feudal system essay in english

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feudalism , historiographic construct designating the social, economic, and political conditions in western Europe during the early Middle Ages , the long stretch of time between the 5th and 12th centuries. Feudalism and the related term feudal system are labels invented long after the period to which they were applied. They refer to what those who invented them perceived as the most significant and distinctive characteristics of the early and central Middle Ages. The expressions féodalité and feudal system were coined by the beginning of the 17th century, and the English words feudality and feudalism (as well as feudal pyramid ) were in use by the end of the 18th century. They were derived from the Latin words feudum (“fief”) and feodalitas (services connected with the fief), both of which were used during the Middle Ages and later to refer to a form of property holding. Use of the terms associated with feudum to denote the essential characteristics of the early Middle Ages has invested the fief with exaggerated prominence and placed undue emphasis on the importance of a special mode of land tenure to the detriment of other, more significant aspects of social, economic, and political life.

The terms feudalism and feudal system were generally applied to the early and central Middle Ages—the period from the 5th century, when central political authority in the Western empire disappeared, to the 12th century, when kingdoms began to emerge as effective centralized units of government. For a relatively brief period, from the mid-8th to the early 9th century, the Carolingian rulers, especially Pippin (reigned 751–768) and Charlemagne (reigned 768/771–814), had remarkable success in creating and maintaining a relatively unified empire. Before and afterward, however, political units were fragmented and political authority diffused. The mightier of the later Carolingians attempted to regulate local magnates and enlist them in their service, but the power of local elites was never effaced. In the absence of forceful kings and emperors, local lords expanded the territory subject to them and intensified their control over the people living there. In many areas the term feudum , as well as the terms beneficium and casamentum , came to be used to describe a form of property holding. The holdings these terms denoted have often been considered essentially dependent tenures , over which their holders’ rights were notably limited. As the words were used in documents of the period, however, the characteristics of the holdings to which they were applied are difficult to distinguish from those of tenures designated by such words as allodium , which has generally been translated as “freehold property.”

Fiefs still existed in the 17th century, when the feudal model—or, as contemporary historians term it, the feudal construct—was developed. At that time, the fief was a piece of property, usually land, that was held in return for service, which could include military duties. The fief holder swore fidelity to the person from whom the fief was held (the lord , dominus , or seigneur ) and became his (or her) man. The ceremony in which the oath was taken was called homage (from the Latin, homo ; “man”). These institutions survived in England until they were abolished by Parliament in 1645 and, after the Restoration , by Charles II in 1660. Until their eradication by the National Assembly between 1789 and 1793, they had considerable importance in France, where they were employed to create and reinforce familial and social bonds. Their pervasiveness made students of the past eager to understand how they had come into being. Similarities of terminology and practice found in documents surviving from the Middle Ages—especially the Libri feudorum (“Book of Fiefs”), an Italian compilation of customs relating to property holding, which was made in the 12th century and incorporated into Roman law —led historians and lawyers to search for the origins of contemporary feudal institutions in the Middle Ages.

As defined by scholars in the 17th century, the medieval “feudal system” was characterized by the absence of public authority and the exercise by local lords of administrative and judicial functions formerly (and later) performed by centralized governments; general disorder and endemic conflict; and the prevalence of bonds between lords and free dependents ( vassals ), which were forged by the lords’ bestowal of property called “ fiefs ” and by their reception of homage from the vassals. These bonds entailed the rendering of services by vassals to their lords (military obligations, counsel , financial support) and the lords’ obligation to protect and respect their vassals. These characteristics were in part deduced from medieval documents and chronicles, but they were interpreted in light of 17th-century practices and semantics. Learned legal commentaries on the laws governing the property called “fiefs” also affected interpretation of the sources. These commentaries, produced since the 13th century, focused on legal theory and on rules derived from actual disputes and hypothetical cases. They did not include (nor were they intended to provide) dispassionate analysis of historical development. Legal commentators in the 16th century had prepared the way for the elaboration of the feudal construct by formulating the idea, loosely derived from the Libri feudorum , of a single feudal law, which they presented as being spread throughout Europe during the early Middle Ages.

The terms feudalism and feudal system enabled historians to deal summarily with a long span of European history whose complexities were—and remain—confusing. The Roman Empire and the various emperors’ accomplishments provided a key to understanding Roman history, and the reemergence of states and strong rulers in the 12th century again furnished manageable focal points for historical narrative, particularly since medieval states and governmental practices can be presented as antecedents of modern nations and institutions. The feudal construct neatly filled the gap between the 5th and the 12th century. Although Charlemagne may seem an anomaly in this evolution, he was presented as “sowing the seeds” from which feudalism emerged. A variety of Roman, barbarian, and Carolingian institutions were considered antecedents of feudal practices: Roman lordship and clientage, barbarian war chiefdoms and bands, grants of lands to soldiers and to officeholders, and oaths of loyalty and fidelity. In the 17th century, as later, the high point of feudalism was located in the 11th century. Later rulers who adopted and adapted feudal institutions to increase their power were labeled “feudal” and their governments called “feudal monarchies.” Despite the survival of institutions and practices associated with the medieval feudal system in the 17th century, historians of that time presented medieval feudalism and the feudal system as declining in importance in the 14th and 15th centuries. This period was later dubbed an age of “ bastard feudalism ” because of the use of salaries and written contracts between lords and dependents.

Those who formulated the concept of feudalism were affected by the search for simplicity and order in the universe associated with the work of Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) and especially Isaac Newton (1642–1727). Historians and philosophers were persuaded that if the universe operated systematically, so too must societies. In the 16th century some students of the law and customs of the fief declared that feudal institutions were universal and maintained that feudal systems had existed in Rome, Persia , and Judaea . The philosopher Giambattista Vico (1668–1744) considered the fief one of humankind’s eternal institutions. Adopting a similar position, Voltaire (1694–1778) contested the judgment of Montesquieu (1689–1755) that the appearance of feudal laws was a unique historical event. The philosophical historians of 18th-century Scotland searched for feudalism outside western Europe, and they expanded the construct’s field of significance to encompass peasants as well as lords. Adam Smith (1723–90) presented feudal government as a stage of social development characterized by the absence of commerce and by the use of semi-free labour to cultivate land. Smith’s student John Millar (1735–1801) found “the outlines of the feudal policy” in Asia and Africa. The association popularly made between the feudal construct and ignorance and barbarism fostered its extension to regions which Europeans scarcely knew and which they considered backward and primitive.

Following Millar’s precedent, some later historians continued to look for feudal institutions in times and places outside medieval Europe, most notably Japan . These efforts, predictably, resulted in misconceptions and misunderstanding. Historians using the feudal model for comparative purposes emphasized those characteristics which resemble or seem to resemble Western feudal practices and neglected other, dissimilar aspects, some of which were uniquely significant in shaping the evolution of the areas in question. For Westerners, the use of the feudal model necessarily created a deceptive sense of familiarity with societies that are different from their own.

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Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Essays

Feudalism and knights in medieval europe.

Viking Sword

Aquamanile in the Form of a Mounted Knight

A Knight of the d'Aluye Family

Michael Norris Department of Education, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

October 2001

From the ninth to the early eleventh centuries, invasions of the Magyars from the east, Muslims from the south, and Vikings from the north struck western Europe. This unrest ultimately spurred greater unity in England and Germany, but in northern France centralized authority broke down and the region split into smaller and smaller political units. By the ninth century, many knights and nobles held estates (fiefs) granted by greater lords in return for military and other service. This feudal system (from the medieval Latin feodum or feudum , fee or fief) enabled a cash-poor but land-rich lord to support a military force. But this was not the only way that land was held, knights maintained, and loyalty to a lord retained. Lands could be held unconditionally, landless knights could be sheltered in noble households, and loyalties could be maintained through kinship, friendship, or wages.

Mounted armored warriors , or knights (from the Old English cniht , boy or servant), were the dominant forces of medieval armies. The twelfth-century Byzantine princess Anna Komnena wrote that the impact of a group of charging French knights “might rupture the walls of Babylon .” At first, most knights were of humble origins, some of them not even possessing land, but by the later twelfth century knights were considered members of the nobility and followed a system of courteous knightly behavior called chivalry (from cheval , the French word for horse). During and after the fourteenth century , weapons that were particularly effective against horsemen appeared on the battlefield, such as the longbow, pike, halberd, and cannon. Yet despite the knights’ gradual loss of military importance, the system by which noble families were identified, called heraldry, continued to flourish and became more complex. The magnificence of their war games—called tournaments—also increased, as did the number of new knightly orders, such as the Order of the Garter.

Norris, Michael. “Feudalism and Knights in Medieval Europe.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/feud/hd_feud.htm (October 2001)

Further Reading

Bennett, Judith M., and C. Warren Hollister. Medieval Europe: A Short History . 10th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2005.

Gies, Joseph and Frances Gies. Life in a Medieval Castle . New York: Harper & Row, 1979.

Additional Essays by Michael Norris

• Norris, Michael. “ The Papacy during the Renaissance .” (August 2007)
• Norris, Michael. “ Arms and Armor in Medieval Europe .” (October 2001)
• Norris, Michael. “ Life of Jesus of Nazareth .” (originally published June 2008, last revised September 2008)

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The Medieval Feudal System Explained

Feudalism was a way of structuring society during the Middle Ages, which created a set of rules for who could do what in day-to-day life.

This affected everyone's interaction with the legal, economic, and military systems in Medieval Europe from the 9th to the 15th centuries.

The feudal system evolved over several centuries as a way of organizing society after the fall of the Roman Empire. In England, the feudal system was already in existence before William of Normandy's conquest in AD 1066, but his victory helped consolidate and reshape the system.

By the time of the Middle Ages, feudalism had become a rigid hierarchy that was exceedingly difficult to change.

How the feudal system worked

Under feudalism, people were placed on a theoretical ladder. Those at the top of the ladder had the most power, and those at the bottom had very little power.

However, no matter where you sat on this ladder, you had both duties and benefits.

Duties were things you owed to other people, usually those above you on the ladder.

Whereas benefits were the things other people gave you, usually those above you on the ladder as well.

This system was based primarily on the ownership of land in a kingdom. In theory, the king, who was at the very top of the ladder, owned all of the land in their kingdom.

However, practically speaking, the king could never physically be in all places at once to make sure the kingdom was doing what it should.

Therefore, the king divided parts of his kingdoms and assigned them to the people on the ladder rung below him to supervise a specific section of land.

This rung of people was known as the 'barons'.

As a result, the barons were given the 'benefit' of drawing an income from their assigned land from the king, but in return, they had a 'duty' to fight the king's wars whenever he needed them.

If the baron didn't fulfill his duty, they could lose the benefit, and the king could assign the land to a different baron.

However, barons faced a similar problem to the king: they couldn't be everywhere at once, even in their smaller section of the kingdom.

Therefore, they divided their region into smaller regions and assigned the next rung on the ladder to look after it: the knights .

In a similar way, the knights gained the benefit of drawing income from their assigned land but owed a duty to fight for the baron when required.

Bailiffs and Reeves

Even knights couldn't be everywhere at once in their lands, so they assigned supervisors called reeves, bailiffs, or stewards, to individual towns and manors, to ensure that crops were harvested, and taxes were paid.

Once again, these supervisors drew an income from their town but also had to fight in the knight's armies when needed.

Beneath the reeves and stewards on the feudal hierarchy were the serfs, or peasants.

Peasants were usually farmers, who had their own small section of land on which they had to grow their crops.

This land was theoretically given to them from the reeves and stewards, and as such, they could never leave nor sell the land.

The peasants were required to pay taxes on the crops they harvested every year.

This tax is what supplied the income for all of the people above them on the social ladder.

Peasants also had a duty to fight in their lord's armies when required. However, the peasants had the added benefit of being protected by the military forces of their lords.

The manorial system

The system of land distribution as outlined above, was able to work due to something called the Manor system.

This was one method of land distribution during the feudal era, working alongside other systems, such as the shire system, in England.

A manor was an expansive mansion built by barons or knights that oversaw large villages.

These manors were a focal point for local communities, and towns usually developed around them.

Each town typically had a marketplace, a church, and a tithe barn, where all of the taxes were stored.

Even though barons or knights owned the manor, they were rarely there in person, so their reeve or steward usually lived there.

As a result, the manor became a place where legal disputes were also resolved.

Peasants or merchants that had a legal problem usually took their case to the manor or the church to find justice.

Some communities were wealthy and important enough to also have a castle .

Castles were expensive structures and usually took several generations to finally complete.

If a town was large enough, a king, baron, or knight would pay for a defensible hill nearby to be fortified with a castle.

The benefit of this was, in case of an attack, everyone in the community could hide behind the castle wall for safety.

This was considered to be one of the most practical benefits of the feudal system for all rungs of medieval society.

Overall, feudalism was a complex and evolving system of land ownership and hierarchical obligations that governed social interactions and power dynamics during the Middle Ages.

While the article provides a simplified overview, it is important to remember that there were regional variations and changes over time.

For example, the nature of feudal relationships and obligations could differ markedly between England, France, and the Holy Roman Empire.

Understanding the intricacies of the feudal system is key to grasping the broader context of Medieval European history.

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Ch. 8 The Middle Ages in Europe

Learning objective.

• Recall the structure of the feudal state and the responsibilities and obligations of each level of society
• Feudalism flourished in Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries.
• Feudalism in England determined the structure of society around relationships derived from the holding and leasing of land, or fiefs .
• In England, the feudal pyramid was made up of the king at the top with the nobles, knights, and vassals below him.
• Before a lord could grant land to a tenant he would have to make him a vassal at a formal ceremony. This ceremony bound the lord and vassal in a contract.
• While modern writers such as Marx point out the negative qualities of feudalism, such as the exploitation and lack of social mobility for the peasants, the French historian Marc Bloch contends that peasants were part of the feudal relationship; while the vassals performed military service in exchange for the fief, the peasants performed physical labour in return for protection, thereby gaining some benefit despite their limited freedom.
• The 11th century in France saw what has been called by historians a “feudal revolution” or “mutation” and a “fragmentation of powers” that increased localized power and autonomy.

In the Middle Ages this was the ceremony in which a feudal tenant or vassal pledged reverence and submission to his feudal lord, receiving in exchange the symbolic title to his new position.

An oath, from the Latin fidelitas (faithfulness); a pledge of allegiance of one person to another.

Persons who entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe.

Heritable property or rights granted by an overlord to a vassal.

mesne tenant

A lord in the feudal system who had vassals who held land from him, but who was himself the vassal of a higher lord.

Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries. It can be broadly defined as a system for structuring society around relationships derived from the holding of land, known as a fiefdom or fief, in exchange for service or labour.

The classic version of feudalism describes a set of reciprocal legal and military obligations among the warrior nobility, revolving around the three key concepts of lords, vassals, and fiefs. A lord was in broad terms a noble who held land, a vassal was a person who was granted possession of the land by the lord, and a fief was what the land was known as. In exchange for the use of the fief and the protection of the lord, the vassal would provide some sort of service to the lord. There were many varieties of feudal land tenure, consisting of military and non-military service. The obligations and corresponding rights between lord and vassal concerning the fief formed the basis of the feudal relationship.

Feudalism, in its various forms, usually emerged as a result of the decentralization of an empire, especially in the Carolingian empires, which lacked the bureaucratic infrastructure necessary to support cavalry without the ability to allocate land to these mounted troops. Mounted soldiers began to secure a system of hereditary rule over their allocated land, and their power over the territory came to encompass the social, political, judicial, and economic spheres.

Many societies in the Middle Ages were characterized by feudal organizations, including England, which was the most structured feudal society, France, Italy, Germany, the Holy Roman Empire, and Portugal. Each of these territories developed feudalism in unique ways, and the way we understand feudalism as a unified concept today is in large part due to critiques after its dissolution. Karl Marx theorized feudalism as a pre-capitalist society, characterized by the power of the ruling class (the aristocracy) in their control of arable land, leading to a class society based upon the exploitation of the peasants who farm these lands, typically under serfdom and principally by means of labour, produce, and money rents.

While modern writers such as Marx point out the negative qualities of feudalism, the French historian Marc Bloch contends that peasants were an integral part of the feudal relationship: while the vassals performed military service in exchange for the fief, the peasants performed physical labour in return for protection, thereby gaining some benefit despite their limited freedom. Feudalism was thus a complex social and economic system defined by inherited ranks, each of which possessed inherent social and economic privileges and obligations. Feudalism allowed societies in the Middle Ages to retain a relatively stable political structure even as the centralized power of empires and kingdoms began to dissolve.

Structure of the Feudal State in England

Feudalism in 12th-century England was among the better structured and established systems in Europe at the time. The king was the absolute “owner” of land in the feudal system, and all nobles, knights, and other tenants, termed vassals, merely “held” land from the king, who was thus at the top of the feudal pyramid.

Below the king in the feudal pyramid was a tenant-in-chief (generally in the form of a baron or knight), who was a vassal of the king. Holding from the tenant-in-chief was a mesne tenant—generally a knight or baron who was sometimes a tenant-in-chief in their capacity as holder of other fiefs. Below the mesne tenant, further mesne tenants could hold from each other in series.

Before a lord could grant land (a fief) to someone, he had to make that person a vassal. This was done at a formal and symbolic ceremony called a commendation ceremony, which was composed of the two-part act of homage and oath of fealty. During homage, the lord and vassal entered into a contract in which the vassal promised to fight for the lord at his command, while the lord agreed to protect the vassal from external forces.

Roland pledges his fealty to Charlemagne. Roland (right) receives the sword, Durandal, from the hands of Charlemagne (left). From a manuscript of a chanson de geste, c. 14th Century.

Once the commendation ceremony was complete, the lord and vassal were in a feudal relationship with agreed obligations to one another. The vassal’s principal obligation to the lord was “aid,” or military service. Using whatever equipment the vassal could obtain by virtue of the revenues from the fief, he was responsible for answering calls to military service on behalf of the lord. This security of military help was the primary reason the lord entered into the feudal relationship. In addition, the vassal could have other obligations to his lord, such as attendance at his court, whether manorial or baronial, or at the king’s court.

The vassal’s obligations could also involve providing “counsel,” so that if the lord faced a major decision he would summon all his vassals and hold a council. At the level of the manor this might be a fairly mundane matter of agricultural policy, but could also include sentencing by the lord for criminal offenses, including capital punishment in some cases. In the king’s feudal court, such deliberation could include the question of declaring war. These are only examples; depending on the period of time and location in Europe, feudal customs and practices varied.

Feudalism in France

In its origin, the feudal grant of land had been seen in terms of a personal bond between lord and vassal, but with time and the transformation of fiefs into hereditary holdings, the nature of the system came to be seen as a form of “politics of land.” The 11th century in France saw what has been called by historians a “feudal revolution” or “mutation” and a “fragmentation of powers” that was unlike the development of feudalism in England, Italy, or Germany in the same period or later. In France, counties and duchies began to break down into smaller holdings as castellans and lesser seigneurs took control of local lands, and (as comital families had done before them) lesser lords usurped/privatized a wide range of prerogatives and rights of the state—most importantly the highly profitable rights of justice, but also travel dues, market dues, fees for using woodlands, obligations to use the lord’s mill, etc. Power in this period became more personal and decentralized.

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We explain what feudalism was, and how society was divided at the time. In addition, we explore the basis of feudal economy, and its characteristics.

What was feudalism?

Feudalism was a social system that emerged in the Frankish kingdom in the Early Middle Ages and spread throughout Western Europe during the High Middle Ages (between the 11th and 13th centuries). From an economic standpoint, it was a land tenure system that favored the rural nobility and encouraged serfdom. Politically, it entailed a dispersion of power in favor of feudal lords with local and regional authority.

Feudal relationships were contracts of mutual obligations between two freemen: a lord and a vassal. The lord granted protection and land (called "fiefs") to a vassal in exchange for allegiance and military assistance (or other services). Kings had their own vassals who, in turn, could be lords of other vassals , thereby forming a pyramid of land distribution and obligations that involved a significant part of society.

In the feudal system, peasants were particularly important , as the socioeconomic foundation of the system was rural. Serfs, in turn, were tied to land they did not own, and had to pay rents to a lord. Land granted as a fief always included the serfs who worked it. Free peasants were land-owners but could be obliged to pay fees or tribute to a lord with jurisdictional power.

The term "feudalism" is used by some historians to refer to other historical experiences , such as China during the Zhou dynasty, Japan in the shogunate periods, and parts of Eastern Europe at various periods in history.

• See also: Imperialism

Historical context of feudalism

An antecedent to feudalism was the colonate system in the Roman Empire . Under this system, large landowners installed coloni (freed slaves or peasants) on their lands , who had to work them for sustenance and to pay rents to their lord in exchange for protection.

Following the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century, Western Europe became divided into several smaller political units . This lasted until the formation of the short-lived Carolingian Empire, which implemented a reward system to loyal nobles, involving land grants in exchange for services (mostly military).

After the fragmentation of the Carolingian Empire in the 9th century, several areas of Western Europe were attacked by Magyars, Muslims, and Vikings . Defense required swift action, which fell upon local lords, who had resources to build fortifications and gather fighting forces without having to wait for the arrival of royal troops.

This encouraged a system of political fragmentation that gave power to feudal lords , and shaped the High Middle Ages. Nevertheless, from the end of the 11th century onwards, some kings, dukes and counts began a process of concentration of political power that placed them in a position of greater authority in their territories, as was the case of King Louis VI of France, Count Ramon Berenguer I of Barcelona, and Duke William II of Normandy, who ascended to the English throne.

The feudal system began to lose prominence in the 14th century , when epidemics, peasant revolts, and the increasing growth of the urban bourgeoisie diminished the power of the nobility and paved the way for the emergence of centralized monarchies.

Feudal society

Social estates.

Feudal society was divided into three clearly distinct estates:

• Nobility . Nobles possessed large tracts of land, generally earned as payment for their military efforts or other services (though in practice they could also be inherited). They were organized in lineages and maintained bonds of vassalage with other feudal lords or with the king. According to their nobility titles and their position in the social hierarchy, they could belong to the higher nobility (dukes, counts, and marquises) or the lower nobility (viscounts, barons, knights, and hidalgos, among others).
• Clergy. Ecclesiastical members, whose supreme authority was the Pope based in Rome, handled religious matters, which shaped human behavior at the time. Clergymen could belong to the secular clergy, who resided in churches and cathedrals, or to the regular clergy, who observed the rule of a religious order and resided in convents or monasteries. They often enjoyed the privileges of feudal lords.
• Workers. While in the social hierarchy of the time this estate was composed of serfs, some historians encompass in it various types of workers who would later comprise the so-called "third estate". Serfs were the lowest stratum of feudal society, in charge of working and cultivating the land. Although they were not slaves, they were tied for life to their lord’s land, to whom they had to pay a rent in kind and sometimes other services. Their status was hereditary. Free peasants were land-owners but had to pay tribute or other obligations to the lord, who had jurisdiction over a territory (usually referred to as a "lordship"). Artisans and merchants lived in cities and, although they interacted with other social classes, they remained outside the feudal system.

The Church and the nobles justified this hierarchy by arguing that each estate had a role determined by God : to pray (clergy), to fight (nobility), and to work (serfs and peasants).

The highest authority in a kingdom was the king or emperor , but in practice he also depended on vassalage relationships with other nobles. Feudal lords usually had more real power than the king within the boundaries of their own lands.

One of the most important institutions of feudalism was vassalage. It consisted of a contract of mutual obligations between two free men: the "lord" and the "vassal" . Vassalage was a pledge of allegiance and service of the vassal (mainly concerning military matters, though it could also involve a payment) and in return, protection duties or sustenance obligations from the lord.

In this way, the lord granted his vassals "fiefs", i.e. lands (along with the serfs that occupied them) over which the vassals gained usufruct rights. In turn, vassals pledged to assist their lord whenever summoned . Knights were also vassals of a lord (noble or king), but did not always receive a fief in exchange for their service.

Vassalage permeated a large part of feudal society. A king could be lord of a noble vassal to whom he granted a fief, who in turn could be lord of other vassals with similar commitments. The vassalage contract between nobles was formalized with an oath ceremony that included "homage" and "investiture". A vassal who failed to fulfill his oath of fealty incurred a felony and could lose the fief . If a lord failed in his duties, the vassal could break the oath and demand reparation.

In this type of social structure, a feudal lord with numerous vassals could often wield more power than the king himself.

During feudal times, the figure of the knight emerged, becoming a literary motif in the medieval cantares de gesta and in the 16th-century chivalric novels (parodied in Miguel de Cervantes' famous novel "The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha").

Knights were professional mounted warriors at the service of a king or feudal lord . Some received a fief in vassalage. In general, before being knighted they had to complete a series of stages, starting as pages and squires. In addition, they had to acquire their own military equipment (such as sword and armor).

Chivalry was an important military component that provided mobility and attack strength , but which also became an ideal of honor and religious devotion. Knights had to adhere to a strict code of conduct. Their participation in the Crusades was of major importance, and some Catholic religious-military orders, such as the Knights Templar and the Teutonic Knights, arose from these military campaigns.

The Catholic Church

One of the most significant events of the 11th century was the schism that broke the Western Catholic Church from the Eastern Orthodox Church (1054) . Furthermore, in those years the Catholic Church underwent a series of reforms spurred by criticisms to corruption and practices such as the sale of ecclesiastical offices and the conferring of lay investiture (in accordance with the principles of vassalage but contrary to the doctrine of the Church).

Some of these reform movements originated in monasteries like in Cluny in France. The dispute over the appointment of clergymen (including the Pope himself) pitted the Church against the Holy Roman Empire during the so-called "Investiture Controversy" (between 1075 and 1122). Eventually, an agreement was reached by which the laity could neither invest clerics nor select the Supreme Pontiff , but rather he would be elected by a college of cardinals. This ensured papal supremacy in religious matters.

In feudal society, ecclesiastics (mainly bishops and abbots) enjoyed the privileges that their position afforded them in the feudal hierarchy: they owned lands and exploited serfs. But they also provided an ideological justification for the system. According to the Catholic Church, kings ruled by the grace of God , and the prevailing rigid social order, which caused all sorts of suffering to those who did not belong to the privileged estates, emanated from God and should not be questioned.

One of the most important enterprises of the Catholic Church in feudal times was the launch of the Crusades . The first of these military expeditions to the Holy Land arose from a call made by Pope Urban II to all of Christendom (which included the realms and nobles of Western Christianity in agreement with the Byzantine Empire ) to expel the Seljuk Turkish Empire from the "Holy Land".

Only the first of these Crusades was successful for Christendom , but it nonetheless had major consequences, such as the creation of religious-military orders, the strengthening of religious fervor, and the opening of trade routes across the Mediterranean. The defeats in the subsequent Crusades had adverse effects on the Church and other privileged classes.

Rural economy

In feudal times, the generation of wealth essentially stemmed from agriculture and cattle raising, carried out by serfs and free peasants.

This rural economy experienced growth between the 11th and 13th centuries due to the expansion of arable lands as a result of plowing and triennial rotation, particularly in France, England, Germany, and the Low Countries. Also important were improvements in the plow and the use of mills.

Rents and tributes

The feudal economy was grounded in rents and tribute. Serfs had to pay "in kind" (grains, livestock, or other agricultural products) for the right to live on the lord's land . In some cases, they were also required to fulfill labor duties, such as providing hand labor (for example, in the lord's demesne).

Free peasants also had to pay rents or tribute, generally in kind. The “banal lordship” granted some lords jurisdictional power over a territory where they could administer justice and levy taxes for the use of bridges, ovens, mills, or other facilities under their charge. Another form of tribute was tithing, originally a 10% contribution of the produce destined to the maintenance of the clergy.

Cities and trade

In the early years of feudal society trade was very limited, and the characteristic urbanism of the Roman Empire had been replaced by a nearly absolute ruralization of the economy (with the exception of a few Italian cities). However, cities and trade experienced a resurgence beginning in the late 11th century .

Agricultural innovations facilitated the generation of larger surplus, which was used for the purchase of handcrafted products, such as fabrics or new tools. These, in turn, improved production and increased agricultural surplus , thus allowing the cycle to expand.

These transactions were usually conducted in "burgs" or towns inhabited by artisans and merchants (known as "burghers"). They were often located near castles or at crossroads and were typically fortified. These cities housed markets that were often under the protection of lords . The commercial trade stimulus made it possible to hold seasonal trade fairs involving exchanges on a larger scale. Currency increasingly began to circulate in these fairs and, in time, some merchants and artisans began to offer loans, becoming the earliest bankers and financiers.

City dwellers organized themselves in merchant and craft guilds by trade and enjoyed growing autonomy from feudal lords. They obtained privileges and other liberties guaranteed by the king, and in some cities they even came to establish autonomous governments with their own municipal ordinances. The wealthier sectors formed urban patriciates, but sometimes had to face conflicts with feudal lords, which partly explains the use of defensive walls and the subsequent formation of leagues or confederations of cities.

Many cities played a major role in long-distance trade routes. The most prominent cities were those situated in Northern Italy , where merchants competed for the control of Mediterranean trade. Pilgrimage routes and the Crusades also became important trade routes.

Military system

The feudal order emerged following the fragmentation of the Carolingian Empire and the onslaughts from Vikings, Magyars, and Muslims. The lords who offered military protection, provided by the service of vassals and the construction of castles, accumulated great power. This military system played a significant role during the frequent wars between kingdoms or lords , which were raids and sieges rather than pitched battles.

This type of warfare emphasized the significance of siege engines and cavalry mobility. Knights were important in the Crusades that pitted Christian combatants against Muslim armies for the control of the Holy Land.

In feudal times, warfare served as a means to settle dynastic or territorial disputes , enabling the victors to reap economic benefits by seizing the lands of the vanquished, thereby increasing their pool of serfs (who were tied to the land), and thus enhancing their capacity to produce food and acquire new vassals.

However, warfare could also be a source of discontent among peasants, who saw their lands frequently plundered or were subjected to increased tributes to fund the wars of nobles or kings. This might have explained some of the peasant revolts in the 14th century.

One of the most notable features of the Middle Ages were castles. Throughout the feudal era, numerous fortified structures were erected across Europe, usually situated in strategic locations , such as on high ground. Commissioned by kings or feudal lords, these structures primarily had defensive functions and served as bases for military operations.

In the event of enemy assault, their towering stone walls provided protection for the lord (known as "castellan") and his family, and refuge to the peasants within his manor. In addition, they ensured supplies during sieges.

Some of these structures were begun amidst the intermittent attacks from Vikings, Magyars, and Muslims during the 9th and 10th centuries. Over time, construction techniques evolved and refined.

Castles were often concentric, that is, they had a double wall (outer and inner), and had one or more towers , interior courtyards and, sometimes, a peripheral moat. In addition to their defensive function, castles served as the permanent or temporary residence of the lord, who often received his vassals there. Castles were also inhabited by men-at-arms and servants.

During the Crusades, castles were built in Asian territory, such as the imposing Krak Des Chevaliers in present-day Syria.

End of feudalism

The decline of feudalism in Western Europe during the 14th century was brought about by various factors. Wars, epidemics, and urban migrations reduced the rural population . The subsequent labor shortage accelerated the end of serfdom. Nobles, who had to face important peasant revolts, gradually started to lose political power.

In wars (notably within the context of the Hundred Years' War), kings began to rely more on mercenaries than on their vassals , with the latter paying their obligations with currency. Lords progressively abandoned their manors, and leased their lands to peasants instead.

The urban bourgeoisie accumulated wealth, becoming moneylenders to kings and princes . This consolidated great commercial houses that served the increasingly centralized monarchies in a growing monetized economy.

Finally, while certain aspects of feudal society lingered for centuries, the power of lords inevitably declined.

Explore next:

• Ancient Egypt
• Spanish Civil War
• Conflicts in the Middle East
• Bloch, M. (1986). La sociedad feudal . Akal.
• Brown, E. A. R. (2021). feudalism. Encyclopedia Britannica .
• Duby, G. (1992). Los tres órdenes o lo imaginario del feudalismo . Taurus.
• García de Cortázar, J. A. & Sesma Muñoz, J. A. (2008). Manual de Historia Medieval . Alianza.
• Le Goff, J. (1999). La civilización del occidente medieval . Paidós.

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The feudal system in Norman England

I can explain how the feudal system helped William control his kingdom.

Lesson details

Key learning points.

• The strict conditions for holding land from the king became known as the feudal system.
• The feudal system made landholding less secure than it had been under Anglo-Saxon kings.
• A key relationship in the feudal system was between a vassal and their overlord.
• Holding land came with obligations such as paying homage, providing knight service or labour service.
• The feudal system increased William’s power and control over England.

Common misconception

Paying homage, swearing allegiance, or making promises were weak obligations.

In fact, these promises are with the king and God. It was unlikely you would break a public and spiritual promise like this. It would not be good for your reputation or your soul!

Feudal - feudal refers to a hierarchical social system where people receive land to live and work on from those higher than them, and in return have to work and fight for them

Homage - paying homage was to publicly submit and swear an oath of fealty (loyalty) to someone above you in the feudal system

Overlord - an overlord in the feudal system was someone who granted land in return for service

Vassal - a vassal in the feudal system was someone who provided a service (e.g. labour) to an overlord in return for land

Fief - a fief was a parcel of land given by an overlord to a vassal in return for their service to their overlord

Content guidance

• Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
• Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited ( 2024 ), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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Feudalism in Middle Ages

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Essay on Feudalism

Students are often asked to write an essay on Feudalism in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Feudalism

What is feudalism.

Feudalism was like a team game where everyone had a role. Kings gave land to nobles, who were like team captains. Nobles then picked knights to protect the land. In return, the knights got small pieces of land to live on. Farmers, called serfs, worked the land for the knights but didn’t own any of it.

The Feudal Pyramid

Imagine a pyramid with the king at the top. Below him were the nobles, then the knights, and at the bottom were the serfs. This pyramid shows who had power and who worked for whom. The higher you were, the more power you had.

Life of Serfs

Serfs were like the workers of the team. They farmed, fixed buildings, and did whatever the knights asked. They couldn’t leave their land without permission and had a tough life. But they had a home and protection, which was important back then.

End of Feudalism

Over time, things changed. Money became more important than land. People could buy and sell goods instead of just working the land. Soldiers were paid to fight, so knights weren’t as needed. Slowly, the team game of feudalism came to an end.

250 Words Essay on Feudalism

Feudalism was a way of life in the Middle Ages, from around the 9th to the 15th century. It was a system where a king gave land to lords, who were powerful people. In return, these lords promised to be loyal to the king and give him soldiers when needed.

The Feudal System

In this system, the king was at the top. Next came the lords and nobles, who got big pieces of land called fiefs. Below the lords were knights, who were given smaller pieces of land for their service. At the bottom were peasants or serfs. These were farmers who worked the land for the lords and knights. They were not free to leave and had a hard life.

Life of the People

Lords lived in large houses or castles and had a comfortable life. Knights trained for battle and fought for their lords. Peasants worked hard, growing food and raising animals. They gave part of what they grew to the lords. The rest was for their families.

Over time, trade grew, and money became more important than land. Wars and diseases also made it hard for lords to control their lands. Slowly, the feudal system came to an end. Instead, countries started to have kings with more power and governments to make laws.

Feudalism was an important part of history that shows how people and societies can organize themselves in different ways. It teaches us about the past and helps us understand how things change over time.

500 Words Essay on Feudalism

Feudalism was a way of life in the Middle Ages, especially in Europe, from around the 9th to the 15th century. It was like a set of rules for how people lived and worked together. Imagine a big game where everyone has a role. Some people are leaders, some are workers, and everyone must follow the rules to make sure things run smoothly.

Under the lords were the knights. Knights were like the protectors of the land. They had to fight for the lords and the king when there was a war. In return, they got small pieces of land to live on and food to eat.

At the bottom were the peasants or serfs. These were the everyday workers who farmed the land. They didn’t own the land but lived on it and worked hard to grow food. They had to give some of their food to the lord as rent. Life was tough for peasants, but this was the way things worked back then.

Life on the Manor

The role of the church.

The church was very powerful during feudal times. It was involved in almost every part of life. The church taught people how to live and what to believe. It also owned a lot of land and could be like a lord, with peasants working on its lands. The church helped the poor and sick, but it also expected people to pay it a part of what they earned.

The Decline of Feudalism

Over time, things changed, and feudalism began to fade away. Wars, diseases like the Black Plague, and the growth of towns and trade meant that people didn’t rely on the feudal system as much. Peasants started to pay rent with money instead of food and could even leave the land to find work in towns. Eventually, kings became stronger and didn’t need lords as much.

Feudalism’s Impact

In conclusion, feudalism was a unique system that controlled how people lived for many centuries. It had clear roles for everyone, from the king to the peasants. While it might seem strange to us now, it was just the way of life back then. As time passed, new ideas and changes in society led to the end of feudalism, but its memory still affects us today.

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The Impact of the Norman Conquest of England

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The Norman conquest of England , led by William the Conqueror (r. 1066-1087 CE) was achieved over a five-year period from 1066 CE to 1071 CE. Hard-fought battles, castle building, land redistribution, and scorched earth tactics ensured that the Normans were here to stay. The conquest saw the Norman elite replace that of the Anglo- Saxons and take over the country's lands, the Church was restructured, a new architecture was introduced in the form of motte and bailey castles and Romanesque cathedrals, feudalism became much more widespread, and the English language absorbed thousands of new French words, amongst a host of many other lasting changes which all combine to make the Norman invasion a momentous watershed in English history.

Conquest: Hastings to Ely

The conquest of England by the Normans started with the 1066 CE Battle of Hastings when King Harold Godwinson (aka Harold II, r. Jan-Oct 1066 CE) was killed and ended with William the Conqueror's defeat of Anglo- Saxon rebels at Ely Abbey in East Anglia in 1071 CE. In between, William had to more or less constantly defend his borders with Wales and Scotland , repel two invasions from Ireland by Harold's sons, and put down three rebellions at York.

The consequences of the Norman conquest were many and varied. Further, some effects were much longer-lasting than others. It is also true that society in England was already developing along its own path of history before William the Conqueror arrived and so it is not always so clear-cut which of the sometimes momentous political, social, and economic changes of the Middle Ages had their roots in the Norman invasion and which may well have developed under a continued Anglo-Saxon regime. Still, the following list summarises what most historians agree on as some of the most important changes the Norman conquest brought in England:

• the Anglo-Saxon landowning elite was almost totally replaced by Normans.
• the ruling apparatus was made much more centralised with power and wealth being held in much fewer hands.
• the majority of Anglo-Saxon bishops were replaced with Norman ones and many dioceses' headquarters were relocated to urban centres.
• Norman motte and bailey castles were introduced which reshaped warfare in England, reducing the necessity for and risk of large-scale field engagements.
• the system of feudalism developed as William gave out lands in return for military service (either in person or a force of knights paid for by the landowner).
• manorialism developed and spread further where labourers worked on their lord's estate for his benefit.
• the north of England was devastated for a long time following William's harrying of 1069-70 CE.
• Domesday Book , a detailed and systematic catalogue of the land and wealth in England was compiled in 1086-7 CE.
• the contact and especially trade between England and Continental Europe greatly increased.
• the two countries of France and England became historically intertwined, initially due to the crossover of land ownership, i.e. Norman nobles holding lands in both countries.
• the syntax and vocabulary of the Anglo-Saxon Germanic language were significantly influenced by the French language.

The Ruling Elite

The Norman conquest of England was not a case of one population invading the lands of another but rather the wresting of power from one ruling elite by another. There was no significant population movement of Norman peasants crossing the channel to resettle in England, then a country with a population of 1.5-2 million people. Although, in the other direction, many Anglo-Saxon warriors fled to Scandinavia after Hastings, and some even ended up in the elite Varangian Guard of the Byzantine emperors.

The lack of an influx of tens of thousands of Normans was no consolation for the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy, of course, as 20 years after Hastings there were only two powerful Anglo-Saxon landowners in England. Some 200 Norman nobles and 100 bishops and monasteries were given estates which had been distributed amongst 4,000 Anglo-Saxon landowners prior to 1066 CE. To ensure the Norman nobles did not abuse their power (and so threaten William himself), many of the old Anglo-Saxon tools of governance were kept in place, notably the sheriffs who governed in the king's name the districts or shires into which England had traditionally been divided. The sheriffs were also replaced with Normans but they did provide a balance to Norman landowners in their jurisdiction.

The Church was similarly restructured with the appointment of Norman bishops - including in 1070 CE, the key archbishops of Canterbury (to Lanfranc) and York (to Thomas) - so that by 1087 CE there were only two Anglo-Saxon bishops left. Another significant change was the move of many dioceses' headquarters - the main church or cathedral - to urban locations (Dorchester to Lincoln, Lichfield to Chester, and Sherborne to Salisbury being just some examples). This move gave William much greater administrative and military control of the Church across England but also benefitted the Church itself by bringing bishops closer to the relatively new urban populations.

The royal court and government became more centralised, indeed, more so than in any other kingdom in Europe thanks to the holding of land and resources by only a relatively few Norman families. Although William distributed land to loyal supporters, they did not typically receive any political power with their land. In a physical sense, the government was not centralised because William still did not have a permanent residence, preferring to move around his kingdom and regularly visit Normandy. The Treasury did, though, remain at Winchester and it was filled as a result of William imposing heavy taxes throughout his reign.

Motte & Bailey Castles

The Normans were hugely successful warriors and the importance they gave to cavalry and archers would affect English armies thereafter. Perhaps even more significant was the construction of garrisoned forts and castles across England. Castles were not entirely unknown in England prior to the conquest but they were then used only as defensive redoubts rather than a tool to control a geographical area. William embarked on a castle-building spree immediately after Hastings as he well knew that a protected garrison of cavalry could be the most effective method of military and administrative control over his new kingdom . From Cornwall to Northumbria, the Normans would build over 65 major castles and another 500 lesser ones in the decades after Hastings.

The Normans not only introduced a new concept of castle use but also military architecture to the British Isles: the motte and bailey castle . The motte was a raised mound upon which a fortified tower was built and the bailey was a courtyard surrounded by a wooden palisade which occupied an area around part of the base of the mound. The whole structure was further protected by an encircling ditch or moat. These castles were built in both rural and urban settings and, in many cases, would be converted into stone versions in the early 12th century CE. A good surviving example is the Castle Rising in Norfolk, but other, more famous castles still standing today which were originally Norman constructions include the Tower of London , Dover Castle in Kent, and Clifford's Tower in York. Norman Romanesque cathedrals were also built (for example, at York, Durham, Canterbury, Winchester, and Lincoln), with the white stone of Caen being an especially popular choice of material, one used, too, for the Tower of London.

Domesday, Feudalism & the Peasantry

There was no particular feeling of outraged nationalism following the conquest - the concept is a much more modern construct - and so peasants would not have felt their country had somehow been lost. Neither was there any specific hatred of the Normans as the English grouped all William's allies together as a single group - Bretons and Angevins were simply 'French speakers'. In the Middle Ages, visitors to an area that came from a distant town were regarded just as 'foreign' as someone from another country. Peasants really only felt loyalty to their own local communities and lords, although this may well have resulted in some ill-feeling when a lord was replaced by a Norman noble in cases where the Anglo-Saxon lord was held with any affection. The Normans would certainly have seemed like outsiders, a feeling only strengthened by language barriers, and the king, at least initially, did ensure loyalties by imposing harsh penalties on any dissent. For example, if a Norman were found murdered, then the nearest village was burnt - a policy hardly likely to win over any affection.

At the same time, there were new laws to ensure the Normans did not abuse their power, such as the crime of murder being applied to the unjustified killing of non-rebels or for personal gain and the introduction of trial by battle to defend one's innocence. In essence, citizens were required to swear an oath of loyalty to the king, in return for which they received legal protection if they were wronged. Some of the new laws would be long-lasting, such as the favouring of the firstborn in inheritance claims, while others were deeply unpopular, such as William's withdrawal of hunting rights in certain areas, notably the New Forest. Poachers were severely dealt with and could expect to be blinded or mutilated if caught. Another important change due to new laws regarded slavery, which was essentially eliminated from England by 1130 CE, just as it had been in Normandy.

Perhaps one area where hatred of all-things Norman was prevalent was the north of England. Following the rebellions against William's rule there in 1067 and 1068 CE, the king spent the winter of 1069-70 CE 'harrying' the entire northern part of his kingdom from the west to east coast. This involved hunting down rebels, murders and mutilations amongst the peasantry, and the burning of crops, livestock, and farming equipment, which resulted in a devastating famine. As Domesday Book (see below) revealed, much of the northern lands were devastated and catalogued as worthless. It would take over a century for the region to recover.

Domesday Book was compiled on William's orders in 1086-7 CE, probably to find out for tax purposes exactly who owned what in England following the deaths of many Anglo-Saxon nobles over the course of the conquest and the giving out of new estates and titles by the king to his loyal followers. Indeed, Domesday Book reveals William's total reshaping of land ownership and power in England. It was the most comprehensive survey ever undertaken in any medieval kingdom and is full of juicy statistics for modern historians to study such as the revelation that 90% of the population lived in the countryside and 75% of the people were serfs (unfree labourers).

A consequence of William's land policies was the development (but not the origin of) feudalism. That is, William, who considered all the land in England his own personal property, gave out parcels of land (fiefs) to nobles (vassals) who in return had to give military service when required, such as during a war or to garrison castles and forts. Not necessarily giving service in person, a noble had to provide a number of knights depending on the size of the fief. The noble could have free peasants or serfs (aka villeins) work his lands, and he kept the proceeds of that labour. If a noble had a large estate, he could rent it out to a lesser noble who, in turn, had peasants work that land for him, thus creating an elaborate hierarchy of land ownership. Under the Normans, ecclesiastical landowners such as monasteries were similarly required to provide knights for military service.

The manorial system developed from its early Anglo-Saxon form under the Normans. Manorialism derives its name from the 'manor', the smallest piece of land which could support a single family. For administrative purposes, estates were divided into these units. Naturally, a powerful lord could own many hundreds of manors, either in the same place or in different locations. Each manor had free and/or unfree labour which worked on the land. The profits of that labour went to the landowner while the labourers sustained themselves by also working a small plot of land loaned to them by their lord. Following William's policy of carving up estates and redistributing them, manorialism became much more widespread in England.

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Trade & International Relations

The histories and even the cultures to some extent of France and England became much more intertwined in the decades after the conquest. Even as the King of England, William remained the Duke of Normandy (and so he had to pay homage to the King of France). The royal houses became even more interconnected following the reigns of William's two sons (William II Rufus, r. 1087-1100 CE and Henry I, r. 1100-1135 CE) and the civil wars which broke out between rivals for the English throne from 1135 CE onwards. A side effect of this close contact was the significant modification over time of the Anglo-Saxon Germanic language, both the syntax and vocabulary being influenced by the French language. That this change occurred even amongst the illiterate peasantry is testimony to the fact that French was commonly heard spoken everywhere.

One specific area of international relations which greatly increased was trade. Before the conquest, England had had limited trade with Scandinavia, but as this region went into decline from the 11th century CE and because the Normans had extensive contacts across Europe (England was not the only place they conquered), then trade with the Continent greatly increased. Traders also relocated from the Continent, notably to places where they were given favourable customs arrangements. Thus places like London, Southampton, and Nottingham attracted many French merchant settlers, and this movement included other groups such as Jewish merchants from Rouen. Goods thus came and went across the English Channel, for example, huge quantities of English wool were exported to Flanders and wine was imported from France (although there is evidence it was not the best wine that country had to offer).

The Norman conquest of England, then, resulted in long-lasting and significant changes for both the conquered and the conquerors. The fate of the two countries of England and France would become inexorably linked over the following centuries as England became a much stronger and united kingdom within the British Isles and an influential participant in European politics and warfare thereafter. Even today, names of people and places throughout England remind of the lasting influence the Normans brought with them from 1066 CE onwards.

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• Morris, M. The Norman Conquest. Pegasus, 2017.
• Nicolle, D. The Normans. Osprey Publishing, 1987.
• Pounds, N.J.G. The Medieval Castle in England and Wales. Cambridge University Press, 1993.

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Cartwright, M. (2019, January 23). The Impact of the Norman Conquest of England . World History Encyclopedia . Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1323/the-impact-of-the-norman-conquest-of-england/

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Cartwright, Mark. " The Impact of the Norman Conquest of England ." World History Encyclopedia . Last modified January 23, 2019. https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1323/the-impact-of-the-norman-conquest-of-england/.

Cartwright, Mark. " The Impact of the Norman Conquest of England ." World History Encyclopedia . World History Encyclopedia, 23 Jan 2019. Web. 19 Aug 2024.

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The Australian Professor Who Turned Breaking on Its Head

Rachael Gunn, known as B-girl Raygun, displayed some … unique moves as she competed in a field with breakers half her age. The judges and the internet were underwhelmed.

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By Dodai Stewart and Talya Minsberg

Reporting from Paris

Breaking made its debut as an Olympic sport Friday, and among the competitors was Dr. Rachael Gunn, also known as B-girl Raygun, a 36-year-old professor from Sydney, Australia, who stood out in just about every way.

By day, her research interests include “dance, gender politics, and the dynamics between theoretical and practical methodologies.” But on the world’s stage in Paris, wearing green track pants and a green polo shirt instead of the street-style outfits of her much younger fellow breakers, she competed against the 21-year-old Logan Edra of the United States, known as Logistx.

During the round robin, as Raygun and Logistx faced off, Raygun laid on her side, reached for her toes, spun around, and threw in a kangaroo hop — a nod to her homeland. She performed a move that looked something like swimming and another that could best be described as duckwalking. The high-speed back and head spins that other breakers would demonstrate were mostly absent.

The crowd cheered Raygun politely. The judges weren’t as kind. All nine voted for Logistx in both rounds of the competition; Logistx won, 18-0.

Online, Raygun’s performance quickly became a sensation, not necessarily in a flattering way.

“The more I watch the videos of Raygun, the Aussie breaker, the more I get annoyed,” one viewer posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “There’s 27.7 million Australians in the world and that’s who they send to the Olympics for this inaugural event??? C’mon now!”

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