The Pyramid of Power

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

In simple terms in medieval Europe there was several ranks on society: This can be best explained using a pyramid

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Peasants

On the bottom of the pyramid/society were the peasants. These were generally poor farmers who worked on the lands of nobles or the King. Their lives were controlled by the farming year. Certain jobs had to be done at certain times of the year. Their lives were harsh but there were few rebellions due to a harsh system of law and order. had to obey their local lord to whom they had sworn an oath of obedience on the Bible. Because they had sworn an oath to their lord, it was taken for granted that they had sworn a similar oath to the duke, earl or baron who owned that lord’s property.

The one thing the peasant had to do in Medieval times was to pay out money in taxes or rent. He had to pay rent for his land to his lord; he had to pay a tax to the church called a tithe. This was a tax on all of the farm produce he had produced in that year. A tithe was 10% of the value of what he had farmed. 

Peasants also had to work for free on church land. This was highly inconvenient as this time could have been used by the peasant to work on their own land. However, the power of the church was such that no-one dared break this rule as they had been taught from a very early age that God would see their sins and punish them.

The Domesday Book(William I ordered the book and was completed in 1086) meant that the King knew how much tax you owed and you could not argue with this – hence why it brought ‘doom and gloom’ to people.
After you had paid your taxes, you could keep what was left – which would not be a great deal. If you had to give away seeds for the next growing season, this could be especially hard as you might end up with not having enough to grow let alone to feed yourself.

Peasants lived in cruck houses. These had a wooden frame onto which was plastered wattle and daub. This was a mixture of mud, straw and manure. The straw added insulation to the wall while the manure was considered good for binding the whole mixture together and giving it strength. The mixture was left to dry in the sun and formed what was a strong building material. 

At night, any animal you owned would be brought inside for safety. There were a number of reasons for this.

• Wild animals roamed the countryside - wolves and bears in the forests and these could easily have taken a pig, cow or chickens. The loss of any animal could be a disaster but the loss of valuable animals such as an ox would be a calamity. 
• They could also have been stolen or simply have wandered off. 
• This would have brought fleas, and unhygienic conditions.

Knights

The knight was one of three types of fighting men during the middle ages: Knights, Foot Soldiers, and Archers. e was covered in multiple layers of armor, and could plow through foot soldiers standing in his way. No single foot soldier or archer could stand up to any one knight. Knights were also generally the wealthiest of the three types of soldiers. This was for a good reason. It was terribly expensive to be a knight. The war horse alone could cost the equivalent of a small airplane. Armor, shields, and weapons were also very expensive. Becoming a knight was part of the feudal agreement. In return for military service, the knight received a fief. In the late middle ages, many prospective knights began to pay "shield money" to their lord so that they wouldn't have to serve in the king's army. The money was then used to create a professional army that was paid and supported by the king. These knights often fought more for pillaging than for army wages. When they captured a city, they were allowed to ransack it, stealing goods and valuables. 

There are two stages before becoming a Knight:

1. Page - A boy would spend 7 years as a page serving others and continue to learn manners, courtesy, loyalty and religion. A page had many duties and often assisted knights with their armour and horses. Pages also played battle games, learning some of the techniques that they would later need as knights.
2. Squire - When a page successfully completed his duties and reached the age of 14 or 15, he was promoted to a new title, a squire. A squire was more like an apprentice. A squire received hands-on training. He was taught everything he needed to know to become a knight later on. He was heavily instructed on battle techniques and performed scrimmages with other squires. After a few years, squires went to battle with their assigned knights and even took over fighting if the knight was injured.
3. Knight - Once a squire proved himself worthy of becoming a knight, a ceremony was held. The squire was knighted, finally reaching the last stage in his journey. He became responsible for upholding honour and all that he was taught. He also had to bravely fight in all battles that were assigned to him. Eventually he was responsible for training other squires on how to become a knight.

A Knight's Armour

Nobles 
The nobles of the Middle Ages were fierce and proud people. They had high-sounding titles, such as Duke, Count, or Baron, which their ancestors had received from the King in return for services they had done on the battlefield or in council. All the land which did not belong to the church they owned, and they looked down on the poor laboring peasants who lived on their estates as hardly better than cattle. Not all of them indeed were cruel or wicked, but they believed that their "gentle blood" made them far superior to other people. The chief business of the nobles was war, and their amusements were warlike games and hunting. They lived in great fortified buildings called castles, generally set on some steep hill so that the enemy could not easily reach them. In early times the castles were only "stockades" of logs, but later they were made of stone and, as men learned more and more about building, they came to be great structures with massive, walls, huge towers, and frowning battlements. A ditch filled with water (moat) which could be crossed only by a drawbridge gave still further protection.

King

The King during the Early Middle Ages was in law (de jure) supreme. No-one would dare question his authority. In many cases the King's word was final. Some King's would have advisor's who would assist the King in making his decisions. These would be mainly Bishops, Dukes and Lords. Some nobles did not like that the King was supreme. In England, the Barons of King John  made the King sign the Magna Carta in 1215. This charter reduced the power of the King and gave more power to the nobles and the "common people"

King John of England - A Medieval King