Feudal system: Difference between revisions

From Citizendium
Jump to navigation Jump to search
imported>Martin Wyatt
(stub)
 
imported>John Stephenson
({{subpages}})
 
(3 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
The '''feudal system''' was a European hierarchical social system based on service to a social superior.  For the lower classes, the service was usually manual labour.  Those above them in the system usually owed military service.  Position within the hierarchy was normally determined by birth.  Although the system had some flexibilities, notably through the institutions [[Christianity|Church]] and the free towns ([[boroughs]], burghs), its rigidity brought inefficiencies.  The [[Black Death]] is often credited with hastening its end.
{{subpages}}
The '''feudal system''' was a [[Europe|European]] hierarchical social system based on service to a social superior.  For the lower classes, the service was usually manual labour.  Those above them in the system usually owed military service.  Position within the hierarchy was normally determined by birth.  Although the system had some flexibilities, notably through the institutions of the [[Christianity|Church]] and the free towns ([[boroughs]], burghs), its rigidity brought inefficiencies.  The [[Black Death]] is often credited with hastening its end.
 
The English legal system, in accordance with its common practice, has never formally abolished the feudal system, preferring to abolish just its practical consequences. Thus the Queen legally still "owns" all the land in England, with the ''de facto'' owners being officially her feudal tenants, directly or indirectly. This "ownership" gives her almost no legal rights over the land: she owns gold and silver deposits, swans, whales and sturgeon.

Latest revision as of 16:45, 28 October 2014

This article is a stub and thus not approved.
Main Article
Discussion
Related Articles  [?]
Bibliography  [?]
External Links  [?]
Citable Version  [?]
 
This editable Main Article is under development and subject to a disclaimer.

The feudal system was a European hierarchical social system based on service to a social superior. For the lower classes, the service was usually manual labour. Those above them in the system usually owed military service. Position within the hierarchy was normally determined by birth. Although the system had some flexibilities, notably through the institutions of the Church and the free towns (boroughs, burghs), its rigidity brought inefficiencies. The Black Death is often credited with hastening its end.

The English legal system, in accordance with its common practice, has never formally abolished the feudal system, preferring to abolish just its practical consequences. Thus the Queen legally still "owns" all the land in England, with the de facto owners being officially her feudal tenants, directly or indirectly. This "ownership" gives her almost no legal rights over the land: she owns gold and silver deposits, swans, whales and sturgeon.