Feudal society
Everyone had a well defined place in the feudal society. At the head of the society was the nobles, then came the monarch, and then the lords, and after that comes the lesser lords, and then the knights and at the bottom of the of this feudal society comes the peasants. The powerful local lords divided their large lands among the lesser lords. And in exchange for land, vassals pledged service and loyality to the greater lord.
The relationship between lords and vassals was established by customs and traditions. A lord granted his vassal a fief, or an estate, and the lord also promised to protect his vassal . In return the vassal pledged loyality to the lord and also agreed to provide the lord with 40 days of military serice. Because vassals often had fiefs from more than one lord, the feudal relationships grew and became more complex. A vassal who pledged loyality to several lords could have serious problems of overloads quarreled with each other. So, to solve this issue a vassal usually had a leige lord from which he owed his first loyality to.
Most peasants on the manor were serfs who were bound to the land. There serfs were not slaves that could be bought and sold but still their freedom had limits. They could not leave the manor without the lords permission and if they were granted to a new lord they would have to go along with it. Peasants and lords shared mutual rights and responsibilities towards each other. The peasants had to work several days a week farming the lords lands, reparing bridges, roads, and fixing fences. The peasants also paid the lords fees when they get married and when they used the local mill. In return for this labor, paesants had the right to farm several acres for themselves and they were guaranteed food, housing, protection, and land.
The relationship between lords and vassals was established by customs and traditions. A lord granted his vassal a fief, or an estate, and the lord also promised to protect his vassal . In return the vassal pledged loyality to the lord and also agreed to provide the lord with 40 days of military serice. Because vassals often had fiefs from more than one lord, the feudal relationships grew and became more complex. A vassal who pledged loyality to several lords could have serious problems of overloads quarreled with each other. So, to solve this issue a vassal usually had a leige lord from which he owed his first loyality to.
Most peasants on the manor were serfs who were bound to the land. There serfs were not slaves that could be bought and sold but still their freedom had limits. They could not leave the manor without the lords permission and if they were granted to a new lord they would have to go along with it. Peasants and lords shared mutual rights and responsibilities towards each other. The peasants had to work several days a week farming the lords lands, reparing bridges, roads, and fixing fences. The peasants also paid the lords fees when they get married and when they used the local mill. In return for this labor, paesants had the right to farm several acres for themselves and they were guaranteed food, housing, protection, and land.