CLEP Western Civ I

Answer: C - Manorialism was one of the most important aspects of feudal society because it was the economic arrangement of the society in which a landed lord or vassal had legal and economic control over his fief (manor or subsection of a manor) and the serfs (or peasants) who were bound to the land. Feudalism was primarily the legal relationship between a lord and vassal. The Lord of the Manor parceled out tracts of land, or fiefs, to his vassals, who swore oaths of fealty and promised to provide military service to the lord. If a vassal had enough land to divide among lower vassals, he could do so through a process called subinfeudation. The serfs were legally bound to the land- they were not free to leave the land by their own choice nor could they be sold from the land like slaves (though their lives mirrored slavery in virtually every other way). (Note: The basic hierarchy of feudal society went like this: king/emperor - lord - vassal - serf. It was like a social pyramid with many people at the bottom and fewer people in the higher ranks. However, power was concentrated in the middle with the lords and vassals. Feudalism was the legal system for the relationship between lords and vassals and their exchange of fiefs for military service. Manorialism was the economic relationship between lords/vassals and the serfs and their exchange of a land to live on and defense for labor. Feudal society was the whole culture, when feudalism and manorialism were added together.)