What is a feud? Civil strife for feuds - wars of the thrones in the Middle Ages

The Middle Ages gave the world new concepts. Among them, the word "feud" occupies a large place, closely associated with the emergence of such historical phenomena as the feudal system, the hierarchical ladder and feudal lords. It is very interesting to trace how new concepts were formed in those distant times, to find out what fief is and what significance it had in the medieval world.

Hierarchy of the Nobles

The concept of "feud" is closely connected with the emergence of a medieval institution of lords and vassals. Relations between the nobility were presented in the form of a hierarchical ladder. At its top was usually the king, although in many countries the lower landowners, who were lower in the feudal staircase, possessed no less great power, but formally submitted to the ruler of the country.

Senhor was called a large landowner, a nobleman, who was subordinated to smaller representatives of the nobility. They, in turn, were called vassals.

The Frankish ruler Karl Martell started the feudal relations in the 8th century. What is a feud at that time? His role fulfilled benefices - the award of land to his vassal in exchange for a promise to go to war on the first call of the king. Thus, the ruler turned into a seignior ("senior"), and received the land allotment became his vassal.

History of the word

In medieval France, the custom of encouraging for true service not money (there were very few at that time) was established, and the most valuable was land. What did the feudal lord receive as a reward from the king? Feud, or possession with an estate and with peasants attached to it. Thus, he could receive a steady income from this land.

In turn, the vassal could transfer part of the granted possession to a smaller representative of the nobility, for example, a knight who became his vassal. Simultaneously, the lord did not lose his rights to the land, which he granted to his subordinate. As a result, two or more people owned one plot.

So what is a feud? This is a land possession, which the suzerain gave his vassal on terms of military service. In different countries, there were variants of this name: flax, fi and fief. The word goes back to the late Latin feodum and German fehu (property) and od (possession). For the first time this term began to be used in the 10th century.

In order to introduce the vassal into possession, the seigneur made a solemn rite, which was called "investment."

Fees for the right to own a feud

Here it should be noted that the property of the vassal on the granted land was conditional. He could own, dispose of and use the feud only if he discharged his duties to the seignior.

He was to accompany the suzerain in military campaigns and be in his escort on trips, to keep the detachment in the castle of the seignior, to provide him with a first-order lock or a place to stay, to help in difficult situations with advice and money.

In the event that, for some reason, the vassal did not fulfill his obligations, he was deprived of the rights of possession on the granted land, and she passed into holding to another or remained with the seignior.

Another feature of the feud was that it could only be obtained by a nobleman. Affluent peasants or wealthy merchants did not have this right.

Battles for territory

The main wealth in antiquity, and then in the Middle Ages was the land. The one who owned it had power, strength and power. And the more territories belonged to man, the more powerful he was. The most delicious and valuable prey were feuds. The wars of thrones often happened because of them. Conflicts that occurred in the Middle Ages because of land, were called "feudal wars", or "internecine wars".

These clashes between nobles were the hallmark of that period. Their causes were both banal greed and the desire to enrich themselves with foreign land, as well as legal incidents that often occurred in the Middle Ages. It happened that the king of one country owned territories in another, as happened with William I the Conqueror. As king of England, he did not obey anyone, but, while remaining Duke of Normandy, was a vassal of the King of France. Such incidents led to military conflicts between whole countries. The clashes between ordinary feudal lords were even more frequent. It came to the point that in the event of a quarrel the country's ruler forbade starting a war within 40 days, so that a weaker opponent could appeal to the authorities.

Conclusion

So what is a feud? In the Middle Ages in Europe, so called the landed possession granted to the lord by his vassal on the conditions of carrying military and court service. After the appearance of this type of land holding in Europe, the hierarchical system of the feudal system was finally formed .