What is Feudalism?

http://www.arteguias.com/biografia/carlomagno.htm

Yeah yeah, I can hear the whiners, "anybody who is reading a blog about researching Medieval history knows what feudalism is."  Well, that may be so, but I have no idea who all reads this thing, so from time to time I'm going back to basics.  As it is, this post only scrapes the surface of a rather complex topic.  As always, if you want more, go to the pages listed at the end.

   Feudalism is a term that has been bandied about to describe the political system of the Medieval period for some time (Wikipedia suggests the 18th C with the term feudal system from the early 17th C).  Unlike Fascism or Communism, Feudalism never had a cohesive ideology.  Consequently, there is no "model" feudal society to be found in history or literature.  It was simply a term assigned to encapsulate the most common political elements seeing use at the time.  In essence, I'm going to ignore my own basic question and explore the political realities of the period instead of a label attached hundreds of years later.
    Medieval political systems were born in the wake of the collapsing Roman Empire.  As trade died, Europe reverted to an almost completely agrarian economy.  This decentralization of power left significant opportunity for groups of warriors to take up arms and fill the power vacuum. Petty kingdoms rose to offer "protection" to the nearby farmers.  In return for this protection, the kings were granted tithes and goods.  From this position , these kings came to act as lawgivers and serve judicial positions.  
    The basic contract described under the Feudal heading is that between Lord (or later the knight) and peasant or serf (a.k.a. villein).  In this relationship, the landholder gives the farmer protection and a parcel of land to work.  In return, the farmer owes a share in the proceeds (or a certain set value), work on the landholder's property and possibly service in the military.  Over time, this relationship developed wildly different rules across Europe.  Serfs were not allowed to leave their farms without the permission of the landholder and in many situations had no rights at all.  Peasants had a limited amount of personal freedom, working like the serfs as sharecroppers, or at trades in the villages.  The later return of cities, following the reopening of trade, had a significant impact on this relationship.
    As kings increased in power, they accumulated land through conquest and attracted followers.  To reward these followers for good service, kings would grant control over a portion of their holdings (a fief) in return for oaths of fealty and service.  The oaths of service could include military support (or equal financial compensation), attendance at court, and the providing of council.  In return for these oaths, the king swore to give military protection to their vassals.  It's unclear exactly when these granted titles became hereditary, but this seems to be where the trouble started, as personal relationships between lord and vassal became traditional bonds between families.
    Depending upon the king's holdings, these bestowed fiefs could range in size considerably.  Many times, the larger fiefs were further divided.  These smaller landholders would then owe fealty to the Lord as well as the king (his liege lord).  These divided loyalties provided for plenty of intrigue over the years.  Additionally, as communication began to return to Europe, and established aristocracies began to intermarry for political and financial purposes, control of disparate fiefs, owing loyalty to different liege lords became much more common.  It was also quite possible that some of the sworn lords had greater holdings than their kings.  You can guess how binding the oaths of fealty worked out then.
    Not to be ignored, the Church was also tied into the political systems of the time.  Churches and monasteries were frequently granted title to tracts of land in the wills of aristocrat's, in return for spiritual considerations.  Younger sons, who would not generally inherit land, often joined the church to achieve positions of power.  Since no churchman could hold title (unless you want to count the Pope), all lands were owned by the Church as a whole, though administered locally.  In fact, the Catholic Church became the largest landholder in Europe.  Add to this the fact that the Church was tax exempt, all worshipers paid a 10% income tithe (on pain of hellfire), and that all peasants and serfs worked on Church land for free.  Because of the structure of the Church, it benefited significantly from the hereditary nature of land. 
    The Medieval period was not a planned organization, but a slowly developing series of contracts paid for in blood and nurtured with toil.  There was no fundamental ideology driving it.  It was founded on the patronage of warrior brotherhoods which grew beyond their provincial influence.  As they grew, the beautiful simplicity of personal relationships reinforced by oaths of faith and service became a complex web of obligations.  When these traditions calcified, establishing what we commonly think of today as Feudalism, it would not have been recognizable to those warrior chiefs who offered protection to their neighbors.  



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feudalism
http://www.usna.edu/Users/history/abels/hh315/Feudal.htm
http://faculty.history.wisc.edu/sommerville/123/feudalism.htm
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medieval_church.htm