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  2. Feudalism - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feudalism

    The adjective feudal was in use by at least 1405, and the noun feudalism was in use by the end of the 18th century, [4] paralleling the French féodalité.. According to a classic definition by Ganshof, [1] feudalism describes a set of reciprocal legal and military obligations of the warrior nobility that revolved around the key concepts of lords, vassals and fiefs, [1] though Ganshof himself ...

  3. Feudalism in England - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feudalism_in_England

    English feudalism began to decline during the Anarchy (1135–1153), a civil war between the supporters of Empress Matilda and Stephen of Blois. Matilda, the daughter of Henry I of England, was Henry’s only legitimate heir, but many barons who had sworn to support her claim instead backed Stephen, Henry’s nephew. This division led to ...

  4. Fealty - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fealty

    In medieval Europe, an oath of fealty (German: Lehnseid) was a fundamental element of the feudal system in the Holy Roman Empire. It was sworn between two people, the feudal subject or liegeman (vassal) and his feudal superior (liege lord). The oath of allegiance was usually carried out as part of a traditional ceremony in which the liegeman or ...

  5. Middle English literature - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_English_literature

    Middle English literature is written, then, in the many dialects that correspond to the history, culture, and background of the individual writers. While Anglo-Norman or Latin was preferred for high culture and administration, English literature by no means died out, and a number of important works illustrate the development of the language.

  6. Serfdom - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serfdom

    Medieval serfdom really began with the breakup of the Carolingian Empire around the 10th century. [citation needed] During this period, powerful feudal lords encouraged the establishment of serfdom as a source of agricultural labour. Serfdom, indeed, was an institution that reflected a fairly common practice whereby great landlords were assured ...

  7. English literature - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_literature

    English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world.The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. [1] The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the fifth century, are called Old English.

  8. Franklin (class) - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_(class)

    The social class of franklin, meaning (latterly) a person not only free (not in feudal servitude) but also owning the freehold of land, and yet barely even a member of the "landed gentry" [2] [3] [4] (knights, esquires and gentlemen, the lower grades of the upper class), let alone of the nobility (barons, viscounts, earls/counts, marquis, dukes), evidently represents the beginnings of a real ...

  9. English feudal barony - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_feudal_barony

    King John signs Magna Carta at Runnymede in 1215, surrounded by his baronage.Illustration from Cassell's History of England, 1902.. In the kingdom of England, a feudal barony or barony by tenure was the highest degree of feudal land tenure, namely per baroniam (Latin for "by barony"), under which the land-holder owed the service of being one of the king's barons.