The feudalism system of government was introduced in Western Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. The fall of the Roman Empire left the country in chaos and dire need of some form of civilization. Unlike the centralized government they had in the Roman Empire, the feudalist system had certain nobility control large areas. This nobility consisted of the King, lords, and lesser lords. The king would control a large mass of land and distribute the rest of their land to his lords. The lords had to swear an oath to be faithful to the king and to provide him with food as well as fight in his army in case of a war. The lords would have their own system of government in his manor and would make their own taxing system. Most of the population consisted of peasants and serfs who would work under the lord's rule in their manor. This was called manorialism. Serfs were people who would pay for a piece of land in the lord's manor in work for the lord; these people were not allowed to leave until their debt was paid. The lords would also rent out some of their land to knights. They would also have surfs working under their rule like the lords; however the knights would have less land and would have to work under the lord giving them less power. The feudalist system basically only had a high and lower class there was no in between, there were the landowners and the workers. This feudalist system did work for a while but it created fear for most of the population. They concentrated their time in working and surviving. This time period had no intellectual advances and after time most people didn't know how to read, the few who did know were priests and monks and even then some of them didn't know how.
Feudalism also consisted of chivalry, a code of conduct for the knights. The code of chivalry says that one must do their best in everything they do, they must fulfill justice, and to know that the safety of others comes before one's own.
