Definition of Feudal Lord

In Europe in the Middle Ages the form of organization politics, social and economic is known as feudalism. This system is based on dependency relationships between a lord and his subordinate, the vassal. Both the feudal lord and the vassal are free men who make a mutual commitment.

The feudal lord is the one who owns the land

The feudal lord is the owner of a productive land and cedes production to a farmer and in return receives from him a part of the benefits obtained. Therefore, between the lord and the vassal there is a feudal relationship that involves a series of obligations on both parties.

The lord must cede his lands to the vassal so that he can work them and, at the same time, has the obligation to protect him militarily. In this sense, the feudal lord has his own army and with it he can guarantee the safety from his territory.

On the other hand, the vassal acquires a triple commitment: he must obey his lord, work his lands and pay her taxes.

The great lords normally resided in the cities and far from their lands. Many medieval European cities prospered economically and commercially because of the wealth that lords obtained from the labor of their vassals.

At the end of the Middle Ages the position of the feudal lords weakened for several reasons:

1) different epidemics caused a significant decrease in the population peasant and this phenomenon negatively affected the collection of taxes by the feudal lord,

2) during the fourteenth century there was an increase in economic activity in the cities and many peasants abandoned their activity in rural areas and

3) there was a growing malaise among the peasants, as they demanded to be the true owners of their lands and not simple vassals submitted to a lord.

The tribute ceremony

This type of ties between the feudal lord and the vassal are known as vassalage relations and are made official through a solemn act, the tribute ceremony. In this act, the vassal knelt before his lord to swear obedience and fidelity. Keep in mind, on the other hand, that the feudal lord also had to swear obedience to the monarch.

The origin of feudalism

The Emperor Charlemagne and the subsequent Carolingian Empire that took place between the Vl and X centuries started the feudal tradition. In this way, the monarchs distributed their lands or fiefdoms to some nobles, the feudal lords. These territories received various names (if they belonged to a count, they were counties and if they belonged to a marquis, it was a brand).

The monarchs divided their territory into fiefdoms in order to better protect their domains against possible enemy invasions. It must be borne in mind that in the first centuries of the Middle Ages Christian Europe was threatened by the Arabs to the south and by the Slavic peoples or the Ottoman Empire to the east.

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