CHAPTER 4 Class 11 Three Orders
1. Meaning of Feudalism
Feudalism is said to be the pillar of medieval European civilization. It is derived from the German word Feud. It means a piece of land or estate. Thus feudalism is related to land or estate. Understanding feudalism is not an easy task. The reason for this is that feudalism had different characteristics in
II. Causes of the Rise of Feudalism
The following reasons were responsible for the rise of feudalism in Europe-
1. Demand of Time – Most of Western Europe was under the Roman Empire.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, anarchy and unrest spread in Western Europe. Taking advantage of this golden opportunity, many invaders started attacking Western Europe. This made the situation more explosive. There was no one to protect the lives and property of the people. A large number of fields were destroyed. This made the situation of the farmers very bad. In such a situation, they needed the shelter of the feudal lords. The reason for this was that the feudal lords had weapons and forts. On the other hand, the feudal lords needed an army to protect their forts and wealth. Therefore, both decided to cooperate with each other.
2. Need of Kings- After the fall of the Roman Empire, the influence and control of the central government had ended. Local officials started doing as they pleased. They started committing atrocities on people with the aim of collecting money from them. Due to this, the problems of the people increased. External invaders made the situation worse by their looting. In this time of crisis, it had become difficult for the king to control distant regions and collect taxes. Therefore, out of helplessness, the king distributed the land of his kingdom to some big feudal lords in the form of jagirs. In return, these feudal lords decided to give military and other necessary support to the king.
III. Spread of Feudalism
Feudalism was spread in many countries of Europe. The following were the major European countries among these-
1. France - Gaul was an important province of the Roman Empire. Franks, a German tribe, under their king Clovis, invaded Gaul in 486 AD and captured it. They changed the name of Gaul to France. The people of France adopted Christianity in 496 AD. Charlemagne was the most powerful ruler of France. He ruled from 768 AD to 814 AD. He had good relations with Pope Leo III. Henc
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