ABSTRACT
In Marxist theory, feudalism is the mode of production (or historical epoch) that precedes capitalism within western Europe. Feudalism may be characterised by its decentralised structure of authority, and its pattern of land-holding. A feudal lord was linked to a politically subordinated vassal through an oath of fealty. The vassal swore loyalty to the lord, and expressed this loyalty typically through the willingness to supply military services. The vassal would fund this army through large land holdings divided amongst his own subordinates. (This lord-vassal relationship would occur through several levels of the aristocratic hierarchy, with knights at the bottom, in a process called ‘subinfeudation’.) At the base of the feudal economy, serfs were legally tied to work the land owned by their lords. The serf (or peasant) did have some control over the means of production, although without any legal ownership (in contrast to the proletariat in capitalism). Exploitation within feudalism occurred through the payment of rent. Serfs were legally obliged to transfer a portion of their product to the lord, either in kind, in money, or through working on the lord’s land. (The Marxist model of feudalism inevitably oversimplifies the actual structure, focusing as it does on the two most significant classes, the aristocracy and the serfs or peasants. In practice, from the twelfth century onwards, significant numbers of serfs were able to buy their freedom, and move to the growing towns. The scope of feudal authority was thus increasingly restricted.) The dominant culture of feudalism, particularly in so far as culture is understood as an ideology that legitimates the existing political order, centred on the role of the church, in offering a morality of obedience and acceptance of one’s place in the social order. [AE] Further reading: Bloch 1961; Hindess and Hirst 1975.
