Feudalism

Legal and military structure in medieval Europe

Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, religious, and political institutions and customs that flourished in medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structuring society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour. The classic definition, by François Louis Ganshof (1944), describes a set of reciprocal legal and military obligations of the warrior nobility and revolved around the key concepts of lords, vassals, and fiefs.

From Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA. More on occurri.