INTRODUCTION

The feudal class process is one of many different ways surplus labour is appropriated and
distributed. It is similar to capitalism in that the performer of surplus labour, the person(s) who
creates the surplus goods and services, is distinct from the person(s) who takes possession of
those goods and services. The feudal class process is distinguished from the capitalist class
process by the lack of choice of employer in the former: in feudalism the direct producer has an
obligation to work for a specific employer within a given sphere of production. Sometimes, but
not always, this obligation may result from the feudal lord exercising monopolistic control over
key means of production required for the labourer(s) to work (to perform necessary and surplus
labour). Debt obligations may also serve as the basis for feudal social relationships. Whether
monopolistic control or debt or some other mechanism for creating an enforceable obligation,
these conditions provide the basis for the feudal lord to extract a monopoly rent from the direct
producer/labourer who must work with these means of production or pay the debt in order to
secure his/her livelihood. In capitalism, on the contrary, workers are free to choose employer.

Feudalism, as an economic system,is often confused with the characteristics of specific feudal
societies. For example, in Western European feudalism, there were specific cultural and political
conditions by which feudal lords reproduced their monopolistic position. Often writers on
feudalism will collate all these cultural and political conditions with the economic system of
feudalism and fail to recognise when the feudal system occurs in a different mix of cultural and
political factors. Historians typically operate with such a conflation, borrowing their notion of
feudalism from orthodox Marxism, where feudalism was understood as a particular historical
moment in the Euro-centric theological movement towards capitalism and eventually
communism.

MEANING OF FEUDALISM
The term feudalism is derived from the Latin word "feudum" which means land held on condition of
service. It's an economic system were rights were closely related to the systems of land holdings. An
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, A European system flourishing between 800-1400 based upon fixed
relations of lord to vassal and all lands held in fee (as from the king), and requiring of vassal tenants
homage and service. Feudalism is an economic concept, in which we discuss feudal relations with society
and state. It is considers as an activity of power rule and economic dominancy on the society and
institutions by the landed aristocracy. Therefore, feudalism used as an activity of power which has left a
great impact on the sociopolitical, economic and all other institutions of the country. Historical analysis
of feudalism also explains that it is used for the distribution of power and authority to the specific group
of society to cooperate with the state. However, gradually the dimensions of feudalism were changed
and it became a threat for the stability of state and society. On the other hand, feudalism in the western
world was replaced with capitalism as Karl Marx explained in his theory but still prevails in the
developing world. It cannot be denied that the feudalism and capitalism both exist in the country almost
monopolizing all major political and economic institutions
It's an economic system of relationship between peasants, serfs peasants, serfs a lord and his free a lord
and his free and slaves. and slaves. In return for his protection and the right to work the lands, the
peasants performed services and paid fees.The lord became law giver, judge, and defender In return for
his protection
Spread of Feudalism in Europe Feudalism spread from France to Spain, Italy, and later Germany and
Eastern Europe. In England the Frankish form was imposed by William I (William the Conqueror) after
1066, although most of the elements of feudalism were already present. It was extended eastward into
Slavic lands to the marches (frontier provinces), which were continually battered by new invasions, and it
was adopted partially in Scandinavian countries. The important features of feudalism were similar
throughout, but there existed definite national differences. Feudalism continued in all parts of Europe
until the end of the 14th cent
The fall of the Roman Empire which occurred in the 5th century when Rome was sacked by the Visgoths
led t o the emergence of European Feudalism. Romans in Europe returned to their homeland leaving
European lands without organization and the system of Roman centralization. The disintegration of
Europe following the departure and power of the Romans slowly led t o European Feudalism.

The Development of European Feudalism The first elements of European Feudalism appeared in France
and Germany in the 9th and 10th centuries. This coincided with the great military force organized by the
Normans. Elements of the Roman regime were transferred to European feudalism. Roman villas and
their lands were granted to military leaders on a temporary basis as a reward for their loyalty to Rome
and the emperor. It was also traditional for Romans to surround themselves with loyal so ldiers who
provided a substantial fighting force and offered protection. These ideas were adopted in Europe.
European nobles increased their power from grants of land from the king in return for military service.
European feudalism was born.

Characteristic of Feudalism

CRITICISMS
(1) First, feudalism discouraged unified government. Individual lords would divide their lands into smaller
and smaller sections to give to lesser rulers and knights. These lesser noblemen in turn would subdivide
their own lands into even smaller fiefs to give to even less important nobles and knights. Each knight
would swear his oath of fealty (loyalty) to the one who have him the land, which was not necessarily the
king or higher noblemen. Feudal government was always an arrangement between individuals, not
between nation-states and citizens. It meant that, while individual barons, dukes, and earls might be
loyal in theory to the king or centralized noble family, there was no strong legal tradition to prevent them
from declaring war on each other. The bonds of loyalty often grew so entangled that a single knight
might find himself owing allegiance to two different dukes or barons who were at war with each other.
There was no sense of loyalty to a geographic area or a particular race, only a loyalty to a person, which
would terminate upon that person's death.

(2) Second, feudalism discouraged trade and economic growth. The land was worked by peasant farmers
called serfs, who were tied to individual plots of land and forbidden to move or change occupations
without the permission of their lord. The feudal lord might claim one-third to one-half of their produce
in taxes and fees, and the serfs owed him a set number of days each year in which they would work the
lord's fields in exchange for the right to work their own lands. Often, they were required to grind their
grain in the lord's mill, and bake all their bread in the lords' oven, and to use roads and bridges the lord
had built. Each time they did this, of course, they would have to pay him a toll or a fee of some sort. They
were, however, forbidden to set up their own roads, bridges, mills, and ovens--the lord had a legal
monopoly and would milk it for all it was worth. In exchange for other hefty fees, various peasants might
set up a commune (a cooperative government amongst themselves), or pay the lord for the right to try
their own court cases by juries. Other ambitious communities might pool their resources and purchase a
charter, a legal document that gave the inhabitants of a town or village certain economic freedoms to
buy and sell their own land or produce. In practice, these occurences were often economic necessities,
but in theory, these freedoms were generous gifts given by the lord to his former serfs in exchange for
various financial considerations

Factors Leading to the Demise of of Feudalism

•Checks on king’s power over lords (e.g., the English Magna Charta)… a complex issue. •Crusades and
contact with the East. •Re-emergence of trading cities tolerated by local lords. Craft guilds dominated
initially. •Growth of strong nation-states with centralized and formalized authority. •Evolution of money
and banking –fundamental condition for economic development. •In England, the evolution of Common
Law. •The disruption of plagues (e.g., the Black Death). •The Enclosure Movements (13th–
18thCenturies) for more productive use of land