![]() ![]() In the 20th century, feudalism can be traced to African countries like Ethiopia and the shoguns of Japan. In the absence of a modern acknowledgment of the concept of feudalism, it can be said that this theory was in practice in the early modern period (1600s) with manorialism and other forms of peasantry bonds. The political philosophy may not always refer to a strong centralized government. The European Union is a modern day federation. The proponents of federalism are known as federalists. In federalism, power is shared between the national and state governments, in the process of creating a federation. Feudalism as a concept originated from the term ‘fief’ or fee and was not taken as a formal political system by the people. Feudalism today is more of a concept that brings to mind the political scenario of Medieval Europe comprising fiefs, vassals and warring lords. The word ‘federalism’ originated from the ‘foedus’ which is Latin for covenant.įeudalism can be said to be the opposite of federalism in the sense that it is a decentralized socio political structure in which the monarchy weakly tries to exert control over land by an agreement with regional chiefs. ![]() It is also a system in which sovereignty is divided constitutionally between a central governing body and constituent political units, provinces or states. Fief holders could grant a part of their fief together with the serfs to someone who then became their vassal and the new lord to the serfs on the received fief.Federalism refers to the political philosophy where a group is bound together with a representative head that is responsible for governance. The peasants were, however, tied to the land and could not move away from their land nor choose their lord. But unlike fiefs which could have been initially taken away, the lord could not withdraw the land from his serfs. On the contrary, it was the lord who owed military protection to his serfs.īoth feudalism and manorialism determined the social status of an individual that eventually became hereditary. ![]() ![]() Unlike fief holders, the serfs were not obliged to provide military assistance to their lord. In return, they paid dues in kind, service or money. They held land from their lord who could have been a king, duke, bishop, abbot or a lesser noble. Manorial system was based on self-sufficient manorial estates, and regulated production and land tenancy of the serfs. It lacked the military character of feudalism that based on a system of fiefs according to which the land was held by a vassal from his lord in return for political allegiance and military service. The first was a political and military institution, while the manorial system was an economic organization of a feudal estate. The most important difference between feudalism and manorialism was their concept. Both terms refer to a landholding system in medieval Europe and were closely related, however, they were two distinct systems with several important differences. However, they cannot be used interchangeably because there were some important differences between both landholding systems.įeudalism and manorialism (or manorial system) were the key characteristics of the Middle Ages. They were closely related and provided the basis for the feudal society that survived until the 19th century in some parts of Europe. Feudalism and manorialism were the predominant landholding systems in most parts of medieval Europe. ![]()
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