Freeman may have been artisans who worked in or owned a store. There were three types of peasants: Slaves, who could be bought and sold, serfs, who had no rights politically, and freeman, who had a few rights and sometimes owned small shares of land. Peasants-The vast majority of the feudalist government system in the Middle Ages in Europe were made up of peasants. In exchange for the land the vassals were granted, they either had to pay money, rent out their land, provide military service, or perform other various duties to show loyalty to the monarch. Vassals-Vassals included anyone who was not a monarch and not a peasant who was granted land by the King or another vassal. The Lord is the ruling monarch who has complete control over all the land in the country. The Lord-The most important player in a feudal system is the Lord. Classes are structured in such a way to provide. Feudalism is a political and social structure in which social classes define the lives and work of the people living in a town or country. They were very poor, or, in the case of serfs, had no money. Similarities between Japanese and European feudalism include the division of the classes and the relationships of the people living within each social class. The peasants made up the majority of the population. The vassals were the nobleman who had been granted land by the monarch, and in exchange for that land provided military service or money. He was the monarch who controlled all of the land and people. The Lord was the overseer of the entire government. Though class played an important role in feudal society in the Middle Ages, the more important relationship in feudalism is between the Lord, the Vassal and the Peasant. This is known as “semi-feudal.” The term has also been brought up in discussions of non-Western societies today whose governments resemble the feudal system in medieval Europe, but this use of the term is often deemed inappropriate. Chivalry: A code of behavior for knights in medieval Europe, stressing ideals such as courage. Brown’s The Tyranny of a Construct, many scholars have found the term “feudalism” troubling and have wanted to drop it, not just as the title of government in the middle ages, but as a term altogether.įeudalism is mainly used in discourse today as a comparison or analogical term applied to governmental structures in history. The Middle Ages and Japanese Feudalism Vocab Sheet.