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Heavy Plough: Feudalism In The Early Middle Ages

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One of the most significant changes that took place during the Middle Ages were the innovations and technological advancements especially towards agriculture. One of the important innovations was the heavy plough. The heavy plough was first used in the fifth century. It was a modification of already existing mouldboard plough. The mouldboard plough were fairly fragile and couldn’t be used to till and break the heavier soils of northern Europe. In order to modify it, a runner was replaced by a wheel because of which, the weight of the plough was increased. As a result, the heavy plough led to greater food production. This heavy plough is still considered as one of the main reason of significant population growth of Europe in the seventh …show more content…

Feudalism, otherwise known as the Feudal system was the political system under which Europe operated throughout the majority of the Early Middle Ages. The feudal hierarchy could be imagined as a pyramid of power and authority. The king was positioned at the top. Under the king were the vassals of the king, who were lords to the citizens below them. This process went on until the vassals had no vassals of their own. Lords and Vassals played an extremely significant and important role in society. Playing the role of a lord or vassal was an honor and a privilege of the upper class. Upon being elected for the responsibility they both took an honest oath. The vassal took an oath of carrying out multiple duties: the most important of them being military duties. The lord took an oath of providing the vassal with protection and to take care of the basic needs of citizens such as food and clothing. These pledges were very straightforward and corruption was always non-existent or minute (Corrick 28). The lords and vassals made it their priority to keep their people safe and content with the government. This proved that most of them were great followers of civic virtue. Since lords and vassals tried extremely hard to be good at performing their duties, not only did the upper class have a good standard of living but also the peasants under their command had a reasonably good and improved standard of

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If the knights broke a law and was found guilty, there shield would be broken into two and their sword was cracked over their head and then they held a funeral at a church. Not to mention, without the government, there would be no feudalism. In the Code of Chivalry, Knights had to live in a gentleman-warrior code of Chivalry.(Doc. 5) Feudalism was such a big part of the society that it shaped lots of history in the Middle Ages. In addition, lords were not the only people that could grant land.

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Through all the struggles in the Medieval period, technology enhanced which made farming easier for peasants. The adoption of the heavy plow made farming efficient and profitable for everyone. With farming becoming easy it helped the economy grow and become steady. Development made food supply rise, “Technology improvements like the heavy plow, the shoulder collar for the horses, metal horseshoes, and more efficient water and windmills contributed to the jump in the food supply.” (Document B).

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One of the most important part of Feudal society the oath of Homage and Fealty. The Oath of Homage and Fealty required many things from both the lord and his vassal. The vassal was required to give the king, which he was declaring loyalty to, a certain set of obligations(Nelson). This would provide system between the vassal and the lord that allowed for a smooth economy to run because both the vassal and the king benefit and they have a system of trade. The vassal also had their own set of vassals called sub vassals, that were obligated to give to the vassal in return for a few things.

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