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THE MAKING OF EUROPE / EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY

From Hutton Webster's, Early European History (1917); edited for this on-line publication, by ELLOPOS

XV. FEUDALISM

Em. Macron, Rediscovering the Path to Europe

» Contents of this Chapter

Rise of Feudalism   * Feudalism as a System of Local Government   * Feudal Justice   * Feudal Warfare   * The Castle and Life of the Nobles   * Knighthood and Chivalry   * Feudalism as a System of Local Industry   * The Village and Life of the Peasants   * Serfdom   * Decline of Feudalism

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FEUDALISM AS A SYSTEM OF LOCAL INDUSTRY

DECLINE OF URBAN LIFE

Under the Roman Empire western Europe had been filled with flourishing cities. The Germanic invasions led to a gradual decay of trade and manufacturing, and hence of the cities in which these activities centered. As urban life declined, the mass of the population came to live more and more in isolated rural communities. This was the great economic feature of the early Middle Ages.

FEUDALISM AND RURAL LIFE

The introduction of feudalism fostered the movement from town to country, for feudalism, as has been shown, rested on the soil as its basis. The lord, his family, his servants, and his retainers were supported by the income from landed property. The country estate of a lord was known as a manor.

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THE MAKING OF EUROPE / EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY: Table of Contents

url: www.ellopos.net/politics/european-history/default.asp

IN PRINT

Cf. The Ancient Greece * The Ancient Rome
Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) * Western Medieval Europe * Renaissance in Italy