What is feudalism?

Question

What is feudalism?

Answer 1

ancient social structure - middle ages.  there is a lord/king and everyone below that are peasants who pay taxes to the lords for using their land as farms.  the clergy were above aristocrats, but that depended on circumstances (ie even then some had vows of poverty, but some liked to get rich)

Answer 2

Feudalism is similar to our current societal structure, where banks control the money, and corporations have small kingdoms, complete with slave-labor.

Answer 3

In an ideal feudal society the ownership of all land was vested in the king. Beneath him was a hierarchy of nobles, the most important nobles holding land directly from the king, and the lesser from them, down to the seigneur who held a single manor. The political economy of the system was local and agricultural, and at its base was the manorial system. Under the manorial system the peasants, laborers, or serfs , held the land they worked from the seigneur, who granted them use of the land and his protection in return for personal services (especially on the demesne, the land he retained for his own use) and for dues (especially payment in kind).

Answer 4

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feudalism

Answer 5

1. A political and economic system of Europe from the 9th to about the 15th century, based on the holding of all land in fief or fee and the resulting relation of lord to vassal and characterized by homage, legal and military service of tenants, and forfeiture.

   2. A political, economic, or social order resembling this medieval system.

   3. the feudal system, or its principles and practices.