How can we say that the basis of feudalism was weakening?


From the eleventh century, the personal bonds that had been the basis of feudalism were weakening, because economic transactions were becoming more and more money based.


Lords found it convenient to ask for rent in cash, not services, and cultivators were selling their crops for money (instead of exchanging them for other goods) to traders, who would then take such goods to be sold in the towns.


The increasing use of money began to influence prices, which became higher in times of poor harvests. In England, for instance, agricultrual prices doubled between the 1270s and the 1320s.
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New trade routes with West Asia were developing. Discuss it outcomes. 


By the eleventh century, new trade routes with West Asia were developing. Scandinavian merchants were sailing south from the North Sea to exchange furs and hunting-hawks for cloth; English traders came to sell tin.

In France, by the twelfth century, commerce and crafts began to grow. Earlier, craftsmen used to travel from manor to manor; now they found it easier to settle in one place where goods could be produced and traded for food.

As the number of towns grew and trade continued to expand, town merchants became rich and powerful and rivalled the power of the nobility.
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Who were the Feudal Lords? Mention their categories, main functions and their relations with the Peasants and Serfs.


The institution that was common in Medieval Europe is called Feudalism. The lords, who held the fiefs on condition of service of service to the king, were called the Feudal Lords.
They, in their respective fiefs, were all powerful and acted as petty kings.
The categories of the Feudal Lords:

(i) Dukes and Earls.

(ii) The Barons.

(iii) The Knights.



Main Functions of the Feudal Lords:

Every Feudal Lord was expected to pay homage to his overlord and could then be invested with some formal rights. He also had to provide the military services to his superior lords. Every feudal lord was first a vassal and then an overlord with a number of vassals of the King him.

For example, the Dukes and Earls were the vassals of the King and owed him allegiance. The Barons were the vassals of the Dukes and the Earls. The knights were the vassals of the Barons. They performed military service to their overlords.

The relations of Feudal Lords with the Peasants and the Serfs:

The Peasants and Serfs had land which they cultivated for themselves. But they had also to work on the lands cultivated entirely for their lords.

In fact, the Serfs were the domestics of their lords. They had no right and no freedom. They were living the miserable conditions.

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Describe the features of the feudal pyramid that existed in the European society in the medieval period.


The Feudal system in Europe had a graded organisation which is sometimes called 'Feudal Pyramid'.

The main features of the social organisation of the Feudal system in Europe are described below:

(i) The King: The king was on the top of this organisation (Feudal system). All the feudal lords were under the king. He used to take a part of the revenue collections which the feudal lords had from their areas or lands of agriculture.

(ii) Dukes and Earls: The second powerful class of the 'Feudal system' consisted of the 'Dukes' and 'Earls'. The king bestowed the estates on a number of the Dukes and Earls who owned loyalty to the king.

(iii) Barons or lower lords: The Earls and Dukes distributed the parts of their estates to the lower lords called 'Barons'. In return for that, they provided military support to the Dukes or Earls whensoever required or needed.

(iv) The Knights: The knights formed the lowest category of Feudal lords. Mostly they were the vassals of the Barons and provided them military service. The knights had no direct links either with the Dukes or the Earls.

(v) The Peasants: The peasants formed the lowest class in the feudal society. They cultivated and managed the land which they received from their lords. The Peasants were divided into three classes:
   (a) The Independent peasant
   (b) The Slave Peasants
   (c) The Bonded peasants (serfs).

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How after the fall of the Roman empire the towns began to grow again?


The towns of the Romans Empire had become deserted and ruined after its fall. But from the eleventh century, as agriculture increased and became able to sustain higher levels of population, towns began to grow again.

Peasants who had surplus grain to sell needed a place where they could set up a selling centre and where they could buy tools and cloth. This led to the growth of periodic fairs and small marketing centres which gradually developed town - like features - a town square, a church, roads where merchants built shops and homes, an office where those who governed the town could meet.


In other places, towns grew around large castles, bishops’ estates, or large churches.
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