Feudal system: origin and features. Chapter i

Chapter 8. Genealogy and systems of social etiquette

CHAPTER 34. Description of the structure of the most holy tomb This cave, as the head of everything, was decorated by the Christ-loving generosity of the basileus with excellent columns and numerous

Chapter IV. SECOND FEUDAL PERIOD: INTELLECTUAL REVIVAL 1. Some features of the new culture Appearance in France in the 11th century. great epic poems can be seen as one of the symptoms of the powerful cultural flowering of the subsequent period. They often say:

3. Family ties and the feudal system One should not think that after the era of the tribal system there was a gradual liberation of the individual. It seems that, at least on the continent, the alienation of property during the times of the barbarian kingdoms depended much less on good will

Book three. FEUDAL STORY AS A TYPE OF SOCIAL

I. The essence of the feudal system

78. The essence of Western feudalism

84. Feudal society

The feudal ladder of lords and vassals rested below on the rest of the population. Feudalism sharply divided the country's population into class gentlemen And commoner class. The first was the nobility or noble class, the class of well-born people (gentiles homines, whence the French gentilhomme), from which the later came nobility. It was first of all military class, which should have protect the rest of the population. The higher clergy also belonged to the class of masters, who also owned fiefs and fielded warriors from their lands (the real calling of the clergy was considered prayer). The rest of the masses, i.e. farmers, artisans and traders, were dependent on the feudal lords and owed their labor feed the lords and clergy. Thus, feudal society was divided into three classes, of which one prayed, another fought, and the third worked.

The mutual relations between overlords and vassals were determined many customs and rituals. The establishment of a vassal relationship was accompanied by the following ritual: the vassal knelt before the overlord and put his hands in his hands; this was tantamount to declaring oneself a “man” (homo) of the lord, hence the name of the oath Hommagium(or homage). The lord kissed his vassal and gave him some gift that symbolized the feud (ring, glove, etc.). After this, the vassal sealed his loyalty with an oath of allegiance (foi). Feudal law developed a whole code of mutual duties of lord and vassal. For example, a vassal had to help the lord in war for at least forty days a year, ransom him from captivity, appear at the curia to give advice at least three times a year, etc.

85. Military life of the feudal era

Western feudal lords were generally class of privileged warriors. One of the reasons for the development of their power over the population of certain areas was that they protected it from various kinds attacks and invasions. For this reason, the population itself helped them build fortified castles, where one could hide if necessary. However, these same castles allowed the lords, in addition, to defend their independence from the state and strengthen their power over the surrounding residents. Having become sovereigns, feudal lords became wage war among themselves, attack each other and plunder the possessions of their enemies. In reasons for private wars (fedam) there was no shortage; even feudal relations themselves often caused them when, for example, one side violated a vassal agreement. Feudal strife was a real scourge for the civilian population. However, the church came to his aid, which after unsuccessful attempts establishing common world limited itself to establishing truce of God(treuga Dei), which consisted in the prohibition of attacking opponents and generally fighting on the days of the week dedicated to the memory of the suffering, death and resurrection of the Savior.

Carcassonne Castle, France

The feudal militia consisted mainly of cavalry, and the very name rider, or knight(German Ritter, i.e. Reiter) began to mean lower ranks of the feudal nobility. But the knighthood also acquired another meaning. Knights were made over time honorary military class, entry into which was accomplished through a special rite dedication and belonging to which imposed an obligation obey known moral requirements. Sons of Knights (damoiso, i.e. gentlemen, barchuks) were brought up at the courts of their future lords as privileged servants (pages) And squires, until they received knighthood in compliance with rather complex rituals that were of a religious nature. The initiate gave at the same time knightly vows - defend the church, widows and orphans, in general all innocent oppressed, always speak the truth, keep your word, avoid unclean ways of getting rich, etc. Life has even developed a whole series of special customs knightly honor And politeness in relation even to opponents. Especially developed in chivalry polite address with ladies, i.e. mistresses (dame - from the Latin domina), which even turned into a special cult of the lady. Further, each knight had the right to coat of arms, as its emblem and distinctive sign. However, knights who fully corresponded to their ideal were more common in the then poetry, than in reality. The knights spent their time in wars, hunting and in exemplary battles, called tournaments Their mental culture was very weak, and their attitude towards their subjects was far from fulfilling their vow to protect the weak and oppressed.

Knight Tournament. Miniature from the 14th century

86. Rural population of the feudal lordship

Establishment of seigneurial power equalized the position of all the class and rural population of the seigneury. The peasantry of the feudal era was formed in the West from the descendants of both slaves and colones even from Roman times, and from landless or land-poor free barbarian era. From the very beginning, slaves and colonists did not enjoy civil freedom, but free people they themselves became enslaved by comment. The lord, who was both a sovereign and a landowner, and the master of unfree people, equalized everyone under his authority. The rural population of individual seigneuries became serfs. Villans, as they were now called, were in a better position than slaves, but still their situation was difficult. The lords farmed only a small part of their lands, while most of them consisted of small peasant farms. Villans paid from their plots quitrents and left corvée, that is, they worked on the land of the lord, and although the amount of rent or work was mostly determined custom, nevertheless, the lords often demanded one or the other at their own discretion. On the other hand, peasants living in the same village formed themselves rural communities, who jointly owned various lands and even managed their own internal affairs.

87. Feudal land tenure and peasant duties

A feature of Western feudal land tenure was that every“kept” the land from someone higher. Vacant property disappeared and was replaced conditional property. The former free owners converted their lands (the so-called allods) in benefice, placing oneself under guardianship strong people, and large landowners also distributed benefits to small people. For his fief, everyone had to perform a certain service. The peasants also held the land under the same conditions, but only they did not serve, but paid or worked. They paid their dues for the most part not in money, but in kind(bread, livestock, etc.). Corvée consisted not only of field work for the lord, but also of work on building or repairing castles, etc. While the holder of the land fulfilled his duties, the land remained with him and passed on by inheritance from father to son. Thus, if the peasant was attached to the land, then the land was attached to it. The rights of the lord in relation to the peasant were not limited to their connection over the land. The lord was also the sovereign of his domain, and in relation to some classes of the rural population his power even had the character of the power of a slave owner. As a sovereign, the lord could set whatever taxes he wanted and subjugate the peasants by any orders, in kind, for example, the obligation to grind grain at the seigneurial mill and bake bread in the seigneurial oven (platitudes) or at night, disturb the frogs with their croaking and disturb the sleep of the inhabitants of the castle. As a sovereign, the lord enjoyed various duties, fines, etc. Those in the worst position were those peasants who were, as it were, in a slave position (servas). The lord was for them not only a landowner-sovereign, but also a master. Such peasants in France were called menmortables(dead hands), since their “hand was dead”, in order to pass on the inheritance to their children. They could not enter into marriages without the consent of their masters, and when the servant of one lord married the serf of another, the children from such a marriage were divided equally between both masters.

88. Feudal power in cities

Western cities also became part of the general feudal system. In general, urban life fell into decline back in the era of the barbarian kingdoms, and rural life took precedence over urban life. Feudal lords lived in castles among their estates with their squads and servants. Constant unrest and wars caused terrible blow to trade. Industry also fell Moreover, the feudal owners, among their servants, also had artisans who worked for themselves and for all their household. As a result, the population of cities decreased. With the fragmentation of the country into feudal estates, the cities found themselves under the rule of individual graphs, in many cities power was established bishops. The situation of the townspeople therefore worsened, since often counts and bishops sought to reduce the urban population to the level of villans.

Feudal system

A habit, ingrained even among historians, tends to confuse in the most annoying way two expressions: “feudal system” and “seigneurial system.” This is an entirely arbitrary assimilation of a complex of relationships characteristic of the rule of the military aristocracy, with a type of dependence of the peasants, which is completely different in nature and, in addition, developed much earlier, lasted longer and was much more widespread throughout the world.

The word "feudalism" (originally the term judicial practice) used by English lawyers 17th century as a designation of type of property; as a socio-political term it is used by Boulainvilliers and after him Montesquieu. The idea of ​​feudalism as a stage in the socio-economic history of mankind, corresponding in Europe Middle Ages, develops in French historiography of the beginning 19th century, first of all, Guizot.

In relation to Rus', the concept of feudalism was first applied N. A. Polevoy in his “History of the Russian People” (vol. 1-6, -)

Feudalism in Western Europe, according to a number of concepts, began to be established in 5th century AD in late Roman Empire. Distinctive features feudalism in Western Europe were high degree political decentralization, dualism of secular and spiritual authorities, the specificity of the European city as a center of crafts and trade, early development horizontal public structures, public private law. Then, in middle Ages, he began to dominate Europe until the bourgeois revolutions. The feudal system was replaced by capitalist.

Exist different opinions about whether there were feudal relations (in the classical sense) in other parts of the world. A. Ya. Gurevich considered feudalism primarily, if not exclusively, a Western European phenomenon that developed as a result of specific historical conditions. The main aspects of criticism of the concept of feudalism as a universal stage of development of society are that in most societies of the non-European area there were no such systemically important elements as large private land ownership, serfdom, and the immunities of the service class.

In the ancient world, the system most similar to feudalism was Persian Empire, in which a heavily armed horseman was given an allotment similar to a feudal one flax.

Modern feudalism

Until April 2008 in crown possession Sark The form of government was feudalism. It was the "last stronghold of feudalism" in Europe.

Notes

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See what “feudal system” is in other dictionaries:

Feudal system- ■ Not have an exact idea about him, but throw thunder and lightning against him... Lexicon of common truths

See Feudalism...

The feudal system of China in the 19th century.- The basis of the feudal economy of China in the 19th century. still amounted to Agriculture, which employed over 90% of the country's population. The peasants produced not only agricultural products, but also most of the handicrafts they needed... ... The World History. Encyclopedia

In the 1st half of the 1st millennium AD. e. among the peoples of the Northern Black Sea region, the Caucasus and Central Asia slave system was in a state of decline. It was replaced by a new socio-economic formation, Feudalism. Feudal relations... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

FEUDAL, feudal, feudal (historical, sociological). adj. to feudalism. Feudal system. Feudal monarchy. Feudal ruler. Feudal customs. Dictionary Ushakova. D.N. Ushakov. 1935 1940 … Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

build- BUILD, building, about the system, in the system, m System of social, governmental structure; Syn: statehood, system, regime, government, formation. Feudal system. Capitalist system... Explanatory dictionary of Russian nouns

build- building/I, about building/e, in building/e and in the ranks/; pl. build/and, ev and build/, ev; m. see also. drill 1) about building, in formation/; formations / Row of soldiers, line; military unit, built in rows. Get in line... Dictionary of many expressions

Building, sentence about the system, in the system and in the system, pl. build, ev and build, ev, m. 1. (about the build, in the build; build). A row of soldiers, a line, as well as a military unit built in rows. Get in line. □ The commandant paced in front of his small formation.… … Small academic dictionary

Noun, m., used. often Morphology: (no) what? building, what? I’m building, (I see) what? build with what? building, about what? about formation and in formation; pl. What? build, (no) what? formations, why? building, (see) what? build with what? formations, about what? about the formations, the order of construction... ... Dmitriev's Explanatory Dictionary

In formation, about formation, in formation and in formation; pl. build, ev and build, ev; m. 1. about formation, in formation; build. Row of soldiers, line; a military unit built in rows. Stand in the village Walk in front of the line. Break down. Walk, move in formation, in formation. 2.… … encyclopedic Dictionary

The feudal system existed, with one or another characteristic, in almost all countries.

The era of feudalism covers a long period. In China, the feudal system existed for over two thousand years. In the countries of Western Europe, feudalism covers a number of centuries - from the fall of the Roman Empire (V century) to the bourgeois revolutions in England (XVII century) and France (XVHI century), in Russia - from the 9th century to the peasant reform of 1861, in Transcaucasia - from the 4th century to the 70s of the 19th century, among the peoples of Central Asia - from the 7th-8th centuries until the victory of the proletarian revolution in Russia.

In Western Europe, feudalism arose on the basis of the collapse of the Roman slave society, on the one hand, and the decomposition of the clan system among the conquering tribes, on the other; it was formed as a result of the interaction of these two processes.

Elements of feudalism, as already mentioned, originated in the depths of slave-owning society in the form of a colony. The colons were obliged to cultivate the land of their master - a large landowner, pay him a certain amount of money or give him a significant share of the harvest, and perform various kinds of duties. Nevertheless, the colons were more interested in labor than the slaves, since they had their own farm.

Thus, new ones were born relations of production, which received full development in the feudal era.

The Roman Empire was defeated by tribes of Germans, Gauls, Slavs and other peoples living in various parts of Europe. The power of the slave owners was overthrown, slavery abolished. Large latifundia and craft workshops based on slave labor were fragmented into small ones. The population of the collapsed Roman Empire consisted of large landowners (former slave owners who switched to the colonata system), freed slaves, coloni, small peasants and artisans.

At the time of the conquest of Rome, the conquering tribes had a communal system that was in the stage of decay. Big role in public life These tribes were played by a rural community, which the Germans called a mark. The land, with the exception of large land holdings of the clan nobility, was communally owned. Forests, wastelands, pastures, ponds were used together. Fields and meadows were distributed among community members after a few years. But gradually, household land, and then arable land, began to pass into the hereditary use of individual families. Distribution of land, trial of cases concerning the community, settlement disputes between its members were dealt with by the community assembly, the elders and judges chosen by it.At the head of the conquering tribes were military leaders who, together with their squads, owned large lands.

The tribes that conquered the Roman Empire took possession of most of its public lands and some of the lands of large private landowners. Forests, meadows and pastures remained in common use, and arable land was divided between individual farms. The divided lands later became the private property of peasants. Thus a vast layer of independent small peasantry was formed.

But the peasants could not maintain their independence for long. Based on private ownership of land and other means of production, property inequality between individual members of the rural community inevitably increased. Prosperous and poor families appeared among the peasants. As wealth inequality grew, community members who became rich began to acquire power over the community. The land was concentrated in the hands of wealthy families and became the subject of seizure by the family nobility and military leaders. The peasants became personally dependent on large landowners.

In order to maintain and strengthen power over dependent peasants, large landowners had to strengthen their organs state power. Military leaders, relying on the clan nobility and warriors, began to concentrate power in their hands and turned into kings - monarchs.

From the ruins of the Roman Empire, a number of new states were formed, headed by kings. The kings generously distributed the land they seized as lifelong and then hereditary possession to their associates, who had to perform military service for it. The church received a lot of land, which served as an important support for royal power. The land was cultivated by peasants, who now had to perform a number of duties in favor of the new masters. Huge land holdings passed into the hands of the royal warriors and servants, church authorities and monasteries.

Land distributed on such terms was called fiefs. Hence the name of the new social system - feudalism.

The gradual transformation of peasant land into the property of feudal lords and the enslavement of the peasant masses (the process of feudalization) occurred in Europe over a number of centuries (from the 5th-6th to the 9th-10th centuries). The free peasantry was ruined by continuous military service, robberies and extortions. Turning to the large landowner for help, the peasants turned into people dependent on him. Often peasants were forced to surrender under the “patronage” of the feudal lord: otherwise it would be impossible for a defenseless person to exist in conditions of continuous wars and predatory raids.

In such cases, ownership of the land passed to the feudal lord, and the peasant could cultivate this plot only if he fulfilled various duties in favor of the feudal lord. In other cases, royal governors and officials, through deception and violence, took over the lands of free peasants, forcing them to recognize their power.

IN various countries The process of feudalization proceeded in different ways, but the essence of the matter was the same everywhere: previously free peasants fell into personal dependence on the feudal lords who seized their land. This dependence was sometimes weaker, sometimes stronger. Over time, the differences in the position of former slaves, colons and free peasants were erased, and they all turned into a single mass of serf peasantry. Gradually, a situation arose that was characterized by the medieval saying: “There is no land without a seigneur” (that is, without a feudal lord). The kings were the supreme landowners.

Feudalism was a necessary step in historical development society. Slavery has outlived its usefulness. Under these conditions, further development productive forces was possible only on the basis of the labor of a mass of dependent peasants who owned their own farm, their own instruments of production and had some interest in the labor necessary to cultivate the land and pay tribute in kind to the feudal lord from their harvest.

In Russia, in the conditions of the disintegration of the communal system, patriarchal slavery arose. But the development of society here went mainly not along the path of slavery, but along the path of feudalization. Slavic tribes even under the dominance of the tribal system, starting from the 3rd century new era, attacked the Roman slave-owning empire, fought for the liberation of the cities of the Northern Black Sea region that were under its rule, and played a large role in the collapse of the slave-owning system. The transition from the primitive communal system to feudalism in Russia took place at a time when the slave system had long since fallen and feudal relations in European countries strengthened.

As human history shows, it is not necessary for every nation to go through all the stages social development. “For many peoples, conditions arise under which they have the opportunity to bypass certain stages of development and move directly to a higher level.

Rural community Eastern Slavs was called “rope”, “peace”. The community had meadows, forests, and ponds for common use, and arable land began to come into the possession of individual families. The community was headed by an elder. The development of private land ownership led to the gradual disintegration of the community. The land was taken over by elders and tribal princes. Peasants - smerds - were at first free members of the community, and then became dependent on large landowners - boyars.

The largest feudal owner was the church. Grants from princes, deposits and spiritual testaments made her the owner of vast lands and the richest farms for those times.

During the formation of the centralized Russian state (XV-XVI centuries), the great princes and tsars began, as they said then, to “place” their associates and service people on the land, that is, to give them land and peasants under the condition of performing military service. Hence the names - estate, landowners.

At that time, the peasants were not yet completely attached to the landowner and the land: they had the right to move from one landowner to another. At the end of the 16th century, landowners, in order to increase the production of grain for sale, intensified the exploitation of peasants. In this regard, in 1581 the state took away the right of the peasants to move from one landowner to another. The peasants were completely attached to the land that belonged to the landowners, and thereby turned into serfs.

In the era of feudalism, agriculture played a predominant role, and among its branches - agriculture. Gradually, over the course of a number of centuries, methods of arable farming were improved, and vegetable gardening, horticulture, winemaking, and butter-making developed.

IN early period Feudalism was dominated by fallow farming, and in forest areas - by slash-and-burn farming. A plot of land was sown with one crop for several years in a row until the soil was depleted. Then they moved to another area. Subsequently, there was a transition to a three-field system, in which the arable land is divided into three fields, and one is alternately used for winter crops, the other for spring crops, and the third is left fallow. The three-field system began to spread in Western Europe and Russia from the 11th-12th centuries. It remained dominant for many centuries, surviving until the 19th century, and in many countries to the present day.

Agricultural implements in the early period of feudalism were scarce. The tools of labor were a plow with an iron ploughshare, a sickle, a scythe, and a shovel. Later, the iron plow and harrow began to be used. Grain grinding for a long time was made by hand until windmills and watermills became widespread.