Effects of Feudalism on Architecture in the Medieval Period



Effects of Feudalism on Architecture in the Medieval Period

Introduction

Medieval Period, also called the middle ages, is marked with the law of the land. History remembers this law as feudalism. It is the ruthless system by which the upper so called class of the society maintained control over the oppressed lower class. This was highly a rigid structure based on kings, lords, and peasants. Very important here is to mention the other crucial contributors of this system, which include the leaders of the church and the neighboring kings, who were powerful enough to have influence in the empire. According to some sources, the medieval period started in the late sixth century and lasted about hundred years. A number of factors influenced the society, such as plague, famine, warfare, and social and political turmoil, but the most important were feudalism, and the spread of Christianity. These two factors managed to elongate the stability of the medieval period.

Introduction to Feudalism

In the ninth century, Feudalism and the rule of church affected the daily life in the Medieval Europe to a great extent. Most of the people were Christian and their beliefs and values also affected art and architecture. Feudalism was the system in which routine functions of the society, such as politics, military issues, and justice were practiced at the local level by a class of landed nobles. The feudal contract was the heart of the system, which referred to the relationship of lords and their vassals. The noble also established a system of chivalry in which knights were faithful, brave and generous Christians. Figure 1 shows feudalism and the manorialism.

Figure1: Source: http://www.google.images

Manorialism was another system of the feudals, which reflected their power and prestige based on the land. That land supported the lord, his family, and his soldiers. The lord had to provide the land and protection, and peasants were to perform labor. The life of the poor peasants on the land was very miserable. Peasants were sold and bought every time the land was passed to the new owners. With primitive methods, the peasants worked hard, but the yield was low. The peasant was not allowed to leave the land without the lord's permission. He paid to the lord for letting him work on the fields. This tax was called tithes.

Some of the historians believe that feudalism was essential in the medieval period because of a number of reasons. Feudalism was a system for organizing society through hierarchy. In other words, hierarchy is a system to categorize members of any system from top to bottom, and according to their role in society. Form the king to the poor peasants all members of the society were clearly marked with their duties and responsibilities. The Lord was the master of every vassal working under him, and the relationships were based on the master and the lord. The lords and nobles in the feudal system had to provide military support to the king at the time of ...