Rise Of Feudalism Essay

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Feudalism: Its Rise and Decline With the transformation of the Roman Empire, the empire would no longer be a universal culture. With an ineffective government and no armies, the former empire experienced mass anarchy. Due to its weakened state, the empire had become more vulnerable. Because people need security, a new concept would arise, this concept would be known as feudalism. The vulnerability of this transforming empire allowed it to be attacked by Germanic tribes and other warring nations. One of the Germanic tribes, the Franks, led by the Frankish warrior Clovis, would establish a kingdom in modern-day France by 496 A.D. Unfortunately, the successive kings of the Frankish people would be very weak rulers and were known as the do-nothing kings. This succession of kings offered the people under them no protection from roaming warriors. Therefore, due to a lack of security, the king gave away large tracts of land to other aristocrats (maior domus) if they would pledge their loyalty to the king. This agreement between the king and the maior domus created a semi-democratic arrangement between them. The agreement was to secure the king’s legacy and the kingdom’s borders. Unfortunately, the loyalty of these lords was not steadfast and the result was many smaller territories with the maior domus becoming its leader. Mayhew 2 Throughout this period of change for the diminished empire, the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) was changing too. This church of the Christians was