Feudalism

Feudalism was the dominant social and political system of medieval Europe (roughly 9th–15th centuries) — a hierarchical arrangement of land and military service in which kings granted land (fiefs) to lords, who granted portions to knights, who were served by peasants (serfs) bound to the land. The system provided military protection in exchange for agricultural labor and loyalty. Feudalism emerged from the collapse of Carolingian central authority and the Viking, Magyar, and Saracen raids that necessitated local defense. The Black Death (1347–1351), which killed 30–60% of Europe's population, fundamentally disrupted feudalism — labor shortages gave surviving serfs unprecedented bargaining power. The system gradually dissolved into early capitalism and centralized nation-states.