Charlemagne's Shape: The Stability Of Western Europe

Following Charlemagne’s death in 814, the stability of Western Europe was shattered into pieces. While Charlemagne had greatly advanced his empire, he failed to establish any administrative system that would live on past his death. Because of this and the frequently occurring Viking invasions, the people of Western Europe began to form relationships with each other for the sole purpose of creating stability. These relationships eventually feudalism, which was a system in which various classes of people supported each other while living in a community based in a manor (Fiero 259). First, I’ll explain the exchange of protection the lords and vassals made with those around them (Fiero 259-60). Next, I’ll cover what the role serfs and clergy held

The serf’s form of exchange was known as manorialism (Mckay et al. 235). As to follow through on their part of the contract with their lord, serfs were tied to the land they lived on and were not allowed to leave (Fierro 265). In addition to this, since the majority of serfs were farmers, they were responsible for giving a third of the crops they produced to the lord’s manor (Fierro 265; Mckay et al. 235). This exchange worked out well for both the lord and his serfs, as they each received something they needed. While the lord gained people to do manual toil for him, the serfs gained protection. Although serfs certainly relied on their lord, they also relied on their fellow serfs. Serfs lived in the village of the lord’s manor with between fifteen and twenty other families, and even as many as fifty on large manors (Fierro 265). They worked together in their labor, and some even developed agricultural technology with each other such as the heavy-wheeled plow and the tandem harness (266). The serfs’ relationship with the clergy was just as, if not more important than their relationships with each other. The serfs relied on the clergy to administer the sacraments to them, as well as to prepare them for their eternal state. Because serfs sometimes worked dangerous jobs on the manor, death could take them at any time. If serfs found themselves on their

With a weak ruler in place following Charlemagne’s death, people were left searching for someone to look to. People have a natural need for leadership which is why the system of feudalism worked so well. Vassals had a lord to protect and were protected in return, serfs were given instruction on how to live their life, and members of clergy were able to help others from within the safety of the lord’s manor. Everyone had a place, and everyone knew what that place was. What’s specifically fascinating to me about feudalism though, is that it occurred naturally (Fiero 259). No one had to set up a complex system and then push people into it, the serfs, clergy, vassals, and lords set up the system themselves by naturally becoming a part of it. Feudalism was formed because people’s intuition led them to become a part of a self-sustaining community within the bounds of a lords’ manor. Feudalism’s spontaneous and successful breakthrough into the Middle Ages is what makes it so