Feudalism

Feudalism When the German invaders conquered the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, they destroyed the professional Roman army and substituted their own armies, made up of warriors who served their chieftains for honor and bounty. The warriors fought on foot and lived off the countryside. As long as they fought one another, they needed no cavalry. But when the Muslims, the Vikings, and the Magyars invaded Europe in the 8th, 9th, and 10th centuries, the Germans found themselves unable to deal with these rapid-moving armies. First, Charles Martel in Gaul, then King Alfred in England, and finally Henry the Fowler of Germany provided horses for some of their soldiers to repel the raids into their lands. Feudalistic governments were certainly occurring in the 11th century (Backman, 45-53). Feudalism was based on a legal agreement by which a lord granted land to a man in return for military service. Political and economic power was concentrated in the hands of lords and their vassals. Castles, each of which dominated the district in which it was situated, were the base for the exercise of that power (Bloch, 147). In the castle there were various offices for management of the governing of the territory feudalism, service, warriors, protection, power, military, lords, king, government, century, personal, own, lands, just, feudalistic, castle, based, whole, western, time, territory, roman, return, pyramid, people, oversight, one, offices, northern, new, needed, monarch, management, made, lord