What is Feudalism and Why was it needed in the middle age?

Question: What is Feudalism and Why was it needed in the middle age!?
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

By asking why it was "needed" you suppose that the most optimal institution available at any given time is always the one that prevails while it could also be said that sometimes/often less-than-optimal options prevail (ie communism in China)!.

So maybe Feudalism was needed by some to support their power but was generally harmful to society as a whole!.

It is interesting to remark that the richest kingdoms in Europe that developed during the heyday of Feudalism did not have a feudal system!. For instance, the kings of Portugal and Jerusalem enjoyed important revenues from taxation and war!. Their knights in their vast majority received what was know at Jerusalem as a "bezan fiefdom", meaning a fiefdom made of the right to receive a regular sum of money rather than a piece of land!. Most of the kingdom's land thus belonged directly to the king!.

Hence, Feudalism can be said to have developed where and when the king was not rich enough to avoid it!.

Furthermore, Feudalism did not develop in Tuscany or around Venice showing once more that it could only grow when a power vaccum had been left by the inability of the central monarch to rule his land!. So we can say that Feudalism if above all a political system designed to exploit the peasant society!.

This is made clear by the fact that the king of France for instance used to consider the Jews as his personal serves and as such was allowed to tax them as much as he wanted!. No idea of protection required or anything, Feudalism is clearly a system designed to exploit the serves to the lord's benefit!.

The reason for serfdom is to be found in the fact that at that time the term of trade were hugely against capital and in favour of labour!. In other words, as there were few labourers and a lot of land, on the open market landowners would have to pay their labourers a lot!. Instead, by turning them into serves he gets rid of the market conditions that favoured the labourers and makes sure to have a workforce cheap and ready!. That's why serves running away was suh a big deal!.

So the king needed Feudalism to dominate the land, the lords to !.!.!. well!.!.!. dominate the populations and the peasants could have live without itWww@QuestionHome@Com

A series of self-sufficient farms!. Serfs (peasants) worked the land and gave a portion of their crop to the lord or church official who owned the land!.

It was needed so that everyone could get food!. Peasants owned no land and almost no property such as axes and gardenng tools!. Most of their diet was vegetables!. Serfs were allowed to live on the land as long as they agreed to cultivate it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com