Syllabus Edition
First teaching 2024
First exams 2026
The Feudal System (Edexcel GCSE History)
Revision Note
Written by: Zoe Wade
Reviewed by: Bridgette Barrett
How did the Feudal System Change England? - Summary
The feudal system created important social changes in England in the eleventh century. It increased the power of the king. William created a system that meant all of his subjects had to show loyalty to gain access to land. In the eleventh century, land equalled power and wealth. The financial success of a person depended on their actions towards William and their lord. Feudalism also changed how different social classes interacted with each other. Ceorls became nearly extinct in this system. Tenants-in-chief and under-tenants made peasants entirely dependent on their local lord. Local lords also insisted upon more work from peasants. They raised the amount of resources a peasant had to grow to keep working on the land. This increased resentment between peasants and the upper classes. William replaced thegns with under-tenants. This class were vassals of the tenants-in-chief and lacked the powers that thegns held in the Anglo-Saxon system. This reinforced the dominance of the Normans and reduced the threat of rebellion from the class. |
What is the Feudal System?
Why did William the Conqueror introduce the feudal system?
To reduce the cost of an army
Maintaining an army was expensive because a monarch had to:
Pay soldiers a wage
Feed men and horses
Maintain and buy weapons
The feudal system meant the responsibility to look after soldiers was on the under-tenants
Under-tenants gained land called fiefs
Fiefs required under-tenants to provide knights with the right armour and equipment to complete their duty
Knights gave the king 40 days of unpaid service a year
Tenants-in-chief ensured that knights had money at this time
The feudal system only worked if everyone in the system met their obligations
For example, an under-tenant had to provide ten knights to the king. The tenant-in-chief would provide ten pieces of land for the knights to use
The Feudal Hierarchy under William the Conqueror
William designed the feudal system so he had the most power
Tenants-in-chief and under-tenants swore an oath of loyalty to William
Those higher up in the feudal system held people below them accountable for resources and money
The peasants, who did the majority of the manual labour, had very little power
Worked Example
Describe one feature of the feudal system
2 marks
Answer:
One feature of the feudal system is military service (1). Under-tenants provided the soldiers for knight service to the king, ensuring they had enough money and equipment to last the 40 days of unpaid service (1).
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Ensure you make your details as specific as possible to access all two marks. The details of this example include the number of days of knight service and key terms like 'under-tenants'.
This question previously asked students to describe two features of a given event. This question was out of four marks. However, as of 2025, Edexcel will split this question into two subsections, asking you to describe a feature of two different events. Each subsection is worth two marks.
The Feudal System & Tenants-in-Chief
Role of a tenant-in-chief | Responsibilities of this role |
|---|---|
Military | Led their knights into battle and used these knights to put down rebels in their area. They provided military service for the king |
Landholding | Organised and distributed land from Anglo-Saxons to Normans. They ensured that knights and under-tenants had enough land to grow crops |
Legal | Tenants-in-chief could have a large number of fiefs, called a barony. They had to judge tenants' land disputes in the barony |
Economic | Passed on a share of their fiefs' income to the king. They also kept a large amount of money for themselves |
Political | Served on the royal council to give the king advice on important issues. When the king travelled, tenants-in-chief provided food and shelter for him and his court |
Religious | Some tenants-in-chief held important roles in the Church, for example, bishops and abbots |
The Feudal System & Knights
Historians estimate that there were 6,000 knights in Norman England
Knights had varying amounts of land and power
Some knights had the same amount of land as a peasant farmer
Other knights were powerful, highly trained nobles
Tenants-in-chief saw some knights as capable enough to lead other knights into battle and sit on the royal court
Role of a knight | Responsibilities of this role |
|---|---|
Military | The most skilled and feared military group at the time. The king used knights to defend England against Viking invaders and fight wars with France. Knights also suppressed rebellions within England as well as attacks from Wales and Scotland |
Social | Knights sheltered in and attacked from castles around the country. Residents of castles established stables and blacksmiths to care for knights. This gave work to some people in Norman England |
Political | Knights replaced Anglo-Saxon thegns as the social rank below tenants-in-chief. Many knights became local lords and tried cases in the manorial court |
How did Feudalism Affect Landholding in Norman England?
In Normandy, passing landholdings onto heirs was common practice
William's feudal system made fundamental changes to how people gained land
The Anglo-Saxon system was very confusing
William realised that controlling land allocation gave him a lot of power
How could Someone Gain Landholdings in the Feudal System?
Relief
When a landholder died, his heir had to pay a king money for the right to use the land
This is called a relief
William used reliefs to reward loyalty
A faithful follower of the king paid a small relief for land
William threatened disruptive lords with a large relief payment that their heirs would have to pay for their land
Reliefs made William a lot of money
Normans expected their heirs to inherit their land to increase their family's power
As a result, Normans paid the relief amount to retain their land
Some followers did not believe that it was right for the king to profit from land with relief payments
Homage
Homage is a public demonstration of loyalty to a person of power
William insisted that a tenant-in-chief had to prove their loyalty to him
A homage ceremony involved:
Bowing before William
Placing his hands between the king's
Declaring:
I become your man
Touching the Bible and promising to always be loyal to the king
Tenants-in-chief organised similar services for under-tenants who inherited land
Labour Service
Peasants gained land by providing manual labour to their lord
They could use this land to feed themselves as well as the lord
Peasants living in towns had to provide labour services for land out of the town
Labour service could involve:
Looking after the land by ploughing, planting crops or harvesting
Providing the lord with a certain amount of produce each year
How could Someone Lose Landholdings in the Feudal System?
A land-user may not fulfil their obligations such as:
Not providing knights for the king
Not paying tax for the land
Going against their act of homage
Not providing their labour service
William could force the forfeiture of the land
This meant that the landholder had to return the land to the king or tenant-in-chief
William used this method to transfer Anglo-Saxon land to Norman followers
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