Feudalism is system of political and military relationships existing among members of the nobility in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages. At least that's how our analyst define it today. Feudalism is characterized by the granting of fiefs, chiefly in the form of land and labor, in return for political and military services a contract sealed by oaths of fealty (fidelity). The grantor is the lord of the grantee, his vassal, but both are free men and social peers. .
The German invaders conquered the western Roman Empire, they destroyed the professional Roman army and substituted their own armies, made up of warriors who served their chieftains for honor and booty. .
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The warriors fought on foot and lived off the countryside. As long as they fought one another, they needed no cavalry. But when the Muslims, the Vikings, and the Magyars invaded Europe, the Germans found themselves unable to deal with these rapid moving armies. First, Charles Martel in Gaul, then King Alfred in England, and finally Henry the Fowler of Germany provided horses for some of their soldiers to repel the raids into their lands. They could pursue their enemies faster mounted than on foot. .
We have all had great advances in technology this generation. The three field system was created. The system is a rotation of crops so that the soil won't be depleted of minerals that are needed to grow certain crops. Also the horse shoe, which prevents the horse hoof from cracking. The heavy plow which allows the farmers to plant in deeper ditches. The horse harness allows for horses to replace oxen. Horses were faster workers and could get fields planted two times faster then oxen. Our feudal age ended after the invention of the longbow and the cannon. .
I personally don't think the feudal age was an age of any happiness at all. All the time we were surrounded with war, new weapons, and some problem in our social class.
