ABSTRACT
Feudalism had both a political and an economic element. A feudal lord vowed protection to vassals in return for service from them. In medieval Europe, all land belonged to the king, who kept some for his personal property, gave some to the Christian Church, and awarded the rest in grants to his lords or knights in return for political and economic support. The lord or knight might dispense land to a lesser lord or knight in return for military service, or he might grant part of his land to peasants who compensated him with physical labor and a portion of their crops. Vassals owed loyalty to their lord as well as to their lord’s lord; in this way, all the citizens of the country were vassals of the king.
