have drained it of specific meaning, however, and caused some scholars to reject it as a useful concept for understanding medieval society
political, economic, and social system in which land is the source of power; land is controlled by lords who grant its use to vassals and it is worked by serfs or peasants; lords swear loyalty to a monarch
{i} political and social system of medieval Europe in which vassals were protected by lords whom they served in times of war
a political and economic system in which a lord required services from a vassal, and in return granted the vassal certain privileges, such as control over a castle and the surrounding territory
The social organization created during the Middle Ages by exchanging grants of land or fiefs in return for formal oaths of allegiance and promises of loyal service; typical of Zhou dynasty; greater lords provided protection and aid to lesser lords in return for military service (p 380)
economic system based on landholding structures in which labourers are bound to the land (serfs) and are forced to work for landholders (lords) Serfs produce both for the lord's profit as well as for their own subsistence Feudalism is often contrasted with capitalism
A social system based on personal ownership of resources and personal fealty between a suzerain (lord) and a vassal (subject). Some social-evolutionary theories hold that mankind is evolving through several stages which started with communism and will ultimately return there, have passed through classical society, feudalism, and capitalism, although these phases seem more characteristic just of Europe than elsewhere. Defining characteristics are direct ownership of resources, personal loyalty, and a hierarchical social structure reinforced by religion