Feudal System

The Feudal System

King - top of the system and gave land to the tenants in chief so they would supply him with an army

Tenants in Chief (barons)- gave their land to the knights and in return, they fought in the army

Knights- made the peasants work on their land

Peasants - worked on the knights land in return for safety.

Landholding and Homage

A person could rent land from another person. If this was the case, the man renting would be a vassal and the other would be is overlord. The vassal would pay homage to his overlord which is a sign of loyalty. This would be initiated in church. If the vassal was disobedient, the overlord could take his lands (forfeiture)

Peasants

Villeins - had to work on their lords land and could not move easily

Freemen - did not have to work on the land but had to pay rent. they could move easily

Cottars- held a small cottage with a strip of land. They had to work on this land a couple days a week

The Church

The Archbishop of Canterbury was responsible for the clergy and was supported by the Archbishop of York

Bishops and Archbishops held land as vassals and the church held 20% of land which could not be taken away

Churchmen who could read or write became clerics and some were important in the kings government. The kings Chancellor who made documents, was a cleric. This meant that the church would have a say in how England was ruled.

There could be problems as the clergy ultimately responded to the Church and if the king was excommunicated or there was an interdict, Christians would be forbidden to stand by the king