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Feudalism
After Charlemagne’s death there followed a time of invasions on the empire and the
central authority and economy began to collapse. Local lords, who had been counts under
Charlemagne, began to exercise public power that had previously only been for kings over their
ascribed regions in an attempt to provide order and security. The lords exercised virtually
supreme authority over their regions, and the people turned to him for protection and
administration of justice. This arrangement was later termed feudalism; a concept built on the
economic foundation of manorialism, where the manorial village was the means of organizing an
agricultural society despite limited markets and money. The people of this medieval time period
began to see their society as divided into three different groups: clergy, lords, and serfs. They
believed that society could only function smoothly if individuals accepted their status and
performed their proper roles. In the textbook, Bishop Adalbero of Laon says, “no free man could
exist without serfs.” (221). I disagree with Bishop Adalbero, and consequently the concept of a
tripartite society, because I believe that every man and woman is entitled to the freedom of being
their own lord and master.
This tripartite society presupposed a stable social order: clergy who prayed, lords who
warred and protected, and the serfs who toiled. A person’s rights, duties, and relationship
depended on his or her ranking in that social order – and the clergy of the time contended that
this arrangement was supported by God and the Holy Scriptures. In Ephesians it says, “slaves be
obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the
sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of
Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good will render service, as to the Lord, and
not to men.” (Ephesians 6:5-6, emphasis added). This verse written by Paul does not legitimize
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the practice of slavery; it was written to exhort those who were slaves and Christians. The slaves
of that time hand no control over their freedom, so Paul was writing to help them cope with their
lot in life and still live for Christ – not as slaves of man. He made the point that even if we are
pressed into slavery on this earth, we are to conduct ourselves as slaves to Christ, not to man.
And in that way, we become masters over ourselves, serving our Lord.
References
Perry et al. Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society, Tenth Edition (Chapter 9):
Volume 1 to 1789. Boston: Wadsworth.
Thompson Chain Reference Bible, New American Standard Bible. Indianapolis: B.B Kirkbride
Bible Co., Inc., 1993.
