Feudalism

Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism

• Transformation from agrarian → feudal → capitalist societies (5th–15th centuries)

• Periods: Early, High, and Late Middle Ages; Early Modern Era (1492 onward)

Feudalism Overview

• Developed from agrarian slave societies but not based on slavery

• System of duties and obligations; monarch owned all land

• Peasants worked for protection and access to food

Feudal Social Structure

• Monarch: owned all land; absolute God-given authority

• Nobility: held titles, managed land, luxury life, dependent on monarch

• Serfs: no rights, paid rent in goods or money, bound to land, extra-economic coercion

The Catholic Church

• Controlled ideology and literacy; taught status as God-given (predestination)

• Pope had power over monarchs; Church extremely wealthy via taxes

• Hierarchical structure mirrored feudal order

Craftsmen & Artisans

Slightly above serfs; inherited occupations; organized in guilds (early unions)

Religious Minorities

• Jews and Muslims excluded from nobility and guilds; limited to trading, lending, taxes

• Used as scapegoats (e.g., blamed for Black Plague)

Merchants & Traders

• Faced danger and taxation; profits from buying cheap abroad and selling high

• Church allowed Christian trading around 1400s → rise of Christian merchants

Money Lenders & Tax Collectors

• Jewish lenders filled banned Christian roles; high interest rates; persecuted heavily

Growth of the Marketplace

• Shift from barter → money system; rise of commodities and trade routes

• Marco Polo introduced silk, spices, tea, rice; nobility consumed luxury goods

Colonization & Rise of Capitalism

• Driven by capital accumulation, labour supply, and technology

• 1492: Columbus’ voyage → colonization and exploitation of non-Europeans

• Treaty of Tordesillas split South America between Spain and Portugal

• Indigenous and African slavery → cheap labour for European wealth

Emergence of the Working Class

• Rising rents displaced serfs → proletariat (working class) vs bourgeoisie (owners)

• Early capitalism based on exploitation and reinvestment of profits

Technological Advancements

Steam engine, spinning jenny, power loom → factory production

Rise of the Nation-State

• Capitalists gained economic but not political power → demanded reforms

• England: Henry VIII broke from Church; rise of House of Commons

• France: French Revolution → end of monarchy → citizenship and rights

• Marx: Class struggle drives social change

Development of Capitalism in Canada

• No feudal stage; direct shift from foraging → imposed capitalism • Hudson’s Bay Company (1650): monopoly on fur, fish, lumber, minerals

• Canada = mercantilist economy until 1800s; relied on Britain for goods

• Indigenous peoples key to fur trade, later marginalized

Summary

• Transformation: Feudalism → Capitalism (1000–1500 CE)

• Driven by colonization, markets, technology, class conflict

• Resulted in global inequality and European dominance